Marc-Antoine Charpentier's David Et

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Marc-Antoine Charpentier's David Et MARC-ANTOINE CHARPENTIER’S DAVID ET JONATHAS : FRENCH JESUIT THEATER AND THE TRAGÉDIE EN MUSIQUE by JUSTIN HENDERLIGHT BMus, The University of Washington, 2009 MA, The University of British Columbia, 2012 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Music - Musicology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) June 2017 © Justin Henderlight, 2017 Abstract Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed David et Jonathas (1688) for a performance at the Jesuit Collège de Clermont in Paris. The work is described in contemporary sources as a tragédie en musique , though the latter term was usually reserved for works that had been composed for the stage of the Académie Royale de Musique. Some scholars have questioned the validity of the label tragédie en musique for this work on the grounds that it lacks certain features common to the genre: the amount of recitative, dance, and references to the supernatural are proportionately low compared to other works titled tragédie en musique . What is more, the work was originally intended to be performed interwoven with a separate spoken play, titled Saül. Saül and David et Jonathas are dramatically self-contained, but they were meant to be performed together, thus conflating the genres of tragédie en musique and intermède . In fact, the work’s biblical story also raises issues of genre, given that, up to 1688, all works labeled tragédie en musique featured a secular story. This thesis aims to show how this work mixes the traits of several genres both as a result of its Jesuit performance context and its composer’s priorities and past experiences writing music for the stage. Through an analysis of the political, aesthetic, musical, and dramatic features of the work, I reveal how the opera shows some indebtedness to the tragédies en musique that preceded it. Elements that point to this work’s status as a generic hybrid are also brought to the fore, following modern theories of genre that allow for works to participate in several genres without the stipulation to place it into any single category. ii Lay Abstract Given the recent upswing of interest in the composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, his works are now receiving the attention they deserve. One of Charpentier's largest-scale pieces, the opera David et Jonathas is a work that merits much more in-depth analysis than it has received up to this point. The piece challenges notions of genre as we understand them in the context of seventeenth-century French opera. This thesis explores how this work interacts with several genres—the tragédie en musique , the oratorio, the ballet intermède , and the spoken tragedy—and provides an extensive discussion of its historical context. iii Preface This thesis consists entirely of the unpublished work of the present author, Justin Henderlight. iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................... ii Lay Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iii Preface........................................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................v List of Tables................................................................................................................................................. vi List of Examples........................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................... viii Dedication ..................................................................................................................................................... ix Introduction: Charpentier, the Jesuits, and the genre of Tragédie en musique ............................................... 1 On Genre .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Essential Sources...................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1. The Jesuits and the French Monarchy: Politics and David et Jonathas ...................................... 24 A Perplexing Prologue ............................................................................................................................. 24 The Jesuits’ Origins and Their Relationship with the French Monarchy ................................................. 33 Representations of the King on Two Stages............................................................................................. 50 From Ballet to Opera................................................................................................................................ 72 The King, Champion of Peace, Celebrated .............................................................................................. 80 Jesuit Difficulties in the 1680s portrayed onstage .................................................................................... 84 David et Jonathas as political allegory..................................................................................................... 95 Chapter 2. Exploring Jesuit Opera: Morals, Musical Style, and Love........................................................ 111 The Seventeenth-Century Oratorio in France and Italy.......................................................................... 115 Charpentier’s oratorio Mors Saülis et Jonathae and David et Jonathas compared................................ 122 The Origins of Mors Saülis et Jonathae.............................................................................................. 124 The functions of the Chorus ............................................................................................................... 127 The Use of Visual vs. Imagined Spectacle ......................................................................................... 136 Charpentier’s Varied Approaches to Harmony................................................................................... 147 Charpentier’s Recitative Style ............................................................................................................ 162 Other French Features in David et Jonathas ....................................................................................... 178 Honnêteté: Musical Taste, Morals, and Love......................................................................................... 184 Substitutes for Romantic Love ............................................................................................................... 192 David and Jonathan’s Relationship: Two Interpretations....................................................................... 200 Chapter 3. Musical and Dramatic elements compared across Three Operas.............................................. 215 The Distribution of Musical Sub-genres................................................................................................. 217 Monologue and Power, both over Self and over the Supernatural ......................................................... 231 The Chaconne......................................................................................................................................... 257 Epilogue and Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 277 Bibliography............................................................................................................................................... 289 Primary Sources...................................................................................................................................... 289 Secondary Sources.................................................................................................................................. 290 Appendix A. The Mercure Galant ’s Account of David et Jonathas (March 1688, pp. 317–323) ............. 297 Appendix B. An analysis of the chaconne to Les Arts Florissants ............................................................. 298 Appendix C. A sample conclusion to the chaconne in David et Jonathas ................................................. 300 v List of Tables Table 1.1. The plots of Saül and David et Jonathas ..................................................................................... 96 Table 1.2. The imagery of Cadmus and Jonathas, compared..................................................................... 100 Table 2.1. Instances of offstage chorus in David et Jonathas .................................................................... 124 Table 2.2. Plot synopsis of Mors Saülis .................................................................................................... 127 Table 2.3. The distribution of cadences in David et Jonathas ...................................................................
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