A step in Lully's progression from ballet to opera is the increased role of music in his ballets, although this music still bore characteristics of the Italian style native to Lully such as bel canto and recitative secco . However, the ornamentation was distinctly French. Lully also added more solos and choruses and created new dances including the menuet, gavotte, rigadoun, bourée, passepied, and loure (Harmon and Milner 1959, 172).
The next step in the development of Lully's style was the birth of the new genre, comédies-ballets, again with Molière as the author of the text. This genre was the direct predecessor of French opera although music was still not integrated enough to be considered a musical drama. Often based on pastoral themes, the comédies-ballets used a more French style recitative than the earlier ballets. This new style of recitative fit the structure of the French language better than the traditional Italian recitative by using changing meter, anapestic rhythm, a narrow melodic range, syllabic setting of words (one note per syllable), and frequent cadences. An example of this genre is Le Bourgeois gentilhomme in which Mamamouchi, played by Lully, makes a Turkish gentleman of Jourdain, played by Molière (Newman 1979, 32).
The culmination of Lully's divergence from his native Italian style is the tragédies lyriques, the earliest form of French opera. This genre is distinguished from the comédies-ballets in that it is completely set to music, yet it still contains dancing usually choreographed by Beauchamp and Olivet as well as Vigarani's sophisticated staging using spectacular machinery. Most of the libretti were written in overall free verse by Quinault, a minor poet of the time (Anthony 1980, 321).
A key element of the tragédies
lyriques is the unity of action. Each act centers around a single
incident that fits into the cohesive whole, and all the scenes
within an act are linked so closely that sometimes scene
changes occurred between syllables of word. Unity of time and place
were not as important. The passage of time was usually not demonstrated,
and the action usually covered the period of more than one day (Newman
1979, 2).
The tragédies lyriques
were modeled after Greek tragedy both in themes and in the use of the chorus
as commentary on the action. Usually Quinault wrote outlines for
a few different plots, and Louis XIV chose which one he liked the best.
Most dealt with either Greek mythology or French chivalric heroes.
All the tragédies lyriques treated the two basic themes of
glory, defined as an honorable reputation, and love. One character
who possesses the glory is rewarded with love for his pure motivation in
helping others, while another character driven by jealousy or passion meets
his or her downfall through not striving to attain ideal love, which promotes
good deeds. All the plots of the tragédies lyriques
were well known by the audience. The duty of the composer and librettist
was to entertain them by casting a different perspective on a familiar
subject.
In Armide, the last tragédie
lyrique by Quinault and Lully, the importance of the combination of
glory and love is stressed through the demise of the princess-warrior,
Armide. As Armide is about to kill a banished warrior, Renaud, she
falls in love with him and seduces him to love her through magic.
Later, frustrated that he only loves her because of the enchantment, she
hates him and then in turn loves him again. In her confusion she
goes to the underworld to seek advice. When she returns she finds
that Danish knights have taken the castle where she has kept Renaud and
have broken the spell over him. She pledges her love, and he pities
her but must leave. Armide is destined to despair as a result of
her love without glory (Newman 1979,142).
The main differences
between the style of the tragédies lyriques and the Italian
operatic tradition lie in the fact that in French opera, the libretto was
the most important element, while in Italian opera, musical expression
was dominant. Lully's recitative was modeled to fit the speech patterns
of the French language, and arias are simpler and reserved for moments
of strong emotion or reflection. In contrast, arias are quite virtuosic
and hold significant importance in Italian opera.
The French recitative was basically
singing declamation but became more melodic at times and was accompanied
by basso continuo
plus a couple treble instruments. Some recitative monologues were
even accompanied by a full orchestra. On the other hand, Italian
recitative secco was only accompanied by basso continuo, and even the instruments
in the accompanied recitative played a lesser role than the orchestra in
Lully's opera. The French scorned the elaborate virtuosic style of
Italian opera as well as the use of castrati.
The purpose of French opera was to glorify the king and therefore the plots contained conventional themes with allegories comparing the king to noble protagonists and with wit as relief, much in the tradition of Louis XIV's court. A prime example is the prologue to Armide in which Glory and Wisdom argue over which of them loves most their greatest hero, Louis XIV, before they agree on equality and proceed to view the story of the French hero, Renaud (Newman 1979, 142). Conversely, the purpose of Italian opera was to entertain and the thematic material was more driven by passionate emotions, violence, and comic relief as a result (Harman and Milner 1959, 174).
Lully's operatic style began a fresh
wave of national music in France in opposition to the style so long adopted
from the Italians. Lully realized the importance of music adhering
to the structure of a language to truly give it a national flavor.
Since culture and thought are inextricably tied to language, this new style
better reflected the mind of the French
people.