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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
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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
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Enée et Lavinie

Description: Libretto of the opera "Enée et Lavinie" by Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle. Pascal Collasse composed the music of the opera which premiered on November 7, 1690. The plot, which Bovier de Fontenelle adapted from Virgil's "Aeneid, Book vii," revolves around the marriage of Enée (i.e., Aeneas) to the Latin bride Lavinia.
Date: 1690
Creator: Fontenelle, M. de (Bernard Le Bovier), 1657-1757
Partner: UNT Music Library

Historische Beschreibung der edelen Sing- und Klingkunst, in welcher deroselben Ursprung und Erfindung, Fortgang, Verbesserung, unterschiedlicher Gebrauch, wunderbare Würckungen, mancherley Feinde

Description: Und zugleich berühmteste ausüber von Anfang der Welt biss auff unsere Zeit in möglichster Kürtze erzehlet und vorgestellet werden, aus denen vornehmsten Autorobus abgefasset und in Ordnung gebracht von Wolfgang Caspar Printzen, von Waldthurn.
Date: 1690
Creator: Printz, Wolfgang Caspar, 1641-1717
Partner: UNT Music Library
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Astrée

Description: Libretto of the 1691 opera "Astrée" by Jean de la Fontaine. Pascal Collasse composed the music of the opera which premiered under the title "Astrée et Céladon" on November 25, 1692.
Date: 1691
Creator: La Fontaine, Jean de, 1621-1695
Partner: UNT Music Library
open access

Amore fra' gl'impossibili

Description: According to Grove Music, Gigli's 'Amore fra gli impossibili' is an eccentric work where "the pastoral setting is disturbed by mythological references and the addition of the characters Don Chisciotte and Coriandolo, in an ironic and grotesque atmosphere."
Date: 1693
Creator: Gigli, Girolamo, 1660-1722 & Campelli, Carlo
Partner: UNT Music Library

Issé

Description: 1724 score of André Cardinal Destouches' opera Issé. Destouches’s Issé premiered in 1697, just nine years after the death of Jean-Baptiste Lully. The tradition of featuring new operas at the court prior to a public premiere—common during Lully’s later years—was reinstated with this work. When Destouches revived the opera in 1708, he enlarged the original three-act work to five acts. This allowed for expanded divertissements, choruses, and more elaborate arias, which appealed to contemporary… more
Date: 1697
Creator: Destouches, M. (André Cardinal), 1672-1749 & La Motte, M. de (Antoine Houdar), 1672-1731
Partner: UNT Music Library

Nouvelles parodies bachiques, mélées de vaudevilles ou ronde de table

Description: This a copy of vol. 2 of an anthology of French songs compiled by Christophe Ballad, music publisher of King Louis XIV. The work consists mainly of unaccompanied melodies with underlaid text for selected acts of the following tragedies: Proserpine (pp. 1-19); Le triomphe de l'amour (pp. 20-60); Persée (pp. 61-81); Phaeton (pp. 62-94); Amadis (pp. 95-125); Roland (pp. 126-155); Armide (pp. 169-176); Acis et Galatée (pp. 177-192). It contains also melodies for "Ballet du temple de la Paix" (pp. 1… more
Date: 1700
Creator: Ballard, Christophe, 1641-1715.
Partner: UNT Music Library

Omphale, tragedie en musique

Description: Omphale (1701) is one of Destouches’s contributions to the Lullian genre of the five-act tragédie en musique. Half a century after the premiere, Friedrich Melchior Grimm targeted the opera in his pamphlet “Lettre sur Omphale” (1752), which continued the earlier debate between advocates of Lully and Rameau. This written attack also precipitated the famous guerre des bouffons, which was sparked by a performance of Pergolesi’s La serva padrona (1733) in 1752.
Date: 1701
Creator: Destouches, M. (André Cardinal), 1672-1749
Partner: UNT Music Library

Tancrède: tragédie

Description: André Campra’s Tancrède, which premiered on 7 November 1702, is his best-known tragédie en musique, with a run of performances until 1764, and high praise by noteworthy music personalities such as Rameau. While the music critic La Cerf de la Viéville wrote positive comments about Tancrède, he was bothered by the opera’s use of low voices, which defied the tradition of employing castrati parts. Additionally, the role of Clorinda was written for a well-known contralto named Mademoiselle Maupin… more
Date: 1702
Creator: Campra, André, 1660-1744; Danchet, Antoine, 1671-1748. & Tasso, Torquato, 1544-1595
Partner: UNT Music Library

Prodromus Musicalis

Description: "Prodromus Musicalis" (published in 1702) is bound, here, with "Motets à une et deux voix, mélez de symphonies, livre premier" (1704); thus, the latter gate is used for this item as a unit. Both sets of motets consist of Latin-texted music preceded by a title page in French. A Table of Contents either at the front or back of each collection describes the motets contained therein. Content is printed on both sides of each leaf. "Prodromus" also has a note from Brossard informing the reader that a… more
Date: 1704
Creator: Brossard, Sebastian, 1655-1730
Partner: UNT Music Library

Songs in the new opera call'd Arsinoe, queen of Cyprus

Description: Thomas Clayton’s first opera, Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus, premiered at Drury Lane in London on 16 January 1705. The opera initially enjoyed success, but two years later, Clayton’s second opera was not well-received. Part of Arsinoe’s popularity may have been due to Catherine Tofts' portrayal of the title character; Toft would later become a star of the English stage.
Date: 1705
Creator: Clayton, Thomas, 1673-1725
Partner: UNT Music Library

Proserpine : tragedie mise en musique

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: 1707
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Rosamond

Description: This three-act opera is to a libretto by Joseph Addison. Content is printed only on the recto side of each leaf. The score features two title pages: the first, with an engraving and small print describing the contents; the second, with large font. The work opens with a three-part "symphony or overture" for an ensemble of unspecified instrumentation: two treble instruments and one bass instrument. The indication "with Violins" on some the songs suggests the nature of the high instruments. No fig… more
Date: 1707
Creator: Clayton, Thomas, 1673-1725
Partner: UNT Music Library

Atys : tragedie

Description: Atys, which premiered on 10 January 1676, is the first of the tragédies lyriques of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault to conclude with a tragic ending. Joyce Newman, in Jean-Baptiste de Lully and his Tragédie Lyriques, summarizes the message of the story in this way: In [Atys], Quinault shows how actions which are not in accord with the noble ideal will bring defeat and punishment. Not only is love in opposition to glory in this opera, but also it is shown that if love is placed more h… more
Date: 1708
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687
Partner: UNT Music Library

Cantates françoises a voix seule et basse-continue, avec et sans symphonies, Livre second

Description: This item comprises two books of secular cantatas for soprano (indicated by the consistent use of the soprano clef in the vocal line), obbligato strings and winds, and (unrealized) basso continuo. The first book was printed in 1706; the second, in 1708. Since the two volumes were bound together, the later date is used for this item. The subtitle for the first volume indicates "a voix seule avec symphonies" while the subtitle for the second volume gives "a voix seule et basse-continue, avec et s… more
Date: 1708
Creator: Stuck, Jean-Baptiste, 1680-1755
Partner: UNT Music Library

Atys; tragedie mise en musique

Description: Atys, which premiered on 10 January 1676, is the first of the tragédies lyriques of Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault to have a tragic ending. As the Prologue indicates, the tragedie itself is a divertissement to ease the king's mind of his impending duties. Joyce Newman, in Jean-Baptiste de Lully and his Tragédie Lyriques, summarizes the message of the story in this way: "In [Atys], Quinault shows how actions which are not in accord with the noble ideal will bring defeat and punishme… more
Date: 1709
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Phaëton. Tragedie 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: 1709
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Roland. Tragédie mis 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). This is the second edition. 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 i… more
Date: 1709
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library

Cantates françoises à I. et II. voix: avec simphonie, et sans simphonie, V. 1-2

Description: This item contains volumes 1 and 2 of Clérambault's "Cantates Françoises." The second volume bears the subtitle "Mellées de Simphonies." Volume 1 contains the cantatas "L'amour piqué," "Le jaloux," "Orphée," "Poliphême," "Medée," and "L'amour et Baccus." Volume 2 contains "Alphée et Arethuse," "Leandre et Hero," "La musette," "Pirame et Tisbé," "Pigmalion," and "Le triomphe de la paix." The continuo line is figured.
Date: 1710
Creator: Clérambault, Louis-Nicolas, 1676-1749
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: 1711
Creator: Lully, Jean Baptiste, 1632-1687 & Quinault, Philippe, 1635-1688
Partner: UNT Music Library
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