Jean-Baptiste Lully Biography
(French Composer, Instrumentalist, and Dancer)
Birthday: November 28, 1632 (Sagittarius)
Born In: Florence, Italy
Jean-Baptiste Lully was an Italian-born French composer, instrumentalist, as well as a dancer. He spent most of his life working on the court of King Louis XIV of France where he composed mainly theater music though he is known for a small body of sacred music too. In the theater alone, he composed music for over 40 ballets and other forms of entertainment as well. His biggest achievement, however, were the fourteen operas that he composed between the years 1673 and 1687. He was also the first composer of genius French operas, and it was he who proved that opera in French could be a viable art form. His operas were also quite popular among the masses and even long after he passed away, they continued to be performed. Today, because of their great length, they can’t be presented in their complete form. He is considered to be a master of the operatic form, and a composer of rare inspiration. Though throughout his life, Lully was associated with many scandals for his alleged love affairs but his rapport with King Louis remained unaffected.