Description
Book SynopsisFrench Musical Life is a study of French musical centralization and its discontents during the period leading up to and beyond the "provincial awakening" of the Belle Époque.
Trade ReviewAll France is not Paris. Katharine Ellis trains her keen researcher's eye on concerts, opera, conservatories, and other aspects of music-making in Lyon and other French centers during the years from Berlioz to Les Six. Compendious, exquisitely precise, written with total clarity—and instantly indispensable. * Ralph P. Locke, Emeritus Professor of Musicology, Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester, author of Musical Exoticism: Images and Reflections *
Katharine Ellis's latest book, French Musical Life: Local Dynamics in the Century to World War II, is a significant achievement. It is the first in-depth study of French music in relation to decentralization and cultural regionalism. The scale of the study, covering the complex musical dialogues between Paris and the regions and within the provinces themselves from the 1830s to the 1930s, will set a new standard for future scholarship within French cultural history. Beautifully written and argued with consummate subtlety and sophistication, Ellis brings to life musical institutions and music making from across France in ways that challenge and entice the reader. * Barbara L. Kelly, Director of Research and Professor of Musicology, Royal Northern College of Music *
The book offers a timely lesson in archive theory and provides a template for scholars interested in the power of local archives to undo previous under standings of music and politics. * Fanny Gribenski, New York University *
Table of ContentsIntroduction -Centralization and its discontents -Decentralization, deconcentration, regionalism -Politics, then and now -A Study in four Parts -Approaches Part I Education Introduction Chapter 1: The National Conservatoire System -Class and access: working-class men -Class and status: young bourgeoises -Power, hard and soft -Directorial discretion: curricula -The 1930s: towards reform Chapter 2: Educational Independence -Pedagogical Difference c.1900 -The Schola's ghostly presences I: Montpellier -The Schola's ghostly presences II: Séverac's vision, Le Havre and Nancy -Strasbourg -Bordeaux -Composition: the final frontier Part II Concert Rites Introduction Chapter 3: Choral Voices -Orphéons: uniformity and regional identity -Cathedral maîtrises -Mixed choirs: Poitou-Charentes and Strasbourg -Belle Époque ambition: Bordes, Witkowski and Lyon Chapter 4: Instrumental Music and Urban Gravitas -Private, public, "populaire" -The Symphony orchestra as musical hub -Amateur to professional -Provincial programming: orchestral, chamber and specialist ensembles -Local vs. (inter)national Part III Stage Musics Introduction Chapter 5: Opera Against the Odds -The 1864 liberté des théâtres -Municipal perspectives -Industry perspectives Chapter 6: Operatic Competition -The Café-Concert -Operetta -Touring: individual and collective -Technology Chapter 7: Opera Inside and Out -Wagner's "tour de France" -Couleur locale in Paris and at home -Open-air opera Part IV Folk, Region, Nation Introduction Chapter 8: Folk Musics -The French folk-music problem -Politics of collection, transcription, and classification -Soundscapes of popular Catholicism -Folk music, the peasant, and the bourgeoisie -Display, domestication, tourism -Coda Chapter 9: Composition -A View from 1937 -Provincial career paths -Rethinking the Schola's regionalism -The Allure of the Russian Five -Back to opera: regionalism and nation -Mode, multi-regionalism, and patrimoine Conclusions -"Decentralization" through the lens of Lyon -Musical localism -Repositioning the rural Bibliography Index
