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Le Molière imaginaire, opus 99

Sheet Music: Score

Le Molière imaginaire, opus 99 : for eight voices / Andrew Schultz ; text by Timothy Knapman after the final scene of Molière's 'Le Malade Imaginaire'.

by Timothy Knapman and Andrew Schultz (2015)

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  • Library Availability: 782.14/SCH 1 — Available for loan
  • Instrumentation: 2 sopranos, 2 altos, 2 tenors, baritone, bass.
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  • Audio Sample

    Performance by I Fagiolini (vocal ensemble) from the CD Le Moliére Imaginaire

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Text by Timothy Knapman, after the final scene of Molière's Le Malade Imaginaire.

Molière hated doctors and it seems the feeling was mutual. Molière's play Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid, 1673) was his last. He was seriously ill when writing it and died a few hours after a performance in which he had played the major role of Argan, the wealthy hypochondriac. Throughout the play, Molière heaps scathing wit on the money-raking quackery of some of his medical contemporaries. Some 25 years later, an English doctor visiting Paris considered Molière to have had 'as much malice as wit.'

The last scene of the play is in fact a musical interlude - one of three in the play. It consists of a faux medical graduation ceremony in which a budding doctor is put through his paces by the medical fraternity and tested on his capacity to provide the right solutions to various hypothetical scenarios. In keeping with the spirit of farce the ceremony is enacted in bizarre pig-Latin - not quite Latin, French or Italian, but a mixture of all three signifying the pomposity of the occasion. The medical ceremonies of the time were apparently quite elaborate with music, costumes, processions and speeches in Latin.

Whilst living in Paris at the Cité des Arts in 2014, I became interested in the fact that neither of the two main English translations of the play attempted an English version of this last scene; both leave the final scene in its original form. Perhaps this was because of the devilish dexterity of the language or the idea that the Latin would be known and understood. So, after much encouragement and support from I Fagiolini's erudite artistic director, Robert Hollingworth, and the aid of some Latinisti and Molière enthusiasts, a new and contemporary version of the scene has been created for unaccompanied voices by the English writer, Tim Knapman, and myself.

Published by: Australian Music Centre — 1 facsimile score (46p. -- A4 (portrait))

Difficulty: Advanced

Duration: 12 mins

Commission info: Composed to be part of Musica Viva Australia’s 2015 International Concert Season.

First performance by I Fagiolini (vocal ensemble) — Jul 15. Musica Viva Australia’s 2015 International Concert Season

Includes full text.

Winner of Vocal/Choral Work of the Year, Art Music Awards, 2016

Typeset edition.

ISMN: 979-0-720150-85-7

Related products

This work is also available in the following products:

Le Moliére Imaginaire
CD: Le Moliére Imaginaire / music by Andrew Schultz ; with text by Timothy Knapman ; performed by I Fagiolini.

 

- Browse other works for Dramatic music

- Browse other works by Timothy Knapman


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