L'école de musique de Toulouse : Les enjeux d'une « nationalisation » (1820-1848)

Abstract

On 20 december 1826, a royal ordinance changed the status of the municipal music school of Toulouse into a local branch of the Conservatoire de Paris. The aim was to create a local music school for young singers destined to continue their studies in the capital city, before integrating Parisian theatrical companies. This ordinance might be considered of minor interest, but it marks the beginning of a large music education policy of the French government (extended to Lille, Metz and Marseille between 1826 and 1841), which was supposed to resolve the crisis of singing undergone by France for the passed 30 years. Starting in 1826, the relationships between Toulouse and Paris Conservatoires illustrate the numerous tensions between Paris and the rest of France which still shape today's situation. Since then, logics of centralization and decentralization struggled over many such different matters as budgets, exchanges of musicians, teachers' nominations, inspections or pedagogical methods.