Musical Theatre at the Court of Louis XIV: Le Mariage de la Grosse Cathos

by Cambridge University Press

Overview

Dance played a major role in all French Baroque theatrical entertainments. Le Mariage de la Grosse Cathos, a short ballet performed at the court of Louis XIV, is of major importance, largely because it has survived complete in all its components - choreography, music, and text - and also because it uses a previously unknown dance notation system. This book reproduces the entire manuscript of this ballet and provides a comprehensive study of the work itself and of the circumstances in which it was created and performed. Chapters devoted to the composer, choreographer, and performers provide a framework for understanding the performance context not only of this work, but of other court entertainments of the period. A study and evaluation of the notation system in which the dances are recorded, together with a detailed analysis of the dances, completes the introduction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521020220
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/29/2005
Series:	Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	8.23(w) x 11.65(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. The performance context; 2. The creators and performers; 3. Le Mariage de la Grosse Cathos in performance; 4. The music; 5. The dance notation; 6. The dances; 7. The sources; Appendix A. Libretto; Appendix B. Reproduction of the article 'Choregraphie' from the Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des metiers (1753).

Editorial Reviews

'... fascinating and valuable ...' Early Music

'Rebecca Harris-Warrick and Carol Marsh's superb study … reflects a significant marriage of historical research methodology and historical performance experience, presented in a lucid reader-friendly format.' Music and Letters

From the Publisher