USE OF LIBRETTOS IN COURT SPECTACLES

It was not uncommon for librettos to be distributed to the audiences of court entertainments (Marko,1993,p.18). In 1641, M. de Saint Hubert, in his treatise, How to Compose a Sucessful Ballet (La Maniere de composer et faire reussir les ballets), writes, "I strongly advocate writing out the story of the ballet, either in prose or in verse, so that it can be passes out to the audience before the performance to let them enjoy it more by knowing what it is about." (Cohen,p.32).

It is not known if alibretto, or program was distributed to the court spectators for the production of Le Balet Comique de la Reine.

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