{"id":96,"date":"2020-02-23T18:58:02","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T00:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/performinghistory\/?p=96"},"modified":"2020-02-24T15:08:58","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T21:08:58","slug":"the-ever-elusive-definition-of-french-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/performinghistory\/2020\/02\/23\/the-ever-elusive-definition-of-french-music\/","title":{"rendered":"The ever-elusive definition of French music"},"content":{"rendered":"

In class on Tuesday, February 18th, <\/span>Professor Epstein<\/span><\/a> told us that a group of completely <\/span>homogenous<\/span><\/a> people cannot truly exist; it\u2019s literally impossible. I wrote this down in my notes because I think it allows us to comprehend the differing arguments made by composers and authors we have studied thus far. As of right now, the stances on foreignness and what makes French music distinctively French have been the most incomprehensible for me. For example, Cocteau accuses Debussy of falling victim to the \u201cRussian trap\u201d of music in <\/span>Le coq et l’arlequin<\/span><\/em>, and he claims that when musics are combined into \u201cRussian-French\u201d or \u201cGerman French\u201d, they are \u201cnecessarily bastard\u201d.1<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0Contrastingly, we then read the translation of Maurice Ravel\u2019s <\/span>\u201cContemporary Music\u201d lecture <\/span>in which he writes that foreign influence does not actually create a \u201cbastard child\u201d. 2<\/sup><\/a> Instead, Ravel claims that French music is inspired by many various sources and yet will always unfurl in its own individual nature derived from French genius. Going back to the concept of homogeneity, I feel as if Ravel has a more realistic worldview than Cocteau. While Cocteau had an obvious intent to ignite a reaction out of his readers (20th century clickbait?), he still makes bold comparisons between composers Satie and Debussy, and clearly favors Satie over the commonly nicknamed \u201cFather\u201d of French music\u2013 a historical documentation of which I have included below:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

It could definitely be argued that Cocteau believed Satie respected French nationalism more than Debussy, and that Satie\u2019s music was a representation of a homogenous France and everyday life in Paris, especially seen in the choreography of <\/span>\u201cParade\u201d shown below.<\/span> But then that brings up the question of what nationalism is and how it exists in relation to homogeneity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n