ABSTRACT
The two most fundamental types of evidence are the scores and the librettos that were published at or near the time of the earliest performances of Lully's thirteen tragédies en musique. This chapter focuses on Bellérophon, because the libretto by Thomas Corneille is more complete in terms of what it communicates about the action during the divertissements than are the librettos by Lully's usual collaborator, Quinault. The librettos distributed at the public theatre in Paris did not begin including the performers' names until the very end of the century, by which time the personnel and directorship of the Opéra has been changed considerably. Scores, include the instrumental music but rarely indicate who was intended to dance it. Bellérophon premiered in Paris in 1679; the official music printer, Christophe Ballard, published both the libretto and a full score that same year.
