Julien Tiersot
Encyclopedia
Julien Tiersot born in Bourg-en-Bresse
(Rhône-Alpes
) on 5 July 1857 and died in Paris on 10 August 1936, was a French musicologist
, composer and a pioneer in ethnomusicology
.
The same year, during the 1889 Paris Exposition, he discovered the Javanese gamelan
through the dances he observed, and shortly thereafter published Promenades musicales à l'exposition, Les danses javanaises (Musical tours at the Exhibition: The Javanese Danses). He thus became aware of the value of non-European music and musicians, which were also, as he expressed it, "manifestations of human nature." He discovered that these traditions could also extend to "classical" genres, just as developed as that in the West, and distinguished from a popular musical tradition. He thus grew interested in the music of Japan, China, Java, India, Central Asia, the Arab region, and Armenia as well as Amerindian and African-American musical culture. As such, he was an early pioneer of what would later become ethnomusicology
, and which he termed "Musical Ethnography" in his notes of 1905-1910.
His research gave rise to a number of controversies, since his findings often contradicted inherited notions about ethnographic hierarchies. "Does not the music of people separated by space, have the same value as that of people separated by time?" he asked in the preface to his 1905 (repr. 1910) work Notes d'ethnographie musicale (Notes concerning musical ethnography). His works extended beyond a musical aesthetic framework to include sociological considerations.
From 1895 to 1900, he collected roughly 450 popular songs from the French Alps, as well as regional variations, eventually amassing more than scores. The resulting publication, Chansons populaires recueillies dans les Alpes françaises appeared in 1903, which included 227 of these melodies.
His curiosity and activities extended to many different classical composers, such as Couperin
, Bach
, Berlioz
and Smetana
.
Tiersot sang the tenor part in the premiere of Chabrier's Duo de l'ouvreuse de l'Opéra-Comique et de l'employé du Bon Marché
in April 1888.
In 1917, Arthur Honegger
wrote the Chant de Nigamon, a symphonic poem
based on three iroquois
themes that he found in the Notes concerning Musical Ethnography of Julien Tiersot.
Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg-en-Bresse is a commune in eastern France, capital of the Ain department, and was capital of the former province of Bresse . It is located north-northeast of Lyon.The inhabitants of Bourg-en-Bresse are known as Burgiens.-Geography:...
(Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes is one of the 27 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris...
) on 5 July 1857 and died in Paris on 10 August 1936, was a French musicologist
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
, composer and a pioneer in ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
.
Biography
Tiersot was first keenly interested in popular French music, on which he published in 1889 his Histoire de la chanson populaire en France "History of the Popular Spong in France." He attempted to trace the history of the genre, linking it to the educated, classical foundations, an approach which was greeted dimly by his contemporaries.The same year, during the 1889 Paris Exposition, he discovered the Javanese gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
through the dances he observed, and shortly thereafter published Promenades musicales à l'exposition, Les danses javanaises (Musical tours at the Exhibition: The Javanese Danses). He thus became aware of the value of non-European music and musicians, which were also, as he expressed it, "manifestations of human nature." He discovered that these traditions could also extend to "classical" genres, just as developed as that in the West, and distinguished from a popular musical tradition. He thus grew interested in the music of Japan, China, Java, India, Central Asia, the Arab region, and Armenia as well as Amerindian and African-American musical culture. As such, he was an early pioneer of what would later become ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
, and which he termed "Musical Ethnography" in his notes of 1905-1910.
His research gave rise to a number of controversies, since his findings often contradicted inherited notions about ethnographic hierarchies. "Does not the music of people separated by space, have the same value as that of people separated by time?" he asked in the preface to his 1905 (repr. 1910) work Notes d'ethnographie musicale (Notes concerning musical ethnography). His works extended beyond a musical aesthetic framework to include sociological considerations.
From 1895 to 1900, he collected roughly 450 popular songs from the French Alps, as well as regional variations, eventually amassing more than scores. The resulting publication, Chansons populaires recueillies dans les Alpes françaises appeared in 1903, which included 227 of these melodies.
His curiosity and activities extended to many different classical composers, such as Couperin
Couperin
The Couperin family were a musical dynasty of professional composers and performers. They were the most prolific family in French musical history, active during the Baroque era...
, Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
and Smetana
Bedrich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
.
Tiersot sang the tenor part in the premiere of Chabrier's Duo de l'ouvreuse de l'Opéra-Comique et de l'employé du Bon Marché
Duo de l'ouvreuse de l'Opéra-Comique et de l'employé du Bon Marché
The Duo de l’ouvreuse de l’Opéra Comique et l’employé du Bon Marché is a comic vocal work by Emmanuel Chabrier for soprano and tenor, with piano accompaniment...
in April 1888.
In 1917, Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
wrote the Chant de Nigamon, a symphonic poem
Symphonic poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
based on three iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
themes that he found in the Notes concerning Musical Ethnography of Julien Tiersot.
Selected publications
- Histoire de la chanson populaire en France, 1889
- Promenades musicales à l'exposition, Les danses javanaises, 1889
- Chants populaires pour les écoles, poèmes de Maurice BouchorMaurice BouchorMaurice Bouchor was a French poet and sculptor.He was born in Paris. He published in succession Chansons joyeuses , Poèmes de l'amour et de la mer , Le Faust moderne in prose and verse, and Les Contes parisiens in verse...
, 1897 - Chansons populaires recueillies dans les Alpes françaises, 1903 Texte en ligne
- Hector BerliozHector BerliozHector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
et la société de son temps, 1904 - Notes d'ethnographie musicale, 1905–1910
- La Musique dans la comédie de MolièreMolièreJean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
, 1921 - Les Couperin, 1926
- Smetana, 1926
- Musique aux temps romantiques, 1930
- La Chanson populaire et les écrivains romantiques, 1934
- J. S. Bach, 1934
- Lettres françaises de Richard Wagner, 1935