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Thétis et Pélée (1716) - Pascal Collasse
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Background
Pascal Collasse was one of the few opera composers able to secure successful performances in the years following Lully’s death. In fact, Collasse had served as Lully’s secretary, even completing the older composer’s Achille et Polyxène, which Lully left incomplete, upon his death in 1687. Collasse then went on to supply the music for an entire opera, Thétis et Pélée, which was premiered at the Paris Opéra on 11 January 1689.
Thétis remained popular throughout Collasse’s lifetime, in spite of its rather weak plot. Owing to its success is primarily the music, including a significant storm scene in Act II. This departure from the Lullian tradition is perhaps Collasse’s most significant contribution to the tradition of French opera. The storm is colorfully depicted with whirlwind scales and other special effects such as tremolos. This scene stands out in the score because it was engraved using copper plates, instead of typeset, due to the complexity of the music.
A year before Collasse’s death, André Campra and Jean-Baptiste Stuck provided new arias for a revised version of Thétis. This new version appeared on the Opéra stage on 16 April 1708, and it was also published that year.
Despite Thétis’s success, Collasse had difficulties establishing himself as a significant opera composer. This was perhaps the burden of following Lully; critics accused him of plagiarizing Lully, and his librettists could never measure up to the standard of Quinault. In many ways, the operas of Collasse simply continue the tradition of Lully, but Collasse may be remembered for his innovations regarding orchestration as well as the contribution of Thétis to the Opéra repertoire.
Plot
The gods Jupiter and Neptune, as well as Peleus (a man) are in love with the nymph Thétis and attempt to win her. Jupiter hosts a celebration for Thétis, but Neptune undermines the event with a sudden storm. Consequently, Jupiter and Neptune learn from an oracle that Thétis’s husband is destined to be less powerful than his own son, and thus, they both decide no longer to pursue Thétis. In the end, Thétis and Peleus are wed, leading to another festive occasion.
Bibliography
Title from title page: THETIS / ET / PELÉE, / TRAGEDIE EN MUSIQUE
Genre: Tragédie en musique
Composer: Pascal Collasse, 1649-1709
Librettist: Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, 1657-1757
Libretto based on: Roman mythological story
Premiere: Paris, Opéra, 11 January 1689
First published: Paris: Christophe Ballard, 1689
Volume in the UNT Collection: Paris, J. B. C. Ballard, 1716
For further reading on Thétis et Pélée, see:
Anthony, James R. French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau. New York: Norton, 1978.
Isherwood, Robert M. Music in the Service of the King: France in the Seventeenth Century. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1973.
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. London: Oxford University Press, 1975. 206–66.
Weber, William. “La musique ancienne in the Waning of the Ancien Régime.” Journal of Modern History 56 (1984): 58–88.
Wood, Caroline. “Orchestra and Spectacle in the tragédie en musique, 1673–1715: oracle, sommeil and tempête.” Proceedings of the Royal Music Association 108 (1981–2): 25–46.
________. “Thétis et Pélée.” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [Accessed 17 December 2003]. <http://www.grovemusic.com>
Physicals
Collation: 36.9 x 24.5 cm: [20: ¶3 A-2Q] 81 leaves, pp. [4] 3-4, 1-155 [misprinting 74 as 47].
Conservation: Foxing.
Binding: Leather-covered board with gold-stamped spine that reads “THETI / ET / PELEE”.
Comments: Pages 81-96 are copper-plate engraved (plates measure 33.5 x 21.5 cm); from the Lloyd Hibberd Collection.