The evident word and the implied word in French ballet of the 19th – early 20th centuries

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of the existence of verbal text in French ballet. At the end of the 16th century, these were recited monologues and texts of vocal numbers. Recitative appeared from the beginning of the 17th century. But vocal numbers remained an obligatory component of the ballet score. By the 19th century, the text was most often embodied only in the printed libretto. However, the text missing from the ballet score was compensated for in two ways. Firstly, it was the exact following of the words of the libretto text in the music of the pantomime scenes. Secondly, the use of quotations in the music, the implied text of which evoked associations in the audience. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, French ballet entered a period of decline. However, composers did not stop turning to it, creating new scores. At this time, all the aforementioned methods of integrating words into musical dramaturgy were encountered in French ballets, and vocal episodes (solo and choral) also began to be used in ballet music. The presence of words in the score of a French ballet is not its disadvantage. This is an additional means of expression that makes the understanding of ballet music more multifaceted.