The Royal Chapel at the court of Louis XIV is the one place within the musical circuit at Versailles that Lully did not formally hold a position. Nevertheless, he still made his presence known in the area of sacred music. Despite Lully’s sacred music being drastically overshadowed by the quantity and reputation of his operas and ballets, the same exquisite quality of composition exists in the twenty-five known motets accredited to him. Lully’s sacred works are distinguished from his other genres because they were composed across the span of his mature creative years (c. 1664 until his death). In contrast, operas were composed between 1672 and 1687. This period was prefaced by eighteen years in which all of his ballets were written. Lully’s motet is the only genre which can be used to trace the stylistic changes that occurred in his compositions over his entire career.
The modest number of sacred works is attributed to two reasons. First, other members of Louis’ court were responsible for the music composed for and performed in the Royal Chapel. The second reason was that, frankly, Louis just didn't care for the sacred genres. Lully only composed motets for special occasions, fulfilling his position as surintendent de la musique et compositeur . The birth of the Dauphin, the baptism of his eldest son, and even the death of Queen Marie-Thérèse were such events. His limited sacred oeuvre contrasts with the unbelievable number of operas, ballets, and other dance music demanded of Lully in Louis’ court.
Lully’s earliest grands motets are some of the most elaborate sacred works ever written. Miserere, his first large motet (composed in 1664) brought the pomp and brilliance of French dramatic music to the Chapel. Mme de Sévigné believed "no other music to exist in heaven," not to mention it was the King’s favorite piece (Heyer 1989, 81). Several stylistic ideas Lully utilizes also reflects in his large tragédies lyriques of the same year, La Princesse d’Elide. In one duet Lully used parallel thirds and a light polyphony to emphasize the verticality of the sonorities. He contrasts that with occasional bursts of tight polyphony in the chorus with sections of récit for the dramatic effect (Arnold 1980, 326).
His early sacred works were characterized by opera-sized orchestras, including trumpets and percussion. The grands motets contain operatic overtures, double choirs, and solo arias and recitatives with instrumental symphonies. In some cases, such as the Te Deum (1687), ritornelli divided the large structural divisions, creating a more cohesive work. Lully also utilized the orchestra to experiment with new ideas in color and performance practices. The instrumental ensemble was distributed into a five-part texture of two section of violins and three viola parts plus continuo.
In general, his early sacred compositions were expansive and thorough settings of lengthy Psalms texts. Musically, the choral voices were doubled by the instruments while the majority of text was covered by the petit choeur, the solo ensemble. The dependency of the instrumental parts starkly contrasted with the style of other sacred composers of the era, such as Du Mont and Lalande, both of whom were employed by Louis XIV. Their styles highlighted instrumental counterpoint to emphasize the importance of the text, but in a contrast-based fashion (Arnold 1980, 325). Lully’s pieces were designed to glorify the King of France as well as the King of Heaven. Undoubtedly, Lully succeeded in his purpose.
Most of Lully’s petits motets were late works. He composed less than a handful of grands motets after the death of the Queen in 1683. This event marked the turning point of sacred music at the French court. Following the death of his wife, Louis quickly took Mme de Maintenon at his side. The piety of his new Madame caused the Kings to reevaluate his perspective on the music of the Royal Chapel. Instantly, Lully and his music were forced to share their coveted, attention-getting position at court with the ‘lesser’ composers of the Chapel.
This new aspect of competition, never before experienced by the monopolistic Lully, led him to refocus his attention and stylistic ideas on sacred music. In an attempt to gain ground quickly among the other composers of sacred music, Lully emulated the Italian style of Lorenzani for his petits motets. Lorenzani was already a favorite composer of Louis and Mme de Maintenon. The texture of these works was lighter, often using only a few soprano voices and continuo. This lighter style seemingly replaced the extravagance of his earlier grands motets. Lully composed three final grands motets (the only in his later style). Though still setting complete Psalms texts, the works were noticeably shorter. Quare fremuerunt, Notus in Judaea, and Exaudiat te, Domine also introduced more independent instrumental lines (Heyer 1989, 81). Though more concise, the later grands motets retained their brilliance and drama while helping Lully maintain his position as musical leader of the French court.
Though little
of Lully’s acclaim is based on his sacred music, the grands and
petits motets are wonderful devices to help scholars trace the stylistic
changes of Lully. It is also the one genre in which Lully experienced
immediate and persistent competition. These traits, as well as the
pure beauty of the pieces, make the sacred motets of Lully invaluable.