Faà di Bruno, Giovanni Matteo [Horatio, Orazio] Fabbri, Anna Maria

(iii) Musical education.

The movement launched in Paris by G.L.B. Wilhem for musical teaching and practice on a popular level was a far cry from this more or less élitist current. With the support of the Baron de Gérando and his Société pour l’Instruction Elémentaire, Wilhem devoted himself to bringing music teaching into the primary schools of the Paris area, using a set of simplified signs and tables known as the Wilhem Method. At a time when the humanitarian ideas of Lammenais, Saint-Simon and Fourier were spreading, and had been taken up first by Franz Liszt and soon afterwards by Félicien David, the authorities saw this movement chiefly as a means of keeping the working classes out of bars and improving the ‘coarseness’ of their habits. The Orphéon male-voice choir movement began in 1833; many such societies were founded throughout the country, and soon went beyond the choral realm, venturing into instrumental music with brass bands. Many Orphéon competitions were organized after the first was held at Troyes in 1849; an inventory of 1867 enumerates 3243 Orphéon societies, representing nearly 150,000 members, the largest being in the north and the next largest in the Bouches-du-Rhône, Seine and Rhône areas. Teaching methods, however, deteriorated, with Pierre Galin and his ‘méloplaste’ and the numerical method of Emile Chevé and Aimé Paris, and were much criticized. The quality of supervision, of the repertory and of interpretation became very mediocre, with the result that the movement became far removed from its initial idealism.

In the field of sacred music, the Ecole de Musique Classique et Religieuse was founded by imperial decree in 1853. It was directed by Louis de Niedermeyer, with state subsidies, and trained many organists and maîtres de chapelle who took up appointments in the provinces. After the separation of church and state, however, the subsidies ceased. In 1896 the opening of the Schola Cantorum by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d’Indy also marked a return to old traditions and the study of counterpoint, and the new institution was soon presenting itself as a rival to the Conservatoire.

France, §I, 4: Art music: The ‘grand siècle’ and its aftermath

(iv) Music publishing.

The main publishing houses were the firms of Janet and Cotelle (1810–37), Richault (1816–66), Schlesinger (1821–46), Troupenas (1825–50), Escudier (1840–81), famous as Verdi’s publisher, and Brandus (1846–87), which acquired the lists of Schlesinger and Troupenas. The only relatively large provincial publisher was Benacci-Peschier in Lyons (1839–54). The first half of the century was the period of greatest prosperity in French music publishing; as the century progressed it confined itself almost exclusively to the national repertory, with such firms as those of Heugel (from 1839), Massenet’s publisher; G. Hartmann (1848–91), publisher of César Franck and his disciples; Leduc (from 1842) and Durand (from 1870). Until 1860 French commercial policy was protectionist, with high import duties (up to 29%) charged on foreign publications. In 1830 exports of printed music were three times higher than imports. However, in 1867 export figures were lower than import figures for the first time, and this trend continued, owing largely to German competition. This decline can be explained not only by the movement of excise policies towards free exchange but also by the modernization of printing techniques, bringing with it more competitive prices, and by the rise in importance of the Germanic repertory in French musical life. Between 1863 and 1896, French exports remained stationary, while German imports were on average 74% of the total. French publishers were never able to find an answer to this reversal of the previous trend, even during the First World War, when they tried in vain to come to a common agreement to replace the classic German editions.

(v) Instrument making.

The Second Empire was the golden age of French instrument making; organs and pianos were both manufactured on an industrial scale, while string instruments, woodwind and brass instruments continued to be made in small or medium-sized workshops. The five largest piano manufacturers were Erard, Pleyel, Pape, Herz and Kriegelstein, while makers of brass instruments (Gautrot, Thibouville, Buffet) benefited from the rise of military bands and Orphéon societies, which made Adolphe Sax’s fortune. Outside Paris woodwind instruments were still made at La Couture Boussey, and inexpensive string instruments at Mirecourt. England became the French makers’ principal customer at this period. World exhibitions acted as shop windows for local production, especially those of 1855 (with 243 exhibitors), 1878 (226 exhibitors), and of 1889 and 1900 in Paris. However, the trade agreements of the 1860s opened the way to foreign instruments; piano makers failed to modernize their equipment while the Germans and Americans were adopting new technology. The first workers’ strikes came in 1882. The trend was now entirely reversed, and after 1875 the most sought-after French instruments were strings and wind. After 1890 imports, particularly of pianos, rose steadily, and just as in music publishing Germany became the chief supplier (75%), particularly of Bechstein and Blüthner instruments. French instruments were no longer popular abroad except at the very top of the range.

5. The 20th century.

(i) To 1945.

Between the wars the musical life of Paris was as brilliant as ever, with the Ballets Russes, Ballets Suédois, and various spectacles supported by such patrons as Princesse Edmond de Polignac and Marie-Laure de Noailles, who held salons devoted to the avant-garde of contemporary aesthetics. In the orchestral field the four concert organizations gave rather routine programmes every Sunday: the concert societies were those of Pasdeloup (under Albert Wolff), Colonne (Gabriel Pierné), Lamoureux (Paul Paray), and the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire (Philippe Gaubert and Piero Coppola). New works were played by other ensembles such as the Concerts Wiéner (1921–22), the Concerts Straram (1923–33), and the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris (under Pierre Monteux, 1929–38). Some radio stations such as Radio-Paris also maintained their own orchestras, but they were not permanent ensembles. In 1934 the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française was formed; it was the first orchestra of this type, and was conducted by D.-E. Inghelbrecht. In 1975 it became the Orchestre National de France. In the provinces, although some large cities such as Marseilles, Lyons and Bordeaux maintained high standards of their own, the main musical events were visits by touring Parisian virtuosos. Most military bands had now ceased to exist, and the Orphéons were very much in decline.

Musical education was the area that experienced the greatest paralysis at this time, beginning with the conservatories. In Paris the scandal of the ‘Ravel Affair’ – the composer’s rejection by the Prix de Rome jury – brought the appointment of Fauré as director of the Conservatoire, and several decisions favouring a more open policy. In the provinces, several new subsidiary conservatories were founded (22 in 1930, as well as 21 Ecoles Nationales), but while the statutes initially provided for state funding of 33% that proportion was progressively reduced, becoming a merely nominal amount after 1930, despite protests. On the initiative of Edouard Herriot a ‘Commission de rénovation et de développement des études musicales’ was set up in 1928, but although a report ensued (written by Charles L’Hopital) there were no effective reforms. Almost the same thing happened when the Front Populaire came to power in 1936 and decided that singing should be taught in the first year at secondary school. Some works were commissioned from composers after 1938, but further measures to introduce music into primary and secondary school teaching, as envisaged by the minister Jean Zay, were deferred. On the eve of World War II the conservatories were in a situation of mediocrity: in obtaining state support the municipalities had thought they would acquire both extra financial means and a guarantee of quality, but neither was forthcoming. In Paris, on the other hand, new private institutions as well as the Schola Cantorum attracted many French and foreign pupils: the Ecole Normale de Musique was founded in 1918 by Alfred Cortot and André Mangeot, and Nadia Boulanger, already well known as a teacher, was one of its first members of staff.

Music publishing and instrument making saw further development of the trends of the end of the previous century. Publishing remained in the hands of family firms, content to exploit their existing lists rather than look for fresh additions to the repertory or turn their attention to the musical heritage of France, which was of increasing importance in musical life. While Durand concentrated on the music of Debussy and Ravel, a new firm, Salabert, built its success on popular songs. Instrument makers saw a fall in the sales of pianos and string instruments, but wind instruments (made by Cousenon, Selmer and Buffet) continued to be exported.

(ii) After 1945.

Opera, however, remained a central preoccupation of government. After the creation of a Réunion des Théâtres Lyriques Municipaux, grouping 13 cities together, a plan for reform of the national opera houses, commissioned from Jean Vilar with the assistance of Pierre Boulez and Maurice Béjart, was brushed aside in 1967. The Opéra-Comique effectively closed down in 1972, but at the Opéra the administrator, Rolf Liebermann, succeeded in gaining public support, thanks to record budgets between 1973 and 1980. Subsidies were granted to the opera houses of some of the larger cities: the Opéra du Rhin at Strasbourg and the opera houses of Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lyons and Marseilles. At the same time, however, in 1974, Radiodiffusion Française was closing down its regional orchestras. In 1967 the old Société des Concerts du Conservatoire had become the Orchestre de Paris, which it was hoped would be a model of its kind.

In the years after the mid-century, research on contemporary music was concentrated in the Groupe de Recherches Musicales created at Radiodiffusion Française by Pierre Schaefer in 1958, and the Centre d’Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales (CEMAMu) founded by Iannis Xenakis in 1966. However, no organization of the time was more influential than the Domaine Musical founded in 1954 by Pierre Boulez. With the backing of private patronage it gave performances of the repertory of the Second Viennese School and the international avant-garde of the day. Gilbert Amy succeeded Boulez at its head from 1967 to 1973. In 1974 President Pompidou and the minister Michel Guy appointed Boulez to carry out his project for an Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique-Musique (IRCAM), which three years later became the music department of the new Pompidou Centre in Paris. It was reorganized by Boulez in 1980, still with the purpose of bringing composers and scientists together to pursue collective research. In 1976 Boulez had also instigated the foundation of the Ensemble InterContemporain, a chamber orchestra specializing in contemporary music and capable of performing especially the works produced by IRCAM.

During the 1960s a new form of musical activity emerged in the shape of festivals, held between spring and autumn, mainly in the provinces (apart from the Festival d’Automne in Paris). Although the open-air spectacles produced in the south of France (in Orange, Béziers, Arles, etc.) at the end of the 19th century may be regarded as forerunners of these events, the first to bear the name of Festival was the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1947. It was followed by the festivals of Besançon (1948), Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and so on. In 1978 there were some 300 festivals, both large and small, throughout the country, over 100 of them state-subsidized. Some were founded by great performers (Pablo Casals at Prades, Sviatoslav Richter at Meslay); some cover specialist fields (early music at Saintes), and three have played an important part in the dissemination of contemporary music – Royan (1965–76), La Rochelle (1973–80), and Metz (first held in 1972) – giving premières of many French and foreign works, but reaching what is mainly an audience of professionals.

The state has also undertaken to preserve the French musical heritage. In 1988 the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles was founded, with the task of promoting French music of the 17th and 18th centuries in the fields of broadcasting, teaching and research.

On the other hand the state authorities, with their natural tendency to favour operations engendering prestige, have been unable to maintain much vitality in music publishing, despite mergers (Heugel and Leduc, Eschig and Durand), or in instrument making: in 1970 the German company of Schimmel bought the three French brand names of Erard, Pleyel and Gaveau, and ten years later imports of musical instruments were three times greater than exports. Finally, the leading record labels have now all become subsumed into multinational companies.

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