France

Capital: Paris

Continent: Europe

des Préz

Rameau

Bizet

Satie

Saint-Saëns

Gounod

Ravel

Debussy

Milhaud

Berlioz

Boulez

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).