Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

About this work

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme is a comédie-ballet: Lully's music does more than furnish the scene changes in Molière's play. Dances, airs, sung scenes and the Turkish march contribute directly to its comedy and theatrical rhythm. Each number therefore needs a recognisable gesture, from the most measured French bearing to the deliberately excessive ceremony.

For the singers, place diction before power. Consonants provide momentum, but vowels must keep their duration so that the musical phrase does not turn into hurried recitation. In the orchestra, articulate each dance according to its own points of support and keep the bass mobile. Repeats can change colour in response to the action or a character's entrance.

The March for the Turkish Ceremony works through its rhythmic assurance and theatrical incongruity; there is no need to add a musical grimace. Prepare each change of number as a true stage transition: final chord, silence, next tempo and new colour. A clear dramatic thread is better than a collection of immaculate pieces that remain strangers to one another. Here, serious execution often makes the comedy more effective.

What the document containsThe score with text of the comédie-ballet LWV 43, running to 129 pages.An archive of 56 MIDI files.The LilyPond source files in a separate collection.The edition credits Nicolas Sceaux and carries a Creative Commons Attribution licence.