Louis de Cahusac (6 April 1706 – 22 June 1759) was an 18th-century French playwright and

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

, and Freemason, most famous for his work with the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. He provided the libretti for several of Rameau's operas, namely '' Les fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour'' (1747), ''

Zaïs ''Zaïs'' is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 29 February 1748 at the Opéra in Paris. It takes the form of a ''pastorale héroïque'' in four acts and a prologue. The librettist was Louis de Cahusac. The score is particularly ...

'' (1748), '' Naïs'' (1749), ''

Zoroastre ''Zoroastre'' (''Zoroaster'') is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 5 December 1749 by the Opéra in the first Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris. The libretto is by Louis de Cahusac. ''Zoroastre'' was the fourth of Rameau's '' tra ...

'' (1749; revised 1756), '' La naissance d'Osiris'' (1754), and '' Anacréon'' (the first of Rameau's operas by that name, 1754). He is also credited with writing the libretto of Rameau's final work, ''

Les Boréades ''Les Boréades'' is a ''tragédie lyrique mise en musique'', or a lyric tragedy put into music, a type of opera, in five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). It is the last of his five such works. The libretto, attributed to Louis de Cahus ...

'' (c. 1763). Cahusac contributed to the

Encyclopédie ''Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' (English: ''Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts''), better known as ''Encyclopédie'', was a general encyclopedia publis ...

and was the lover of

Marie Fel Marie Fel (24 October 1713 – 2 February 1794) was a French opera singer and a daughter of the organist Henri Fel. Marie Fel was born at Bordeaux. She made her debut at the Paris Opera in 1733 and sang regularly at the Concert Spirituel. In a ...

Maurice Cranston __NOTOC__ Maurice William Cranston (8 May 1920 – 5 November 1993) was a British philosopher, professor and author. He served for many years as Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics, and was also known for his pop ...

. '' Jean-Jacques: The Early Life and Work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712–1754''. p
252
In 1754, he published '' La Danse ancienne et moderne ou Traité historique de la danse'' (The Hague, Jean Neaulme). Among Rameau's librettists, he was the one whose collaboration lasted the longest. Cahusac's one-act comic play ''Zeneïde'' was performed in 1743. He was part of the circle of the art collector Comte de Caylus and the actress

Marie-Anne-Catherine Quinault Marie-Anne-Catherine Quinault (26 August 1695 – 1793) (known as Mademoiselle Quinault , the elder) was a French singer and composer. Quinault was born in Strasbourg. Her father was the actor (1656–1728), and one of her brothers was Jean-Ba ...

. In their 1745 collection ''Le Recueil de ces Messieurs'' (The Collection of these Gentlemen), the story "Double Jeu" was penned by Cahusac. Under the title "Double Game," it is available in an English translation b
Kate Deimling
published by Obscure Publications and available a
Indiana State University's website

Sources

Cuthbert Girdlestone Cuthbert Morton Girdlestone (17 September 1895 – 10 December 1975) was a British musicologist and literary scholar. Born in Bovey Tracey, Devon, he was educated at Cambridge and the Sorbonne, and thereafter took up the chair in French in Ar ...

''Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work'' (Dover paperback edition, 1969) *''The New Grove French Baroque Masters'' ed. Graham Sadler (Grove/Macmillan, 1988)

References

External links

Louis de Cahusac
on Data.bnf.fr People from Montauban 1706 births 1759 deaths 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772) French male dramatists and playwrights French ballet librettists French opera librettists French male non-fiction writers 18th-century French male writers {{Opera-bio-stub