oh, could an account be taken of the dreams of a man in
a fever, what great and sublime things would sometimes proceed from
his delirium!
* Off-hand.
These subjects of music and opera still engaged my attention
during my convalescence, but my ideas were less energetic. Long and
frequent meditations, and which were often involuntary, and made
such an impression upon my mind that I resolved to attempt both
words and music. This was not the first time I had undertaken so
difficult a task. Whilst I was at Chambery I had composed an opera
entitled Iphis and Anaxarete, which I had the good sense to throw into
the fire. At Lyons I had composed another, entitled La Decouverte du
Nouveau Monde,* which, after having read it to M. Bordes, the Abbe's
Mably, Trublet, and others, had met the same fate, notwithstanding I
had set the prologue and the first act to music, and although David,
after examining the composition, had told me there were passages in it
worthy of Buononcini.
* The Discovery of the New World.
Before I began the work I took time to consider of my plan. In a
heroic ballet I proposed three different subjects, in three acts,
detached from each other, set to music of a different character,
taking for each subject the amours of a poet. I entitled this opera
Les Muses Galantes. My first act, in music strongly characterized, was
Tasso; the second in tender harmony, Ovid; and the third, entitled
Anacreon, was to partake of the gayety of the dithyrambus.
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