Ritual, Secrecy and Civil Society Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2013 | Page 38

Ritual , Secrecy , and Civil Society

place settings .” ¹⁰² The author offers other lodge descriptions . In these circumstances , how would the traveler stepping down from the stagecoach not be tempted to join or to reveal himself ?

Everyone is aware of the role of foreign musicians in France and at the Court since Henri IV or since Caccini ' s travels . ¹⁰³ Not only has there always been a place in the King ' s retinue or at the Academy for castrati , but instrumentalists have been a constant presence in our country ' s music halls , chapels , and orchestra pits . This tradition will continue until the Revolution . But from the first arrivals around 1,600 until the final ones around 1,790 , fashion will shift away from the Italians in favor of Germans and Austrians . The newcomers are people who took advantage of the call sent out by de Vismes , the director of the Opera . At first glance , since the time of Henri IV , foreign musicians in the kingdom fall into two groups : on the one hand the Italians and on the other the Germanophile contingent . There is nothing astonishing about the fact that Italians were kept around , even under Louis XVI . But the monarch ' s spouse favors appointing several Germans in France . Stamitz is the opening act in La Pouplinière ' s home ; many artists follow suit , establishing themselves in France beginning in 1750 , to write , distribute , and publish an important symphonic oeuvre . ¹⁰⁴ We gather that they are joined by instrumentalists , particularly harpists , horn players , and clarinetists who work to introduce these new instruments into the French orchestra .

But how many musicians disembark at some point in Paris during the reign of Louis XVI ? According to Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire ' s study , which cites a figure of 540 musicians in Paris and at Versailles , 139 of them are foreigners . When put that way , these numbers appear substantial . For my part , my baseline figures total 350 musicians across all disciplines , with foreigners totaling 76 .

Initiation Year

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ¹⁰² Thiery , Guide des amateurs et des étrangers voyageurs à Paris ou description raisonnée de

cette Ville , , t . 1 , 432 . ¹⁰³ Caccini ( Giulio ) c . 1550 – 1618 , belongs to a family of Florentine musicians . Known during his

lifetime as a tenor who accompanies himself on the lute , viola , and harp . He wrote several pieces for the wedding in 1600 of Maria de ’ Médici and Henri IV . Maria de ’ Médici invited this entire family of musicians to the royal court of France during the winter and spring of 1604 – 1605 . ¹⁰⁴ Barry S . Brook , La Symphonie française dans la seconde moitié du XVIIIe siècle ( Paris : Institut

de Musicologie de l ’ Université de Paris , 1962 ), 3 vol .

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