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For those who do research in musicology, in comparative history, in the scenic arts, as well as for singers, pianists, and concert organizers, in France or elsewhere, no documantation concerning French art song has been available in one single place until now.
To research, one has had to follow arduous, sometimes complicated, paths :
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For music, at the French National Library where the restricted classification system does not facilitate the task ; |
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For poetry, in each and every library, including the University institutions ;
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For works dealing with this subject, admittedly not numerous, most are out of print or difficult to find, and many are not in French ; |
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For published scores, those which are off the beaten track are usually out of print, and contemporary works are rare. French music publishers often consider vocal music as a minor item.
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As for recordings, the big name firm catalogues have little to offer. Commercial logic obviously takes priority over any other consideration.
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The CIMF (Centre International de la Mélodie Française) encourages the regrouping of all these documents: published or unpublished scores, unpublished or neglected manuscripts, books of poetry in or out of print,reference works on specific study and performance of French song, sound archives (discs, CDs, etc.), iconography (posters, facsimiles, art works), video archives (of concerts and events), films.
The CIMF has founded a ‘Resource Center’ which includes :
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An encyclopaedia accessible on Internet with a data base regularly up-dated listing nearly 16,000 French romances, songs (chansons), and art songs (mélodies).
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Archives (which may be consulted at the address in Tours (Hôtel de Ville, 1-3 rue des Minimes, 37000 Tours) :
- published and unpublished scores of vocal works, autographs, manuscripts;
- books and reference material on composers, performers, interpretation, musicology, poets;
- audio recordings (of all kinds) and visual documents (videos, films, photographic documents).
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The CIMF is authorized to receive donations or legacies from those who might wish to transmit their own archives or book collections concerning French song.
Therefore it is truly the reference center of French song, accessible to both amateurs and professionals for the purpose of diffusing this still not-so-well-known panel of French culture.
THE ACADÉMIE FRANCIS POULENC
THE PRINCIPAL GOALS OF THE ACADÉMIE FRANCIS POULENC
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To have the seminars in performance be a veritable pole of reference in the specific field of French art song by proposing workshops, unique in form and content, for professional and soon-to-be professional musicians, French and non-French.
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To become a place where contemporary songs are premiered and where songs by living composers are studied for interpretation. |
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To enable French and foreign audiences to discover all aspects of the subtle art of French song through high-level and varied programming for concerts and recitals, as well as through performance practice sessions and musical and poetical exchanges.
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To reinforce and to augment the connections which the Académie has already established in 1997 with international institutions such as the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
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