Tragédie en musique (Musical tragedy), also known as tragédie lyrique (French 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 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.
Contents
- Notable examples of the genre
- Jean Baptiste Lully
- Works by Lullys sons
- Paolo Lorenzani
- Pascal Collasse
- Marc Antoine Charpentier
- Henri Desmarets
- Marin Marais
- lisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre
- Charles Hubert Gervais
- Andr Cardinal Destouches
- Andr Campra
- Theobaldo di Gatti
- Jean Fry Rebel
- Franois Bouvard
- Louis Lacoste
- Toussaint Bertin de la Dou
- Jean Baptiste Stuck
- Joseph Franois Salomon
- Jean Baptiste Matho
- Jean Joseph Mouret
- Franois Francoeur and Franois Rebel
- Joseph Nicolas Pancrace Royer
- Michel Pignolet de Montclair
- Jean Philippe Rameau
- Charles Louis Mion
- Franois Colin de Blamont
- Jean Marie Leclair
- Marquis de Brassac
- Antoine Dauvergne
- Jean Benjamin de La Borde
- Jean Joseph de Mondonville
- References
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).