{"id":6695,"date":"2013-04-09T13:42:46","date_gmt":"2013-04-09T18:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/?p=6695"},"modified":"2016-09-30T15:58:10","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:58:10","slug":"the-deadly-te-deum-jean-baptiste-lullys-performance-gone-awry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kathyschiffer\/2013\/04\/the-deadly-te-deum-jean-baptiste-lullys-performance-gone-awry\/","title":{"rendered":"THE DEADLY \u201cTE DEUM\u201d: Jean Baptiste Lully\u2019s Performance Gone Awry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Jean Baptiste Lully is the only person ever known to have suffered Death By Conducting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Italian-born composer who became the Surintendant de la musique de la chamber du roi<\/em> (the Superintendent of Music to the King of France), Jean Baptiste Lully had a humble beginning:\u00a0 He was born in Florence, Italy, the son of a working-class miller.<\/p>\n

From Dishwasher to Guitarist<\/strong>
\nLully was not well schooled; but with the help of a Franciscan friar, he learned basic techniques on the guitar.\u00a0 After the death of his mother when he was only 13, Lully was taken to live in France, where he worked as kitchen-boy and Italian-language teacher for a French princess, Mademoiselle de Montpensier.\u00a0 The princess indulged his talent for music, arranging for Lully to study music theory.\u00a0 He was dismissed, however, after he composed a \u201cscurrilous song\u201d (it\u2019s said that he sang, in his irreverent ditty, about the \u201csigh\u201d the princess produced while \u201cat stool,\u201d or on the toilet).<\/p>\n

From Violinist to Ballet<\/strong>
\nIn 1652, after his dismissal from the princess\u2019s staff, Lully entered the service of King Louis XIV\u2014first as a dancer, then as a composer for the Ballet.\u00a0 His talent so impressed King Louis that he was appointed to head the king\u2019s private violin band, the Petits Violons<\/em>.\u00a0 His musical interest eventually turned from ballet to opera, and he composed the music for the comedies of Moli\u00e8re, including Le Mariage forc\u00e9 <\/em>(1664), L\u2019Amour m\u00e9decin <\/em>(1665) and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme <\/em>(1670). \u00a0Eventually, his musical talent brought such success that by 1674, no opera could be performed anywhere in France without his permission.<\/p>\n

Always fiery, Lully repeatedly found himself in trouble with King Louis XIV\u2014often because of his love affairs with both men and women.\u00a0 His talent always won him a reprieve, however, as the King considered him both the best composer and the best friend he had.<\/p>\n

From Ballet to Opera and Sacred Music<\/strong>
\nIn addition to the graceful ballets and raucous operas, Lully\u2019s works include many sacred compositions including the Miserere<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Ill-Fated Te Deum<\/em><\/strong>
\nOn January 8, 1687, Lully was conducting a Te Deum <\/em>in honor of the king\u2019s recent recovery from illness.\u00a0 It was customary at the time to keep time by banging the floor with a large staff; and in an unfortunate move, Lully struck his own toe\u2014causing an injury which became infected.\u00a0 First, the toe swelled from abscess; then, gangrene set in.\u00a0 Lully refused to permit doctors to amputate his toe; and so the gangrene spread throughout his body, causing his death on March 22, 1687.<\/p>\n