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Quinault, Philippe
Quinault, Philippe (1635–88), French dramatist and librettist, who became valet to Tristan l'Hermite, under whose name his first play Les Rivales (1653) was accepted by the actors at the Hôtel de Bourgogne. When they discovered the truth they were reluctant to pay the fee agreed upon, and the resultant negotiations, which resulted in the author being given a fixed share in the takings from each performance, have been cited as the origin of the royalty system, though the point is still disputable. The last of Quinault's plays to profit from the advice of Tristan, shortly before his death, was La Comédie sans comédie (A Play with No Plot, 1655), which consisted of four scenes in different genres designed to show off the talents of the actors at the Marais. By 1666 Quinault had written a number of plays, of which the most successful were the tragedy Astrate roi de Tyr (1664) and the comedy La Mère coquette (1666). He then married a wealthy young widow who despised the theatre and made him give it up; but in 1668, being well known for his facility in light verse, he was persuaded to write the libretto for the first of Lully's French operas La Grotte de Versailles. He continued to write Lully's librettos until the latter's death in 1687, and such was the purifying power of music that his wife made no objections. He also collaborated with Molière and Corneille in the lyrics for Psyché (1671) and contributed to Les Fêtes de l'Amour et de Bacchus (1672) in which Molière also had a hand.
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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Quinault, Philippe." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Quinault, Philippe." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-QuinaultPhilippe.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Quinault, Philippe." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-QuinaultPhilippe.html |
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Philippe Quinault
Philippe Quinault , 1635–88, French dramatist. His tragedies and comedies are affected and undistinguished, but he found an outlet for his talent in the 14 opera librettos which he wrote for Lully. The charm and delicacy of his style is clearly apparent in his masterpiece, Armide (1686), a libretto used first by Lully and later by Gluck. |
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Cite this article
"Philippe Quinault." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Philippe Quinault." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Quinault.html "Philippe Quinault." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Quinault.html |
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