Baltimore Opera Company

Study Guide

Roméo et Juliette

Perspectives on the Aria "Mab La Reine des Mensonges"

The first scene of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette is a party at the home of the Capulets. It is Juliette's birthday, and, although we are never told her exact age, she has reached that point in her life when her father wishes to present her formally to the society of Verona as a candidate for marriage.

After he has done so, and she has responded with a charming short acceptance speech, a small group of male characters enters. Their manner reveals to the audience that they are somehow or other aliens in this crowd, and it immediately becomes clear that they belong to the family who are the traditional enemies of the Capulets: the Montagues. It is not merely impolite of these Montagues and their friends to intrude at the Capulets' ball, it is actually dangerous, since these two families and their retainers have many times engaged in hostile encounters which have resulted in serious injury and even death. Romeo, one of the Montague group, feels that they have done badly to come to the ball, and says so to his friend, Mercutio, explaining that he has been given a warning in a dream.

Mercutio (and the librettist) doesn't want the happy occasion to be spoiled by such grave and gloomy considerations, and he dismisses Romeo's dream as a visit from Queen Mab. Since Romeo does not know who Queen Mab is (nor does the audience), Mercutio sings a song in which he describes Queen Mab and her magical activities. This charming song is full of witty ideas and graceful expressions.

Mab, the queen of falsehoods, rules over our dreams.
Lighter than the deceitful wind, she passes and flies through space.
Her chariot is drawn through the ether by a very tiny creature.
It was made from a hazelnut shell, and the builder was an earthworm.
The reins, of delicate lace, were cut from the wings of a locust by her coachman, who is a gnat.
A cricket's bone serves as the handle of her whip, and the lash itself is a ray of moonlight from the night sky. Etc., etc.

The composer setting this text does not need to deliver profound and serious expressions of wisdom, or deep feelings and emotions. He has only to capture the brilliant, rapid, sparkling manner in which such a text must be delivered. I am sure that when you listen to the "Ballad of Queen Mab" you will agree that Gounod has succeeded.

He chooses an Allegro in 6/8 time, which rather guarantees that the tempo will not be dragged. The accompaniment is predictably full of scurrying sixteenth-note scales. The voice is frequently required to execute phrases containing many syllables, the result being a witty rapid patter which keeps the mood light and effervescent. There is really no thematic material that we would be inclined to call a melody. In keeping with the textual material, the musical material consists mainly of rhythm patterns. The total effect of this musical treatment is to create a sense of continuous movement, of restlessness, or ethereal swiftness, of insubstantial lightness, of never-stopping flight, like a dragon-fly over the surface of a body of water--in a word, of everything that the text demands.

And this reminds us that the composer of an opera cannot be successful if his inspiration is restricted to only one kind of music. When we hear an opera, we are given an astonishing variety of musical devices and effects. We should always be ready to enjoy this great variety, and in the masterworks of Gounod, Faust and Roméo et Juliette, the astonishing variety is one of the most remarkable of the works beauties.

William Yannuzzi

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