French lyric tragedy
Encyclopedia
Tragédie en musique also known as tragédie lyrique, 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 have a tragic ending - in fact, they generally don't - but the atmosphere must be noble and elevated. The standard tragédie en musique has five acts. Earlier 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.
'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
) and Michel Pignolet de Montéclair
(Jephté
).
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Pascal Collasse
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Henri Desmarets
Marin Marais
André Cardinal Destouches
André Campra
Louis de La Coste
Toussaint Bertin de la Doué
Jean-Baptiste Stuck
Jean-Joseph Mouret
François Francoeur
Jean-Philippe Rameau
François Colin de Blamont
French Opera
French opera is one of Europe's most important operatic traditions, containing works by composers of the stature of Rameau, Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Poulenc and Olivier Messiaen...
introduced by Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
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
Classical mythology
Classical mythology or Greco-Roman mythology is the cultural reception of myths from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Along with philosophy and political thought, mythology represents one of the major survivals of classical antiquity throughout later Western culture.Classical mythology has provided...
or the Italian romantic epics of Tasso
Tasso
-People:*Torquato Tasso, the famous Italian 16th-century poet, author of Gerusalemme liberata**Tasso, Lament and Triumph, a symphonic poem by Franz Liszt based on the poet*Bernardo Tasso, his father, also a poet...
and Ariosto. The stories may not have a tragic ending - in fact, they generally don't - but the atmosphere must be noble and elevated. The standard tragédie en musique has five acts. Earlier 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 CharpentierMarc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
's tragédie Médée
Médée (Charpentier)
Médée is a tragédie mise en musique in five acts and a prologue by Marc-Antoine Charpentier to a French libretto by Thomas Corneille. It was premiered in Paris on December 4, 1693. Médée is the only opera Charpentier wrote for the Académie Royale de Musique...
as "arguably the finest French opera of the seventeenth century". In the eighteenth century, Jean-Marie Leclair
Jean-Marie Leclair
Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné, also known as Jean-Marie Leclair the Elder, was a Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school...
's lone tragédie Scylla et Glaucus
Scylla et Glaucus
Scylla et Glaucus is a tragédie en musique with a prologue and five acts, the only full-length opera by Jean-Marie Leclair. The libretto by d'Albaret is based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, books 10, 13 and 14.-Performance history:...
has been similarly praised. Other highly esteemed exponents are André Campra
André Campra
André Campra was a French composer and conductor.Campra was one of the leading French opera composers in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He wrote several tragédies en musique, but his chief claim to fame is as the creator of a new genre, opéra-ballet...
(Tancrède
Tancrède
Tancrède is a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by composer André Campra and librettist Antoine Danchet, based on Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso....
, Idoménée
Idoménée
Idoménée is an opera by the French composer André Campra. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts. Idoménée was first performed at the Académie royale de musique on 12 January 1712. The libretto, by Antoine Danchet, is based on a stage play by Crébillon père...
), Marin Marais
Marin Marais
Marin Marais was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for 6 months. He was hired as a musician in 1676 to the royal court of Versailles...
(Alcyone
Alcyone (opera)
Alcyone is an opera by the French composer Marin Marais. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts. The libretto, by Antoine Houdar de la Motte, is based on the Greek myth of Ceyx and Alcyone as recounted by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. The opera was first performed at...
) and Michel Pignolet de Montéclair
Michel Montéclair
Michel Pignolet de Montéclair was a French composer of the baroque period.He was born Michel Pignolet in Andelot, Haute-Marne, France, and only later added "Montéclair" to his name. Little is known of his life, and there are no known portraits...
(Jephté
Jephté
Jephté is an opera by the French composer Michel Pignolet de Montéclair. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts . The libretto, by the Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on the Biblical story of Jephtha...
).
Jean-Baptiste LullyJean-Baptiste LullyJean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
- Cadmus et HermioneCadmus et HermioneCadmus et Hermione is a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The French-language libretto is by Philippe Quinault, after Ovid’s Metamorphoses. It was first performed on April 27, 1673, by the Paris Opera at the Jeu de Béquet.The prologue, in praise of King Louis...
(1673) - AlcesteAlceste (Lully)Alceste, ou Le triomphe d’Alcide is a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The French-language libretto is by Philippe Quinault, after Euripides’ Alcestis...
(1674) - ThéséeThéséeThésée is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault based on Ovid's Metamorphoses first performed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 11 January 1675.-Roles:-Synopsis:...
(1675) - AtysAtys (Lully)Atys is a tragédie en musique in a prelude and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully to a French-language libretto by Philippe Quinault based on Ovid's Fasti. It was premiered at the royal court in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, January 10, 1676...
(1676) - IsisIsis (Lully)Isis is an opera by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The librettist is Lully's frequent collaborator, Philippe Quinault, and like most of Lully's operas, it is a tragédie lyrique. It premièred January 5, 1677 at the court of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and was first published in 1719.The story of the opera centers...
(1677) - PsychéPsychéPsyché is an opera in a prologue and five acts composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully to a libretto by Thomas Corneille adapted from Molière's original play for which Lully had composed the intermèdes...
(1678) - BellérophonBellérophonBellérophon is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Thomas Corneille and Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle first performed by the Opéra at the Palais Royal in Paris on 31 January 1679....
(1679) - ProserpineProserpine (Lully)Proserpine is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault first performed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 3 February 1680.-Roles:-Synopsis:...
(1680) - PerséePerséePersée is a tragédie lyrique with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault, first performed in 1682 at the Paris Opéra.-Roles:-Synopsis:...
(1682) - Phaëthon (1683)
- AmadisAmadis (Lully)Amadis or Amadis de Gaule is a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully to a libretto by Philippe Quinault based on Nicolas Herberay des Essarts' adaptation of Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo's Amadis de Gaula. It was premiered at the Paris Opéra January 18, 1684...
(1684) - RolandRoland (Lully)Roland is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault first performed at Versailles on January 8, 1685. The story is derived from Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso...
(1685) - ArmideArmide (Lully)Armide is an opera by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The libretto was written by Philippe Quinault, based on Torquato Tasso's La Gerusalemme liberata .Critics in the 18th century regarded Armide as Lully's masterpiece...
(1686) - Achille et PolyxèneAchille et PolyxèneAchille et Polyxène is a tragédie lyrique containing a prologue and five acts based on Virgil's Aeneid with a French libretto by Jean Galbert de Campistron. The opera's overture and first act were composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, who died from a conducting injury before he could complete the score...
(1687, completed by Pascal CollassePascal CollassePascal Collasse was a French composer of the Baroque era. Born in Rheims, Collasse became a disciple of Jean-Baptiste Lully during the latter's domination of the French operatic stage...
)
Works by Lully's sons
- Orontée (1688) (by Jean-Louis Lully and Paolo Francesco LorenzaniPaolo LorenzaniPaolo Francesco Lorenzani was an Italian composer of the Baroque Era. While living in France, he helped promote appreciation for the Italian style of music....
) - Orphée (1690) (by Louis and Jean-Baptiste the Younger)
- Alcide (by Louis Lully and Marin Marais)
Pascal CollassePascal CollassePascal Collasse was a French composer of the Baroque era. Born in Rheims, Collasse became a disciple of Jean-Baptiste Lully during the latter's domination of the French operatic stage...
- Thétis et Pelée (1689)
- Énée et Lavinie (1691)
- Astrée (1691)
- Jason, ou la toison d'or (1696)
- Canente (1700)
- Polyxène et Pirrhus (1706)
Marc-Antoine CharpentierMarc-Antoine CharpentierMarc-Antoine Charpentier, , was a French composer of the Baroque era.Exceptionally prolific and versatile, he produced compositions of the highest quality in several genres...
- David et JonathasDavid et JonathasDavid et Jonathas , H. 490, is an opera in five acts and a prologue by the French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, first performed at the Collège Louis-le-Grand, Paris, on 28 February 1688. The libretto, by Father François Bretonneau S.J., is based on the Old Testament story of the...
(1688) - MédéeMédée (Charpentier)Médée is a tragédie mise en musique in five acts and a prologue by Marc-Antoine Charpentier to a French libretto by Thomas Corneille. It was premiered in Paris on December 4, 1693. Médée is the only opera Charpentier wrote for the Académie Royale de Musique...
(1693)
Henri DesmaretsHenri DesmaretsHenri Desmarets was a French composer of the Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumental works....
- DidonDidon (Desmarets)Didon is a tragédie en musique or opera in 1 prologue and 5 Acts by composer Henri Desmarets. The work uses a French language libretto by Louise-Geneviève Gillot de Saintonge...
(1693) - CircéCirceIn Greek mythology, Circe is a minor goddess of magic , described in Homer's Odyssey as "The loveliest of all immortals", living on the island of Aeaea, famous for her part in the adventures of Odysseus.By most accounts, Circe was the daughter of Helios, the god of the sun, and Perse, an Oceanid...
(1694) - Théagène et Chariclée (1695)
- Vénus et AdonisVénus et AdonisVénus et Adonis is an opera in a prologue and 5 acts composed by Henri Desmarets to a libretto by Jean-Baptiste Rousseau. Based on the story of Venus and Adonis in Book X of Ovid's Metamorphoses, it was first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique in Paris on 28 July 1697 with Marie Le...
(1697) - Iphigénie en TaurideIphigénie en Tauride (Campra)Iphigénie en Tauride is an opera by the French composers Henri Desmarets and André Campra. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts. The libretto is by Joseph-François Duché de Vancy with additions by Antoine Danchet...
(1704, completed by CampraAndré CampraAndré Campra was a French composer and conductor.Campra was one of the leading French opera composers in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He wrote several tragédies en musique, but his chief claim to fame is as the creator of a new genre, opéra-ballet...
) - Renaud ou la suite d'Armide (1722)
Marin MaraisMarin MaraisMarin Marais was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for 6 months. He was hired as a musician in 1676 to the royal court of Versailles...
- Alcide (1693) (with Lully's son, Louis)
- Ariane et Bacchus (1696)
- AlcyoneAlcyone (opera)Alcyone is an opera by the French composer Marin Marais. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts. The libretto, by Antoine Houdar de la Motte, is based on the Greek myth of Ceyx and Alcyone as recounted by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. The opera was first performed at...
(1706) - SéméléSéméléSémélé is an opera by Marin Marais first performed on April 9, 1709 by the Paris Opera at the Palais-Royal. The opera is in the form of a tragédie en musique with five acts and a prologue....
(1709)
André Cardinal DestouchesAndré Cardinal DestouchesAndré Cardinal Destouches was a French composer best known for the opéra-ballet Les élémens....
- Amadis de Grèce (1699)
- Marthésie, reine des Amazones (1699)
- Omphale (1701)
- CallirhoéCallirhoéCallirhoé is an opera by the French composer André Cardinal Destouches. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts. The libretto, by Pierre-Charles Roy, is based on a story from The Description of Greece by Pausanias . The opera was first performed at the Académie royale...
(1712) - Télémaque et Calypso (1714)
- Sémiramis (1718)
André CampraAndré CampraAndré Campra was a French composer and conductor.Campra was one of the leading French opera composers in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He wrote several tragédies en musique, but his chief claim to fame is as the creator of a new genre, opéra-ballet...
- HésioneHésioneHésione is an opera by the French composer André Campra. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts. The libretto, by Antoine Danchet, is based on the Greek myth of Hesione and Laomedon....
(1700) - TancrèdeTancrèdeTancrède is a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts by composer André Campra and librettist Antoine Danchet, based on Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso....
(1702) - Télémaque (1704)
- AlcineAlcineAlcine is an opera by the French composer André Campra. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts...
(1705) - Hippodamie (1708)
- IdoménéeIdoménéeIdoménée is an opera by the French composer André Campra. It takes the form of a tragédie en musique in a prologue and five acts. Idoménée was first performed at the Académie royale de musique on 12 January 1712. The libretto, by Antoine Danchet, is based on a stage play by Crébillon père...
(1712) - Télèphe (1713)
- Camille, Reine des Volsques (1717)
- Achille et Déidamie (1735)
Louis de La CosteLouis de La CosteLouis de La Coste was a French composer of the Baroque era. He was a singer then chorus master and leader of the orchestra at the Paris Opéra...
- Philomèle (1705)
- Bradamante (1707)
- Créuse l'Athénienne (1712)
- Télégone (1725)
- Orion (1728)
- Byblis (1732)
Toussaint Bertin de la DouéToussaint Bertin de la DouéToussaint Bertin de la Doué was a French composer of the Baroque era. He worked as an organist for the Theatines, as a musician for the Duc d'Orléans and as a violinist and harpsichordist at the Paris Opéra...
- Cassandre (1706) (with François Bouvard)
- Diomède (1710)
- Ajax (1712)
Jean-Baptiste StuckJean-Baptiste StuckJean-Baptiste Stuck or "Batistin" was an Italian-French composer and cellist of the Baroque.Little is known of Stuck's early years. He was born at Livorno, came from a merchant family, and was the son of Giovanni-Giacomo Stuck and Barbera Hellerbeck. From 1702 he was in the service of Countess...
- Méléagre (1709)
- Manto la fée (1711)
- Polydore (1720)
Jean-Joseph MouretJean-Joseph MouretJean-Joseph Mouret was a French composer whose dramatic works made him one of the leading exponents of Baroque music in his country...
- Ariane (1717)
- Pirithoüs (1723)
François FrancoeurFrançois FrancoeurFrançois Francœur was a French composer and violinist.-Biography:He was born in Paris, the son of Joseph Francœur, a basse de violon player and member of the 24 violons du roy. Francœur was instructed in music by his father and joined the Académie Royale de Musique as a violinist at age 15...
and François RebelFrançois RebelFrançois Rebel was a French composer of the Baroque era. Born in Paris, the son of the leading composer Jean-Féry Rebel, he was a child prodigy who became a violinist in the orchestra of the Paris Opera at the age of 13...
- Pirame et Thisbé (1726)
- Tarsis et Zélie (1728)
- Scanderberg (1735)
Jean-Philippe RameauJean-Philippe RameauJean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
- Hippolyte et AricieHippolyte et AricieHippolyte et Aricie was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, which opened to great controversy at the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris on October 1, 1733. The libretto, by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre. The opera takes the traditional form of a tragédie en...
(1733) - Castor et PolluxCastor et PolluxCastor et Pollux is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 24 October 1737 at the Académie royale de musique in Paris. The librettist was Pierre-Joseph-Justin Bernard, whose reputation as a salon poet it made. This was the third opera by Rameau and his second in the form of the...
(1737) - DardanusDardanusIn Greek mythology, Dardanus was a son of Zeus and Electra, daughter of Atlas, and founder of the city of Dardania on Mount Ida in the Troad....
(1739) - ZoroastreZoroastreZoroastre is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 5 December 1749 at the Opéra in Paris. The libretto is by Louis de Cahusac. Zoroastre was the fourth of Rameau's tragédies en musique to be staged and the last to appear during the composer's own lifetime...
(1749) - Les BoréadesLes BoréadesLes Boréades or Abaris is an opera in five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was the last of Rameau's five tragédies en musique...
(1764)
François Colin de BlamontFrançois Colin de BlamontFrançois Colin de Blamont was a French composer of the Baroque era.Born at Versailles as François Colin, he served as a royal musician and was eventually ennobled in 1750, his surname becoming Colin de Blamont. He was the protegé of Michel-Richard de Lalande and succeeded the latter as Master of...
- Jupiter, Vainqueur des Titans (1745) (with Bernard de BuryBernard de BuryBernard de Bury or Buri was a French musician and court composer of the late Baroque era.-Biography:...
)