Phaeton 1st edition, 1683

Like many of the operas created by composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and Philippe Quinault, his favorite librettist, Phaëton is filled with solar symbolism--a reference to the "Sun King," Louis XIV. The story also provides a political lesson: the haughty youth unable to contend with his position of power served as a warning to anyone brash enough to challenge the rigid mores of Louis' court. In addition to this political interpretation, the story is also a character study of a reckless juvenile whose arrogance destroys him. Phaëton's misguided and inappropriate attempts to make his lineage public bring about his downfall. The plot, like that of several of Lully's operas, is based on an episode in Ovid's Metamorphoses.

The Prologue takes place in the Palace Gardens of the goddess Astrée. The goddess, who has developed a partiality for humanity, prays for the return of peace and the "Golden Age." Saturn, god of the Golden Age, appears, promising a return to peace and suggesting Astrée return to earth. 

The setting for Act I is particularly elaborate, including a garden in the foreground, a grotto in the middle, and the sea visible in the distance. Libya, daughter of Merops, king of Egypt, loves Epaphus, son of Jupiter and the nymph Io, but her role as daughter of the king must take precedence over that love. Meeting Theona, daughter of Proteus, in the forest, Libya seeks to understand the love Theona shares with Phaëton. Theona begins to explain that Phaëton's recent irrational behavior has given her reservations but is interrupted when Phaëton appears looking for his mother. Theona admonishes him and reminds him of their youthful love. Queen Clymene, Phaëton's mother, arrives, and Theona leaves. Phaëton reveals to his mother his fears that Libya will indeed be married to Epaphus, which would make Epaphus Phaëton's king. Clymene reassures her son that he can win both Libya's hand and the throne of Egypt if he no longer pursues Theona. Phaëton assures her that he will not let love interfere with his rise to power. To better ascertain her son's fate, Clymene questions the sea god Proteus. After avoiding her questions by changing into various animals, Proteus warns the queen that her vanity will lead to her son's death. 

The curtain for Act II rises on a room in the palace of the King of Egypt, decorated and prepared for a great ceremony. Clymene tries in vain to discourage Phaëton's ambition for the throne by encouraging a renewed interest in Theona. Phaëton will have nothing to do with his former love, who chastises him for his empty promises in a moving air: "Il me fuit, l'inconstant!" ("He flees me, the inconstant one!"). As King Merops announces that Phaëton will be his daughter's husband, the two accept that theirs will be a marriage of convenience. Festivities begin to celebrate the upcoming marriage. 

The Temple of Isis provides the setting for Act III. Theona demands vengeance from the gods after Phaëton tells her his plans to marry Libya. At the temple of Isis Epaphus, enraged by the denial of his marriage to Libya, casts doubts on Phaëton's noble lineage. Phaëton pledges to provide irrefutable evidence. During this tumultuous interruption to the wedding ceremony, Clymene attests to her son's parentage. The act ends with the four winds conveying Phaëton to the Palace of the Sun. 

Act IV moves to the Palace of the Sun. Amid the celebrations at his arrival, the Sun asks Phaëton the reason for his sadness. Phaëton explains that his lineage has been questioned. The Sun swears to help him prove his legitimacy by whatever means Phaëton wishes. Phaëton asks to command his father's chariot in its daily course. Unable to persuade him of the danger, the Sun agrees. 

Act V takes place in a pleasant countryside. As the dawn breaks, Phaëton appears in the sky at the reins of the sun-chariot. Epaphus, outraged at this show of bravado, entreats his parents to end his humiliation. The people of Egypt are awestruck by their new sun god, but Theona recalls the prophecy of impending ruin. Phaëton loses control over the chariot, which threatens to incinerate the earth. The Egyptians now fear for their lives. Answering Epaphus' pleas, Jupiter hurls a thunderbolt at the chariot, whereupon Phaëton plummets to his death. 

Title: PHAËTON, / TRAGEDIE / MISE / EN MUSIQUE
Genre: tragédie lyrique (Tragédie en musique)
Siglum from Lully thematic catalog: LWV 61
Composer: Jean-Baptiste Lully, 1632-1687
Librettist: Philippe Quinault, 1635-1688
Libretto based on: Ovid's Metamorphoses
Premiere: Versailles, court, 6 January 1683
First published: Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1683
Volume in the UNT Lully Collection: First edition, Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1683 

For further reading about Lully's Phaëton, see:

Newman, Joyce.  Jean-Baptiste Lully and his Tragédies Lyriques.  UMI Research Press, 1979. 

Rosow, Lois.  "Phaëton."  In Grove Music Online.  Edited by Laura Macy.  Accessed 4 May 2005.  <http://www.grovemusic.com>

See the Lully bibliography for suggested reading.

M1500 .L95 P52 1683

Full score: Typeset. 2° in 4s: ² a-h4 i1 A-2L4 2M². P4, i-vii, vj [i.e.viii], ix-xii, xii [i.e.xiii], xiii-xxx, xxj [i.e.xxxj], xxxij-lxvi, 1-9, 18 [i.e.10], 11-58, 56 [i.e.59], 60-83, 66 [i.e.84], 85-130, 231 [i.e.131], 132-242, 24 [i.e.243], 244-275. 36 x 24 ½ cm.

This volume is a first edition of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Phaëton, published in 1683 by Christophe Ballard for sale to audience members during the first run of performances, which began January 6 of that year. The stamp on p. i and Lully's signature on p. 1 fulfill the contractual condition that all copies had to be marked by both the composer and the publisher before being sold.

The egregious pagination errors and handwritten corrections and additions to music and text suggest that this first edition was put together in haste without a great deal of proof-reading in galleys. Several measures at the bottom of p. xxij are covered with tissue and corrected by hand, and basso continuo figures are written in by hand. 

Condition: The current binding is a contemporary full calf with floral decorations and the title in gilt in the panels of the jointed spine. The corners of the covers have been restored. The endpapers, which are fine white laid paper, are modern. There are some foxing, stains, tears repaired with tape, but in general this volume is in good condition.

Provenance: This volume was purchased by the University of North Texas Music Library from J and J Lubrano in 1999. Bookplate of French musicologist Henri Barbier dated 1933 on front paste-down endpaper. The name "de Rignauld" is handwritten on the title page.

RISM A/I L3002