Theatrical Politics in Ancien Regime France: Music, Genre, and Meaning
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THEATRICAL POLITICS IN ANCIEN RÉGIME FRANCE: MUSIC, GENRE, AND MEANING AT THE PARISIAN FAIR THEATERS, 1678–1723 A dissertation submitted to The Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the College-Conservatory of Music 2020 by Erik Matthew Paffett B.Mus., West Chester University of Pennsylvania, 2009 M.M., West Chester University of Pennsylvania, 2011 M.M., University of Cincinnati, 2019 ABSTRACT The theatrical genre comédie en vaudevilles, comprising newly-written texts set to pre- existing popular songs, enjoyed tremendous popularity at the Parisian trade fair theaters in the early eighteenth century. Because of problems stemming from its historiography, the comédie en vaudevilles has not always been clearly distinguished from the later (post-1760) genre opéra- comique. Inclined to understand French theatrical genres within evolutionary frameworks amid largescale nationalist efforts to rediscover France’s cultural past, scholars in the nineteenth century began to consider the comédie en vaudevilles as a primitive or lesser form of opéra- comique. François-Joseph Fétis sought opéra-comique’s origins in medieval theatrical traditions, while others turned to the comédies-ballets of Molière and Lully. Others still pointed to the farcical, acrobatic comedies of the fair theaters in the seventeenth century. In the first part of this study, I demonstrate how the comédie en vaudevilles and other works of the fair theaters have been considered a lesser theatrical form, tracing misconceptions about the genre back to nineteenth-century writings. Here, I also examine an overlooked set of librettos and other primary sources to suggest that the seventeenth-century repertory of the fair theaters does not foreshadow, anticipate, or resemble the comédie en vaudevilles of the early eighteenth century. Instead this repertory functions similarly to that of the contemporaneous genres of the royal theaters in seeking to reinforce the authority of the monarchy and to glorify its accomplishments. I also argue that the first comédies en vaudevilles were not the creation of a singular author’s hand, but rather were the result of a gradual process of appropriating and adapting pre-existing theatrical traditions. Prior to Lesage’s debut at the fair theaters in 1713, the sung vaudeville form had already emerged in the early repertory of the fair theaters during the years 1709–1712. The theatrical legacy of the Italian commedia dell’arte also left an indelible ii imprint on the repertory of the fair theaters. The stock characters, comic lazzi routines, obscene humor, and comic violence were an integral feature of the fair theater repertory throughout the eighteenth century. In the second part of this study, I demonstrate that by the time of the Regency (1715– 1723) the comédie en vaudevilles was definitively not a primitive or lesser form of opéra- comique nor a simplistic genre for an uneducated class. On the contrary, it was a complex, intertextual genre intended for an audience well-versed in theatrical politics, current events, music, literature, and a range of different subjects. It is in these works that the traditions of satire and parody are combined with theatrical polemics. As case studies, I analyze the satirical commentary, techniques of parody, theatrical polemics, and processes of musical borrowing in two comédies en vaudevilles from the years 1718–1721, to show how these works may have been received by audiences. iii Copyright © 2020, Erik Matthew Paffett All rights reserved iv To my wife, C O U R T N E Y L Y N N, And our son, M A T T H E W F R E D E R I C K v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I first wish to thank the primary adviser of this project, Stephen Meyer. Dr. Meyer’s insights have been invaluable to my dissertation, especially in these final stages of writing it. Moreover, his guidance and feedback have immensely improved the end result. I would also like to thank Mary Sue Morrow who vitally helped shape the direction of this project from its beginning stages. She has also helped me understand eighteenth-century music beyond traditional paradigms and, importantly, instilled the ideas that have greatly improved my research and writing over the years. I would also like to thank the musicology and ethnomusicology faculty at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music for granting me the opportunity to pursue my doctoral work here. I am especially grateful to Jonathan Kregor and Stefan Fiol for serving as readers on this project. I also wish to thank Sterling Murray and Julian Onderdonk for their continued mentorship over the years. Finally I want to express my fullest gratitude to my family. I would like to thank especially my parents, Edward and Eileen Paffett, who always supported my education and emphasized its value and importance throughout my life. I am indebted to my wife, Courtney, who has been a constant source of support and has made many sacrifices along the way. I am also especially grateful for my son, Matthew, who despite his seemingly endless demands on my time, is a continual source of personal joy and happiness. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ............................................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 THE COMÉDIE EN VAUDEVILLES IN SCHOLARLY LITERATURE ........................................................... 2 POLITICAL HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................... 6 THEATRICAL BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................................... 8 TERMINOLOGY ................................................................................................................................................. 12 THE PARISIAN FAIRGROUND THEATERS .................................................................................................. 13 AIMS AND OUTLINE OF THIS PROJECT ..................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 1. INSCRIBING THE ORIGINS OF OPÉRA-COMIQUE ............................................................. 23 THE TERM “OPÉRA-COMIQUE” IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FRANCE ............................................... 25 HISTORIES OF THE FAIR THEATERS IN THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ................................ 30 HISTORIES OF THE FAIR THEATERS 1730–1760 ........................................................................................ 37 HISTORIES OF THE FAIR THEATERS IN THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ................................... 40 POSITIVISM AND NEW SOURCES IN THE 1870S ....................................................................................... 45 HISTORIES OF OPÉRA-COMIQUE BEFORE WORLD WAR I .................................................................... 47 MOLIÈRE AND LULLY AT THE ORIGINS .................................................................................................... 50 FÉTIS, THE HISTOIRE GÉNÉRALE, AND THE THIRTEENTH-CENTURY CHANT-FABLE ..................... 53 ADAM DE LA HALLE AND LE JEU DE ROBIN ET DE MARION ................................................................ 56 TWENTIETH-CENTURY HISTORIES OF OPÉRA-COMIQUE .................................................................... 62 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................................. 64 CHAPTER 2. THE THEATRICAL TROUPES AND REPERTORY OF THE FAIR THEATERS BEFORE 1697 ........................................................................................................................................................ 67 THEATRICAL LIFE IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PARIS ........................................................................ 68 MUSIC OF THE TROUPES OF DANSEURS DE CORDE ................................................................................ 69 THE FIRST ACTING TROUPES OF THE FAIR THEATERS, 1596–1620 .................................................... 74 FROM THE FAIR TO THE COURT: CURIOSITIES, MARIONETTES, AND TROUPES, 1640–1670 ....... 77 TROUPES AND REPERTORY OF THE FAIR THEATERS, 1675–1680........................................................ 82 SIEUR LA GRILLE AND THE TROUPE DES PYGMÉES ....................................................................... 82 THE FRANCO-DUTCH WAR AND THE FUNCTION