François Puget's painting of the artist in the
For most of his life, Jean-Baptiste Lully dominated the musical world in
France in an almost monopolistic fashion. His oeuvre ranged from
ballet de cour to tragédies lyriques and grands
motets. However, it is his orchestral innovations and style
that had the greatest impact on his fellow Frenchmen and composers throughout
Europe. Musicians from across the continent journeyed to Paris to
learn from Lully’s orchestra. Even Lully’s critics praised his orchestra,
remarking on the brilliant and precise technique. In response, new
orchestras were formed across Europe, emulating the standards Lully established,
and creating new positions for instrumentalists (Buelow, 1993, 21-2).
Lully’s service under Louis
XIV began as a dancer, as well as violinist in the vingt-quatre
violons du Roi, the famed ensemble that played in various functions
for the French court. In 1656, Lully was given permission to organize
and direct the petit violons, a smaller and more skilled ensemble.
It was with the petit violons that Lully changed the techniques
which had been used up until this point.
Perhaps the greatest change for the musicians in the orchestra was the
strict discipline which Lully enforced. Old habits were not tolerated.
Lully required precision in all things, especially in rhythm. The
musicians were also restricted in the use of embellishments and improvisation,
which were used in abundance in the larger ensemble. The new style
was clean and yet powerfully expressive by many accounts.
Modern conceptions of orchestra
playing have many roots in Lully’s petit violons. Lully
was perhaps the first person to ask the sections of the orchestra to bow
in the same direction, playing as a whole rather than as a group of individuals.
Lully also instructed the use of mutes to achieve an entirely different
tone color. These changes were praised by all who saw them
and brought Lully and the orchestra fame abroad. Louis XIV rewarded
Lully’s achievement by giving him control of all chamber music at court
and placing him at the head of the grands violons.
Both ensembles were often combined to play in the ballets and operas which
Lully composed. The combined orchestra could reach large numbers,
often as much as 70. The opera orchestras included winds, brass,
and percussion, but remained string based. The combined orchestra
was much like the modern orchestra, with the notable exception of the absence
of a second violin section, which was instead filled by three sections
of violas. The combined inner voices filled in the harmony and added
to the texture, functioning similarly to the two inner voices in a modern
orchestra. During solo sections, two of the three inner voices rested
for contrast and so as to not overpower the soloist.
Lully took the use of instrumental
color in his opera orchestras to a new level. Contrast of color and
timbres was especially important and was used to an expressive end.
In the second act of Armide, for instance, Lully instructs the string
section to play with muted strings during an accompanied recitative to
achieve a lighter, more delicate sound. Oboes and other woodwind
instruments were often used to evoke a pastoral setting, while brass and
percussion were used for war or march-like scenes. Lully exploited
these characteristics to set up a mood for an upcoming scene and to look
back to or remind the audience of a previous one. The orchestra was
not just filler- it was an integral part of the performance, heightening
the expressive capabilities of the opera as a whole.
Lully further employed contrasts in timbre by dividing the orchestra into
two sections: grand choeur and petit choeur. The larger
grouping played the overtures, symphonies, and large choruses while the
smaller one accompanies the solo recits. This division not only allowed
for a change in mood, but also served to avoid the drowning out of the
vocal parts that would otherwise have occurred.
Lully’s final use of the orchestra was a practical one. In numerous
operas and ballets, instrumentalists were called upon to appear on stage,
in full view of the audience. The musicians were costumed in
the same finery that was used for the leading roles and often times required
costume changes during the course of the opera or ballet. Instrumental
color was the deciding factor of who would appear outside of the orchestra
pit. If there was a pastoral scene, one of the instruments in the
oboe family would be chosen. Furthermore, the use of instrumentalists
on stage served to enhance the visual effect, but were only used in circumstances
where instrumentalists would be found in the real world (i.e. weddings
and other festivities requiring instruments).
The degree to which Lully influenced
the use of the orchestra cannot be overstressed. He dramatically
affected both the style and importance of the orchestra as whole.
His orchestra was emulated throughout Europe and led to many of the characteristics
associated with the modern orchestra.