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France
French musical tradition has always been important and
central in the world of music, however that did not drive musicians to
look for a popular song for its deployment in art music, as a means of
empowering France's music.
French
music is characterized by sense and logic, meticulousness on form and aesthetics.
Dancing style is very popular among French composers and they tended to
nurture dance forms and deploy them in their music (Ravel
revived the pavane
in his "Pavane for a Dead Princess"
("Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte")). French humor was
often represented in music, as emphasized by Saint-Saëns
in "The Animals' Carnival"
("Le Carnival des Animaux").
In search for exotic inspiration, some of the French
composers found exhilarating material and diversity in the neighboring
Spanish music, surprisingly (Ravel, with his
"Spanish Rhapsody", Bizet
in "Carmen"
and Debussy
in "Iberia"). Many of them
found interest in the impressionism,
born in France and this influenced the music of the entire 20th
century.
France was not coping with any outside cultural threat at the time (that
is, the early 20th century), hence another reason for the lack of interest
in its popular musical foundation.
In 1918, a group of young French composers called "Les
Six":
Honegger,
Milhaud,
Poulenc,
Georges Auric, Germaine
Tailleferre, and Louis Durey, decided
to react against the impressionism, and looked
for new ways of expression.
Dances originated in this country:
Farandole -
a dance whose true origin is presumably Greek, yet became famous in southern
France. Metre - 6/8. Bizet used a farandole in "L'Arlesienne".
Burree
- a vigilant 4/4 dance played a-la-breve.
Minuette
- a French country-dance introduced in royal
courts and even many forms of art music - sonatas, symphonies and oratorio
openings. 3/4 metre.
Gavotte
- a French festive dance in an even rhythm,
starting on the upbeat (with a pickup bar).
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