Philippe Musard
| Philippe Musard | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 8 November 1792 Tours |
| Died | 31 March 1859 Auteuil (now part of Paris) |
| Other names | Napoléon Musard, "Lord of Quadrilles and Galops" |
| Occupation | composer, conductor, concert promoter |
Philippe Musard (8 November 1792 – 31 March 1859) was a French composer who was crucial to the development and popularity of the promenade concert. One of the most famous personalities of Europe during the 1830s and 1840s, his concerts in Paris and London were riotous (in several senses of the word) successes. Best known for his "galop" and "quadrille" pieces, he composed many of these numbers himself, usually borrowing famous themes of other composers. Musard plays an important role in the development of light classical music, the faculty of publicity in music, and in the role of the conductor as a musical celebrity. He has been largely forgotten subsequent to his retirement in the early 1850s.
Philippe Musard was born in Tours on 8 November 1792 to parents of limited financial means. Musard joined a unit of the Imperial Guards as a cornet player. His musical career began in the outskirts of Paris, where he played the horn for low-class dances public halls, for which he composed some music. When Napoleon was defeated, he moved to London, started as a violinist, and eventually his career progressed to the point of leading the orchestra of King George IV and organized balls, becoming wealthy in the process. Between 1821 and 1825 many of his compositions were published in London, and some of these were performed in Paris. Musard moved back to Paris following the July Revolution on 1830 and established a series of concerts at Cours-la-Reine. He attended the Conservatoire de Paris and obtained first prize in harmony in 1831. He studied privately under Anton Reicha.
In 1832 Paris was gripped by fear of an impending cholera outbreak, which was then devastating England. With the help of a financier, Musard produced concerts at the Théâtre des Variétés which catered to the resulting hedonism of the time. After a time Musard had a falling out with his financial partner, but soon was able to independently produce his concerts. Central to these concerts was a can-can of "lascivious spectacle" involving girls dressed in only feather boas and gloves. Such was the frenetic delirium of these concerts that writers of the time compared them to a civil war, or even a massacre. Initially these concerts caused considerable scandal, but the government decided to tolerate them as a "safety valve" to prevent further civil disturbance. His 1833 concerts were at a hall, later called the Salle Valentino on Rue Saint-Honoré. By this time Musard had attained huge personal popularity, and his concerts evolved into relatively sedate promenade concerts. In these concerts the audience was free to move around the concert area, and activities included dancing to quadrilles, waltzes, and other forms of dance, drinking, and eating. The music prominently featured was composed by Musard, as well as other composers in vogue at the time such as Daniel Auber and Gioachino Rossini. Musard acquired further substantial wealth as a result of these concerts, where he not only conducted, but created and managed the orchestras. He composed music specifically for these concerts in prolific fashion, and his ability as a conductor was noted.
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