paris-manchester 1918 english/anglais

38 Pages·2017·2.75 MB·English

PARIS-MANCHESTER 1918
ENGLISH/ANGLAIS
Rothschild & Co is pleased to sponsor
the Royal Northern College of Music
and the Paris Conservatoire concert
Rothschild & Co is a family-controlled and independent business that has been Musical scores from
the private collection
at the centre of the world’s financial markets for over 200 years. It is one of the of Marie, Mrs Leopold de
world’s largest independent financial advisory groups, employing approximately Rothschild (1862–1937)
3,400 people in over 40 countries around the world. Our integrated global
network of trusted professionals provide in-depth market intelligence and
effective long-term solutions for our clients in Global Advisory, Private Wealth,
Asset Management, and Merchant Banking.
rothschild.com
C9423_RNMC_Sponsor_Ad_A4_V2.indd 1 09/02/2018 16:32
PARIS-MANCHESTER 1918
Dedicated to the soldier-musicians studying at the Royal Manchester College of
Music and Paris Conservatoire who lost their lives in the First World War.
P4: Welcome – Professor Linda Merrick (RNCM) and Bruno Mantovani
(Paris Conservatoire)
P6: Paris-Manchester 1918: Q&A with Richard Collins (RNCM) and
Gretchen Amussen (Paris Conservatoire)
P10: Manchester, music and the First World War
P14: Towards French musical supremacy? The Paris Conservatoire
in the Great War.
P18: RNCM and Paris Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra programmes
P30: Conservatoires in time of war:
Paris-Manchester 1918 – an online exhibition
P32: With thanks
P34: The Royal Northern College of Music and Paris Conservatoire
P36: Paris-Manchester 1918 event listings
Sponsors and supporters
The Ida Carroll Trust
TO READ THIS PROGRAMME IN FRENCH, PLEASE TURN TO THE BACK PAGE.
POUR LIRE LE PROGRAMME EN FRANÇAIS, VOIR LA DERNIÈRE PAGE.
PROFESSOR LINDA MERRICK
The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and the
Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de
Paris (Paris Conservatoire) are two of the world’s leading
conservatoires, training young musicians, conductors
and composers to the highest professional level. I am
delighted, therefore, that we have joined together for this
major collaboration to mark the end of the First World War
and to celebrate the music performed in our cities during
this time.
Forming the centrepiece to the RNCM’s year-long French
Connections festival focussing on the music of France and its impact throughout the
world, the following pages outline in detail the different elements of this unique
project, and I am sure you will agree that the results are both inspiring and
impressive.
A particular personal highlight are the student orchestral concerts in London,
Manchester and Paris. Conducted by Markus Stenz, the programmes for these special
events pay tribute to the concerts presented by the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester
under Sir Thomas Beecham, the Colonne and Lamoureux Orchestras, which joined together
during the First World War in Paris, and the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du
conservatoire that took place at the original Paris Conservatoire.
Complementing these performances is a two-day conference held at the Opéra
Comique and the Paris Conservatoire entitled Musical Institutions in Manchester
and Paris during the First World War and an online exhibition drawing together
research from the two cities at this time. Do take a moment to visit
rncm.ac.uk/paris-manchester-1918 to view the many documents, letters and
images that tell the real and inspiring stories of professional, amateur and
student musicians who were called to serve – and those who were left behind.
Both Paris and Manchester have a rich musical history and it has been wonderful to
see the stories surrounding the Great War come to life in such imaginative ways. None
of this would have been possible, however, without the hard work of our incredible
staff and students. A full list of credits can be found within this booklet, but I
would like to take this opportunity to personally thank those who have been involved
from the outset, particularly Richard Collins and Professor Barbara Kelly at the RNCM,
Gretchen Amussen and Clément Carpentier at the Paris Conservatoire, conductor Markus
Stenz, and all of the professional partners who have made each event possible.
This is one of the most exciting and innovative collaborations the RNCM has engaged in
during recent years, and I do hope you enjoy everything it has to offer.
Professor Linda Merrick
RNCM Principal
4
BRUNO MANTOVANI
The Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de
danse de Paris (Paris Conservatoire) is delighted to
collaborate with the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM)
on Paris-Manchester 1918, an innovative programme bringing
together live performances, research and publications
centred on musical life in Paris and Manchester during
the First World War. The themes suggested by these two
perspectives on our societies at the time are still
relevant today.
The initial project was to create a joint orchestra,
providing French students with an opportunity to become familiar with British
orchestral practice – a model of its kind. In fact we have seen that the results of
the collaboration have been much broader and richer: by evoking the musical life in
our two cities during the Great War we have opened doors to the music performed at
the time, the historic venues, and the many questions raised by ‘life in time of war’.
The project is a vast mosaic of events and publications incorporating everything from
educational outreach to chamber music, with an online exhibition featuring letters
from the Gazette Musicale edited by Nadia and Lili Boulanger in correspondence with
musicians on the front, French and English melodies performed by Franco-British
duos, and a symphonic orchestra interpreting composers in fashion on either side of
the Channel, be it Wagner in Manchester or Berlioz in Paris. Lastly, we present an
international colloquium dedicated to musical institutions in our two cities during
the war as well as projections of silent films of the time, with live scores composed
and performed by our students.
We are particularly happy to be performing in symbolic halls of the period in Paris,
most notably the former Conservatoire (today the national Drama Conservatoire), the
Opéra-Comique, the Musée de la Légion d’honneur and, within the framework of the
online exhibition, the Musée de l’armée and the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, a major
venue dedicated to contemporary music at the time.
Paris-Manchester 1918, which in France has been awarded the prestigious Centennial
Label (Centenaire 14-18), offers an unrivalled opportunity for exchanges among teachers,
researchers and students. Mobilising instrumentalists, singers, musicologists and
sound engineers, it reveals the different effects the war had on our conservatoires and
offers a vision that is intimate and intensely documented. I invite you to visit the
online exhibition, presented on the RNCM website (rncm.ac.uk/paris-manchester-1918).
I wish to thank the many people who have worked so hard on this initiative, the list
for which figures at the end of this booklet. At the Conservatoire de Paris, Gretchen
Amussen and Clément Carpentier were instrumental from the start, as were Richard
Collins and Barbara Kelly at the RNCM. My thanks also to RNCM Principal Linda Merrick,
who enthusiastically supported this project from its inception.
Paris-Manchester 1918 constitutes an exceptional moment in the life of our school, and
we are thrilled to share it with you.
Bruno Mantovani
Director, Paris Conservatoire
5
PARIS-MANCHESTER 1918
Q&A WITH
RICHARD COLLINS (RNCM)
AND GRETCHEN AMUSSEN
(PARIS CONSERVATOIRE)
6
It was over two years ago that the thought of a special collaboration between
the RNCM and Paris Conservatoire was raised. Here, Richard Collins (Head of
Programming, RNCM) and Gretchen Amussen (Director of External Affairs and
International Relations, Paris Conservatoire) talk about the unique project, and how
the stories and music of the First World War in Manchester and Paris came to life.
Richard CollinsPHOTO: Cherry Hamilton etchen Amussen
r
G
Where did the idea for an RNCM/Paris The idea to focus on 1918 emerged
Conservatoire collaboration come from? during those first meetings – but none
RC: That’s a good question – I’m having of us imagined then the scope the
to think back a long way now! It all project would take!
started because Gretchen came to visit
us back in 2016 and initiated the idea What have you enjoyed most about
of a collaboration. This is something seeing the project come to life?
that the Paris Conservatoire has done RC: For me, it’s been all about
before, but a collaborative performance the connections that have emerged
project on this scale is a relatively throughout the process. The initial
new venture for us. Thankfully, we were research stages were fascinating –
very excited about the opportunity looking back at the concerts that
to collaborate, and things moved on took place in Paris and Manchester
swiftly thereafter. during the war and making comparisons
between the two. Thankfully we had
GA: Bruno Mantovani was eager to expertise (and a French speaker!)
explore a joint orchestral project in the building in the form of our
which would provide our students Director of Research, Barbara Kelly,
with first-hand experience of British and we were also able to build on
orchestral-playing – in a class by the research around music-making in
itself. We immediately thought of wartime Manchester that we had already
Manchester, both for the RNCM and the undertaken. Beyond that, planning the
city’s musical tradition. I wrote to activity, and the part where everything
Linda Merrick to ask if such a project starts falling into place is when it
might be of interest, which led to our gets really exciting – but you have to
initial discussions in January 2016. wait a while for that.
7
GA: I have loved the collaborative concerts are good examples of just such
work with Manchester, the new challenges…
colleagues with whom I have exchanged
and worked intensely, and seeing how Has the project highlighted any
we are so complementary in sharing interesting differences/similarities
what we each know how to do best. between the two institutions?
Students, teachers, graduates, and RC: For starters, Gretchen and I
representatives of different concert have entirely different roles in our
venues alike have all embraced the institutions! However, partnership
project to make it their own. As
remains very much at the heart of
the project has unfolded, it seems
what we both do. We have also really
to have taken on a life of its own,
benefitted from different areas of
one that highlights areas in each
expertise – our in-house Marketing
school, enhancing each through this
team has led the development of the
joint approach. The connection of
online exhibition, while students on
the publication of the Boulanger
the Conservatoire’s excellent sound
sisters’ Gazette des classes to the
engineering course have contributed
online exhibtion, the colloquium and
the online soundscapes and we will
Lied concert is one such example. For
also have the benefit of a resident
me the human aspect of this – the
sound engineer from Paris to bolster
moving stories, but also the warmth
our team for the UK concerts. It’s
and collegial way we have moved
also interesting to see how both
forward together - has been profoundly
institutions have integrated our
inspiring.
joint project into their overall
programmes – we have actually built our
What challenges, if any, have you
entire year’s programme around French
faced?
Connections with this project as the
RC: There have been all kinds of
centrepiece; while in Paris, there
challenges throughout the process, as
are several other 1918-related events
you would only expect! But as is often
taking place, including chamber music
the case, some of the challenges have
and film screenings.
led to even greater reward. We never
expected to perform at the original
GA: We share a dedicated and
Conservatoire in Paris, but to perform
hardworking staff in each school
the Symphonie fantastique in the same
– and this has been essential to
venue it was first premiered in 1830 –
bringing such an ambitious project
now that’s special!
to life. We do have significantly
different organisations – both in
GA: There were so many threads weaving
terms of administration but also in
into this vast tapestry that at times
it was hard to prioritise. Finding certain areas of teaching. Paris has
the venues in Paris was a long and a dedicated Musicology Department,
complex process – though we are while the RNCM integrates this area
exceedingly proud of the net result. of study across disciplines, and
Determining an overall framework for a Barbara Kelly’s remit has allowed her
colloquium that would be relevant for to engage in First World War research
both cities, with a theme that would with the support of the AHRC Centre,
neither be too vast nor too narrow, Everyday Lives In War for example.
and that could open the door to new Likewise, our Sound Engineering
research – was complex. I have come to course is particularly implicated in
understand just how distinct the time this project – and does not have a
continuum is for music research as counterpart in Manchester. The RNCM has
opposed to performance. Preparing an taken the lead on making the online
international colloquium in less than exhibition a technical reality – which
a year or publishing a critical edition would have been a challenge in Paris.
of the Gazette des classes to coincide Lastly – as Richard aptly mentions –
with the organization of orchestral he and I hold very different positions
8
in our institutions, yet we each have were all auditioned so they’ve worked
played a coordinating role. The good incredibly hard to get here. It’s an
side of this is that our expertise is amazing experience for them to perform
exceedingly complementary. in London and Paris, to work under a
great conductor, to perform a programme
How important is music in general more than once (not very often possible
to the wider lives of Manchester and with a student orchestra), to get
Paris – historically and to this day? to grips with this extraordinary
RC: Music means a huge amount to our repertoire, and to be broadcast on
city, and that’s just as true now as the radio. But my overriding hope is
it’s ever been. On the classical side, that the students relish performing
we are incredibly fortunate to have alongside one another, that meaningful
such a strong tradition of music-making relationships are struck, that there
and to have the likes of the Hallé, is a legacy to this project beyond what
BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, we can currently imagine, and that
The Bridgewater Hall and Chetham’s on enough space is left to reflect on the
our doorstep – each with their own lives of those soldier-musicians who,
individual identities, and bringing 100 years ago, left the safety of the
such a rich programme of music-making Conservatoire and Concert Hall behind
to our city. The RNCM’s unique position to serve alongside each other, not
sitting alongside our partners, right knowing what the future would hold
at the heart of the city’s music for them.
experience, is incredibly important.
We hope the students from Paris might GA: Our students’ texts bear witness to
be able to capture just some of what just how much the project has inspired
makes Manchester such a vibrant place them. Obviously the performers –
to live! instrumentalists and singers – involved
in the Lied concerts and orchestral
GA: From the start, music has been tour will soon have much to share on
vital to Paris’ cultural life. Today, their experiences in both countries.
what is striking is the number of new What is particularly wonderful is to
venues – from the new Philharmonie to see how the project – reaching as it
the Seine Musicale – not to mention the does across performance, musicology,
many historic venues (Opéra-Comique, and sound engineering, has drawn in
Opéra Garnier, Opéra Bastille, Salle such a broad spectrum of students.
Gaveau, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, There is stiff competition for the sound
Cité de la musique, Radio France, engineer who will go to Manchester to
to name but a few) and the numerous help with the recording there and to
churches whose musical offerings assist the BBC in London…
are vast. The Paris Conservatoire –
recruiting the best young performers
from France and beyond – also hosts
some 300 concerts each year. Further
to this, we see audiences growing
extensively beyond Paris; it’s safe
to say that the city has never had
such a varied and exciting choice of
musical options.
What has the student response been to
the collaboration?
RC: Well, I think it’s safe to say that
the students are very excited! This
is the biggest project of our year,
and the RNCM students taking part
9
MANCHESTER, MUSIC AND
THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Adolph Brodsky
10