Opéra-ballet
Encyclopedia
Opéra-ballet was a popular genre of French
Baroque
opera
, "that grew out of the ballets à entrées of the early seventeeth century". It differed from the more elevated tragédie en musique as practised by Jean-Baptiste Lully
in several ways. It contained more dance music than the tragédie and the plots were not necessarily derived from Classical mythology and even allowed for the comic elements which Lully had excluded from the tragédie en musique after Thésée
(1675). The opéra-ballet consisted of a prologue followed by a number of self-contained acts (also known as entrées), often loosely grouped round a single theme. The individual acts could also be performed independently, in which case they were known as actes de ballet.
The first work in the genre is generally held to be André Campra
's L'Europe galante
("Europe in Love") of 1697, "but Les Saisons of 1695 is so typical of the genre that it is mentioned as the most distinctive prototype of this sort of composition", even though the latter has a mythological plot. Famous later examples are Les élémens
(1721) by Destouches
, and Les Indes galantes
(1735) and Les fêtes d'Hébé
(1739) by Jean-Philippe Rameau
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, "that grew out of the ballets à entrées of the early seventeeth century". It differed from the more elevated tragédie en musique as practised by Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
in several ways. It contained more dance music than the tragédie and the plots were not necessarily derived from Classical mythology and even allowed for the comic elements which Lully had excluded from the tragédie en musique after Thésée
Thésée
Thésée is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault based on Ovid's Metamorphoses first performed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 11 January 1675.-Roles:-Synopsis:...
(1675). The opéra-ballet consisted of a prologue followed by a number of self-contained acts (also known as entrées), often loosely grouped round a single theme. The individual acts could also be performed independently, in which case they were known as actes de ballet.
The first work in the genre is generally held to be André Campra
André Campra
André Campra was a French composer and conductor.Campra was one of the leading French opera composers in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He wrote several tragédies en musique, but his chief claim to fame is as the creator of a new genre, opéra-ballet...
's L'Europe galante
L'Europe galante
L'Europe galante is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and four entrées by André Campra, The French text was by Antoine Houdar de la Motte....
("Europe in Love") of 1697, "but Les Saisons of 1695 is so typical of the genre that it is mentioned as the most distinctive prototype of this sort of composition", even though the latter has a mythological plot. Famous later examples are Les élémens
Les élémens
Les élémens , or Ballet des élémens, is an opera-ballet by the French composers André Cardinal Destouches and Michel Richard Delalande . It has a prologue and four entrées. The libretto was written by Pierre-Charles Roy.Destouches was responsible for most of the music...
(1721) by Destouches
André Cardinal Destouches
André Cardinal Destouches was a French composer best known for the opéra-ballet Les élémens....
, and Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes is an opéra-ballet consisting of a prologue and four entrées by Jean-Philippe Rameau with libretto by Louis Fuzelier...
(1735) and Les fêtes d'Hébé
Les fêtes d'Hébé
Les fêtes d'Hébé, ou Les talents lyriques is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and three entrées by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau. The libretto was written by Antoine Gautier de Montdorge...
(1739) by Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
.