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sai-national.org • Spring 2022 17 Antoinette and Louis XVI who were devoted parents. e romance To my daughter (Item 7) expresses in a prophetic way Marie-Antoinette's desire to nurture her child as well as shield her from any storm. It was probably composed in 1779 soon aer her birth. Unlike many women of her time, Marie-Antoinette had the full support of Louis XVI for her artistic pursuits. His grandfather, Louis XV, was much more strict about protocol, and she had to perform plays in secret with the Dauphin's brothers Provence and Artois, oen in the presence of only the prompter, Monsieur Campan, and the Dauphin. Once Louis XVI became King, Marie- Antoinette was given free artistic rein. Her mother referred to the King's complacency and her ambassador, Mercy Argenteau, called music a waste of time, but already in 1774 before the death of Louis XV, Marie-Antoinette had scored a triumph with Gluck's opera Iphigénie en Aulide, leading to several more masterpieces: Orphée, Armide, and Iphigénie en Tauride. She saw her role as an opportunity to make France the leader in cultural achievement, and this indeed is her lasting legacy. Berlioz recognized her patronage in the mid 19th century when he revived Oprhée in his own edition to great acclaim, as arranged for the contralto Pauline Viardot. Gluck had been Marie-Antoinette's music master in Vienna, and in Versailles she studied with both Grétry and Piccinni, whose operas were among her favorites. When her brother, Emperor Joseph II, came to visit her in 1781, Marie- Antoinette and he sang the duets of Iphigénie and Oreste together and she arranged a performance of the opera in her theatre, built in the Trianon gardens in 1780. Marie-Antoinette's own theatrical company was called the Troupe des Seigneurs (e Company of Lords) and was a cause of jealousy among those not admitted to a very select audience, mainly the members of the Queen's household, but with the King in attendance. Marie-Antoinette could give her artistic personality its full expression in these private performances as a peasant girl in Le Sorcier (e Sorcerer), Colette in Le Devin du Village (e Village Magician) and her final role, Rosina in Le Barbier de Seville, as the diamond necklace scandal was about to erupt. e theatre was never used again, and Marie-Antonette's terrible fate, the manner of her death following that of the King, have largely overshadowed her artistic accomplishments. Marie-Antoinette had followed in the footsteps of her mother, Empress Maria eresa, where musicians were always welcome at her table. Marie-Antoinette and her sisters learned to play Ben Franklin's glass armonica because Gluck had once played on glasses in London, and when a boy her own age, named Wolfgang Mozart, came to play the keyboard, Marie-Antoinette is reported to have helped him to his feet when he slipped on the waxed floor of the palace and he is rumored to have proposed marriage. As the Dauphine of the most brilliant court in Europe, Marie-Antoinette might have expected a glittering life, but in reality, she had to work hard to achieve a union with the extremely shy Dauphin, who in time fell in love with her. Perhaps the most poignant of her romances is the one set in G Major in simple ABA form, composed about six months aer her arrival in Versailles. Life lived without love Moves in haste into old age, Losing happy days That depart and will not return. Weary hearts that feel no affection Are full of woe when others rejoice, Cast upon the soul their own weakness Pleasure's the price that's paid for mistakes, To exist without love Is to die day by day. Translations, Arthur Hammond, 1989. Rhonda Bachmann was initiated into the Beta Chapter of SAI at Northwestern University in 1978, where she graduated with a Master of Music in Applied Voice. She is a member of the Buffalo Alumnae Chapter and continues to sing the lyric coloratura soprano repertoire, including Mozart roles as well as those sung by Marie-Antoinette. Cposers Révélation The night in star raiment enfolded Came over us and from its shadows There seemed to arise that fragrance Given by God to flowers as their soul. The slumbering earth, wrapped in darkness, Gave forth multitudinous noises, The breathings of mighty creation That deep below enliven its sleep. He spoke no word; sadly I wondered, Yet all the same, I think he loves me, I think he loves me. My lips, as emotion absorbed me, Brushed slowly the leaf of a violet That he plucked from where it grew, Then for no reason throwing it away, I made no move to reclaim it. He would not give it back to me, But said to me, "I seek in its heart A secret that only a flower Can tell me as well as yourself." Oh now indeed, I know he loves me, I know he loves me. Z Z Item 6 Item 6 To my daughter In the safety of soft, swaddling linen, You, I am sure, have wings of angels. I dream what life must hold for you, Fair child, so precious, lying asleep, There in your nurses arms enfolded Waiting to enter the arena, And to encounter the attack, That will be thrust about your head. You will possess no other weapon But all your smiles and all your tears. Treasure from Heaven, rosy and fair, May God protect you in your sleep. Beacon of love, sweetness or passion, Born angel, to become a woman, So you must learn to endure suffering, To live, to love , and then to die. Sweet child, so tiny, so beloved, So full of life, yet even now pitied, As one would pity a beauteous flower Caught by the violent, raging storm. Wait, 'tis not time to open your eyelids. May God receive your mother's prayer! Treasure from Heaven, rosy and fair, May God bless you when you wake. L K L K Item 7 Item 7

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