jan 1, 1686 - Armide Lully

Description:

A French opera created by the combination of the efforts of Jean-Baptiste Lully and his librettist Philippe Quinault, which later became known as tragédie lyrique. This was created by combining classic French drama with ballet, traditional chanson, and a new style of recitative that was metrically altered to fit the rhythm of the French language.

The overture features two prominent sections. The first section is at a majestic, walking tempo that provided time for Louis XIV to enter the theatre and process to his seat. This is also marked by dotted notes inégales, a popular French performance convention at the time. The second section starts in a faster tempo that eventually developed into the opera's developing motive.

A very notable aria is "Enfin il est en ma puissance," in which the sorceress Armide is prepared to kill her captured Renaud--however, she finds she is unable to do so because of her love for him. The piece opens with a recitative that varies metrically, to reflect the inflections of French, and Armide performs accompanied only by continuo. However, the piece then leads suddenly to an aria: a full-fledged song with regulated meter and phrasing. Though the change in feeling is abrupt, this very same volta is what makes the emotional change within Armide so palpable to the audience.