1653: The Dancing King

Available for 36 days

1653, Paris. A marathon court spectacle is drawing to a close. As dawn breaks, a teenage boy dressed in gold steps onto the stage to dance the role of the rising sun: Louis XIV, King of France. In that moment, the 'Sun King' is born, and ballet becomes a powerful tool of royal authority. From courtly spectacle to codified artform, this programme explores how Louis XIV uses music, dance and theatre to project absolute power. With the help of composer Jean-Baptiste Lully and a circle of artists at Versailles, ballet is transformed from aristocratic pastime into a professional discipline. Gillian Moore is joined by a roster of distinguished historians for this major new BBC Radio 3 series, charting a course through 1000 years of classical music history. For the next eight programmes, historian Suzannah Lipscomb is in the chair, as together they explore the bold new sound worlds of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Producer: Zerlina Vulliamy Academic Consultant: Professor Laura Tunbridge, University of Oxford Story Consultant: Kate Leys Series Editor for BBC Audio: Emma Harding Key Changes theme tune composed by Joseph Howard and performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Kerem Hasan. MUSIC DETAILS Anonymous: Ballet Royal de la Nuit – Le Roy représentant le Soleil levant Ensemble Correspondances Sébastien Daucé (conductor) Anonymous: Ballet Royal de la Nuit – Ouverture Ensemble Correspondances Sébastien Daucé (conductor) Jean-Baptiste Lully: Overture to Atys Les Arts Florissants William Christie (conductor) Christoph Willibald Gluck: Dance of the Blessed Spirits Jean-Baptiste Lully: Phaeton – Chaconne Les Talens Lyriques Christophe Rousset (conductor) Jean-Baptiste Lully: Le Bourgeois gentilhomme – Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs Les Concerts des Nations Jordi Savall (conductor) Jean-Baptiste Lully: Te Deum (excerpt) Les Épopées Les Pages & Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles Stephane Fuget (conductor) Léo Delibes: Coppélia – Mazurka Orchestra of the Paris Opera Jean-Baptiste Mari (conductor) Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre: Céphale et Procris – Rondeau, Loure, Gigue Bellot Ensemble Jean-Philippe Rameau: Les Indes galantes – Danse des sauvages Les Musiciens du Louvre Marc Minkowski (conductor) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty Suite, Op. 66a – Waltz BBC National Orchestra of Wales Xian Zhang (conductor) To listen to this programme using most smart speakers, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Key Changes."