''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 this genre are usually based on stories from
classical mythology or the Italian romantic epics of
Tasso and
Ariosto. The stories may not necessarily have a tragic ending – in fact, most do not – but the works' atmospheres are suffused throughout with an affect of nobility and stateliness. The standard ''tragédie en musique'' has five acts. Early works in the genre were preceded by an allegorical prologue and, during the lifetime of
Louis XIV, these generally celebrated the king's noble qualities and his prowess in war. Each of the five acts usually follows a basic pattern, opening with an aria in which one of the main characters expresses their feelings, followed by dialogue in recitative interspersed with short arias (''petits airs''), in which the main business of the plot occurs. Each act traditionally ends with a ''divertissement'', offering great opportunities for the chorus and the ballet troupe. Composers sometimes changed the order of these features in an act for dramatic reasons.
Notable examples of the genre
Apart from Lully, the most considerable writer of ''tragédies en musique'' is
Rameau, whose five works in the form are considered the culminating masterpieces of the genre. The ''Viking Opera Guide'' refers to
Marc-Antoine Charpentier's ''tragédie'' ''
Médée'' as "arguably the finest French opera of the seventeenth century". In the eighteenth century,
Jean-Marie Leclair's lone ''tragédie
Scylla et Glaucus'' has been similarly praised. Other highly esteemed exponents are
André Campra (''
Tancrède'', ''
Idoménée''),
Marin Marais (''
Alcyone'', Sémélé) and
Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (''
Jephté'').
List of works in this genre
Jean-Baptiste Lully
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Cadmus et Hermione'' (1673)
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Alceste'' (1674)
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Thésée'' (1675)
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Atys'' (1676)
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Isis'' (1677)
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Psyché'' (1678)
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Bellérophon'' (1679)
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Proserpine'' (1680)
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Persée'' (1682)
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Phaëthon'' (1683)
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Amadis'' (1684)
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Roland'' (1685)
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Armide'' (1686)
*''
Achille et Polyxène'' (1687, completed by
Pascal Collasse)
Works by Lully's sons
*''
Orphée'' (1690) (by Louis and Jean-Baptiste the Younger)
*''
Alcide'' (by Louis Lully and Marin Marais)
Paolo Lorenzani
*''
Oronthée'' (1688)
Pascal Collasse
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Thétis et Pélée'' (1689)
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Énée et Lavinie'' (1691)
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Astrée'' (1691)
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Jason, ou La toison d'or'' (1696)
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Canente'' (1700)
*''
Polyxène et Pirrhus'' (1706)
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
*''
David et Jonathas'' (1688)
*''Celse martyr'' (1687, lost)
*''Philomèle'' (lost)
*''Artaxerse'' (lost)
*''
Médée'' (1693)
Henri Desmarets
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Didon'' (1693)
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Circé'' (1694)
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Théagène et Chariclée'' (1695)
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Vénus et Adonis'' (1697)
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Iphigénie en Tauride'' (1704, completed by
Campra)
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Renaud ou la suite d'Armide'' (1722)
Marin Marais
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Alcide'' (1693) (with Lully's son, Louis)
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Ariane et Bacchus'' (1696)
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Alcyone'' (1706)
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Sémélé'' (1709)
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre
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Céphale et Procris'' (1694)
Charles-Hubert Gervais
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Méduse'' (1697)
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Hypermnestre'' (1716)
André Cardinal Destouches
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Amadis de Grèce'' (1699)
* ''
Marthésie, reine des Amazones'' (1699)
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Omphale'' (1701)
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Callirhoé'' (1712)
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Télémaque'' (or ''Télémaque et Calypso'') (1714)
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Sémiramis'' (1718)
André Campra
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Hésione'' (1700)
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Tancrède'' (1702)
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Télémaque'' (1704)
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Alcine'' (1705)
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Hippodamie'' (1708)
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Idoménée'' (1712)
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Télèphe'' (1713)
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Camille, reine des volsques'' (1717)
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Achille et Déidamie'' (1735)
Theobaldo di Gatti
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Scylla'' (1701)
Jean-Féry Rebel
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Ulysse'' (1703)
François Bouvard
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Médus, roi des Mèdes'' (1702)
Louis Lacoste
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Philomèle'' (1705)
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Bradamante'' (1707)
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Créuse l'athénienne'' (1712)
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Télégone'' (1725)
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Orion'' (1728)
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Biblis'' (1732)
Toussaint Bertin de la Doué
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Cassandre'' (1706) (with François Bouvard)
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Diomède'' (1710)
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Ajax'' (1712)
Jean-Baptiste Stuck
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Méléagre'' (1709)
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Manto la fée'' (1711)
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Polydore'' (1720)
Joseph François Salomon
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Médée et Jason'' (1713)
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Théonoé'' (1715)
Jean-Baptiste Matho
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Arion'' (1714)
Jean-Joseph Mouret
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Ariane'' (1717)
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Pirithoüs'' (1723)
François Francoeur and François Rebel
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Pirame et Thisbé'' (1726)
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Tarsis et Zélie'' (1728)
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Scanderberg'' (1735)
Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer
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Pyrrhus'' (1730)
Michel Pignolet de Montéclair
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Jephté'' (1732)
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 ...
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Hippolyte et Aricie'' (1733)
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Castor et Pollux'' (1737)
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Dardanus'' (1739)
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Zoroastre'' (1749)
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Les Boréades'' (1764)
Charles-Louis Mion
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Nitétis'' (1741)
François Colin de Blamont
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Jupiter vainqueur des Titans'' (1745) (with
Bernard de Bury)
Jean-Marie Leclair
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Scylla et Glaucus'' (1746)
Marquis de Brassac
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Léandre et Héro'' (1750)
Antoine Dauvergne
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Énée et Lavinie'' (1758)
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Canente'' (1760)
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Hercule mourant'' (1761)
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Polixène'' (1763)
Jean-Benjamin de La Borde
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Ismène et Isménias'' (1763)
Jean-Joseph de Mondonville
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Thésée'' (1765)
Christoph Willibald Gluck
*
Armide (Gluck) (1777)
Johann Christian Bach
*
Amadis de Gaule (J. C. Bach) (1779)
Luigi Cherubini
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Démophoon (1788)
*
Les Abencérages, ou L'étendard de Grenade ( 1813)
*
Ali Baba, ou Les quarante voleurs (1833)
Gaspare Spontini
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La vestale (Spotini) (1807)
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Fernand Cortez, ou La conquête du Mexique (Spotini) (1809)
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Olimpie (Spotini) (1819)
Gioachino Rossini
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Le siège de Corinthe (Rossini) (1826)
References
*Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', 782 pages,
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tragedie en musique
Opera genres
Opera terminology
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