Les arts florissants (opera)

Les arts florissants (H. 487) is a short chamber opera (also described by the composer as idylle en musique) in five scenes by Marc-Antoine Charpentier.

Les arts florissants
Chamber opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier in 1682
LanguageFrench
Premiere
1685 (1685)
Residence of Marie de Lorraine, Duchess of Guise, Paris

History

It was written in 1685 for the group of musicians employed by Marie de Lorraine, Duchess of Guise, at her residence in Paris. The reason behind the creation of this work, as well as its place of performance, remain a matter for speculation. The French libretto, written by an unknown author, is allegorical in nature and draws on aspects of mythological and natural symbolism familiar to 17th-century audiences to add depth to a superficially simple plot.

The story of the opera concerns the eponymous Arts, shown flourishing under the beneficent and peaceful reign of Louis XIV, as they and a group of warriors become drawn into a dispute between the central characters of La paix (Peace) and La discorde (Discord). After a brief struggle in which Discord and his Furies gain the upper hand, Peace appeals to Jupiter to intervene on her behalf. Discord and his followers are chased back into Hades by a hail of thunderbolts, and Peace holds sway once more.

Analysis

The opera is scored for seven solo voices, five-part chorus, two flutes (or recorders), two treble viols and basso continuo.

The manuscript score also calls for two choruses in the form of a Troupe de Guerriers (Troop of Warriors) and a Chœur de Furies chantantes (Chorus of singing Furies), to be sung by all available singers,[1] and a troupe of Furies dansantes, si l'on veut (Dancing Furies, if desired). The instrumentalists are included in the original character list under the entry Suite de la Musique, and the overture is labelled pour les symphonistes de la Suite de la Musique (for the orchestral players in Music's following).

Roles
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 1685
(Conductor: – )
La Musique, Music soprano Jacqueline-Geneviève de Brion
La Poésie, Poetry soprano Antoinette Talon
La Peinture, Painting haute-contre Marc-Antoine Charpentier
L'Architecture, Architecture mezzo-soprano Marie Guilbault de Grandmaison
La Discorde, Discord bass Pierre Beaupuis
La Paix, Peace soprano Elisabeth "Isabelle" Thorin
Un Guerrier, A Warrior baritone Germain Carlier

Selected recordings
  • Charpentier: Les Arts Florissants H.487 / William Christie, Les Arts Florissants. CD Harmonia Mundi 1982 report Musique D'abord 1987.
  • Charpentier: les Arts Florissants H.487, La Couronne de Fleurs H.486, (excerpts) / Gaétan Jarry, Ensemble Marguerite Louise. CD Château de Versailles spectacles 2017/2018.
  • Charpentier : Les Arts Florissants H.487, Les Plaisirs de Versailles H.480, Teresa Wakim, Jesse Blumberg, Virginia Warnken, Boston early Music Festival Vocal & Chamber Ensembles / Paul O’Dette, Stephen Stubbs. CD CPO 2019.

Bibliography
  • Marc-Antoine Charpentier: "Les Arts florissans", Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Œuvres complètes, ser.I vol.7 (facs.), ed. H. Wiley Hitchcock (Paris: Minkoff France, 1996) 120-164
  • Marc-Antoine Charpentier, H. Wiley Hitchcock, Oxford University press 2001. Also in Grove Music online.
  • Shirley Thompson, New perspectives on Marc-Antoine Charpentier, New York, routledge, 2010/2016, 600 p.

Notes
  1. The vocal forces usually employed by Marie de Lorraine (Hitchcock suggests there were never more than fourteen singers at a time, and usually fewer) would otherwise have been too small to make this proliferation of choruses feasible. In Charpentier's manuscript, the various vocal lines of each chorus are labelled with the names of the seven soloists, which would seem to confirm that they were required to double as both choruses. See Hitchcock and Charpentier.

Sources
  • Patricia M. Ranum: "The 'Guise Music': some thumbnail sketches of the members of Mlle de Guise's ensemble", Ranums' Panat Times website (Accessed August 25, 2006), www.ranumspanat.com/guise_music.html
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