French Music from the Enlightenment to Romanticism

Although the years from 1789 to 1830 have been unjustly neglected by musicologists, a closer examination of the musical activity of the day reveals a rich period in French musical life. Never before had music been so enthusiastically embraced by the French: day after day musical activity encompassed an ever-greater number of people, both in Paris and the provincial areas.

This is the first book to focus exclusively on French music history from the late eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century. Painting a full picture of the musical works and genres in vogue at the time - from revolutionary hymns and operas to sacred, symphonic, and instrumental music - the author aims to fill the gap in music history that separates the Age of Enlightenment from romanticism in France.

He describes the history of the institutions that supported the growing feverish musical activity, including the musical theaters of Paris, the Conservatoire, the Tuileries Chapel, and various concert societies. Against the background of French criticism of contemporary German music, namely that of Mozart and Beethoven, he evokes the great esthetic debates of the time. His conclusion?

The forty-year period that gave rise to Rouget de Lisle's La Marseillaise and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique imperceptibly paved the way from the rationalistic esthetic of the Enlightenment to the glory of romanticism.