The Cantatas of Louis Nicholas Clérambault

Author(s): David Tunley

Source: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 3 (Jul., 1966), pp. 313-331
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3085960
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 THE CANTATASOF
LOUISNICHOLASCLERAMBAULT
By DAVID TUNLEY

The cantata, like opera, was late in taking root in French soil. In
the case of the former nearly a century was to elapse before French
composers followed the example of the Italians, by which time Ales-
sandro Scarlatti was bringing the cantata to its height. A direct imita-
tion of Italian models, the cantatefranGaise, unlike the tragedie lyrique,
did not evolve through the transformation of an existing national
form, but was born, so to speak, fully fledged. Thus some of its earliest
examples are, at the same time, the most highly developed. Despite
the existence of Charpentier's Orphee descendant aux enfers, which
Crussard' dates from about 1683, the French cantata was essentially
an 18th-century form, and during the first thirty years of the century
most of the leading composers of the day (with the notable exception
of Couperin) contributed to its repertory. The names of Rameau, Bla-
mont, Bernier, Campra, Destouches, Mont6clair, are among the hun-
dred or more that appear in its published pages, but contemporary
opinion unanimously awarded the palm to Louis Nicholas Clerambault
(1676-1749), organiste de la Maison Royale a St. Cyr and at St.
Sulpice in Paris.
Clerambault's cantata output was not large, however. He published
twenty-five of them, twenty of which are to be found in his five books
of cantates franGaises, described by Bukofzer as "the most valuable
French contributions to the cantata."2 The Bibliotheque Nationale
Claude Crussard, Un Musicien franqais oublie-Marc-Antoine Charpentier,Paris, 1945,
pp. 17-18.
2
ManfredBukofzer,Music in the Baroque Era, New York, 1947, p. 258.

313
314 The Musical Quarterly

possesses, in addition, two manuscriptcollections that include several

unpublished cantatas attributedto Clerambault3and a couple of trifles
that are in reality airs a boire. It is with the five books of collected
cantatas that this articlewill primarily deal.
The cantatas found in this collectionare:
Book One(1710)
L'Amourpique par une abeille soprano & b.c.
LeJaloux contralto,violin, b.c.
Orphee soprano, violin, flute, b.c.
Polipheme bass, violin, flute, b.c.
Medge soprano, violins, flute, b.c.
L'Amouret Baccus soprano, bass, b.c.
Book Two (1713)
Alpheeet Arethuse soprano, fluteor violle recitante,b.c.
Leandreet Hero soprano, flutes,violins, bass viol, b.c.
La Musette' soprano, musette(or violin), b.c.
Pirame et Tisbe contralto,flutes, violins, b.c.
Pigmalion bass, flutes(or flute& violin), b.c.
Le Triomphede la Paix two sopranos, bass, violins, b.c.
Book Three(1716)
Apollon soprano, flutes(or viol), violins, b.c.
Zephireet Flore soprano, viol (or flutes), b.c.
L'Ile de Delos soprano, flutes,violins, b.c.
La Mort d'Hercule bass, violins, b.c.
Book Four (1720)
L'Amourgueri par l'amour soprano, flute,violins, b.c.
Apollon et Doris soprano, contralto,violin, b.c.
Book Five (1720)
Clitie soprano, viol, b.c.
Les Forges de Vulcuin bass, violins, flutes, b.c.

Mythological subjects were characteristicof the Frenchcantata, and

it can be seen from the above list that Clerambault'stexts were no ex-
ception. In only two of his separately publishedcantatas did he deviate
from the classical themes (with the exception of several cantatas in
praise of peace and the monarch)- in Abraham (1715), which was
one of the few sacred cantatas in an essentially secular genre, and in
his last cantata, publishedsix years beforehis death in 1749. Having,
apparently, forsaken the cantata for twenty-twoyears, he took up his
pen again to write a work that sang of a subject unique in the whole
repertory of the 18th-century French cantata-that of freemasonry.
Writtenat a time whenthe cantata as a form had degeneratedinto the
shortercantatille,Les FrancsMascons (1743) was a remarkableJanus-
3Catalogue numbersMs. Fr. D14883 and D2728.
 The Cantatas of Clkrambault 315

faced work, for it looked back some thirty years to the best musical
traditions of the form, while its text, breathinga kind of revolutionary
fervor, looked some thirty years ahead. The remaining cantatas, pub-
lished separately, were Le Bouclier de Minerve (1714), La Muse de
l'Opera (1716), and Le Soleil vainqueur des nuages (1721). The latter
two cantatas, by their scoring alone, seem to shatter the spirit of in-
timacy that is one of the features of the cantatefranqaise, and signifi-
cantly enough, Le Soleil was described by the Mercure de France4 as
a divertissementallegorique, although the score reads cantateallegor-
ique sur le retablissementde la sante du Roy. Scored for soprano solo,
oboes, flute, violins, basse de violon, bassoon, and continuo, it was
first performed at the Opera in 1721 and later at Court. Two further
performances were recorded by the Mercure de France, these taking
place at Philidor'sconcertsat the Tuileries5on December 6, 1728, and
October27, 1729. La Muse de l'Opera (ou les caractWres liriques) in-
vokes some of the stock operatic characters and situations (Mars,
Diana and the hunters, shepherds, storms, sleep, etc.) to the accom-
paniment of appropriate music. The score calls for soprano solo, flute,
violins, trumpet,drums, basses de viol, and continuo.

The polarity of French and Italian musical styles in the 17th and
18th centuriesis a subject so often discussed by modern scholars that,
in a short study of this kind, it would seem superfluous to add more
words to the mountain of articles that already threatens the earlier
period's reputation for dissertation-writingon the same subject. Yet a
few remarks are necessary for, in a sense, the cantatefranqaise grew
from the controversy.Or at least, it blossomed in the same atmosphere.
Through their contact with Rome, it was natural that some of the
most enthusiastic supporters of Italian music belonged to the Church.
In the mid-17th century, criticisms of French "timidity" in music had
been made by Abbe Mersenne and Prieur Maugars, while later in-
fluential devotees had included Abbe Raguenet and Abbe Mathieu.
Raguenet's Parallele had appeared four years before J. B. Morin's
first book of cantates franqaises in 1706 (although according tQ his
Preface, these works had been circulating in manuscript for a good
many years) and, as we shall see in Orphee,his criticisms of French
composers who "think themselves undone if they offended in the least
Mercurede France,Dec. 1728.
5 For a
description of these concerts and their programs see the presentwriter'sPhilidor's
ConcertsFrancais, in Music Letters,April 1966.
316 The Musical Quarterly

against the rules"6 must have stung Clerambault into writing passages
of the utmost boldness and intensity. The concerts given by Abbe
Mathieu in his presbytery at Saint Andre des Arts in Paris are reputed
to have been the most important source of the dissemination of Italian
music in late 17th-century France. Looking back to the changes that
had come over French music at the turn of the century through the
infiltration of music from the south, one musician wrote: "All the con-
certs changed: scenes and symphonies taken from the opera gave way
to the new preference for sonatas. M. Morin, following the example of
the Italians, produced his cantates franfaises, and next appeared those
by Bernier, Clerambault, and Battistin. M. Dornel and M. Dandrieux,
organists, wrote trio sonatas."7
The same source mentions that it was at Mathieu's presbytery that
a Corelli sonata was heard in Paris for the first time, stimulating a
desire on the part of such celebrated French instrumentalists as Rebel
the elder to emulate its more brilliant style. Thus the music of certain
French composers begins to exhibit the driving rhythms characteristic
of the trio sonata and the concerto grosso, violinistic figuration that
owes much to Corelli, instrumental-like vocal passages built upon pat-
terned sixteenth notes, and a more intense expression arising from
bolder harmonies.
Morin explains in the preface to his first book of cantatas his aim
in attempting to write a new kind of French music based upon Italian
practice.
Several years ago, I planned to compose, if our language vWouldpermit it, that
kind of mlusic gellerally known in Italy as cantatas, in which poetry is set to recita-
tives and arias. Several of my works enjoyed success in various places, but as manu-
script copies usually contain errors, it has been suggested that I publish this volume.
Some people have expressed the hope that the novelty of this kind of music will please
the public, most of whom do not fully enjoy Italian music because they do not under-
stand the words.
I have done all that I can to retain the sweetness of our French style of melody,
which I have accompanied in various ways that display those rhythms and modula-
tions characteristic of the Italian cantata. ..
His words became a kind of manifesto that seemed to proclaim the
coming of a new era in French music, and many composers indeed
echoed his ideas implicitly in their music and, sometimes, explicitly
6 Francois Raguenet,Parallele des Italiens et des Franqais(1702), transl. by Oliver Strunk in
SourceReadings in Music History, New York, 1950, p. 477.
7 Quoted by the Mercure de France, Nov. 1753, from Corrette'sLe Maitre de clavecinpour

I'accompagnement,Paris, 1753.
 The Cantatas of Clrambault 317

in their own prefaces. Such a conscious fusion of styles was not, of

course, limited to the cantatefranqaise,although it is here that we find
some of its most striking manifestations.In particularit is found in the
cantatas of Clerambault.

Clerambault's first cantata, L'Amourpique par une abeille ("Love

[or Cupid] stung by a bee"), is a delightful introductionto his art. In
this work a witty text is wedded to music of the utmost delicacy and
charm. At its climax, when Cupid, who has been stung while smelling
a flower, cries out in pain, his mother, Venus, moralizes as she heals
his wound:
Charmantvainqueur tu nous exposes a des maux
Centfois plus pressants,
Par les peines que tu ressens,
Juge des maux que tu nous causes.
Tes traits, puissant Dieu des Amours
Font ressentirdes peines plus cruelles,
Ils portentdans les coeurs mille atteintesmortelles
Que tu ne gueris pas toujours.8
It is not often, however, that the poetry is as charming as this even
though the cantata was consideredas much a poetic form as a musical
one. (The Mercurede France, for example, regularly published cantata
poetry throughout the greater part of the century,to be tasted first as
a literary delicacy and then offered to composers. One is never quite
sure whether the words a mettre en musique, which were often found
at the end of the text, were placed there hopefully or patronizingly.)
L'Amour pique par une abeille begins with a description of that ro-
mantic dream-worldwhose boundaries are glimpsed in Watteau'scele-
brated painting L'Embarquementpour Cythere:
Dan les Jardins enchantesde Cythere,
Venus rassembloitles amours;
La froide indifferenceet la raison severe
De ces aimables lieux sont bannis pour toujours. ..
Sous les loix de la jeune Flore
Un eternalprintemsenchaineles Zephirs,
Et les fleursqu'on y voit eclore
Sont l'ouvrage de leurs soupirs.
Les ruisseaux amoureux mellentleur doux murmure
8 "Charming conqueror,who makesus targetsfor woundsa hundredtimesmoredistressing
than yours,judge, by the pain you now feel,the agony you causeus. Yourarrows,powerful
God of Love,causesharperpain. Theypiercethe heartwitha thousandmortalwoundswhich
you cannotalwaysheal."
318 The Musical Quarterly

Aux concertsdes oyseaux qui chantentnuit et jour;

Le soleil y repand une clarte plus pure
Qu'ilempruntedes feux que luy pretel'Amour.9
These quotations from the text have been made because they set the
stage for the cantatas that follow. The amorous "moral" at the end of
the work is fairly typical of the French cantata for, in the words of
the writer who first gave shape to this form of poetry, Jean-Baptiste
Rousseau (1671-1741), the verses embodied une allegorie exacte.?'
Just as typical is the poetic setting of Cythere, which became for the
18th-century Frenchman a vision of a lover's Utopia where frivolity
and sensuality had free reign. The spirit symbolized by Cythere is
fundamental to the cantate franqaise, and the word runs like a motif
throughout its repertory. Even in the years when the cantata was mere-
ly a relic of the past, poets still sighed of lovers caressing in its shade.
The Italian traits encountered in L'Amour pique par une abeille
include patterned sequences of sevenths such as the following passage,
which underlines the word "chaines" ("chains") so pictorially:
Ex. 1
Gay

Les cha - - - - - (ne

n , J
IMt1IJ ij
7 6 7 6_ 7 etc.

and these traits become more pronounced in the second cantata, Le

Jaloux. Here are found brilliant instrumental passages such as the
following:
Ex. 2
Vif
A 4 Violon - ,. I - .

i . - .- '-~''-'-j rrT '- 1

6 5 6 6 , 5

9"In the enchanted gardens of Cythera, Venus gathered togetherthe Cupids; cold reserve
and stern judgment are banished forever from thesedelightfulplaces. By the rules oi the young
Flora, an eternal spring detains the gentle breezes, and the flowers that bloom there are the off-
spring of their sighs. The gentle, loving murmuroi the streams mingles with the concerts of the
birds who sing night and day; the sun shines with a brighterlight borrowed from the fires that
love lends."
10
Quotedin the Prefaceto Bachelier,Recueilde Cantates,The Hague, 1728.
 The Cantatas of Clrambault 319

~7~CL I

6 6 4 3
3

In the same work Clerambaultexhibits his mastery of the ground

bass. In the majority of the cantatas, most of the brisk airs are ac-
companied by ostinato-like figures which are very freely treated, but
in Le Jaloux we find the sole example in the five books of a strict
ground bass. The figure (Ex. 3) is repeated eleven times with a shift
to the dominant minor in the middle, and the vocal part is skillfully
constructedto avoid a sectionalizedand short-windedform.

Ex. 3
Lentement

6 6 7 S 6 6 6 $

It is when we turn to the next cantata, Orphee,that we find, how-

ever, not just the outward trappings of the Italian style but its very
spirit.
Orphee became Clerambault's most celebrated work-in fact, the
most admired French cantata of the century. That it was parodied a
number of times was in itself a mark of esteem, for as the Mercure
de France pointed out in its review of Grandval's parody of the same
work: "This does not claim to be a criticism of it, and still less is it
written in derision. It is meant to show how the most beautiful and
the most serious works can be given a humorous turn."11
The heart of the work is whereOrpheuspleads with Pluto to release
Euridice. In an arioso-like section, Clerambault'sexpression rises to
" Mercure de France, July 1729.
320 The Musical Quarterly
Ex. 4
Fort lentement +
Flute, Violin Fl.

(a?,r"'T i- Vn. r T]
+
j. J>J- ' r^s
1?$"?2 r+ -
Lais - ses vous tou- cher. par mes pleurs, lais - ses

J
?e IJ - IJ - IJ I
7 $

*'K
L [ r

r
r- r VrH11K I,r - -
r-H
vous tou-cher par mes pleurs D'un sort af-

ov$ - - I - I - !
,1I
7 9
7
5+

' i
:Z.. : Ii : i4j.~z
! I-

: L.btlr -1le ~ r I- r n]
freux re- pa - res le ca - pri - ce Ren - des

7;# #.I 67
I r
6
, 7
J
6
I..- _J

_
:P -i I i. I l

v". F ~ .F'
r dorx F r
moy ma cher-e Eu-ri - di - ce Ne se-pa - res pas nos deuxcoeurs.

? rf.1. - j I JI
6
r-6
4i
!
6 6
j
9 8 4
5 7 6

("Let my tears move you: make amends for the whims of a hideous fate: Give me
back my dear Euridice;do not separatetwo loving hearts.")
 t

The Cantatas of Clerambault 321

an intensity and passion that refutes the age-old charge of French

timidity in music. Eight years before the publication of this work Ra-
guenet had admired the Italian composer who could write

passages of such an extent as will perfectly confound his auditors at first, and upon
such irregular tones as shall instil a terror as well as surprise into the audience, who
will immediately conclude that the whole concert is degenerating into a dreadful dis-
sonance; and betraying 'em by that means into a concern for the music, which seems
to be upon the brink of ruin, he immediately reconciles 'em by such regular cadences
that everyone is surprised to see harmony rising again, in a manner out of discord
itself and owing its greatest beauties to those irregularities which seemed to threaten
its destruction. 2

He may well have been talking of the French composer of the fol-
lowing example. In this section of Clerambault's masterpiece, the biting
dissonance of the falsely related A$ and AUat the words d'un sort af:
freux ("of a hideous fate")-and here it should be noted that the dis-
sonant appoggiatura was probably sung as a long note-and the
impassioned, unresolved chord played by the continuo at the repeat
of the words laisses vous toucher par mes pleurs ("let my tears move
you") are as bold and effective as any music of the period. The pas-
sage is so striking that it must be quoted in its entirety (Ex 4).
Similar words ("Ah, rendes moy votre presence") in the next can-
tata, Poliphemne, again draw from Clerambault some very moving
music even though it does not quite match Orphee in originality. The
fifth cantata, Medee, is in many respects the most Italianate cantata
in the book from the point of view of its vocal melismas, its fiery vio-
linistic passage-work and its rhythmic vivacity. Its first air is like a
miniature concerto. The "ritornello" theme (Ex. 5) crowns each vocal
climax, provides much of the material for development, and is the driv-
ing force of a movement that dances its way from the first note to the
last.
Ex. 5
Vivement et viste
Violin

-
b
6=* n J I-j J
J|JiJ J J_ _J _
6 6 6 etc.
5

U Op. ci., p. 477.

322 The Musical Quarterly

The first book closes with a cantata brimming with enchanting

melody. It is Amour et Baccus, set for soprano, bass, and continuo.
The God of Love and the God of Wine each claims the greater power
over man, finally pledging one another's support. In this cantata it
would not be exaggerating to claim that Clerambaultgives us a wealth
of lyrical writingthat would grace the best pages in Handel.
Book Two appeared three years later (1713) and was dedicatedto
the Duke of Bavaria. Its contents confirm the impression already
gained from the first book that Clerambaulthad indeed mastered the
Italian style while retainingthe rhetoricaleloquenceand delicate charm
of his own Frenchtradition. Ratherthan take each cantata in the book
by turn, it has been thought preferable to illustrate this remark by
referenceto some of the more striking passages encounteredin them.
The second cantata, Leandre et Hero, begins with a ritournelle, the
first but not the last time that Clerambault uses this term. With its
three-part scoring (for violin, flute, and continuo) in which the upper
parts expand their material in a textureof imitative counterpointwhose
entwined suspensions curl about the steady tread of the bass, this could
indeed be the slow movement of a trio sonata. It is, in fact, an ex-
tended prelude to the opening recitatifmesur-- a kind of arioso style.
As in many of Clerambault's recitatives introduced by extended in-
strumental movements, the voice takes over the opening phrase of the
prelude, and in this particular one soars to expressive heights, as in
the following passage where, after an anguished chord at "qu'elle
separe," the chordal progression seems to fight its way to the cadence.
Ex. 6
0 b
.6.. + ~ + _f . . . ..
Peux - tu souf-frir A-mour,qu'el-le se - pa - re Deux coeurs que tu veux ren-dreheu-reux?

>S1; r er' )Tlr rJ }

b 7 2 +2 $ 6
+5 4

("O Cupid, can you suffer the sea to part two loving hearts that you wish to bless?' )

The same term, ritournelle,is used again in this cantata at the head
of another movement. On this occasion, however, it refers not merely
to the prelude, but to the music that accompanies and frames the sec-
tions of an air fort tendre. Its exquisite tone-painting(Ex. 7) aptly
illustrates the scene where Leandre is swimming through the calm sea
to meethis beloved Hero.
 The Cantatas of Clkrambault 323
Ex. 7a
(Fort doucement)
Flutes and Violins

> LJ IIr
_rJ T) i
TI r -fJ i
Dieu des Mers, sus-pen - dez l'in - con - stan - ce de

bJ j iJ I I I I f I'r'
7 6 $ 7 6
4 4

'J jJ I rT r -----
- i Ii-
l'on - de Cal - mez les vents im-pe-tu - eux

-TJ
Jl J iJ i ir- ' l
Ij~'l'
t 3sX 3 7 6 $
4 65 ---- 64
3 etc.

("O God of the Seas, hold in check the restless wave, calm the violent winds." )

Un peu plus gaiement et tendrement

1
Vn. solo
~- IJ$
lPi'?l l6r-'9i l:t~'Lb' ir k,ffi,a -i.j

Vo-lez, vo-lez, ten - dres_ Z - phirs.

(continuo.tacet)

("Blow, gentle breezes.")

The tempest that is to claim Leandre's life is portrayed, as in so

many storm scenes in early music, more by angry gestures than by
harmonic effects, and in the extended movement (Tempeste), which
acts as a prelude to a recitative, Clerambaultdirects that the instru-
mental forces of violins, flutes, and continuo (clavecin and contre-
basse) be strengthenedby a basse de viollewhich is given an independ-
ent part.
 324 The Musical Quarterly

Another masterpiece from the second book, Pirame et Tisbe, is cast

in the same expressive mold as Orphee and Leandre et Hero. Like the
others, it is full of variety. On the one hand, there are such honeyed
phrases as this introduction to an air by Tisbe, who draws upon it
for her own melody (Ex. 8),
Ex. 8
Gracieusement et gai
Simphonie
I iJ
I ~ _"J
'!l _~. ; ,~

.$ j r Ir r ri ir r LIJrx1 r J ,- ,
6 7_ 6 5 - +4 6

$ tffi- irrrrfrrirrfrrr., rr'ri Sl J I

J J ir r .r
7 r TJ It ^rjIIL
6 4 6 9 6 6- 4 3
5

and on the other hand, the heart-rending plainte that sets the mood
for the scene where Pirame discovers the blood-soaked veil and sings
of his grief at the thought of Tisbe's fate (Ex. 9).
Ex. 9
Lentement
Flutes I

,? ra.. f I1 Ir r 1 ! r! D
Flutes II (or a Violin)

jPi - I - IIS ~ri r $ [; r r 1

7b, J 1 J |i f F fI r 2I r t l H
+4 6 +4 6 b7
+2 4 b

Following the plainte comes Pirame's recitative, Quoi! Tisbe tu n'es

plus? ("What! Tisbe, thou art no longer living?"), which is continu-
ally interrupted by short interludes. In the following interlude the ex-
pression of utterly overwhelming sorrow (despite the slender scoring)
completely justifies Clerambault's bold transgression of the "rules"-
the simultaneous false relations and the leap from the resulting discord.
 The Cantatas of Clrambault 325

Ex. 10
Flutes

Violin and Clavecin

S?? I dI J J I
67 6 7 6

Over the closing scene of the two dead lovers the "moral" is sung,
but in this case it is really a reproach to the God of Love who could
allow such tragedy to strike two of his most zealous subjects.
In the company of Alphee et Arethuse, Lkandre et Hero, Pirame et
Tisbe, and Pigmalion, the third cantata, La Musette, is slight indeed.
Nevertheless, it was one of Clerambault's most popular works and
remained in the public's affection for a good many years, as shown
by its four performances at Philidor's concerts in the Tuileries in 1728.
The poem concerns the shepherd Mirtel who, after fretting over the
absence of Amarillis, tries to forget his loneliness by inviting the shep-
herds to join him in some merrymaking. Then follows the movement
that certainly led to the title of the cantata, and probably to its suc-
cess. It is a rondeau in which the singer is joined by a musette (or in
the regrettable absence of this charming bagpipe, a solo violin), and
in phrases that recall the delightful naivete of traditional chansons
enfantines, the song (see Ex. 13) brings the cantata to a close. Of no
great consequence musically, the rondeau is, nevertheless, very inter-
esting formally and will be referred to in some general remarks on the
composer's style at the end of this study. The first air of the cantata
displays some unusual touches. In progressions where one expects a
6 chord, Clerambault often
replaces it with a 6 chord, lending a certain
rustic gaucherie to the harmony.
Le Triomphe de la Paix for two sopranos, bass, violins, and con-
tinuo, in which the composer shows his mastery of concerted writing,
brings the second book to a spectacular close. We are left in no doubt
that the composer's high reputation was well earned.
It comes, therefore, as something of a shock to find that the can-
tatas of the third book (1716) appear to have lost that vivid imagin-
ation and boldness characteristic of the first two volumes. Are his
powers failing? Certainly there are only four cantatas in the third book
(and in the later ones only two apiece). Yet on the evidence of two
other cantatas written during the same period (but published separ-
326 The Musical Quarterly

ately), Abraham and Le Bouclier de Minerve, the composer was far

from facing a musical decline. The overwhelming impression of the
third book is that the Italian traits have given way to the French,
and that the cantatas look back to the Lullyan traditionof the previous
century. It is the writer's belief that it is not unreasonable to see in
these cantatas a tactful gesture by a musician employed in the Royal
Household-not a slackening of talent. At the time of their composition
a compliment to the aging monarch, they duly became, at the time
of their publication, a salute to his memory. The preface reveals their
origin: "The success of these cantatas whenthey were performedbefore
the King has led the public to wish to have them for themselves. To
satisfy this desire has been the motive in presentingthis third book,
although I have only four completed cantatas. I hope they will be
receivedas favorably as the previous ones."
The book commenceswith a cantatapour le Roy entitledApollon--
cantate sur la paix and in it the following words extravagantly praise
the King:
Heros des Siecles passes,
C'est par nous qu'on vous revere.
Fuyez, disparoissez,
Un Jour plus brillant nous eclaire,
Louis, vous a tous effacez."

To guard against any possible Italianate interpretationof these

words which are the climax of the cantata, the performeris reminded
by a rubricprintedat the head of the movement of the convention that
distinguished le goift franqais from le gott italien- Toutesles croches
ou il y a des points dessus doivent estre egales, et les autres inegales
(i.e. "all the quarters marked with dots above them must be played
evenly, and the others unevenly"). It is interestingto note that in the
cantatas of the earlier books there are very often directions to play
the notes egales but never inegales. The work is, not unexpectedly,
dull stuffwith such a text, butthecantata does contain a poised melody
(Doux repos) recalling the autumnal beauty of Lully's celebratedBois
epais.
It is not without significancethat of all the cantatas of Clerambault
those in the third book do not appear to have received the boundless
praise of the more Italianate ones and, certainly, none of them were
"Heroes of past ages, it is through us that you are honored. Begone! Vanish! A more bril-
liant day shines on us. Louis, you surpass all!
 BibliothequeNationale, Paris
Title page of Clerambault's First Book
of Cantatas
 Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

First page of Clerambault's cantata Orphee

 The Cantatas of Clerambault 327

performedat Philidor's concertsfranqais. One cannot help feeling that

something of the stiff formality of the court has crept into the music.
It is thereforewith greater pleasure that one turns to the fourth book,
published in 1720 at the height of the Regency, and finds that Cleram-
bault's fire has been rekindled in the two cantatas that make up this
volume. This is clear at once in L'Amourgueri par l'amour ("Love
cured by love"), whose opening air is cast in the following chromatic
style:
Ex. 11
Tres lent fort tendrement
Violin
.I.--__ ' +
gm1 I o I J. j
'
iI 11
I Si r IJr
l4r tp ItI^
Souf - frez plain - tiv - e Phi- lo - me - le

; *
IIJ J Ij J I,J
II
^N IF - TR- 7
9 8 l7 3 2 , +4 etc.
,

("Plaintive Philomel,[ let me mingle my cries with your sad notes].")

Apollon et Doris, set for soprano, contralto, violin, and continuo,

contains, among other impressive movements, a duet in which the
following striking approach to the cadentialformula is found:
Ex. 12
De mouvement et marque
-^A A 4i Doris ..

r=r ri r rrr
Tu ter - nis
IIt' iLJ la vic-toi - - re Quand tu les rends-- con-tens.
Apollon

Tu ter - nis la vic-toi - - re Quand tu les rends_ con-tens.

-1% rtl
6-
I r irtr
rIFr 0
I ' I rc-J
ii<J
9- 3 7
*J
6
, *
6 5
- I
9__--- X 44 4

("[Cupid, inconstant lovers do disservice to your name, and] when you give them
happiness you spoil your victory.")

Clerambault's final book was published six years later, by which

time the Regencyhad ended and the court had moved from Paris back
to Versailles, although it can hardly be said that society followed it.
328 The Musical Quarterly

The fifth book of cantatas was dedicatedto the new Queen, who was
reputedto be fond of music and who, accordingto the Duc de Luynes,"
played several instruments"indifferently.""The Queen says she loves
music, and indeed there are some operas whichplease her, as well as
some petits airs for the viol; but she likes cavagnole better. .."15
Certainly, some twentyyears later the Queenwas to support the Italian
cause in la guerre des bouffons, but, as is often pointed out, Italian
music in the middle of the century was a very differentmatter from
that in vogue at the beginning. Music a la Serva padrona was not
the style that had stimulated the cantate franqaise in its early days.
Do we detect in this book another tactful gesture to accommodate the
taste of a patron? It is tempting to follow this line of thought, but so
speculativeis it that it must sufficeto say that the cantatas are pleasant
enough melodically and could well have appealed to the woman who
was so taken by the directness and simplicity of Pergolesi's famous
opera buffa twentyyears later. It is hard to resist pointing out that the
first cantata of the collection, Clitie, is scored for soprano, viol, and
continuo, suggesting that the Queen's passion for petits airs de viol
noted by the Duc de Luynes in 1746 may have been lifelong and fed
by Clerambaultas far back as 1726, when this final book appeared.
Despite the "period charm" of the two cantatas, it is doubtful whether
they contain those elusive qualities that raise any work above the
limitationsof its particularstyle.
Les Forges de Vulcainthen brings the five volumes of Clerambault's
cantatas to a close, and while it is less subtle musically than the work,
L'Amour pique par une abeille, that opens the collection, nevertheless
the first and the last works are joined together by that literary thread
mentioned earlier in this study- CythWre.Les Forges de Vulcain com-
mences with a scene portraying the noise, darkness, and stifling heat
of the interior of the mountain (Mt. Etna) where the cyclops are forg-
ing their metal. Hardly the place for love, one would imagine! But,
behold...

Dans ce triste sejour

Que jamais le soleil n 'claire point,
La Reine de Cythere et sa brillante cour.. . .

4Due de Luynes,Mimoires, posthumouslypublishedParis, 1864, I, 29.

? Ibid., VII, 265.
Cavagnole is a game like lotto.
" ("In this unhappy place whichthe sun never lights, the Queen of Cythera and her da77ling
court. . ." )
 The Cantatas of Clerambault 329

Darkness is transformed by the rosy light shed by the world of

Cythere.

Within a form that is founded basically upon the alternation of

aria and recitative (dances and choruses, for example, are quite ex-
ceptional and belong to the tradition of the divertissement),Cleram-
bault achieves a remarkable formal variety. It should be noted that
the emotional climax is sometimes towards the center of the cantata
and sometimlestowards the end, and may be found in either the reci-
tative (generally mesure) or in the air. As well as the changes of in-
strumentation within a single cantata, on two occasions (Orphee and
Medee) Clerambault lightens the continuo texture by shifting the key-
board part up an octave and replacing the bass viol with a violin.
Incidentally, this precludes these two works from being sung by a
tenor voice since it would dip below the lowest line and mar the lrar-
monic progressions.
As might be expected in a form that sprang from Italian practice,
the majority of airs in Clerambault'scollection were cast in the ABA
mold, either as da capo arias (sometimes modified, especially in the
later books, where he seems fond of shortening the first section at its
repeat) or some kind of unsectionalized form with a ternary flavor.
In fact, of the 67 solo airs in the five books, 56 belong to this general
category. AB form is found only 11 times (in airs and ensembles)
and there is one example of the rondeau. Most of the airs are intro-
duced by short preludes (very often just the opening vocal melody or
a variant of it in the bass line of the continuo) but sometimes the pre-
lude assumes the proportions of an independent movement. Despite
the variety of expression and texture in the airs, the internal shape
of the first section of Clerambault's da capo arias is fairly stereo-
typed. The opening vocal phrase is almost invariably repeated (either
in toto or extended or modified in some way) following a short in-
strumental interruption.Clerambault probably borrowedthe idea from
some 17th-century Italian composers, although the Italians were cer-
tainly not addicted to this habit. Interestinglyenough, this procedure
rarely happens in the slower-moving airs that Cklrambaultwrites in
le gout frangais. Here, when a repetitionoccurs, it tends to be a repe-
tition of a complete period or a long-flowing melody. In his more
Italianate airs, the repetition near the opening of the movement is
more likely to be that of a short phrase that lends itself to extension
and development.
330 The Musical Quarterly

If tlhe internal form of the airs in le gout italien is rather stereo-

typed, on the other hand the sole example of the rondeau does show
Clerambault's ability to handle a simple form imaginatively. The ron-
deau in La Musette is a combination of rondo and da capo forms
which is framed by an introduction that is repeated at the end to
form a postlude. The musical material evolves almost entirely from
the introduction, whose three ideas have been marked x, y, z, in the
following example:
Ex. 13
Gai X )
Musette
j r irir '-fI irr r I SH
LfirL
4trgirl-r frIrlrL
EJ
ri1^
y z
++
0

f=4 fr i r fT r If :I j
da Capo

The movementis laid out in the following way:

A1 (Introduction) x,y,z musette,b.c.
A2 x,y, (y modified) voice, musette,b.c.
B short new idea voice, b.c.
A2 x,y, (y modified) voice, musette,b.c.
C extensionof B, voice, musette,b.c.
plus referenceto z
A3 z,x musette,b.c.
D new materialfalling a) voice, b.c.; b) musette,b.c.;
into threesections c ) voice, musette,b.c.

Da capo (without Introduction)

A2 as before as before
B 9) .
"
A2 ,"
C
A1 (x,y,z) (musette,b.c.)

Rondo form was a happy choice for this fairly extensive movement,
for the musette was confined to the key of C. It joins in the "chorus"
and some of the episodes, but in those that modulate it is silent.
Apart from his harmonic boldness when the need arose, the most
striking aspect of Clerambault's style is the shapely span of his melody
 The Cantatas of Clerambault 331
and bass lines. Writing at a time when the long strands of Baroque
texture were dissolving into the short-windedphrases of the Rococo,
Clerambault was old-fashioned enough to delight in drawing out long
lines of melody. He seemed to think naturally in terms of six-, seven-,
and eight-measurephrases (Ex. 8 illustrates this perfectly).Yet, at the
same time, his habit of rounding off his phrases by a trilled cadence,
like a formal courtly bow, marks him as a man of his own time and
society.

A short study of this kind is bound to be somewhat frustrating for

those who wish to explore furtherClerambault'svocal music, for only
a small handful of cantatas has been publishedin modern times. How-
ever, it is hoped that this article may at least help confirm the repu-
tation that Clerambault enjoyed in his own day, and now enjoys in
several modern histories of music. It is the present writer's belief that,
with some exceptions, Clerambault'sfive books of cantatesfranqaises
are a repository of neglectedmasterpieces.