France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
reflects a diverse array of styles. In the field of
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
, France has produced several prominent
romantic composer
R, or r, is the eighteenth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabe ...
s, while folk and popular music have seen the rise of the
chanson
A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...
and
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
style. The earliest known sound recording device in the world, the
phonautograph
The phonautograph is the earliest known device for recording sound. Previously, tracings had been obtained of the sound-producing vibratory motions of tuning forks and other objects by physical contact with them, but not of actual sound waves ...
, was patented in France by
Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville
Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville (; 25 April 1817 – 26 April 1879) was a French printer, bookseller and inventor.
He invented the earliest known sound recording device, the phonautograph, which was patented in France on 25 March 1858
.
...
in 1857. France is also the 5th largest market by value in the world, and its music industry has produced many internationally renowned artists, especially in the nouvelle chanson and
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
.
Classical music
Medieval
French
music history
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view.
In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...
dates back to
organum
''Organum'' () is, in general, a plainchant melody with at least one added voice to enhance the harmony, developed in the Middle Ages. Depending on the mode and form of the chant, a supporting bass line (or '' bourdon'') may be sung on the same ...
in the 10th century, followed by the
Notre Dame School
The Notre-Dame school or the Notre-Dame school of polyphony refers to the group of composers working at or near the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris from about 1160 to 1250, along with the music they produced.
The only composers whose names hav ...
, an organum composition style.
Troubadour
A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...
songs of
chivalry
Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours we ...
and
courtly love
Courtly love ( oc, fin'amor ; french: amour courtois ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing vari ...
were composed in the
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language
Occitan (; o ...
language between the 10th and 13th centuries, and the
Trouvère
''Trouvère'' (, ), sometimes spelled ''trouveur'' (, ), is the Northern French (''langue d'oïl'') form of the ''langue d'oc'' (Occitan) word ''trobador'', the precursor of the modern French word ''troubadour''. ''Trouvère'' refers to poet- ...
poet-composers flourished in Northern France during this period. The fiddle was their instrument of choice. By the end of the 12th century, a form of song called the
motet
In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...
arose, accompanied by traveling musicians called
jongleur
A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer who ...
s. In the 14th century, France produced two notable styles of music, Ars Nova and
Ars Subtilior
''Ars subtilior'' (Latin for 'subtler art') is a musical style characterized by rhythmic and notational complexity, centered on Paris, Avignon in southern France, and also in northern Spain at the end of the fourteenth century.Hoppin 1978, 47 ...
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
, which was the mostly French-speaking area unified with the
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...
in 1477, had become a major center for musical development in the musical continent Europe. This was followed by the rise of
chanson
A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...
s and the
Burgundian School
The Burgundian School was a group of composers active in the 15th century in what is now northern and eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, centered on the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. The school inaugurated the music of Burgundy.
The ...
.
Baroque
Influential composers included
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...
,
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...
,
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre
Élisabeth Claude Jacquet de La Guerre (, née Jacquet, 17 March 1665 – 27 June 1729) was a French musician, harpsichordist and composer.
Life and works
Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre (née Jacquet) was born on March 17, 1665, into a ...
,
Louis Couperin
Louis Couperin (; – 29 August 1661) was a French Baroque composer and performer. He was born in Chaumes-en-Brie and moved to Paris in 1650–1651 with the help of Jacques Champion de Chambonnières. Couperin worked as organist of the C ...
,
François Couperin
François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...
and
Jacques Champion de Chambonnières Jacques Champion de Chambonnières (Jacques Champion, commonly referred to as Chambonnières) (c. 1601/2 – 1672) was a French harpsichordist, dancer and composer. Born into a musical family, Chambonnières made an illustrious career as court ha ...
.
Jean Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera ...
, a prominent opera composer, wrote an influential treatise on musical theory, especially in the subject of
harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
; he also introduced the
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
into his orchestras. In the late Renaissance and early Baroque period, a type of popular secular vocal music called ''
Air de cour
The ''air de cour'' was a popular type of secular vocal music in France in the late Renaissance and early Baroque period, from about 1570 until around 1650. From approximately 1610 to 1635, during the reign of Louis XIII, this was the predominant ...
'' spread throughout France.
Opera
The first French
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
Carpentras
Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; la, Carpentoracte) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.
...
in 1646. It was followed by the team of
Pierre Perrin
Pierre Perrin (c.1620 – 24 April 1675) was a French poet and librettist.
Perrin, sometimes known as L'Abbé Perrin although he never belonged to the clergy, was born in Lyon. He founded the Académie d'Opéra, which later was renamed the Acad ...
Issy
Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...
, who had become well known for composing
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
s for
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
, began creating a French version of the Italian ''
opera seria
''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...
'', a kind of tragic opera known as ''tragédie lyrique'' or ''tragédie en musique'' - see (
French lyric tragedy
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
). His first was ''
Cadmus
In Greek mythology, Cadmus (; grc-gre, Κάδμος, Kádmos) was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes. He was the first Greek hero and, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the da ...
'' from 1673. Lully's forays into operatic tragedy were accompanied by the pinnacle of French theatrical tragedy, led by
Corneille
Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine.
As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...
and
Racine
Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...
.
Lully also developed the common beat patterns used by conductors to this day and was the first to take the role of leading the orchestra from the position of the first violin.
The French composer
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...
composed
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
, one of the best-known and most popular operas.
Classical era
Claude Balbastre was an organist, harpsichordist and fortepianist. He was one of the most famous musicians of his time.
Henri-Montan Berton
Henri-Montan Berton (17 September 1767 – 22 April 1844) was a French composer, teacher, and writer, mostly known as a composer of operas for the Opéra-Comique.
Career
Henri-Montan Berton was born the son of Pierre Montan Berton.Charlton ...
, son of Pierre, is principally remembered as a composer of operas, most of which were first performed at the Opéra-Comique.
Chélard earned his living for much of his career as a violist at the Paris Opera. His 1827 opera Macbeth was a flop in Paris, but a great success in Munich.
Jeanne-Hippolyte Devismes married the director of the Paris Opéra. Her only known works are a song, "La Dame Jacinthe", and an opera, Praxitėle, which was a success and ran for 16 performances.
Harpsichordist and composer
Jacques Duphly
Jacques Duphly (also Dufly, Du Phly; 12 January 1715 – 15 July 1789) was a French harpsichordist and composer.
Early career as an organist
He was born in Rouen, France, the son of Jacques-Agathe Duphly and Marie-Louise Boivin. As a boy, h ...
contributed to Jean-Jacques Rousseau dictionary, for articles relating to the art of playing the harpsichord.
Romantic era
One of the major French composers of the time, and one of the most innovative composers of the early Romantic era, was
Hector Berlioz
In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
.
In the late 19th century, pioneers such as
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...
,
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
,
Gabriel Fauré
Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...
,
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
and
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
revitalized French music. The last two had an enormous impact on 20th-century music - both in France and abroad - and influenced many major composers such as
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
and
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
.
Erik Satie
Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...
The early 20th century saw neo-classical music flourish in France, especially composers such as
Lili Boulanger
Marie Juliette "Lili" Boulanger (; 21 August 189315 March 1918) was a French composer and the first female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize. Her older sister was the noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger.
Biography ...
,
Nadia Boulanger
Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist.
From a ...
,
Albert Roussel
Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (; 5 April 1869 – 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His ...
and
Les Six
"Les Six" () is a name given to a group of six composers, five of them French and one Swiss, who lived and worked in Montparnasse. The name, inspired by Mily Balakirev's '' The Five'', originates in two 1920 articles by critic Henri Collet in '' ...
, a group of musicians who gathered around Satie. Later in the century,
Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...
,
Henri Dutilleux
Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. His small body of published work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of ...
and
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music.
Born in Mont ...
proved influential. The latter was a leading figure of
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method of Musical composition, composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other elements of music, musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, thou ...
while Messiaen incorporated Asian (particularly Indian) influences and
bird song
Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs (relatively complex vocalizations) are distinguished by func ...
and Dutilleux translated the innovations of Debussy, Bartók and Stravinsky into his own, very personal, musical idiom.
The most important French contribution to musical innovation of the past 35 years is a form of computer-assisted composition called "
spectral music
Spectral music uses the acoustic properties of sound – or sound spectra – as a basis for composition.
Definition
Defined in technical language, spectral music is an acoustic musical practice where compositional decisions are often inform ...
". The astonishing technical advances of the spectralist composers in the 1970s are only recently beginning to achieve wide recognition in the United States; major composers in this vein include
Gérard Grisey
Gérard Henri Grisey (; ; 17 June 1946 – 11 November 1998) was a twentieth-century French composer of contemporary classical music. His work is often associated with the Spectralist Movement in music, of which he was a major pioneer.
Biograp ...
,
Tristan Murail
Tristan Murail (born 11 March 1947) is a French composer associated with the "spectral" technique of composition. Among his compositions is the large orchestral work ''Gondwana''.
Early life and studies
Murail was born in Le Havre, France. His fa ...
, and
Claude Vivier
Claude Vivier ( ; baptised as Claude Roger; 14 April 19487 March 1983) was a Canadian contemporary composer, pianist, poet and ethnomusicologist of Québécois origin. After studying with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne, Vivier became an i ...
.
Folk music
Traditional styles of music have survived most in remote areas such as the island of Corsica and mountainous Auvergne, as well as the more nationalistic regions of the
Basques
The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...
and the
Bretons
The Bretons (; br, Bretoned or ''Vretoned,'' ) are a Celts, Celtic ethnic group native to Brittany. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Common Brittonic, Brittonic speakers who emigrated from Dumnonia, southwestern Great Britain, par ...
. In many cases, folk traditions were revived in relatively recent years to cater to tourists. These ''groupes folkloriques'' tend to focus on very early 20th-century
melodies
A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...
and the use of the
piano accordion
A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more that of an organ than a piano, as they are both aerophones, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deiro ...
.
Paris
In 1900 in Paris, a new style of waltz emerged, the "Valse musette" an evolution of
Bal-musette Bal-musette is a style of French instrumental music and dance that first became popular in Paris in the 1880s. Although it began with bagpipes as the main instrument, this instrument was replaced with accordion, on which a variety of waltzes, polkas ...
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 ...
,
Marcel Azzola
Marcel Azzola (10 July 1927 – 21 January 2019) was a French accordionist.
He performed with Stan Getz and Jacques Brel, among others. The famous line "" ("Heat up, Marcel") in Brel's song "Vésoul" refers to Azzola, who played the accordion d ...
,
Yvette Horner
Yvette Horner ( Hornère; – ) was a French accordionist, pianist and composer known for performing with the Tour de France during the 1950s and 1960s. During her 70-year long career, she gave more than two thousand concerts and released around ...
, André Verchuren were famous accordionists who played valse musette. There is also
Yann Tiersen
Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and co ...
and its
Amélie (soundtrack)
''Amélie'' is the soundtrack to the 2001 French film ''Amélie''.
Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet was introduced to the accordion- and piano-driven music of Yann Tiersen by his production assistant. Greatly impressed, he immediately bought Tiersen ...
of Amélie from Montmartre.
West France
The West of France comprises the Pays de Nantes, the provinces of
Vendée
Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.
,
Anjou Anjou may refer to:
Geography and titles France
* County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou
**Count of Anjou, title of nobility
*Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France
**Duk ...
and
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
, and the
Poitou-Charentes
Poitou-Charentes (; oc, Peitau-Charantas; Poitevin-Saintongese: ) is a former administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It is part of the new region Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprises four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, D ...
region. Traditions of
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
-singing, dance-songs and
fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
-playing have survived, predominantly in Poitou and the Vendée. Jérôme Bujeaud collected extensively in the area, and his 2-volume work "Chants et chansons populaires des provinces de l'ouest:
Poitou
Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe.
Geography
The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...
,
Saintonge
Saintonge may refer to:
*County of Saintonge, a historical province of France on the Atlantic coast
*Saintonge (region), a region of France corresponding to the historical province
Places
*Saint-Genis-de-Saintonge, a commune in the Charente-Mari ...
,
Aunis
Aunis () is a historical province of France, situated in the north-west of the department of Charente-Maritime. Its historic capital is La Rochelle, which took over from Castrum Allionis (Châtelaillon) the historic capital which gives its name ...
et
Angoumois
Angoumois (), historically the County of Angoulême, was a county and province of France, originally inferior to the parent duchy of Aquitaine, similar to the Périgord to its east but lower and generally less forested, equally with occasional vin ...
" (
Niort
Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt; la, Novioritum) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres.
The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the u ...
, 1866) remains the principal scholarly collection of music and songs. In recent decades John Wright and Claude Ribouillault (amongst others) have done much to collect, analyse and promote the surviving traditions.
The Marais Breton of Vendée is noted particularly for its tradition of
veuze
The ''veuze'' is a Breton bagpipe found traditionally in southeastern Brittany and in the northern part of the Vendée, particularly around Nantes, the Guérande peninsula, and Basse-Vilaine. The veuze has been mentioned in writing dating to th ...
playing - which has been revived by the
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 ...
-maker and player Thierry Bertrand - and for traditional singers such as Pierre Burgaud.
Folk dances specific to the West of France include the
courante
The ''courante'', ''corrente'', ''coranto'' and ''corant'' are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era. In a Baroque dance suite an Italian or French courante is typically paired ...
, or maraichine, and the bal saintongeais.
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 i ...
s in triple time have been noted in the 19th century by Bujeaud, and more recently, in Angoumois. Circle- or chain-dances accompanied by caller-and-response singing have been noted in the West, and also in other regions such as
Gascony
Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...
,
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
and
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
in character, the folk music of Lower
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
has had perhaps the most successful revival of its traditions, partly thanks to the city of
Lorient
Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France.
History
Prehistory and classical antiquity
Beginn ...
, which hosts France's most popular music festival:
Festival Interceltique de Lorient
__NOTOC__
The (French), Emvod Ar Gelted An Oriant (Breton) or Inter-Celtic Festival of Lorient in English, is an annual Celtic festival, located in the city of Lorient, Brittany, France. It was founded in 1971 by .
This annual festival takes ...
.
The documented history of Breton music begins with the publication of '' Barzaz-Breizh'' in 1839. A collection of folk songs compiled by Hersart de la Villemarqué, ''Barzaz-Breizh'' re-branded and promoted Breton traditions and helped ensure their continuity.
Sonneur
A ''sonneur'' – or, in Breton, ''soner'' (plural: ''sonerien'') – is a player of traditional music in Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical coun ...
s couples, consisting of a
bombard __NOTOC__
Bombard may refer to the act of carrying out a bombardment. It may also refer to:
Individuals
*Alain Bombard (1924–2005), French biologist, physician and politician; known for crossing the Atlantic on a small boat with no water or food
...
and a biniou (bagpipe), is usually played at festoù-noz (
Fest Noz
A Fest Noz (Breton for ''night festival'') is a Breton traditional festival, with dancing in groups and live musicians playing acoustic instruments.
Although it is all too easy to write off the ' and ''fêtes folkloriques'' as modern inventions, ...
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
and has an older vocal counterpart called ''
kan ha diskan
is probably the most common type of traditional music of Brittany. It is a vocal tradition ( translates from Breton as, roughly, ''call and response singing''). The style is the most commonly used to accompany dances. It has become perhaps the ...
''. Unaccompanied
call and response
Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
singing was interspersed with the ''
gwerz
Gwerz (, "ballad", "lament", plural ''gwerzioù'') is a type of folk song of Brittany.
In Breton music, the ''gwerz'' tells a story which can be epic, historical, or mythological. The stories are usually of a tragic nature. The gwerz is characte ...
'', a form of
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
.
Probably the most popular form of Breton folk is the
bagad
A bagad (, ) is a Breton band, composed of bagpipes ( br, binioù, french: cornemuse), bombards and drums (including snare, tenor and bass drums). The pipe band tradition in Brittany was inspired by the Scottish example and has developed si ...
pipe band, which features native instruments such as biniou and
bombard __NOTOC__
Bombard may refer to the act of carrying out a bombardment. It may also refer to:
Individuals
*Alain Bombard (1924–2005), French biologist, physician and politician; known for crossing the Atlantic on a small boat with no water or food
...
alongside drums and, in more modern groups, biniou braz pipes. Modern revivalists include Kevrenn Alre Bagad and Bagad Kemper.
Alan Stivell is perhaps the most influential folk-rock performer of continental Europe. After 1971's ''
Renaissance of the Celtic Harp
''Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique'' or ''Renaissance of the Celtic Harp'' is a 1972 record album by the Breton master of the Celtic harp Alan Stivell that revolutionised the connection between traditional folk music, modern rock music and world ...
'', Breton and other Celtic traditional music achieved mainstream success internationally. With
Dan Ar Braz
Dan Ar Braz (; born Daniel Le Bras on 15 January 1949 in Quimper) is a Breton guitarist-singer-composer and the founder of L'Héritage des Celtes, a 50-piece Pan-Celt band. Leading guitarist in Celtic music, Dan Ar Braz has recorded as a solo ...
, he then released '' Chemins de Terre'' (1974), which launched Breton folk-rock. This set the stage for stars such as Malicorne in the ensuing decades.
In later years much has been done to collect and popularize the musical traditions of the Pays Gallo of
Upper Brittany
Upper Brittany (french: Haute-Bretagne; br, Breizh-Uhel; Gallo: ''Haùtt-Bertaèyn'') is the eastern part of Brittany, France, which is predominantly of a Romance culture and is associated with the Gallo language. The name is in counterpoint to ...
, for which the singer Bertran Ôbrée, his group Ôbrée Alie and the association DASTUM must take much credit. The songs of Upper Brittany are either in French or in
Gallo
Gallo may refer to:
*Related to Gaul:
** Gallo-Roman culture
**Gallo language, a regional language of France
**Gallo-Romance, a branch of Romance languages
**Gallo-Italic or Gallo-Italian language, a branch spoken in Northern Italy of the Romance ...
.
Modern Breton folk music includes harpists such as Anne-Marie Jan,
Anne Auffret
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
Gwerz
Gwerz (, "ballad", "lament", plural ''gwerzioù'') is a type of folk song of Brittany.
In Breton music, the ''gwerz'' tells a story which can be epic, historical, or mythological. The stories are usually of a tragic nature. The gwerz is characte ...
Sonerien Du
Sonerien Du is a group of Breton music adapted for the dances in Fest Noz. The group was born in 1972, in Alan Stivell's trail, harpist of the Celtic Revival. Driving force of the Breton culture, the group crossed periods of concerts and'' festo ...
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...
,
Limousin
Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...
,
Morvan
The Morvan (historically Morvand from the Latin ''Murvinnum'' 590)Pierre-Henri Billy, ''Dictionnaire des noms de lieux de la France'', éditions Errance, 640 pages, 2011 , is a mountainous massif lying just to the west of the Côte d'Or escarp ...
,
Nivernais
Nivernais (, ) was a province of France, around the city of Nevers, which forms the modern department of Nièvre. It roughly coincides with the former Duchy of Nevers.Bourbonnais
Bourbonnais () was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''département'' of Cher. Its capital was Moulins.
History
The title of the ruler of Bourbonnais ...
and
Berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...
. The lands are the home to a significant
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 ...
tradition, as well as the iconic
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 ...
and the dance
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 i ...
. There are deep differences between the regions of Central France, with the Auvergne and Limousin retained the most vibrant folk traditions of the area. As an example of the area's diversity, the bourrée can come in either duple or triple meter; the latter is found in the south of the region, and is usually improvised with
bagpipes
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, No ...
and hurdy-gurdy, while the former is found in the north and includes virtuoso players.
Bagpipe and Hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy, or ''vielle-à-roue'', is essentially a mechanical violin, with keys or buttons instead of a fingerboard. It is made up of a curved, oval body, a set of keys and a curved handle, which is turned and connected to a wheel which bows the strings that are stopped by the keys. There is a moveable bridge, a variable number of drones and optional
sympathetic strings
Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments. They are typically not played directly by the performer (excep ...
. Other forms of the hurdy-gurdy are found all over Europe.
The bagpipe is found in a wide array of forms in France. The ''cabrette'' and ''grande cornemuse'' from
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...
and
Berry
A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...
La Grande Bande de Cornemuses
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
and Quintette de Cornemuses. Frédéric Paris is also known as a member of the Duo Chabenat-Paris, who use elements such as mixed polyphonic ensembles and melodies based on the bourrée. Bernard Blanc and Jean Blanchard, along with Éric Montbel from Lyon, were among the musicians who formed the basis of La Bamboche and Le Grand Rouge. It was these two bands who did more than anyone to revitalize the traditions of Central France during the 1970s
folk revival
The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...
music festival
A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...
held annually near
Châteauroux
Châteauroux (; ; oc, Chasteurós) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French.
Climate
...
, has been a focal point for the music of Auvergne and Limousin.
The regions of
Morvan
The Morvan (historically Morvand from the Latin ''Murvinnum'' 590)Pierre-Henri Billy, ''Dictionnaire des noms de lieux de la France'', éditions Errance, 640 pages, 2011 , is a mountainous massif lying just to the west of the Côte d'Or escarp ...
and
Nivernais
Nivernais (, ) was a province of France, around the city of Nevers, which forms the modern department of Nièvre. It roughly coincides with the former Duchy of Nevers.Faubourg de Boignard and Les Ménétriers du Morvan, respectively. The Nivernais collector
Achille Millien
Achille Millien (4 September 1838 – 12 January 1927) was a French poet and folklorist.
His poetic work includes a dozen collections of rustic inspiration: ''La Moisson'', ''Chants agrestes'', ''Musettes et clairons'', ''Chez nous'', ''Aux cha ...
was also notable in the early part of the 20th century.
South France
Basque Country
The music of the
French Basque Country
The French Basque Country, or Northern Basque Country ( eu, Iparralde (), french: Pays basque, es, País Vasco francés) is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitu ...
(east of the Basque Country) should be considered against a Pyrenean cultural background. Up to recent times and still ttun-ttun and
xirula
The xirula (, spelled ''chiroula'' in French, also pronounced ''txirula'', ''(t)xülüla'' in Zuberoan Basque; Gascon: ''flabuta''; French: ''galoubet'') is a small three holed woodwind instrument or flute usually made of wood akin to the Basque ...
should be highlighted in traditional folk music (especially in the province of
Soule
Soule (Basque language, Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Sola'') is a former viscounty and France, French Provinces of France, province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ...
) as a tabor and pipe like pair.
Mixel Etxekopar or Jean Mixel Bedaxagar have played a major role in Basque traditional music as xirula players as well as traditional singers. Other popular performers such as Benat Achiary take on a more experimental approach. These performers refer to a former tradition collected and restored by figures such as Etxahun Iruri (1908–1979) where singing improviser poets (
bertsolari
Bertsolaritza or bertsolarism is the art of singing extemporaneously composed songs in Basque according to various melodies and rhyming patterns. Bertsos can be composed at a variety of occasions but are performed generally by one or various '' ...
s) played an important role in popular culture. This ''bertsolari'' tradition relies almost exclusively on younger generations, and efforts are being made now to restore it along the lines of the "southern" tradition, i.e. of the
Spanish Basque Country
The Basque Country (; eu, Euskadi ; es, País Vasco ), also called Basque Autonomous Community ( eu, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoa, links=no, EAE; es, Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco, links=no, CAPV), is an autonomous community of Spain. It ...
.
Music from the Basque Country nowadays caters to almost all the tastes of music, with a wide range of music being played in Basque, from choral music ( Oldarra in
Biarritz
Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...
) to elaborate music bands (e.g. Bidaia) to ska or hardcore trends, while it's much praised lately for the fine bare voices that have arisen with the likes of Maddi Oihenart, Maialen Errotabehere or Amaren Alabak, to mention but a few.
Corsica
Corsican polyphonic singing is perhaps the most unusual of the French regional music varieties. Sung by male trios, it is strongly harmonic and occasionally dissonant. Works can be either spiritual or secular. Modern groups include Canta u Populu Corsu,
I Muvrini
I Muvrini is a Corsican folk music group, who sing traditional Corsican music in their native Corsican language.
History
The group was formed in the early 1980s by the brothers Jean-François Bernardini and Alain Bernardini both born in the v ...
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
.
Corsican
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
s include the ''
caramusa
The caramusa is a type of bagpipe played in Corsica. It consists of a chanter and a parallel drone.
The instrument is associated with shepherds, and also was traditionally played at festivals.
Bagpipes
Corsican musical instruments
{{Bag ...
'' (
cornemuse
French bagpipes cover a wide range and variety of styles of bagpipes and piping, from the Celtic piping and Music of Brittany to the Northern Occitan's cabrette.
The Center-France bagpipes (called in French ''cornemuse du centre'' or ''musette ...
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
), ''
pifana The pifana is a type of gemshorn played in Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-larges ...
'' (a type of
gemshorn
The gemshorn is an instrument of the ocarina family that was historically made from the horn of a chamois, goat, or other suitable animal.
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 ...
).
Popular music
The 19th century saw the apogee of the
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
style with
Yvette Guilbert
Yvette Guilbert (; born Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, 20 January 1865 – 3 February 1944) was a French cabaret singer and actress of the '' Belle Époque''.
Biography
Born in Paris into a poor family as Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, Guilbert b ...
as a major star. The era lasted through to the 1930s and saw the likes of Édith Piaf, Charles Trenet, Maurice Chevalier, Tino Rossi, Félix Mayol, Lucienne Boyer, Marie-Louise Damien, Marie Dubas, Fréhel, Georges Guibourg and Jean Sablon.
During the 50s and 60s, it was the golden age of ''Chanson Française'': Juliette Gréco, Mireille Mathieu, Georges Brassens, Jacques Brel, Gilbert Bécaud, Monique Serf (Barbara), Léo Ferré, Charles Aznavour and Alain Barrière. The Yéyé style was popular in the 1950s and 60s with Sheila (French singer), Sheila, Claude François and Françoise Hardy.
Musette
''Musette'' is a style of French music and dance that became popular in Paris in the 1880s. Musette uses 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 ...
as main instrument, and often symbolizes the French art of living abroad.
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 ...
(1883-1969) was the star of the new style. Other popular musette accordionists include Aimable Pluchard,
Yvette Horner
Yvette Horner ( Hornère; – ) was a French accordionist, pianist and composer known for performing with the Tour de France during the 1950s and 1960s. During her 70-year long career, she gave more than two thousand concerts and released around ...
and André Verchuren. In 2001, the musette-style was a huge international success through the album ''Amélie (soundtrack), Amélie'' composed by
Yann Tiersen
Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and co ...
.
Cancan
The ''Cancan'', also called ''French-Cancan'', is a high-energy and physically demanding musical dance, traditionally performed by a chorus line of female dancers who wear costumes with long skirts, petticoats, and black stockings. The main features of the dance are the lifting and manipulation of the skirts, with Glossary of ballet terms#Battement, high kicking and suggestive, provocative body movements. The ''Infernal Galop'' from Jacques Offenbach's ''Orpheus in the Underworld'' is the tune most associated with the ''Cancan''. The ''Cancan'' first appeared in the working-class ballrooms of Montparnasse in Paris in around 1830. It was a more lively version of the Galop, a dance in quick time signature, 2/4 time, which often featured as the final figure in the Quadrille.
Cabaret
''Cabaret'' is a typical form of French musical entertainment featuring
chanson
A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic s ...
,
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
, dance, comedy and spectacles. The audience usually sits at tables, often dining or drinking, and performances are sometimes introduced by a master of ceremonies. The first cabaret was opened in 1881 in Montmartre, Paris, by Rodolphe Salis and was called ''Le Chat Noir'' (The Black Cat). Built in 1889, ''Moulin Rouge'' is famous for the large red windmill on its roof. Other popular French cabarets include the ''Folies Bergère'' and ''Le Lido''. Cabarets were a key venue in the careers of many singers such as Mistinguett, Josephine Baker, Charles Trenet and Edith Piaf. More recently, Patricia Kaas embodies the revival of the French cabaret style.
Chanson
Chanson Française is the typical style of French music (chanson means "song" in French) and is still very popular in France. Some of the most important artists included: Édith Piaf, Juliette Gréco, Mireille Mathieu, Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens, Gilbert Bécaud, Monique Serf (Barbara), Léo Ferré, Charles Aznavour, Salvatore Adamo and Dalida plus the more art-house musicians like Brigitte Fontaine. Also during the 1950s one of the more representative of Montmartre cabaret singers was Suzanne Robert.
During the 1970s, new artists modernized the chanson Française (Michel Fugain, Renaud, Francis Cabrel, Alain Souchon, Jacques Higelin, Alain Chamfort, Joe Dassin) and also in the 80s (Étienne Daho, Têtes Raides) till now (Benjamin Biolay, Zaz (singer), Zaz, Vincent Delerm, Bénabar, Jean-Louis Murat, Miossec, Juliette, Mano Solo, Jacques Higelin, Matthieu Chedid, Mathieu Boogaerts, Daniel Darc, Maurane, Christina Goh, Renan Luce). Singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg began as a jazz musician in the 1950s and spanned several eras of French popular music including pop, rock, reggae, new wave, disco and even hip hop.
Yéyé
''Yéyé'' is a style of popular music that emerged from France in the early 1960s. The yé-yé movement had its origins in the radio programme ''Salut les copains (radio program), Salut les copains'', which was first aired in October 1959. Most famous Yéyé stars include Johnny Hallyday, Eddy Mitchell, Richard Anthony (singer), Richard Anthony, Dick Rivers and the popular girls such as France Gall, Sheila (French singer), Sheila, Sylvie Vartan, and artists who fuse various music genres such as Chantal Goya, Dalida or Claude François. These were popular female teen idols, and included Françoise Hardy, who was the first to write her own songs.
Contemporary music
Nouvelle Chanson
Jazz
Pop
The more commercial and pop part of ''Chanson'' is called ''Variété'' in French, and included Vanessa Paradis, Patricia Kaas, Patrick Bruel, Marc Lavoine, Pascal Obispo, Florent Pagny, Francis Cabrel, Étienne Daho, Alain Souchon, Laurent Voulzy and Jean-Jacques Goldman. The superstar status of diva Mylène Farmer inspired pop-rock performers such as Zazie, Lorie (singer), Lorie, Alizée, and R&B singers like Nâdiya and Ophelie Winter.
More recently, the success of musical television shows have spawned a new generation of young pop-music stars including Nolwenn Leroy, Grégory Lemarchal, Christophe Willem, Julien Doré and Élodie Frégé. The French-Caribbean singer Shy'm enjoys a status of popstar in France since her first album in 2006, as well as her male counterpart Matt Pokora. Notable pop-rock groups include Niagara (band), Niagara and Indochine (band), Indochine. Michel Sardou is also known for his love songs ("La maladie d'amour", "Je vais t'aimer").
Rock
Rock'n Roll started to become popular in the 60s with singers like Johnny Hallyday. There were also innovative musicians in France as the psychedelic rock trend was peaking worldwide. Jean-Pierre Massiera's ''Les Maledictus Sound'' (1968) and Aphrodite's Child's ''666 (Aphrodite's Child album), 666'' were the most influential. Later came bands such as Magma (band), Magma, Martin Circus, Au Bonheur des Dames (band), Au Bonheur des Dames, Trust (French band), Trust, Téléphone, Noir Désir, and guitarist and singer Paul Personne.
In the early 70s, Breton musician Alan Stivell (''Renaissance de la Harpe Celtique'') launched the field of French folk-rock by combining psychedelic and progressive rock sounds with Breton and Celtic folk styles.
;Progressive Rock
France became one of the leading producers of Progressive rock in the 1970s. Aficionados worldwide were enamoured by recordings such as Ange's ''Le Cimetiere des arlequins'', Pulsar (band), Pulsar's ''Halloween (Pulsar album), Halloween'', Shylock (band), Shylock's ''Ile de Fievre'', Atoll (band), Atoll's ''L'Araignee-Mal'' and Eskaton's ''Ardeur''. Most well-known, however, may be the band Magma (band), Magma which created its own genre, Zeuhl, Zeuhl music.
;Eighties Rock (1980)
In the 1980s, French rock spawned myriad styles, many closely connected with other Francophone musical scenes in Switzerland, Canada and especially Belgium. Pub rock (United Kingdom), Pub rock (Telephone (band), Telephone), psychobilly (La Muerte (band), La Muerte), pop punk (Les Thugs), synthpop and punk rock (Bérurier Noir, Bijou (band), Bijou and Gill Dougherty) were among the styles represented in this era. Beginning in the 1980s, Les Rita Mitsouko became very popular throughout Europe with their unique blending of punk, new wave, dance and cabaret elements.
Punk rock had arisen in the 1970s and continued into the next decade, perhaps best represented by Oberkampf (band), Oberkampf and Métal Urbain. 80s progressive rock peaked early in the decade, with Dün (band), Dün's ''Eros (Dün album), Eros'', Emeraude (band), Emeraude's ''Geoffroy (album), Geoffroy'' and Terpandre's ''Terpandre (album), Terpandre'', all from 1981, representing the genre's pinnacle, in French West Indies (Guadeloupe Island) The Bolokos represent the genre.
Metal
French heavy metal bands include Gojira (band), Gojira, Dagoba (band), Dagoba, Anorexia Nervosa (band), Anorexia Nervosa, Hacride, Eths, Loudblast, Carcariass, Massacra, Gorod (band), Gorod, Kronos (band), Kronos, Yyrkoon (band), Yyrkoon, Benighted, Necrowretch, and Fairyland (band), Fairyland. Many of these bands play in the death metal, thrash metal and/or power metal styles.
France also has a large black metal movement, including, Belenos (band), Belenos, Deathspell Omega, Nocturnal Depression, Blut Aus Nord, Peste Noire, Vorkreist, Arkhon Infaustus, Merrimack (band), Merrimack and Antaeus (band), Antaeus, and the organization known as Les Légions Noires made up of such bands as Mütiilation, Vlad Tepes (band), Vlad Tepes and Torgeist. The 'shoegaze' black metal movement also has many bands hailing from France, such as Alcest, Les Discrets and Amesoeurs.
Electronic
Electronic music, as exemplified by Jean Michel Jarre and Cerrone, achieved a wide French audience. The French electro-pop duos Air (French band), Air and Daft Punk and techno music, techno artists Laurent Garnier and David Guetta found a wide audience in the late 1990s and early first decade of the 21st century, both locally and internationally. Groups such as Justice (band), Justice, M83 (band), M83, Phoenix (band), Phoenix, Télépopmusik and Klingande continue to enjoy success.
Dance
French house is a late 1990s form of house music, part of the 1990s and first decade of the 21st-century European dance music scene and the latest form of Euro disco. The genre is also known as "Disco house", "Neu-disco" (new disco), "French touch", "filter house" or "tekfunk". The early mid/late 1990s productions was notable for the "filter effect" used by artists such as Daft Punk. Other productions use more mainstream vocals and samples.
French house is greatly influenced by the 1970s Euro disco and especially the short lived space disco music style (a European (mostly French) variation of Hi-NRG disco), and also by P-Funk and the productions of Thomas Bangalter.
The first French house experiments (at the time called "disco house" and "neu disco") became notable in the international market between 1997 and 1999. Daft Punk, Stardust (band), Stardust and Cassius (band), Cassius were the first international successful artists of the genre and their videos show their "space disco" roots.
Several artists played important roles in popularizing the genre, which, in 2000, achieved international success. Bob Sinclar's single "I Feel For You" charted in several countries, including Germany, Italy, and Spain. Etienne de Crécy's album ''Tempovision'' charted at #57 in France and included the successful single "Am I Wrong." In September, the French house group Modjo released "Lady (Hear Me Tonight), which debuted at #1 in the UK and became a top-ten hit in thirteen countries. Galleon (band), Galleon followed the next year.
Today most French house bands and artists have moved on to other music styles, notably a French variation of electro music, electro, that is danced on the milky way/Tecktonik style.
Disco
The Village People, co-founded by the two French composers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo, was a major international disco group. Notable French disco singers also include Dalida, Sheila and B. Devotion, Ottawan, Voyage (band), Voyage, Cerrone, Patrick Hernandez and F.R. David, respectively known for their worldwide hits Monday, Tuesday... Laissez-moi danser (1979), ''Spacer'' (1979), ''D.I.S.C.O.'' (1979), ''You're OK / T'es OK'' (1980), ''Souvenirs'' (1978), ''Supernature (Cerrone song), Supernature'' (1977), ''Born to Be Alive'' (1979) and Words (F. R. David song), Words (1982).
Hip-Hop
Hip hop music was exported to France in the 1980s, and French rapping, rappers and DJs such as David Guetta and MC Solaar, also had some success. Hip hop music came from New York City, invented in the 1970s by African Americans. By 1983, the genre had spread to much of the world, including France. Almost immediately, French performers (musicians and breakdancing, breakdancers) began their career, including Max-Laure Bourjolly and Traction Avant. Popularity was brief, however, and hip hop quickly receded to the French underground. Hip-hop was adapted to French context, especially the poverty of large cities known as banlieues ("suburbs") where many French of foreign descent live, especially from the former colonial countries (West Africa and Caribbean). If there is some influence of African musics and of course American hip hop, French hip-hop is also strongly connected to French music, with strong reciprocal influences, from French pop and chanson, both in music and lyrics.
''Paname City Rappin'' (1984, by Dee Nasty) was the first album released, and the first major stars were IAM (band), IAM, Suprême NTM and MC Solaar, whose 1991 ''Qui Sème le Vent Récolte le Tempo'', was a major hit. Through the nineties, the music grew to become one of the most popular genres in France with huge success of the pioneers (IAM, Suprême NTM) and newcomers (Ministère Amer, Oxmo Puccino, Lunatic). France is the world's second-largest hip-hop market. The most popular rappers of the 2000s are Diam's, Booba and Kenza Farah with successful artists more underground such as La Rumeur, la Caution and TTC (band), TTC.
Overseas music
French Polynesia
Réunion island
Sega music, Séga music is a popular style that mixes African and European music. The most popular sega musicians include Ousanousava, Baster (band), Baster, Maxime Laope. Maloya music has a strong African element reflected in the use of slave chants and work songs. The most popular sega musicians include Danyèl Waro, Firmin Viry, Granmoun Lélé, Mars tou sèl.
Martinique and Guadeloupe
;Zouk
Zouk is a fast jump-up carnival beat originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, popularized by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the 1980s. Very rapid in tempo, the style lost ground in the 1980s due to the strong presence of kadans or compas, the main music of the French Antilles. Today, zouk is the French Antilles compas, also called zouk-love
In Africa, Kassav's zouk and the Haitian compas they featured, gained popularity in francophone and lusophone countries. It is also particularly popular in North America in the Canadian province of Quebec.
;Bouyon
Bouyon music, Bouyon (Boo-Yon) is a form of popular music of Dominica, also known as jump up music in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The best-known band in the genre is Windward Caribbean Kulture (WCK), who originated the style in 1988.
Over the years, thanks to inter-trade with the Dominicans and the mass participation of Guadeloupe at the World Creole Music Festival, the flagship group as Triple kay and MFR band began to democratize and local artists were inducted including the remix Allo Triple kay with Daly and "Big Ting Poppin 'Daly alone.
A popular offshoot within the bouyon is called bouyon music#bouyon hardcore, bouyon hardcore, a style characterized by its lewd and violent lyrics. Popular Bouyon gwada musicians include, Wee Low, Suppa, Doc J, Yellow gaza, etc.
;Antilles hip hop
The French Antilles hip hop is a style of hip hop music originating from the French departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean. Usually in French and Antillean creole, the French Antilles hip hop is most popular in the French Antilles and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
;Rock In Gwada
Although a minority genre, French Antilles rock groups participate in the broadening of the Caribbean musical spectrum. The spearheads like The Bolokos or Livestocks include themes, rhythms or Caribbean melodies on British or American influences. The "Rock In Gwada" collective brings together some of these groups whose first festival took place in Petit-Bourg in 2016.
International music
French language is spoken worldwide and many international artists contribute to French music.
Europe
The greatest Belgian chansonnier was Jacques Brel, whose classic songs have been covered by several international artists. Others such as Salvatore Adamo, Axelle Red, Lara Fabian, Maurane, Selah Sue, Frédéric François and Annie Cordy have also enjoyed some success in France and other French-speaking countries.
North America
Quebec singers are very popular in France, and both nations have influenced each other in terms of music styles. Quebec artists have been taking the French stage quite extensively. Notable singers that have performed in France included: Celine Dion, Céline Dion, Diane Tell, Cœur de pirate, Garou (singer), Garou, Isabelle Boulay, Lynda Lemay and many others. Roch Voisine and Natasha St-Pier, who are of Acadian heritage, reached the top of charts in France with their famous songs "Hélène (song), Hélène" (1989) and "Tu trouveras" (2002). Rock singer Avril Lavigne, whose father is of French origin (born in Lorraine (region), Lorraine), is also popular in France, and she obtained her French passport and citizenship in 2011. Salvatore Adamo and Charles Aznavour are widely recognized in America
Asia
One of the most famous French-speaking Asian artists is Anggun, a French-naturalised singer from Indonesia, best known for her single ''La Neige au Sahara'' (Snow on the Sahara (song), Snow on the Sahara) written by Erick Benzi. The song was released in 1997 as her debut international single in 33 countries worldwide, and made the charts in Europe (#1 in Italy), America (#16 in USA Billboard), and Asia (#1 in Indonesia, #3 in Malaysia). French music also found surprising favorable reception in Japan, where the language and culture from France is often seen as romantic. Some Japanese groups use the French language, such as Malice Mizer or Versailles (band), Versailles, named after the Château de Versailles. Charles Aznavour and Mireille Mathieu are widely recognized in Japan.
Africa
Beginning in the 1920s, Raï, Raï music developed in Algeria as a combination of rural and urban music. Often viewed as a form of resistance towards censorship, many of the conventional values of the old raï became modernized with instruments, synthesizers and modern equipment. Later performers added influences from funk, hip hop music, hip hop, rock and roll, rock and other styles, creating most notably a pop genre called lover's raï. Performers include Rachid Taha and Faudel. Originating of the city of Oran, raï shot to the top of the French, Swiss and Dutch charts in 1992 with the release of Khaled (musician), Khaled's single ''Didi (song), Didi''.
Music journals
Volume!
One journal that provides coverage of popular music in France along with popular music history is Volume!. ''Volume!'' (subtitled in French:''La revue des musiques populaires'' - The journal of popular music studies) is a biannual (May & November) peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal "''dedicated to the study of contemporary popular music''". It is published by Éditions Mélanie Seteun, a publishing association specialized in popular music. The journal has both French and English editions. ''Volume!'' was established in 2002 under the title ''Copyright Volume!'' by Gérôme Guibert, Marie-Pierre Bonniol, and Samuel Étienne, and obtained its current name in 2008. Étienne (Université de la Polynésie Française) was its first editor-in-chief (2002–2008), before Guibert (University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle) took over in 2008."[…] ''de nouvelles revues ont réussi à voir le jour et constituent des lieux d’expression appréciables, notamment pour les jeunes chercheurs qui peuvent y faire leurs premières armes, ou pour des auteurs étrangers peu ou mal connus en France. ''[footnote:] ''On pense notamment à la revue Volume dont le premier numéro voit le jour en 2002 et qui a su accompagner la diversification des musiques actuelles''. Philippe Le Guern (2007)
See also
* History of music in Paris
References
* Boll, André, and Émil Damais. ''Répertoire analytique de la musique française, des origins à nos jours''. Paris: Horizons de France, 1948.
* Krümm, Philippe and Jean-Pierre Rasle. "Music of the Regions". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East'', pp 103–113. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.