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Philippe Quinault

May 13, 2023

Philippe Quinault (French: [kino]; 3 June 1635 – 26 November 1688), French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris.

Philippe Quinault
Coat of arms – Philippe Quinault

Biography

Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of Marianne. Quinault's first play was produced at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1653, when he was only eighteen. The piece succeeded, and Quinault followed it up, but he also read for the bar; and in 1660, when he married a widow with money, he bought himself a place in the Cour des Comptes. Then he tried tragedies (Agrippa, etc.) with more success.

He received one of the literary pensions then recently established, and was elected to the Académie française in 1670. Up to this time he had written some sixteen or seventeen comedies, tragedies, and tragi-comedies, which began at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1653, and of which the tragedies were mostly of very small value and the tragi-comedies of little more. But his comedies—especially his first piece Les Rivales (1653), L'Amant indiscret (1654), which has some likeness to Molière's Étourdi, Le Fantôme amoureux (1659), and La Mère coquette (1665), perhaps the best—are much better. In assessing Quinault's comedy work, Patricia Howard noted the influence of Préciosité, especially in the female roles: "For if in French theatre in the second half of the century, women's roles are preeminent, it was the précieux movement which made them so."[1] In 1671 he contributed to the singular miscellany of Psyché, in which Pierre Corneille and Molière also had a hand, and which was set to the music of Jean-Baptiste Lully.

Here he showed a remarkable faculty for lyrical drama, and from this time until just before his death he confined himself to composing libretti for Lully's work. This was not only very profitable (for he is said to have received four thousand livres for each, which was much more than was usually paid even for tragedy), but it established Quinault's reputation as the master of a new style—so that even Boileau, who had previously satirized his dramatic work, praised, not the opera, which he did not like, but Quinault's remarkably ingenious and artist-like work in it.

His libretti are among the very few which are readable without the music, and which are yet carefully adapted to it. The very artificiality of the French lyric of the later 17th century, and its resemblance to alexandrines cut into lengths, were aids to Quinault in arranging lyrical dialogue. They certainly do not contain very exalted poetry or very perfect drama. But they are quite free from the ludicrous doggerel which has made the name libretto a byword, and they have quite enough dramatic merit to carry the reader, much more the spectator, along with them. It is not an exaggeration to say that Quinault, coming at the exact time when opera became fashionable out of Italy, had very much to do with establishing it as a permanent European genre. His first piece after Psyché (1671) was a kind of classical masque, Les Fêtes de l'Amour et de Bacchus (1672). Then came Cadmus et Hermione (1674), Alceste ou le Triomphe d'Alcide (1674), Thesée (1675), Atys (1676), one of his best pieces, and Isis (1677). Alceste was received very negatively by some critics, and this inspired a debate of published opinions by the writers Jean Racine and Charles Perrault which constitutes one of the first exchanges in what would later become known as the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns.[2]

All these were classical in subject, and so was Proserpine (1680), which was superior to any of them. The Triumph of Love (1681) is a mere ballet, but in Persée (1682) and Phaëton (1683) Quinault returned to the classical opera. Then he finally deserted it for romantic subjects, in which he was even more successful. Amadis de Gaule (1684) and Roland (1685) are arguably his masterpieces, although Armide (1686) is probably the best known opera. Lully died in 1687, and Quinault, his occupation gone, became devout, and began a poem called the "Destruction of Heresy". He died on 26 November 1688, in Paris. Among his less known works is the lyrical, theatrical drama "Bellerephon", in 2 parts: (one probably first published on 1671 and one probably first published on 1679 ), based on the famous, ancient Greek myth:

References

  1. ^ Patricia Howard, "The Influence of the Précieuses on Content and Structure in Quinault's and Lully's Tragédies Lyriques" in Acta Musicologica 63.1 (January 1991, pp. 57-72) p 58, note.
  2. ^ Quinault, Philippe (1994). Brooks, William; Norman, Buford; Zarucchi, Jeanne Morgan (eds.). Alceste, suivi de La Querelle d'Alceste, Anciens et Modernes avant 1680, Textes de Ch. Perrault, Racine et P. Perrault. Geneva: Droz. ISBN 2600000534.
  •   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Quinault, Philippe". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 752.

External links

May 13, 2023
philippe, quinault, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, relies, largely, entirely, single, source, relevant, discussion, found, talk, page, p. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Philippe Quinault news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2012 This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations February 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Philippe Quinault French kino 3 June 1635 26 November 1688 French dramatist and librettist was born in Paris Philippe Quinault Coat of arms Philippe QuinaultBiography EditQuinault was educated by the liberality of Francois Tristan l Hermite the author of Marianne Quinault s first play was produced at the Hotel de Bourgogne in 1653 when he was only eighteen The piece succeeded and Quinault followed it up but he also read for the bar and in 1660 when he married a widow with money he bought himself a place in the Cour des Comptes Then he tried tragedies Agrippa etc with more success He received one of the literary pensions then recently established and was elected to the Academie francaise in 1670 Up to this time he had written some sixteen or seventeen comedies tragedies and tragi comedies which began at the Hotel de Bourgogne in 1653 and of which the tragedies were mostly of very small value and the tragi comedies of little more But his comedies especially his first piece Les Rivales 1653 L Amant indiscret 1654 which has some likeness to Moliere s Etourdi Le Fantome amoureux 1659 and La Mere coquette 1665 perhaps the best are much better In assessing Quinault s comedy work Patricia Howard noted the influence of Preciosite especially in the female roles For if in French theatre in the second half of the century women s roles are preeminent it was the precieux movement which made them so 1 In 1671 he contributed to the singular miscellany of Psyche in which Pierre Corneille and Moliere also had a hand and which was set to the music of Jean Baptiste Lully Here he showed a remarkable faculty for lyrical drama and from this time until just before his death he confined himself to composing libretti for Lully s work This was not only very profitable for he is said to have received four thousand livres for each which was much more than was usually paid even for tragedy but it established Quinault s reputation as the master of a new style so that even Boileau who had previously satirized his dramatic work praised not the opera which he did not like but Quinault s remarkably ingenious and artist like work in it His libretti are among the very few which are readable without the music and which are yet carefully adapted to it The very artificiality of the French lyric of the later 17th century and its resemblance to alexandrines cut into lengths were aids to Quinault in arranging lyrical dialogue They certainly do not contain very exalted poetry or very perfect drama But they are quite free from the ludicrous doggerel which has made the name libretto a byword and they have quite enough dramatic merit to carry the reader much more the spectator along with them It is not an exaggeration to say that Quinault coming at the exact time when opera became fashionable out of Italy had very much to do with establishing it as a permanent European genre His first piece after Psyche 1671 was a kind of classical masque Les Fetes de l Amour et de Bacchus 1672 Then came Cadmus et Hermione 1674 Alceste ou le Triomphe d Alcide 1674 Thesee 1675 Atys 1676 one of his best pieces and Isis 1677 Alceste was received very negatively by some critics and this inspired a debate of published opinions by the writers Jean Racine and Charles Perrault which constitutes one of the first exchanges in what would later become known as the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns 2 All these were classical in subject and so was Proserpine 1680 which was superior to any of them The Triumph of Love 1681 is a mere ballet but in Persee 1682 and Phaeton 1683 Quinault returned to the classical opera Then he finally deserted it for romantic subjects in which he was even more successful Amadis de Gaule 1684 and Roland 1685 are arguably his masterpieces although Armide 1686 is probably the best known opera Lully died in 1687 and Quinault his occupation gone became devout and began a poem called the Destruction of Heresy He died on 26 November 1688 in Paris Among his less known works is the lyrical theatrical drama Bellerephon in 2 parts one probably first published on 1671 and one probably first published on 1679 based on the famous ancient Greek myth References Edit Patricia Howard The Influence of the Precieuses on Content and Structure in Quinault s and Lully s Tragedies Lyriques in Acta Musicologica 63 1 January 1991 pp 57 72 p 58 note Quinault Philippe 1994 Brooks William Norman Buford Zarucchi Jeanne Morgan eds Alceste suivi de La Querelle d Alceste Anciens et Modernes avant 1680 Textes de Ch Perrault Racine et P Perrault Geneva Droz ISBN 2600000534 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Quinault Philippe Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 22 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 752 External links EditWorks by or about Philippe Quinault at Internet Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Philippe Quinault amp oldid 1118826031, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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