The most powerful musician in France was Italian. Jean-Baptiste Lully rose from humble beginnings, born into a family of millers in Florence, to become Master of the King’s Music at the court of Versailles and a cherished friend of Louis XIV. In fact, he and the “Sun King” used to dance side by side in the court ballets Lully had written. Unfortunately, he was also a bit of a creep.
Among his other quirks, Lully was very vain about his legs. It is ironic, then, that he would ultimately die as a result of an injury to his toe, sustained while pounding the floor with a heavy staff to mark time during a performance of his “Te Deum,” written to celebrate the king’s recovery from surgery. Vanity caused Lully to ignore advice to have the toe amputated, and he died of a gangrenous infection.
On today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network, Jean-Féry Rebel’s memorial piece, “Tombeau de Monsieur de Lully,” will be among selected highlights from two concerts of French Baroque music that appeared on last season’s Midtown Concert Series, presented at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Midtown Manhattan, by Gotham Early Music Scene, or GEMS.
The Italian Problem was more than simply one of personality. Lully’s influence sent shoots all over Europe. Equally, Arcangelo Corelli’s influence crept into France. François Couperin’s “Le Parnesse, ou L’Apothéose de Corelli” was one of his most ambitious attempts to reconcile the Italian and French styles.
“Tombeau” and “Le Parnesse” will be performed by members of Voyage Sonique.
The second half of the broadcast will feature ballet music by Jean Philippe Rameau, “La Lyre Enchantée.” The performance was taken from a separate concert presented by the BALAM Dance Theatre.
GEMS is a non-profit corporation that supports and promotes artists and organizations in New York City devoted to early music – music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical periods. Free lunchtime concerts are held at St. Bart’s every Thursday at 1:15 p.m. The Midtown Concerts series is on hiatus for the summer, but performances will resume in the fall. For more information and updates to GEMS’ events calendar, look online at gemsny.org.
Tune in for French music from GEMS today at 12 p.m. Then stick around for Russian music, as I share some reminiscences of my weekend at the Bard Music Festival and “Rimsky-Korsakov and His World,” until 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
