Jean-Baptiste Lully

This French composer of Italian origin came into the world in Florence in 1632. He came from a poor family, but caught the attention of a nobleman from Guise, who took young Lully to Paris. There he began his service at the court of Louis XIV, who provided him with a violin orchestra, thanks to which this artist gained fame as a violinist, composer, and conductor. From 1653 he composed many dances, including numerous ballets, such as 'Les Saisons', 'Les muses' danced at the court by Lully and the king. Also in Paris, he established contact with writers such as Moliere, Corneille, Racine, with whom he collaborated in presenting some works. He composed music for Moliere's comedy-ballet 'Le mariage force'. He became rich and obtained the position of the king's secretary.
In 1671 he composed the ballet 'Psyche', which two years later was transformed and turned into an opera. It was in this musical form that Lully introduced significant innovations, such as appropriate accentuation of the text in relation to the music, changed 'recitativo secco' to 'with accompaniment', used much faster dances than those used previously, and established the form of the French overture based on a slow repeating motif, followed by a fast one. Among the composer's operas, 'Cadmus et Hermione', 'Alceste', 'Proserpine', 'Roland', and above all 'Armide' deserve attention. He also composed religious music ('Miserere') and instrumental works ('Trios pour le coucher du Roi'). He died in 1687 in Paris after an infection spread from a wound he made with a baton during one of his performances.