FR4

The composer and keyboard player Johann Jacob Froberger (1616-1667) studied in Italy, worked in Vienna and travelled through Europe; Italian, French and German stylistic features can be found in his keyboard compositions. He lived and worked here under the protection of princess Sibylla of Württenberg-Montbéliard from 1663 until his death. Only a part of the castle has remained.

In the impressive organ case from 1619 is an instrument by Hartmann/Delaye from the 1970s, a reconstruction of the anonymous original instrument of which 500 pipes were reused. III/p/44.

Three important musicians were born in Besançon: the composer Claude Goudimel (1510s-1572), principally noted for his various settings of the entire book of psalms, the lutenist and composer Jean-Baptiste Besard (c 1567-1617+), whose volumes of lute music were accompanied by manuals of lute playing, and Michel Blavet (1700-1768), the most admired flautist of his time and a composer of still attractive flute works.

The theatre by the famous architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux was opened in 1786; it was built in the shape of a Roman theatre with a hidden orchestra pit – a foreshadowing of Bayreuth! After a great fire in 1958, a new theatre with 1100 seats was built after the undamaged façade.

Annual music festival since 1948 (September), including a competition of young conductors. Some concerts take place in the Royal Salt-works, designed by Ledoux in 1775 and situated in Arc-et-Senans, 40 km south.

The museum has the disposal of a folklore collection and a puppet theatre.

Birthplace of Claude-Joseph Rouget de L’Isle (1760-1836), the composer of the French national anthem La Marseillaise.

Monument of Rouget de L’Isle by Bartholdi (1882).

House of the musicologist and sinologist Louis Laloy (1874-1944). He mostly lived near Paris (> fr1), this house was (and still is) a family property. Laloy was a biographer of Rameau and of his friend Debussy, who stayed with him in Rahon in 1907 and, inspired by the church bells, composed La cloche à travers les feuilles.

Gabriel Fauré stayed with the Maillot family during the summers of 1919-1924. In 1923, through a performance of Fauré’s Requiem in the church, the inhabitants of Annecy could get acquainted with their honourable guest.

Igor Stravinsky stayed in this house, a property of the bishopric of Annecy, in the summer of 1937. Here he composed the first movement of the concerto Dumbarton Oaks.

Igor Stravinsky stayed in this sanatorium hotel from half June until the end of August 1970, very ill. It was his last stay in Europe; seven months later he died in New York.

After having lived together during twelve years, Giuseppe Verdi and Giuseppina Strepponi finally married in this remote church at 29.VIII.1859; no publicity, no wedding feast. The village was a part of Italian Savoy in those days.

Collonges also was the birthplace of Aimé Ravel, the grandfather of Maurice Ravel.

The museum of mechanical musical instruments has a collection of c 800 pieces; since the 1990s the exhibition is divided over two buildings.

The great renaissance composer Guillaume Dufay had a close contact with the court of Savoy. In 1434 he was the master of music at the wedding of duke Louis in the Sainte Chapelle of Chambery castle – a glorious event, as has been reported. Dufay also worked in Chambery between 1437 and ’39 and during seven years in the 1450s.

The castle has a large carillon of 70 bells from 1970; the former carillon from 1937 with 40 bells has been placed in the castle garden.

The writer and composer Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived here between 1736 and ’42 with his ‘maman’, Madame de Warens. Here he made his first attempts to compose an opera. His important contributions to the musical history – Le devin du village, Pygmalion – are of later dates, as are his literary and philosophical works.

Institute for the training of music therapists and for research on the interrelation between music and medicine. > www.centre-europeen-musicale.com

Monument of Hector Berlioz by Claude Grange, 1953. The former monument (Urbain Basset 1903) was pulled down by the Nazis in 1943, for use in the manufacture of arms.

Monument of Hector Berlioz, born in this town in 1803.

Birthplace of Hector Berlioz (1803-1869), the most important composer of French romanticism. The museum was opened in 1935; it was the first museum in France devoted to a composer. The 17^th century house is well restored, the collection of exhibits includes autographs and all sorts of documents, images and objects.

The castle, since 1906 a municipal property, had a small Berlioz collection that moved to the museum. Today it houses a music school and offers since 1994 a platform for the yearly Berlioz festival (August).

The young Berlioz frequently visited the nearby village of Haut-Meylan. This is the address of his grandfather Nicolas Marmon.

House of Estelle Dubeuf, Berlioz’ first and last love. The passion of the 12 year old boy for the six year older stella montis gradually died out but returned at the end of his life. In 1864 he visited her, a widow of 67, in Lyon and later in Geneva and wrote many letters to her. She friendly accepted his advances but kept distance.

Country house of the composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1994).

A small terrace with a view upon the lake of Laffrey was devoted to Olivier Messiaen, living nearby.

Graves of the composer Olivier Messiaen (†1994) and his wife, the pianist Yvonne Loriod (†2010).

House of Igor Stravinsky from 1930 until 1934, belonging to the estate La Vironnière. The plaque was unveiled in 1982 by Stravinsky’s son Théodore. The then proprietor had called his dog Igor and his cat Théodore.

The composer Jules Massenet (1842-1912) was born in Montaud, a quarter in Saint Etienne. His birthplace is not extant; a statue La Muse de Massenet by J.Lamberton was erected in 1929, pulled down in 1942 but found again in Lyons after the war and put back on its empty socle.

Lyons is the third-largest city of France. In the 16^th century it became a centre of music printing; Jacques Moderne was a renowned printer and publisher of polyphonic music. The musical life in the 17^th and 18^th centuries was lively but left few traces. The church of the Jacobites, where Rameau was organist (1713-15), and the concert hall from the 1720s at the place des Cordeliers were both demolished in the 19^th century. The Mozart family stayed in Lyons four weeks in November 1766. The keyboard player and composer Louis Marchand (1669-1732) and the violinist and composer Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) were born in Lyons. The composer Claude Goudimel was killed during the St Bartholomew massacre in 1572; his corps was thrown into the Saône.

The organist and composer Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) was born in Lyons and played the organ in this church between 1860 and 1870, before moving to Paris. On his instigation, a new organ was made by Cavaillé-Coll; at the inauguration in 1880 he played his Fifth Organ Symphony. Up to now the instrument remained unchanged; III/p/45.

After two forerunners in the 18^th century, a new opera or Grand theatre was built in 1831; in 1991 it was extended by the architect Jean Nouvel with new underground levels and a semi-cylindrical dome for dance, in striking contrast with the old structure. The hall has 1100 seats and mounts opera and ballet.

Concert hall, built in 1975. The architects Pottier and Delfante created a concrete, ‘brutalist’ buiding with a hall for 2100 listeners in the form of a Roman theatre. Home of the National Orchestra of Lyons.

The first conservatory was established in 1872; the present one occupies a building from 1690 which successively served as a monastery, since the 19^th century as a veterinarian school and since 1988 as the Conservatoire. The dance department is in an old granary at the other side of the river Saône.

Birthplace of Joseph Canteloube de Malaret (1879-1957), the composer of the popular Chants d’Auvergne. It was the house of his grandfather; built in the middle ages, it had been used as a hideout of persecuted protestants in 1563.

Canteloube spent his youth in this house. His piano teacher, Amélie Doëtzer, had been a pupil of Chopin.

Monument of the composer Vincent d’Indy (1851-1931).

This mansion was a property of the d’Indy family and the young composer, living in Paris, stayed here frequently.

Vincent d’Indy wished to have an own pied-à-terre in his beloved Ardèche region, without giving up his Paris domicile. He had this large villa built in 1886-90 on family land. The house, still occupied by his descendants, is full of authentic details from the time of the composer.

Organ by Eustache (1632-56) and Samson Scherrer (1750) in a gothic case from the 1460s! Restored in 2007; III/p/26.

The Eustache/Scherrer choir organ in the chapel of St Anne is tuned on a=392Hz and meantone temperament; II/p/9.

After the excavation and restoration of the fine Roman theatre, Méhul’s opera Joseph was presented here in 1869. From 1902 regular drama, opera and music performances found place in a festival, named Chorégies d’Orange; since 1970 it is yearly (August) and restricted to opera and concerts. The theatre has 9000 seats.

Birthplace of the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, °1155/60, the composer of the famous song Kalenda maya. His castle was ruined, but he has a monument in the village.

In the 14^th century Avignon was the seat of the papal court (popes 1309-1377, then ‘antipopes’ until 1403); it was the richest period in Avignon’s musical history as a meeting place for Italian ‘Trecento’ music and French Ars Nova and Ars subtilior. The 14^th century composer Philippe de Vitry stayed here several times.

The famous festival of Avignon is mainly devoted to spoken drama, but sometimes in cooperation with avant garde composers, such as Ligeti, Henze and Ohana.

In this building from 1619, a former monastery and later an exchange, a music school was established in 1828, which became a conservatory in 1948 (photo 1). In 1984 the name of the Avignon born composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1994) was added (photo 2). Later on the institute moved to 3 rue du Général Leclerc (photo 3).

The house where Olivier Messiaen was born in 1908 and lived until 1914 is not extant but a plaque is at his baptismal church.

The opera house was built in 1847. In 2017 it closed its doors for a reconstruction and the performances moved to a provisory platform near the railway station, called Opéra Confluences. Reopening after 2021.

Birthplace of the composer Félicien David (1810-1876). His vast oeuvre includes music for the Saint-Simonian sect, of which he was an adherent, and shows a predilection for oriental subjects which should inspire many French composers, from Berlioz to Messiaen.

The monument Le tambour d’Arcole honours the musician André Estienne, born here in 1777, whose drum playing saved Napoleon’s army in 1796 from defeat.

An opera full of Provençal touches is Mireille by Charles Gounod (1818-1892), after a poem by Frédéric Mistral. It was composed in 1863 in the former Hôtel Ville Verde; Gounod’s room has been marked.

At the Place Mireille is a monument of Gounod.

André Campra was music master in the Romanesque cathedral of Saint Trophime from 1681 to 1683.

Arles offers some festivals, of which some are devoted to the folklore of the Provence: dances, traditional instruments and costumes at Les feux de la Saint Jean (June 23) and at La Pegulado and the Costume Festival (beginning of July).

The spirit of Arles is best represented in Bizet’s incidental music for a play by Alphonse Daudet, L’Arlésienne (1872); the opera L’Arlesiana by Francesco Cilèa (1897) has the same source.

The choir school of the cathedral took care of a flourishing church music since the 15^th century. André Campra and Félicien David were choir boys, the latter shortly the music master. The 18^th century organ case houses a romantic instrument.

The courtyard of the archbishop’s palace was the first venue of the famous July festival of Aix, established in 1948. Since 1974 the emphasis is on opera, but concerts are given to. A theatre was built in the courtyard.

As a platform for recitals and chamber music, also the courtyard of the Hôtel Maynier d’Oppède from 1730/1757 is used; it is opposite the Archevêché, 23 rue Gaston-de-Saporta.

Three more locations of the festival are listed below.

An 17^th century tennis court was in the following century converted into an intimate theatre in Italian style. It is one of the oldest theatres in France in original state.

A new theatre by architect Vittorio Gregotti was opened in 2007; it has 1370 seats.

The conservatory, formerly in an old palace at 3 rue Joseph-Cabassol, occupies a new building since 2013 with an Auditorium for 500 listeners. The conservatory is named after Milhaud, the auditorium after Campra; these composers were both born in Aix.

This old library occupies a former match factory. It is rich in manuscripts of medieval liturgical music and courtly songs, including a fine ms of the ‘first French opera’, Jeu de Robin et de Marion by Adam de la Halle (c 1280); this composition from Northern France may have landed here when Adam was in the service of Charles I of Anjou, who married Beatrix de Provence. The library also has materials concerning Campra, David and Milhaud.

The composer André Campra (1660-1744) was born in this narrow street, but the house number is not known; the numbers 26, 32, 46, 61, 51 and 39 can be considered.

The composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) spent his youth in this house, Bras d’Or, from the year of his birth until 1909 and he often visited his family until 1940. Later on a police station.

Grave of Darius Milhaud.

The opera was built in 1784-87 by Charles-Joachim Bénard, but damaged by fire in 1919; the present art deco interior is from 1924. There are 1823 seats; the annex concert hall Odéon offers 800 seats.

The forerunner of the conservatory was a music school from 1821. Today the institute is housed in a beautiful palace, built in 1874 and originally meant for the library and the school of fine arts. Pierre Barbizet was its director from 1963-1990. There is a collection of pianos from the period 1831-1915 by the local maker Boisselot & Fils.

This modernist villa was built in 1923-26 by the architect Robert Mallet-Stevens for Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, friends of Jean Cocteau and great music lovers. In 1932 a ‘music festival’ took place in which the composers Auric, Markevich, Poulenc and Sauguet participated.

The house was decorated and furnished by the greatest artists. It was bought by the municipality in 1972 and converted into an arts centre.

Last house of the composer Charles Koechlin (1867-1950) and in the 1880s still occupied by his descendants. The composer was interred in the garden.

Grave of the composer Louis Durey (1888-1979). He was the oldest member of the Groupe des Six, but soon distanced himself from the group to pursue an independent path. In spite of his communist sympathies, he ended his life in this fashionable town. The address of his house could not be found out.

On the same cemetery Liszt’s daughter Blandine (1835-1862) was interred.

Museum devoted to the history of sound recording and a collection of mechanical musical instruments. For more details > www.phono.org .

In 1831 Hector Berlioz, having won the Prix de Rome, arrived in Rome but soon interrupted his stay. On his way to France he heard that Camille Moke, his fiancée, had abandoned him and secretly married Camille Pleyel. Enraged, he decided to kill the two Camilles and finally himself. Passing Nice, he came to his senses and stayed three peaceful weeks in this tower; before returning to Rome, he composed the King Lear overture and the draft of the monodrama Le retour à la vie: a ‘return to life’ indeed.

The opera composer Jacques Fromental Halévy (1799-1862) died here.

The violin virtuoso and composer Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) died in this house. Permission for a burial in Nice failed to occur, his coffin was stored in a cellar until 1845. Via a temporary grave in Gaione, his remains were finally interred in 1876 in Parma.

The opera was opened in 1885 and has 1083 seats. It replaced its predecessor, which burned down after a gas explosion; two hundred persons died and many were wounded.

Grave of the composer Fromental Halévy and a monument for the victims of the opera fire in 1881.

Estate of the Russian railway magnate, pianist and philanthropist of German descent, baron Pavel Grigorievich Fon Derviz (or ‘von der Wies’, 1826-1881). From 1870 he engaged an orchestra of seventy musicians for daily concerts; renowned conductors and soloists appeared, including the pianist Francis Planté, the violinist Joseph Joachim and the opera diva Adelina Patti. He also composed an opera, songs and instrumental works.

The estate is the university campus of Nice today.

Igor Stravinsky lived from 1924 to 1930 in this villa. Its present state has not been verified.

Igor Stravinsky stayed here with his family during the winter of 1910-1911 in an apartment over a patisserie.

A museum devoted to Jean Cocteau (1889-19630), the versatile writer, artist, great propagandist of music and friend of Satie, the Groupe des Six and Stravinsky. Since 2011 it displays c 1000 objects (art works, films) which were collected by Séverin Wunderman.

The Austrian composer Franz Schreker (1878-1934) was born in Monte-Carlo, but the exact birthplace could not be tracked down; his father was a photographer who dragged his family through whole Europe. Schreker worked in Vienna and Berlin; his masterly orchestrated operas can be considered as the musical equivalent of the paintings by Gustav Klimt.

The opera of Monte Carlo was built in 1879 after the design of Charles Garnier, the architect of the Paris opera. Many premières took place here; very important were the performances by the Ballets Russes (e.g. première of Les Biches by Poulenc in 1924). After the death of Diagilev in 1929, the group broke up; in 1933 a new group was established, the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo, but it didn’t make as much furore as its forerunner.

On the square are monuments of the composers Berlioz and Massenet and of the choreographer Serge Diagilev.

Grave of the composer Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944), who lived in Monaco at the end of her life.