Music and the French Revolution, 1789-1799

This is a study paper which has significance for World Military bands and is created  by Keith Cochran of the University of  North Carolina Chappel Hill USA 

 

Introduction

Subject Headings for Searching

Browsing Area

Bibliographies, Databases, and Indexes

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

General Sources on the French Revolution and Music

Specific Aspects of Music in the French Revolution

Composers

 

I.       Introduction: Historians have long recognized the tremendous impact the French Revolution had on western civilization and culture. Many of the ideas of democracy that are taken for granted in much of the world today, such as the liberty and equality of individuals, the importance of written constitutions in managing a nation, and government by representation, are legacies of the French Revolution. A growing sense of national consciousness in many countries also developed after French armies had marched across Europe. After conquering parts of both Italy and Germany, Napoleon consolidated many of the independent states, a move that in turn created the desire for unification in both countries. Sentiment against the Christian church in France also signaled an important change: in the wake of the revolution, many people increasingly questioned the church's authority. A redistribution of wealth also occurred after the overthrow of the French monarchy. Finally, a series of popular uprisings and reform movements in European countries in the nineteenth century owed much to the example of the French Revolution.

 

Given all the cataclysmic upheavals this movement produced, it is hardly surprising that music was profoundly affected as well. The significance of the music written during the revolution, however, has only begun to be recognized by scholars within the last forty years or so. When scholars think of the most important music from the late eighteenth century, they are apt to look at Vienna, the city where Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) worked. It is the music of these composers that has become a mainstay of the standard repertoire, while much of the music written in Paris at the same time has been forgotten. The recent interest in the role music plays in society has caused scholars to take another look at music during this period. As a result they have uncovered a wealth of fascinating material about how revolutionary ideals affected subject matter in opera, the impact of politics on music, and the use of music in outdoor festivals popular in Paris at the time. This pathfinder provides an introductory guide to some of the most important work in this burgeoning field of study.

 

Scope: The dates for the French Revolution used here are 1789-1799. Although the ideals and effects of the revolution had a profound impact on the nineteenth century, most historians use 1799 as a terminus for the event itself. Historians generally call the period 1799-1804 the Consulate (when Napoleon was first consul) and the years 1804-1815 the Empire. Consequently, this pathfinder will be confined to a period of ten years.

 

My intent in designing the website is to provide an introductory guide for students of music history approaching this topic for the first time. Most of the sources listed are in English. The only exceptions are the musical scores listed under individual composers. These sources exist only in French, but for most of them, the introductory material is given in English. Therefore, readers should still be able to use them with profit. Although the bulk of the material covered here is derived from musicological studies, a few general historical sources are included as well.

 

This pathfinder has been organized to move from general to more specific sources and topics. For the final section on composers, I have selected three figures generally considered to be the most important and representative of those working in Paris during this time. It should be emphasized, however, that information on each of them (as well as other composers) will also be found in sections VI and VII.

 

So far, scholarly work on this topic had not yet led to the reestablishment of these composers in the standard repertoire. The music of most of the composers covered here is seldom heard today in the concert hall or opera house. With the exception of some works by Luigi Cherubini (not all of them written during the revolution), recordings remain scarce. Consequently, they have been omitted from this pathfinder.

 

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II.     Subject Headings for Searching
 Festivals-France-History-18th century
France-History-Revolution, 1789-1799
France-History-Revolution, 1789-1799-Historiography
France-History-Revolution, 1789-1799-Songs and music
France-Social life and customs-1789-1815
Music-France-18th century-History and criticism
National songs-France
Patriotic music-France
Revolutionary ballads and songs-France

 

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III.   Browsing Area

 

 DC138 through DC195: material about the French Revolution.

 

M2, M3: Designates scholarly editions of music.

 

M1500: Designates musical scores of operas.

 

ML270: Designates books about the history of music in France

 

ML410: Designates books about composers. Use the first letter of the composer's last name as a guide in looking for books.

 

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IV.    Bibliographies, Databases, and Indexes

 

          General  (History and Music)

 
Caldwell, Ronald J. The Era of the French Revolution: A Bibliography of the History of Western Civilization, 1789-1799. 2 vols. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1985. [Davis Reference Z2178 .C34 1985]

A listing of 42,420 books, articles, and dissertations on the history of Europe and the Western Hemisphere from 1789 to 1799. All of the first volume and part of the second are devoted to the French Revolution. A detailed table of contents is helpful in looking for specific topics. Indexed by author and subject. Most bibliographic entries are not annotated.

 
Heyer, Anna Harriet. Historical Sets, Collected Editions, and Monuments of Music: a Guide to their Contents, 2 vols. 3rd ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1980. [Davis Reference/Music Reference ML113 .H52 1980]

A detailed list of the contents of scholarly editions of music. The first volume is organized by title of edition. Consult the index (volume 2) to look up specific composers and find editions of their music.

 
Historical Abstracts.

Contains abstracts of articles and books on world history (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. Available online under the Davis Library home page. Click on "Library Specific Indexes and Databases", then click on Davis Library, then scroll down and click on Historical Abstracts.

 
International Index to Music Periodicals.

Indexes 375 current journals on music and retrospective indexing for some periodicals dating back to 1874. Searchable by keyword, title, author, and subject (the last from 1996 forward). Abstracts are included also from 1996 forward. Available on the Davis Library home page. Click on "Online Catalogs and Services", then "Electronic Indexes and Databases", then International Index to Music Periodicals."

 
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature.

Has abstracts (but not full text) of literature on music dating back to 1969. Available online on the Davis Library home page. Click on "Online Catalogs and Services," then "Electronic Indexes and Databases," then "OCLC First Search," then "Arts and Humanities," then "RILM." Also available as a printed resource. [Music Reference ML1 .I83]


Specific
Hesse, Carla, and Laura Mason. Pamphlets, Periodicals, and Songs of the French Revolutionary Era in the Princeton University Library: a Descriptive Catalogue Together with Indexes. New York: Garland Publishers, 1989. [Davis Reference Z2178 .P76 1989]

Lists approximately 3,000 pamphlets, periodicals, and songs from the period held at Princeton. Arranged by shelf order but easily accessible by extensive indexes of author, title, subject, and first line of song.

 
Kennedy, Emmet, et al. Theatre, Opera, and Audiences in Revolutionary Paris: Analysis and Repertory. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. [Davis PN2633.T54 1996]

The authors of the study have set out to document the number of performances of all plays and operas performed in Paris from 1789 to 1799. In order to do so, they went through two contemporary Parisian newspapers day by day and counted the theatrical performances listed in each one. In all, they found over 86,000 performances of approximately 3,7000 plays and operas. This source lists every play and opera found, the number of performances, and the theater(s) at which they were performed. There are indexes by author, composer, and title. A group of tables provides a useful guide to the most popular works of the period. A database from which the book was compiled is available online with restricted access. The database, (compiled by Mark Olsen, one of the authors) contains information and methods of sorting that are not included in the book.

 

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V.     Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

 
Furet, François, and Mona Ozouf, ed. A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989. [Davis Reference DC148 .D513 1989]

Divided into five sections: events, actors (that is, important people), institutions and creations, ideas, and historians and commentators. Each section contains lengthy essays (usually 10-20 pages) outlining the state of current scholarship on specific topics or people. The essays are both informative and critical: they describe the subject and explain its significance. The dictionary contains ninety-nine entries and each has cross-references and bibliography. Excellent reproductions of illustrations from the period are also included.

 
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 20 vols. Edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan Press, 1980. [Davis Reference/Music Reference ML100 .G885 1980]

The standard reference source for music. Articles on composers, performers, and musical terms comprise the bulk of this encyclopedia. At the time of its publication, the New Grove represented the current state of knowledge for music.

 
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. 4 vols. Edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan Press, 1992. [Music Reference ML102 .O6 N5 1992]

The standard authority for opera. Instead of borrowing material from the New Grove Dictionary of Music, this source consists almost entirely of new articles. Plot synopses of the most important operas from the French Revolution are included. The entries for composers often supersede those found in the New Grove Dictionary of Music.

 
Scott, Samuel F., and Barry Rothaus., ed. Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution 1789-1799. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985. [Davis Reference DC147 .H57 1985]

A useful complementary source to Furet and Ozouf's Critical Dictionary listed above. Scott and Rothaus include far more entries (over 500), but treat them in much less detail. The entries tend to be short and concentrate more on factual reports than interpretation. Bibliographies and cross-references are included.

 

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VI.    General Sources on the French Revolution and Music

 
Abraham, Gerald, ed. The Age of Beethoven, 1790-1830. New Oxford History of Music, vol. 8. London: Oxford University Press, 1982. [Davis/Music/Music Reference ML160 .N44 v. 8]

 

This survey of music from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries includes an article on French opera by Winton Dean. His study is probably the best overview of composers and their musical styles.

 
Boyd, Malcolm, ed. Music and the French Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992. [Music ML270.3 .M88 1992]

 

This collection of articles is derived from a conference held at the University of Wales, Cardiff in 1989. Coverage ranges from operatic works dealing with themes and events of the revolution to the use of music for propaganda. Music education, and the musical impact of the French occupation of parts of Italy are also covered.

 
Mongrédien, Jean. French Music from the Enlightenment to Romanticism. Translated by Sylvain Frémaux. Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1996. [Music ML 270.4 .M6513 1996]

Emphasis in this book is placed on the institutions and social forces that affected music in France. Accordingly, chapters are devoted to the founding of the Paris Conservatory in the 1790s, the impact of politics on theaters, and changes in concert repertoire as evidence of a shift in musical taste.

 
Ozouf, Mona. Festivals and the French Revolution. Translated by Alan Sheridan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988. [Davis DC159 .O9613 1988]

 

Festivals celebrating abstract ideals such as reason and sovereignty of the people as well as those honoring France's victories over other countries were very common during the revolution. Music often played a pivotal role for such occasions. Ozouf sees the festivals as public gestures designed to repudiate the authority of the church and monarchy and instead emphasize the unity of the French people. Although she does not discuss music, her book provides a good introduction to an aspect of the revolution often neglected by other scholars. An examination of the music used for these events is found in Whitwell's study (see below).

 

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VII.  Specific Aspects of Music in the French Revolution

 
Dean, Winton. "Opera under the French Revolution." Proceedings of the Royal Music Association. 94 (1967-1968): 77-96. [Music PER v. 94 1967-68]

 

A classic article stressing the stylistic innovations of composers of French operas during this period. Dean convincingly argues that the roots for many musical developments of the nineteenth century may be found here. He especially calls attention to Cherubini's influence on Beethoven, and Méhul's pioneering use of features later found in German Romantic opera.

 
Longyear, R. Morgan. "Notes on the Rescue Opera." Musical Quarterly 45 (January 1959): 49-66. [Music PER v. 45 1959]

 

The term "rescue opera" has been coined by historians to describe a type of plot frequently encountered in opera of the period. Typically in a "rescue opera," a virtuous person wrongly imprisoned or facing some other danger is rescued from harm. More recent scholarly work has called into question the usefulness of the term. Nonetheless, Longyear's article is still useful for its description of common themes in texts of operas. He also describes some stylistic innovations, such as changes in the overture, expansion of aria forms, the increased use of ensembles, and the heightened importance of the orchestra in depicting the drama.

 
Mason, Laura. Singing the French Revolution: popular culture and politics, 1787-1799. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996. [Music ML3621 .R48 M37 1996]

 

Mason traces the role popular song played during the revolution. She demonstrates that songs were used by different factions of society as a means of promoting their political goals. When various factions were absorbed into a larger, more homogenous movement, the songs in turn expressed the ideals of a larger community. Later, fragmentation again occurred, and popular songs followed suit.

 
Pendle, Karin. "A bas les couvents! Anticlerical Sentiment in French Opera of the 1790s. Music Review 42 (February 1981): 22-45. [Music PER v. 42 1981]

 

Pendle describes the plot and music of several operas that show a critical attitude toward the church. Several themes regularly occur: monastic life is compared to imprisonment, religious vows are often taken against one's will, and the church in general is seen as an oppressive institution.

 
Whitwell, David. Band Music of the French Revolution. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1979. [Music ML1327 .W5]

 

The first part of this book contains a chronological description of festivals held in Paris and, where known, the music that accompanied them. The second part is a catalog of surviving works for band originally performed at festivals. For each entry, Whitwell gives a thematic incipit, instrumentation, the location of manuscript sources, and a brief commentary on the music.

 

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VIII.  Composers

 

 Cherubini, Luigi (1760-1842).

 

Books and Articles

 

Deane, Basil. Cherubini. London: Oxford University Press, 1965. [Music ML410 .C5 D38]

 

Deane's book is a short, introductory study devoted primarily to Cherubini's music. Deane concentrates on concise descriptionns of the musical style of Cherubini's most important works. Comparatively little space is devoted to the composer's life or the historical situation in which he worked.

 
Penack, William. "Cherubini Stages a Revolution." Opera Quarterly 8 (Spring 1991): 8-27. [Music PER v.8 nos. 1-2 1991]

 

Penack presents a detailed plot synopsis of Cherubini's opera Lodoïska and shows how it promotes the ideals of the revolution. He also considers Cherubini's influence on Beethoven.

 
Ringer, Alexander L. "Cherubini's Médée and the Spirit of French Revolutionary Opera." In Essays in Musicology in Honor of Dragan Plamenac on his 70th Birthday, ed. Gustave Reese and Robert J. Snow, 281-299. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1969. [Music ML3797.1 .R44]

 

Ringer provides an overview of Cherubini's early career and examines the style of his opera Médée in depth. Emphasis is placed on the "revolutionary" aspects of the work that anticipate developments in opera in the nineteenth century.

 

Music

 
Cherubini, Luigi. Lodoïska. Early Romantic Opera, ed. Phillip Gossett and Charles Rosen, vol. 33. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1978. [Music M2 .E143 v. 33]

 

Premiered in 1791, the opera's plot embodies the revolutionary ideal of liberty triumphing over tyranny and injustice. Musically, the work is a landmark in Cherubini's development.

 
Cherubini, Luigi. Eliza ou le Voyage aux glaciers du Mont S. Bernard. Early Romantic Opera, ed. Phillip Gossett and Charles Rosen, vol. 34. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1979. [Music M2 .E143 v. 34]

 

Often cited as an example of the "rescue opera" because the leading male character, Florindo, is saved from an avalanche that takes place in the Swiss alps. First performed in 1794, this opera was popular both in France and Germany.

 
Cherubini, Luigi. Les Deux Journées. Early Romantic Opera, ed. Phillip Gossett and Charles Rosen, vol. 35. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1980. [Music M2 .E143 v. 35]

 

First performed in January 1800, shortly after the end of the revolution, Les Deux Journées was one of Cherubini's most successful operas and greatly admired by Beethoven and Goethe. The plot, in which a character is saved from an unjust arrest and imprisonment at the last moment, is based on actual events that occurred during the Reign of Terror.

 
Grétry, André Ernest Modeste (1741-1813).

 

 Books and Articles

 

Bartlet, M. Elizabeth C. "Politics and the Fate of Roger et Olivier, a Newly Recovered Opera by Grétry." Journal of the American Musicological Society 37 (Spring 1984): 98-138. [Music PER v. 37 1984]

 

Roger et Olivier remained completely unknown until Bartlet discovered it at the Bibliothhèque Nationale in Paris. The opera was never performed because it ran afoul of political pressure and changes in public taste. Bartlet outlines reasons for its unfortunate fate and its relationship to Grétry's other works.

 
Bartlet, M. Elizabeth C. "Patriotism at the Opéra-Comique during the Revolution: Grétry's 'Callias, ou nature et patrie.'" In Atti del XIV Congresso della Società Internazionale di Musicologia, ed. Angelo Pompilio, et al. 839-852. Turin: E.D.T. Edizioni, 1990. [ML36 .I67 1987]

 

Grétry's opera, Callias, ou nature et patrie, was premiered in September 1794, a time when France was engaged in a war against England, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Set in ancient Greece, the opera's plot closely parallels France's situation at the time and promotes courage and service to one's country. Bartlet relates the opera's theme to the circumstances during which it was written, and briefly describes its musical style.

 
Charlton, David. Grétry and the growth of opéra-comique. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. [Music ML410 .G83 C35 1986]

 

Charlton's book is a landmark in the literature on this composer. He gives a comprehensive overview of Grétry's life and works from 1760 to 1790. As a result, the book concludes just after the start of the revolution. Nonetheless, the final chapters provide a helpful introduction to some important operas from the early days of the revolution.

 

Music

 
Grétry, André Ernest Modeste. Collection complète des oeuvres de Grétry. Edited by François-Auguste Gevaert et al. Livre 28, Denys le tyran, maître d'école à Corinthe. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1884-1936.

 

First performed in 1794, Denys le tyran is based on a fictional episode from the life of Dionysius, who lived in the fourth century BC. A tyrant who has recently lost his power, Dionysius has fled incognito to Corinth, where he starts a school for children. When the parents recognize the former ruler, they force him to leave and put a statue of liberty in his place. Grétry concludes his opera with the popular revolutionary song, the Marseillaise. The rabid ideological bias of this work is representative of one type of opera favored during the revolution.

 
Grétry, André Ernest Modeste. Collection complète des oeuvres de Grétry. Edited by François-Auguste Gevaert et al. Livre 40, Pierre le Grand. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1884-1936.

 

Premiered in 1790, this work is loosely based on the life of Peter the Great, who is explicitly compared to Louis XVI of France. Written at an early stage of the revolution, Pierre le Grand still presents a positive picture of the monarchy. Its content is thereby the polar opposite of Denys le tyran.

 
Méhul, Etienne Nicolas, 1763-1817. Books and Articles

 

Bartlet, M. Elizabeth C. "Etienne Nicolas Méhul and Opera During the French Revolution, Consulate, and Empire: A Source, Archival, and Stylistic Study." Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1982. [Duke Music Microfilm M1397]

 

The standard authority for Méhul's operas. Bartlet gives a detailed description of all the surviving sources (both manuscript and printed), information on the theaters where Méhul worked, and traces the development of the composer's musical style throughout his career. A landmark study, Bartlet's dissertation is the required starting point for any investigation of Méhul.

 
Charlton, David. "Motive and Motif: Méhul Before 1791." Music and Letters 57 (October 1976): 362-369. [Music PER v. 57 1976]

 

Examines Méhul's treatment of motives in his early works. Most of the article concentrates on the opera Euphrosine et Coradin ou le tyran corrigé.

 
Grace, Michael D. "Méhul's Ariodant and the Early Leitmotif." In A Festschrift for Albert Seay: Essays by his Friends and Colleagues, ed. Michael D. Grace, 173-193. Colorado Springs: Colorado College, 1982. [Music ML55 .S5 1982]

Similar in focus to Charlton's article cited above, Grace discusses Méhul's use of musical motives in Ariodant to depict hate and vengeance. Grace also examines theoretical literature from the 1780s and 1790s that considers how music can serve dramatic purposes in opera.

Music

 
Méhul, Etienne Nicolas. Ariodant. Early Romantic Opera, ed. Phillip Gossett and Charles Rosen, vol. 39. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1978. [Music M2 .E143 v. 39]

 

One of Méhul's most dramatic works, Ariodant was first performed in 1799. It is especially notable for its use of musical motives to assist in characterization.

 
Méhul, Etienne Nicolas. Euphrosine et Coradin ou le tyran corrigé. Early Romantic Opera, ed. Phillip Gossett and Charles Rosen, vol. 38. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1980. [Music M2 .E143 v. 38]

 

Méhul's second opera, Euphrosine (premiered in 1790), is important for its early use of a recurring musical idea to represent the emotion of jealousy at different points in the opera. This feature was greatly admired by Hector Berlioz later in the nineteenth century. Méhul's penchant for experimentation is already evident in this early work.

 
Méhul, Etienne Nicolas. Mélidore et Phrosine. With a foreward by M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol. 73. New York: Pendragon Press, 1990. [M1500 .M512 M3 1990]

 

Because this opera deals with the topic of incest, it was not as popular as some of Méhul's other works. Nonetheless, it deserves attention for the composer's experiments with formal construction (some pieces end without a musical resolution, which occurs instead in the following piece) and musical keys as symbols for particular states of emotion. The introduction by M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet for this edition is especially informative.

 
Méhul, Etienne Nicolas. Stratonice. With a foreward by M. Elizabeth C. Bartlet. French Opera in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, vol 72b. New York: Pendragon Press, 1997. [M1500 .M512 S7 1997]

 

Premiered in 1792, Stratonice was much admired by Cherubini. The work shows a consolidation of techniques and features (such as unusual orchestration and extending the length of individual pieces) already apparent in his earlier works. Bartlet's introduction is again a helpful guide.

 

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Questions or comments? cochk@ils.unc.edu

Created by Keith Cochran

School of Information and Library Science

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill