Ex. 1-1: Le héros que j'attends

From the Prologue of Lully's tragédie en musique (musical tragedy) "Alceste" (1674). The aria is sung by the Nymph of the Seine — a river spirit who waits for the return of her hero, a direct reference to Louis XIV, who was away at war during the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678).

The aria takes the form of a rondeau, with the refrain "Le héros que j'attends ne reviendra-t-il pas?" (Will the hero I await not return?) recurring throughout. Instead of bold, heroic music, Lully expresses the hero's absence through a slow, melancholic melody over a gentle accompaniment.

Right after the aria, the sound of battle is heard from backstage. The Goddess of Glory then appears and tells the Nymph that the hero is fighting for glory. The scene is set in the Tuileries Palace gardens, with fountains and tree-lined paths.

Track 2 from the album Lully: Alceste by Lucía Martín-Cartón, Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques (2017)
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