Lully, Jean-Baptiste, << loo LEE, zhahn bah TEEST >> (1632-1687), an Italian-born composer, wrote the first significant French operas. Lully was born in Florence and was brought to France in 1646. He became a clever courtier and rose to a position of influence in the court of King Louis XIV. Lully formed a highly disciplined band of string players, Les Petits Violons, whose playing became a model of French musical style. By 1662, he stood unopposed as the king’s favorite musician. Eventually, he had a virtual dictatorship over the production, staging, and musical direction of the court opera. His best-known operas include Cadmus and Hermione (1673), Bellerophon (1679), Amadis (1684), Roland (1685), and Armide (1686).
The arias (solos) and recitatives (narrative sections) of Lully’s operas have a rhythmic style suited to the rhythm of French language. Lully also composed music for many ballets. He established the French overture, with its slow beginning, faster second section, and often a final return to the slow tempo. His music influenced the composers Jean Philippe Rameau, Johann Sebastian Bach, and George Frideric Handel.
