Summary
IN the prologue of his pastorale-héroϊque Isbé (libretto by Henri-François, marquis de La Riviere; Opera, 1742), composer Jean-Joseph de Mondonville did something thought-provoking: he presented the pantomime dance as a threat to la belle danse. Set at the Tuileries garden of Paris, the prologue begins with Lust (Volupté), who finds a bizarre nymph named Fashion (La Mode) threatening and turns to Amour, God of the Universe, for help. Instead of presenting Fashion as a charismatic character, Mondonville features her as an intrusive person, whose caprice, whose inconstancy, whose “weak pleasures” win over everyone. As Lust complains to Amour, “all the hearts in these places refuse to pay homage to you” (tous les coeurs en ces lieux te refusent l’hommage). To highlight Fashion as an intrusion, Mondonville introduced Italian characteristics that adulterated the French musical tradition. Take the French overture as an example. Instead of following tradition, by writing the second part as a fast section with imitative counterpoint, Mondonville wrote a section with Italianate stylistic features: a melodic sequence, chains of suspensions, unison writing, and a chromatic lament (Example 1.1). This unconventional, “Italianate” French overture set the stage for another unconventional element: a prelude featuring a chromatic ascending melody and invertible counterpoint that accompanies Fashion's entrance. After the prelude, Mondonville wrote yet another unconventional dance called “pantomime,” followed by another dance in the same key marked “lively” (gay). Both were performed by five dancers called “Pantomimes,” a group distinct from Amour's followers, Games (jeux) and Pleasures (plaisirs). Amour dislikes the “bizarre concerts” that accompany those pantomime dances, preferring instead the “sweet concerts” that are graceful and pleasurable. By the end of the prologue, the opposition is clear: Fashion brings forth “turbulent pleasures” so unsettling, the bizarre concerts so unjustified by Apollo, and a power over mortals so dominant that Amour leaves Paris for the fantastical land of Lignon. Granted, whether Apollo represents Louis XIV or not needs justification, Buford Norman cautions, but Voltaire did mention in Anecdotes sur Louis XIV (1748) that Louis XIV danced in some ballets as Apollo. In any case, the chorus rejoices in Amour's departure in the prologue of Isbé, singing: “Amour gives up victory to us” (L’Amour nous cède la victoire).
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- Music, Pantomime and Freedom in Enlightenment France , pp. 12 - 54Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2020