Cadmus et Hermione

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Work data
Title: Cadmus et Hermione
Original language: French
Music: Jean-Baptiste Lully
Libretto : Ph. Quinault
Premiere: April 27, 1673
Place of premiere: Paris
people

Cadmus et Hermione is the first of Jean-Baptiste Lully composed and on a Livret by Philippe Quinault based lyrique Tragédie . It was performedfor the first timeon April 27, 1673 in the theater on Rue de Vaugirard in Paris, in the presence of Louis XIV .

Since Lully had met the king's taste with this performance, the Palais Royal was made available to him and Molière's troop relocated.

The text for Cadmus et Hermione came from Philippe Quinault, who presented various materials to Louis XIV, from which the latter selected the story of the next tragédie lyrique . Lully wrote a total of 13 tragédies lyriques , ten of which were based on stories from Greek and Roman mythology and three (the last three) on the legends of French heroes. The sagas and legends of the heroes of days gone by were well known to the public. Quinault also did not shy away from being inspired by other works. For example, he borrowed the stone statues of Abbé Buti for the 2nd act of Cadmus et Hermione . In contrast to Italy, the Livrets played a notable role in France and were often provided with comments about the private life of the actors.

history

Hermione (in the Greek original Harmonia , goddess of harmony)

Cadmus (in the Greek original Kadmos , King of Thebes (Boeotia) )

construction

The basic figure constellation for Quinault's Livret was usually a pair of lovers (Cadmus and Hermione), a powerful rival (Arbas) and gods (Jupiter, Pallas) who intervened in the action. In addition, there were machines by the Italian Carlo Vigarani , which enabled spectacular scenes, especially of the gods. In addition to Vigarani's machines, the careful use of the choir, the incorporation of divertissements, the use of rondeau airs and the dominance of the recitatives showed how much Lully was striving for his own national style.

Myth vs. dramaturgy

Philippe Quinault , the author of the Livret

The ancient myth on which Cadmus et Hermione is based can be found in the third book of Ovid's Metamorphoses . To adapt the original myth of the dramaturgy, Quinault made some changes. In the original story, Kadmos sets out to free his sister Europa , who had been captured by Zeus appearing as a bull . In the Tragédie lyrique , Quinault leaves Europe to its fate and lets Cadmus fight more through his beautiful eyes than for his sister Europe and the development of civilization , which is expressed through his lovely language, which is more that of a charmer than that of an ancient hero comes.

In Quinault's Livret , Hermione was captured by Draco, a dragon, who now wants to marry her against her will. Cadmus is destined to free Hermione, when she tries to convince him that it is better to forget her if he lives up to his role as a knight.

But before the lovers are united, which is justified by Cadmus' heroism, Cadmus is devastated and believes that he has lost his lover, who was kidnapped by Hera on a rainbow, forever. Pallas tells him that Jupiter is on his side, with which the Deus ex Machina conjures up the Dénouement . Throughout the play, Cadmus' honesty contrasts with the contrasting character of his servant Arbas, who embodies one of the comic characters adopted from the Comédie-ballet . When Cadmus fights the dragon, Arbas flees in fear, but in retrospect claims to have killed the dragon.

Philippe Quinault has not only given the myth of Cadmus and Hermione the perfect form of an Aristotelian five-act drama, but also adapted its characters and the plot to the motivic and thematic needs of a tragedy.

Motif of love and honor

Most tragédies lyriques , including Cadmus et Hermione , are based on love and honor. The hero, in this case Cadmus, has to be honorable and generous and also has to stand up for the weaker. In the farewell scene between Cadmus and Hermione, Cadmus demonstrates true heroism and shows the most important rules of this motif: The hero must question his own abilities and believe that he has lost his love forever. If the hero cannot conquer his love, he is honored to control his emotions and to put his passion in the service of defenseless, needy people. If this ideal is fulfilled, the protagonist is released from his sadness by being united with the woman of his desire. However, should the protagonist act dishonorably, so be dominated by jealousy and vindictiveness, he will be punished with misery or death. At the end of the work, Cadmus and Hermione are not rewarded for what they have done, but for what they embody.

Structural analysis

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Lully's Tragédies lyriques were completely musical tragedies, so it is not surprising that Cadmus et Hermione has the structure of an almost perfect tragedy: the work begins with a prologue and is divided into five acts. The unity of place, time and action required by Aristotle is generally only very rarely and then only partially taken into account. Only the unity of the plot is preserved in Cadmus et Hermione . Spectacular scene changes, which were known from the machine theater and the ballet de cour , were also very popular here.

The French Overture consists as usual of two parts, which are held in complementary style types. The first part of the overture (bars 1-12) typically ends on the dominant of the starting key (G major) and, due to the combination of slow tempo with dotted notes, also known as saccadé , appears more majestic than the faster second , in the fugal style Part (T.13-57). Another characteristic of the second part is the imitation of various motifs.

Lully's harmonies often appear simple, but achieve interesting effects, for example through diminished dominant and non- chords .

Only four prologues , the Tragédies lyriques written by Lully, are directly related to the forthcoming piece; all the others represent allegorical hymns of praise to Louis XIV. Thus, the prologue in Cadmus et Hermione is no exception when it is allegorical and in Based on the 8th book of Ovid's Metamorphoses refers to the successful end of the Dutch Wars . In addition, due to its subdivision into five scenes and its scope, one could describe the prologue as an independent act under purely formal aspects .

In the design of the individual acts, it is noticeable that the dialogic scenes are replaced at regular intervals by rondeaus (prologue, 3), ritournelles (I, 3) or other interludes. In addition, Lully and Quinault had agreed in advance that the plot within each act should give rise to a divertissement or a fête. This resolution is adhered to , for example, through the Chaconne in I, 4 or the dance of the stone statues in II, 6.

Another characteristic that was adopted from the Comédie Ballet is the connection between two successive scenes through the constant presence of one or more people. Cadmus, for example, takes on this role in the 4th act. Through his uninterrupted presence in all scenes, he marks the individual scenes as parts of a unit.

literature

Music

  • Henry Prunières (ed.); Jean-Baptiste Lully: Oeuvres Complètes de J.-B. Lully. Editions de la Revue Musicale, Paris 1930–32.
  • Jean-Baptiste Lully: Cadmus et Hermione: tragédie lyrique en cinq actes et un prologue . Michaelis, Paris [sn].

literature

  • James R. Anthony: French Baroque Music- from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau . BT Batsford, London 1973, ISBN 0-7134-0755-7 .
  • Philippe Beaussant: Lully ou Le musicien du Soleil . Gallimard / Théatre des Champs-Élysées, Paris 1992, ISBN 2-07-072478-6 .
  • Rebecca Harris-Warrick: The phrase structures of Lully's dance music. In: John Hajdu Heyer (Ed.): Lully Studies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000, ISBN 0-521-62183-6 .
  • Théodore De Lajarte: Introduction. In: Cadmus et Hermione: tragédie lyrique en cinq actes et un prologue. Michaelis, Paris [sn], OCLC 729405953 , pp. 1-6.
  • Joyce Newman: Jean-Baptiste de Lully and his Tragédies Lyriques. Rochester University Press, Rochester 1979, ISBN 0-8357-1002-5 .
  • Henry Prunières: Préface. In: Oeuvres Complètes de J.-B. Lully . Editions de la Revue Musicale, Paris 1930–32, pp. 1–6.
  • Graham Sadler, Caroline Wood: French Baroque Opera: a reader . Ashgate, Hants 2000, ISBN 1-84014-241-3 .

Web links

Sources and Notes

  1. ↑ Henry Prunières: Préface. In: Oeuvres Complètes de J.-B. Lully . Éditions de la Revue Musicale, Paris 1930–32, p. 1.
  2. ↑ James R. Anthony: French Baroque Music- from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau . BT Batsford, London 1973, p. 71.
  3. ↑ James R. Anthony: French Baroque Music- from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau . BT Batsford, London 1973, p. 68.
  4. ↑ a b Joyce Newman: Jean-Baptiste de Lully and his Tragédies Lyriques . Rochester University Press, Rochester 1979, p. 66.
  5. ↑ Joyce Newman: Jean-Baptiste de Lully and his Tragédies Lyriques . Rochester University Press, Rochester 1979, p. 68.
  6. ^ Henry Prunières: Préface. In: Œuvres Complètes de J.-B. Lully . Éditions de la Revue Musicale, Paris 1930–32, p. 5.
  7. ↑ James R. Anthony: French Baroque Music- from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau . London: BT Batsford, 1973, p. 67.
  8. ^ Graham Sadler: Tragédie en musique. 3. Dramatic and musical characteristics, 1673-1773. Grove Music online.
  9. ↑ Joyce Newman: Jean-Baptiste de Lully and his Tragédies Lyriques . Rochester University Press, Rochester 1979, p. 117.