Les Jeux Olympiens: Comedie musicale en 7 Tableaux

[Paris?]: N.p., [ca. 194_?]. Manuscript. 1. Original sketchbook of characters and scenes, 21x27cm, [7] leaves glued at edge, recto only, hand colored in orange. 2. Orchestral reduction, manuscript score in 3 sections (overture and 2 tableaux, perhaps all completed?), each 30x23cm, black ink with red, blue, and green highlights throughout. Overture: title page, [1], 10p. 3rd Tableau, 1st Entr'acte: title page, [2]p. 5th Tableau, 2nd Entr'acte: [4]p. 3. Mimeographed script, brad bound and attached to portfolio, with hand decorated, purple lettered cover, 31x21cm, [60]leaves, in purple, recto only. Housed in homemade, cardboard portfolio, 31x26cm, blue cloth tape reinforced spine, blue and red title lettering. All very good with edge wear, the portfolio also showing staining and chipping. Likely never seeing production nor duplication beyond manuscript, this musical drama for choir, orchestra, and several soloists as young Greek Gods and Goddesses, could roughly be captioned as "Teenage Gods Playing Games."

Valère Reynouard writing as Jean Valrey, according to OCLC, was active mainly in the early 1940's, issuing a couple books, one being a group of poems about Cupid, who is also a character in this work.

Institutionally held works of composer and arranger, Elie Alfred Borda include military marches and silent film music published as early as 1936. Valrey and Borda are listed as collaborating on another work called "Lever de rideau," also in 1942.

In the final scene of this production, "La colère de Jupiter," the cast exclaims (roughly translated), "Everything will be for the best in this Utopian world!" This could perhaps be a clue the work was written in or around the time of the Nazi occupation of France.

A wonderful, period manuscript of some beauty and musical merit, light and comedic in tone, though perhaps with more sinister overtones.