Dictionary of Music - Birding America

220 Lully, Jean-Baptisteexamples are the American “Hush, Little Baby,”the German “Schlaf, Kindlein, Schlaf” (Sleep,Baby, Sleep), the English “Rock-a-bye Baby,” theWelsh “All Through the Night,” the Austrian“Schlafe, mein Prinzchen, Schlaf’ Ein” (Go tosleep, little prince) ascribed to Mozart, andBrahms’s “Wiegenlied” (Lullaby). See alsoBERCEUSE. The term is also applied to instrumentalworks of a similar nature.Lully (lY lē′), Jean-Baptiste (zhäN bA tēst′),1632–1687. An Italian-born composer who livedin France and is remembered principally for hisballets and as the founder of French opera. Born inFlorence, Lully came to Paris at the age of fourteenand in 1653 was appointed court composer ofinstrumental music to King Louis XIV. He alsobecame conductor of a chamber group, Les petitsviolons (“The little strings”) formed from LesVingt-quatre Violons du Roi (“The King’s TwentyfourViolins”), which became famous for its beautifuland precise playing. Lully wrote music for theRoyal Chapel, various marches and fanfares, and anumber of ballets in which both he and the Kingdanced. Together with the great dramatist Molière,Lully created a new form called comédie-ballet,which consisted of the acts of a play separated byballet interludes on a related theme. Among theirjoint efforts were Le Mariage forcé (“The ForcedMarriage”) and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (“TheMiddle-Class Nobleman”). Lully then turnedlargely to writing opera, in 1672 receiving a patent(and therefore a monopoly) for setting up a RoyalAcademy of Music and an opera house. With hislibrettist, the poet Philippe Quinault (1635–1688),he created a new style of opera called tragédielyrique. Unlike the traditional Italian opera of thetime, which consisted primarily of arias to show offthe singers’ skills that were connected by shortrecitatives, the tragédie lyrique put great emphasison the recitatives (which were carefully adapted tothe rhythms and inflection of French speech), gaveimportant parts to the chorus, and made considerableuse of ballet. The subjects of Lully’s operas,like those of French classical drama, were oftendrawn from Greek legend and history, as seen inthe titles of such operas as Alceste, Thesée (“Theseus”),Psyche, and Acis et Galatée (“Acis andGalatea”). Another of Lully’s important innovationswas the form of the overture used at thebeginning of his operas. Examples of this so-called“French overture” (see under OVERTURE) werewritten by many other composers of the time,including Purcell, Bach, and Handel. In addition tohis other achievements, Lully was one of the firstimportant conductors in the history of music. Infact, his death was caused by an accident thatoccurred as he was conducting his Te Deum. Whilebeating time with the sharp-ended long staff heused as a baton, Lully struck his foot and died ofthe resulting infection.lunga (loo — n′gä) Italian: “long.” Also, lungapausa (loo — n′gä pou′ sä). A direction written over orunder a hold sign (see FERMATA), indicating that thepause should be longer than usual.lunga pausa See LUNGA.lur (loo r). An ancient bronze trumpet of Denmark,northern Germany, Sweden, and Norway.About fifty examples thought to date from c. 1000B.C. to 500 B.C. have been found by archaeologists.The lur had a twisted shape, and its bore was conical(cone-shaped) along its entire length, ending in a flatdisk. Lurs were always made in pairs turned inopposite directions, like a pair of animal tusks,which has led scholars to conclude that they mayfig. 146 p/u from p. 227