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First edition, 1508. Berkeley University, California

Spanish edition of Amadis of Gaula (1533).

Amadis de Gaula (original Old Spanish and Galician-Portuguese spelling) (Spanish: Amadís de Gaula, IPA: [amaˈðiz ðe ˈɣaula]; Portuguese: Amadis de Gaula, IPA: [ɐmɐˈðiʒ ðɨ ˈɣawlɐ]; "Amadis of Gaul") is a landmark work among the knight-errantry tales which were in vogue in 16th century Iberian Peninsula, and formed the earliest reading of many Renaissance and Baroque writers, although it was written at the onset of the 14th century.

The first known printed edition was published in Zaragoza in 1508, by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo (or Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo). It was published in four books in Castilian, but its origins are unclear: The narrative originates in the late post-Arthurian genre and had certainly been read as early as the 14th century by the chancellor Pero López de Ayala as well as his contemporary Pero Ferrús.

Montalvo himself confesses to have amended the first three volumes, and to be the author of the fourth. Additionally, in the Portuguese Chronicle by Gomes Eannes de Azurara (1454), Amadis is attributed to Vasco de Lobeira, who was knighted after the battle of Aljubarrota (1385). However, other sources claim that the work was, in fact, a copy of one João de Lobeira, not the Basque troubadour Vasco de Lobeira, and that it was a translation into Castilian Spanish of an earlier work, probably from the beginning of the 14th century, although no privimitive version in the original Portuguese is known. The inspiration for the "Amadis de Gaula" appears to be the blocked marriage of Infanta Constanza of Aragon with Henry of Castile in 1260 (See Juan Manuel's Libro de las Armas of 1335), as blocked was also Oriana's marriage to Amadis. A more recent, minority opinion attributes "Amadis" to Henry of Castile and León, due to evidence linking his biography with the events in "Amadis". Henry of Castile died in 1305.

In his introduction to the text, Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo explains that he has edited the first three books of a text in circulation since the 14th century. Montalvo also admits to adding a fourth as yet unpublished book as well as adding a continuation (Las sergas de Esplandián), which he claims was found in a buried chest in Constantinople and transported to Spain by a Hungarian merchant (the famous motif of the found manuscript).

Characters and plot[link]

The story narrates the star-crossed love of King Perión of Gaul and Elisena of England, resulting in the secret birth of Amadís. Abandoned at birth on a barge in England, the child is raised by the knight Gandales in Scotland and investigates his origins through fantastic adventures.

He is persecuted by the wizard Arcalaús, but protected by Urganda la Desconocida (Urganda the Unknown or Unrecognized), an ambiguous priestess with magical powers and a talent for prophecy. Knighted by his father King Perión, Amadís overcomes the challenges of the enchanted Insola Firme (a sort of peninsula), including passing through the Arch of Faithful Lovers.

Despite Amadis' celebrated fidelity, his childhood sweetheart, Oriana, heiress to the throne of Great Britain, becomes jealous of a rival princess and sends a letter to chastize Amadís. The knight (later famously parodied in Don Quixote), changes his name to Beltenebros and indulges in a long period of madness on the isolated Peña Pobre.

He recovers his senses only when Oriana sends her maid to retrieve him. He then helps Oriana's father, Lisuarte, repel invaders. A short time later he and Oriana scandalously consummate their love. Their son Esplandián is the result of this one illicit meeting.

Rodríguez de Montalvo asserts that in the "original" Amadís, Esplandián eventually kills his father for this offense against his mother's honor; however, Montalvo amends this defect and resolves their conflict peaceably.

Oriana and Amadís defer their marriage for many years due to enmity between Amadís and Oriana's father Lisuarte. Amadís absents himself from Britain for at least ten years, masquerading as "The Knight of the Green Sword". He travels as far as Constantinople and secures the favor of the child-princess Leonorina, who will become Esplandián's wife. His most famous adventure during this time of exile is the battle with the giant Endriago, a monster born of incest who exhales a poisonous reek and whose body is covered in scales.

As a knight, Amadís is courteous, gentle, sensitive and a Christian who dares to defend free love. Unlike most literary heroes of his time (French and German, for example) Amadís is a handsome man who would cry if refused by his lady, but is invincible in battle and usually emerges drenched in his own and his opponent's blood.

Literary significance[link]

Called also Amadís sin Tiempo (Amadis without Time) by his mother (in allusion to the fact that being conceived outside marriage she would have to abandon him and he would probably die), he is the most representative Iberian hero of chivalric Romance. His adventures ran to four volumes, probably the most popular such tales of their time. François de la Noue, one of the Huguenot captains of the 16th century, affirmed that reading the romances of Amadis had caused a "spirit of vertigo"^[1] even in his more rationally-minded generation. The books show a complete idealization and simplification of knight-errantry. Even servants are hardly heard of, but there are many princesses, ladies and kings. Knights and damsels in distress are found everywhere. The book's style is reasonably modern, but lacks dialogue and the character's impressions, mostly describing the action.

The book's style was praised by the usually demanding Juan de Valdés, although he considered that from time to time it was too low or too high a style. The language is characterized by a certain "Latinizing" influence in its syntax, especially the tendency to place the verb at the end of the sentence; as well as other such details, such as the use of the present participle, which bring Amadís into line with the allegorical style of the 15th century.

Nevertheless, there is a breach of style when Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo presents the fourth book. It becomes dull and solemn, reflecting the nature of the intruding writer. The first three books are inspired in deeds and feats by knights errant, dating back to the 13th century, while the fourth book emerges as a less brilliant attachment of the 16th century. The pristine style of "Amadis" can be perceived in the few original famous pages analyzed by Antonio Rodriguez Moñino: It is lively and straight to the facts of war and love, with brief dialogs, all quite elegant and amusing. Amadís of Gaul is frequently referenced in the satirical classic Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 17th century. The character Don Quixote idolizes Amadís, and often compares his hero's adventures to his own.

Historically, Amadís was very influential amongst the Spanish conquistadores. Bernal Diaz del Castillo mentioned the wonders of Amadís upon witnessing the wonders of the New World — and such place names as California come directly from the work.

Origins[link]

As mentioned above, the origin of Amadís and his adventures is disputed. A Spanish writer, Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, edited and published the first printed edition (and earliest extant version) in three volumes in 1508. While the fourth volume is generally regarded as Rodríguez de Montalvo's own work, he claimed to be publishing earlier sources and it is generally accepted that the first three volumes derive from a previous manuscript or oral tradition. Montalvo's claims have recently been supported by Antonio Rodríguez Moñino's finding of four 15th century manuscript fragments (ca. 1420). The name "Esplandián" is clearly visible in one of these. The fragments belong to the collection of the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. In the Spanish translation of Egidio Colonna's De Regimine Principum, Amadís is mentioned and also the poet Enrico, who could well be Enrico de Castiglia. Egidio Colonna was in Rome 1267 when Henry of Castile was elected Senator. The translation was made around 1350 under King Peter the Cruel. This is the oldest mention of Amadis.

A Portuguese origin has been most widely accepted but Amadís has been justly claimed by the Spanish, due to the fact that there is no trace of any early Portuguese manuscript. The French and Italians have also claimed to have created Amadis. Also, the action seems, from the names of characters and places, to be supposed to be set primarily in England, and it is usually accepted that the name "Gaula" is related to "Wales". The plot ranges across the continent to Romania and Constantinople, and in the continuations as far as the Holy Land and the Cyclades. However, the romance's geography cannot be mapped onto the "real" Europe: it contains just as many fantastic places as real ones. Nevertheless it appears that the Island of the Boiling Lake is Pantelleria by Sicily.

Recently, a new theory of the work's authorship has been proposed by Santiago Sevilla (see talk page), claiming that the Infante Enrique of Castile was the original writer of the epic. Enrique of Castille lived for four years at the court of Edward I of England, who was married to his sister, queen Eleanor of Castile. According to this theory, the character Lisuarte is Edward, Oriana is Eleanor of England, the maid of Denmark is in fact the Maid of Norway, and Amadis is modelled after Simon de Montfort, the heroic Norman earl of Leicester. Furthermore, Esplandian could be his infamous warrior son, Guy de Montfort, count of Mola, Brian de Monjaste is in fact Enrique of Castile himself, and the battle against the Arabic king is the Battle of Benevento against King Manfred of Sicily, who had a host of Arabian light cavalry and Arab archers. The historical Enrique of Castile wandered, as knight errant and poet, to wage wars in Tunis, Naples and Sicily where he fought in those Battles of Benevento and Tagliacozzo, and became a prisoner of the Pope and Charles d'Anjou in Canosa di Puglia, and Castel del Monte, from 1268 to 1291, where he would have reputedly written a good part of Amadis, before returning to Spain to become Regent of Castile, before his death in 1304. According to the author of this theory, it would have been inconvenient for Enrique of Castille, due to his high office, to declare his authorship, but the work bears his marks as a poet and troubadour. It appears that Henry of Castile handed the manuscript of Amadis to King Diniz of Portugal in 1295, according to "O Romance de Amadis" by Alonso Lopes Vieira, and the account of the visit of Henry of Castile in Portugal to his nephew, the king.

Despite the various theories of the work's origins, Rodríguez de Montalvo's Spanish version, as the only complete edition known, is considered definitive, and it was the one who made the character widely known on a European scale. Unfortunately Rodríguez de Montalvo allowed the original manuscript to disappear, or lost it, and only a few pages were discovered in Spain by Antonio Rodríguez Moñino, Peofessor at Berkeley University in California, evidence of the lost XIII century's work.

Sequels and Translations[link]

Amadís of Gaul's popularity was such that in the decades following its publication, dozens of sequels of sometimes minor quality were published in Spanish, Italian and German, together with a number of other imitative works. Montalvo himself cashed in with the continuation Las sergas de Esplandián (Book V), and the sequel-specialist Feliciano de Silva (also the author of Second Celestina) added four more books including Amadis of Greece (Book IX). Miguel de Cervantes wrote Don Quixote as a parody of the resulting genre. Cervantes and his protagonist Quixote, however, hold the original Amadís in very high esteem.

The later books increasingly use techniques and incidents borrowed from the ancient Greek novel (Heliodorus, Longus and Achilles Tatius) and the pastoral novel from Italy and Spain (Jacopo Sannazaro and Jorge de Montemayor).

The Spanish volumes, with their authors and the names of their main characters:

• Books I–IV : 1508 (Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo) : Amadís de Gaula.
• Book V : 1510 (Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo) : Esplandián
• Book VI : 1510 (Páez de Ribera) — this volume was universally maligned
• Book VII : 1514 (Feliciano de Silva) : Lisuarte de Grecia
• Book VIII : 1526 (Juan Díaz) — Diaz had Amadis die in this volume which was much criticized
• Book IX : 1530 (Feliciano de Silva) : Amadis de Grecia (Amadis of Greece)
• Book X : 1532 (Feliciano de Silva) : Florisel de Niquea
• Book XI : 1535 & 1551 (Feliciano de Silva) : Rogel de Grecia
• Book XII : 1546 (Pedro de Luján) : Silves de la Selva

The Italian Continuation:

• Books XIII–XVIII (Mambrino Roseo da Fabriano)

The German Continuation:

• Books XIX–XXI : 1594–5

In Germany and England, Amadís was known chiefly through its French translations, and in England the cycle was generally referred to by its French title Amadis de Gaule. The French translations did not follow the Spanish book divisions exactly, and the entire cycle in the French version extends to 24 volumes.

French translations, with their translators:

• Book I : 1540 (Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts)
• Book II : 1541 (Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts)
• Book III : 1542 (Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts)
• Book IV : 1543 (Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts)
• Book V : 1544 (Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts)
• (Spanish book VI was rejected as apocryphal)
• Book VI : 1545 (Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts) (actually Spanish Book VII)
• (Spanish Book VIII was rejected because it told of the death of Amadis)
• Book VII : 1546 (Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts) (actually Spanish Book IXa)
• Book VIII : 1548 (Nicolas de Herberay des Essarts) (actually Spanish Book IXb)
• Book IX : 1551 (Giles Boileau & Claude Colet) (actually Spanish Book Xa)
• Book X : 1552 (Jacques Gohory) (actually Spanish Book Xb)
• Book XI : 1554 (Jacques Gohory) (actually Spanish Book XIa)
• Book XII : 1556 (Guillaume Aubert) (actually Spanish Book XIb)
• Book XIII : 1571 (Jacques Gohory) (actually Spanish Book XIIa)
• Book XIV : 1574 (Antoine Tyron) (actually Spanish Book XIIb)
• Books XV – XXI : 1576–1581
• Books XXII–XXIV : after 1594

In Portugal, and other parts of Iberia, the Amadis cycle also launched other adventure series, such as:

• Palmerin d'Oliva — original anonymous text in Castilian: 1511
• Primaleon of Greece, son of Palmerin d'Oliva — original anonymous text in Castilian: 1512
• Palmeirim de Inglaterra (Palmeirim of England) — original Portuguese text by Francisco de Morais Cabral : c.1544 (published 1567)
• Dom Duardos — original Portuguese text by Diogo Fernandes
• Dom Clarisel de Bretanha — original Portuguese text by Gonçalves Lobato
• Crónica do Imperador Clarimundo (Chronicle of Emperor Clarimund) — original Portuguese text by João de Barros
• Sagramor — original Portuguese text by Gonçalo Fernandes Trancoso

Operas[link]

• Amadis (1684) by Jean-Baptiste Lully
• Amadigi di Gaula (1715) by George Frideric Handel
• Amadis de Gaule (1779) by Johann Christian Bach
• Amadis (1922) by Jules Massenet

References[link]

• O'Connor, John J. Amadis de Gaule and its influence on Elizabethan Literature. New Brunswick (New Jersey): Rutgers University Press, 1970. ISBN 0-8135-0622-0
• (French) Simonin, Michel, ed. Dictionnaire des lettres françaises — Le XVIe siècle. Paris: Fayard, 2001. ISBN 2-253-05663-4
• (French) Vaganay, Hugues, ed. Le Premier livre d'Amadis de Gaule. New Edition by Yves Giraud. Paris: Nizet, 1986. ISBN 2-86503-002-4
• (Spanish) Génesis del Amadís de Gaula by Santiago Sevilla
• (Spanish) Amadis de Gaula: Su verdadero autor es Don Enrique de Castilla... by Santiago Sevilla
• (Spanish) Las Reales Batallas que Inspiran al Amadís by Santiago Sevilla
• Events and characters within 'Amadis de Gaula' are referred to in Cervantes's novel 'Don Quixote' (an example being the reference to Pintiquiniestra the giant).

External links[link]

• Amadigi di Gaula at Project Gutenberg — Italian libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym for the opera by Handel
• Amadis de Gaula — images of a 1526 edition of the original Spanish text
• Vasco Lobeira: Amadis de Gaul, Book I, translated from the Spanish version of Garciordonez de Montalvo by Robert Southey, 1872

Medwyn 'Jack' Goodall (born in 1961) is a composer and musician mostly associated with the New Age genre. He was born in Yorkshire, England. He lives with his wife Wendy in Cornwall, England. According to Allmusic, "Goodall began composing original songs as a teen, earning local notoriety with his band Trax; in the years to follow, he learned to play a vast range of instruments, including mandolin, piano, drums, harp, flute, glockenspiel, panpipes, vibraphone and synthesizer, and cut his first album at age 26".^[1] He is a prolific recorder, having recorded over 75 albums. He also topped the UK music charts twice and sold over three million albums.^[2] His first album was Emergence (1987), published by New World Music.^[3] His early albums were published also by Oreade Music. Medwyn Goodall recently started MG Music,^[4] a record label which specializes in New Age music.

He produced albums on which he arranged, performed, mixed and mastered every song, although his album, Om (2006), was produced together with Terry Oldfield and Om2 (2010), was produced together with Aroshanti. There is an updated list of his albums at MG Music^[4] and at All Music^[3] web sites.

Many of Goodall's recent releases have been under the alias Midori. He explains that he chose this alias so he "could record projects that were more ethnic, eastern, or produced for the healing arts" without confusing fans of his other music. ^[5] However, there are also other musical artists using or known by the name Midori (such as the jazz-punk combo Midori and the Japanese violinist Midori Goto).

One of Goodall's tracks, "Free Spirit" from his album Meditations and Visualisations (2001) features the same Spectrasonics "Distorted Reality" sample featured in the "Summer Forest" music in the video game Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, as composed by Stewart Copeland.

Discography[link]

Until April 2012, about 110 studio albums were released by Medwyn Goodall by various music companies. The list below does not contain albums released under the name Midori, Medwyn Goodall's alias for healing music.

Studio Albums[link]

• 1986 – Emergence
• 1987 – Innocence
• 1988 – Kindred Spirits
• 1988 – Paradise Moon
• 1988 – In the Stillness of a Moment
• 1989 – Angel Sleep
• 1989 – Gifts of Comfort and Joy
• 1990 – The Druid Trilogy Volume 1: Druid
• 1990 – The Druid Trilogy Volume 2: Merlin
• 1990 – The Druid Trilogy Volume 3: Excalibur
• 1991 – Medicine Woman
• 1991 – Earth Healer
• 1992 – Great Spirit
• 1992 – The Way of the Dolphin
• 1992 – Kingdom of the Sun God
• 1993 – Eagle Spirit
• 1993 – Coral Sand
• 1993 – Antarctica, The Last Wilderness
• 1993 – Leo, 24 July – 23 August
• 1994 – Four Horsemen, The Waves of Ascension
• 1994 – Return To Eden, Part 2 of the Waves of Ascension Trilogy
• 1994 – Alpha & Omega, Part 3 of the Ascension Trilogy
• 1994 – Siesta
• 1994 – Golden Dreams, Forever
• 1994 – Nazca, Land of the Incas
• 1994 – Green Dream, Chill Out 1
• 1995 – Purple Dream, Chill Out 2
• 1995 – Where Angels Tread
• 1995 – Guardian Spirit
• 1995 – Neptune, God of the Oceans
• 1996 – The Arthurian Collection 1: The Grail Quest (The Grail Quest)
• 1996 – The Arthurian Collection 2: The Gift of Excalibur (The Gift of Excalibur)
• 1996 – The Arthurian Collection 3: Fair Queen Guinevere (Guinevere)
• 1995 – The Arthurian Collection 4: Tintagel, Castle Of Arthur (Tintagel)
• 1996 – The Arthurian Collection 5: The Round Table (The Round Table)
• 1995 – Moon Goddess
• 1996 – Priestess, Return to Atlantis
• 1996 – Winds Across the Pacific
• 1996 – Alcazar, Flame of Passion
• 1996 – Spirit of Christmas
• 1996 – Shoshone Dream
• 1996 – King Shaman: Rhythms of the World
• 1997 – Ancient Nazca: Inca Mysteries
• 1997 – The Dolphin Quest
• 1997 – Clan: A Celtic Journey
• 1997 – The Way of the Ocean
• 1997 – A Christmas Tapestry
• 1997 – Goddess from the Sea (remastered version of Neptune, God of the Oceans)
• 1998 – Medicine Woman II: The Gift
• 1999 – Comet
• 1999 – Millennium
• 1999 – The Scroll: Part II of the Clan Trilogy
• 2000 – Essence of Magic
• 2000 – Timeless
• 2000 – Lightstream
• 2000 – Sacred Medicine
• 2000 – Dragon’s Keep
• 2000 – Natrual Sounds With Music: Water
• 2000 – Natrual Sounds With Music: Island
• 2001 – Natrual Sounds With Music: Birds
• 2001 – Natrual Sounds With Music: Farm
• 2001 – Snows of Kilimanjaro
• 2001 – Anam Cara
• 2001 – Earth Love
• 2001 – Medwyn Goodall's Seasons: Autumn
• 2001 – Medwyn Goodall's Seasons: Spring
• 2001 – Medwyn Goodall's Seasons: Summer
• 2001 – Medwyn Goodall's Seasons: Winter
• 2001 – Natural Balance: English Summer
• 2001 – Natural Balance: April Showers
• 2001 – Natural Balance: Calm Ocean
• 2007 – Natural Balance: Call of the Colphin
• 2002 – Rhythm of the Ancients
• 2003 – Chronicles: An Epic Tale in Music
• 2003 – Medicine Woman III: The Rising
• 2003 – Classics for Healing
• 2004 – Classics for Tranquillity
• 2004 – Classics for Creativity
• 2004 – Eye of the Wolf
• 2004 – The Dragon’s Breath (re-release of Dragon’s Keep)
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 1: Movement
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 2: Stillness
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 4: Expression
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 5: Overdub
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 6: Christmas
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 7: Elizabethan Weddings 1
• 2004 – Medwyn Goodall’s Copyright Free Volume 8: Celtic
• 2004 – Land of the Inca
• 2005 – Tribal Nation
• 2005 – OM
• 2005 – The Sorcerer’s Daughter
• 2006 – Earth Goddess (same as Island Bliss)
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For Crystal Healing
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For The Dolphin Experience
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For Healing
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For Perfect Sleep
• 2006 – Life Style Series Music For Aromatherapy & Massage
• 2006 – Medwyn’s Cornwall
• 2008 – Serve Chilled (with Tim Rock)
• 2008 – Amun Ra
• 2008 – Origins
• 2009 – Medicine Woman IV: Prophecy 2012
• 2009 – OM 2
• 2009 – Druid II
• 2010 – Clan III: The Lands Beyond
• 2011 – With Every Breath (with Aroshanti)
• 2011 – Tears of the Dragon
• 2011 – Knight
• 2012 – Earth Healer 2

Compilations[link]

• 1995 – Pagan Dawn
• 1997 – All Good Things
• 1997 – Visions
• 1999 – The Best of Medwyn Goodall
• 2004 – King Arthur (3-CD box set)
• 2004 – Momentum (1990-2004)
• 2009 – 25th Anniversary Best Of

Remaster / Re-release[link]

• The Arthurian Collection (remastered version of the original five titles)
• Goddess from the Sea (remastered version of Neptune, God of the Oceans)
• The Dragon’s Breath (re-release of Dragon’s Keep)

Miscellaneous[link]

• Autobiography – No Strings Attached
• DVD – Dolphins And Sea
• DVD – Medwyn Goodall’s Natural World
• DVD – Native Spirit

References[link]

Jean-Baptiste Lully

Jean-Baptiste de Lully (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃batist də lyˈli]; Italian: Giovanni Battista Lulli; 28 November 1632 – 22 March 1687) 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 1661.

Biography[link]

Portrait & signature of Jean Baptiste Lully around the 1670s, shows the composer in middle age

Lully, son of a working-class miller, was born in Florence, Italy. Lully had little education, but he learned basic techniques on the guitar, originally taught by a Franciscan friar of Florence. Later in France, he learned how to play the violin, and to dance. In 1646, he was discovered by Roger de Lorraine, the chevalier de Guise, son of Charles, Duke of Guise, and was taken to France, where he entered the services of Mademoiselle de Montpensier (la Grande Mademoiselle) as a scullery-boy and Italian-language teacher. With the help of this princess, his talent increased. He studied the theory of music under Nicolas Métru. It has been said that a scurrilous song on his patroness (the doggerel he set to music refers to a "sigh" she produced while at stool) resulted in his dismissal. It is far more likely that he did not want to moulder out in the provinces with the exiled princess.^{[citation needed]}

He came into Louis XIV's service in late 1652, early 1653 as a dancer. He composed some music for the Ballet de la nuit, which pleased the king immensely. He was appointed as the composer of instrumental music to the king, and placed at the head of the Petits Violons, the kings private violin band. In 1661, the King appointed Lully the Surintendant de la musique de la chambre du roi, which brought the twenty-four violons of the Grand Bande of Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi under Lully's command.^[1]

Lully composed many ballets for the King during the 1650s and 1660s, in which the King and Lully himself danced. He also had tremendous success composing the music for the comedies of Molière, including Le Mariage forcé (1664), L'Amour médecin (1665), and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1670). It was when he met Molière that together they created the comédie-ballet. Louis XIV's interest in ballet waned as he aged, and his dancing ability declined (his last performance was in 1670) and so Lully pursued opera. He bought the privilege for opera from Pierre Perrin and, with the backing of Jean-Baptiste Colbert and the king, created a new privilege which essentially gave Lully complete control of all music performed in France until his death in 1687.

He was known to be a libertine. In 1661, in letters of naturalization and in his marriage contract to Madeleine Lambert, daughter of Lully's friend and fellow musician Michel Lambert, Giovanni Battista Lulli declared himself as "'Jean-Baptiste de Lully, escuyer' son of 'Laurent de Lully, gentilhomme Florentin'".^[2] Although his life is full of meteoric heights, his love affairs with men and women also brought him down in scandal several times at the great displeasure of Louis XIV. Despite these scandals, he always managed to get back into the good graces of Louis, who found Lully essential for his musical entertainments and who thought of Lully as one of his few true friends.

On 8 January 1687, Lully was conducting a Te Deum in honor of Louis XIV's recent recovery from illness. He was beating time by banging a long staff (a precursor to the bâton) against the floor, as was the common practice at the time, when he struck his toe, creating an abscess. The wound turned gangrenous, but Lully refused to have his toe amputated and the gangrene spread, resulting in his death on 22 March. He left his last opera, Achille et Polyxène, unfinished. All three of his sons -- Louis Lully, Jean-Baptiste Lully fils and Jean-Louis Lully -- also had musical careers at the French court.

Music[link]

Jean-Baptiste Lully's Alceste Ballet in the marble courtyard at the Palace of Versailles, 1674.

Lully's music is from the Middle Baroque period, 1650 to 1700. Typical of Baroque music is the use of the basso continuo as the driving force behind the music. The pitch standard for French Baroque music was about 392 Hz for A above middle C, a whole tone lower than modern practice where A is usually 440 Hz.

Lully's music is known for its power, liveliness in its fast movements and its deep emotional character in its sad movements. Some of his most popular works are his passacaille (passacaglia) and chaconne which are dance movements found in many of his works such as Armide or Phaëton.

The influence of Lully's music produced a radical revolution in the style of the dances of the court itself. Instead of the slow and stately movements which had prevailed until then, he introduced lively ballets of rapid rhythm. Lully also enjoyed the friendship of Molière, with whom he created a new music form, the comédie-ballet which combined theater, comedy, and ballet. He played a crucial role in synthesizing, consolidating and disseminating orchestral organization, scorings, performance practices, and repertory.

"Portrait of several musicians and artists" by François Puget. Traditionally the two main figures have been identified as the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and the librettist Philippe Quinault. (Musée du Louvre).

The instruments in his music were: five voices of strings such as dessus (a higher voice range than soprano), haute-contre (a type of high tenor voice), taille (baritenor), quinte, basse), divided as follows: one voice of violins, three voices of violas, one voice of cello, and basse de viole (viole, viola da gamba). He also utilized guitar, lute, archlute, theorbo, harpsichord, organ, oboe, bassoon, recorder, flute, brass instruments and various percussion instruments.

He is often credited with introducing new instruments into the orchestra, but this legend needs closer scrutiny. He continued to use recorders in preference to the newer transverse flute, and the "hautbois" he used in his orchestra were transitional instruments, somewhere between shawms and so-called Baroque oboes.^[3]

Lully founded French opera (tragédie en musique or tragédie lyrique), having found Italian-style opera inappropriate for the French language. Having found a congenial poet and librettist in Philippe Quinault, Lully composed many operas and other works, which were received enthusiastically. Lully can be considered the founder of French opera, having forsaken the Italian method of dividing musical numbers into separate recitatives and arias, choosing instead to combine the two for dramatic effect. Lully also opted for quicker story development as was more to the taste of the French public.

Lully's music is still played regularly via recordings at the Palace of Versailles during the summertime in the gardens, setting the mood for one's visit.

Media[link]

 Chœur des divinités de la terre et des eaux, from Psyché (1687) - Midi file (help·info)

Cultural references[link]

• The relationship between Louis XIV and Lully was depicted in the French film by Gérard Corbiau, Le Roi danse (The King is dancing) in 2000.

• For his family, see the article by Jérôme de La Gorce, "Lully's Tuscan Family," pp. 1–15. The rest of the articles focus primarily on his music and its reception. Giannini, Tula. "The Music Library of Jean-Baptiste Christophe Ballard, Sole Music Printer to the King of France, 1750 Inventory of his Grand Collection Brought to Light." Indexed in RILM. See article at the Pratt Institute.^[4]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Scott, R.H.F. (1973). Jean-Baptiste Lully. London: Peter Owen Limited. ISBN 0-7206-0432-X. 
• Stanley, Sadie; Rosow, Lois (1992). "Lully, Jean-Baptiste". The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-73432-7. 
• Green, Robert A. (2002). "Lully, Jean-Baptiste". glbtq Encyclopaedia. glbtq.com. http://www.glbtq.com/arts/lully_jb.html. Retrieved 2007-08-16. 
• Heyer, John Hajdu, ed. (2000). Lully Studies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62183-6. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jean-Baptiste Lully

Wikisource has the text of an 1879 American Cyclopædia article about Jean-Baptiste Lully.

Ballet portal

• Free scores by Jean-Baptiste Lully in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Free scores by Jean-Baptiste Lully at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by Jean-Baptiste Lully in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• The Mutopia Project has compositions by Jean-Baptiste Lully
• Jean-Baptiste Lully Collection at the University of North Texas
• Bibliothèque Nationale de France has a collection of autographs available on-line.
•  W. H. Grattan Flood (1913). "Jean-Baptiste Lully". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.