French Baroque Music

In the Baroque era, there was one composer who created and lead the genera in France. His name was Jean-Baptiste Lully who was born in the year 1632 in Florence, Italy.

Lully composed under the reign of Louis XIV of France. Even though he was born in Italy, he had no influence of the Italian Baroque in his pieces. He also is know as the inventor of the French opera. His operas are described as "tragedies in music." Well known for the contribution of prologue and the five acts. Since the operas were preformed for the king, Lully worked in a team with Quinault, who put the words and Lully the music.

His operas began being preformed in a tennis court in Bel-Air which Lully later turned into a theater. Later on the operas began to be preformed at the well known theater of the Palais-Royal. Below are some of his operas:

Cadmus et Hermione, tragedy, at tennis court (jeu de paume) of Bel-Air

Thésée, tragedy , at St-Germain-en-Laye

Roland, tragedy, at Versailles (Grande Écurei) 

Achille et Polyxène, tragedy,  at Palais-Royal

Lully passed away in Pairs due to gangrene in 1687, but his legacy in the music history in France will never be forgotten. 

Additional Information:

http://www.baroquemusic.org/barcomp.html#FR

http://www.baroquemusic.org/
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEdJCTLQL_w