Jean-Baptiste Lully was arguably one of the most innovative and influential composers of the Baroque Era. Born on November 28, 1632, he lived to be 54 years old. Lully's contributions to the musical landscape were many. His passion for music and dancing was present early on, and seemed to be nurtured by those around him. He was born in Florence, Italy, and he was especially skilled in guitar and violin, which he received lessons for as a young child. In 1646, he was performing on the street, and met the son of the Duke of Guise, who happened to be looking for someone for his niece to speak Italian with. He traveled to Paris to work with his niece, during which time he likely continued studying music. Lully received the nickname "Baptiste" and "le grand baladin," which means "great street-dancer," as a teenager.
Lully met Louis XIV when the two danced together at the Royal Ballet. The Sun King quickly named Lully the royal composer of instrumental music. His notoriety continued to climb, and he was later named superintendent of royal music and music master of the royal family. He and Louis XIV remained good friends for the entirety of his life, though they had their disagreements. Lully was keeping time with a wooden staff during a performance of Te Deum, a piece composed for Louis XIV, when he struck his foot with the staff. In an unfortunate turn of events, Lully passed away when the wound turned into a gangrene infection, and Lully was not willing to follow through with an amputation of the limb.
Jean Baptiste-Lully worked with the playwright, Moliere. The two collaborated on many works, and were a driving force in the creation of the "comedie-ballet," which was a combination of theatre, ballet, comedy, and music. He was a true rule-breaker of his time, and was hugely impactful across many elements that make up a musical score. He wrote French operas although he was Italian, and employed different choices than other composers of the time. Whereas traditional operas are broken up into separate recitatives and aria, Lully liked to combine the two. He was known for his deeply emotional operatic work, and for his use of a basso continuo, which was standard for the time. He also wrote numerous motets for the church. Motets were typically composed of psalms lyrically at the time; however, Lully wrote a series of petit motets which utilized the poetry of Pierre Perrin, and were likely composed for nuns. As a dancer and a composer for court ballets, Jean-Baptiste Lully composed many pieces for the ballet.The composer is also credited with introducing female dancers to ballets. He is especially known for creating chaconnes and passacaglias, which were dance movements in an opera, and had monopolized the musical landscape of the time so much that no opera was performed without his permission by 1674. Lully is also credited with creating the French overture, which later composers continued to reference in their own writings. His reach was massive for the period of time in which he lived.