Known as the ‘Sun King’ due to his performance in Le Ballet de la Nuit or ‘The Ballet of the Night,’ he also established the first ballet school in the world. Academie Royale de Danse, or ‘Royal Academy of Dance’, was founded in 1661. The school is acclaimed for the development of the five basic foot positions of the ballet which was formed by Pierre Beauchamps, one of the teachers in the school.
Jean-Baptiste Lully, an Italian-born opera composer, ‘transformed opera into a French art under the royal patronage of Louis XIV.’Lully integrated Italian styles into French opera by formalizing “aria in favor of shorter, more instantly captivating ‘airs’”. Hanning (2015) describes Lully’ operas in Encyclopedia Britannica Online:
“His operas assigned great importance to dancing, choruses, instrumental interludes, and dazzlingly complex stage settings; often he combined all these elements into long divertissements, or entertainments extraneous to the dramatic action.”
Lully also served as a musical composer in 1661 and as a music master in 1662 under Louis XIV. There even came a time in France where operas in France could not be held unless given permission by Lully himself. Some of Lully’s compositions and innovations include Miserere, as well as creating motets, suites, and dances for certain instruments. This was popularized in England by the Suites de Symphonies et Trios.
In Rebecca Harris-Warrick’s Magnificence in Motion: Stage Musicians in Lully’s Ballets and Operas, “instrumentalists have the same status as the singers and dancers” in scenes ‘central to the progress of the plot’. A number of musicians accompany scenes to clearly convey the intended message of the scene. “Stage musicians do not serve merely as a source of sound, but participate fully in communicating the drama”, describes Harris-Warrick.
Harris-Warrick further gives emphasis on the importance of musicians. As quoted in her work:
“Like the dancers and the singers, the oboists contribute to the webs of meaningthrough movement as well as music. Their choreography indicates that they fulfil a double function Within the artificial world of musical theatre, where speech is replaced by song, the instrumentalists support the artifice by providing the musical accompaniment. From this position they also accompany many of the dances.”
Based on Harris-Warwick’s analysis, it can be interpreted that the role of musicians during the 17th century ballet operas are not only limited to providing accompaniment to certain scenes and acts, but also to conveying movement and meaning through the use of music.
The use of instruments in operas and ballets are very extensive as well. For instance, in Le Mariage de la Grosse Cathos, or Fat Kate’s Wedding by Andre Danican Philidor along with Jean Favier’s choreographic notations, the one-act masquerade “cast consists of a nine-member oboe band, eightdancers and nine singers, who perform both as soloists and collectively as the chorus. All twenty-six performers remain on stage for the duration of the work - approximately forty-five minutes. The plot, such as it is, is carried by sung dialogue among the principal singers, and as in an opera, the dances are performed by lesser characters - in this case guests at the wedding. The oboes represent the village waits whose job is to provide music for the festivities”
Ballet music was not considered as music first but was only used to complement a real dance. Later on, it became a solid compositional form that made it another form of musical genre and which became the focal point of the prominence of ballet music throughout France. Initially, it was deemed as a theatrical dance in the 17th century France. The music of ballet dance in the 17th century was rather distinct, very different from that of the ballroom dance music. The musical genre seemed to be an amalgamation of the different genres of music but more focused on its danceable structure.
Opera ballets also became prominent in France in the 17th century. Some ballets are called “ballet d’ action” wherein the story is told through the combination of ballet and music only but there are no words being sung or uttered. However, later on, the opera ballets were danced and sang all at once, thereby eclipsing the prominent of ballet music.
One of the greatest composers and instrumentalists of ballet music in the 17th century France is Jean-Baptiste Lully who focused his music on the Baroque style. His instrumental style was patterned after his initial works in classical music and classical dance. He has written extensively on overtures, dances, and danceable beats.
His creation of the overtures became the turning point of his career from being a mere classical instrumentalist and composer to a voracious and esteemed ballet music musician. As a matter of fact, after reviewing hundreds of overtures, Lully has used his knowledge gained to create four ballet dance music which is named Ballet d’ Alcidiane.
Ballet music during the 17th century did not exist as a typically distinct and avant-garde, innovative form of music but was a development that progressed by amalgamating pre-existing musical forms from classic to overtures and danceable music. Today, ballet music is regarded by many to be one of the most beautiful musical forms ever created.
Bibliography of Cited Sources
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "opera", accessed April 26,
2015,http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/429776/opera/27833/Early-opera-in-
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Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "Jean-Baptiste Lully", accessed April 26,
2015,http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/351131/Jean-Baptiste-Lully.
Pei-San Brown, “The History of Ballet”, accessed April 26, 2015,
http://www.balletaustin.org/education/documents/HistoryofBalletHandoutsforStudents.pdf
Rebecca Harris-Warrick, “Magnificence in Motion: Stage Musicians in Lully’s Ballets and
Operas, accessed April 26, 2015, http://baroquedanceformusicians.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/01/Stage-Musicians-in-Lullys-Ballets-and-Opera.pdf
The New Grove of Music and Musicians, s.v. “Ballet Music”, accessed 27 April 2015,
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