Page 81 - HandbookMarch1

Excerpts from the speech given Benoit Sarette at the opening of the Conservatory

October 22, 1796

Translated by Elizabeth Janzen

Citizens, the time has come when music, thanks to the untied work of men of the greatest
distinction, is reborn with an energy worthy of the power of the French Republic.

Seven years of work and perseverance are now finally crowned with the happiest of
success, because the Conservatory of Music of France. The largest school of its kind ever created
in Europe, opens today thanks to a decree from the National Convention, and under the auspices
of a government that serves as a champion of the arts.

In decreeing the formation of the Conservatory, the National Convention has, through
this great establishment, given music security and official recognition, of which it has long been
deprived due to barbaric ignorance; the Convention has wished to create a sustainable home for
all parties that comprise the musical sciences; she has wished that as a center of study for art, the
school will establish comprehensive and extensive methods for shaping the artists necessary to
the solemn republican celebrations, for military service for the legions of the country, and
especially for the theaters whose influence is so important to the progress and direction of good
taste; finally, in establishing the Conservatory of Music, the Convention wished not only to
preserve talents equal to illustrating the greatness of the Republic but also require of them
dissertations useful for the growth of art and pursuing the best directions forward in the
instruction of all parts of music.

The Convention wished...but its wishes would have remained unexecuted had the
teaching not been methodical and more comprehensive than the old schools, casting off errors
and habits that had previously been the norm. All the same, before launching into the details of a
new plan for study, I must retrace the principle vices that exited prior to the Revolution;
understanding these faults are useful lessons for the future.

Singing, this essential component of music, has always been poorly taught in France: the
cathedral schools were the schools for this part of music that existed under the old regime, and it
appears that the goals of these establishments, created and maintained for cult services, of which
the principal need was to fill the voluminous and immense chambers of churches, required
teachers to instruct no skills other than singing as loud as possible; a method which naturally
excludes nuance and expression. These earlier, narrow-minded and poor educational
establishments permitted even good teachers no sensible avenue for reform.

The theaters, limited to sourcing their talent from these schools, have always been forced
to adopt a style of singing that followed these cults: it is only been after concerted effort that
great music masters, who have been showcasing their lyrical works at the theaters for the past 30
years, have managed to have their art understood by those who are supposed to be singing it.