lully

Jean-Baptiste Lully, born Giovanni Battista Lulli in 1632 in Florence, was an Italian-born composer who became a central figure in French Baroque music. He moved to Paris as a child and rose at the court of Louis XIV to become the leading composer of French opera. Lully helped establish the genre known as tragédie en musique, a fusion of tragedy, music, and ballet, frequently collaborating with librettist Jean Quinault. He also popularized the French overture, characterized by a slow, dotted-rhythm opening followed by a faster section, and he helped standardize the role of the conductor in French opera.

As director of the Paris Opera, Lully created a style that integrated dance and spectacle with music, inaugurating a tradition of grand court entertainments that remained influential for decades. His works, many of them settings of Quinault’s libretti, include Cadmus et Hermione (1673) and Armide (1686), among others. Lully’s music emphasized line and orchestral color in service of drama and dance, and he helped shape the sound of French opera through a distinctive blend of vocal declamation and vivid ballet.

Lully died in 1687 after a wound to his foot sustained while conducting, which became infected and led to gangrene. His influence persisted in French opera and ballet well into the 18th century, and his leadership helped establish the Paris Opéra as a premier institution of the French Baroque.