The
last few weeks our discussions have centered on musical controversies within
20th-century music. This week, let’s take a step further back in time to
18th-century France and explore a dispute over Italian and French opera that
lasted two years.
During
the 18th century, operas with both serious and comic plots grew in popularity.
While those with serious plots had similar characteristics across borders,
comic operas differed depending on the country in which they originated.
Librettists always wrote the texts in their native tongue and included national
traits. A librettist is the author of the text of the opera, as opposed to the
composer, who writes the music. Italian comic operas, for instance, contained
melodic arias (expressive solo sections) alternated with recitatives (style of
singing that resembles speech), while many other countries included spoken
dialogue throughout.
In
1752 the performance of La serva padrona, Pergolesi’s Italian intermezzo (a
short, comic opera inserted between the acts of a serious opera) sparked a
pamphlet dispute amongst literary intellects in Paris. Known as the Querelle
des bouffons (“Quarrel of the comic actors”), this “war” between supporters of
Italian opera tradition (opera buffa) and French opera tradition (opera
comique) involved well-known voices including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and
Friedrich Melchior Grimm. While many people wanted to stand firm for their
native style of opera, others noticed the way Italian composers created
memorable and expressive melodies.
Did
the Querelle des bouffons ever resolve? Yes, it did resolve in 1754 when the
Bouffons left Paris. It may sound like a silly controversy but to the people of
that time, they believed they should support national styles in music. As a
result, this led to the formation of various national traditions prevalent
during the following century.
