The Composer’s Silenced Art

The Moon and the Sun

This thread follows Marie-Josèphe’s return to composition, the appropriation and criticism of her work, and music’s continuing life beyond the court.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Song Recalled A Song Recalled from "The Moon and the Sun". Music Returns A dormant gift Years of convent rules have kept Marie-Josèphe from composing. Hearing music at court awakens the songs she has carried privately.

A Song Recalled from "The Moon and the Sun". Music Returns A dormant gift Years of convent rules have kept Marie-Josèphe from composing. Hearing music at court awakens the songs she has carried privately.

Music Returns A dormant gift Years of convent rules have kept Marie-Josèphe from composing. Hearing music at court awakens the songs she has carried privately. A fragile opportunity Domenico Scarlatti performs one of her pieces. The performance brings her talent into royal view, but also exposes it to male authority and judgment.

The King’s Commission The King’s Commission from "The Moon and the Sun". An Official Assignment Royal favor Louis XIV commissions a cantata about the sea-monster hunt, partly in memory of Marie-Josèphe’s parents.

The King’s Commission from "The Moon and the Sun". An Official Assignment Royal favor Louis XIV commissions a cantata about the sea-monster hunt, partly in memory of Marie-Josèphe’s parents.

An Official Assignment Royal favor Louis XIV commissions a cantata about the sea-monster hunt, partly in memory of Marie-Josèphe’s parents. The task seems to validate her musical ability. Unequal freedom Pope Innocent objects, while Yves worries that the commission distracts her from scientific work. The commission is both honor and constraint.

A Collaboration in Secret A Collaboration in Secret from "The Moon and the Sun". Music from the Sea Listening and notation Marie-Josèphe hears Sherzad’s song as story and turns its melodies into a cantata.

A Collaboration in Secret from "The Moon and the Sun". Music from the Sea Listening and notation Marie-Josèphe hears Sherzad’s song as story and turns its melodies into a cantata.

Music from the Sea Listening and notation Marie-Josèphe hears Sherzad’s song as story and turns its melodies into a cantata. She tries to preserve the sea woman’s emotional truth in human musical form. Authorship contested Her music comes from listening, but others may claim, revise, or dismiss it. Composition becomes another arena where women’s work and the sea people’s voices are vulnerable.

Coupillet’s Rejection Coupillet’s Rejection from "The Moon and the Sun". An Amateur Condemned Public insult M. Coupillet calls the work incompetent and tries to seize and tear the score.

Coupillet’s Rejection from "The Moon and the Sun". An Amateur Condemned Public insult M. Coupillet calls the work incompetent and tries to seize and tear the score.

An Amateur Condemned Public insult M. Coupillet calls the work incompetent and tries to seize and tear the score. His attack draws on assumptions that women cannot compose seriously. Refusal Marie-Josèphe keeps the music and refuses to let him take credit. Her resistance costs her confidence but protects the composition’s connection to Sherzad.

Performance and Banishment Performance and Banishment from "The Moon and the Sun". Music Heard, Music Forbidden Performance Domenico performs Marie-Josèphe’s cantata during the court ballet.

Performance and Banishment from "The Moon and the Sun". Music Heard, Music Forbidden Performance Domenico performs Marie-Josèphe’s cantata during the court ballet.

Music Heard, Music Forbidden Performance Domenico performs Marie-Josèphe’s cantata during the court ballet. The audience celebrates the piece as royal spectacle, while she knows it tells a different story. Afterlife Pope Innocent forbids her music as punishment. The score is later preserved, suggesting that silencing its composer cannot erase the work itself.

The first evening entertainments at Versailles

After the Pope criticizes her first performance

The nights before the Carrousel performance

The day Marie-Josèphe presents her finished score

Carrousel night and the final sentence