Jean-Baptiste Lully

Lully's music embodies the French Baroque ideals of clarity, nobility, and rhetorical power. His vocal writing follows the natural rhythms and inflections of the French language with exquisite care. His orchestral writing — particularly the 'French overture' form he perfected — is stately and grand, while his dance music has an irresistible rhythmic vitality. Everything serves drama, text, and royal spectacle.

Born in Florence, he absorbed Italian musical traditions before arriving in France as a teenager. He was profoundly influenced by the playwright Molière, with whom he collaborated brilliantly before their falling out. His relationship with Louis XIV — for whom he danced alongside the king himself — shaped everything. His legacy dominated French opera through Rameau and beyond.

He began as a dancer and violinist at court, then became the king's chief composer of instrumental music. His collaboration with Molière produced the comédie-ballet, brilliantly fusing theater and music. From 1673 he held a royal monopoly on opera and produced a series of tragédies en musique that defined the genre for generations, growing increasingly sophisticated in their dramatic and musical ambition.

Lully died from one of music history's most bizarre injuries. While conducting his Te Deum in January 1687, he struck his foot with the long staff he used to beat time on the floor. The wound became gangrenous, but he refused amputation — reportedly saying he needed both feet to dance — and died of the infection two months later.

Before his operatic career, Lully composed some of the finest comédies-ballets with Molière, including Le Bourgeois gentilhomme. These works — half play, half musical — are theatrical gems that anticipate the musical theater tradition by three centuries.

Lully has experienced a spectacular revival since William Christie's landmark 1987 production of Atys. French Baroque opera is now regularly staged, and ensembles like Les Arts Florissants, Le Concert Spirituel, and others have made Lully a living presence in the opera house. His orchestral and sacred music also appears increasingly on concert programs.