I had never head of Jean Baptiste Lully before this class. It is now apparent that he was the most famous composer of France at that time due to the fact that King Louis XIV put him in his court. It is also apparent that his music displayed the prominence and eminence of Louis' court. I believe that part of the reason Lully did this was out of fear for what happen if he did not commend the king in his music. However, I also believe that Lully actually enjoyed King Louis and his court, thus explaining the real reason why he was very favorable of the king in his music. He became a Frenchman in 1661 so he obviously did not have an issue with France or King Louis' court. In addition to this, I believe that Louis was so fond of Lully that he let Lully do pretty much whatever he wanted to. As long as Lully stayed in the court and composed his music, Louis gave him a lot of freedom. Louis also let Lully become somewhat of a businessman in the way he monopolized the French opera. Lully controlled the entire opera and ran it like a businessman. This allowed for mutual appreciation between Louis and Lully and could help explain why Lully wrote so fondly of the king in his music.
As far as music, Lully's Battle March simply praises the country of France and attepmts to display the dominance of the king's army. With trumpets blasting and drums rolling Lully successfully portrays the dominance of the French army as if they were going off to battle with their battle march. This too is a compliment to the king in that he is saying the king is great and his army is great.
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I think it's interesting that you noted that you believed Lully was afraid of the King, but that he also enjoyed the King- which are two reasons he composed such lavish music for the King. Just from what we have read I think it is difficult to conclude the Lully truly enjoyed the King, but I do think that he did fear the King and that he enjoyed the power he held because he was favorable with the King.
ReplyDeleteLouis was the one who refused to listen to the other nobility when they were trying to advise him, he coined the saying "I am the state". I think it would be difficult not to fear someone so powerful that they could say this and no one would rise up against them. Also, Lully was around during the time of Moliere and saw what happened when he wrote Tartuffe around 1658. Despite having protection by the King, when he wrote this play about a religious hypocrite it was banned until he wrote the fourth and fifth acts because it wasn't pleasing to the King and to the church. So Lully knew that if he wrote something that wasn't pleasing to the King he could easily have the same fate as Moliere. Also, Lully was also around when Louis exiled Fouquet after he built a chateau outside Paris, simply because he felt Fouquet was rubbing it in his face. I know if I was working for the King at that time I would be afraid he would do the same thing to me, so I would do whatever he told me to.
At the same time, I think another important aspect to consider is that Lully enjoyed the power and freedom Louis gave him. For a composer, it has to be amazing to be given all the resources you need and allowed to write all the time. I think Lully truly enjoyed having a monopoly on the operas in France and in order to continue holding this power in France, he had to write to please the King- meaning lavish pieces highlighting Louis and his court.