Document Actions
Tancréde (1702) - André Campra
Digital Versions: Hi-res JPEG / Lo-res PDF
Background
André Campra’s Tancrède, which premiered on 7 November 1702, is his best-known tragédie en musique, with a run of performances until 1764, and high praise by noteworthy music personalities such as Rameau. While the music critic La Cerf de la Viéville wrote positive comments about Tancrède, he was bothered by the opera’s use of low voices, which defied the tradition of employing castrati parts. Additionally, the role of Clorinda was written for a well-known contralto named Mademoiselle Maupin; although the range is that of a mezzo-soprano, the powerful quality of Maupin’s voice seemed to be a prime consideration for Campra.
The musical dramaturgy itself is a marked departure from the Lullian tradition. In particular, a large number of dances disrupt the dramatic flow. In other works, Campra in fact cultivated a new type of opera, known as the opera-ballet, which consisted of self-contained acts, each with their own plots and characters that related to a central theme of the overall work.
Campra’s passion for theater found its way into his church music as well. In addition to his opera career, he also served as the maître de musique at the Notre Dame cathedral, upon his arrival in Paris. His church music has many operatic idioms, particularly in the treatment of the voice (melody and embellishments), instrumental obbligatos, and form, including the da capo aria.
Campra lived during a time when opera composers were searching for ways to break away from Lully’s conventions. In 1733, eleven years before Campra’s death, Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie appeared on the stage, marking a more definite departure from the older style. Yet, even before this watershed event, composers including Campra were experimenting with innovative approaches to musical drama.
Plot
Tancrède, set during the first crusade, concerns romantic
predicaments that ultimately affect the fates of the crusader Tancrède
and Clorinde, a Saracen (Arab) princess and warrior. Many Saracens,
including Clorinde, have been captured by the crusaders, but Tancrède
decides to release them because of his love for Clorinde. The princess
also secretly loves Tancrède, but she is also the object of the Saracen
leader Argante’s affections. Herminie, whose father is the king of
Antioch, further complicates matters, as she would like Tancrède for
herself, in spite of him being her father’s enemy. A Saracen magician,
Ismenor, who loves Herminie, conjures an enchanted forest to kill
Tancrède, upon the request of Argante. Although Ismenor and Herminie
plan to carry out this murder, Herminie cannot follow through, due to
her feelings for Tancrède. Herminie prevents Ismenor from harming
Tancrède, and when Ismenor attempts a second time, Clorinde confesses
her love, freeing Tancrède. However, she realizes that she can have no
future with him because of their military rivalry. A battle
subsequently begins, and Tancrède celebrates his defeat of Argante.
Then he discovers that Clorinde was wearing Argante’s armor, and she
has suffered a fatal blow. Tancrède is led away in a state of despair.
When the opera was revived in 1737, the ending was modified to include
a tender moment between Tancrède and Clorinde, in which Clorinde asks
him to forget that he has taken her life.
Bibliography
Title from title page: TANCREDE, / TRAGEDIE, / MISE EN MUSIQUE
Genre: Tragédie en musique
Composer: André Campra, 1660-1744
Librettist: Antoine Danchet, 1671-1748
Libretto based on: Torquato’s Gerusalemme liberata
Setting: The first crusade
Premiere: Paris, Opéra, 7 November 1702
First published: Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1702
Volume in the UNT Collection: Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1702
For further reading on Tancrède, see:
Anthony, James R. French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau. New York: Norton, 1978.
Anthony, James R. “Tancrède.” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [Accessed 17 December 2003]. <http://www.grovemusic.com>
Banducci, Antonia. Tancrède by Antoine Danchet and André Campra: Performance History and Reception (1702–1764). Ph.D. diss., Washington University, 1990.
Barthélemy, Maurice. André Campra, sa vie et son œuvre ( 1660-1744). Paris: A. and J. Picard, 1957.
Brown, Leslie. The Tragédie Lyrique of André Campra and his Contemporaries. Ph.D. diss., University of North Carolina, 1978.
Isherwood, Robert M. Music in the Service of the King: France in the Seventeenth Century. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1973.
La Gorce, Jerome de. “L’orchestre de l’Opéra et son évolution de Campra à Rameau.” Revue de musicologie 76 (1990), 23–43.
Le Cerf de la Viéville. Comparaison de la musique italienne et de la musique françoise. Brussels, 1704–6.
Masson, Paul-Marie. “French Opera from Lully to Rameau.” In The New Oxford History of Music, vol. 5, eds. Anthony Lewis and Nigel Fortune, pp. 206-66. London: Oxford University Press, 1975.
Physical
Dimensions: 19 x 24.5 cm.
Collation: [40: a-f4 g1 A-2N4 O3]
[$ 2 (-202)]
174 leaves, pp. [4] i-l, 1-291 [292-294].
Conservation: Light foxing; stained pages; dirty, worn cover; cracked hinge; back cover coming off; fly leaves detaching.
Binding: Brown leather-covered board and spine.
Comments:
Bookplate reads “Docteur RENE BIOT”; dealer’s information pasted inside
front cover with “Mummery / cat 21 / 1962” written in black pen.