Pascal Collasse (or Colasse) (22 January 1649 (

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

) – 17 July 1709) was a French composer of the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

era. Born in

Rheims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, Collasse became a disciple of

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...

during the latter's domination of the French operatic stage. When Lully died in 1687 leaving his

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 i ...

'' Achille et Polyxène'' unfinished, Collasse completed the last four acts of the score. He went on to produce around a dozen operas and ballets, as well as sacred music, including settings of the ''Cantiques spirituels'' of

Jean Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 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 tr ...

. His plan to establish his own opera house in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

ended in failure when the theatre burnt down. He dabbled in

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

with even less success. His musical style is close to that of Lully.

Works

* '' Achille et Polyxène'', tragédie lyrique, (overture and first act by Jean-Baptiste Lully) 1687 * '' Thétis et Pélée'', tragédie lyrique, 1689 * ''Sigalion ou le secret'', ballet (collège Louis-le-Grand), 1689 * '' Énée et Lavinie'', tragédie lyrique, 1690 * '' Astrée'', tragédie lyrique, 1691 * ''Le Ballet de Villeneuve-Saint-Georges'', ballet, 1692 * ''Les saisons'',

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 ...

, 1695 * ''La naissance de Vénus'', 1696 * '' Jason ou La toison d’or'', tragédie lyrique, 1696 * '' Canente'', tragédie lyrique, 1700 * '' Polyxène et Pirrhus'', tragédie lyrique, 1706

Sources

*''The Viking Opera Guide''

External links

Le magazine de l'opéra baroque by Jean-Claude Brenac (in French)
*
Musical Manuscripts Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collasse, Pascal 1649 births 1709 deaths French Baroque composers French opera composers French ballet composers French male opera composers Musicians from Reims 17th-century French male musicians