Bal-musette is a style of French instrumental music and dance that first became popular in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in the 1880s. Although it began with bagpipes as the main instrument, this instrument was replaced with
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
, on which a variety of waltzes, polkas, and other dance styles were played for dances.
History
Auvergnats settled in large numbers in the
5th,
11th, and
12th
12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6.
It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...
districts (''
arrondissement
An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Europe
France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...
s'') of Paris during the 19th century, opening cafés and bars where patrons danced the
bourrée
The bourrée ( oc, borrèia; also in England, borry or bore) is a dance of French origin and the words and music that accompany it. The bourrée resembles the gavotte in that it is in double time and often has a dactylic rhythm. However, it is ...
to the accompaniment of the
cabrette
The cabrette ( French: literally "little goat", alternately ''musette'') is a type of bagpipe which appeared in Auvergne, France in the 19th century, and rapidly spread to Haute-Auvergne and Aubrac.
Details
The cabrette comprises a chanter for ...
(a
bellows
A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtigh ...
-blown
bagpipe
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, Nor ...
locally called a "
musette
Musette may refer to:
Music
* Musette de cour, or baroque musette, a musical instrument of the bagpipe family
* Musette bechonnet, a type of French bagpipe
* Musette bressane, a type of French bagpipe
* Oboe musette, or piccolo oboe, the small ...
") and often the
vielle à roue (
hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...
). Parisian and immigrant
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
musicians who played the
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
adopted the style and established themselves in Auvergnat bars especially in the
19th arrondissement
The 19th arrondissement of Paris (''XIXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-neuvième''.
The arrondissement, known as Butte-Chaumont, i ...
.
[Rémi Hess : ''La valse, un romantisme révolutionnaire'', Métailié editor, Sciences humaines collection, April 2003, p. 147-148. ().][Henri Joannis Deberne : ''Danser en société'', Christine Bonneton (editor), 3/1999, Paris. ().]
When Italians began introducing new rhythms like the
waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
and
polka
Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas.
History
Etymology
The term ...
into the traditional musical form and began playing it on recently introduced hybrid accordion, conflicts arose, and the Italian and Auvergnat styles split. By the end of 19th century, there were three kinds of ''bals-musette'' establishments:
*''bal des familles'' - Auvergnat
*''bal musette populaires'' - Italian
*''guinche'' or ''bal de barrière'' - seedy hangouts frequented by
low-life
A low-life (or lowlife) is a term for a person who is considered morally unacceptable by their community. Examples of people society often labels low-lives include aggressive panhandlers, bullies, criminals, drug dealers, freeloaders, hobos, ga ...
s and so-called
bohemians
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
.
These places often were frequented by members of the French upper-class looking for excitement among the poor and downtrodden. Some establishments even staged mock police raids for their patrons' benefit. Performers of this era include Antoine Bouscatel,
Émile Vacher
Émile Vacher (May 7, 1883 - April 8, 1969) was a French accordionist associated with, and often deemed the creator of, the bal-musette Bal-musette is a style of French instrumental music and dance that first became popular in Paris in the 1880s. A ...
, Martin Cayla, Charles Péguri, and
Gus Viseur
Gustave Joseph Viseur (17 May 1915 – 25 August 1974) was a Belgian/French accordionist.
Early life
Viseur was born in Lessines, Belgium, on 17 May 1915. His father was a bargeman, so the family moved around a lot until 1920, when they settled i ...
.
Musette dance forms arose from people looking for easier, faster and more sensual dance steps, as well as forms that did not require a large hall. "Musette-forms" that established themselves as variations to popular dances of the day include:
*
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
-musette
*
paso-musette
*
valse
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wal ...
-musette, with a special variation called ''la toupie'' ("the
top
A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect.
Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...
"), where dancers are very close and turn around themselves very regularly.
An original musette dance also appeared, known as
java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
.
Admission to most bals was free, but dancers bought dance tokens at the cash-desk. These tokens were made of metal in various shapes with the name of the hall stamped on one side. In the middle of the dance, the bal director walked between the couples with a bag and the dancers turned-in a token.
In the 1930s,
gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz (also known as gypsy swing, jazz manouche or hot club-style jazz) is a style of small-group jazz originating from the Romani guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–53), in conjunction with the French swing violinist Stéphane Gr ...
, a rhythmic form of
swing music
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...
, drew on musette styles. By 1945, the bal-musette became the most popular style of dance in France and its biggest stars were widely known across the country. Its popularity declined drastically beginning around 1960. A revival of bals has begun, especially in larger cities, and a modern form of the musette is establishing itself.
Notes
Bibliography
* Amandine Dewaele (1995), ''Les origines du bal musette'', Paris 8e: Mémoire de maîtrise d'anthropologie.
* Roger Chenault (1995), ''La danse musette'', Courbevoie: Author edition.
External links
*
web site of Jo Privat, a French musette accordion player
{{Authority control
French styles of music
French dances
19th-century music genres