Ex. 4-3: Funeste mort

"Funeste mort" (Fatal Death) is an air from the opera Céphale et Procris (Cephalus and Procris, 1694) by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre. It was the first opera by a woman to be performed in France.

Jacquet de La Guerre was a child prodigy: she played the harpsichord for King Louis XIV when she was about five years old. The king's mistress, Madame de Montespan, then took charge of her education at court.

The opera's story comes from an ancient Roman myth (Ovid's Metamorphoses), and the words are by the poet Duché de Vancy. In this scene, Procris has lost the man she loves, Céphale, and calls on death to help her: "Fatal death, come to my aid." Right after her air, the stage opens into the underworld, and the spirits of Jealousy, Rage, and Despair fill her with jealous madness.

The opera was not a success: it ran only five or six times, and then disappeared from the stage for almost 300 years. The music survived only because the publisher Ballard printed the score in 1694.

In scores and recordings, this air (Act IV, Scene 3) and the underworld scene that follows (Act IV, Scene 4) are listed as two separate pieces, but they are meant to be performed one right after the other. This app presents both scenes together as a single track.

From the album Céphale et Procris by Deborah Cachet and A Nocte Temporis, directed by Reinoud Van Mechelen (2024)
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