[+] Heartz, Daniel. "Terpsichore at the Fair: Old and New Dance Airs in Two Vaudeville Comedies by Lesage." In Music and Context: Essays for John M. Ward, ed. Ann D. Shapiro and Philipp Benjamin, 278-304. Cambridge: Department of Music, Harvard University, 1985. Reprinted in Daniel Heartz, From Garrick to Gluck: Essays on Opera in the Age of Enlightenment, ed. John A. Rice, 135-58. Hillsdale, N.Y.: Pendragon, 2004. [Page numbers are from the 2004 edition.]
Vaudeville comedies of the eighteenth century continued to use antiquated sixteenth-century dances as well as more contemporary contredanses within the same work. In the early history of fair entertainment in France, dialogues and monologues were banned. Verse was set to popular vaudeville tunes in order to get around this rule. Alain-René Lesage's comedies were among the first to be mostly sung. Lesage chooses songs that the audience will recognize and provides text which acts as commentary on the original meaning of the songs. He refers back to earlier parts of his work by using the same popular vaudeville tune in several places. He also ties his comedies to works being performed at the opera houses by using similar situations for scenes, but changing the character of them through borrowed popular tune accompaniment instead of the newly composed music at the opera. Some of these source songs such as Du Cap de Bonne Espérance also allude to older dance styles of La Folia, the gavotte, or many of the branle types. In Les Couplets en process, Lesage takes advantage of these dance associations to string together tunes to create larger dance numbers. This is also Lesage's first work to use songs referring to both older and newer styles of dance music.
Works: Alain-René Lesage: Arlequin roi de Sérendib (139-46), Les Couplets en process (146-58).
Sources: Anonymous: Je laisse à la fortune Matelots, Galions (140), Quand le peril est agreeable (140), Grimaudin (140-48), Menuet de M. de Granval (141), Je ne suis pas si diable (141), Du Cap de Bonne Espérance (141), Ne m'entendez-vous pas (141), Le fameaux Diogenes (142), Reveillez-vous, belle Endormie (142, 153), Quel plaisir de voir Claudine (142), Folies d'Espagne (143-44), Ma Mére, mariez-moi (143), Ah! Vraiment, je m'y connois bien (144), Faire l'amour la nuit et le jour (144), Monsieur Lapalisse est mort (145), Joconde (145, 155), Flon, flon, larira dondaine (147), Oüida, ma Comère (147), Le Mitron de Gonesse (147), Marotte Mignonne (147), Pierre Bagnolet (147), La Belle Diguedon (147), Le Traquenard Grisellidis (147), Mon père, je vien devant vous (148), Je ne suis né, ni Roi, ni Prince (148), Lucas se plaint que sa (149), En tapinois, quand les nuits sont brunes (149), Les Cordons-bleus (149-50), Le son de la clochette (149-50), Je suis malheureuse en Amant (150), Allons à la Guinguette, allons (150), Qu'elle est belle? (150-51, 155), Et pourquoi donc dessus l'herbette (151), Les sept sauts (152), Je vais toujours le même train (152-53), Il étoit un Avocat (153-54), De l'Horoscope accompli (153), Je ferai mon devoir (154), Robin, turelure lure (154), Quand on a prononcé ce malheureaux oui (155), N'aurai-je jamais un Amant? (155), Or écoutez petits &Grands (155), Oüistan-voire (155), Hé bon, bon, bon! Je t'en répond (156), Voulez-vous sçavoir qui des deux (157), Un certain je ne sçai quoi (157), Toque mon Tambourinet (157); Lully: "Les Trembleurs" from Isis (142); André Cardinal Destouches: "Coulez, hâtez-vous de couler" from Callihoé (144); Jean-Claude Gillier: La ceinture de Vénus (153), Vive Michel Nostradamus (157); Alain-René Lesage: Télémaque (156).
Index Classifications: 1700s
Contributed by: Danielle Nelson
