Ce que dit la musique

Books
Hermione Quinet
Fanny Gribenski and Étienne Jardin
Actes Sud / Palazzetto Bru Zane, 2016
Beethoven, Berlioz, David, Gounod, Halévy, Meyerbeer, Mozart, Rossini, Thomas, Wagner
420 pages
French
978-2330057688

Advised by her doctor to visit the concert halls and opera houses of Paris in order to treat a nervous breakdown linked to the death of her husband, Hermione Quinet produced a “hymn of gratitude” to the art of music with her book, Ce que dit la musique, published in 1893. Combining her own listening impressions, artistic, historical and philosophical facts, with personal recollections, this work documents the effect on the author of performances put on by the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire and productions at the Paris Opera. With chapters centred around specific works or composers, the book turns the spotlight on Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Meyerbeer and Halévy, not to mention Gounod, while bearing witness to the rediscovery of ancient composers (particularly Bach).

The Actes Sud/Palazzetto Bru Zane collection—co-authored books, musicological essays, conference proceedings or archive documents—gives the floor to key actors and witnesses in the artistic history of the 19th century, as well as their present-day critics. Published at the rate of two to four books each season, the collection will examine many aspects of the French Romantic répertoire and the musical life of this period, focusing on the careers of famous or neglected composers as well as the history of the concert, musical genres and performers.

Fanny Gribenski
A former pupil at the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon, associate professor in music and graduate of the Paris Conservatoire in music history and aesthetics, Fanny Gribenski has just completed a thesis at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) entitled L’Église Comme Lieu de Concert (1830-1905). She currently teaches at the University of Evry-Val-d’Essonne, where she is also associate researcher at the RASM research laboratory (Laboratoire Recherche Arts Spectacle et Musique).

Étienne Jardin
With a PhD in history from the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS, Paris), Étienne Jardin is researching French musical life from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. Co-founder and publishing director of the online journal Transposition. Musique et sciences Sociales (2010), he is currently scientific head of publications and symposia at the Palazzetto Bru Zane – Centre de Musique Romantique Française. He has published Archives du Concert and contributed to Le Concerto pour piano français à l’épreuve des modernités, two books which appeared in the Actes Sud/Palazzetto Bru Zane collection in 2015.

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