The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue
Jean Jaurès
Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social demo ...
in the
19th arrondissement of Paris,
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 ...
. The Conservatoire offers instruction in music and dance, drawing on the traditions of the 'French School'.
Formerly the conservatory also included drama, but in 1946 that division was moved into a separate school, the
Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...
(CNSAD), for acting, theatre and drama. Today the conservatories operate under the auspices of the
Ministry of Culture and Communication and are associate members of
PSL University
Paris Sciences et Lettres University (PSL University or simply PSL) is a public research university based in Paris, France. It was established in 2010 and formally created as a university in 2019. It is a collegiate university with 11 constituen ...
. The CNSMDP is also associated with the
(CNSMDL).
History
École Royale de Chant
On 3 December 1783
Papillon de la Ferté
Papillon, papillons, or le papillon may refer to:
Animals
* Papillon (dog), a dog breed
* Papillon (horse), a racehorse, winner of the 2000 Grand National
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Papillon, a fictional character in the anime series ''Bu ...
, ''intendant'' of the
Menus-Plaisirs du Roi The Menus-Plaisirs du Roi () was, in the organisation of the French royal household under the Ancien Régime, the department of the Maison du Roi responsible for the "lesser pleasures of the King", which meant in practice that it was in charge of a ...
, proposed that
Niccolò Piccinni
Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly th ...
should be appointed director of a future École Royale de Chant (Royal School of Singing). The school was instituted by a decree of 3 January 1784 and opened on 1 April with the composer
François-Joseph Gossec
François-Joseph Gossec (17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works.
Life and work
The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French e ...
as the provisional director. Piccinni refused the directorship, but did join the faculty as a professor of singing. The new school was located in buildings adjacent to the Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs at the junction of the rue Bergère and the rue du Faubourg Poissonnière.
[.] In June, a class in dramatic declamation was added, and the name was modified to École Royale de Chant et de Déclamation.
Institut National de Musique
In 1792,
Bernard Sarrette
Bernard Sarrette (27 November 1765April 1858), founded what would become the ''Conservatoire de Paris''.
Biography
Sarrette was born in Bordeaux, the son of a shoemaker, and travelled to Paris as an accountant. During the French Revolution, he ...
created the École Gratuite de la Garde Nationale, which in the following year became the Institut National de Musique. The latter was also installed in the facilities of the former Menus-Plaisirs on the rue Bergère and was responsible for the training of musicians for the
National Guard
National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
Nat ...
bands, which were in great demand for the enormous, popular outdoor gatherings put on by the
revolutionary government after the
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...
.
[
]
Founding of the Conservatoire
On 3 August 1795, the government combined the École Royale with the Institut National de Musique, creating the Conservatoire de Musique under the direction of Sarrette. The combined organization remained in the facilities on the rue Bergère. The first 351 pupils commenced their studies in October 1796.[
By 1800, the staff of the Conservatory included some of the most important names in music in Paris, including, besides Gossec, the composers ]Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...
, Jean-François Le Sueur
Jean-François Le Sueur (more commonly Lesueur; ) (15 February 17606 October 1837) was a French composer, best known for his oratorios and operas.
Life
He was born at Plessiel, a hamlet of Drucat near Abbeville, to a long-established family of P ...
, Étienne Méhul
Étienne Nicolas Méhul (; 16 November 1765 ~ 24 December 1817) was a French composer of the classical period. He was known as "the most important opera composer in France during the Revolution". He was also the first composer to be called a ...
, and Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny ( – ) was a French composer and a member of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts (1813).
He is considered alongside André Grétry and François-André Danican Philidor to have been the founder of a new musical genre ...
, as well as the violinists Pierre Baillot, Rodolphe Kreutzer
Rodolphe Kreutzer (15 November 1766 – 6 January 1831) was a French violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer of forty French operas, including '' La mort d'Abel'' (1810).
He is probably best known as the dedicatee of Beethoven's Violin S ...
, and Pierre Rode
Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode (16 February 1774 – 25 November 1830) was a French violinist and composer.
Life and career
Born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France, Pierre Rode traveled in 1787 to Paris and soon became a favourite pupil of the great Gi ...
.[
]
Paris Conservatoire Traditions for Flute
The tradition of the final or exit examination, the ''concours'', has required students, at the end of their course of study, to perform in public a prepared set of musical pieces for a jury consisting of the professors and internationally renowned professionals on the particular instrument, the composer of the solo de concours, and the Director. Behind closed doors, the candidates would be given additional tasks to perform such as sight-reading. In the 20th century, the candidates were judged against a standard, and those who demonstrated outstanding mastery and artistry receive the ''Premier Prix'', the equivalent of a diploma with high honor. Those who earned ''Deuxieme Prix,'' also received a diploma but could elect to remain to try again a year later for the top prize. Two lesser levels of distinction existed, the ''Premier Accessit'' and ''Deuxieme Accessit'', equivalent to Honorable Mentions but without a diploma. Historically, students who failed to pass the exam on the first attempt would return for another one to two years additional study and try a second time. A student failing to earn either level diploma after two additional attempts would be terminated from the program.[Colgin, Melissa. "The Paris Conservatoire Concours Tradition and the Solos de Concours for Flute 1955-1990." D.M.A. Treatise, University of Texas at Austin, 1992.]
Salle des Concerts du Conservatoire
A concert hall, designed by the architect François-Jacques Delannoy, was inaugurated on 7 July 1811. The hall, which still exists today, was in the shape of a U (with the orchestra at the straight end). It held an audience of 1055. The acoustics were generally regarded as superb. The French composer and conductor Antoine Elwart
Antoine Aimable Elie Elwart (19 September 1808 – 14 October 1877) was a French composer and musicologist.
Biography Childhood
Elwart was born in Paris in the family home. At the age of ten, he became a chorister at the mastery of the Saint-Eu ...
described it as the Stradivarius
A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...
of concert halls.
In 1828 François Habeneck
François Antoine Habeneck (22 January 1781 – 8 February 1849) was a French classical violinist and conductor.
Early life
Habeneck was born at Mézières, the son of a musician in a French regimental band. During his early youth, Habeneck w ...
, a professor of violin and head of the Conservatory's orchestra, founded the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA.
Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...
(forerunner of the Orchestre de Paris
The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris.
History
In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Co ...
). The Society held concerts in the hall almost continuously until 1945, when it moved to the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...
. The French composer 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 ...
premiered his ''Symphonie Fantastique
' (''Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'') Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is an important piece of the early Romantic period. The first performan ...
'' in the conservatory's hall on 5 December 1830 with an orchestra of more than a hundred players.[
]
Library
The original library was created by Sarrette in 1801.
p. 392
After the construction of the concert hall, the library moved to a large room above the entrance vestibule. In the 1830s, Berlioz became a part-time curator in the Conservatory library and was the librarian from 1852 until his death in 1869, but never held a teaching position. He was succeeded as librarian by Félicien David
Félicien-César David (13 April 1810 – 29 August 1876) was a French composer.
Biography
Félicien David was born in Cadenet, and began to study music at the age of five under his father, whose death when the boy was six left him an impoverish ...
.[
]
Bourbon Restoration
Sarrette was dismissed on 28 December 1814, after the Bourbon Restoration, but was reinstated on 26 May 1815, after Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's return to power during the Hundred Days
The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...
. However, after Napoleon's fall, Sarrette was finally compelled to retire on 17 November.[ The school was closed in the first two years of the Bourbon Restoration, during the reign of ]Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...
, but reopened in April 1816 as the École Royale de Musique, with François-Louis Perne as its director.[ In 1819, François Benoist was appointed professor of organ.
Probably the best known director in the 19th century was Luigi Cherubini, who took over on 1 April 1822 and remained in charge until 8 February 1842. Cherubini maintained high standards and his staff included teachers such as ]François-Joseph Fétis
François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univer ...
, Habeneck, Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (; 27 May 179917 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera '' La Juive''.
Early career
Halévy was born in Paris, son of the cantor ...
, Le Sueur, Ferdinando Paer
Ferdinando Paer (1 July 1771 – 3 May 1839) was an Italian composer known for his operas. He was of Austrian descent and used the German spelling Pär in application for printing in Venice, and later in France the spelling Paër.
Life and career ...
, and Anton Reicha
Anton (Antonín, Antoine) Joseph Reicha (Rejcha) (26 February 1770 – 28 May 1836) was a Czech-born, Bavarian-educated, later naturalized French composer and music theorist. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, he is now best reme ...
.[
]
Cherubini was succeeded by Daniel-François-Esprit Auber
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire.
Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...
in 1842. Under Auber, composition teachers included Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam (; 24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer, teacher and music critic. A prolific composer for the theatre, he is best known today for his ballets ''Giselle'' (1841) and '' Le corsaire'' (1856), his operas ''Le pos ...
, Halévy, and Ambroise Thomas
Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas (; 5 August 1811 – 12 February 1896) was a French composer and teacher, best known for his operas '' Mignon'' (1866) and ''Hamlet'' (1868).
Born into a musical family, Thomas was a student at the Conservatoire de ...
; piano teachers, Louise Farrenc
Louise Farrenc (née Jeanne-Louise Dumont; 31 May 1804 – 15 September 1875) was a French composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher of the Romantic period. Her compositions include three symphonies, a few choral works, numerous chamber pieces and a ...
, Henri Herz
Henri Herz (6 January 1803 – 5 January 1888) was a virtuoso pianist, composer and piano manufacturer, Austrian by birth and French by nationality and domicile. He was a professor in the Paris Conservatoire for more than thirty years. Among his ...
, and Antoine François Marmontel
Antoine François Marmontel () (18 July 1816 – 16 January 1898) was a French pianist, composer, teacher and musicographer. He is mainly known today as an influential teacher at the Paris Conservatory, where he taught many musicians who became ...
; violin teachers, Jean-Delphin Alard
Jean-Delphin Alard (8 March 181522 February 1888) was a French violinist, composer, and teacher. He was the son-in-law of Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, and had Pablo de Sarasate amongst his students.
Biography
Alard was born in Bayonne, the son of an ...
and Charles Dancla
(Jean Baptiste) Charles Dancla (19 December 1817 – 10 October 1907) was a French violinist, composer and teacher.
Biography
Dancla was born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre. When he was nine years old, violinist Pierre Rode in Bordeaux heard his music; ...
; and cello teachers, Pierre Chevillard and Auguste Franchomme
Auguste-Joseph Franchomme (10 April 180821 January 1884) was a French cellist and composer. For his contributions to music, he was decorated with the Légion d'honneur in 1884.
Life and career
Born in Lille, Franchomme studied at the local conse ...
.[
In 1852, Camille Urso, who studied with ]Lambert Massart
Joseph Lambert Massart (19 July 1811 – 13 February 1892) was a Belgian violinist who has been credited with the origination of the systematic vibrato. He compiled ''The Art of Working at Kreutzer's Etudes,'' a supplement that contains 412 fi ...
, became the first female student to win a prize on violin.
Instrument museum
The Conservatory Instrument Museum, founded in 1861, was formed from the instrument collection of Louis Clapisson
Louis Clapisson (15 September 1808 – 19 March 1866) was a French composer and violinist. He composed numerous art songs as well as 22 operas, largely in the opéra comique genre. In his later years he was a professor of harmony at the Paris C ...
.
vol. 1, pp. 181–182
"Chouquet (Adolphe-Gustave)". The French music historian Gustave Chouquet
Gustave Chouquet (16 April 1819 – 30 January 1886)Grove & Charlton 2001. was a French music historian, music critic, and teacher of French.
Early life and career
Born Adolphe-Gustave Chouquet in Le Havre, he spent six years in Paris studying ...
became the curator of the museum in 1871 and did much to expand and upgrade the collection.[
]
Franco-Prussian War and the Third Republic
In the Franco-Prussian War, during the siege of Paris (September 1870 – January 1871), the Conservatory was used as a hospital. On 13 May 1871, the day after Auber's death, the leaders of the Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...
appointed Francisco Salvador-Daniel as the director – however Daniel was shot and killed ten days later by the troops of the French Army. He was replaced by Ambroise Thomas, who remained in the post until 1896. Thomas's rather conservative directorship was vigorously criticized by many of the students, notably 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 ...
.[
]
During this period César Franck
César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...
was ostensibly the organ teacher, but was actually giving classes in composition. His classes were attended by several students who were later to become important composers, including Ernest Chausson
Amédée-Ernest Chausson (; 20 January 1855 – 10 June 1899) was a French Romantic composer who died just as his career was beginning to flourish.
Life
Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson was the sole surviving child of a ...
, Guy Ropartz
Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz (; 15 June 1864 – 22 November 1955) was a French composer and conductor. His compositions included five symphony, symphonies, three violin sonatas, cello sonatas, six string quartets, a piano trio and string trio (both i ...
, Guillaume Lekeu, Charles Bordes
Anne-Marie Charles Bordes-Bonjean (12 May 1863 – 8 November 1909) was a French music teacher and composer.
Timeline
Bordes was born in La Roche-Corbon, Indre-et-Loire. He studied pianoforte with Antoine François Marmontel and composition wit ...
, and Vincent d'Indy
Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...
.[
]Théodore Dubois
Clément François Théodore Dubois (24 August 1837 – 11 June 1924) was a French Romantic composer, organist, and music teacher.
After study at the Paris Conservatoire, Dubois won France's premier musical prize, the Prix de Rome in 1861. He bec ...
succeeded Thomas after the latter's death in 1896. Professors included Charles-Marie Widor
Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher of the mid-Romantic era, most notable for his ten organ symphonies. His Toccata from the fifth organ symphony has become one of th ...
, 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 ...
, and Charles Lenepveu
Charles-Ferdinand Lenepveu (4 October 1840 – 16 August 1910), was a French composer and teacher. Destined for a career as a lawyer, he defied his family and followed a musical career. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, and won France's to ...
for composition, Alexandre Guilmant
Félix-Alexandre Guilmant (; 12 March 1837 – 29 March 1911) was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of La Trinité from 1871 until 1901. A noted pedagogue, performer, and improviser, Guilmant helped found the Schola Cantor ...
for organ, Paul Taffanel
Claude-Paul Taffanel (16 September 1844 – 22 November 1908) was a French flautist, conductor and instructor, regarded as the founder of the French Flute School that dominated much of flute composition and performance during the mid-20th century ...
for flute, and Louis Diémer
Louis Joseph Diémer (14 February 1843 – 21 December 1919) was a French pianist and composer. He was the founder of the Société des Instruments Anciens in the 1890s, and also gave recitals on the harpsichord. His output as a composer was exte ...
for piano.[
]
Gabriel Fauré
Lenepveu had been expected to succeed Dubois as director, but after the " Affaire Ravel" in 1905, Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
's teacher 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 ...
became director. ''Le Courrier Musical'' (15 June 1905) wrote: "Gabriel Fauré is an independent thinker: that is to say, there is much we can expect from him, and it is with joy that we welcome his nomination."
Fauré appointed forward-thinking representatives (such as Debussy, Paul Dukas
Paul Abraham Dukas ( or ; 1 October 1865 – 17 May 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, having abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His b ...
, and André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...
) to the governing council, loosened restrictions on repertoire, and added conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...
and 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 ...
to the courses of study. Widor's composition students during this period included Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...
, Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 to ...
, and Germaine Tailleferre
Germaine Tailleferre (; born Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse; 19 April 18927 November 1983) was a French composer and the only female member of the group of composers known as ''Les Six''.
Biography
Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse was born at Sai ...
. Other students included 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 ...
and 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 ...
. New to the staff were Alfred Cortot
Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...
for piano and Eugène Gigout
Eugène Gigout (; 23 March 1844 – 9 December 1925) was a French organist and a composer, mostly of music for his own instrument.
Biography
Gigout was born in Nancy, and died in Paris. A pupil of Camille Saint-Saëns, he served as the organi ...
for organ.[
]
The modern era
The Conservatory moved to facilities at 14 rue de Madrid in 1911.[
]Henri Rabaud
Henri Benjamin Rabaud (10 November 187311 September 1949) was a French conductor, composer and pedagogue, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of t ...
succeeded Fauré in 1920 and served until April 1941. Notable students were 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 ...
, Jean Langlais
Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III (15 February 1907 – 8 May 1991) was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "" ("Breton, of Catholic faith").
Biography
Langlais was born in L ...
, and Jehan Alain
Jehan-Aristide Paul Alain (; 3 February 1911 – 20 June 1940) was a French organist, composer, and soldier. Born into a family of musicians, he learned the organ from his father and a host of other teachers, becoming a composer at 18, and compo ...
. Staff included Dukas and Jean Roger-Ducasse
Jean Jules Aimable Roger-Ducasse (Bordeaux, 18 April 1873 – Le Taillan-Médoc ( Gironde), 19 July 1954) was a French composer.
Biography
Jean Roger-Ducasse studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Émile Pessard and André Gedalge, and was t ...
for composition, Marcel Dupré
Marcel Jean-Jules Dupré () (3 May 1886 – 30 May 1971) was a French organist, composer, and pedagogue.
Biography
Born in Rouen into a wealthy musical family, Marcel Dupré was a child prodigy. His father Aimable Albert Dupré was titular o ...
for organ, Marcel Moyse
Marcel Moyse (pron. ''moh-EEZ''; May 17, 1889, in St. Amour, France – November 1, 1984, in Brattleboro, Vermont, United States) was a French flautist. Moyse studied at the Paris Conservatory and was a student of Philippe Gaubert, Adolphe Henn ...
for flute, and Claire Croiza
Claire Croiza (14 September 1882 – 27 May 1946) was a French mezzo-soprano and an influential teacher of singers.
Career
Claire Croiza (née Conelly, or O'Connolly) was born in Paris, the daughter of an expatriate American father and an Italia ...
for singing.[
Like all institutions in Paris, the Conservatoire was ruled by ]Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and the collaborationist Vichy
Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais.
It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...
government during the Occupation of France
The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
of 1940–1944. Under the regime's antisemitic policies, Conservatoire administrators alternated between actively collaborating to purge the school of Jewish students (in the case of Rabaud) or working to conceal and protect Jewish students and faculty (in the case of Rabaud's successor, Claude Delvincourt
Claude Étienne Edmond Marie Pierre Delvincourt (12 January 1888 – 5 April 1954) was a French pianist and composer of classical music.
Biography
Delvincourt was born in Paris, the son of Pierre Delvincourt and Marguerite Fourès.
He studied ...
).
Delvincourt was director from 1941 until his death in an automobile accident in 1954. Delvincourt was a progressive administrator, adding classes in harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
, saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
, percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
, and the Ondes Martenot
The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player o ...
. Staff included Milhaud for composition and Messiaen for analysis and aesthetics. In 1946, the dramatic arts
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
were transferred to a separate institution (CNSAD). Delvincourt was succeeded by Dupré in 1954, Raymond Loucheur in 1956, Raymond Gallois-Montbrun in 1962, Marc Bleuse in 1984, and Alain Louvier in 1986. Plans to move the Conservatory of Music and Dance to more modern facilities in the Parc de la Villette
The Parc de la Villette is the third-largest park in Paris, in area, located at the northeastern edge of the city in the 19th arrondissement. The park houses one of the largest concentrations of cultural venues in Paris, including the Cité de ...
were initiated under Bleuse and completed under Louvier. It opened as part of the Cité de la Musique
The Cité de la Musique ("City of Music"), also known as Philharmonie 2, is a group of institutions dedicated to music and situated in the Parc de la Villette, 19th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was designed with the nearby Conservatoire d ...
in September 1990.[
After over two centuries of male directors, Émilie Delorme, for a decade director of the European Academy of Music (french: Académie européenne de musique, link=no, italic=no) at the ]Aix-en-Provence Festival
The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumenta ...
, was appointed as the Conservatoire's first woman director on 14 December 2019.[Emilie Delorme, première femme nommée à la tête du Conservatoire de Paris](_blank)
''Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' (in French) 14 December 2019
Archived
from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019."The Académie – A Thousand and One Stories for a Twenty-Year Adventure"
at the Aix-en-Provence Festival website. Currently, the conservatories train more than 1,200 students in structured programs, with 350 professors in nine departments.
CNSAD
Heir of the original Paris Conservatoire
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
building, the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique (CNSAD) (National Superior Conservatory of the Dramatic Arts) is the conservatory for acting, drama, and theatre, known by its acronym CNSAD. It is located in the original historic building of the Conservatoire de Paris on the rue du Conservatoire at rue Sainte-Cécile in the 9th arrondissement of Paris
The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.
In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as the neuvième (; "ninth").
The arrondissement, called Opéra, is loc ...
. Free public performances by students at the CNSAD are given frequently in the Conservatoire's theatre.
CNSMDP
The Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) (National Superior Conservatory of Paris for Music and Dance) is a separate conservatory for music and dance. The French government built its new campus in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. It was designed by Christian de Portzamparc
Christian de Portzamparc (; born 5 May 1944) is a French architect and urbanist.
He graduated from the École Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1970 and has since been noted for his bold designs and artistic touch; his projects reflect a ...
.
The organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
on site was built in 1991 by the Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n Rieger Orgelbau firm. It has 53 stops on 3 manuals and pedals. A larger organ of over 7,000 pipes with 91 stops was made in 2015 by the same company for the symphony hall of the nearby Philharmonie de Paris
The Philharmonie de Paris () ( en, Paris Philharmonic) is a complex of concert halls in Paris, France. The buildings also house exhibition spaces and rehearsal rooms. The main buildings are all located in the Parc de la Villette at the northeaste ...
.
Notable people
* A listing of former students can be found at List of former students of the Conservatoire de Paris
This is a partial list of alumni of the Conservatoire de Paris.
*Marie-Claire Alain (1926-2013)
* Jean-Delphin Alard (1815–1888)
*Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813–1888)
*Mark Andersen (born 1947)
* Maurice André (1933–2012)
*Juan Crisóstomo A ...
* A listing of former teachers can be found at List of former teachers at the Conservatoire de Paris
See also
*École Normale de Musique de Paris
The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Engl ...
*Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
CNSAD website
CNSMDP website
Effects of the Bologna Declaration on Professional Music Training in Europe
European Association of Conservatoires (AEC)
Les enseignants List of teachers and accompanists at the Conservatoire de Paris
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures in the 19th arrondissement of Paris
1795 establishments in France
Educational institutions established in 1795