signed
1684 · Paris
by LULLY, Jean Baptiste 1632-1687
Paris: Christophe Ballard, seul Imprimeur du Roy pour la Musique, ruë Saint Iean de Beauvais, au Mont-Parnasse et se vend A la Porte de l'Academie Royale de Musique, ruë Saint Honoré ... Avec Privilege de Sa Majesté, 1684. Folio. Full contemporary dark brown mottled calf with coat of arms of the family of Jean-Jacques Barillon de Morangis incorporating a shield, two seashells, a flower, and an armored bust to both boards, raised bands on spine in compartments gilt, all edges gilt. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 1f. (dedication), 1f. (recto dedication in verse, verso blank), xliv (Prologue), 272 pp. With decorative head- and tailpieces throughout. Music and text typeset, music in diamond-head notation.
With Lully's control paraph to final page of music and monogrammatic handstamp to foot of page 1.
Elaborate woodcut device to title incorporating floral and architectural motifs with central image within oval border depicting allegorical personifications of Fortune and Virtue with "Virtuti Fortuna Cedit" (Fortune Yields to Virtue) at Virtue's head with cherubs playing lute and viol and Orpheus with lyre; a satyr playing a panpipe flanks the central image, with two additional cherubs displaying a short musical phrase above.
Binding slightly worn; minor loss to head of spine. Some very small occasional losses to corners and margins; scattered small stains and browning; stub of blank leaf to inner margin preceding title and following final leaf; early signature (?Maynon) to title overwritten. First Edition. Schneider p. 409. Sonneck Dramatic Music p. 98. Lesure p. 405. BUC p. 634. Hirsch II, 139. RISM L2944. Coat of arms Olivier-Hermal-Roton plate 309.
Amadis was first performed in Paris on 18 January 1684. The libretto by Quinault is based on Nicolas Herberay des Essarts's adaptation of Amadis de Gaula, a work by Spanish renaissance author Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo, who himself adapted Amadis from an anonymous 14th century model.
"The opera was to be produced first at Versailles (Louis XIV himself had suggested the subject of the opera), but owing to the death of the Queen, Amadis was first publicly performed at Paris, and at Versailles only one year later, viz. 5 March 1685." Loewenberg 74. Stieger Titelkatalog I p. 48. Amadis was the first tragedie en musique to be based on medieval romance rather than ancient mythology. The score contains a profusion of melody with brief airs dominating much of the dialogue. Some, such as the monologue airs 'Bois epais' and 'Amour que veux-tu de moi?' - the latter sung by 'every cook in France', according to Le Cerf de la Vieville... became well known. In general, the music represents Lully's most mature style." The New Grove Dictionary of Opera Vol. 1 p. 104.
"Lully’s last three tragédies were based on tales of chivalry rather than ancient mythology; Amadis was the earliest, and the subject chosen by Louis XIV. The title is sometimes given as Amadis de Gaule to avoid confusion with Destouches’ Amadis de Grèce. The première was in Paris instead of at court because the queen had died in July 1683; a court production without scenery or machines took place at Versailles in March 1685. The principal singers at the première included Moreau (Oriane), Le Rochois (Arcabonne), Dumesnil (Amadis) and Dun (Florestan); the principal male dancers were Beauchamp, Pécour and Lestang, and the principal female dancers La Fontaine, Carré and Pesan. There were eight Paris revivals between 1687 and 1771; for the 1759 production François Rebel composed new dances and made other revisions. Between 1687 and 1729 Amadis was produced in Amsterdam, Marseilles, Rouen, Brussels, The Hague, Lunéville, Lyons and Dijon. In the 1930s Henry Prunières, realizing that he would not live to finish the complete edition of Lully’s works, abandoned his chronological approach to the operas and edited Amadis. The score is celebrated mainly for its wealth of melody and includes Lully’s best known air, ‘Bois épais’." Lois Rosow in Grove Music Online
An attractive lifetime first edition of Amadis, an opera frequently revived after the composer's death. (Inventory #: 39598)
With Lully's control paraph to final page of music and monogrammatic handstamp to foot of page 1.
Elaborate woodcut device to title incorporating floral and architectural motifs with central image within oval border depicting allegorical personifications of Fortune and Virtue with "Virtuti Fortuna Cedit" (Fortune Yields to Virtue) at Virtue's head with cherubs playing lute and viol and Orpheus with lyre; a satyr playing a panpipe flanks the central image, with two additional cherubs displaying a short musical phrase above.
Binding slightly worn; minor loss to head of spine. Some very small occasional losses to corners and margins; scattered small stains and browning; stub of blank leaf to inner margin preceding title and following final leaf; early signature (?Maynon) to title overwritten. First Edition. Schneider p. 409. Sonneck Dramatic Music p. 98. Lesure p. 405. BUC p. 634. Hirsch II, 139. RISM L2944. Coat of arms Olivier-Hermal-Roton plate 309.
Amadis was first performed in Paris on 18 January 1684. The libretto by Quinault is based on Nicolas Herberay des Essarts's adaptation of Amadis de Gaula, a work by Spanish renaissance author Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo, who himself adapted Amadis from an anonymous 14th century model.
"The opera was to be produced first at Versailles (Louis XIV himself had suggested the subject of the opera), but owing to the death of the Queen, Amadis was first publicly performed at Paris, and at Versailles only one year later, viz. 5 March 1685." Loewenberg 74. Stieger Titelkatalog I p. 48. Amadis was the first tragedie en musique to be based on medieval romance rather than ancient mythology. The score contains a profusion of melody with brief airs dominating much of the dialogue. Some, such as the monologue airs 'Bois epais' and 'Amour que veux-tu de moi?' - the latter sung by 'every cook in France', according to Le Cerf de la Vieville... became well known. In general, the music represents Lully's most mature style." The New Grove Dictionary of Opera Vol. 1 p. 104.
"Lully’s last three tragédies were based on tales of chivalry rather than ancient mythology; Amadis was the earliest, and the subject chosen by Louis XIV. The title is sometimes given as Amadis de Gaule to avoid confusion with Destouches’ Amadis de Grèce. The première was in Paris instead of at court because the queen had died in July 1683; a court production without scenery or machines took place at Versailles in March 1685. The principal singers at the première included Moreau (Oriane), Le Rochois (Arcabonne), Dumesnil (Amadis) and Dun (Florestan); the principal male dancers were Beauchamp, Pécour and Lestang, and the principal female dancers La Fontaine, Carré and Pesan. There were eight Paris revivals between 1687 and 1771; for the 1759 production François Rebel composed new dances and made other revisions. Between 1687 and 1729 Amadis was produced in Amsterdam, Marseilles, Rouen, Brussels, The Hague, Lunéville, Lyons and Dijon. In the 1930s Henry Prunières, realizing that he would not live to finish the complete edition of Lully’s works, abandoned his chronological approach to the operas and edited Amadis. The score is celebrated mainly for its wealth of melody and includes Lully’s best known air, ‘Bois épais’." Lois Rosow in Grove Music Online
An attractive lifetime first edition of Amadis, an opera frequently revived after the composer's death. (Inventory #: 39598)
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