''Pygmalion'' (french: Pygmalion, link=no) is the most influential dramatic work by
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
, other than his opera ''
Le devin du village
''Le devin du village'' ("The Village Soothsayer") is a one-act French opera (intermède) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who also wrote the libretto. It was the first work in the repertory of the Académie Royale de Musique for which the text and musi ...
''. Though now rarely performed, it was one of the first ever
melodrama
A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exce ...
s (that is, a play consisting of
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...
gestures and the spoken word, both with a musical accompaniment). It is formed of spoken
monodrama
A monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character.
In opera
In opera, a monodrama was originally a melodrama with one role such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau's '' Pygmalion'', which w ...
with instrumental musical interludes and thus can be credited with spreading a new theatrical genre, especially in German-speaking areas of Europe. He wrote it in 1762, with music by
Horace Coignet Horace Coignet (13 May 1736 – 29 August 1821) was a French amateur violinist, singer and composer. He was active in Lyons as a pattern-designer and dealer in embroidered goods, as an official clerk and as musical director of the city from 1794. He ...
. It was first performed at the
Hôtel de Ville, Lyon
The Hôtel de Ville de Lyon is the city hall of the City of Lyon and one of the largest historic buildings in the city, located between the Place des Terreaux and the Place de la Comédie, in front of the Opera Nouvel. Built in the late 17th cent ...
in 1770. The work is considered a turning point for its author, who also wrote ''
The Social Contract'' that same year.
History
Rousseau probably wrote his text in 1762, but hesitated to put on a production of it, complaining of his lack of skill (in Pygmalion's case in life-giving, in Rousseau's in music-writing). The merchant and amateur composer
Horace Coignet Horace Coignet (13 May 1736 – 29 August 1821) was a French amateur violinist, singer and composer. He was active in Lyons as a pattern-designer and dealer in embroidered goods, as an official clerk and as musical director of the city from 1794. He ...
allowed him to realise it by writing a score and an overture, and the complete work was put on by amateurs in the town hall in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...
in private rooms. As with his one-act opera ''
Le devin du village
''Le devin du village'' ("The Village Soothsayer") is a one-act French opera (intermède) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who also wrote the libretto. It was the first work in the repertory of the Académie Royale de Musique for which the text and musi ...
'' (1752), Rousseau modelled the production on the Parisian '
Théâtre de la foire Théâtre de la foire is the collective name given to the theatre put on at the annual fairs at Saint-Germain and Saint-Laurent (and for a time, at Saint-Ovide) in Paris.
Foire Saint-Germain
The earliest references to the annual fair date to 11 ...
'.
Without Rousseau's consent, affirmed by the uniqueness of the premiere and the truth of the statue's first interpreter, the play remained in the repertory of the
Comédie-Française
The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...
for about five years in his own 1775 version.
Motivation
During the creation of the sculpture without divine help, music plays a crucial role, just as Rousseau had planned. The inclusion of music seems to have been more important than the type of music included, since the composition of the musical numbers was not nearly as ambitious as in his ballet-opera ''Les muses galantes'' (1745). This shows a change of intention in the use of music – the music no longer complains of its inevitable fading away, but is instead a sign of the statue coming to life, as a cipher for the imagination of the viewer.
Analysis
The tale of the sculptor
Pygmalion, who unhappily falls in love with one of his own sculptures until the goddess
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
takes pity on him and brings the sculpture to life, stems from
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...
's ''
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his '' magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...
''. The myth remained taboo during the Middle Ages, when any talk of
idolatry
Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the ...
was forbidden, but from the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
onwards it was adapted in various forms. During the
Baroque it provided the plot for several
ballet
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 ...
s. All the adaptations and ballets showed the futility and hopelessness of Pygmalion's efforts to give the sculpture life and his problem as being solved by divine
grace
Grace may refer to:
Places United States
* Grace, Idaho, a city
* Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois
* Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office
* Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...
, making Pygmalion an important symbol of
vanitas
A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the temporality, transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-kn ...
.
Rousseau's version seems to be the first where Pygmalion brings his perfect image to life without divine help – 'Galathée' (Galatea) comes to life at the last stroke of his chisel, beginning to speak and recognising her creator as her mirror image. She touches herself and says "me", then touches another sculpture and says "not me", and finally Pygmalion and says "Me again". This dialogue with her mirror image is genuine dialogue, reversing the vanitas motif. Importantly, Pygmalion is shown as swearing eternal fidelity to his sculpture, rather than as a collector of sculptures or women. In
Jean-Philippe Rameau's opera ''Pigmalion'' (1748), from which Rousseau worked hard to differ, the main character is always fixated on the image of the unfaithful lover, drawing on a long tradition of portraying Pygmalion as a misogynist. In the opera, the statue is not brought to life by the artist but by
Cupid's help.
1762 also saw the composition of the libretto for
Gluck
Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
's opera ''
Orfeo ed Euridice'', premiered later that year, in which Orpheus gives his dead wife Eurydice life through song, instead of losing faith in the gods. Unlike ''Pygmalion'', the opera still insists on divine intervention to give life, again via
Eros
In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...
, who intervenes to rescue her and bring her back to life after Orpheus turns around and condemns her back to death. Even so, ''Orfeo'' and ''Pygmalion'' both demonstrate the 1760s theme of an apparent failure by overturning an artist's success, which arose again around the time of
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
and then held sway until the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(it can also be seen in Strauss's ''
Also sprach Zarathustra
', Op. 30 (, ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' or ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'') is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical 1883–1885 novel ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra''.[Carl Dahlhaus
Carl Dahlhaus (10 June 1928 – 13 March 1989) was a German musicologist who was among the leading postwar musicologists of the mid to late 20th-century. A prolific scholar, he had broad interests though his research focused on 19th- and 20th ...]
,
Sieghart Döhring (ed.): ''Pipers Enzyklopädie des Musiktheaters'', vol. 5, Munich: Piper 1994, pp. 464f.
*Milovan Stanic, "Pygmalion révolutionnaire", in: ''Revue d’esthétique'', 17:1990, pp. 79–96.
{{Authority control
1762 operas
1762 plays
French-language operas
Operas
French plays
Melodramas
Monodrama
Operas based on classical mythology
Plays based on Metamorphoses
Works by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Operas based on Metamorphoses
Works based on Pygmalion from Ovid's Metamorphoses