Formation of Basson Classes at the Paris Conservatory

Abstract

The object of the study was the origins and initial period of the formation of bassoon classes at the Paris Conservatory. The author analyzed the early stages of the training process involved in the French bassoon school. The role of maîtrise and military bands in the instruction of bassoon performers before the beginning of the revolutionary events in 1789 was revealed. The study exposed the influence of the church music-educational system on the professionalization of secular instrumental and vocal performance, as well as its importance in the creative development of prominent French bassoonists who were formed in the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The author investigated the essence of the ideological and political factors of the French Revolution in the creation of a new democratic system that began to exist in professional musical education, which guaranteed its accessibility to the general population and free education on a competitive basis. The article provides a chronology of the beginning and development of bassoon classes on the path of professionalization of performance on wind instruments at the National Guard Music School, the National Institute of Music and the Paris Conservatory. The peculiarities of the implementation of the competitive system of professional training of instrumentalists, as well as the formation of didactic materials to ensure the educational process at the Paris Conservatory became the basis for further artistic education. This fact was carefully analyzed and became the basis for the conclusions of the article. The innovative guide of E. Ozi "School of Playing the Bassoon", was regarded as one of the first complete instructional materials for the bassoon. It was officially approved as a study guide for mastering the instrument, became a powerful impetus for the development of the conservatory students’ performance skills. The author emphasized and defined the role of E. Ozi in the creation of bassoon classes at the Paris Conservatory, as well as in the founding of the French performing school. It has been proven that an important factor in the development of French bassoon performance in the second half of the 18th century was the inclusion of the bassoon in the training programs of metris and its use in church ensembles to accompany choral singing during divine services