Table of Contents

Contents: Preface; French music since Berlioz: issues and debates, Déirdre Donnellon; 19th-century spectacle, Tom Cooper; 19th-century orchestral and chamber music, Timothy Jones; Music in the French salon, James Ross; French operatic spectacle in the 20th century, Richard Langham Smith; Church and organ music, Nigel Simeone; Modernization: from Chabrier and Fauré to Debussy and Ravel, Roy Howat; Satie & Les Six, Robert Orledge; 'Dancing on the edge of the volcano': French music in the 1930s, Deborah Mawer; French music and the Second World War, Caroline Potter; Pierre Boulez and the foundation of IRCAM, Peter O'Hagan; French musical style and the post-war generation, Caroline Potter; Index.

About the Author

Richard Langham Smith, The Open University, UK and Caroline Potter, Kingston University, UK Deirdre Donnellon, Tom Cooper, Tim Jones, James Ross, Richard Langham Smith, Nigel Simeone, Roy Howat, Robert Orledge, Deborah Mawer, Caroline Potter, Peter O'Hagan.

Reviews

'The editors, Richard Langham Smith and Caroline Potter, have succeeded in covering the extraordinary richness and diversity of over a hundred years of French music. This period includes every type of music from Offenbach to Boulez, but all eleven contributors have a special sympathy for their particular allotments, so that justice is done to many figures who have been overlooked in our hasty consumption of the major masters. Debussy is not singled out as a solitary pioneer but placed fairly and squarely with Faure, Chabrier and Ravel as part of a bold exploratory movement in a superb essay by Roy Howat, who writes in detail of the music without ever losing his head or the reader's attention. The 1930s, normally assumed to be barren, are brought to life by Deborah Mawer, and important recent composers, such as Dutilleux and Ohana, are sympathetically treated by Caroline Potter. James Ross's fascinating survey of the salon traces some vitally important and little explored threads in the fabric of French music. The intellectual curiosity of French audiences and critics and the extreme variety of the works they happily venerate or abhor makes French music an unusually rewarding topic for non-French writers; this team of Francophiles has uncovered many of the secrets of a brilliant repertoire without falling into the trap of imagining that there is a single characteristic that makes French music French.' Hugh Macdonald, Avis Blewett Professor of Music, Washington University, St Louis, USA 'French art music has its monstres sacres, to be sure, but its full range and richness remain too little known and appreciated in the English-speaking world. This excellent volume is therefore most welcome. In it, an impressive team of British specialists, led by Richard Langham Smith and Caroline Potter, provides expert guidance to a vast and rewarding repertory ranging from Berlioz to Boulez and including music for the concert hall, stage, salon, and church. Not a history per se, but a shrewdly assembled collection of essays-to varying degrees historical, biographical, analytical, political and cultural in focus-offering fresh insights into well-known composers and masterpieces while bringing to light much forgotten music eminently deserving of attention. This impressive volume will surely be welcomed by scholars, students, performers, and inquisitive concert-goers.' David Grayson, Professor of Musicology, University of Minnesota, USA '... the individual authors have a persuasive English style and deploy it to make authoritative statements.' BBC Music Magazine '... a book which will undoubtedly become a core text for students and enthusiasts alike.' Brio 'This collection of 12 essays by some of the most expert writers on French music must be rated among the best music books of the year... All [contributions] are consistently sympathetic, illuminating and stimulating.' Classical Music '... the essays provide a wealth of valuable information about post-1870 French music and cast new light upon a large and diverse body of music richly deserving serious and unprejudiced study.' Music and Letters '... French Music since Berlioz is a significant addition to the general literature on its subject that no French scholar, enthusiast, or academic music library can afford to be without.' Fontes Artis Musicae