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Reconstructing the Paris Conservatory’s Cours d’Harmonie 1812–1844: Discipline, Sources, Theory, and Method
Abstract
A growing body of scholarship on practical music theory traditions, and Italian partimento pedagogy in particular, has begun to shed light on the nature of harmony pedagogy prior to the development of functional tonal theory. The methods of the Italian schools were not adopted wholesale in Paris, but rather interacted with local pedagogies, resulting in an institutionally-specific approach to teaching harmony. In Paris, the study of written harmony relied on a contrapuntal method for polyphonically realizing and elaborating a series of canonic figures in the form of cadences (progressions); marches (sequences); modulations ; broderies (non-harmonic tones), altérations (chromatic alterations); and pédales (pedals) . This article reconstructs the basic catalog of the first four of these elements which served as the cornerstone of the harmony course at the Paris Conservatory across the nineteenth century. In addition, it illustrates how the incorporation of these elements within the institutional confines of the Conservatory resulted in both their distinctive pedagogical treatment and the advancement of a specific compositional method.
This article provides a detailed discussion of the pedagogy and legacy of Ernst Friedrich Richter (1808–79). A theory teacher at the Leipzig Conservatory since its founding in 1843, Richter is most famous for authoring one of the most enduring harmony manuals—the Lehrbuch der Harmonie (1853)—which, among other things, was instrumental in popularizing the use of Roman numeral analysis in harmony pedagogy. Gaining a hegemonic position in the Western music theory discourse of the late nineteenth century, he played a key role in shaping the common practice of modern music theory pedagogy. Richter’s legacy has been tainted by critiques from several later theorists. Applying a Foucauldian discourse-theoretical lens, this article attempts to look beyond this historically negative assessment by asking what enabled Richter’s work to become so influential. The article is structured in six sections. Following the introduction and a brief overview of E. F. Richter’s life and works, two sections discuss what characterizes “Richterian” pedagogy. As source material, these sections draw on Richter’s writings as well as the exercises of one of his most famous students, Edvard Grieg (1843–1907). The last section before the conclusion investigates Richter’s legacy, considering both his initial broad international success and later critiques of his influence on modern music theory pedagogy.
Charles-Simon Catel's Treatise on Harmony and the Disciplining of Harmony at the Early Paris Conservatory traces the formation of the discipline of harmony at the early Paris Conservatory, focusing on the 1801 treatise of Charles-Simon Catel. By examining the forces that shaped Catel's text, Michael J. Masci reconstitutes the contours of the dynamic “disciplinary network” that determined the content and scope of the study of harmony in Paris, expanding our understanding of practical harmony traditions.
Music in the Galant Style is an authoritative and readily understandable study of the core compositional style of the eighteenth century. Gjerdingen adopts a unique approach, based on a massive but little-known corpus of pedagogical workbooks used by the most influential teachers of the century, the Italian partimenti. He has brought this vital repository of compositional methods into confrontation with a set of schemata distilled from an enormous body of eighteenth-century music, much of it known only to specialists, formative of the "galant style.
The original music conservatories were orphanages. Through innovative teaching methods the masters of these old institutions were able to transform poor and often illiterate castoffs into elite musicians, many of whom became famous in the history of classical music. The book tells the story of how this was done. It shows what the lessons were like, what a typical day was like for an orphan, and how children progressed from simple lessons to ones more advanced than any seen today in colleges and universities. Recent rediscoveries of thousands of the old lessons have allowed us to understand how children’s minds were systematically developed to be able to “think” in music. That is, the lessons slowly built up the mental ability to imagine the interplay of two or more voices or instruments. Today we think of Mozart as having a miraculous ability to imagine musical works in his head, but in truth many of the conservatory graduates of that era had attained a similar level of controlled musical imagination. They could improvise for hours at the keyboard, and they could quickly compose whole works for ensembles. The book is accompanied by 100 YouTube videos so that readers can hear what the lessons sounded like.
Harmony, Counterpoint, Partimento is a new method of music theory education for undergraduate music students. It makes use of the research results in the field of schema theory and partimento. The method explores a variety of schemata, from two-part parallel motion in thirds and sixths to advanced schemata like the Omnibus. Harmony, Counterpoint, Partimento contains a textbook and a workbook. The workbook consists of eighteenth-century partimenti, partimento-like exercises and exercises based on well-know compositions.
Established in 1795 in the aftermath of the French Revolution, the Paris Conservatoire emerged from a training school for National Guard musicians. Aligned with the French Republic’s broader educational reforms, the Conservatoire was marked by its secularization, standardized curriculum, military-style discipline, and hierarchical organization. Among its most ambitious achievements was the publication of new instruction treatises from 1799 to 1814. Covering elementary theory, solfège, harmony, and all the major instruments, these methods articulated the Conservatoire’s pedagogy and circulated widely in nineteenth-century Europe. Hugot and Wunderlich’s Méthode de flûte (1804) exemplifies the Conservatoire’s approach, making a distinct break from methods published only a few years earlier: abstract technical drills predominate, evenness of tone quality in all key areas is emphasized, and the instruction of improvisation is curtailed. Airs, brunettes, and other pieces typical of ancien régime tutors are replaced with exercises demanding repetitive practicing. Meticulous instructions for the mastery of the flute’s four-key mechanism bear a striking resemblance to rifle-handling directions in contemporary military training and combat manuals by Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert, and others.
The Conservatoire instruction manuals serve not only as guidebooks to historical fingerings and period performance style; they also can be read as social and political texts. Meant to advance a more rational music pedagogy, these treatises show the extent to which the military model permeated everyday life in post-revolutionary France. Further, they demonstrate a new conception of musical training beyond personal development toward the creation of professional musicians serving a patriotic, republican function. The treatise thus becomes what Michel Foucault calls a “simple instrument,” disciplining musicians’ bodies for the political goals of the state.
Introduction 1. Zarlino and His Legacy 2. Species Counterpoint and Fux's Gradus 3. Thoroughbass Methods 4. Rameau's Early Works 5. Rameau's Later Works and Controversies 6. Mattheson and the Study of Melody 7. Harmonic Perspectives on Counterpoint 8. Changing Aspects of Harmonic Theory 9. The Marpurg-Kirnberger Disputes 10. Riepel on Melody and Phrases 11. Koch: Toward a Comprehensive Approach to Musical Structure Epilogue Appendix 1: Rameau, Nouveau systeme de musique theorique (1726): Chapter 23, "Examples of Errors Found in the Figures of Corelli's op. 5" Appendix 2: Concerning the Authenticity of Thoroughbass Methods Attributed to Albrechtsberger Bibliography Index
The tradition of the Neapolitan school of composition (in which the partimento and its teaching techniques played a significant role) had a major influence on musical training in Paris from the second half of the eighteenth century through the first half of the nineteenth century. This article focuses first on some significant witnesses of this era (Fedele Fenaroli and Emanuele Imbimbo, who followed the school of Francesco Durante) and then on an interpretation of the traditionally nonverbal rules of partimenti proposed by Francois-Joseph Fetis.
Harmony as Practica: The Relationship of Tonal Theory to the Practical Study of Harmony Reconsidered
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