LULLY Jean Baptiste de Armide, tragédie. Mise en musique. Représentée par l’Académie Royalle de Musique.

Eitner, VI, 244 ; Fétis, V, 372 ; Cioranescu, 56111; OHR, 776.

First edition. The fine engraved frontispiece by Jean Dolinar after a drawing by Jean Bérain shows a dramatic stage design relating to the theatre piece.

The libretto of the last opera by Lully – by some considered his master piece – and the hight of his collaboration with Philippe Quinault ; the opera was first presented at the Palais Royal on 15 February 1686, in the presence of the Grand Dauphin (1661-1711), the first-born son to King Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Austria The subject, largely inspired by Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata, was personally chosen by the king himself. The libretto is based on chants II, V, X and XIV of the ôem by Tasso, while chant IV is entirely due to Philippe Quinault. The musical scores were published the same year by Christophe Ballard who published a large number of court plays and music.

“Dans Armide…, la tragédie lyrique, construite uniquement sur le récitatif florentin greffé sur le vers alexandrin français, se développe désormais sous la forme de l’air, avec un naturel parfait, en atteignant de larges développements tant au point de vue vocal qu’instrumental. De cette façon, la réforme de Lully est pleinement réalisée : l’ « air de ballet » complète la grande forme composite qui présente à son tour deux formes distinctes : la forme purement chorégraphique et la forme symphonique. L’ouverture a atteint ici son aspect le plus accompli et le plus définitif, en engendrant une forme qui sera ensuite adoptée par les autres compositeurs. L’Armide de Lully est donc très importante non seulement à cause de sa valeur intrinsèque, mais aussi à cause de sa signification historique particulière” (Dictionnaire des œuvres).

Armide was later used by Diderot during the Querelle des Bouffons (also known as the War of the Comic Actors) , a controversy opposing the latter him against Rousseau about the relative merits of French and Italian opera. Jean-Philippe Rameau praised the exquisite adaptation of Armide’s monologue into music by Lully.

Excetpional copy bound at the time for François-Michel Le Tellier, marquis of Louvois (1641-1691), famous minister of French King Louis XIV. François-Michel Le Tellier (1641-1691), French secretary of War, was instrumental to the military success during the reing of Louis XIV. Under his leadership the French army was reformed and he increased the troups to over 400 000 soldiers who subsequently fought four wars between 1667 and 1713. Binding slightly restored, covers somewhat spotted.