French Musical Modernisms: aesthetics and criticism

The interwar period in French music is often seen as problematic. Debussy's war-time death in 1918 signalled for many the loss of a significant musical leader and the decline of a glorious period of French music. The younger generation claimed that they were offering something new and distinct from their immediate predecessors. Their apparent rejection of established traditions and of aspects of the avant-garde has resulted in their relative isolation from mainstream modernism. Moreover, post World War 1 France is associated with the neoclassicism that marginalized Stravinsky from narratives of musical modernism until relatively recently.

The Fellowship project reassesses French music and aesthetics from 1913 until World War 2. It traces continuities as well as discontinuities between two apparently incompatible generations, looking in particular at how a Symbolist aesthetic transformed into the modernism associated with the post-World War 1 period. In so doing, it makes links with literary and artist figures who underwent comparable transformations. The project selects moments when France was closely engaged with ultra-modern music elsewhere. 1913 is the starting point, not so much for Stravinsky's _Rite of Spring_, which made such a momentous impact on new music, but because of a number of works that were inspired by Schoenberg's _Pierrot lunaire_: Stravinsky's _Japanese Lyrics_ and Ravel's _Trois mélodies_. Their distinctive responses reveal the separate but overlapping musical preoccupations, in particular, with sonority, instrumental combinations, the voice and tonality. This convergence was played out again in 1922 with the first performance of Schoenberg's _Pierrot lunaire_ in Paris and Stravinsky's _Mavra_. The project traces other significant modernist strands in the areas of chamber music and ballet, which have their roots in the war period, but came to fruition in the 1920s.

The project examines how Debussy was remembered after WW1 and the impact this had on debates about new music. It considers the significant role of the press in setting the agenda, shaping musical debates and influencing public opinion. The interaction of critics with composers of this period is striking and suggests a complicity that is familiar in our current media-led world. Central to these debates was the future orientation of French music and who should lead it. Satie and Ravel emerge as two figures who divided French musical circles and, more crucially, the young composers who formed Les Six; the project examines the musical polemics in which composers and critics were engaged.

The research uncovers the emerging musical priorities and qualities of this period, focusing on an uneasy consensus that can be traced to the war and became established in the 1920s, including, the 'style dépouillé', counterpoint and melody. It looks at the pressure to conform and examines composers' attempts to work with or against the apparent consensus, for example, Milhaud in the 1920s and Poulenc and Sauguet in the 1930s. In striving to reassess the prevailing view of music in interwar France as one of frivolity, superficiality, secularism and classicism, the research project provides a more nuanced understanding of the period and its interaction with other European modernist developments. Finally, it reflects on how an understanding of this period has been shaped by the archives themselves, by early biographers and by influential figures, such as Boulez.

The research project will have the most direct impact on scholars and students in a range of arts and humanities disciplines. Beyond academia the project has a number of potential outlets. Over the past few years I have been working with a small ensemble to develop recital lectures on areas of my research. These recitals are linked to research papers and are open to the wider university, students and the public. They have been a great success. The fellowship would continue with the series of recitals and lectures but plans to build on this initiative to bring the research findings to a wider audience.

1. Keele University has strong contacts with the New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme, including an ESRC-funded major grant working on the theatre's archive. The theatre has a strong tradition of classical concerts, having been a favoured venue of the Lindsay String Quartet. An aim of the research fellowship is to arrange a series of concerts with public lectures on repertoire related to the project. Currently this repertoire includes Ravel's _Histoires naturelles_, _Mallarmé songs_, _Chansons Madécasses_, Stravinsky's _Japanese Lyrics_, Milhaud's songs and Debussy and Stravinsky works for two pianos. The theatre has recently expanded its education and outreach department and the project plans to offer sessions to local school children on selected topics arising from the repertoire, such as music and war; music, the city and the everyday and exoticism in music. We are also planning similar events with the Potteries Museum, Hanley and with Newcastle Museum and Art Gallery.

2. . I am in contact with the Artistic Director of the Keele Concert Society to programme two events related to the project. This professional series attracts a diverse local audience. The first in the 2011 series would focus on repertoire for two pianos or four hands, such as Debussy's _En Blanc et noir_, Stravinsky's _Petrushka_ and _The Rite of Spring_. This would involve a Keele-based duo, including Michael Bell and also, hopefully, Roy Howat, who has performed numerous times at Keele in the Keele Concert Series, in departmental workshops and for Keele Music Forum. The other event we are discussing for the 2012 series would concentrate on Debussy in order to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth. I would preface both events with pre-concert talks, drawing on my research findings.

3. Music at Keele is involved with outreach activities with schools in the Midlands and Northwest. We hold special events at Keele on film music, performance and music technology. I plan to organise a session aimed at AS and A level students on selected topics from the project, including, Paris and musical modernism, music and war, exoticism and Satie and film. Students would engage in discussions of selected repertoire, using works they have studied within their curriculum as a springboard to exploring repertoire that is central to the project. An example of this is Stravinsky's _Firebird_, which is on the A level syllabus (AQA); students would be introduced to other experimental ballets, such as Satie's _Parade_ and Milhaud's _L'Homme et son désir_, which tackle issues of exoticism, primitivism and music and the everyday. In addition, we plan to run performance activities and a short recital focused on the repertoire outlined in 1 above.

4. I recently gave an interview on Radio 3 on Debussy's _Pelléas_, which drew on a recent publication. I plan a programme on French music between Debussy and Messiaen, which would explore the repertoire and debates surrounding a period that is framed by two world wars and by two musical giants.

5. The project predicts other impact activities arising out of invitations to give pre-concert talks and write articles for programmes e.g. for the London Philharmonia (on Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky in