La Borde's Ironic Pastoral: 'Annette et Lubin'

William Empson's 1935 book, 'Some Versions of Pastoral' and its essay 'Proletarian Literature' provide a framework for investigating the case of an opera that could not be performed in public owing to its overt treatment of the themes of pregnancy, illegitimacy and marriage between first cousins. 'Annette et Lubin' (1762) was a dramatisation by Jean-François Marmontel of his own short story, in turn based on real life. The music, which was published in full score, was by Jean-Benjamin de La Borde. The article first identifies the background chronology by reference to Charles-Simon Favart's correspondence: his own opéra-comique version of the same tale was publicly successful owing to its ingenous avoidance of offence. In its second part, the article comments analytically on certain aspects of La Borde's score.