THE SECULAR COMMEDIA Wye Jamison Allanbrook lit hy Mary Ana Smart ond Richard Tarai TB uwivensiry oF cauivonwta onuss: ‘Comic Flux and Comic Precision Andes pieces, Tha canoe i ded Iebead shot ora eased = S-Cha no Wil abt eos) Le Neveu de Remeau the dining dialogues by Deis Diderot. con tain long psge in which the eponymous Nephew ees hisineloce- tow a Dieoclike figure onthe merit of Talian over French opts. Oper. criti soc the dialog's principal preoccupation burrather the farmare somber issue ofynicem’ lath with orl philwopy, Yer abou wo chirds the way through the discussion wer fino pecs msi epic: the usually cynical Nephew begins argu ardently for one side in he well- sown mid-ightcenth erry Pacis cla war known asthe guerre teas the Kalan, asiehappens). The passage ofenplacked ou oFconcest boy muse hiortne and anthologies one more pce of documentary idence for tha noay gure! Indeed, wat inthe proce fo reazingit mpl when was areestedby accurius image the Nephew se in his opera discussion? The image ebur- Jedi the middle of eis feexcerpted passe and pastes by so quickly that itraely distarbsthecanval ead, Tethisdor fourth ne through bower, ft id acongeit begins eo nag. Ie occurs a harangue that the Nephew Ssdelveringon the nature of the language mos appropriate For opera libre Here iis descrpcon of the ea eyes Ieiashe animal cry of pion dha shoo cathe oie andi epee ‘Sona shold be preeloucagety ovate he oer the phrase mast sorthe mening su of upended he msc mast be able to make ue of the tad ofexhof he arts —soamica adopt adds word chs Inning eotrnthephateackwardandinide eae pay withourdeioy. nee Ait she Nephew leingmeation ofthe polyp semedvobene more than {whims solecsm, wholly characerfor an ecenticctetuefeom whose ferns of chowgh one does oe demand compere coherence, Like most mod ten teaers was ignorant ofthe naar f Diets parila polyp hating ‘ony vague marine and medial associations wth che word But rife: tiption le mero an ule site oferploaton ors msichisoran radyng the aie of sil conedj—the fshwster ponds of eightecothcentury ratralistsandto he ale ofan important logical covery cha apy sisted el ino the leary and philosophical diacoure of he period “Thesceneof Dero daloguisanimpined encounter ina Parisian cafe, semetimeberween 76076 between apilosophe-narrator (oie etab Tishes himself in his brief exposition) and the actual phew ofthe seal compote Jen- Philippe Ramet. The author designates them Moi and La respecte The Nephew, Jean-Francois Rameau was bo neath and in Diderot a msireacher ad profesional parse he Nephew seeing lise difeenceheeween these two sccupations). Again in bog erch and fio, e wae aman of excavganechangeableness—az Moi describes hin carlyon “compound of elevation and baseness, of god sense ad fll In the wrdsof dhe write JcquesCazots who at analdschoochumfad known the accual Nephew, “Tha strange man mare pasion for glory and never foundany way ofataining ie Talened butivinginbeskadow ofhiskrous ‘nce whom he professed to despise, hei pictured bet ax choosing in com pany 0 bulge che madman, delivering bilinely cynical ciques of| hhuman naar rom behind thie ade le mounts an extraordinary perfor mance for Mi whoa fst pretends mereamasemenat ee ais ofhis ld ‘cqusntance Buse leary rained by Rane ange Blend of sl- fam and innocent candor "The dacsson ofthe ites of illan opera sur toward he cia of ‘he dialog. The Nephew eal inche crashing blow deiveedto che operas fis detestable Uncle by the ein juggenna cha vggeed the guerre des aon The 153 production in Paris bya aia bal roupe, of Giovani Bata Pergola’ intermeszo La ere pons (The md miseres) on he allowed neolasc age of the Opéra provaked pusionat espoases om Pssan inelletusincding Jon Jacques Roasesienotorous Lettre a musique fons, » devastating ergue ofthe musical ore of che French language The ean tok the capil by soem, casing national crisis of confidence inthe power of French musi Two camps Formed al- Tying around the King (or the Frech) apd the Queen (fr the Talians) area the ret” wa he Sgureead of he French cmp while Rowse, Diderot, an he philosopher took up their ages or ee ea, Ealer inthe dialogue the Nephew ha gleflly reported, “These cused boas, vith heir Sev drone». hae giten ut aeal ick che aaa vlan ‘thie als aropieal pan since the French wd for ass etic” and the sully Acai Royal de Musique known leefermaly asthe Opa stood tthe end of acaba, fact of which the Nephew ends we fe sen- ‘ence ltr) fico alone, this orion ofthe dslgue would be no more than it sems-an eccentric and polemical bur suprisingly submarine {account ofthat frou temper a salon de she. (Later i the Cofsions, Rousen, claiming responsi or the controversy ggested ha bye ring up a save the nonachy Fm fr wore fae)" “The aesthetic doctrine advanced bythe Nephew in the polyp patag ie othing ot eh ordinary eel have come aighe from Rousseau ss Sar Varig des langues, ibe language, the pilsopbes argued, should ‘octhe ania cry of psn” —that ithe short 2nd dxjunceclamarory {Capresso of de morements of he sol chat chey ascribed 0 the enton ofthe Kalina! In La Nowile Hebe Rossen hae hat paragon of e- Uli SainePreos, prise Talln opera wat at revealing the powerfl and crt link between passion and sound Ta che Leaves esr wets Dieror ad judged he French language incapable of ich direct passione sterances: French, heared, ia languageoflgicbac not of petyeeaces tut brane though seen, cght teins of reasoning but cannot ape the semaphoric gece ofthe passions—"bicroplyphs” Diderot vem then! Asthe Nephew spss, “This nkesFrenchl yi pocery mach nore ‘ical han in languages with inversions, that by hemetes fell thee vantages French libero poetry bad el propensiy eo iy wel ‘ured phrases nd meaeued aphorisms —asryleappeopriatothe Maxis fla Rocefoucelor the Pose of Pata but nets thedtee epesents: ‘on of urna atu on the comic age. In an impassioned spec ustafter ‘he polyp metaphor ecu, the Nephew cries out, “We ned exclamations, ‘nverections suspensions icerupions,afirmaions,negaons wecal ot