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Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
,
guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
,
violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinists, notable contemporary classical violinists * List of violinist/composers, ...
, and
dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...
who is considered a master of the French
Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...
style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court of
Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...
and became a French subject in 1661. He was a close friend of the playwright
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
, with whom he collaborated on numerous ''
comédie-ballet ''Comédie-ballet'' is a genre of French drama which mixes a spoken play with interludes containing music and dance. History The first example of the genre is considered to be '' Les fâcheux'', with words by Molière, performed in honour of Loui ...
s'', including ''
L'Amour médecin ''L'Amour médecin'' (Dr. Cupid) is a French comedy written by Molière. It was presented for the first time by order of King Louis XIV at Versailles on September 22, 1665. Molière's foreword to the text states that the play is only a sketch, ...
'', ''
George Dandin ou le Mari confondu ''George Dandin ou le mari confondu'' (''George Dandin or The Thwarted Husband'') is a French Comédie-ballet in three acts by Molière, with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, choreography by Pierre Beauchamp, and architecture/staging by Carlo Vigaran ...
'', ''
Monsieur de Pourceaugnac ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac'' is a three-act ''comédie-ballet''—a ballet interrupted by spoken dialogue—by Molière, first presented on 6 October 1669 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors. ...
'', ''
Psyché Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
'' and his best known work, ''
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' (, translated as ''The Bourgeois Gentleman'', ''The Middle-Class Aristocrat'', or ''The Would-Be Noble'') is a five-act ''comédie-ballet'' – a Play (theatre), play intermingled with music, dance and singing – wri ...
''.


Biography

Lully was born on November 28, 1632, in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
,
Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany ( it, Granducato di Toscana; la, Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In th ...
, to Lorenzo Lulli and Caterina Del Sera, a Tuscan family of millers. His general education and his musical training during his youth in Florence remain uncertain, but his adult handwriting suggests that he manipulated a quill pen with ease. He used to say that a
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
friar gave him his first music lessons and taught him guitar. He also learned to play the violin. In 1646, dressed as
Harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque dialect, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian language, Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city o ...
during
Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...
and amusing bystanders with his clowning and his violin, the boy attracted the attention of Roger de Lorraine, chevalier de Guise, son of
Charles, Duke of Guise Charles de Lorraine, 4th Duke of Guise and 3rd Prince of Joinville (20 August 1571 – 30 September 1640), was the son of Henry I, Duke of Guise and Catherine of Cleves, and succeeded his father as Duke of Guise in 1588. Initially part of the Cath ...
, who was returning to France and was looking for someone to converse in Italian with his niece, Mademoiselle de Montpensier (''la Grande Mademoiselle''). Guise took the boy to Paris, where the fourteen-year-old entered Mademoiselle's service; from 1647 to 1652 he served as her "chamber boy" (''garçon de chambre''). He probably honed his musical skills by working with Mademoiselle's household musicians and with composers
Nicolas Métru Nicolas Métru (ca. 1610 in Bar-sur-Aube1668 Paris) was a French organist, viol player, and composer of pieces for viol and airs. From 1642 he was organist at St. Nicolas-des-Champs, then some time later master of music for the Jesuits. He taught Co ...
,
François Roberday François Roberday (21 March 1624 – 13 October 1680) was a French Baroque organist and composer. One of the last exponents of the French polyphonic music tradition established by Jean Titelouze and Louis Couperin, Roberday is best remembered ...
and
Nicolas Gigault Nicolas Gigault (ca. 1627 – 20 August 1707) was a French Baroque organist and composer. Born into poverty, he quickly rose to fame and high reputation among fellow musicians. His surviving works include the earliest examples of noëls and a volum ...
. The teenager's talents as a guitarist, violinist, and dancer quickly won him the nicknames "Baptiste", and "''le grand baladin''" (great street-artist). When Mademoiselle was exiled to the provinces in 1652 after the rebellion known as the
Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...
, Lully "begged his leave ... because he did not want to live in the country." The princess granted his request. By February 1653, Lully had attracted the attention of young
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...
, dancing with him in the '' Ballet royal de la nuit''. By March 16, 1653, Lully had been made royal composer for instrumental music. His vocal and instrumental music for court ballets gradually made him indispensable. In 1660 and 1662 he collaborated on court performances of
Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...
's ''
Xerse ''Il Xerse'' ( in its 1660 French version ''Xerxès'') is an opera by Francesco Cavalli (specifically, a ''dramma per musica'') about Xerxes I. The libretto was written by Nicolò Minato, and was later set by both Giovanni Bononcini (1694, ''Xer ...
'' and ''
Ercole amante ''Ercole amante'' (''Hercules in Love'', French: ''Hercule amoureux'') is an opera in a prologue and five acts by Francesco Cavalli. Its Italian libretto is by Francesco Buti, based on Sophocles' ''The Trachiniae'' and on the ninth book of Ovid ...
''. When Louis XIV took over the reins of government in 1661, he named Lully superintendent of the royal music and music master of the royal family. In December 1661, the Florentine was granted letters of naturalization. Thus, when he married Madeleine Lambert (1643–1720), the daughter of the renowned singer and composer
Michel Lambert Michel Lambert (1610 – 29 June 1696) was a French singing master, theorbist and composer. Career Lambert was born at Champigny-sur-Veude, France. He received his musical education as an altar boy at the Chapel of Gaston d'Orléans, a brother of k ...
in 1662, Giovanni Battista Lulli declared himself to be "Jean-Baptiste Lully, ''escuyer'' /nowiki>squire.html" ;"title="squire.html" ;"title="/nowiki>squire">/nowiki>squire">squire.html" ;"title="/nowiki>squire">/nowiki>squire/nowiki>, son of Laurent de Lully, ''gentilhomme Florentin'' [Florentine gentleman]". The latter assertion was an untruth. From 1661 on, the trios and dances he wrote for the court were promptly published. As early as 1653, Louis XIV made him director of his personal violin orchestra, known as the ''Petits Violons'' ("Little Violins"), which was proving to be open to Lully's innovations, as contrasted with the Twenty-Four Violins or ''Grands Violons'' ("Great Violins"), who only slowly were abandoning the
polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
and divisions of past decades. When he became ''surintendant de la musique de la chambre du roi'' in 1661, the Great Violins also came under Lully's control. He relied mainly on the Little Violins for court ballets. Lully's collaboration with the playwright
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
began with ' in 1661, when Lully provided a single sung courante, added after the work's premiere at
Nicolas Fouquet Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux (27 January 1615 – 23 March 1680) was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. He had a glittering career, and acquired enormous wealth ...
's sumptuous chateau of
Vaux-le-Vicomte The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte (English: Palace of Vaux-le-Vicomte) is a Baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne department of Île-de-France. Built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas Fo ...
. Their collaboration began in earnest in 1664 with ''Le Mariage forcé''. More collaborations followed, some of them conceived for fetes at the royal court, and others taking the form of incidental music (''intermèdes'') for plays performed at command performances at court and also in Molière's Parisian theater. In 1672 Lully broke with Molière, who turned to
Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...
. Having acquired Pierre Perrin's opera privilege, Lully became the director of the
Académie Royale de Musique The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...
, that is, the royal opera, which performed in the
Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...
. Between 1673 and 1687, he produced a new opera almost yearly and fiercely protected his monopoly over that new genre. After Queen Marie-Thérèse's death in 1683 and the king's secret marriage to
Mme de Maintenon Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ''mad ...
, devotion came to the fore at court. The king's enthusiasm for opera dissipated; he was revolted by Lully's dissolute life and homosexual encounters. In 1686, to show his displeasure, Louis XIV made a point of not inviting Lully to perform ''Armide'' at Versailles. Lully died from
gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...
, having struck his foot with his long conducting staff during a performance of his ''Te Deum'' to celebrate Louis XIV's recovery from surgery. He refused to have his leg amputated so he could still dance. This resulted in gangrene propagating through his body and ultimately infecting the greater part of his brain, causing his death. He died in Paris and was buried in the church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, where his tomb with its marble bust can still be seen. All three of his sons (
Louis Lully Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...
, Jean-Baptiste Lully fils, and Jean-Louis Lully) had musical careers as successive ''surintendants'' of the King's Music. Lully himself was posthumously given a conspicuous place on Titon du Tillet's ''Parnasse François'' ("the French
Mount Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...
"). In the engraving, he stands to the left, on the lowest level, his right arm extended and holding a scroll of paper with which to beat time. (The bronze ensemble has survived and is part of the collections of the Museum of Versailles.) Titon honored Lully as:


Music, style and influence

Lully's music was written during the Middle Baroque period, 1650 to 1700. Typical of
Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...
is the use of the ''
basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...
'' as the driving force behind the music. The pitch standard for the French opera at the time was about 392 Hz for A above middle C, a whole tone lower than modern practice where A is usually 440 Hz. Lully's music is known for its power, liveliness in its fast movements and its deep emotional character in its slower movements. Some of his most popular works are his (
passacaglia The passacaglia (; ) is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used today by composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre. Origin The ter ...
s) and
chaconne A chaconne (; ; es, chacona, links=no; it, ciaccona, links=no, ; earlier English: ''chacony'') is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short rep ...
s, which are dance movements found in many of his works such as '' Armide'' or '' Phaëton''. The influence of Lully's music produced a radical revolution in the style of the
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
s of the court itself. In the place of the slow and stately movements which had prevailed until then, he introduced lively
ballets Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
of rapid
rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...
, often based on well-known dance types such as
gavotte The gavotte (also gavot, gavote, or gavotta) is a French dance, taking its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné in the southeast of France, where the dance originated, according to one source. Ac ...
s,
menuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompa ...
s,
rigaudon The rigaudon (also spelled rigadon, rigadoon) is a French baroque dance with a lively duple metre. The music is similar to that of a bourrée, but the rigaudon is rhythmically simpler with regular phrases (eight measure phrases are most common). ...
s and
sarabande The sarabande (from es, zarabanda) is a dance in triple metre, or the music written for such a dance. History The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets. A dance cal ...
s. Through his collaboration with playwright
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
, a new music form emerged during the 1660s: the ''
comédie-ballet ''Comédie-ballet'' is a genre of French drama which mixes a spoken play with interludes containing music and dance. History The first example of the genre is considered to be '' Les fâcheux'', with words by Molière, performed in honour of Loui ...
'' which combined theater, comedy, incidental music and ballet. The popularity of these plays, with their sometimes lavish special effects, and the success and publication of Lully's operas and its diffusion beyond the borders of France, played a crucial role in synthesizing, consolidating and disseminating orchestral organization, scorings, performance practices, and repertory. The instruments in Lully's music were: five voices of strings such as ''
dessus A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
'' (a higher range than soprano), ''
haute-contre The haute-contre (plural hautes-contre) was the primary French operatic tenor voice, predominant in French Baroque and Classical opera, from the middle of the seventeenth century until the latter part of the eighteenth century. History This voice ...
'' (the instrumental equivalent of the high tenor voice by that name), ''taille'' (
baritenor Baritenor (also rendered in English language sources as bari-tenor or baritenore) is a portmanteau (blend) of the words "baritone" and "tenor." It is used to describe both baritone and tenor voices. In ''Webster's Third New International Dictionar ...
), ''
quinte The Bay of Quinte () is a long, narrow bay shaped like the letter "Z" on the northern shore of Lake Ontario in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is just west of the head of the Saint Lawrence River that drains the Great Lakes into the Gulf of ...
'', and '' basse'', divided as follows: one voice of violins, three voices of violas, one voice of cello, and ''basse de viole'' (viole, viola da gamba). He also utilized guitar,
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
,
archlute The archlute ( es, archilaúd, it, arciliuto, german: Erzlaute) is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the p ...
,
theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ou ...
, harpsichord, organ, oboe, bassoon,
recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
, flute, brass instruments (natural trumpet) and various percussion instruments (
castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument (idiophone), used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish, Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. In ancient Greece and ancient Rome there was a similar ...
,
timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...
).For Lully's orchestra, see John Spitzer and
Neal Zaslaw Neal Zaslaw (born June 28, 1939) is an American musicologist. Life and career Born in New York, Zaslaw graduated from Harvard in 1961 with a BA and obtained his master's from Juilliard in 1963. He played flute in the American Symphony Orchestra ...
, ''The Birth of the Orchestra: History of an Institution'', 1650–1815. Chapter 3, "Lully's Orchestra"
He is often credited with introducing new
instruments Instrument may refer to: Science and technology * Flight instruments, the devices used to measure the speed, altitude, and pertinent flight angles of various kinds of aircraft * Laboratory equipment, the measuring tools used in a scientific lab ...
into the orchestra, but this legend needs closer scrutiny. He continued to use recorders in preference to the newer transverse flute, and the "hautbois" he used in his orchestra were transitional instruments, somewhere between
shawm The shawm () is a Bore_(wind_instruments)#Conical_bore, conical bore, double-reed woodwind instrument made in Europe from the 12th century to the present day. It achieved its peak of popularity during the medieval and Renaissance periods, after ...
s and so-called Baroque
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...
s. Lully created French-style opera as a musical genre (''
tragédie en musique Tragédie en musique (, ''musical tragedy''), also known as tragédie lyrique (, ''lyric tragedy''), is a genre of French opera introduced by Jean-Baptiste Lully and used by his followers until the second half of the eighteenth century. Operas in t ...
'' or ''tragédie lyrique''). Concluding that Italian-style opera was inappropriate for the French language, he and his librettist,
Philippe Quinault Philippe Quinault (; 3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688), French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris. Biography Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of ''Marianne''. Quinault's first play w ...
, a respected playwright, employed the same poetics that dramatists used for verse tragedies: the 12-syllable "
alexandrine Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French '' Rom ...
" and the 10-syllable "heroic" poetic lines of the spoken theater were used for the
recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...
of Lully's operas and were perceived by their contemporaries as creating a very "natural" effect. Airs, especially if they were based on dances, were by contrast set to lines of less than 8 syllables. Lully also forsook the Italian method of dividing musical numbers into separate ''
recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...
s'' and ''
aria In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
s'', choosing instead to combine and intermingle the two, for dramatic effect. He and Quinault also opted for quicker story development, which was more to the taste of the French public. William Christie has summarized the distribution of instruments in Lully's operas: "The orchestra is easier to reconstitute. In Lully's case, it is made up of strings, winds and sometimes brass. The strings, or the ''grand chœur'' written for five parts is distinct from the ''petit chœur'', which is the continuo made up of a handful of players, following the formula inherited from the continuo operas of post-
Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...
an composers,
Antonio Cesti Pietro Marc'Antonio Cesti () (baptism 5 August 162314 October 1669), known today primarily as an Italian composer of the Baroque era, was also a singer (tenor), and organist. He was "the most celebrated Italian musician of his generation". Biogra ...
and
Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...
. The continuo is a supple formula which minimizes the role of the orchestra, thus favoring the lute, the theorbo and the harpsichord. It therefore permits variation of color of the recitatives, which sometimes seem of excessive length." Lully is credited with the invention in the 1650s of the
French overture The French overture is a musical form widely used in the Baroque period. Its basic formal division is into two parts, which are usually enclosed by double bars and repeat signs. They are complementary in style (slow in dotted rhythms and fast in f ...
, a form used extensively in the Baroque and Classical eras, especially by
Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
and
George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
.


Lully's works


Sacred music

Lully's grand motets were written for the royal chapel, usually for vespers or for the King's daily Low Mass. Lully did not invent the genre, he built upon it. Grand motets often were psalm settings, but for a time during the 1660s Lully used texts written by
Pierre Perrin Pierre Perrin (c.1620 – 24 April 1675) was a French poet and librettist. Perrin, sometimes known as L'Abbé Perrin although he never belonged to the clergy, was born in Lyon. He founded the Académie d'Opéra, which later was renamed the Acad ...
, a neo-Latin poet. Lully's petit motets were probably composed for the nuns at the convent of the Assumption, rue Saint-Honoré. * '' Motets à deux chœurs pour la Chapelle du roi'', published 1684 * ''Miserere'', at court, winter 1664 * '' Plaude laetare'', text by Perrin, April 7, 1668 * ''Te Deum'', at Fontainebleau, September 9, 1677 * ''De profundis'', May 1683 * ''Dies irae'', 1683 * ''Benedictus'' * ''
Domine salvum fac regem Ceiling of the Royal Chapel at the Palace of Versailles Domine, salvum fac regem (Lord, save the King) is a motet which was sung as a ''de facto'' royal anthem in France during the Ancien Régime. The text is taken from the Vulgate translation ...
'', grand motet * ''Exaudiat te Dominus'', grand motet, 1687 * ''Jubilate Deo'', grand motet, 1660? * ''Notus in Judea Deux'', grand motet * ''O lacrymae'', grand motet, text by Perrin, at Versailles, 1664 * ''Quare fremuerunt'', grand motet, at Versailles, April 19, 1685 * Petits motets: ''Anima Christi''; ''Ave coeli manus'', text by Perrin; ''Dixit Dominus''; ''Domine salvum''; ''Laudate pueri''; ''O dulcissime Domine''; ''Omnes gentes''; ''O sapientia''; ''Regina coeli''; ''Salve regina''


Ballets de cour

When Lully began dancing and composing for court ballets, the genre blossomed and markedly changed in character. At first, as composer of instrumental music for the King's chamber, Lully wrote overtures, dances, dance-like songs, descriptive instrumental pieces such as combats, and parody-like récits with Italian texts. He was so captivated by the French overture that he wrote four of them for the ''Ballet d'Alcidiane''! The development of his instrumental style can be discerned in his
chaconne A chaconne (; ; es, chacona, links=no; it, ciaccona, links=no, ; earlier English: ''chacony'') is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short rep ...
s. He experimented with all types of compositional devices and found new solutions that he later exploited to the full in his operas. For example, the chaconne that ends the ''Ballet de la Raillerie'' (1659) has 51 couplets plus an extra free part; in ''
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' (, translated as ''The Bourgeois Gentleman'', ''The Middle-Class Aristocrat'', or ''The Would-Be Noble'') is a five-act ''comédie-ballet'' – a Play (theatre), play intermingled with music, dance and singing – wri ...
'' (1670) he added a vocal line to the chaconne for the ''Scaramouches''. The first menuets appear in the ''Ballet de la Raillerie'' (1659) and the ''Ballet de l'Impatience'' (1661). In Lully's ballets one can also see the emergence of concert music, for example, pieces for voice and instruments that could be excerpted and performed alone and that prefigure his operatic airs: "Bois, ruisseau, aimable verdure" from the ''Ballet des saisons'' (1661), the lament "Rochers, vous êtes sourds" and Orpheus's sarabande "Dieu des Enfers", from the ''Ballet de la naissance de Vénus'' (1665). * ''Ballet du Temps'', text by Benserade, at Louvre, November 30, 1654 * ''Ballet des plaisirs'', text by Benserade, at Louvre, February 4, 1655 * ''Le Grand Ballet des Bienvenus'', text by Benserade, at Compiègne, May 30, 1655 * ''Le Ballet de la Revente des habits'', text by Benserade, at court, January 6, 1655 (or 1661?) * ''Ballet of Psyché ou de la puissance de l'Amour'', text by Benserade, at Louvre, January 16, 1656 * ''La Galanterie du temps, mascarade'', anonymous text, February 14, 1656 * ''L'Amour malade'', text by Buti, at Louvre, January 17, 1657 * ''Ballet royal d'Alcidiane'', Benserade, at court, February 14, 1658 * ''Ballet de la Raillerie'', text by Benserade, at court, February 19, 1659 * six ballet ''entrées'' serving as ''intermèdes'' to Cavalli's ''
Xerse ''Il Xerse'' ( in its 1660 French version ''Xerxès'') is an opera by Francesco Cavalli (specifically, a ''dramma per musica'') about Xerxes I. The libretto was written by Nicolò Minato, and was later set by both Giovanni Bononcini (1694, ''Xer ...
'', at Louvre, November 22, 1660 * ''Ballet mascarade donné au roi à Toulouse,'' April 1660 * ''Ballet royal de l'impatience'', text by Buti, at Louvre, February 19, 1661 * ''Ballet des Saisons'', text by Benserade, at Fontainebleau, July 23, 1661 * ballet danced between the acts of ''Hercule amoureux'', text by Buti, at Tuileries, February 7, 1662 * ''Ballet des Arts'', text by Benserade, at Palais-Royal, January 8, 1663 * ''Les Noces du village, mascarade ridicule'', text by Benserade, at Vincennes, October 3, 1663 * ''Les Amours déguisés'', text by Périgny, at Palais-Royal, February 13, 1664 * incidental music between the acts of ''Oedipe'', play by Pierre Corneille, Fontainebleau, August 3, 1664 * ''Mascarade du Capitaine ou l'Impromptu de Versailles'', anonymous text, at Palais-Royal, 1664 or February 1665 * ''Ballet royal de la Naissance de Vénus'', text by Benserade, at Palais-Royal, January 26, 1665 * ''Ballet des Gardes ou des Délices de la campagne'', anonymous text, 1665 * ''Le Triomphe de Bacchus, mascarade'', anonymous text, at court, January 9, 1666 * ''Ballet des Muses'', Benserade, at St-Germain-en-Laye, 1666 * ''Le Carneval, mascarade'', text by Benserade, at Louvre, January 18, 1668 * ''Ballet royal de Flore'', text by Benserade, at Tuileries, February 13, 1669 * ''Le Triomphe de l'Amour'', text by Benserade and Quinault, at St-Germain-en-Laye, December 2, 1681 * ''Le Temple de la Paix'', text by Quinault, at Fontainebleau, October 20, 1685


Music for the theater (intermèdes)

Intermède Intermède (also intermédie, intramède, entremets) is a French term for a musical or theatrical performance involving song and dance, also an 18th-century opera genre. The context in which the 'intermède' was performed has changed over time. ...
s became part of a new genre, the ''
comédie-ballet ''Comédie-ballet'' is a genre of French drama which mixes a spoken play with interludes containing music and dance. History The first example of the genre is considered to be '' Les fâcheux'', with words by Molière, performed in honour of Loui ...
'', in 1661, when Molière described them as "ornaments which have been mixed with the comedy" in his preface to '. "Also, to avoid breaking the thread of the piece by these interludes, it was deemed advisable to weave the ballet in the best manner one could into the subject, and make but one thing of it and the play." The music for the premiere of ''Les Fâcheux'' was composed by
Pierre Beauchamp Pierre Beauchamp or Beauchamps (; 30 October 1631 – February 1705) was a French choreographer, dancer and composer, and the probable inventor of Beauchamp–Feuillet notation. His grand-father was called Christophe (a musician) and his fa ...
, but Lully later provided a sung courante for act 1, scene 3. With ' and ' (1664), intermèdes by Lully began to appear regularly in Molière's plays: for those performances there were six intermèdes, two at the beginning and two at the end, and one between each of the three acts. Lully's intermèdes reached their apogee in 1670–1671, with the elaborate incidental music he composed for ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' and ''
Psyché Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
''. After his break with Molière, Lully turned to opera; but he collaborated with
Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...
for a fete at Sceaux in 1685, and with Campistron for an entertainment at
Anet Anet () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It lies 14 km north-northeast of Dreux between the rivers Eure and Vesgre, the latter flowing into the former some 4 km nort ...
in 1686. Most of Molière's plays were first performed for the royal court. * ''Les Fâcheux'', play by Molière, at Vaux-le-Vicomte, August 17, 1661Lully provided a single courante for this work . * ''Le Mariage forcé'', ballet, play by Molière, at Louvre, January 29, 1664 * '' Les Plaisirs de l'Ile enchantée'', play by Molière, at Versailles, May 7–12, 1664 * ''
L'Amour médecin ''L'Amour médecin'' (Dr. Cupid) is a French comedy written by Molière. It was presented for the first time by order of King Louis XIV at Versailles on September 22, 1665. Molière's foreword to the text states that the play is only a sketch, ...
'',
comédie-ballet ''Comédie-ballet'' is a genre of French drama which mixes a spoken play with interludes containing music and dance. History The first example of the genre is considered to be '' Les fâcheux'', with words by Molière, performed in honour of Loui ...
, play by Molière, at Versailles, September 14, 1665 * ''La Pastorale comique'', play by Molière, at St-Germain-en-Laye, January 5, 1667 * ''Le Sicilien'', play by Molière, at St-Germain-en-Laye, February 14, 1667 * ''Le Grand Divertissement royal de Versailles'' (''Georges Dandin''), play by Molière, at Versailles, August 18, 1668 * ''La Grotte de Versailles'', eclogue in music, play by Quinault, April (?) 1668 * ''Le Divertissement de Chambord'' (''
Monsieur de Pourceaugnac ''Monsieur de Pourceaugnac'' is a three-act ''comédie-ballet''—a ballet interrupted by spoken dialogue—by Molière, first presented on 6 October 1669 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors. ...
''), play by Molière, at Chambord, October 6, 1669 * ''Le Divertissement royal'' (''Les Amants magifiques''), play by Molière, at St-Germain-en-Laye, February 7, 1670 * ''
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' (, translated as ''The Bourgeois Gentleman'', ''The Middle-Class Aristocrat'', or ''The Would-Be Noble'') is a five-act ''comédie-ballet'' – a Play (theatre), play intermingled with music, dance and singing – wri ...
'', comédie-ballet, play by Molière, at Chambord, October 14, 1670 * ''
Psyché Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
'', tragi-comedy, Molière, play by
Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...
and Quinault, at the
Théâtre des Tuileries The Théâtre des Tuileries was a theatre in the former Tuileries Palace in Paris. It was also known as the Salle des Machines, because of its elaborate stage machinery, designed by the Italian theatre architects Gaspare Vigarani and his two sons, ...
, January 17, 1671 * ''Les Fêtes de l'Amour et de Bacchus'', pastoral, text by Quinault, Molière and Périgny, at the
Salle du Bel-Air The Salle du Bel-Air or Salle du Jeu de Paume de Béquet (Hall of the Béquet Tennis Court), also spelled Becquet, was a 1672 theatre located in Paris, France. Originally an indoor tennis court (''jeu de paume'') it was converted by the Italian ...
, a converted tennis court (''
jeu de paume ''Jeu de paume'' (, ; originally spelled ; ), nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or (in France) ''courte paume'', is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, a ...
''), November 15 (?), 1672 * ''Idylle sur la Paix'', text by Racine, at Sceaux, July 16, 1685 * ''
Acis et Galatée ''Acis et Galatée'' (''Acis and Galatea'') is an opera by Jean-Baptiste Lully. Unlike most of his operas, which are designated '' tragédies en musique'', Lully called this work a '' pastorale-héroïque'', because it was on a pastoral theme an ...
'', pastoral, text by Campistron, chateau of Anet, September 6, 1686


Operas

With five exceptions, each of Lully's operas was described as a ''tragédie mise en musique'', or tragedy set to music. The exceptions were: ''Bellérophon'', ''Cadmus et Hermione'', and ''Psyché'', each called simply a ''tragédie''; and ''Les fêtes de l'Amour et de Bacchus'', described as a ''pastorale'', and ''Acis et Galathée'', which is a ''pastorale héroïque''. (The term ''tragédie lyrique'' came later.) Always with Lully, the point of departure was a verse libretto, in most cases by the verse dramatist
Philippe Quinault Philippe Quinault (; 3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688), French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris. Biography Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of ''Marianne''. Quinault's first play w ...
. For the dance pieces, Lully would hammer out rough chords and a melody on the keyboard, and Quinault would invent words. For the recitative, Lully imitated the speech melodies and dramatic emphasis used by the best actors in the spoken theater. His attentiveness to transferring theatrical recitation to sung music shaped French opera and song for a century. Unlike Italian opera of the day, which was rapidly moving toward ''
opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...
'' with its alternating recitative and ''da capo'' airs, in Lully's operas the focus was on drama, expressed by a variety of vocal forms: monologs, airs for two or three voices, rondeaux and French-style ''da capo'' airs where the chorus alternates with singers, sung dances, and ''vaudeville'' songs for a few secondary characters. In like manner the chorus performed in several combinations: the entire chorus, the chorus singing as duos, trios or quartets, the dramatic chorus, the dancing chorus. The intrigue of the plot culminated in a vast tableau, for example, the sleep scene in ''Atys'', the village wedding in ''Roland'', or the funeral in ''Alceste''. Soloists, chorus and dancers participated in this display, producing astonishing effects thanks to machinery. In contrast to Italian opera, the various instrumental genres were present to enrich the overall effect: French overture, dance airs, ''rondeaux'', marches, "''simphonies''" that painted pictures, preludes, ''ritournelles''. Collected into instrumental suites or transformed into trios, these pieces had enormous influence and affected instrumental music across Europe. The earliest operas were performed at the indoor Bel Air tennis court (on the grounds of the
Luxembourg Palace The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the ...
) that Lully had converted into a theater. The first performance of later operas either took place at court, or in the theater at the Palais-Royal, which had been made available to Lully's Academy. Once premiered at court, operas were performed for the public at the Palais-Royal. * ''
Cadmus et Hermione ''Cadmus et Hermione'' is a ''tragédie en musique'' in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The French-language libretto is by Philippe Quinault, after Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. It was first performed on 27 April 1673 by the Paris Op ...
'', tragedy by Quinault, at tennis court (''jeu de paume'') of Bel-Air, April 27 (?), 1673 * '' Alceste ou le Triomphe d'Alcide'', tragedy by Quinault, at tennis court (''jeu de paume'') of Bel-Air, January 19, 1674 * ''
Thésée ''Thésée'' (; ) is a ''tragédie en musique'', an early type of French opera, in a prologue and five acts with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault based on Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. It was first performed on 11 J ...
'', tragedy by Quinault, at St-Germain-en-Laye, January 11, 1675 * '' Atys'', tragedy by Quinault, at St-Germain-en-Laye, January 10, 1676 * ''
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
'', tragedy by Quinault ornamented by ballet ''entrées'', at St-Germain-en-Laye, January 5, 1677 * ''
Psyché Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
'', tragedy by Quinault, Thomas Corneille and Fontanelle, at Palais-Royal, April 19, 1678 * ''
Bellérophon ''Bellérophon'' is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Thomas Corneille and Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle first performed by the Opéra at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris on 31 January 1679. The libretto is ba ...
'', tragedy by Thomas Corneille, Fontenelle and Boileau, at Palais-Royal, January 31, 1679 * '' Proserpine'', tragedy by Quinault ornamented with ballet ''entrées'', at St-Germain-en-Laye, February 3, 1680 * ''
Persée ''Persée'' (''Perseus'') is a tragédie lyrique with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault, first performed on 18 April 1682 by the Opéra at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris. Roles Synopsis ACT I: The Palac ...
'', tragedy by Quinault, at Palais-Royal, April 18, 1682 * '' Phaëton'', tragedy by Quinault, at Versailles, January 6, 1683 * '' Amadis'', tragedy by Quinault, at Palais-Royal, January 18, 1684 * ''
Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
'', tragedy by Quinault, at Versailles (Grande Écurie), January 8, 1685 * '' Armide'', tragedy by Quinault, 1686 * ''
Achille et Polyxène ''Achille et Polyxène'' (''Achilles and Polyxena'') is a tragédie lyrique containing a prologue and five acts based on Virgil's ''Aeneid'' with a French libretto by Jean Galbert de Campistron. The opera's overture and first act were composed by ...
'', tragedy by Campistron, completed by Colasse, at Palais-Royal, November 7 (or 23), 1687


Depictions in fiction

*
Henry Prunières Henry Prunières (24 May 1886, in Paris – 11 April 1942, in Nanterre) was a French musicologist, and international proponent of contemporary art in various forms, including music, dance and painting. He occupies an important place in the art wor ...
's 1929 novel ''La Vie illustre et libertine de Jean-Baptiste Lully'' (Paris: Plon) was the first 20th-century novel about Lully that raised supposed questions about the composer's "moral character." *
Gérard Corbiau Gérard Corbiau (; born 19 September 1941) is a Belgian film director. Corbiau was born in Brussels, Belgium. He is best known for his costume dramas about music, '' Le maître de musique'' (1987), ''Farinelli'' (1994) and ''Le roi danse'' (2000 ...
's 2000 film ''
Le Roi danse ''The King is Dancing'' (''Le Roi danse'') is a 2000 costume drama by Belgian filmmaker Gérard Corbiau based on Philippe Beaussant's biography of Jean-Baptiste Lully, ''Lully ou le musicien du soleil'' (1992). The film, presenting libertine and p ...
'' (''The King is dancing'') presents libertine and pagan Lully as a natural ally of Louis XIV in the King's conflicts with the Catholic establishment. The movie depicts Lully with a concealed romantic interest in the King. * In 2011 the BBC's hit children's show ''Horrible Histories'' featured the death of Lully in the skit "Stupid Deaths" in a live show at the Prom. * Michel Poulette's 2015 film
Swept Under ''Swept Under'' is a 2015 Canadian thriller directed by Michel Poulette about a crime-scene cleaner, Morgan ( Devin Kelley), who discovers evidence that has been left behind. With the help of novice detective Nick (Aaron Ashmore), they rush to f ...
featured his "Marche pour la Cérémonie des Turcs" as well as his life history in connection with a serial killer who leaves copies of his CDs at the crime scene.


Notes

Sources * * * *


Further reading

* Couvreur, Manuel. ''Jean-Baptiste Lully, Musique et dramaturgie au service du prince'' (Brussels: Marc Voker, 1992). * * * * La Gorce, Jérôme de. ''L'Opéra à Paris au temps de Louis XIV, histoire d'un théâtre'' (Paris: Desjonquères, 1992). * Norman, Buford, ''Touched by the Graces, the Libretti of Philippe Quinault in the Context of French Classicism'' (Birmingham, AL: Summa, 2001). * * Schneider, Herbert. "Lully (les)", in Marcelle Benoit, ed., ''Dictionnaire de la musique en France au XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles'' (Paris: Fayard, 1992), pp. 414–419. *


External links

* * *
Jean-Baptiste Lully Collection
at the University of North Texas {{DEFAULTSORT:Lully, Jean-Baptiste 1632 births 1687 deaths 17th-century French composers 17th-century Italian musicians 17th-century LGBT people Musicians from Florence French ballet composers French Baroque composers French male composers French opera composers Italian classical composers Italian emigrants to France Italian opera composers Bisexual men Bisexual musicians LGBT classical composers LGBT musicians from France LGBT musicians from Italy Male opera composers Opera managers Directors of the Paris Opera Deaths from gangrene 17th-century male musicians Conductors (music) who died while conducting