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Armide

Description: Armide, which premiered at the Paris Opéra February 15, 1686, was the last tragédie lyrique on which Jean-Baptiste Lully collaborated with his favorite librettist, Philippe Quinault. Quinault retired from the stage after Armide, and Lully died a year later on March 22, 1687. From its first performance, Armide was considered their masterpiece. Armide is unusual among Lully and Quinault's tragédies lyriques in that it concentrates on the psychological development of a single character; the refl… more
Date: 1686~
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Amadis; tragedie, mise en musique

Description: The premiere of Amadis was delayed for a year after Lully completed its composition in order to allow the proper mourning period for Marie Thérese, wife of Louis XIV, who died in July of 1683. While still abstaining from theater at court, Louis XIV at last allowed the first public presentation of Amadis at the Opéra in Paris on 18 January 1684. It was an immediate public success.
Date: 1684
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Le triomphe de l'amour : ballet royal

Description: Le Triomphe de l'Amour, a ballet de cour created by composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and librettists Isaac de Benserade and Philippe Quinault, was danced for the first time at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on January 21, 1681. Several setbacks, including the illness of the dauphin and the reluctance of court ladies to attend the ballet, postponed its premiere for nearly three months. Benserade, one of the creators of the ballet de cour, was drawn out of retirement to create verses in celebration of the dau… more
Date: 1681
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687; Benserade, Isaac de, 1613-1691 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Le triomphe de l'amour

Description: Le Triomphe de l'Amour, a ballet de cour created by composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and librettists Isaac de Benserade and Philippe Quinault, was danced for the first time at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on January 21, 1681. Several setbacks, including the illness of the dauphin and the reluctance of court ladies to attend the ballet, postponed its premiere for nearly three months. Benserade, one of the creators of the ballet de cour, was drawn out of retirement to create verses in celebration of the dau… more
Date: 1681~
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687
Partner: UNT Music Library

Phaëton : tragédie mise en musique

Description: Like many of the operas created by composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault, his favorite librettist, Phaëton is filled with solar symbolism--a reference to the "Sun King," Louis XIV. The story also provides a political lesson: the haughty youth unable to contend with his position of power served as a warning to anyone brash enough to challenge the rigid mores of Louis' court. In addition to this political interpretation, the story is also a character study of a reckless juvenile whos… more
Date: 1683
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Zéphire et Flore; opéra en musique

Description: Zephire et Flore, the only opera attributed to Louis and Jean-Louis Lully, sons of Jean-Baptiste Lully, sets a libretto by Michel Du Boullay based on episodes from Greek mythology. It was performed for the first time 22 March 1688 at the Palais Royale in Paris. There is no record of a court performance, and it was revived only once, in June of 1715, with revisions by Destouches. We know of no modern performances, nor recordings of the opera in whole or in part.
Date: 1688
Creator: Lully, Louis de, 1664-1734 & Duboullay, Michel
Partner: UNT Music Library

Armide : tragedie mise en musique

Description: Armide, which premiered at the Paris Opéra February 15, 1686, was the last tragédie lyrique on which Jean-Baptiste Lully collaborated with his favorite librettist, Philippe Quinault. Quinault retired from the stage after Armide, and Lully died a year later on March 22, 1687. From its first performance, Armide was considered their masterpiece. Armide is unusual among Lully and Quinault's tragédies lyriques in that it concentrates on the psychological development of a single character; the refl… more
Date: 1686
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Proserpine; tragedie

Description: With Proserpine, composer Jean-Baptiste Lully returned to his collaboration with librettist Philippe Quinault, which had been interrupted when the poet was banned from Court for offending Madame de Montespan (the king's mistress) with unflattering references in Isis. By 1679, Quinault had been restored to favor. Proserpine was first performed at St. Germain-en-Laye in February of 1680. Though seventeenth-century audiences were familiar with the story of Proserpine being carried off into Hades f… more
Date: 1680
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Roland; tragédie mise en musique

Description: Roland is one of three operas by composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and librettist Philippe Quinault based on the medieval legends of chivalry (the other two are Amadis and Armide). Roland sets episodes from Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso. And, like its sibling Armide, Roland centers on the conflict between duty and love. Acts I-III portray this conflict within Angélique, Queen of Cathay, while the remaining acts concern Roland's unrequited love for Angélique, which is resolved only when the godd… more
Date: 1685
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Ballet du Temple de la paix

Description: The elements that make up the Jean-Baptiste Lully's Ballet du Temple de la Paix have some parallels to the plot of Roland, which premiered in the same year. Both celebrate the expanding influence of France and Louis XIV through the introduction of exotic characters. The flexibility of the ballet de cour format, which was more a progression of loosely related scenes and spectacles than an organized plot, allowed librettist Philippe Quinault more freedom in his elaboration of that theme.
Date: 1685
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Thesée; tragedie, mise en musique

Description: Thesée, which premiered at the court theater at St. Germain-en-laye on January 11, 1675, was Jean-Baptiste Lully's third tragédie lyrique created in collaboration with librettist Philippe Quinault. As in most of his libretti for Lully, Quinault combines a plot based on a classical source (an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses) with references to contemporary events. The Prologue alludes to Louis XIV's personal leadership in the military engagements in the Alsace (along the French/German border).… more
Date: 1688
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Achille et Polixene, tragédie dont le prologue & les quatre derniers actes

Description: Achille et Polixene, Jean-Baptiste Lully's last opera, premiered on 7 November 1687, eight months after Lully's death on March 22 of that year. Since the composer had only finished the overture and first act, the score was completed by Pascal Colasse, Lully's secretary and student, to a text by Jean Galbert de Campistron based on events in Virgil's Aeneid.
Date: 1687
Creator: Collasse, Pascal, 1649-1709; Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Campistron, Jean Galbert de, 1656-1723
Partner: UNT Music Library

Forza del sangue, e della pietà; drama per musica

Description: 1686 libretto for Giuseppe Fabrini's opera La forza del sangue, e della pietà. The music for all of Giuseppe Fabrini’s operas, including La forza del sangue e della pietà, is lost. However, the libretti by Gerolamo Gigli, have been preserved for these dramas that were performed at the Collegio Tolomei in Siena. La forza del sangue e della pietà translates as “The Force of Blood and Pity.”
Date: 1686
Creator: Fabrini, Giuseppe & Gigli, Girolamo, 1660-1722
Partner: UNT Music Library

[Collection of Eleven Operas: Le triomphe de l'amour; Coronis: pastorale heroïque; Isis: tragedie en musique; Amadis: tragedie en musique; Phaeton: tragedie en musique; Proserpine: tragedie en musique; Zephire et Flore: opera; Thetis et Pelée: tragedie en musique; Enée et Lavinie: tragedie en musique; Astrée: tragedie; Roland: tragedie en musique]

Description: This book contains a collection of librettos for ballets, tragedies and opera staged for Louis XIV from ca. 1680-1691. The works reflect the collaboration of Jean-Baptiste Lully and dance masters and librettists in the court of Louis XIV. The following French dramatic works are included in the collection: Le triomphe de l'amour; Coronis; Isis; Amadis; Phaeton; Proserpine; Zephire et Flore; Thetis et Pelée; Enée et Lavinie; Astrée; and Roland.
Date: 1681
Creator: Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688; Benserade, Isaac de, 1613-1691; Beauchamp, Pierre, 1631-1705; Benserade, Isaac de, 1613-1691 & Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

La fede ne' tradimenti

Description: This is a 1689 copy of Girolamo Gigli's three-act libretto for the opera "La Fede ne' tradimenti," set to music by Giuseppe Fabbrini for the 1689 Carnival season at the Collegio Tolomei in Siena, Italy.
Date: 1689
Creator: Gigli, Girolamo, 1660-1722
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

La Geneviefa

Description: This is a ca. 1685 copy of the three-act libretto of "La Geneviefa" by Girolamo Gigli. The work was dedicated to Prince Francesco Maria of Toscana. The Sienese composer Giuseppe Fabbrini set the libretto to music for an opera staged at the theater of the Collegio Tolomei in Siena. Although the music of the opera is lost, the remark, "Il Sign. Giuseppe Fabrini, che ha data l'anima al verso con l'armonia della musica ..." in the preface of the libretto confirms Fabbrini's setting it to music. C… more
Date: 1685
Creator: Gigli, Girolamo, 1660-1722
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Proserpine, tragedie en musique

Description: This is a copy of the libretto of "Proserpine," a tragedy in five acts by Phillipe Quinault. The tragedy was set to music by Jean Baptiste Lully, superintendent chamber composer of the court of Louis XIV, and performed in the King's presence at Saint Germain-en-Laye on February, [3] 1680. The month and year of the opera premiere are indicated on the t.p., but the day of performance was left out with a blank space. The library's copy shows errors in pagination. The number of p. 25 was scribbl… more
Date: 1688
Creator: Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Amadis, tragedie en musique

Description: Libretto of the 1684 opera "Amadis," by Philippe Quinolt. The premiere of Amadis was delayed for a year after Lully completed its composition in order to allow the proper mourning period for Marie Thérese, wife of Louis XIV, who died in July of 1683. While still abstaining from theater at court, Louis XIV at last allowed the first public presentation of "Amadis" at the Opéra in Paris on 18 January 1684. It was an immediate public success. On the title page for this opera, there is a lithograph… more
Date: 1684
Creator: Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Le triomphe de l'amour

Description: Libretto of the ballet "Le triomphe de l'amour" written by Philippe Quinault in collaboration with Isaac de Benserade. It is divided in two parts. The first, contais the prologue and the ballet entrances (i.e., entrées); the second part contains flattering comments and instructions directed to the noble people participating in the ballet. Each of the entrées that comprise "Le Triomphe de l'Amour" reveal aspects of love triumphant. The theater represents a magnificently ornate place wher… more
Date: 1681
Creator: Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Phaeton

Description: Libretto of the opera "Phaeton," by Philippe Quinolt. The plot is based on an episode in Ovid's Metamorphoses. In the plot, Phaethon, son of Climène and Soleil [the Sun], is filled with excessive ambition and pride. He abandons his beloved, Théone, and requests to the King of Egypt the hand of his daughter Libie. Climène, who after consulting the sea god Proteus knows of the demise that her son's avarice will bring upon himself, tries in vain to discourage his ambition for the throne of Egypt a… more
Date: 1683
Creator: Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Proserpine

Description: Libretto of the opera "Proserpine," by Philippe Quinolt; the plot is based on the story of the abduction of Proserpine and her descent into Hades, and also on Ovid's Metamorphoses, its original source. In the plot, Cerés, the goddess of the earth, summons the nymph Aréthuse to guard her daughter Proserpine. Aréthuse protests, and tells Cerés of her love for Alphée, the river god, but the anxious mother warns her she should not let her own feelings interfere with the assigned task. Alphée assume… more
Date: 1680
Creator: Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Roland

Description: Libretto of the opera "Roland" by Philippe Quinault; he based the plot of Roland on medieval legends of chivalry, setting episodes from Ludovico Ariosto's epic poem "Orlando furioso." Roland centers on the conflict between duty and love and the intervention of goddesses. This copy includes includes handwritten annotations of performers' names, and a frontispiece engraving undersigned by Jean Dolivar (i.e., Juan Dolivar) that illustrates one of the scenes from the opera. Jean-Baptiste Lully co… more
Date: 1685
Creator: Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Thetis et Pelée

Description: Libretto of the opera "Thetis et Pelée" by Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle. In the plot, the Nereid Thetis is wooed by Jupiter and Neptune, as well as by a mortal, Pelée (Peleus). When a storm caused by Neptune disrupts a celebration Jupiter gave in honor of Thetis, an oracle is consulted, which foretells that Thetis's husband will one day be less powerful than his son. Neptune and Jupiter withdraw their claims, and Thetis marries Pelée. Pascal Collasse composed the music of the opera which pr… more
Date: 1689
Creator: Fontenelle, M. de (Bernard Le Bovier), 1657-1757
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Zephire et Flore

Description: This is a digital reproduction of the 1688 libretto of the opera "Zephire et Flore" by Michel Du Boullay. The music of the opera is attributed to Louis and Jean-Louis Lully, sons of Jean-Baptiste Lully. It was performed for the first time on March 22, 1688 at the Palais Royale in Paris.
Date: 1688
Creator: Duboullay, Michel
Partner: UNT Music Library
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