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Music at the Church of the SS Innocents, Paris, in the Late Eighteenth Century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2020
Extract
That there was a lively tradition of French sacred choral music in the second half of the eighteenth century is a fact that has to some extent been obscured by the vivid personalities, the querelles, the wide public appeal and the overall vitality of the contemporary opera world. The French church, however, did support a nationwide system of choir schools (or maîtrises), and many establishments maintained music programmes of a size and excellence that reflected the church's wealth and taste.
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- Copyright © Royal Musical Association, 1992
References
1 See ‘Mémoire des maîtres de musique servant à la chapelle du Roy’ (1769), in Paris, Archives Nationales (hereafter AN), Oi 842 no 7, f 27v A similar requirement was made for the accession of Gauzargues in 1757 – indeed he had to wait a year, during which he wrote the required number, before assuming the positionGoogle Scholar
2 Almanack musical (1775), 101–4, repr Geneva, 1971–2, 109–12 All the figures cued below are taken from this sourceGoogle Scholar
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7 In French choral music the basse-taille, literally ‘low tenor’, was a baritone, the taille was a tenor, and the haute-contre was an unusual high tenor range, almost equivalent to the alto It was sung neither by castrati nor in falsetto Towards the end of the century, the basse-taille often shared the music of either the bass or the taille, and eventually it was eliminated as a separate voice part in the choirGoogle Scholar
8 François Léon Chartier, L'ancien chapitre de Notre-Dame de Parts et sa maîtrise (Paris, 1897), 126 The actual value of this amount is difficult to translate into modern terms A livre was worth a little less than an English shilling of the period, according to Arthur Young (cited in John Lough, An Introduction to Eighteenth Century France, London, 1960, vi) It is perhaps more useful to assess the value in relation to the figures given below for SS InnocentsGoogle Scholar
9 Bernier entered the service at Versailles in 1723, and kept the two positions until 1726Google Scholar
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11 La musique à la cour de Louis XIV et de Louis XV d'après les mémoires de Sourches et Luynes, ed Norbert Dufourcq (Paris, 1970), 159 The Duc de Luynes writes that in 1753 the budget for music was 10,000 livres and that there were 17 or 18 musiciansGoogle Scholar
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39 AN, LL 761, f 40v, for 10 September 1764 This volume covers the years 1756–84Google Scholar
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53 AN. H 4762, Prémble' The details below are also from this source.Google Scholar
54 See the introduction to the accounts for St Jacques et les SS Innocents for 1786, AN, H 4443, f. 11.Google Scholar
55 See Registre de Commitée de la paraisse St Jacques et les Innocents', AN. LL 783. f. 6v (for 5 January 1787). He was awarded 300 livres for des payments et des honoraires relativement aux depenses de Musique occasionner pour la celebration de la fete des SS Innocents'.Google Scholar
56 Calendrier musical (1789). 66.Google Scholar