Portrait of Jean-Philippe Rameau - Joseph Aved

''Les fêtes de Polymnie'' (''The Festivals of

Polyhymnia Polyhymnia (; ), alternatively Polymnia (Πολύμνια), is, in Greek mythology, the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance and eloquence, as well as agriculture and pantomime. Etymology Polyhymnia name comes from the Greek words "poly" ...

'') is an ''

opéra-ballet Opéra-ballet (; plural: ''opéras-ballets'') is a genre of French Baroque lyric theatre that was most popular during the 18th century, combining elements of opera and ballet, "that grew out of the '' ballets à entrées'' of the early seventeen ...

'' in three ''entrées'' and a prologue by

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...

. The work was first performed on 12 October 1745 at the Opéra,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and is set to a libretto by

Louis de Cahusac Louis de Cahusac (6 April 1706 – 22 June 1759) was an 18th-century French playwright and librettist, and Freemason, most famous for his work with the composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. He provided the libretti for several of Rameau's operas, namely ...

. The piece was written to celebrate the French victory at the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then in the Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Maurice, comte de Saxe, Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Ar ...

in the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

. It was revived at the same venue on 21 August 1753. Neither

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 Arm ...

nor Graham Sadler (in the ''New Penguin Guide'') consider this among Rameau's finest works, though both remark on the originality of its

overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...

, which breaks the traditional Lullian mould common to French overtures up to that time.

Roles

Information taken from the site Rameau2014.fr.Les fêtes de Polymnie: Réprésentations
/ref>

Synopsis

The prologue, ''Le temple de Mémoire'' ("The Temple of Memory"), describes the victory of Fontenoy in

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

fashion. The first ''entrée'' is entitled ''La fable'' (''Legend'') and depicts the marriage of

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

and Hebe, the goddess of youth. The second ''entrée'', ''L'histoire'' ("History"), tells the story of the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

king of

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Seleucus I Nicator Seleucus I Nicator (; Ancient Greek, Greek: Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, ''Séleukos Nikátōr'', "Seleucus the Victorious"; ) was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general, officer and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to fo ...

, who gives up his fiancée Stratonice when he learns his son

Antiochus I Soter Antiochus I Soter (, ''Antíochos Sōtér''; "Antiochus Soter, the Savior"; 2 June 261 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek king of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus succeeded his father Seleucus I Nicator in 281 BC and reigned during a period of instabi ...

is passionately in love with her (this tale was also the subject of a later 18th century French opera,

Étienne Méhul Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 22 June 1763 – 18 October 1817) was a French composer of the late Classical period (music), classical and early Romantic period (music), romantic periods. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France ...

's '' Stratonice''). The third and final ''entrée'' is called ''La féerie'' ("Fairy tale") and is set in the Middle East. Through her love for him, Argélie redeems Zimès from the power of the evil fairy Alcine.

Recording

*''Les fêtes de Polymnie''

Véronique Gens Véronique Gens (born 19 April 1966) is a French operatic soprano. She has spent much of her career recording and performing Baroque music, Baroque music. Gens was born in Orléans, France, and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning fir ...

, Emöke Baráth, Aurélia Legay, Mathias Vidal, Thomas Dolié, Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra conducted by

György Vashegyi György Vashegyi (born 13 April 1970 in Budapest) is a Hungarian harpsichordist and conductor. He founded the Purcell Choir in 1990 for a performance of ''Dido and Aeneas''. From November 2017 he was elected president of the Hungarian Academy of A ...

(2 CDs, Glossa 2015)

References

Sources

* *Holden, Amanda (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. *Girdlestone, Cuthbert, ''Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work'' (Dover paperback edition, 1969) *Sadler, Graham, (Ed.), ''The New Grove French Baroque Masters'' Grove/Macmillan, 1988

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fetes de Polymnie, Les Operas by Jean-Philippe Rameau French-language operas Operas 1745 operas Opéras-ballets Ballets by Jean-Philippe Rameau Ballets by Louis de Cahusac Opera world premieres at the Paris Opera Libretti by Louis de Cahusac