Abstract
Though the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) brought the Thirty Years War to an end, another ten years were to pass before the new map of Europe could be seen. Louis XIV’s coming of age, declared in 1651, when he was thirteen, concluded the regency of his mother Anne of Austria, but Mazarin’s ministry continued in power, giving rise to the insurrections of the Fronde (1652–3), which would force the young king to flee from the capital and his minister to go into exile in Cologne. Louis XIV never forgot these events, which caused ideas about authority and order to germinate in his mind. The Peace of the Pyrenees (1659), followed by the king’s marriage to the Spanish princess Maria Teresa (Marie-Thérése), meant that the possibility of a period of calm on the European scene could be glimpsed. However, the opportunity for such a change came only with the death of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661.
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Notes
Out of the great abundance and diversity of books on Louis XIV himself, pride of place goes to P. Gaxotte, Louis XIV (Paris, 1974).
Also important are P. Goubert, Louis XIV et vingt millions de français (Paris, 1966);
D. Ogg, Louis XIV (Oxford, 1967);
F. Bluche, Louis XIV (Paris, 1986).
To these may be added J. -P. Néraudau, L’Olympe du Roi-Soleil (Paris, 1986), associating mythology with the royal ideology, a point of central importance in the arts of the period. Destins et enjeux du XVIle siècle (Paris, 1985), éd. J. Mesnard, throws light on the heritage, continuing traditions and innovations of a century with many different facets.
F. Bluche, Dictionnaire du grand siècle (Paris, 1990) is invaluable.
In the musical sphere, an introduction to French music of the ancien régime is provided by two small complementary syntheses: J.-F. Paillard, La musique française classique (Paris, 1960),
M. Benoit, Les musiciens du roi de France, 1661–1733 (Paris, 1982), both in the ‘Que sais-je?’ series.
However, the standard reference work, on a larger scale, is J. R. Anthony, French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau (London, 1973, 2/1978; Fr. trans., as La musique en France à l’époque baroque, Paris, 1981, 2/1992).
There is also M. Benoit, Dictionnaire de la musique en France, aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (Paris, 1992).
The court
An understanding of the music of the time requires some knowledge of the places where that music was made. P. de Nolhac’s important two-volume study is our main source of information about Versailles: Versailles et la cour de France (Paris, 1925).
There is also a remarkable and more recent synthesis by P. Verlet: Versailles (Paris, 1961).
For St Germain-en-Laye, the king’s favourite residence during the first part of his reign, G. Lacour-Gayet, Le château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Paris, 1935), is of interest.
The arts were practised so intensively there, both at the Château-Vieux and the Château-Neuf, that some musicians went to live within its precincts; here C. Massip, ‘Musique et musiciens à Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1651–1683’, RMFC, xvi (1976), 117–52, is useful.
M. Benoit has used contemporary documents to demonstrate the importance of the various royal residences to the composition of music: see Versailles et les musiciens du Roi, 1661–1733 and Musiques de cour: chapelle, chambre, écurie, 1661–1733 (both Paris, 1970).
A great many musical fites and other musical entertainments were given at these residences. Contemporary documents provide us with a number of written accounts of these events, some of them official, such as the reports of the Mercure galant, an inexhaustible source of information which we have only just begun to tap. More precise information comes from recognized historians: A. Félibien, Relation de la feste de Versailles du 18e juillet 1668 (Paris, 1668); idem, Les divertissements de Versailles donnez par le roy à toute sa cour au retour de la conqueste de la Franche-Comté en l’année 1674 (Paris, 1676); and the Abbé Bourdelot, Relations des assemblées faites à Versailles dans le grand appartement du roy pendant le carnaval de l’an 1683 (Paris, 1683).
Their accounts served as the basis for later works such as C. Racinet, Les plaisirs de l’isle enchantée [1664], La feste de Versailles du 18e juillet 1668 et les divertissements de Versailles donnés par le roy en 1674: Notice historique, bibliographique et judiciaire (Paris, 1859).
More realistic and less respectful writers of the age include G. Tallemant des Réaux in his Historiettes, ed. L. J. N. Monmerqué and P. Paulin (Paris, 3/1854–60), and J. Loret in La muze historique ou Recueil des lettres en vers contenant les nouvelles du temps (Paris, 1650–65):
Y. de Brossard, ‘La vie musicale en France d’aprés Loret et ses continuateurs, 1650–1688’, RMFC, x (1970), 117–93.
Private correspondence sometimes gives a more personal view of events, either superficial, as with the Marquise de Sévigné — see M. Vilcosqui, ‘Une mélomane au XVIIe siècle: Madame de Sévigné, 1626–1696’, ibid, xvii (1977), 31–93 — or knowledgeable, as in the exchange of letters between René Ouvrard and Claude Nicaise: see A. Cohen, ‘The Ouvrard-Nicaise Correspondence (1663–93)’, ML, lvi, (1975), 356–63.
E. Magne provides a superb account of the court festivities in his standard work Les plaisirs et les f&êtes: les f&êtes en Europe au XVIIe siècle (Paris, 1930).
More recent studies include R. M. Isherwood, Music in the Service of the King (Ithaca, 1973),
M.-C. Moine, f&êtes à la cour du Roi-Soleil, 1653–1715 (Paris, 1984).
The city
The Church, still a dominant force, employed a great many musicians, who had to be familiar with the ceremonial then in force: see M. Sonnet, Cérémonial de Paris (Paris, 1662).
Two places of worship were especially prominent. On the Sainte-Chapelle du Palais, see M. Brenet, Les musiciens de la Sainte-Chapelle de Paris (Paris, 1910);
A.-M. Yvon, La vie musicale à Notre-Dame de Paris aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (Paris, 1966),
D. Taitz-Desouches, ‘Jean Mignon (1640–1710), maätre de chapelle de Notre-Dame de Paris: Contribution à une histoire de la messe polyphonique au XVIIe siècle’, RMFC, xiv (1974), 82–153.
On other places of worship in the city, see B. Gérard, ‘La musique dans les églises de la Cité, aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, d’aprés les registres paroissiaux, 1611–1773’, RMFC, xvi (1976), 153–86.
On the organ, see the relevant parts of the magisterial five-volume study by N. Dufourcq, Le livre de l’orgue français, 1589–1789 (Paris, 1969–85).
On secular music in private establishments see M. Brenet, Les concerts en France sous l’Ancien Régime (Paris, 1900), and T. Gerold, L’art du chant en France au XVIIe siècle (Paris and Strasbourg, 1921).
Early writings on the stage music of the period include M. de Pure, Idées des spectacles anciens et nouveaux (Paris, 1667);
P. C.-F. Menestrier, Des représentations en musique, anciennes et modernes (Paris, 3/1685); and idem, Des ballets anciens et modernes, selon les règles du théâtre (Paris, 4/1686).
More recent important studies include C. Nuitter and E. Thoinan, Les origines de l’opéra français d’après les minutes des notaires, les registres de la conciergerie et les documents originaux conservés aux Archives nationales (Paris, 1886);
L. de La Laurencie, Les créateurs de l’opéra français (Paris, 1921);
P. Mélèse, Le théâtre et le public à Paris sous Louis XIV: 1659–1715 (Paris, 1934); idem, Répertoire analytique des documents contemporains d’information et de critique concernant le théâtre à Paris sous Louis XIV (Paris, 1934);
M.-F. Christout, Le ballet de cour de Louis XIV, 1643–1672: mises en scène (Paris, 1967);
J. de La Gorce, Bérain: dessinateur du Roi-Soleil (Paris, 1986); idem, L’Opéra à Paris au temps de Louis XIV: Histoire d’un théâtre (Paris, 1992).
On the great many obscure musicians, instrument makers, music teachers and music sellers in Paris, see N. de Blégny (called A. Du Pradel), Le livre commode des adresses de Paris (Paris, 1692),
F. Gaussen, ‘Actes d’état civil de musiciens français, 1651–1681’, RMFC, i (1960), 153–203;
Y. de Brossard, Musiciens de Paris, d’après le fichier Laborde, 1535–1792, (Paris, 1965).
The irreverent and satirical street songs popular with these people have been collected: see P. Barbier and F. Vernillat, Histoire de France par les chansons, ii (Paris, 1956).
The craftsmen working in shops formed themselves into corporations but often quarrelled: see G. Dumanoir, Le manage de la musique avec la dance (Paris, 1664);
B. Bernhard, Recherches sur l’histoire de la corporation des ménestriers ou joueurs d’instruments de la ville de Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Ecole des Chartes, iii-v (Paris, 1841–4);
C. Pierre, Les facteurs d’instruments de musique (Paris, 1893);
P. Loubet de Sceaury, Musiciens et f acteurs d’instruments de musique sous l’ancien régime (Paris, 1949);
M. Benoit, ‘L’apprentissage chez les facteurs d’instruments de musique à Paris’, RMFC, xxiv (1986), 5–106.
There are numerous studies of individual Parisian composers who spent part of the year at least at court. Among them are: N. Dufourcq, Jean-Baptiste de Boësset: un musicien officier du roi et gentilhomme campagnard, 1614–1685 (Paris, 1962);
H. Quittard, Un musicien en France au XVIIe siècle: Henry Du Mont (Paris, 1906);
N. Dufourcq, Un officier de la maison du roi: Nicolas Lebegue, organiste de la Chapelle royale et de Saint-Merry, 1630–1702 (Paris, 1954);
C. Massip, Michel Lambert, 1610–16%: contribution à l’histoire de la monodie en France. L’homme et l’oeuvre. Catalogue (diss., Sorbonne, Paris, 1985). There are three works by H. W. Hitchcock on Charpentier: Marc-Antoine Charpentier: catalogue raisonné (Paris, 1982); ‘Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Mémoire and Index’, RMFC, xxiii (1985), 5–44; and Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Oxford, 1990),
C. Cessac, Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Paris, 1988).
There have been numerous books and a great many articles about Lully and his works. They include L. de La Laurencie, Lully (Paris, 1911);
H. Prunières, La vie illustre et libertine de J.-B. Lully (Paris, 1929); idem, Lully (Paris, 2/1927); J.-B. Lully: the Founder of French Opera (London, 1973);
J. E. W. Newman, Jean-Baptiste de Lully and his tragédies lyriques (Ann Arbor, 1979);
J. Hajdu Heyer, ed., Jean-Baptiste Lully and the Music of the French Baroque (Cambridge, 1989);
J. de La Gorce and H. Schneider eds, Jean-Baptiste Lully: Actes du Colloque tenu à Saint-Germain-en-Laye et Heidelberg en 1987 (Laaber, 1990);
P. Beaussant, Lully ou le Musicien du Soleil (Paris, 1992);
M. M. Couvreur, Jean-Baptiste Lully: musique et dramaturgie au service du prince (Brussels, 1992).
There is also a monumental catalogue of his works: H. Schneider, Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis sämtlicher Werke von Jean-Baptiste Lully (Tutzing, 1981).
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Benoit, M. (1993). Paris, 1661–87: the Age of Lully. In: Price, C. (eds) The Early Baroque Era. Man & Music. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11294-4_12
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