Music in France in the Years 1911–1913 According to Jean Chantavoine: Independent Thinking and Political Constraints

Abstract

On the eve of the First World War the French musical press enjoyed a freedom of expression which allowed it to put works and composers into clear-cut categories. This same freedom of expression authorized it to denounce explicitly the state's stranglehold over the organization of its grand theatres through the implementation of the cahiers des charges. This study is based on the articles which Jean Chantavoine published in L' Année musicale in 1911Année musicale in , 1912Année musicale in and 1913 He writes annual statements which were more organizationally -rather than musically -orientated, and it is this feature which forms the basis of this article. In fact, Chantavoine (1877Chantavoine ( -1952, critic for the Journal des débats, Excelsior, etc., had no hesitation in criticizing state interference in the cultural dynamic of the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique, which he saw as leading to musical productions more abundant in quantity than quality. In order to appreciate his views more fully, an overview of three cahiers des charges is provided