Music for a young King
Music in the days of the young Louis XIV
Operas, “Airs de Cour” and songs at the Royal Palace
Let us imagine the Louvre, which now attracts visitors from across the globe, during the illustrious reigns of Henri IV and Louis XIV. Versailles was a hamlet; the heart of Paris, between the murmuring Seine and the rumbling suburbs, was still the seat of kings. Life, song and dance centred on the palace. Drinking songs rose from its kitchens, brought in the street by bakers and cooks who, between pâtés and partridges, danced a bourrée or played the tambourine.
But the Louvre set the stage for another story. It began with ballets de cour. Power play mimed in dance, these sumptuous spectacles allowed monarchs and lords to shine. Next came the songs Italians performed in the commedia dell'arte adored by Anne of Austria, who laughed along with Trivelin and Scaramouche. Until one day the inevitable, gigantic, total show from across the mountains arrived: opera. First he was Italian, with Cavalli, from whom Mazarin commissioned Ercole amante for the Sun King’s wedding – although it was Xerse that was ultimately performed. And then French, with a series of masterpieces written by Lully in his adopted language, including Atys and Phaéton, the pinnacle of musical achievement in 17th-century France.
From one score to the next, Poème Harmonique tells the story of the world’s most famous palace, drawing on popular songs (from the award-winning Aux marches du palais),
and opera extracts by Cavalli and Lully.
©Pierre Duclos