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France has long been considered a centre for European art
and music. The country boasts a wide variety of indigenous
folk music, as well as styles played by immigrants from Africa,
Latin America and Asia. In the field of classical music, France
has produced a number of legendary composers, while modern
pop music has seen the rise of popular French rock, hip hop,
techno/funk, and pop performers.
Folk music
As Europe experienced a wave of roots revivals, France found
its regional cultures reviving traditional music. Brittany,
Limousin, Gascony, Corsica and Auvergne were among the regions
that underwent a popularization of folk music. Traditional
styles of music had survived most in remote areas like the
island of Corsica and mountainous Auvergne, as well as the
more nationalist lands of the Basques and Bretons.
In many cases, folk traditions were revived in relatively
recent years to cater to tourists. These groupes folkloriques
tend to focus on very early 20th century melodies and the
use of the piano accordion.
Central France
Central France incudes the regions of Auvergne, Limousin,
Morvan, Nivernais, Bourbonnais and Berry. The lands are the
home to the French bagpipe tradition, as well as the iconic
hurdy gurdy and the dance bourrée. There are deep differences
between the regions of Central France, with the Auvergne and
Limousin retained the most vibrant folk traditions of the
area. As an example of the area's diversity, the bourrée
can come in two distinct rhythms, 3/8 or 2/3; the latter is
found in the south of the region, and is usually improvised
with bagpipes and hurdy gurdy, while the former is found in
the north and includes virtuoso players.
Bagpipe and hurdy gurdy
The hurdy gurdy, or vielle-à-roue, is a cross between
a violin and a piano accordion. It is made up of a curved,
oval body, a set of keys and a curved handle, which is turn
and connected to a wheel which bows the strings that are stopped
by the keys. There is a moveable bridge, a variable number
of drones and hidden sympathetic strings, all of which can
also effect the sound. Simpler forms of the hurdy gurdy are
also found in Spain, Hungary and Russia.
The bagpipe is found in a wide array of forms in France,
which has more diversity in bagpipes than any other country.
The cabrette and grande cornemuse from Auvergne and Berry
are the most well-known. These forms are found at least as
far back as the 17th century. Prominent bagpipers include
Bernard Blanc, Frédéric Paris and Philippe Prieur,
as well as bandleader Jean Blanchard of La Grande Bande de
Cornemuses and Quintette de Cornemuses. Frédéric
Paris is also known as a member of the Duo Chabenat-Paris,
a prominent duo who use elements like mixed polyphonic ensembles
and melodies based on the bourrée. Bernard Blanc and
Jean Blanchard, along with Eric Montbel from Lyons, were among
the musicians who formed the basis of La Bamboche and Le Grand
Rouge. It was these two bands who did more than anyone to
revitalize the traditions of Central France during the 1970s
folk revival. The festival of St. Chartier, a music festival
held annually near Chateauroux, has been a focal point for
the music of Auvergne and Limousin.
The provinces of Morvan and Nivernais have produced some
traditional stars, including Faubourg de Boignard and Les
Ménétriers du Morvan, respectively. The Nivernais
collector Achille Millien was also notable in the early part
of the 20th century.
Southern France
Southern France includes the regions of Provence, Béarn,
Rousillon, Gascony and Languedoc. The Basques, with their
own unique culture, are geographically part of this area,
but are culturally and ethnically distinct from any of their
French or Spanish neighbors. The Occitan language is in use
by some musicians, including Jean-Luc Madier and Rosina de
Peira. The Massilia Sound System is a well-known group, specializing
in what they call trobamuffin, which is Occitan raggamuffin.
Bal-musette
The hurdy gurdy became the basis for bal-musette music, which
arrived in Paris by 1880 as a result of Auvergnat migration.
The influence of Antoine Bouscatel led to bal-musette incorporating
the Italian accordion, which soon came to dominate the music.
This is the period that produced internationally known masters
like Léon Chanal, Emile Vacher and Martin Cayla. Vacher's
light style, rhythmic nature and distinctive tremolo defined
the genre for many audiences in France and beyond.
Basque
The Basques are a unique ethnic group, unrelated to any other
in France and with uncertain connections abroad. The main
form of Basque folk music is called trikitrixa, which is based
on the accordion and includes popular performers like Benat
Achiary and Oldarra. The Spanish Basques have had a much more
active music scene, especially in the field of traditional
music.
Corsica
Corsican polyphonic singing is perhaps the most unique of
the French regional music varieties. Sung by male trios, it
is strongly harmonic and occasionally dissonant. Works can
be either spiritual or secular. Modern groups include Canta
u Populu Corsu, I Muvrini, Tavagna and Chjami Aghjalesi; some
groups have been associated with Corsican nationalism.
Corsican musical instruments include the bagpipe (caramusa),
16-stringed lute (cetera), mandolin, fife (pifana) and the
diatonic accordion (urganettu).
Brittany
Uniquely Celtic in character, Breton folk music has had perhaps
the most successful revival of its traditions, partially due
to the result of Lorient, France's most popular music festival.
The documented history of Breton music begins with the publication
of Barzaz-Breizh in 1839. A collection of folk songs compiled
by Hersart de la Villemarqué, Barzaz-Breizh helped
keep Breton traditions alive.
Couple de sonneurs, consisting of a bombarde and biniou,
is usually played at festoù-noz celebrations (some
are famous, like Printemps de Chateauneuf). It is swift dance
music and has an older vocal counterpart called kan ha diskan.
Unaccompanied call and response singing was interspersed with
gwerz, a form of ballad.
Probably the most popular form of Breton folk is the bagad
pipe band, which features native instruments like biniou and
bombarde alongside drums and, in more modern groups, biniou
braz pipes. Modern revivalists include Kevrenn Alre Bagad
and Bagad Kemper.
Alan Stivell is perhaps the most influential folk-rock performer
of continental Europe. After 1971's Renaissance of the Celtic
Harp, Breton and other Celtic traditional music achieved mainstream
success internationally. With Dan Ar Bras, he then released
Chemins de Terre (1974), which launched Breton folk-rock.
This set the stage for stars like Malicorne in the ensuing
decades.
Pure folk of modern Brettany include harpists like Anne-Marie
Jan, Anne Auffret and Myrdhin, while singers Kristen Nikolas,
Andrea Ar Gouilh and Yann-Fanch Kemener have become mainstream
stars. Instrumental bands, however, have been the most successful,
including Gwerz, Bleizi Ruz, Strobinell, Sonerien Du and Tud.
Music history
French music history dates back to organum in the 10th century,
followed by the Notre Dame School, an organum composition
style. By the end of the 12th century, a kind of music called
the motet arose, accompanied by the spread of travelling musicians
called troubadours. In the 14th century, France produced two
notable styles of music, Ars Nova and Ars Subtilior. During
the Renaissance, Burgundy became a major center for musicald
development. This was followed by the rise of chansons and
the Burgundian School.
Opera
The first French opera may be Akébar roi du Mogol,
first performed in Carpentras in 1646. They were followed
by the team of Pierre Perrin and Cambert, whose Pastoral in
Music, performed in Issy, was a success, and the pair moved
to Paris to produce Pomone (1671) and Les Peines et les Plaisirs
de l'Amour (1672).
Jean-Baptiste Lully, who had become well-known composing
ballets for Louis XIV, began innovating a French version of
the Italian opera seria, a kind of tragic opera known as tragédie
lyrique or tragédie en musique - see (French lyric
tragedy). His first was Cadmus from 1673. Lully's forays into
operatic tragedy were accompanied by the pinnacle of French
theatrical tragedy, led by Corneille and Racine.
Lully also developed the common beat patterns used by musical
conductors today, and was the first to take the role of leading
the orchestra from the position of the first violin.
Classical music era and modern French classical music
During the French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic
wars, the Paris Conservatory was established and foreigners
like Frederic Chopin flocked to France. One of the major French
composers of the time, and one of the most innovative composers
of the early Romantic era, was Hector Berlioz.
In the late 1800s, pioneers like Georges Bizet, Jules Massenet,
Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy revitalized French music.
The late 1800s saw the dawn of the music hall when Yvette
Guilbert was a major star. The era lasted through to the 1930s
and saw the likes of Félix Mayol, Lucienne Boyer, Marie-Louise
Damien, Marie Dubas, Fréhel, Georges Guibourg, Tino
Rossi, Jean Sablon, Charles Trenet and Maurice Chevalier.
This part of the 20th century also saw neo-classical music
flourish in France, especially composers like Albert Roussel,
Erik Satie and Les Six, a group of musicians who gathered
around Satie. Later in the century, Olivier Messiaen and Pierre
Boulez proved influential and incorporated non-native influences.
Popular music
French popular music in the 20th century included singers
like superstar Edith Piaf as well as Monique Serf (Barbara)
and Georges Brassens plus the more art-house musicians like
Brigitte Fontaine. American and British rock and roll was
also popular in the 1950s and 60s, and indigenous rock achieved
some domestic success. Punk rock, heavy metal and, especially,
electronic music, found some French listeners. In the latter
genre, the French electro-pop band Air, Daft Punk and techno
artist Laurent Garnier found a wide audience in the late 1990s
and early 2000s, both locally and internationally. Algerian
rai also found a large French audience, especially Khaled.
Moroccan chaabi and gnawa is also popular. American hip hop
music was exported to France in the 1980s, and French rappers
and DJs, like MC Solaar, also had some success. More recently,
electronica groups such as Télépopmusik have
had some success.
Rock
At the end of World War 2, French musicians were becoming
wildly experimental and diverse. Popular musicians from the
era included romantics like Edith Piaf, politicized singers
like Leo Ferre, morbid sex symbols like Juliette Greco, elegant
stars like Charles Aznavour and experimental, often humorous,
performers like Georges Brassens and the Belgian Jacques Brel.
In the 50s, Elvis Presley and rock and roll made inroads
in the French music scene. It produced stars like Johnny Hallyday,
and Claude François, the popular yé-yé
girls like Sylvie Vartan and some various music genre like
Dalida, who can do anything like italian style music in 50s;
twist, pop and rock in the 60s (and later pop, disco, new
wave and rock in the 70s and 80s). These were popular female
teen idols, and included Francoise Hardy, who was the first
to write her own songs.
Singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg began as a jazz musician
in the 1950s and spanned several eras of French popular music
including pop, rock, reggae, new wave, disco and even hip
hop filtered through his unique sense of black humor, heavily
laden with sex and scatology.
Though rock was not extremely popular until the 70s, there
were innovative musicians in France as the psychedelic rock
trend was peaking worldwide. Jean-Pierre Massiera's Les Maledictus
Sound (1968) and Aphrodite's Child's 666 were the most influential.
In the early 70s, Breton musician Alan Stivell (Rennaissance
de l'Harpe Celtique) launched the field of French folk-rock
by combining psychedelic and progressive rock sounds with
Breton and Celtic folk styles.
Progressive rock
France became one of the leading producers of prog rock in
the 1970s. Aficionados worldwide were enamoured by recordings
like Ange's Le Cimetiere des Arlequins, Pulsar's Halloween,
Shylock's Ile de Fievre, Atoll's L'Araignee-Mal and Eskaton's
Ardeur. Most well-known, however, may be the band Magma, whose
1970 debut, Magma, used free jazz and lyrical references to
science fiction. The band later used Indian and electronic
styles.
1980s
In the 1980s, French rock spawned a myriad of styles, many
closely-connected with other Francophone musical scenes in
Switzerland, Canada and especially Belgium. Pub rock (Telephone),
psychobilly (La Muerte), pop punk (Les Thugs), synth pop (Telex)
and punk rock (Bijou) were among the styles represented in
this era.
Punk rock had arisen in the 1970s and continued into the
next decade, perhaps best represented by Oberkampf and Metal
Urbain. 80s progressive rock peaked early in the decade, with
Dun's Eros, Emeraude's Geoffroy and Terpandre's Terpandre,
all from 1981, representing the genre's pinnacle.
Hip hop
Hip hop came from New York City, invented in the 1970s by
African Americans. By 1983, the genre had spread to much of
the world, including France. Almost immediately, French performers
(musicians and breakdancers) began their career, including
Thony Maskot, Frank II Louise, Max-Laure Bourjolly, Farid
Berki, Traction Avant and Black Blanc Beur. Popularity was
brief, however, and hip hop quickly receded to the French
underground.
Paname City Rappin (1984, by Dee Nasty) was the first album
released, and the first major star was MC Solaar, whose 1991
Qui Sème le Vent Récolte le Tempo, was a major
hit.
In the modern era, most popular French rappers are, like
MC Solaar (probably the most internationally-renowned French
MC), ethnically African, from countries like Senegal and Algeria.
Raï
France has long had a large Algerian minority, a legacy of
long-time colonial domination of that country. Algerian immigrants
brought their own music to France, most especially including
raï. Originating in the lower-class slums of the city
of Oran, raï shot to the top of the French charts in
1992 with the release of Khaled's self-titled album Khaled.
Later performers added influences from funk, hip hop, rock
and other styles, creating most notably a pop genre called
lover's raï. Performers include Rachid Taha and Faudel.
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