Brown - Rhetoric in the Tragédie Lyrique

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01 October 1980

Oratorical Thought and the Tragdie lyrique: AConsideration of Musical-Rhetorical FiguresWritten by Leslie Ellen Brown

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, numerous treatises on music made the analogy between

musical composition and Greek and Latin theories of oratory and rhetoric.1After all, the stirring of emotions

and the qualifications of affects in the Baroque era in general were hardly the exclusive domain of music;

they were also the domain of the application of word and idea to oration and literature. It would seem a

reasonable assumption that the analogy between figures of speech and figures of musicdesignated as

the "Figurenlehre" and neatly categorized by German music theoristswas taken for granted

by French Baroque theorists and musicians alike. The writings of music theorists in France during the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries imply a widespread knowledge of the tools of oratory, the teachings

of the ancients, and techniques for the expression of the passions, although the French never set down an

explicitly precise system of musical-rhetorical thought, as German theorists did. This fact should not

surprise us because much the same thing is true in other countries such as Italy, where the Greco-Latin

culture prevailed as an unchanging, unbroken heritage. Because of the encroachment of all things

classical upon language and drama (a fact that is particularly applicable to the tragdie lyrique, which was

considered by its creators and its audience alike primarily as a stylized version of the tragedy), the

rhetorical figures presumably would have appeared obvious to the French composers and would not have

required classification or explanation. The somewhat greater cultural remoteness of the Germans from this

classical tradition might explain their need for codifying the same concepts that would have been obvious

to the French and to the Italians as well.

The above simplified explanation of the role of rhetorical figures in France will be augmented somewhat in

the following paragraphs by a general discussion of rhetoric in French society, in which a link between the

language of the theater and that of music will be drawn. A discussion of the writings in music theory will

follow, substantiating the influence of rhetoric upon French musicians. Finally the function of musical-

rhetorical figures in the tragdie lyriquefrom Jean-Baptiste Lully through Jean-Philippe Rameau will be

considered.

RHETORIC IN FRANCE IN THE

SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES

In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French society,2an educated person learned some sort of rhetoric

and practiced it in both the disciplines of speaking and writing. The importance of rhetoric cannot be

overstated; along with grammar and logic it made up the trivium of the l iberal arts, the essential

components of study for a society that placed great significance on conversation and letter writing.Understanding French society of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, therefore, is essential for

understanding the reasons why rhetoric was used so extensively. Rhetoricthe art of speaking well and

the art of persuasionwas that part of a man's education most relevant to his functioning within society. It

was generally agreed that one need not be an expert on a subject in order to persuade others to change

their minds or to take an appropriate course of action. In addition by means of rhetoric one could appear

knowledgeable without necessarily being knowledgeable. This fact explains the reasons for the

accusations of shallowness bestowed upon the use of persuasive language by less understanding

generations. Particularly during the age of Louis XIV the end would have justified such superficial means

because of the attention focused upon the social virtues. Therefore the educated man of the day would

have used rhetoric and would have been influenced by it at court and in theaters, schools, salons,

churches and halls of justice.
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Rhetoric was not only a functional device; it was considered an art of decoration as well as of persuasion.

In an age characterized by objectivity and intellectualism, decoration in speech and literature was not

necessarily subordinated to the supremacy of "reason" and maintained a place at the court of Versailles

along with painting, sculpture, architecture, spectacle, and stage design. Despite condemnations of

ostentation by some purists, both simplicity and elegance of language influenced the formulation of the

precepts of rhetorical techniques.The rhetorical theories absorbed from the classical inheritance the writings of Aristotle, Cicero,

Quintilian, Demosthenes, and Vergilwere of particular interest to French dramatists because a

relationship between the rostrum and the theater, the orator and the actor, was generally acknowledged.

The actor might copy the orator, as was suggested by Jean Lonor le Grimarest who stated that "the actor

ought to consider himself as an orator who makes a speech in public in order to move the

listener."3Quintilian's Institutio oratoriawas used as a guide, for its division of rhetoric into five parts

inventio(what to say), dispositio(the order in which to say it),elocutio(how to say

it), memoria(memory),pronunciato(diction and gestures)4were all pertinent to the theater. Of

considerable importance to the dramatist would have been inventio, which includes the loci topici, formulas

and outlines for possible sources of material or generally accepted precepts of wisdom, such as maxims.5

The second area of Quintilian's rhetorical theory that would have been of major interest to the dramatist

and ultimately to the creators of the tragdie lyriquewaselocutio; this phase of the orator's art included

the figures of speech that enable the speaker or writer to arouse passions within the audience and to

impress with eloquent language used for its own sake. In the theater these two purposes of rhetorical

techniquesthe functional and the decorativefrequently came into conflict with one another during the

generation of Thomas Corneille and Jean Racine, yet both intentions survived and were not mutually

exclusive.6For instance, Racine, who received a thorough training in rhetoric,7succeeded in combining the

functional with the decorative point of view. The intention of the French tragedy was both to move and to

please, but fine language was permitted only if it was essential to the impression of reality and to the

expression of the characters' passions on the stage. Therefore to Racine the tragedy could be passionate

and expression could be eloquent, but the simplicity and clarity of the dramatic construction had to be kept

intact.

MUSIC THEORISTS ON RHETORIC

As in the case with Racine's writings on rhetoric where there are few statements concerning the

playwright's theories, there is little theoretical expos on musical-rhetorical figures in France. Again, the

approach that rhetorical figures in music were the assumed knowledge of composer, theorist, and

audience must be reaffirmed. French music treatises, however, imply a widespread use and knowledge of

the figures even though they do not elucidate a precise system of codification.

In the first place it is certain that music theorists thought of music as an oratorical art in the same light that

Grimarest considered the orator and actor as sharing a common bond. For instance, in 1636 Marin

Mersenne made this analogy in the Harmonie universelle: "First of all, i t is necessary that he [the musician]

imagine that he is an Orator who forgets nothing in his oration of everything that he believes can serve him

in pleasing his listeners and can move them to that which he wishes."8Nearly a century later Rameau

described the musician in much the same terms in his Trait de l'harmonie: "A good musician should

surrender himself to all the characters he wishes to portray. Like a skillful actor he should take the place of

the speaker, believe himself to be at the location where the different events he wishes to depict occur, and

participate in these events as do those most involved in them. He must declaim the text well, at least to

himself, and he must feel when and to what degree the voice should rise or fall, so that he may shape his

melody, harmony, modulation, and movement accordingly."9

Numerous writings of the eighteenth-century music theorists include references to classical models.10Jean

Pierre Crousaz's Trait du Beau, for instance, contains an entire chapter on eloquence and includes
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comments on the oration of Cicero.11In addition Michel-Paul de Chabanon's two treatises, Observations

sur la Musique12and De la Musique considre en elle-mme et dans ses Rapports avec la

Parole,13allude to the relationship between music and the oratorical vocabulary of the ancients. In

the ObservationsChabanon cited Cicero and Quintilian as models;14although he expounded on the

differences between song and discourse the theorist felt that music and declamation shared the common

features of the alteration of the voice and the gesture and expression of the face.15

In Chabanon's secondtreatiseDe La Musique, the theorist reaffirmed the importance of the Greek writings on elocution16and

listed principles from Quintilian in describing the oratorical accent.17More significant perhaps is that

Chabanon saw music in union with a text and that the one commented on the other. For instance, the

construction of grammatically balanced phrases was considered a very musical property,18and the

repetition of the same text within the air would be a natural thing to do when one repeated the same

melody.19

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was generally agreed that the orator's or actor's ability

to arouse the affections of the audience was part of the basic doctrine of rhetorical figures. With regard to

music's role in the art of persuasion, the French music theorists were in agreement, if not particularly

detailed. Philosophers in general and music theorists in particular described the affections as very precisepassions or types of emotion; rhetorical figures, however, were not restrictive in the types of expressions

conveyed, for they depended upon the particular emotions of the text. These devices were considered in

both a musical and textual context and were in keeping with the general sentiment that was to be

communicated.

The Baroque theorist's fixation with the passions that was expanded into a doctrine on musical rhetoric

emerged from a significant French philosophical source, Ren Descartes' Les Passions de

l'me.20Descartes' thesis was the definition of passions of the human spirit which in turn could cause

some specific reaction in certain parts of the body; from the definition of the passions Descartes codified

six primitive passions and a number of principal emotions. With regard to classifying musical

affect,21Mersenne in the Harmonie universellecorrelated sounds with tastes, smells, colors, shapes, and

sizes and associated consonances and dissonances with the four elements and the seven planets.22The

emotional properties of the modes was one of the most universally recognized affective devices, and

Rameau,23Charles Masson,24Antoine Parran,25and Michel Pinolet de Montclair26all correlated this

contrivance with the change in the indication of sentiments. The expressive qualities of the intervals, as

well as numerous other musical devices, and their ability to portray different moods, likewise supported the

case for text illumination; these also received attention in the treatises. For instance, Bernard de la

Cpde, in La Potique de la Musique, suggested that an impression of sorrow may be conveyed with

small intervals.27Rameau's Traitelaborates on the unquestionable ability of chordswith their extremes

of consonant and dissonant qualitiesto arouse different passions.28In a later treatise, Observations sur

notre Instinct pour la Musique, Rameau added that ornaments are specifically expressive because they

emphasize the main words of the verse.29In addition Chabanon's Observationsproposes that all such

natural devices for producing sensation were at the disposal of the composer and that the music could

alternate its various impressions by alternating different articulations and dynamics within the same piece.

Chabanon's thesis is particularly pertinent to the case for rhetorical figures because of the theorist's

application of these techniques to music with texts.30

Indeed, French theorists were precise about oratory, accent, and affection, but as has been mentioned

detailed codification of specific musical-rhetorical figures did not receive their attention. However, it seems

certain that rhetorical figures are what these theorists had in mind, particularly with regard to the

correlation of a figure of speech such as repetition with a musical device (see above, Chabanon's

statement on repetition of text and melody). Descartes' Compendium musicaefurther supports the case for

musical-rhetorical figures by explaining that there are "figures of speech in music, just as there are figures

of speech in rhetoric" and sequence and imitation belong to this category.31Rameau perhaps was the

most specific of all the French theorists when he described two figures in his Trait: "Languor and suffering

may be expressed well with dissonances by borrowing and especially with chromaticism. . . . Despair and
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denotes fluidity, but the phrase "liquide plaine" is a more frequent and stylized figure in the texts of

the tragdie lyrique, the periphrasis. Quintilian classified the periphrasis as a trope in which several words

express something in fact where fewer or only one word (such as la merin this case) would be

needed.35In this example with the tirata the periphrasis merely embellishes, but in other examples it could

be interpreted as a source of additional information that assists in qualifying or describing.

Pattern rhetoric, the second category of musical-rhetorical figures, is, like the word-painting category,primarily decorative. Pattern rhetorical figures are emphatic in that most involve some sort of repetition or

at least some structural arrangement into various configurations. With regard to the repetitive figures in

musical forms, the repetition consists of phrases or motives and occurs in the same voice. Musical figures

of repetition are directly correlated with poetic figures of repetition and therefore their labels are borrowed

directly from classical rhetoric. The emphasis is most significant when the original text and the music both

employ repetition, but in general repetitive musical figures result from the composer having selected those

words to be repeated. In any respect repetition was acknowledged as both a rhetorical device and a

structural device by the composers of the tragdie lyrique, for repetition of phrases and periods

characterizes a number of the small closed forms within the scenes of the tragdies. In cases where the

text sentiment demands particular emphasis, such as the conclusive generalizing statement of the maxim

air, the repetition is rhetorical.Repetition of a phrase at the same pitch level, either as a nonsuccessive melodic motive or as an ostinato

repetition in the bass, has been labeled by music theorists "anaphora." In speech the anaphora figure

serves as a model in which marked repetition of a word or phrase occurs in successive clauses or

sentences. In thetragdie lyriquea logical place for the anaphora would be in the varied repeat of the B

section of the dialogue air in A-B-B' structure, a form common to the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century

French music drama. Because the dialogue air was indispensable to the commentary, and filled in details

necessary for the comprehension of the tragdie, the repetition would be regarded as a persuasive device

and not merely as a structural one. The anaphorais perhaps more emphatic when used in solo or multiple

recitative. Rameau used the figure at a point of extreme dramatic intensity in Hippolyte et Aricie36(Ex. 2).

Ex. 2. Jean-Philippe Rameau: Hippolyte et Aric ie, Act IV, scenes 3 and 4.
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In this decisive passage it is the chorus that repeats the key phrase "Hippolyte n'est plus." The crowd of

attendants on stage at this moment reacts to Hippolyte's death, and the choral fragments bind together the

dramatic impact of the entire scene in which Phdre herself confronts the consequences of her disastrous

actions.

The pattern rhetoric of classical models encompasses nonrepetitive figures, specifically the antithesis. This

rhetorical figure involves the arrangement of words that emphasize a contrast, such as the statement

"Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them." In music that labeled

the "antitheton" refers to some sort of successive contrast, such as a contrapuntal contrast between theme

and countertheme, consonant and dissonant harmonies, polyphonic and homophonic texture, diatonic andchromatic line, high and low register, major and minor tonalities, loud and soft dynamics, or just about any

contrast between sections or entries. The dramatic fluctuation that is inherent in the scene structure of

the tragdie lyriquefrequently is characterized by contrast, and therefore the antithetonis an important

and diverse rhetorical figure of the lyric drama. One form of the antithetonemerged in the context of the

rhythmic design; the shifting meters and note values indicative of the simple recitative style often provide

opportunities for contrast. Example 3 from Hippodamie37by Andr Campra, displays a simple recitative in

which the anapestic rhythm of eighth- and sixteenth-note motion gives way to a slower quarter- and eighth-

note movement. In this manner the character of Plops is able to express two opposing concepts: "cours"

and "calmer."38

Ex. 3. Andr Campra: Hippodamie, Act IV, scene 5.


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Musical-rhetorical figures in the tragdie lyriquemay be categorized as functional in that they are direct

expressions of the passions; these assist in establishing a balance with the decorative rhetoric of the

repetition figures and other devices of structural arrangement. The stirring of the affections and the direct

expression of the passions were conveyed by the composers of the tragdie lyriquewith a variety of

techniques: first that in which contrapuntal design between two or more voices emphasizes a particular

sentiment, second that in which the melodic line draws attention to a word with some unusual feature of

style, third that in which the harmonic dissonance serves to emphasize the text, fourth that in which rests

are used to illuminate word meaning.

Most of the contrapuntal writing of the four-part choruses of the tragdie lyriqueis void of rhetorical content

because of the comparatively superficial nature of the texts. Musical-rhetorical figures involving a

counterpoint between two or more voices, therefore, do not occur with any great frequency but one such

figure derived from classical rhetoric and referred to by music theorists as the "hyperbole" should be

mentioned here. In speech the hyperbole incorporates exaggerated terms in order to emphasize rather

than to deceive; it serves as a functional figure because it is a recognized device for the expression of

violent emotion. In the French classical tragedy, the hyperbole is often difficult to isolate because so much

of the drama is characteristically an exaggeration and character expressions are often extreme. In

thetragdie lyriquethe emphatic nature of the hyperboleis less vehement but may be used to display

excessive height and loftiness or depth and depravity. The musicalhyperboleoccurs with the extension of

the normal range of the voice. In Example 4 from Pyrame et Thisb39by Franois Rebel and Franois

Francoeur, the hyperbolepresents itself as the two lower voices of a four-part chorus ascend into the range

of the upper two voices.

Ex. 4. Franois Rebel and Franois Francoeur: Pyrame et Thisb, Act II, scene 4.
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The wide range of the melodic motive reinforces the sentiment of the text "le vaste univers." Because this

figure is aligned with the first appearance of that particular arpeggiated melodic motive, its overlapping of

ranges is presumably of rhetorical importance.

Startling devices within a melodic line are the most common types of figures of functional rhetoric in

the tragdie lyrique; a number of these might have been recognizable to the listener familiar only with

classical rhetorical theory. For instance, the musical figure designated as "pathopoeia," which refers to any

expression of passion in classical rhetoric, is linked with an ascending or descending chromatic

progression. In the tragdie lyriqueexamples often employ a chromatic bass; when the bass and melodic

line are identical the correlation between the poetic and the musical figures is clear. In Example 5

fromAlcyone40by Marin Marais, thepathopoeiais exclusively a melodic device.

Ex. 5. Marin Marais: Alcyone, Act V, scene 1.

The ascending chromatic figure spans a range of a perfect fourth and is used in concurrence with two

other emphatic techniques: text repetition and the descending diminished fifth interval on the words "ma

mort."
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The descending diminished fifth from Example 5 exemplifies yet another approach to functional rhetoric

and another type of melodic emphasis figure, which has been labeled the "saltus duriusculus." This figure

of purely musical significance, the single most prevalent rhetorical device in the tragdie lyrique, is defined

as a harsh melodic leap. Those intervals that would have been heard as harsh and which therefore

characterize the saltus duriusculusare the diminished and augmented intervals and particularly the

ascending and descending diminished fourth, descending diminished fifth, descending minor sixth,descending major, minor and diminished sevenths, and intervals exceeding the octave. Lully used this

figure extensively. At the opening of his tragdie Amadis41(Ex. 6), he includes the descending diminished

fifth on the phrase "Monstres affreux."

Ex. 6. Jean-Baptiste Lully: Amadis, Act I, scene 1.

This expression of emotion occurs in Florestan's discourse as he addresses the hero Amadis, reminding

him of his daring past exploits. Actually Florestan is asking Amadis a rhetorical question ("What

misfortunes can disturb an unconquerable hero, vanquisher of fierce giants and frightful monsters?") to

which there is only one appropriate response. In this manner Florestan's question itself would make moreof a mental impression than the response by Amadis.42

Functional rhetorical figures formulated from points of harmonic dissonance between two voices and used

mainly in the recitative style appear less frequently in thetragdie lyriquethan do the melodic rhetorical

figures. However, several of the dissonance figures occur with a degree of regularity. One such example,

referred to as the "amplifikation" or "variatio," may be regarded as either a functional figure or

a hypotyposisfigure, depending on the word illuminated. This device involves the correlation of a

coloratura with a word of its character; it is a replacement for a longer note. Because the composers of

the tragdie lyriquewere so conscious of textual subtleties, it is rare to find a coloratura that exists in its

own right and is not a rhetorical figure. Granted, the amplifikationwas based on the purely musical

configurations and mannerisms of instrumentalists and singers that the purists of the French vocal style

opposed; in most cases the ornament is linked with significant words suchas voler, guerre, clbrez, triomphe, and so forth. These colorful words were recognized as appropriate for


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musical illuminations. Jean Laurent Le Cerf de la Viville referred to them as "mots privilgis" and later

they were called "lyriques."43Consequently they became trademarks of the most innovative composers of

the generation preceding Rameau as well as of Rameau himself. In Example 7 from

Montclair's Jepht44the amplifikationis combined with several other musical-rhetorical figures for

particular impact.

Ex. 7. Michel Pinolet de Montclair: Jepht, Act I, scene 4.

The phrase "tout tremble" stands out in one regard because it is repeated; in addition the first statement of

this phrase is treated musically by a descending minor sixth, the saltus duriusculus, and the second

statement with the amplifikation. A poetic rhetorical figure, enumeration, occurs in this passage as well,

with the accumulation of three contrasting localities, "la Terre, L'Enfer, le Ciel." Although the enumeration

figure has no apparent musical significance, it is a device that supports the connection between the

rhetorical vocabulary of Racine's classical theater and the tragdie lyrique.

The final category of rhetorical figures is that in which rests are used as emphatic devices and as direct

expressions of the passions. At times the rests are directly illustrative, particularly when the figure referredto as the "suspiratio" is involved. The suspiratiocreates an obvious sighing effect with the separation of

syllables or words by means of rests; it is a type of melodic diction. In most instances the suspiratiofigure

was used by the composers of the tragdie lyriqueto strengthen dialogue and in its most conspicuous

form the key word is the gasping exclamation ah. In a somewhat unusual example, Hsioneby

Campra45(Ex. 8), the pauses that suggest sighing appear in a nondramatic dance song illustrative of the

pleasantries of love.

Ex. 8. Andr Campra: Hsione, Act II, scene 5.
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The rests occur after the words "les langueurs, les sopirs." These punctuate the regularly patterned

rhythm of a dance that resembles the loure. The text is subdued and the rhetorical figure, rather than

functioning as an agent of intense passion, is the source of a genteel and nonpathetic sentiment.

Without question some of the most dynamic passages in the tragdie lyriqueare those that incorporate

several different rhetorical figures along with other startling devices that draw attention to the texts. A

passage of simple recitative from Montclair's Jepht(Ex. 9) for instance, is realized rhetorically with

two retardationfigures, which is the upward resolution of a suspension (on the words "Isral, vengeur"),

an amplifikationfigure ("lance"), and an antitheton("Terre et les Cieux").

Ex. 9. Michel Pinolet de Montclair: Jepht, Act II, scene 2.


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Embellishments are specified on the words "Cieux, tonnerre," and "prt." In addition the affect of agitation

is created by an animated bass motive consisting of dotted eighth- and thirty-second-notes, an atypical

feature of the simple recitative style.

In a culture such as that of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France, where both the classical and

oratorical traditions were alive and intense, there would have been no need to explain or justify the theory

of text expression through the use of musical-rhetorical figures. In fact the audiences which attended

performances of thetragdie lyriquethe educated segment of societyprobably recognized many of the

musical-rhetorical figures, or at least those derived from classical rhetoric. The importance of this specific

type of affective expression cannot be overstated. The technique of composing with preexisting materials

implies a considerable degree of contrived objectivity, a scheme of time-honored significance. Yet this

should not be surprising, because in addition to the musical-rhetorical figures the vocabulary of

the tragdie lyriquedepended upon contrived systems of forms, keys, melodic intervals, embellishments,

harmonic progressions, meters, rhythms, and instrumentation. The presence of the rhetorical figures in

the tragdie lyrique, therefore, only supports the case for a common aesthetic that prevailed in France

from the time of Lully to that of Rameau. The most important aspect of this aesthetic is the rhetorical

vocabulary of the ancients which carried over into the French classical theater, into the theoretical writings

on music, and ultimately into the lyric drama. It is to these sources that scholars must look for a thorough

comprehension of the role of classicism in the tragdie lyrique.

1For a list of primary and secondary sources see George J. Buelow, "Music, Rhetoric and the Concepts of

the Affections: A Selective Bibliography," Notes20 (1973-74), 250-259.2For an introduction to the role, nature and significance of rhetoric in France during the seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries see Peter France, Racine's Rhetoric(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965) and
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his Rhetoric and Truth in France: Descartes to Diderot(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972). The background

material in this section of the study is indebted largely to France's works.3La Vie de M. de Molire, ed. Mongrdien (Paris, 1955), p. 162, quoted in France, Racine, p. 31.4Quintilian's rhetorical theories are summarized in France, Racine, pp. 16-17. Cicero's Oratoralso

illuminates these five divisions of rhetoric.5

Maxim airs, in which some general precept independent of the dramatic action is expressed, areindispensable conventions of the tragdie lyrique. Such airs occur generally in scenes of dialogue where a

lesser character comments on a basic rule of love, virtue, and so forth; the result of this type of

independent device is the antidramatic interruption of the action.6France, Racine, p. 36.7For further information concerning Racine's studies at the Petites Ecoles of Port-Royal and at the Collge

de Beauvais, see France, Racine, p. 37.8Il faut premirement qu'il [le musicien] s'image qu'il est comme un Orateur qui n'oublie rien en son oraison

de tout ce qu'il croit lui pouvoir servir pour plaire ses auditeurs, et pour les mouvoir ce qu'il veut."

Marin Mersenne, Harmonie universelle(Paris: S. Cramoisy, 1636; facsimile reprint Paris: Centre Nationale

de la Recherche Scientifique, 1963), I, 181.9

Jean-Philippe Rameau, Trait de l'Harmonie rduite ses Principes naturels(Paris: Jean-BaptisteChristophe Ballard, 1722; trans. Philip Gossett, New York: Dover Publications, 1971), p. 156.10The case for musical-rhetorical figures in the tragdie lyriqueis strengthened by the fact that rhetoric

played an important role in French painting of a slightly earlier period. It is obvious that Nicolas Poussin,

for instance, was attempting to formulate a theory of art based on rhetorical thought when he wrote in his

notes the following concerning the classical models: "Of action. There are two instruments which affect the

souls of the listeners, action and diction. The first is so valuable and efficacious in itself that Demosthenes

gave it first place over all the other devices of rhetoric, and Marcus Tullius [Cicero] calls it the language of

the body. Quintilian attributes such strength and such power to it that he regards conceits, proofs and

effects as useless without it. And without it lines and colour are likewise useless." Quoted and translated in

John Rupert Martin, Baroque(New York: Harper and Row, 1977), p. 86. Martin's source is G.P. Bellori, Le

vite de' pittori, scultori et architetti moderni(1672), pp. 460-461.11Jean-Pierre de Crousaz, Trait du Beau(Amsterdam: F.L. Honor, 1715), p. 290.12Paris: Pissot, 1779; facsimile reprint Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1969.13Paris: Pissot, 1785.14Chabanon, Observations, p. xix.15Ibid., p. 153.16Chabanon, De la Musique, p. 403.17Ibid., p. 436.18Ibid., p. 209.19Ibid., p. 213.20Paris: H. le Gras, 1649; trans. Elizabeth Haldane, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1931.21

The classification of affects based on Descartes' definition of the passions was not restricted to thediscipline of music but figured in the field of French painting as well. Charles Le Brun, for instance,

consciously studied Cartesian philosophy and applied a systematized approach to character expression in

his work, illustrated in a lecture presented at the Acadmie de Peinture et de Sculpture and subsequently

published in his Confrence de M. Le Brun sur l'Expression gnrale et particulire(1698). For more

information on this subject see Martin, Baroque, pp. 88-91.22John B. Egan, "Mersenne's Trait de l'Harmonie Universelle: A Critical Translation of the Second Book"

(Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1962), pp. 18, 51, 66.23Observations sur notre Instinct pour la Musique et sur son Principe (Paris: chez Prault fils, 1754), p. 90.24Nouveau Trait des Rgles pour la Composition de la Musique(Paris: J. Collombat, 1699; facsimile

reprint New York: Da Capo Press, 1967), p. 10.25

Trait de la Musique thorique et pratique(Paris: Ballard, 1639; facsimile reprint Geneva: MinkoffReprints, 1972), p. 117.
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26Principes de Musique(Paris: Rue St. Honor le Rgle d'or, 1736), p. 16.27Paris: the Author, 1785; facsimile reprint Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1970, p. 80.28Rameau, Trait, ed. Gossett, pp. 154-156.29Rameau, Observations, p. 70.30Chabanon, Observations, pp. 172-176.31

Ren Descartes, Compendium musicae(1618) (Utrecht: Gisbert a Zyll & Theodori ab Ackersdycke,1650; trans. W. Robert, Rome: American Institute of Musicology, 1961), p. 51.32Rameau, Trait, ed. Gossett, p. 155.33Of the numerous writings that discuss the doctrine of figures, two have been used as the basis for this

examination of musical-rhetorical figures in the tragdie lyrique: Harold Samuel, "The Cantata in

Nuremberg during the Seventeenth Century" (Ph.D. diss., Cornell University, 1963), pp. 560-576; and

Arnold Schmitz, "Figuren, musikalische-rhetorische," Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Vol. 4, col.

176-183.34Thomas Bertin de la Dou,Ajax(Paris: Jean-Baptiste Christophe Ballard, 1716); first performed at the

Acadmie Royale de Musique on April 20, 1716.35The effect of the trope would be the embellishment of language that otherwise would be plain, and the

most significant device of such was the metaphor. Tropes include metonomy, in which the immaterialmight be symbolized with its material counterpart or in which some subjective impression was developed

from an objective attribute. Along with metonomy, the metaphor and the periphrasis, the epitheta fourth

type of tropeappears frequently in the texts of the tragdie lyrique.36Jean-Philippe Rameau, Hippolyte et Aricie, Oeuvres compltes, Vol. VI (Paris: A. Durand, 1895-1924;

reprint New York: Broude Brothers, 1968); first performed Octobter 1, 1733.37Andr Campra, Hippodamie(Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1708); first performed March 6, 1708.38In most instances the rhythmic patterns of the recitatives of the tragdie lyriqueare governed by textual

rather than by musical considerations. Frequently the realization of the anapest in series of rapid note

values serves as an appropriate means of quickly passing over a number of brief syllables. However,

Campra assumed a much more flexible approach to the formal rigidity of the anapest by expressing the

rhythm in variable note values within the same line. In order to enhance the expressivity of the textCampra would augment the note values to suggest a character's hesitancy or diminish them to portray

agitation or urgency.39Franois Rebel and Franois Francoeur, Pyrame et Thisb(Paris, Bibliothque Nationale ms Vm2228, in-

fol.); first performed October 17, 1726.40Marin Marais,Alcyone(Paris: the Author, Hurel, H. Foucaut [De Baussen], 1706); first performed

February 18, 1706.41Jean-Baptiste Lully,Amadis, Oeuvres compltes, Pt. IV, Vol. 3 (Paris: Editions de la Revue Musicale,

1930-39; reprint New York: Broude Brothers, 1968); first performed January 14, 1684.42The rhetorical question is an important device of the French classical tragedy. With particular regard to

the tragdie lyrique, questions of a pathetic natureif not rhetorical onesare common. Labeled the

"interrogatio" by German theorists, this musical figure is distinguished by the ending of a melodic phrase asecond higher than the note for the preceding syllable.43Cuthbert Girdlestone, Jean-Philippe Rameau, rev. ed. (New York: Dover Publications, 1969), p. 135.44Michel Pinolet de Montclair, Jepht(Paris: Boivin, 1732); first performed either February 28 or March 4,

1732.45Andr Campra, Hsione(Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1700); first performed December 21, 1700.

En College Music Symposium

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Brown - Rhetoric in the Tragédie Lyrique

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