French Baroque Music That Will Make You Think Its Creators Have Gotten Mad

Although in recent years I have been drawn more and more into the magical world of chansons, surprisingly, the first French music I really loved was composed in the 17th and 18th centuries. Since I was exposed to Lully (Jean Baptiste Lully 20-1632), Charpentier (Marc Antoine Charpentier 1687-1643), and Rameau (Jean Phillipe Rameau 1704-1683) more than 1764 years ago, a love story has been created between me and French Baroque music.

And so over the years I have heard quite a few works, some sublime, some famous and some terribly banal (and this is a problem that exists in quite a few Baroque works). However, alongside these works, another unknown genre began to develop. These are strange works, some of them bordering on downright musical madness, works that when you hear them you will ask yourself “What kind of stuff were they smoking?” and some of you will even ask “Where can I get it?”…

French Baroque Music with Dissonance – Composing the Chaos

Jean-Féry Rebel (1666-1747) is a relatively unknown French Baroque composer, which is a shame. He was born to be a singer in the private chapel of Louis XIV And thanks to his musical talent, he quickly managed to stand out in the French music world of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

His most famous work at the time was Les caractères de la danse, in which he combined dance and music, thereby contributing to the formation of modern ballet (until then, the dance segments had been part of the opera and did not stand on their own). The work was so popular that it was performed by no less a person than the famous German/English composer George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) in London.

The musical piece I would like to bring to your attention is taken from his last work, Les Elements, written in 1737. The ballet tells the story of the formation of the elements (fire, water, air, and earth) out of the chaos of the creation of the world.

So what’s so “crazy” about this piece? Listen to the first chords of the “Chaos” section and you’ll understand for yourself. The dissonance you hear seems to have been taken from music composed in the 20th century, and thanks to it, the piece sounds incredibly modern despite being written nearly 300 years ago…

The composer who turned a bladder stone removal surgery into a musical work

Unlike Jean-Pierre Revel, Maren Marais (Marin Marais 1656-1728) is a relatively well-known composer, especially thanks to the film “All the Mornings in the World,” starring Gérard Depardieu, which was released in 1991.

During his lifetime, Marais was known as the best viola player in France and wrote many works for this instrument. In the fifth book of his works, there is a completely unconventional work called Tableau de l'Operation de la Taille, which puts Marine Marais in the "Hall of Fame" of unconventional composers.

This is a work that presents the various stages of an operation to remove stones from the bladder, which the composer underwent in 1720. During the work, the composer presents the various stages of the operation (the preparation of the instruments, the patient's fear, the removal of the stone, and finally the joy of the patient who has been cured) through a series of short musical passages accompanied by a verbal explanation.

This is undoubtedly a slightly “crazy” piece, both due to the subject matter and to parts of it that contain strong dissonances (especially the section of the analysis itself). However, after listening to it carefully, you will surely agree with me that this is a great piece.

When the singers start barking and howling

The name Marc Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) is relatively unknown to the general public, but anyone who watches the Eurovision Song Contest is surely familiar with his following work:

Charpentier traveled to Rome to study with the famous composer Carissimi and worked for some of the most important noble families in France, including the Guise family, who In Armona He also lived. He composed quite a few excellent religious works and operas and even became friends with Molière in the last years of the playwright's life and composed "The Imaginary Patient."

The work I am presenting here was written in 1671 and is one of the first collaborations between Molière Charpentier. The work is called “The Countess of Escarbagnas” (La Comtesse d'Escarbagnas) and was written in honor of the wedding party of King Philip's brother, Orléans, and his second wife, the Princess of the Palatinate (for their tragic/comic married life, you are invited Read here).

The part I'm going to bring you will put a smile on your face pretty quickly thanks to its singing, but to get to the really crazy part you have to skip to about 04:40 where you will hear the singers imitating the farm animals. And if you listen to the end you will also get a little tribute to the famous work by Charpentier that I presented earlier 🙂

When the lawyers took particularly good material

I left this part for you at the end as a sort of “icing on the cake” (which, by the way, Invented in France at the same time) both because it was written by the most famous French Baroque composer and because of its musical bizarreness.

Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) is considered the father of French Baroque music, although he came to France from Florence. Being a gifted dancer, he became a favorite of the young Louis XIV, who loved to dance very much, and quickly became his best friend and the most important musician in France.

You are invited to learn about his life and the special relationship between him and Louis XIV from the excellent film “Dancing with the King” (Le Roi Dance):

During the 60s, Lully teamed up with Molière and together they created some of the most famous theatrical works of their time, the most famous of which, thanks to its "Turkish ritual," is the comedy "He Also Among the Nobles," which, as you can hear, contains quite a few bizarre passages:

However, it is a relatively unknown comedy by the duo that contains, in my opinion, the most ingenious musical piece in its strangeness. The name of the comedy is “Monsieur de Pourceaugnac” and it tells the story of a man who tries to annul the forced engagement of his lover to Monsieur de Pourceaugnac. He does this through endless tricks that are used against the lord, one of which is to bring in a woman who claims that Monsieur de Pourceaugnac married her.

After this happens, two lawyers appear on stage and begin singing about polygamy laws in Europe. The result, as you will hear, is particularly bizarre…

And here are the lyrics of the song, in the immortal translation by Nathan Alterman and courtesy of Francophile Ofra Tiroshi:

Attorney A (Speaks slowly, pulling and dragging his movements)

Polygamy is a crime.

Known and agreed upon.

And so that this crime will be punished

They hang the polygamy here.

 

Attorney at law (rapid and confused speech)

For his first wife

The husband still has a pardon.

But in favor of a second wife

We are discussing hanging.

And this is according to a reference

And its meaning is "Vadrakhta"

In which your judgment was determined

According to Saifa Raba

With which we will prepare

Also a minor section.

And so you will understand well

That there is no such thing as a single thing –

Because the law of the land is the law.

Every province and district

Every empire and every monarchy

Starting from the land of France

To England, to Aspemia,

Determine this sanction.

On the sin of polygamy.

In addition, the Italians

They give lashes, that is, they flog, –

Short story, from sea to sea,

According to the constitutions of every nation,

We hang the polygamist.

Want to embark on another musical journey?

If you liked this article and are interested in delving further into the history of French music, allow me to invite you on a musical journey following the anthem of FranceAs you will discover, La Marseillaise is not the first anthem of France and there have been quite a few anthems before and after it. You can read the story behind each of them in the article A musical journey following the French anthem – to the Marseilles and back.