Stephen Sondheim, famous for writing such musicals as Company, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Assassins, is often referred to as the originator of the modern concept musical. Despite varying definitions of the concept musical, it is generally agreed that the form embodies a specific identity or mood, which it communicates to an audience both emotionally and intellectually. As such it offers audience members a complete experience resembling in theory the idea of "total theatre" proposed in the nineteenth century by composer Richard Wagner. My thesis will argue that the similarity between Sondheim's concept musical and Wagner's total theatre is more than purely theoretical; it is practical as well, involving structural parallels such as leitmotif, minor chord development, and intricate lyricism. Congruently, many of Sondheim's choices describing communication with audiences on the emotional and intellectual levels also recall those utilized by Wagner over a century earlier. These similarities not withstanding, Sondheim, as a contemporary artist, creates work that has often been described in terms of theoretical movements that post-date Wagner, including "desconstructionism" and Brechtian theatre. While these terms certainly describe some differences between the work of Sondheim and Wagner, I will argue that their existence with regard to Sondheim does not preclude a Wagnerian approach to the contemporary composer's work. Elements of deconstruction and Brechtian alienation may, in fact, be linked back to Wagner in specific manners. My thesis will explore these connections, concluding that an approach to the work of Sondheim in the vein of Richard Wagner may suggest a successful method of interpreting the contemporary concept musical.

Notre travail questionne l'assise temporelle de Cyrano de Bergerac d'Edmond Rostand. En effet, depuis 1897 et encore aujourd'hui, l'œuvre a la réputation d'être le dernier drame romantique français, au mépris des plus grandes évidences chronologiques. Notre approche allie littérature, histoire et sociologie. Notre travail s'applique dans un premier temps à éclairer cette impression d'anachronisme en explorant les pistes du romantisme, du cape et d'épée et des liens entretenus avec la comédie héroïque ainsi que la commedia dell'arte. Nous cherchons ensuite à montrer l'ancrage de la pièce dans son temps, en exhibant notamment ses rapports avec l'idéalisme fin de siècle et la modernité de sa proposition dramatique, qui tient du théâtre total, recourant par exemple fortement aux arts dits « mineurs ». Nous accordons toute leur place aux composantes du nez et du panache qui font l'originalité de l'œuvre rostandienne. Enfin, nous tâchons de saisir la constitution de Cyrano comme mythe littéraire et culturel en étudiant sa réception par la presse, la critique théâtrale, les artistes et la population, tout en soulignant le tournant qu'a représenté la Première Guerre mondiale. Nous interrogeons les tentatives de récupérations politiques en abordant l'aspect national de l'œuvre. Par là même, nous insistons, d'un point de vue littéraire, sur les spécificités du drame qui allie efficacement gauloiserie et préciosité. Nous soulignons finalement le passage du littéraire au moral, de l'esthétique à l'idéologique, pour montrer que Cyrano de Bergerac, loin de n'être qu'une simple pièce de théâtre, est devenue un véritable objet social. / This PhD dissertation queries the context in which Edmond Rostand wrote Cyrano de Bergerac. Since 1897, this play has been considered as the last French romantic drama, despite obvious chronological facts. Combining literature, history and sociology, this PhD dissertation throws light on this impression of anachronism by considering the entries of romanticism, cloak-and-dagger, heroic comedy and commedia dell'arte. Then, it shows that the work is deeply rooted in its time : first, because of its links with the "fin de siècle" idealism ; then, because it is an attempt of "total theatre" and because it includes arts that are often seen as "minor". Of course, we attach great importance to Cyrano's nose and panache which are key components of the play. Finally, studying how the newspapers, the dramatic critics, the artists and people apprehend the play and its heroe, this PhD dissertation considers Cyrano de Bergerac as a literary and cultural myth. Highlighting World War One as a turning point, we show that the play was used in a political way. Cyrano de Bergerac is supposed to be a national play but truly in a literary manner because of the alliance of "gauloiserie" and preciosity. Therefore, this dissertation shows how Rostand's work moves from a matter of literature to a matter of ethics, from an aesthetic aspect to an ideological one. Indeed, Cyrano de Bergerac is not just a play but a real social object.