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Société Française de Musicologie

Musical Practices in the Theater of MolièreAuthor(s): John S. PowellSource: Revue de Musicologie, T. 82, No. 1 (1996), pp. 5-37Published by: Société Française de MusicologieStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/947203 .Accessed: 18/11/2013 15:20

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John . POWELL

MusicalPractices n theTheater of Moliere

"Nous sommes dans un siecle oui a Musique & les Balets ont descharmes pour tout e monde, & que les spectacles ui en sont remplissont beaucoup plus suivisque les autres 1, wrote Donneau de Vise onthe eve of Lully's acquisition of the opera privilege. ndeed, during hefirst two months of 1672 four musical productions were runningconcurrently n Paris and Versailles a revival of the tragedie-balletPsyche by Lully, Moliere, Quinault, and Corneille) at the Th6itre du

Palais-Royal; the premiere f the opera Les Peines et les Plaisirs del'Amour by Cambert nd Gilbert) t the AcademieRoyale des Operasthe premiere f another opera, Le Triomphe e l'Amour by Sablieresand Guichard), t Versailles; and the premiere f the comedie-heroiqueLe Mariage de Bacchus et d'Ariane by Mollier and De Vise) at theTh6itre du Marais. That all three repertory heaters n Paris weretrying o outdo each other n music, dance, and spectaclepromptedfictional haracter rom Hauteroche's Crispinmusicien also known as" l'Opera de l'Hdtel de Bourgogne ) to remark hat " Depuis les opera,la rage de musique / s'est mise dans Paris, tout le monde s'enpique... 2 "

More specific nformation urvives n Moliere's productions hanforthose of any other Parisian repertory heater f the time. We know thatMoliere regularly ncorporated ncidental music and dance in many ofhis plays, and the musical scores composed for them by Beauchamps,Lully, and Charpentier have become available in modern edition .

1. Sujet des amours de Bachus et d'Ariane Paris : Prome, 1672).2. Crispinmusicien, omedie. ar le Sieur de Hauteroche, omedien e la seule

Troupe Royale (Paris : Pierre Prome, 1674).3. See George Houle, ed., Le Ballet des "Fdcheux " Beauchamp'sMusicfor

Molidre's Comedy Bloomington Indiana University ress, 1991); HenryPrunieres, d., Oeuvres compldtes e J.-B. Lully, " Les Comedies-Ballets,"3 vols. (Paris : Editions de la Revue Musicale, 1931-38);H. Wiley Hitchcock,ed., Prologues et interm&des u "Malade imaginaire de Molidre Geneva :Minkoff, 1973); John S. Powell, Marc-Antoine Charpentier Music forMolidre's Comedies Madison : A-R Editions Inc., 1990). Of these musicalworks, only Psyche' emainsunavailable n modern dition.





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6 Revue de Musicologie, 2/1 (1996)

What follows s an account of the performance-practices f the Theatredu Palais-Royal, the playhousewheremost of thesemusicalworks wererecreated or the public after heir ourt premieres. he four existingaccount-books ept by Moliere's company during hisperiod make thiskind of investigation ossible, for they furnish surprising mount ofinformation n production-related xpenses. The best-known f theseis the Registre e La Grange, summary ccount of productions ivenfrom 1658 to 16854. Equally important re the daily account-books fthe 1663-64 and 1664-65 theatrical easons (called the Premier ndSecondRegistre e La Thorillidre) ,which furnish till more nforma-tion with regard oproductions f the early omedies-ballets. uch data

for the years 1665-1671 s scarce, mainly because the daily accountshave not survived or these years. But beginning n 1671,the Registrede La Grange ffers n unusual number f facts nd figures n the 1671remodelling f the Palais-Royal theater nd the production xpensesfor the public premieres f Psyche 1671) and Le Malade imaginaire(1673). The Registre d'Hubert, he daily account-book for 1672-73 ,furnishes till more clues with regard to the performance-practices fthe Palais-Royal during Moliere's last season.

When combined with other documentary vidence, he informationgleaned from hese ccount-books llows us to reconstruct he musical

and choreographic orces sed for certain roductions, he distributionand placement of the theater rchestra, he identities f some of thehired singers nd instrumentalists, nd what music might have beenperformed, nd by whom. Moreover, these account-books reveal thatthe frequency with which Moliere programmed plays with music,dance, and spectacle was often guided by sound financial onsidera-tions for musicalplays consistently rought n the highest ox-officereceipts. areful valuation of this production ata in conjunction withother primary ource material contemporary ccounts of performan-ces, printed ivrets, ills and receipts, irst ditions of the plays, andmusical scores) will shed light on many obscure aspects of Moliere'sproductions.

4. Registre eLa Grange, 659-1685,acsimiled. Bert dwardYoung ndGrace Philputt Young, 2 vols. (Paris : E. Droz, 1947).All page citations eferto this facsimile dition.5. Premier Registre de La Thorillidre 1663-1664), facsimile d. GeorgesMonval (Paris : Librairie des Bibliophiles, 890 all page citations efer o thisedition]); Second Registre de La Thorillidre 1664-1665; Archives de laComedie-Frangaise).

6. Le Registre d'Hubert (1672-1673), facsimile ed. Sylvie Chevalley, inRevue d'histoire u thddtre 1973). All page citations refer o this facsimileedition.





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John . Powell -Musical Practices n the Theater of Molidre 7

THE THEATERORCHESTRA

The String Ensemble

Beginning ith heir 1659-1660 eason at the Petit-Bourbon, hedaily expenses frais ordinaires) or Moliere's company, hen called theTroupe de Monsieur, ncluded line tem f 4 livres 0 sols for violons .Here, the term " violon is used generically o refer o stringinstruments violins, violas of different izes, and bass violins. Thisfigure of 4 livres 10 sols would suggest three stringed nstruments(perhaps two violins and a bass violin), with each player receiving1 livre 10 sols 9. These violons ppeared on-stage n scene 12 of LesPrecieusesridicules 1659) to play for an impromptu all arranged byMascarille; they reappear n scene 15 to demand their wages, and arerewarded with a torrent of abuse from Gorgibus in scene 17.Presumably, he Troupe de Monsieur also employed hesestrings orother musical plays then in repertory, uch as Tessonerie's LeCampagnard, Gilbert's Les Amours de Diane et d'Endimion, Boisro-bert's La FolleGageure, carron's L'Hiritier ridicule, nd Montauban's

Les Charmes de Filicie.By 1661,the Troupe de Monsieur was established t the Palais-Royal. Although pecific etails of their 1661 Paris production f LesFdcheuxremain unknown, Beauchamps's five-part allet orchestrationwould have required hem oincrease he size of their heater rchestra.Beauchamps's score features he five-part ivision of strings ommonto court orchestras violins on the top line (the dessus), violas of

7. The term orchestra" s used here rather reely, or the Palais-Royalensemblexhibits ew f the equirementsf an orchestra s proposed yNealZaslaw n " Lully'sOrchestra (Jer6me e La Gorce nd Herbert chneider,eds.,Jean-Baptisteully Actes u colloqueaint-Germain-en-LayeHeidelberg,1990], p. 539-53).

8. Registre e La Grange, :18.9. Moliere vidently asfollowinghe ractices f the llustre heatre hich

in 1643had employed our nstrumentalists operform tant n comedie ueballets. Thedetails f the hree-yearontract rawn pbetween he ompanyand Claude Godart, MichelTisse,Adrien Lefebvre, nd Laurent Gaburet" tousmaistresoueurs 'instrumensaParis, are nformative nsofar s theyreveal o what xtentmusic nd dance wasused n these heatrical resenta-tions. he nstrumentalists ere aida dailywage f four ivres, r twenty olsapiece,whether hey layed r not.This ast lause s significant,or he llustreThe'tre no doubt wouldhavemadefull se of their ervices layingmusicalentr'actes nd accompanyinghansonsnd dances. ee Madeleine urgensndElizabethMaxfield-Miller,ent ns de recherchesur Molidre, ur afamille,et sur les comediens e sa troupe Paris : S.E.V.P.E.N., 1963),pp. 232-34 " Engagement e ClaudeGodart,Michel isse,Adrien efebvre t LaurentGaburet, oueurs 'instruments, our ervir escomediens e l'Illustre heatrependant rois ns. )





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different izeson the nner hree arts haute-contre, aille, nd quinte),and basses de violons n the bass line

(seePlate

1).In 1662 the

dailyproduction xpenses frais rdinaires) or he company ncluded 6 livresfor four string players (again, each receiving 1 livre 10 sols). ThefollowingMarch the Troupe de Monsieur purchased harpsichord or330 livres 0.For a revival f Les Fdcheux n April of 1663,the PremierRegistre e La Thorilliere hows that the theater rchestra onsisted fsix strings, wo oboes, and harpsichord 1.The top line was probablyplayed by two violins and the two oboes, with one instrument(haute-contre, aille,quinte, nd basse de violon)on each of the lowerparts. Evidently, he oboists were able to command 3 livres piece, ortwice the amount earned by the string layers.Moliere ncreased his theater rchestra n size to 12strings, oboes,and harpsichord for the 1664 performances f Le Mariage force 2

Lully's score, designed for the court orchestra, mployed a five-partinstrumentation n the overture nd dances. While the distribution finstrumental arts at the Palais-Royal remains unknown, he SecondRegistre e La Thorillidre rovides clue with regard o the dessus. Forthe 19February 1664performance, line tem reads " pour es4 violonsdu Recit po[ur] 3fois...12 ivres. This " Recit would be the Recit dela

Beaute ("Si

l'Amourvous soumet

dises loix inhumaines

)of the

Premier ntermede, nd we can easily calculate that the company paida supplement f 1 livre per performance o each of these four stringplayers. Lully's music s notated on three taves with two Gi clefs ndan F4 clef, and so was evidently ntended for two-part violins andcontinuo 3.Presumably, hesefour tring layers were members f theorchestra who were paid an additional supplement for playingritournelles 4. This still does not help us settle the part-doublings nMoliere's theater rchestra, hough a likely possibility would be fourviolins nd two oboes on the dessus, ourbassesde violons n the basse,

and four violas divided mong the haute-contre, ailleand quintepartsin a 2-1-1 configuration 5

10.Registre e La Grange, : 54.11. See the Premier egistre e La Thorillidre,. 10.12. See Registre de La Grange, 1:64, and the Second Registre de La

Thorilliere, ntries or 15 February o 11 March 1664.13. The Registre de La Grange 1:64) includes the line item " Ritournel &

Clauessin.... (i.e., 4 livres or ritournelles, livres or clavecin).14. For the first run of Le Mariage forcd, the Second Registre de La

Thorilliere rovides a separate line item for ritournelles p to the eighthperformance 2 March 1664); thereafter, he expenses for " violons and" ritournels are combined.

15. According to Marin Mersenne (Harmonie Universelle, he Books onInstruments, rans. R. E. Chapman [The Hague, 1957],p. 238), " twenty-four[strings] re enough, n which re six trebles, ix bass, four contratenors, ouraltos, and four of a fifth art. For information n Lully's orchestra, eeJer6me de La Gorce, " Some Notes on Lully's Orchestra, in John HajduHeyer, d., Jean-Baptiste ully nd theMusicof the rench aroque Cambridge





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John S. Powell : Musical Practices n the Theater of Moliere 9

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(Courtesy Biblioth6queNationale de France)





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10 Revuede Musicologie, 2/1 (1996)

The earliest urviving rchestral music composed specifically or thePalais-Royal s Charpentier's core for Moliere's La Comtesse 'Escar-bagnas and Le Mariage force (1672). Unlike the usual five-partorchestration f court orchestras, harpentier music is scored for afour-part exture, otated n GI, Cl, C2, and F4 clefs; whether hisimplies two violins, viola, and bass " c l'italienne, or else dessus,haute-contre, aille, and basse de violon "dc la frangaise" remainsdebatable 16. On fol. 38v, the grand chwauradences in B-flat, nd the

CambridgeUniversity ress, 1989),pp. 99-112 for heater rchestras f a laterperiod, see Edmond Lemaitre, L'Orchestre dans le Thetatre yrique frangaischez es continuateurs e

Lully 1687-1715,Recherches ur a

musique rangaiseclassique,24 (1986),pp. 107-27.16. It has been argued by Jean Duron (" L'orchestre de Marc-Antoine

Charpentier, Revue de musicologie, 2/1 [1986], 23-65) that, following hepractice of five-part rench orchestras, he middle parts of Charpentier'sfour-part exture hould be played by violas. Moreover, hree ecent eviews fmy modern performing dition of Marc-Antoine Charpentier Music forMoliere's Comedies have taken me to task for assigning violin to the secondstring art, notated on the Cl clef. n Music and Letters, 3:1 (1992),p. 162,James Anthony writes hat although he second part ieswellwithin heviolinrange and for all practical purposes could be played by the violins), there s

every reason to believe that originally t was played by a small viola (GeorgMuffat's violetta') and that it is identical to the haute-contre e violon partfound n all French five-part tring music. Catherine Cessac (Bulletinde laSociete Marc-Antoine Charpentier, [July 1992], p. 19) feels certain thatCharpentier's our-part heater rchestra s " clairement esignecomme etantcompose de dessus, hautes contres, ailleset basses de violon et non de deuxparties de dessus, lti et basses. " Most recently ois Rosow added her voice tothe chorus, tating ategorically hat " Charpentier's lefs,named above, implydessusde violon, aute-contre e violon, aille de violon, nd basse de violonthat s, violin nd basse de violon n the outer voices,with mall nstruments ntwo different izes,both tuned ike violas, on the nner parts (Journal f the

AmericanMusicologicalSociety, 8:1 [Spring 1995],p. 130).Yet not all scholars agree. H. Wiley Hitchcock Marc-Antoine harpentier[Oxford Oxford University ress, 1990],p. 62, n. 8) remarks hat " only onceor twice, n the many thousands f bars of Charpentier's rchestral cores,doesthe second-highest haute-contre) art dip below the violin's G string andindeed even the taille parts ie rather high n the viola range), yet ome Frenchscholars rgue for realization by violin , violas I and II, and bass violin. Iwould agreewith Hitchcock hat Charpentier's our-part rchestral music or atleast that music he composed for Moliere's La Comtessed'Escarbagnas, LeMariage force, Le Malade imaginaire, nd Le Sicilien) s Italianate n texture,and that the haute-contre art, ncompassing he range of d' to f#" resembles

a second violin part (not clearly ntended for the haute-contre e violon, sCessacmaintains). For Mjdje, Charpentier cored his orchestra n fiveparts dla franCaise.Here, the C1 line composed for the haute-contre e violon f theParis Opera orchestra) xtends perfect ourth ower n Medea's Act III, sc. 3monologue, Quelprix de mon amour (m. 67) the same range a-f# ) asLully's haute-contre arts. That Charpentier sed the haute-contre angewhencomposing for the haute-contre e violon would seem to argue in favor ofHitchcock's ssignment f Violin 2 to the higher-lying 1 line in his modern





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John . Powell Musical Practices n the Theater f Molikre 11

petit haur ontinues ith mitative ntrances Plate 2). Charpentierwrites ver he G1 part premier t second euls, and under he Cland the C2parts seul; " ninemeasuresaterhe writes tous undereach of the four arts.This would uggest here ad been more hanone player n the ower three arts why lse would he write irst" seul and then tous ?), and probablymore han wo on the top(note hat e originally rote seul, crossed t out, nd then pecified"premier t second euls 7 "). Another core nd somecontracts fassociation rovide s with he names f five nstrumentalistsngagedby the Palais-Royal or he 1672-73 eason.Charpentier's verture othe Second ntermede f Le Malade imaginaire 1673)contains

passage n which he grand haur rrives t a dominant adence n A,and the etit haeurroceeds ith mitative ntrancesPlate3) here hethree opparts re assigned o" duvivier (Gl), " nivelon (Cl), and" dumont" C2). In July f 1672,Moliere vidently ontracted hreestring layers Jacques Duvivier18, Jean Converset 9, and Pierre

edition of Prologues t intermgdes u Malade imaginaire e Moliere Geneva :Minkoff, 973).

Nevertheless, y eviewers aybe surprised o earn hat agreewith hem.Thefact emains hatMoliere's ompany ngaged rench nsemblesoperform

Charpentier'stalianate

music,nd that hehaute-contre

artnParisian

tringbandswasnormally layed y n haute-contree violon. s proof, oisRosow(p. 131,n. 9) points o a contract f association rawn p in 1681betweentwelveviolons 4 dessus, hautes-contres, tailles, nd 4 basses discussed nMarcelle enoit, UneAssociation e oueurs 'instrumentsaParis n 1681,Recherches ur la musique ranCaise lassique,4 [1964],pp. 91-93) if only halfof the nsemble ere o be hired, hen heir umbers ere o be halved 2dessus, 1 haute-contre, taille, and 2 basses. I could equally well cite theFebruary 673contract etween hree violons o play in the Thetre duPalais-Royal, hich ontains he following lause " qu'en cas que lesdictescommediens ettent eullement ans leur musiquedouce deux dessus de

violons, nclavesin, n tuorbe t unebassedeviolon,u'en ecasceluy uceuxqui ouront es trois apporteront celuy u ceux qui ne ouront oint eurproffict our stre artage ntr'eux sgallement (for ull itation, eenote 2).It would therefore eemthat dessus,haute-contre, aille, nd bassede violonwasnot the ole option n Moliere's heater.

Charpentier's 1 part emainsqually layable n violin, nd n mymodernperforming dition recommended hat the violin be used. If a modernensemble wns eplicas f thehaute-contreeviolon, would rge sing hem;otherwise, violin n the haute-contreinewouldbe preferable o a modernviola.

17. As mentioned bove note 16,paragraph ), a likely istribution s 4dessus de violon, haute-contre e violon, tailles, nd 4 basses.18. The contract etween uvivier, onverset, nd Moliere now ost) scited in Jurgens nd Maxfield-Miller, ent ans de recherches ur Molidre,Document CLVII,p. 519.

19. Jean Conversetor Convercet)ntered hemusical stablishmentf theDucd'Orleans eginningn 1673.He was a composer, nd a highly-respectedperformer nd teacher f the basse de violon, nd in 1709 he purchasedposition n the Vingt-quatre iolons. ee the article y Bernard ardet n





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Plate 2. Marc-Antoine Charpentier, a Comtessed'Escarbagnas,Ouverture(Bibl. Nat. Ms. Res. Vm' 259, vol. XVI, fol. 38v)

(Courtesy BibliothequeNationale de France)





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John S. Powell : Musical Practices n the Theater f Moliere 13

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(Courtesy Bibliotheque Nationale de France)





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Marchand 20to play in the summer evivals of La Comtessed'Escar-bagnas,Le Mariageforced, nd other works 1. In mid-February f 1673Duvivier signed an agreement with Converset and Marchand (nowlisted s " tous trois violons de Monsieur frere nique du roy ) to playfor the first run of Le Malade imaginaire 2; from the wording of the

Dictionnaire e la musique n France aux XVIIeet XVIIF siecles, d. MarcelleBenoit Paris : Fayard, 1992), p. 439 (s.v. " Convercet. )

20. Pierre Marchand, the son-in-law f Pierre Beauchamps, lso played thebasse de violon. he contract etweenMoliereand Marchand now lost) s citedin Jurgens nd Maxfield-Miller, ent ans de recherches ur Moliere,DocumentCCLVIII, p. 519.His name " Mr. Marchand ") also appears next to the bassepart n Charpentier's core for Circe,performed t the H6tel de Guenegaud n1675(Bibl. Nat., Ms Res. Vm' 259, XVII, fol. 5). Marchand belonged to themusical establishment f the Duc d'Orleans beginning n 1673,and in 1695 hejoined the Vingt-quatre Violons. See the article by Bernard Bardet inDictionnaire e la musique n France aux XVIIeet XVIIF siecles, d. MarcelleBenoit Paris : Fayard, 1992),p. 439 (s.v. " Marchand. ").

21. The names of Du Vivier, Marchand, Converset, nd Du Mont appearlisted n the company's registers or the 4 May 1674 revival of Le Maladeimaginaire among the symphonie, here they were responsible for playingritournelles), or the 17 March 1675premiere f Circe among the symphonie,where

harpsichord ppearsas a

separateine

item),and in the 17 November

1675 premiere f L'Inconnu where they comprised he " petit choeur, andharpsichord nd theorbo ppear as a separate ine tem). See Jules Bonnassies,La Musiqued la Comedie-FrancaiseParis : Bauer, 1874),pp. 15, 16, and 19.

22. Minutier entral, XXXIV : 199; cited n Jurgens nd Maxfield-Miller,Cent ans de recherches ur Moliere, Document CCLXXX, pp. 549-50. Thiscontract of association (signed, ironically, n the day of Moliere's death)deserves uotation n full

Furent presens Jean Converset, Jacques Duvivier et Pierre Marchand,tous trois violons de Monsieur frere nique du roy et estans presentementoccuppezaux pieceset commedies u sieur de Moliere,demeurans cavoir

ledict sieur Converset ue Bethizy, edict ieur Duvivier rue des Fossez etledict sieur Marchand rue Sainct-Honnore, parroisse Sainct-Germain-l'Auxerois, esquelzsont demeurez 'accord entr'eux e ce qui ensuit, 'estascavoir qu'ilz ont promis de ne se point separer es uns des autres pourjouer ausdictes pieces dudict sieur Molliere et autres commedies qui sejouent et representent ar les Franqois sur le theatre u Pallais royal qued'un mutuel consentement. t, en cas que les commediens voullusentmettre 'un d'eulx ou deux dehors pour quelque cause et soubz quelquepretexte ue ce soit ou puisse estre, es deux autres ou l'un d'eulx seronttenus udict cas de quitter esdicts ommediens t de ne plus ouer a eurspiecessans y pouvoir rentrer ue tous trois nsemblement. t, o~ilesdictscommediens voudroient n rappeller un ou deux des trois, aucune desparties ne poura rentrer ans e consentement es trois apeynede payer parchacune desdictesparties ux deux autres ou "a 'une d'elles la somme decinq cens cinquante ivres hacun de peyne commise avant d'y pouvoirrentrer, ans que ladicte somme de cinq cens cinquante ivres de peynecommise ar chacunedes parties oit reputee omminatoire ins de rigueur.Et a est& convenu qu'en cas que lesdicts commediens voullusent esrappeller ous trois t qu'il y en eust un ou deux des trois ui ny voullusent





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John . Powell : Musical Practices n the Theater f Molidre 15

final clause, it seems clear that Converset served as a subcontractorfor two of the continuo nstruments harpsichord r theorbo) n theensemble3

The Basse Continue

The continuo group in Moliere's theater probably consisted ofharpsichord, heorbo, nd either asse de violon r basse de viole.Thisis the ensemble recommended by the Maitre de Musique in LeBourgeois Gentilhomme hen he advises Monsieur Jourdain o haveweekly hamber-music oncerts n his home :

... Ii vousfaudra rois oix un dessus, nehaute-contre,t unebasse, uiseront ccompagnees'unebassede viole, 'un theorbe, t d'un clavecinpour les basses continues, vec deux dessusde violon pour ouer lesritournelles.II,1)

Although ine tems for bassede viole r basse de violon re not foundin the company's registers t this time, Charpentier's core for LeMalade imaginaire pecifies basse de violon Plate 4). Here in theC6r6monie es M6decins, t appears that the third itornelle, otated onthe top two systems,was played by the strings lone; then, when theorchestra nd chorus nter fter

speechbythe Praeses

endingwith he

words "ensuitta purgare, the rest of the continuo instruments(presumably arpsichord nd theorbo) oined the basse de violon n thefourth staff down. The absence of continuo figures n the purely

rentrer, u'en cedict as celuy u ceuxqui y rentreront eseront enus epayer ucunechosede ladicte eyne ommise, omme ussyqu'il seraloisibleachacune esdictes arties e se retirer olontairementt de neplus ouer usdictes ieces anspour esuject ayer ussy ucune hosedeladicte eyne ommise. t a este encores onvenu ntre esdictes artiesqu'encasquelesdictes ommediens ettent eullement ans eurmusiquedoucedeuxdessus eviolons,nclavesin, n tuorbe t unebassedeviolon,qu'ence cas celuy u ceux qui ouront es trois apporterontaceluy uceux qui ne jouront point eur proffict our estre partage ntr'euxesgallement; t, ou" l n'y uroit e clavesins yde tuorbe edict onversetne sera tenu de rapporter ucune hose.Car ainsy tc, promettans tc,obligeans hacun n droict oi,renonceans tc.

Faict t passea Paris s estudes tc. e quatorziesmeebvrierpresmidymilsix cens oixante-treizet ont igne espresentes

Jean CONVERSET Jacques DUVIVIERPierre MARCHAND

PILLAULTnotaire] DUPuYs[notaire]23. The conditional tatement et, oiu l n'y auroit de clavesinsny de tuorbeledict Converset ne sera tenu de rapporter ucune chose " was probably ddedto protect Converset, hould Moliere not require ontinuo nstruments f him.Bardet's suggestion hat Converset devait ouer la partie de clavecin ou detheorbe probably derives from a misunderstanding f this clause (seeDictionnaire e la musique n France aux XVIF et XVIIF siecles, .v." Converset ).





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The Orchestra it

It remains unclear exactly where the orchestra was located in thePalais-Royal before 1671. Samuel Chappuzeau tells us in 1674 thattheater orchestras f the day were usually situated " ou derriere eTheatre, u sur es aisles,ou dans vn retranchement ntre e Theatre &le Parterre, omme en vne forme e Parquet " 31. Lully's orchestra orthe 1664 court premiere f La Princesse 'Elide is shown playing froman enclosure n front f the stage in the famous engraving y IsraelSilvestre 2.We also know that a similar rrangement as in place atthe Palais-Royal by 167333. Proof of this comes from an unlikelysource a police report escribing disturbance hat broke out duringa performance f Psyche in January of 1673. The officer n chargewitnessed he following vent 4

...nous, onseiller,ommissaireusdit erionsmonte ur edit heatre, 'ou,aussitost ue apremiere ntree 'est aite, vons pperceu ans edit arterrea la faveur e la clairt6 es chandelles, uelquesgens d'espees a nousincognus, ui se seroient pproches udit heatre, esquelzmurmuroient tfrappoient upied n terre; t, quand a machine eVenus stdescendue,ecoeur eschanteurs ecette ntree, ecitansous nsemble" Descendez, eredes amours , lesdits ensd'espees, utant u'avonspeu remarquer stre unombre e vingt inq ou trente e complot, uroient roubles esdits han-teurs ardeshurlemens,hansons erisionnairest frappemens epiedz ansledit arterre t contre esaysde l'enclos ui ont es oueurs 'instrumens...

A group of string-players ereplaced at the rear of the stage for thePremier nterm&de f Le Malade imaginaire 1673); but rather hanrepresenting he normative ractice, his ppears to have been done fordramatic ffect. erformance ubrics ound n Charpentier's utograph

31. See Le Thedtre ranCaisParis, 674) modern d. Le Thedtrefrancois arSamuel Chappuzeau, ccompagne' 'unepreface t de notes ar Georges Monval(Paris Jules onnassies, 875), . 146.Nicola Sabbattini Pratica ifabricarscene machine e' teatri 1638], h. 36)alsorecommendslacing hemusiciansin balconies n each side of the tage.

32. Reproduced n Henry Prunieres, d., Oeuvrescompletes e J.-B. Lully," Les Comedies-Ballets , Vol. 2, p. 14.

33. The 1671remodelling f the tage nd auditorium t the Palais-Royalmay havemade t necessary o move the orchestra nto n enclosure t theparterre evel.When he theater as completedn 1641, hemusicians ereplaced n balconies lose o the tage, nd five tone-stepsed from he arterreto the front f the raised tage as can be seen n the famous ngraving itled

" LeSoir [Bibliothequeationale e France, epartement esEstampes]).tispossible hat hese tepswere emoved n 1661,whenMoliere's ompany irsttookupresidencet the alais-Royal,nd that he rchestra adbeen tationedthere ll along;or, on the ther and, erhaps he onstruction f n orchestrapit waspart f the 1671renovations.

34. " Proces-verbal es desordres dvenus u Palais Royal pendant nerepresentationePsyche, dated13January 673 reproducednJurgens ndMaxfield-Miller,ent ns de recherches ur Molihre, p. 542-44.





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John S. Powell Musical Practices n the Theater of Molidre 19

score indicate that " L'on joiie derriere e thiatre la fantasie sansinterruption; olichinelle ntre t lors qu'il est prest de chanter devantles fenestres de Toynette les viollons conduits par Spacamondrecommencent a fantasie vec ses interruptions... 35 Since a verbalaltercation nsues between Polichinelle nd the strings, heir lacementat the rear of the stage was no doubt designed o facilitate his eu descene.

In 1673,Moliere's company, dispossessedof the Thiatre du Palais-Royal by Lully, moved to the Guen6gaud theater the convertedtennis-court jeu de paume de la Bouteille)originally dapted by Sour-d6ac and Champeron o serve s the opera house for Perrin's Acadimie

RoyaledesOpdras.Lully'sApril 1673ordinance orbade layhouseshen-ceforth from having orchestra pits 6. According to Chappuzeau," Depuis peu on les [i.e., es violons]met dans vne des Loges du fond,d'oui ls font plus de bruit ue de tout autre ieu ouion lespourroit la-cer " 37.Evidently, he trings emained n theseboxes until he 1675pro-duction of L'Inconnu,when they were one again brought own front

38.Meanwhile t the Palais-Royal, now home to Lully's AcademieRoyalede Musique, the orchestra it wasenlarged y Vigarani n the utumn f1673 to accomodate the greater umber f nstruments n Lully's opera

orchestra9

THESINGERS

For court performances f the comedies-ballets, hevocal music wasusually ung by singers f the Chapelle nd Chambre u Roy. As shownby the ivrets, ilaire Dupuy (soprano), Jean Blondel tenor), Claude LeGros (tenor), Jean Gaye (haute-contre/tenor/ aritone), nd Guillaumed'Estival bass) were regulars n these productions. On occasion, Lullyalso sang in the comedies-ballets; e performed he role of one of thetwo grotesque inging doctors n Monsieur de Pourceaugnac 1669)40,and of the singing Mufti in Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme 1670). An

35. Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Ms R's. Vm' 259, XVI, fol.53v.

36. " Ordonnance portant deffenses ux comediens de se servir dans leursrepresentations e plus de deux voix et six violons, dated 22 April 1673;reprinted n Marcelle Benoit, Musiquesde cour, p. 41.

37. Chappuzeau, Le Theddtrerancois, d. cit., pp. 146-47.38. See Bonnassies,La Musiqued la Comedie-FranCaise,. 2.39. See Barbara Coeyman, Theatres for Opera and ballet during hereignsof Louis XIV and Louis XV, " Early Music, 18 (February 1990),pp. 31-34.40. The livret ndicates Les deux musiciens taliens I1signorChiacchiarone

et M. Gaye" for the comic duet " Buon di, buon di, " yet t remains unclearexactly which part Lully sang. From the order that the names are listed, wemight ssume Lully sang the upper part of the duet, as well as the followingsong, " Altro non e la pazzia." Yet, the role Lully sang in the TurkishCeremony f Le BourgeoisGentilhomme as more of a bass role.





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Plate5. Jean-Baptiste ully.Courante or Les Fdcheux(Bibl.Nat. Res. F 530, Collection hilidor , vol.44,p. 68)(Courtesy ibliotheque ationale e France)

untrained singer, Lully relied on his considerable comic giftrather han on his singing bilities, o carry the performance. Whenhe performed at court, Lully was listed in the livrets under

various pseudonyms " il signor Chiacchiarone for Monsieur dePourceaugnac, nd " le Seigr. Chiacheron for Le Bourgeois Gentil-homme.

At the Palais-Royal, either he actors themselves ang on-stage or,more often, professional ingers were hired. Evidence shows that atleast four ctors and two actresses f the Troupe du Roy sang on-stageduring Molibre's ifetime Moliere and his wife Armande B6jart, La





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John S. Powell .-Musical Practices n the Theater of Molidre 21

Grange, possibly La Thorillibre, aron, and Mlle Du Parc 41. For LesFdcheux 1661), Philidor's 1681 manuscript opy of the music statesthat Lully's courante was sung by the actor La Grange, presumably noctave ower than notated Plate 5). Even at low pitch, Lully's courantelies just beyond the comfortable range of a baritone, and so LaGrange's vocal range would have corresponded o low tenor 2

Another comedie-ballet, e Sicilien (1667), featured a love-song(" D'un caur ardent ) with a mock-Turkish efrain. he court singerJean Gaye, playing an unnamed Turkish slave, sang it in the courtpremiere. However, when Molibre published Le Sicilienthe followingyear, he reassigned his ong to the character Hali - a role customarilyperformed y La Thorilliere. herefore, a Thorillieremust have sungthis song on-stage, r else he pantomimed while a professional ingerperformed t from off-stage La Grange alludes to this practice ateron; see below, p. 26).

Moliere also sang on-stage n a number f comic roles43.His songsin general were short and simple, for Moliere was a farceur, not achanteur. Qu'ils sont doux, bouteilleolie, " the drinking ong sung bySganarelle n Act 1, sc. 5 of Le Mddecinmalgrd ui (1666),is a jauntytriple-meter ance which hovers round the hexachord b-g' Plate 6) 44

41. I omit Julien edeau dit Jodelet) rom his ist, becausehe waswithMoliere's ompanyust short ime. his ingingfarceurriginally elongedothe Theatre u Marais,which e left o oin theH6telde Bourgognen 1634;he oinedMoliere's ompany n 1659, nd died n 1660.

42. That La Grange ang enor s corroborated y Charpentier's usic orLe Malade maginaire,n which e,performing heroleof Cleante n the etitopera impromptu f Act 2, sc. 5, sang to f'#.

43. La Princesse d'Elide (Moron), Le Medecin malgre ui (Sganarelle),LaPastorale comique (Lycas), Le Sicilien (Dom Pedre), and Le BourgeoisGentilhommeMonsieur ourdain).44. Julien iersot elieved hat his rinking ongwas n fact omposed yCharpentier or later evival f Le Midecinmalgreduigiven n June f 1672(La Musique dans la Comedie de Moliere [Paris : La Renaissance du Livre,1922],pp. 173-74), nd he referred o a manuscript ollection Chansonshistoriques, atiriques t gaillardes n.p., n.d.]) which attributed his song toCharpentier. oreover, iersot ited nother rinking ong ttributed oLullyand preserved n Les Parodies nouvelles t les vaudevilles nconnus Paris :Jean-Baptiste-Christopheallard, 731),Vol. 2, p. 18,which e believed asthe drinking-songriginally erformedn Le Midecinmalgre"ui n 1666withthe lyrics " Que tes glousgloux, charmante bouteille ). I suggest that thefollowingvidencergues gainst he ttribution f " Qu'ils ont oux, outeillejolie" to Charpentier.1)The yrics rinted ith he ongwere hose ublishedin the 1667first dition f the play, nd therefore ust ave been he riginallyrics; or ater evivals f otherMoliereworks Le Mariage orcd, e Sicilien),Charpentier omposed ew music o lyricswhichwere ompletely ifferentfrom hose et arlier yLully. 2)TheLatin yrics ublished t the bottom fthe Recueil omplet e Vaudevillescore atefrom hefirst erformances.hefreres arfaict Histoire uThidtrefranpoisParis, 747;repr. ewYork Burt





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dattes de toutes es annees & le nom des Auteurs(Paris : Aux Adresses ordinaires, 753),p. 2.

(Courtesy Bibliotheque-Mus6e e la Comedie-Franqaise)





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Molibre often played up the comic aspect of his singing by usingtrained ingers s a foil. For instance, n La Princesse d'Elide the fool,Moron (played by Moliere), attempts o win the ove of a shepherdessby taking singing lessons from a satyr (performed by the bassGuillaume d'Estival n the court premiere), hen ater by improvisingsurprisingly ood pastoral ament " Ton extreme igueur ). Moliere'scharacters lso possess singular bad taste in musical matters. n LeBourgeois Gentilhomme, onsieur Jourdain finds Lully's court air" Je languisnuit t our " to be " un peu lugubre, and prefers nsteadthe jolly and unrefined uality of the chanson " Je croyais Janne-ton 45

Moliere'swife,

ArmandeB6jart,

lsosang on-stage. One contempo-rary commented that " elle avoit la voix extremement olie; elle

chantoit vec un grand goust e frangois l'italien, & personne n'a sceumieux se mettre l'air de son visage par l'arrangement e sa coeffure,& plus noblement ar l'ajustement e son habit" 46.She created therole of Angelique n Le Malade imaginaire, nd for ater revivals he

Franklin, 968], ol. 10,pp. 123-24, ote ) quoted hefollowingalefound nthe December 739 ssueof the Mercure e France I :2914)

Il ya une necdote ssezplaisante u sujet e a chanson Qu'ils ont oux,bouteillema mie &c. que chante ganarelle.M. Roze de l'AcademieFranCoise, Secretaire u Cabinet u Roy, fit esparoles atines ur etair; d'abord, pour se divertir, ensuite our faire ne petitemaliceMoliere, qui l reprocha hezM. le DucdeMontauzier, 'etre lagiairecequidonna ieu & nefort ive & plaisante ispute.M. Rozesoutenant,en chantant esparoles atines, ueMoliere es avoit raduites n Francoisd'une Epigrammeatine, mitee e l'Anthologie, ont 'air en questionsemble ait xpres Voici es paroles,

QudmdulcesAmphora moena

Quamdulces,Sunt uae vocesDtum undismetrum n calices,

Utin&memper ssesplenaAh ah cara mea agena,

Vacua cur aces?TheseLatin yrics, esigned o be sung othe une eproducedn Plate6 (andwhich sascribed oLully), onfirms hat hiswasthe riginal rinking-songorLe Mddecinmalgrd ui of which he French yricsmatch hose ublishednthe 1667 first dition. Therefore, or ack of compelling vidence o thecontrary, contend hat he RecuYilomplet e Vaudevillesersion f " Qu'ilssont doux,Bouteilleolie wasthe drinking-songomposed y Lully or he1666premiere.

45. The lyrics o this popular ongwereby Pierre errin Moliere's ival),whichwere et o music yJeanGranouillet, ieur e Sablieres, uperintendentof Music for the Duc d'Orl6ans Lully'srival). ee Henry runieres, UneChanson e Moliere, La RevueMusicale, 1(1921),150-54.

46. Quoted in Frederic Hillemacher, Galerie historique des portraits descomediens e la troupe e Molidre Lyons : Nicolas Scheuring, 869), p. 88.





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24 Revue de Musicologie, 2/1 1996)

sang the " petit opera mpromptu with La Grange, who played the roleof the young over Cleante. One critic praised these singing ctors nthis scene for the naturalness nd effectiveness f their inging 7

... la Moliere La Grange, ui a chantent 'ont ascependanta voixdumonde a plusbelle.Je doutememe u'ils ntendent inementa musique,& quoyqu'ilschantent ar esregles, e n'est point ar eur hant u'ilss'attirent nesi generale pprobation. ais ils savent oucherecceur, lspeignentespassions. a peinture u'ils nfont st ivray emblable leurjeu se cache i bien dans a nature, ue l'on ne pensepas & istingueraverite e la seule pparence. n un mot, lsentendent dmirablementienle theatre, leursr6lesne reussissentamaisbien, orsqu'ils e es oiient

pas eux memes.After 671 the Troupe du Roy resolvedhenceforth o perform lays

" tant simples que de machines, and they began to recruit ingingactors. For a revival of Le Mariageforce given during he summer f1672,the company hired Jean Deschamps, Sieur de Villiers 8 (an actorand haute-contre) long with several professional ingers the tenorForestier, hebass Le Roy, and the soprano Mlle Turpin 9 About thistime, a singing eacher was hired at company expense for Moliere'sprotdge, he promising young actor Michel Baron 50o.After Moliere's

death, several other actors (Andre Hubert, Isaac Frangois Guerind'Estriche, nd Achille Varlet, dit Verneuil) ossessed ufficient usicalability to sing on-stage, and by the mid-1670s the Troupe deGu6n6gaudcould boast of their horus of singing-actors or the 1675production f Circe51

47. Entretiens alans, vols. Paris JeanRibou,1681), 1:91-92;uoted nNicholasCronk, Moliere-Charpentier'se Malade imaginaire the firstopera-comique " in Forum or ModernLanguageStudies, 4/3 1993), pp. 220-21.

48. For more n de Villiers, eeGeorgesMongrediennd JeanRobert, esComediensfrancais du XVIIesiecle Paris : Editions du Centre National de laRecherche cientifique, 981), . 207.

49. SeeRegistre 'Hubert, . 33. Hubert's ntry n p. 102reads PourVnecoiffure la petite urpin umariage orce, #10s . This inger ascelebratedby CharlesRobinet Oeuvres omplhtes, :259)as "la jeunette urpin, uichante 'un ir sipoupin. Nuitter nd Thoinanmention hat MademoiselleTurpin hantait ur es theatres articuliers t dans les concerts;" see LesOrigines el'OperafranCaisParis, 886 repr. eneva Minkoff, 972), . 202,n. 3.

50. Registre 'Hubert ists n 10 January 673 a MonsrBaronpour deuxmois e musique... 5# 0s;" and on 10February 673 a Mr Baron our onmaistre chanter... 2#.

51. Charpentier's corefor ThomasCorneille'smachine lay Circe Bibl.Nat., Ms R6s.Vm' 259,XVII,fols. -17) ists n the margins f a chorus fol.3) the the names f the following ingers " Bast[...], " Pous[sin], " DesTri[ches], " La Gr[ange], " Vern[euil], " Hub[ert], and" De Gaye. Thefirst ame s unknown, ut Louis-Joseph oussinwas a professional aute-contre who sang in Psyche 1671),Le Malade imaginaire 1673, rev. 1674),and





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John S. Powell : Musical Practices n the Theater of Molidre 25

The more demanding music of Moliere's intermedes equired thecompany to hire professional singers musiciens d gages). For LeMariage force (1664), the Registre de La Grange ists a line item of5 livres for " musique (i.e., vocal music) 2. Evidently, he companyhired singer operform ne of the two vocal numbers, ither he Rdcitde la Beaute (" Si l'Amour vous soumet ) or the Rdcit d'un Magicien(" Hola qui va ld ?"). It is probable that one of the actors perhaps LaGrange) performed he singing ole of the magician; the Rdcit de laBeautd, on the other hand, required singer f some ability who didnot have to act. Several singers were needed for La Princesse d'Elide(1664), and the payment f 25 livres for musique isted n the Second

Registrede La

Thorillidre 9November

1664) suggeststhat the

company hired fiveprofessional ingers o cover the eight inging olesrequired by the intermedes. ingers doubled on roles for the courtpremiere, o we might ssume that five ingerswere assigned a similardistribution f roles at the Palais-Royal performances, ith ll of themforming he chorus of the Sixidme ntermede 3

As singers' esponsibilities ncreased or Psyche' 1671)and Le Maladeimaginaire 1673), their pay was increased accordingly the lowest-paid singers eceived5 livres 10 sols per performance, he highest-paid11 livres. n 1671 the Troupedu Roy took a major step toward dramatic

realism when they resolved o hire a group of singers or Psyche whowerewilling oappear on-stage, ogether ith he actors. An interestingpassage from the Registre de La Grange sheds considerable ight onvocal performance ractices n Moliere's theater prior to this time 4Evidently, while they performed rom boxes, heard but not seen, theactors would mime their parts on-stage 5.La Grange explains that

L'Inconnu1675).Guerin 'Estriche " DesTri[ches]) was an actor whoalsosang haute-contre n Les Foux divertissans 1680), Endimion 1681), andAndrom&derev. 1682). La Grange sang tenor n Les Foux divertissans nd

Androm&de, erneuil ang bass in Les Foux divertissans, a Pierre hilosophale(1681), nd Androm&de,nd Hubert angbassin La Pierre hilosophalendAndrom&de.heappearance f JeanGaye'sname nCharpentier'scores or eMaladeimaginaire1673)and Circe 1675)proves hat Moliere's ompanyignored he terms f Lully'sordinance f 12 August 1672,which orbadetheaters rom iring ingers nd nstrumentalists etained yLully'sAcademieRoyalede Musique.

52. Registre e La Grange, :64.53. Lully's core alls for wo opranos, tenor, baritone, nd a bass. t s

possible hat, s was done t the ourt remiere,he opranowho angAurorein the Premier ntermIde lso sang the role of Climene n the CinquidmeInterm&de long with nother aid singer, ho sang the role of Philis; thesinging hepherd ircis n the Quatridmenterm&de oubledas the tenordogkeeper f the Premier ntermIde; nd the singing atyr f the TroisidmeIntermIde oubled s thebass-voiceogkeeper, ith nother aid singer s thebaritone ogkeeper.

54. Registre e La Grange, :124-26.55. There s evidence n earlier laysgivenby rival theaters hat actors

lip-syncedheir ongs. n the musical inale oSallebray's e Jugement e Paris





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Jusques cy es Musiciens t Musiciennes 'auoient oint ouluparroistreenpublic. ls chantoient la Comedie ansdes ogesgrillees t treillissees.Mais on surmonta etobstacle t auecquelque egere espance n trouuadespersonnes ui chanterent ur e Theastre Visagedescouuert abillezcomme esComediens,qauoir

Madelles deRieuxMrs forestier Mrs Ribou

Mosnier PoussinChampenois

Mlle Turpingrandpre

Reading between he ines,we might urmise hat ome of the singerspreviously hired by the Palais-Royal were court singers, who wereperhaps not keen to appear on-stagewith ctors. Curiously, f the eightsingers isted above, only two were hired back two years ater for LeMalade imaginaire. For this latter production, seven professionalsingerswere hired, wo at 11 livres er performance, nd five thers t5 livres 10 sols. Six of them are identified n Charpentier's utographscore, where their names appear written n the left margins of the

chorus"

Bene, bene respondere56

: Mlle Mouvant (first oprano),Mlle Hardy first oprano), Mlle Marion (second soprano), M. Poussin(haute-contre) 7,M. Forestier tenor), and M. Frison (bass)58. Thename of the seventh inger " Guay ") appears n the margins f one ofthe haute-contre olosin " Profitez uprintemps 59. This was probablythe versatile singer Jean Gaye, who had sung numerous roles (invarious vocal ranges) for the court performances f the comedies-ballets; Lully engaged him for the Academie Royale de Musique laterthat year, and composed for him the title-role f Cadmuset Hermio-ne 60

et eRavissement'Helene1639), erformed t the H6teldeBourgognen 1657(and perhaps arlier), aris ntertains e1 nwith song " Prendscongo"ecerivage ) which, n the printed lay, spreceded y heperformanceubric onchante. Similarly, or he 1666performancest the Th6etre u Marais ofBoyer's esAmours eJupiter t de Simelc performanceubricn Act 4 reads"JVPITER descend ort6 par son Aigleau milieudes nuees enflammees,cependant u'on chante es vers Je descends ur la terre vec toutesmesarmes). Clearly, aris nd Jupiter eremadeto appear o be singing, hilesomeone lse sangtheir ongs rom he wings.

56. Paris,Bibliotheque ationale e France,Ms Res. Vm' 259,XVI:74.57. Louis-Josephoussin.58. Antoine rizon or Frison) ater ang s a chantre rdinairen the royal

chapel; seeBenoit,Musiques e Cour, p. 68, 76, and 152.59. Ms Res.Vm' 259,XVI:61-62.60. Evidently, eanGayewas also one of the xternal ingers ired y the

company or heir roduction f Circe t the Thb~atree Guenegaudn 1675;seeabove,note 51.





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John S. Powell Musical Practices n the Theater of Molidre 27

THE DANCERS

Like other heatrical ompanies of the time, he Troupe du Roy wasfully apable of dancing a ballet when the occasion arose. Moliere isnot known to have had any formal training s a dancer, other thanwhat he may have received s a student t the Collkgede Clermont. Hisdancing n the comedies-ballets as pantomimic or he most part; likehis singing, t was often ntended o appear comical rather han skilled.In sc. 12 of Les Precieuses ridicules, Mascarille (played by Molibre)clumsily ttempts courante, nd then reproaches he tring layers or

not playing n time. n the Cinquieme ntree of Le Mariage force, adancing master tries to show Sganarelle how to dance a courante npreparation or his wedding after which his bride s shown dancingwith four flirtatious oungmen. n the final cene of L'Amourmedecin,some dancers hold Sganarelle nd force him to dance while hisfianceeelopes with her lover. Lully, on the other hand, was an accomplisheddancer, and he frequently erformed t court alongside professionalbaladins and skilled, noble amateurs 1. Lully evidently anced in the"Charivari groteque" of Le Mariage force 2, and possibly as aScaramouche in L'Amour

medecin;in La Pastorale

comiquehe

appeared with Beauchamps as a guitar-playing ypsy. His famousbuffo performances n Monsieur de Pourceaugnac and Le BourgeoisGentilhomme evealed his talent for azzi and burlesque pantomime.

Several members f Moliere's company danced in performances tcourt nd in town. Of the actresses,MademoiselleDu Parc, whose realname was Marquise-Ther6se de Gorla, was often praised for herdancing 3. Loret remarked hat " La Du-Parc, cette belle Actrice, /avec son port d'Imperatrice, soit en recitant, u dansant, / n'a rien quine soit ravissant; / et comme sa taille et sa tate / lui font mainte et

mainte conquete, / mille soupirants ont temoins / que ses beaux pas61. For more n Lully he ancer, eeMarie-Franqoisehristout, Baptiste,

interprete esballets e cour , in La Gorce nd Schneider,ds.,Jean-BaptisteLully Actes du colloqueSaint-Germain-en-Laye, p. 209-22.

62. The livret ists M. Lully, es sieurs althasard, agnac,Bonnard, aPierre, escouteaux t es trois pterres reres . Three f these ames ecur sdancers n the omedies-ballets Balthasard, onnard, nd a Pierre ppearedtogether n the Second and Sixidme nterm&de f La Princesse d'Elide. Othernames an be identified s members f the Chambre nd Ecurie FranqoisPignon dit desCousteaux; boeandflute), eanHotteterreviolin nd oboe),NicolasHotteterre oboe and viola),Louis Hotteterre viola and sackbut),Martin Hotteterre viola and oboe). SinceLully'sname heads the list ofdancers, t would e ogical oassume hat edanced ntheCharivari rotesque.63. She was married o the actor Du Parc, whosereal name was ReneBerthelot. or an engaging ccount of her career and the mysteriouscircumstances urrounding er death, see H. Carrington ancaster, AnActress La Du Parc ", in Adventures f a Literary istorian Baltimore JohnsHopkins ress, 942), p. 79-96.





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n'en font pas moins " 64. Another author recalled, with more than ahint f fetishism, hat elle faisoit ertains aprioles remarquables caron voyoit es ambes & partie de ses cuissespar le moyen de sa juppefendu? des deux costez, avec des bas de soye attachez au haut d'unepetite culotte 5 ". In Le Mariage forcd, Mlle Du Parc played Sgana-relle's flirtatious, oung iancee Dorimene. Loret commented n howdiverting were Du Parc's feminine harms and dancing : " De laDu-Parc, rien e ne dis, / qui rendoit es Gens 6baudis / par ses apas,par sa prestance, et par ses beaux pas et sa dance " 66. The height fMlle Du Parc's recognition t court came in 1664,when she performedthe role of Alcine, the enchantress f Les Plaisirs de l'lle enchante in

the finale of the Ballet du Palais d'Alcine hat concluded the three-daydivertissement, he danced opposite Pierre Beauchamps.Other membersof Moliere's company also occasionally danced on-stage. La Grangeseems to have performed he role of the dancing nuisance Lysandre nthe premiere f Les Fdcheux 7. Armande Bejart emerged s the eadingbeauty f the Troupe u Royduring he 1660s, nd Molierewrote manyof his principal emale oles for her. She played a fortune-telling ypsyin the Troisidme ntrde of Le Mariage force, where she appearedon-stage with he king and his courtiers. While Mlle Moliere may have

danced on-stage n this nd other productions, here s no record of it.Theatrical ancing ostumes f the time weredesigned odisguise hefact that the gypsy women, hepherdesses, nd Spanish adies listed nthe court livrets were performed t court by male dancers 8. In thepublic theater, rofessional ancers comprised he single most expen-siveproduction ost. For the first unof Le Mariageforcd, inedancers

64. Loret, a Muzehistorique,etter f 19 November 661; ed. Charles-Louis Livet Paris, 1877), 111:431.

65. Mercure de France, " Lettre ur les comediens , (mai 1740); quoted inHillemacher, alerie istorique,p. 44-45.66. Loret, La Muze historique, etter f 2 February 1664; ed. Livet, 111:159.

Loret saw her either n the first r second court performance f Le Mariageforce', given at the Louvre in the apartments f the Queen Mother 29 and31 March 1664).

67. In Act I, scene 3, the dancing nuisance Lysandre onfronts raste, theyoung over. An inscription n the 1681 Philidor manuscript core Bibl. nat.,Res. F 530, p. 68; see Plate 5) states that " Cette Courante a este fait parMr. de Lullyet chantee u ficheux par Mr. de la Grange Comedien . We knowfrom Registre e La Grange p. 40) that La Grange played the part of Eraste

for the Paris performances ntil mid-November, when illness forced him torelinquish herole to Mr du Croisy. However, heevidence ffered y Philidor'sscore would lead us to conclude that La Grange, not Moliere, premiered herole of the singing nd dancing nuisance.

68. The following court dancers seemed to have made a specialty ofperforming emale roles in the come'dies-ballets Lalanne, Saint-Andrb,Baltazard, Magny, Arnald, Bonard, Noblet cadet and ainde, oignard, LaMontagne, Lestang, Favier cadet, Favre, Joubert, nd Pezant.





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John S. Powell .-Musical Practices n the Theater f Moliere 29

were each paid 5 livres er performance 9; for the 4 November 1664premiere f La Princesse d'Elide, twelve dancers were paid a total of60 livres a sum that represents he total production xpenses for anon-musical play 70.The rate of 5 livres eems to have become thestandard rate for a dancer n 1664; when Les Fdcheux was revived orfour performances n June of that year, an unspecified number ofdancers probably four) received total of 20 livres 1.For the first unof Psyche, hecompany hired 12dancers nd 4 petits danseurs, gracesand 6 cupids and zephirs to perform pectacular flights, s well as2 acrobats. Dancers were usually outfitted ith silk hose and shoes atthe company's expense. Often dancers received other perquisites a

dressingoomat 9 livres

ppears amongthe 22

February1664

expensesfor Le Mariage forc 72 ; expenses for the 22 April 1663 revival ofLes Fdcheux include 1 livre 10 sols "pour du vin au record desdanseurs 73 ; and payments weremade to a baigneur orperformancesthat featured allet during he warm summer months of 1672 74

CHOREOGRAPHERSNDCONDUCTORS

Three professional ourt dancers served as dancing masters for the

Troupe du Roy : Pierre Beauchamps,Anthoine des Brosses and, at theGuenegaud theater, ierre de la Montagne 75.Beauchamps, the mostacclaimed baladin of his day, was Intendant es Ballets du Roy. Hedanced in most of the court premieres f the comndies-ballets,n whichhe portrayed variety f colorful haracters 6.Beauchampscomposed

69. As opposed othe fifteen rofessional ancers hat erformed t court.See the Registre e La Grange, :64, and the Premier Registre e La Thorillidre(2/15/1664-3/11/1664).

70. Second Registre e La Thorillidre, ntry f 9 November 1664.

71. SecondRegistre e La Thorillidre, ntry f 8 June 1664. n 1663,the rateseems to have been 3 livres per performance 9 livres were paid "pour lesdanseurs for performances f Les Fdcheux n 27 April, 6 October, nd30 October; the next July, singledancer was paid 3 livres o perform dancefollowing Racine's tragedy a Thibaide.

72. Second Registre de La Thorillidre; Bonnassies suggests that this wasundoubtedly ocated in a building adjoining the theater La Musique ad aComedie-Frangaise, . 6).

73. Second Registre e La Thorillidre.74. See Le Registre 'Hubert, p. 12-67.75. See this uthor's article, Pierre Beauchamps,Choreographer o Molie-

re's Troupe du Roy, Music and Letters, 6:2 (May 1995),pp. 168-86.76. These include a " plaisant ou goguenard , "magicien ", " galant" (LeMariage force"); Roger in Les Plaisirs de l'Ile enchantde Troisieme Journee)"valet de chien , "valet de feste , " luteur" (La Princesse 'Elide,25 August1669 revival t Saint-Germain-en-Laye) " Egyptien ouant de la guitare (LaPastorale comique); " Maure nu" (Le Sicilien); "berger ", " suivant deBacchus" (GeorgeDandin) " page ", " matassin , " procureur , " Biscayen(Monsieurde Pourceaugnac) " dieu marin , " pantomime , " faune , "jeune





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the music and choreographed the dances for the Vaux-le-Vicomtepremiere of Les Fdcheux; thereafter, is music (and perhaps hischoreography) was used for subsequent performances t the Palais-Royal. Moliere engaged Beauchamps for his first un of Le Mariageforce beginning 15 February 1664, for which the Registre de LaGrange recorded hat Beauchamps received 550 livres p[our] faire eballet" 77. Des Brossesevidently ecame their maitre danser for thepublic performances f La Princesse d'Elide that autumn, for theSecondRegistre e La Thorilliere ists wopayments f 110livresmadeon 9 and 11 November 1664 to " Mr des Brosses 78. Later in hiscareer, Des Brosses served as ballet master for the Thelatre du

Marais 79, for Perrin's AcademieRoyale d'Operas 80, nd as one of thechoreographers or Lully's Academie Royale de Musique 81

For the public performances f La Princesse d'Elide in 1664, theSecondRegistre e La Thorilliere ecords he sum of 300 livres aid to" Monsieur Cambert 82. This was most likely the composer Robert

gen " (Les Amants magnifiques); Turc ", " Espagnol ", " Scaramouche (LeBourgeois Gentilhomme, ith Le Ballet des Nations); "fleuve ", "cyclope"," furie , " berger galant , " enseigne" (Psyche).

77. Registre e La Grange, :65.78. That previous ay,DesBrosses ad appearednthe hree-day ersaillesfite (Les Plaisirs de l'Ile enchanteie) or which La Princesse d'Elide was firstgiven in which he danced as one of the Signs of the Zodiac, as a monster,and as a knight.

79. According o S. Wilma Deierkauf-Holsboer, es Brosses erved s balletmaster for their January 666production f Boyer's Les Amours e Jupiter tde Scimelc; ee Le Thedtre u Marais (Paris : Nizet, 1954)11:159.Later, he leftPerrin's Academy to choreograph he ballets for their production f De Vise'smachine-play, e Mariage de Bacchuset d'Ariane,which opened at the The~itredu Marais on 7

January 672;see the

Sujetdes Amours e Bachus et

d'Ariane(Paris : Pierre Prome, 1672),p. 14.80. Des Brosses choreographed he ballets for the Perrin-Cambert pera

Pomone 1671)and served s ballet master o the Academy until Beauchampstook over his position ometime n the ate fall or early winter f 1671.A legaldocument from this time states " et pour l'opera des peines et des plaisirsd'Amour il [est] constant que toute a musique estoit preste uparauant quePomone cessat puisque Mr de beauchamps qui a danse enuiron deux mois aPomone a entendu a repetition udit second opera le premier our qu'il entra["dans" crossed-out] l'opera et que Mr des brosses auoit tous les airs["auparau " crossed-out] es ballets de ce second opera auparauant qu'il cedat

sa place audit beauchamps . (Ms., Archivesde la Comedie-Frangaise.)81. Lully employed des Brosses to choreograph his pastiche Les Fites del'Amour t de Bacchus November 1672) and his first ragddie-lyrique, admuset Hermione April 1673) - both performed n a rented heater n the RueVaugirard Jeu de Paume de Bequet, called <<e Bel-Air >).

82. " Raporte les trois cinq livres que i'auois en mes mains qui ont estebaillez a Monsieur Cambert (Second Registre de La Thorillidre, ntry for9 December 1664).





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Cambert, who may have served s music director or his production 3*The total earned by Des Brosses and Cambert (220 livres plus300 livres) or their ervices n La Princesse 'Elide (roughly quivalentto the 550 livres that Beauchamps was paid for Le Mariage force)suggests hat Des Brosses and Cambert may have divided the dutiesundertaken y Beauchamps n the earlier roduction. When the Troupedu Roy engaged Beauchampsfor heir 671 production f Psyche, heydoubled his earlier tipend according to the Registre e La Grange,Beauchamps received 1,100 livres " pour avoir faict les ballet etconduire la musique ", together with a salary of 11 livres perperformance tant pour battre la mesure a la musique que pourentretenir es ballets 84

OTHER ASPECTS OF PRODUCTION

Psyche (1671) and Le Malade imaginaire 1673) marked a newdirection or Moliere and the Troupe du Roy. Earlier comedies-balletsreceived heir ourt premieres nder a variety f circumstances, ftenon makeshift tages nd sometimes with modest decor. Upon occasion,the company performed machine plays - Corneille'sAndrom&den theprovinces perhaps in 1651-52) 5, Gilbert's Les Amours de Diane etd'Endymion nd Montauban's Les Charmes de Filicie at the Petit-Bourbon in 166086, and Molibre's Dom Juan and Amphitryon t thePalais-Royal in 1665 and 1668 respectively. erhaps encouraged bytheir uccess with the court performances f Psyche at the Salle desMachines, the Troupe du Roy resolved during the Lenten break of1671 to include henceforth n their repertory high-tech" theatricalproductions. Modelled after the kinds of musical machine plays byBoyer and de Vise that were being produced at the Theattre u Marais,

Psychewould feature udden

set-transformations, reathtakingerial

flights, nd specialeffects. ut more mportantly, y ts classicalsubject

83. Cambert ould ater omposencidental usic or r6court's omedy eJaloux nvisible,iven t the Hftel de Bourgognen 1666, nd for he Suitedufestin epierre Agiunta l convitato ipietra), erformedn February 673bythe Combdie talienne see Robinet, etter f 4 February 1673).

84.Registre e La Grange, :126.85. A copy of a 1651 edition of Andromede urvives with the names of the

actors who participated n Molre's handwriting Molibre played the part ofPerseus). Henry Prunieres elieves that a performance ook place during the

winter f 1651,when Charles Coypeau (dit Dassoucy) met up with Moliere andhis company t a meeting f the Etats at Carcassonne Henry Prunieres, Lessingulibres ventures e M. Dassoucy, musicien t potte burlesque, La Revuemusicale, 19 [1938],p. 96).

86. During the summer f 1660 at the Petit-Bourbon, Moliere's companyproduced Gilbert's Les Amoursde Diane et d'Endimion nd Montauban's LesCharmesde Filicie, both of which called for special sceniceffects, olo songs,and choruses. See the Registre e La Grange, :21-25.





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matter, ts prologue n praise of Louis XIV, its extensive ivertissementsof songs, choruses, and ballet, Psyche marked a new direction forMoliere's company a shift oward the aesthetic f opera. The rapidscene-changes equired by Psyche were impossible o perform n theold stage of the Palais-Royal, where ts fixed ngle-wings onfined heaction to a single cene; furthermore, hemachine-effects hat were sointegral o the dramatic ction could not easily be recreated here. Soon 15 March 1671,during heir Lenten break, the company resolved" de reffaire out e Theastre, articulierement a charpente, t le rendrepropre pour des machines 87.They also completed he restoration fthe auditorium, hichhad been done hastily when the company moved

to the Palais-Royal ten years earlier. They repaired nd repainted hethree rows of loges (the third oge having been brought ver from hePetit Bourbon in 1661), the amphitheater, he balconies, and theconveniences. nd they nstalled everalreceding airs of mechanicallyoperated flat wings painted n perspective, hich permitted hanges ofscene at a moment's notice 88

An examination of the sets and machines described n the firstprinted dition f Psyche heds some ight n the staging apabilities fthe remodelled Palais-Royal89. The prologue opens upon " un Lieuchampestre, dans l'enfoncement n Rocher

perc6" jour, 'a travers

duquel on voit la Mer en bloignement . This perspectivewould havebeen painted on the mechanical lat wings. Later, Venus descendsfromthe heavens with her son Cupid and two little Graces on a grandemachine 0, nd at the end of the prologue Cupid takes to flight. heperspective hen changes nto " une grande Ville, ofi 'on d6couvredesdeux costez, des Palais & des Maisons de differens rdres d'Architec-ture 91.At the end of Act 1, the set transforms nto a desert andscapedominated by " des Rochers affreux and " une Grotte effroyable"where Psyche s to be sacrificed. he Second ntermede, ct 3, and the

Troisidmentermede re all set in " une Cour

magnifique, rn6ede

Colomnes de Lapys enrichies e Figures d'or, qui forment n Palais

87. Seethe Registre e La Grange, :124-26.88. SeeRogerW. Herzel, The Decorof Molibre's tage TheTestimony

of Brissart nd Chauveau , PMLA,93(1978),pp. 950-51.89. Numerous discrepancies etween the first dition of the play (Psyche,

trageddie-balletar J.-B. P. Molidre Paris Pierre e Monnier, 1671])and the1671 printed ivret, which describes the production given at the Salle desMachines, lead me to believe that the former epresents he staging usuallygiven at the Palais-Royal.

90. Perhaps the basic mechanism was already nstalled t the Palais-Royal by1668, for the conclusion of Moliere's Amphitryon alled for the descent ofJupiter n a mechanical agle.

91. The set for the production t the Salle des Machines depicted " unegrande llbede cyprus, fi 'on decouvre, es deux cotes, des tombeaux uperbesdes anciens rois de la famille de Psyche. Cette d6coration st couple, dans lefond, par un magnifique rc de triomphe, u travers duquel on voit uneloignement e la meme allee qui s'6tend usqu'a perte de vue ".





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pompeux & brillant, ue l'Amour destine pour Psich6 . At the end ofthe Troisidme ntermede heset changes o " un autre Palais magnifique,coupe dans le fond par un Vestibule, au travers duquel on voit unJardin uperbe & charmant, ecor&de plusieurs Vases d'Orangers, &d'arbres chargez de toutes sortes de Fruits 92. What the beginning fAct 4 lacked in extraordinary ets, t more than made up for n specialeffects. t the end of scene2, Zephyr weeps Psyche's wo sisters p ina cloud and bears them away through he sky. Then, after Psychepersuades Cupid to reveal his identity o her, the god suddenly fliesaway and simultaneously le superbeJardin '&vanoiiit . Psyche s leftalone " au milieu d'une vaste Campagne & sur le bord sauvage d'ungrand Fleuve oiu lle se veut precipiter. The river-god hen ppears -probably rising from below the surface of the river 3 he is shown" assis sur un amas de Joncs & de Roseaux, & appuy& ur une grandeUrne, d'oui sort une grosse source d'eau ". The Quatrieme ntermidewas the great set of Hell 94, where the audience saw :

...uneMertoute e feu, ont es flots ont ans uneperpetuellegitation.CetteMereffroyablestbornbe ar des Ruinesenflambes; au milieu esesflots gitez, u travers 'une Gueule ffreuse, aroist ePalais nfernalde Pluton... sich6 uia passe ux Enfers ar ecommandementeVenus,

repassedans la Barquede Charon, vec la Boate u'elle a receiie eProserpine our ette eesse.

The act also features everal aerial flights nd concludes with amechanical tour deforce. Psyche faints t the end of sc. 3, and Cupidflies down to her; then at the end of sc. 5, " apres quelques &clairs&roulemens e Tonnerre, Jupiter aroist en l'air sur son Aigle". In thelast scene two large machines descend from he heavens at both sidesof Jupiter; Venus and her attendants limb nto one of them, Cupidand Psyche newlymade immortal) nto the other, nd they ll ascend

92. In the 1671court ivret, his etting s described s " un ardin superbe tcharmant. n y voitdes berceaux e verdure outenus ardesTermes 'or, tdecores e vasesd'orangers, t d'arbres e toutes ortes e fruits. e milieu utheitre strempli es fleurs esplusbelles t es plusrares, nvironneese haiesde buis.Ondecouvre ans 'enfoncementlusieurs 6mes e rocailles rnes ecoquillages,e fontaines t de statues et toute ette greable ue e termine arun magnifique alais .

93. A trap-door asprobably lready n placeat the Palais-Royal y themid-1660s. t the onclusion f DomJuan 1665;although his escriptionsfound nly n an uncensored ersion f the play, ublished n Amsterdamn1683), le tonnerre ombe vec un grand ruit t de grands clairs ur DomJuan; a terre 'ouvre t 'abime; t l sort e grands eux e l'endroit ui l esttombe . La Princesse 'Elide 1664)had also featured special-effectn thefinalintermnddei.e., he mergencef themechanicalree earingnstrument-playing auns whichwouldhaverequired uch trap door.

94. Since the description f the set for Hell in the published lay isreproduced erbatim rom he 1671 ivret, ne might onjecture hat hekingdonated his et to Moliere's ompany oruse in their roduction.





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John S. Powell : Musical Practices n the Theater f Molidre 35

the days (beginning 9 December)on which firewood was furnished oheat the hall from A.M. until 2 P.M. for the dance rehearsals; theserehearsals were scheduled nearly very day of the week, and lasted forseveral hours into the early afternoon 03. Three days later, musicalrehearsals egan for the demoiselles, hat s, the adies who sang in thePrologue and the Moorish interm&de, ho were furnished withprovisions nd candles ~4. The company arranged for a private tutorfor one of the adies, Mlle Marion, to teach her the music by rote o05From the bill submitted y the candlemaker, eanneMagoullet, we canreconstruct he schedule of rehearsals for the actors and actressesbeginning 16 January, on afternoons when there were no other

performancescheduled, 2

poundsof candles were furnished or the

dramatic rehearsals f Le Malade imaginaire which were evidentlyheld in dim ight. After syche closed on January 2nd, full rehearsals(the grandes repetitions) ith the musicians nd dancers began o106.Inall, there were fifty-three ehearsals or he ballet, ighteen f them withthe comedy. The extraordinary mount of attention devoted to theballet might well testify o the complexity and elaborateness ofBeauchamps'schoreography; ut t might lso suggest he nexperienceof the dancers with whom Beauchamps had to work. Since Lully hadappropriated he best dancers for his Academie Royale de Musique,

Beauchamps's corps de ballet must have been made up largely f actorsand supernumeriaries ho required dditional training nd attention.These two months of rehearsals or Le Malade imaginaire ad servedto train new generation f singers nd dancers; after heproductionwas underway, ance classes continued under the direction f Beau-champs. Thierry dvanced the hypothesis hat Moliere, assistedby hisdancing master and singing teacher, had established a school ofperforming rts to pave the way for future musical productions t thePalais-Royal 107

The state-of-the-art tage at the Theatre du Palais-Royal proved tobe effective or pectacularmusicalproductions. ndeed, after Moliere'sdeath the king evicted heTroupe du Roy and gave the theater ver tothe Academie Royale de Musique. Moliere's death removed the lastobstacle to Lully's operatic mbitions while he Troupe de Guenegaudcontinued o incorporate music and dance in its productions uring he

103.Crosnier'snitial ntry eads Premieremt,u undy 9edecembre 672,du [sic]depuis heure u matin usqu" euxheure prosmydi, u feu pourla respetition. lus du mardy 0e la mesme hose. Thierry ibid., . 164),however, oints ut that ance ehearsal robably idnot n fact ast ix hours,since he hallwouldhavebeenheated n hour n advance. he only ays hatthe dancers id not rehearse ere 25December 672, and 27 January, nd10February 673 the day of the premiere.

104." Memoire e La Forest ; transcribedn Thierry, bid., 71-74.105." Placetde M. Crespin , transcribedn Thierry, bid., . 199.106." Memoire e Jeanne Magoullet, handelibre, transcribedn Thierry,

ibid, p. 145-46.107.Thierry, bid, p. 164-65.





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1670s108,it no longer pose a serious threat o Lully's monopoly. n awork of fiction published against Lully shortly fter his death, theghost of Moliere recalls that they once considered aking over ointlythe opera privilkge, but Lully out-manceuvred im by going to the kingtwo days before their agreed-upon date 109. Yet what if the operaprivilige had been granted o Moliere As we have seen, by the early1670sthe Troupe du Roy was well on its way to becoming n operacompany, and Le Malade imaginaire might well have served as themodel for a new, urbane type of 17th-century pdra-comique. ut by1673 the political winds had changed direction, nd whether Moliere'sspectacularmusical comedieswould have best met the requirements fLouis XIV and his

royal image-makerss a

questionthat remains

beyond the scope of this study.

108. See Janet Clarke, Music at the Guenegaud heatre 1673-1680,Seventeenth-Century rench tudies, 12 (1990),89-110.

109. " Lettre de Clement Marot a Monsieur de ***". Snnce places thesewords n Moliere'smouth

Le grand bruit ue faisoient ans le Monde es Opera... xciterent acrainte t reveillerent acupiditY,'apprehendai uecette ouveaute e fitdeserter on Theatre, t e mepersuadai ue si e pouvoism'enrendre emaitre, ienne pourroit esormaisme troubler ans la qualit6, ue jepretendois 'attribuer 'arbitre es plaisirs, t du bon gofit e ce sieclegalant ui 'ai vescu. omme 'avoisbesoin 'un Musicien our xecuter eprojet, e jettai esyeux ur Lulli, t ui communiquai apensee, ersuadeque '&tois ue a liaison uenous vions epuisong-temps,nconcourantensemble ux plaisirs u Roi,et le succes merveilleuxu'avoit u depuispeudetemps e charmant pectacle ePsich6, ui ousdeuxnous vions un6tre art u plaisir ta agloire,m'&toientesgarants nfailliblesen6trefuture ntelligence.em'enouvris onc lui, l applaudit mondessein,ilmepromit nefidelit6, t meme ne ubordination nviolable, ous imesnos

conventions,ous

reglamesos

emplois,t nos

partages,t nous

primesour pour ller nsemble ettre a faux ans a moisson 'autrui ndemandant u Roi, ePrivilege e a representationesOpera...Jedormoistranquilementur a bonne oide ce traite, uandLulliplus veille uemoipartit e la main eux ours vant elui dontnous&tionsonvenus.I allaau Roi demander eprivilege our uiseul, l l'obtint la faveur es bellescouleurs u'il sqift onner sa requeste, t l'obtint meme avec desconditions igoureuses,ui me donnerent eaucoup courir our onser-ver endantma vie quelques rnemens mon heatre . (Lettre eClimentMarot d Monsieur e *** [Cologne Pierre Marteau, 1688],pp. 54-57.)

GeorgesMongredien" Moliere t Lulli , XVIF Si&cle,8-99 1973], . 10)points ut that enec6 ad ived t court nd had written short perahimself,so he was likely o be well nformed bout the arly evelopments f opera.Some of Senece'snformation an be verified when he operaprivilege asgranted n Lully's ame lone, t originally ontained clause aimed irectlyat Moliere) hatprohibited heater ompanies rom erforming orks withmore than two airs and two instruments . Moliere hereupon uccessfullypetitioned heking o have this lausechanged o " six singers nd twelveinstruments.





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SUMMARY

<<Nous sommesdans un siecleoui a Musique & les Balets ont des charmespour tout e monde >>,wrote Donneau de Vise in 1672<<&que les spectacles uien sont remplis ont beaucoup plus suivis que les autres >. Throughout hiscareer in Paris during 1658-1673,Moliere regularly ncorporated music anddance into his plays. Rene Bray Molidre,homme e thedtre Paris Mercure deFrance, 1954])remarks hat n his first enplays, Moliereused music and danceonly once, n the next enplays five imes, nd in the final en plays seventimes.<<a progression st instructive ))>>,ray concluded.

This study will begin by examining Moliere's employment f professionalinstrumentalists, ingers, ancers, horeographers, nd musical directors t thePetit Bourbon and the Theitre du Palais-Royal. Account-books, bills andreceipts, ontracts f association, musical scores, and other docments will bereferred-to n reconstructing hemusical and choreographic orces eployedbyMoliere's theater t various times n his career. n 1671, in response to thesuccessof Perrin's AcademieRoyale des Operas, the Troupe du Roy embarkedupon a new direction n musical theater. The troupe's renovation of thePalais-Royal and their nstallation f a state-of-the-art ransformation tagepoint to an increased ommitment o large-scale erformances nvolvingmusic,dance, and machine pectacle.This gives redence o the hypothesis hat, beforetheir plit, Moliere and Lully planned to acquire Perrin's privilege nd moveinto opera.

Donneau de Visecrivait en 1672que <<Nous sommes dans un siecleoui aMusique & les Balets ont des charmes our tout e monde, & que les spectaclesqui en sont remplis ont beaucoup plus suivisque les autres ). Tout au long desa carriere a Paris, entre 1658 et 1673,Moliere incorpora regulibrement e lamusique et de la danse dans ses pieces. Rene Bray Moliere, homme e thddtre[Paris Mercure de France, 1954]) remarque ue dans ses dix premieres ieces,Moliere n'utilisa a musique et la danse qu'une seule fois, dans ses dix piecessuivantes, inq fois, t dans les dernieres ix pieces, ept fois. <<a progressionest instructive>> oncluait Bray.

Cette etude examine tout d'abord les instrumentistes rofessionnels, eschanteurs, anseurs, horegraphes t directeurs musicauxque Moliere employaau Theitre du Petit Bourbon et au Theitre du Palais-Royal. Pour reconstituerle nombre des musiciens t des danseurs mployespar le theitre de Moliere "adiverses 6poques de sa carriere, nous nous sommes reporte aux livres de

comptes,aux factures et

requs,aux contrats d'association, aux

partitionsmusicales t autres documents. n 1671,suite au succes de l'Academie Royaledes Operas de Perrin, a Troupe du Roy prit une nouvelle direction n ce quiconcerne e theitre musical. La reorganisation e la troupe du Palais-Royal etl'installation 'une scene transformable aisse supposer un interet ccru pourdes representations t grand spectaclemplant musique, danse et machines. Celadonne foi t l'hypoth6se ue, avant leur separation, Moliere et Lully envisa-geaient d'acqubrir e privil6ge e Perrin t de se diriger ers 'opbra.

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