Historical perspectives on Adolphe Adam's "Le Diable a quatre"
Author
Collins, Willa J.
Date
2001Advisor
Bailey, Walter B.
Degree
Master of Music
Abstract
Composer Adolphe Adam is typically recognized and acknowledged only through Giselle, his most famous ballet. However, Adam's ninth ballet, Le Diable a quatre, though rarely remembered, is also a historically significant work. At the time of its premier in 1845, the story of this morality-comedy had been familiar to the Parisian public for nearly a century. Yet despite its "unromantic" qualities, Le Diable a quatre surpassed some of its contemporaries in longevity and remained in the Opera's repertory for a substantial period of time. In this study I offer a comparison of Le Diable a quatre with contemporary ballets, focusing on several historical perspectives and on critical and popular aesthetics of ballet and ballet music. Additionally, I include an overview of the score of Le Diable a quatre, a discussion of the historical significance of national dance in the Romantic ballet, and a discussion of Adam's significance within the musical canon.
Keyword
Dance; Music