Discover the focuses!
A thorough understanding of the history of French music of the 19th century can’t be got from studying the careers of individual musicians and an analysis of the works they composed or performed alone. Available instrumentation (itself burgeoning at the height of an industrial revolution), the artistic way of life in the period (whether in private salons or major concert societies) and the development of new operatic or instrumental genres, are all factors that contribute to a complete picture of the period’s intensely-productive music scene.
L'école franckiste
Parallèlement à l’activité de Saint-Saëns, Fauré ou Debussy, l’« école franckiste » occupa une place prépondérante dans la sphère musicale francophone.
Napoleon and music
Napoleon is generally said to have had little taste for music. However, to his credit, he organised a prosperous, eclectic artistic life in Paris.
Romantic Harp
In early nineteenth-century France, the harp was a very modern instrument, replacing the “baroque” harpsichord and competing with the pianoforte in a quest for “classical” expression.
Victor Hugo et les musiciens romantiques
Grand admirateur de Beethoven et Schubert, Victor Hugo s’intéresse à la musique sans être – à une occasion près – un acteur direct de la vie musicale de son temps.
The French Mélodie with orchestra
If you want to have your Lieder with orchestra, don’t think twice, the Lied with orchestra is a social necessity; if there were such a thing, singers in concerts would not always be performing operatic arias, which often create such a mediocre impression”. (Camille Saint-Saëns)
Symbolisme et impressionnisme
Même s’il s’agit de deux courants distincts, le symbolisme et l’impressionnisme se superposent en partie : ces deux esthétiques reposent sur la suggestion (plutôt que la description), le mystère et l’onirisme.