Author Description

"In an era of heightened patriotic fervor following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Parisians packed concert halls to hear performances of Handel's oratorios and Bach's organ works. At the same time, both royalists and republicans called for the re-evaluation of the once detested musique francaise of the ancien regime. Musicologist Katharine Ellis examines these unlikely aspects of cultural life in the new republic as part of a broader study of the early music revival in nineteenth-century France." "After providing an overview of trends and contexts throughout the century, Ellis examines specific repertoires that evokes unusually spirited advocacy and debate. Based on extensive primary research in Paris and the French regions, Interpreting the Musical Past is at once a history of culture, of reception, and of historiography."--Jacket.