From salon to the stage

Mastering the art of vocal composition was the ultimate goal of musical education in France: studies at the Paris Conservatoire were geared to achieving that final stage of theoretical knowledge, and candidates for the Prix de Rome were assessed on their ability to produce such a work, in the form of a cantata. The emphasis on vocal music may be explained by the high prestige in France of opera and opéra-comique, which in Jules Massenet’s time also extended to oratorio and the mélodie. Eager to explore areas other than the stage, his generation took to the concert hall and the salon with the same dedication and a desire to achieve nobility of style in every genre.