Paris has been at the centre of the arts for centuries. In the nineteenth century, with Chopin and Liszt, and in the first half of the twentieth century with Fauré and Debussy, the Parisian social circle was enlivened by upper middle-class women who held salons and entertained aristocrats, wealthy middle-class industrialists and artists. These were known as Parisian salons.
The salon as a social space developed from the seventeenth century onwards, fostering exchanges between classes, both at court and in the homes of noblewomen. The elite of the world of literature, philosophy, art and music, carefully selected by them, became regular guests at the salons, and new ideas and cultural trends emerged on this occasion. The salon was held in the mistress of the house's main residence, or in an adjoining venue. The daughter of the industrialist who invented the Singer sewing machine, Winaretta Singer, who became the Duchesse de Polignac, held a music salon in Paris. Countess Greffulhe was the model for the Duchess of Guermantes in Marcel Proust's ‘In Search of Lost Time’, who frequented the Polignac salon.
Guests would gather in the salon to discuss politics, philosophy and the arts, and listen to concerts by composers and performers chosen by the mistress of the house. In this capacity, the salon mistresses helped composers such as Chopin, Liszt and Fauré to make a name for themselves.
Debussy lived during the Belle Époque, a period of peace between the 1870 war and the First World War in 1914, when the Eiffel Tower was built in 1899 for the Paris Universal Exhibition. It was also the time of Japonisme, represented in particular by the very popular Ukiyo-e. Debussy was influenced by the sense of ‘Ichion Jyōbutsu一音成仏’, Zen thought.
We know that Hokusai's woodcuts were used for the cover of the symphonic poem ‘The Sea’. The whirlwind of Japonism then spread to Russian composers, who were impressed by both Ukiyo-e and Waka. Stravinsky composed the ‘3 Poésies de la lyrique japonaise’ and the ‘Sacre du printemps’ in the same year. At this concert, we will hear the marvellous singing of M. Shoko Otani, accompanied by shamisen and piano, performed for the first time in Japanese.
Debussy's violin sonata has a close and deep connection with maestro Gérard Poulet. Indeed, his father, the violinist Gaston Poulet, gave the world premiere, with Debussy himself at the piano, in 1915.
This concert will be an opportunity to listen to the story of the salon as it unfolded in Japonisme, reflecting what was happening in Paris at the time, and to end with Debussy's sonata, 104 years after its premiere.
Programme
F. Chopin : Nocturne op.9-1 (1830-1832) 6’
G. Fauré : Nocturne No.6 (1894) 9’
F. Chopin : Polonaise No.6 op. 53 « Héroïque » (1842 ) 7’
F. Chopin : Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise brillante op.22 (1831 et 1834 ) 15’
F. Liszt : Rhapsodie hongroise no 2 (1847) 10’ -Pause-
G. Fauré :Sonate pour violon et piano op13 (1875) 26’
C. Debussy : sonate pour violon et piano (1916 et 1917) 15’