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Paris, the 1920s, and modernism

Throughout this course I’ve continued to gain new insights into the idea of modernism in Paris in the 1920s. The readings for our very first day of class discussed Taruskin’s assessment of the idea of lifestyle modernism in Paris, a movement away from romanticism towards something more deliberately shallow.1 The new generation of composers and […]

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How do we define French Music?

The societal changes that drove music during the “Belle Epoque” were really the same changes that drove the reformation of everything else from technology to art. After establishing the Third Republic in France, an optimistic and proud mindset emerged, finally feeling some stability in France. Musicians and composers used that to their advantage, wanting to […]

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French National Identity: A Horse That Isn’t a Horse

  My initial thoughts on these questions are as eclectic as the plurality of opinions and musics I’ve attempted to digest over the first two weeks of class.  Firstly, the horse. I can’t stop thinking about the way the horse moves. However, in all seriousness, I think the horse is a very fitting representation of […]