‘Frenchmen in Disguise’: French Musical Exoticism and Empire in the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The starting point for this outline of some of the issues concerning the development of the exotic genre in nineteenth-century French music is a lecture given by Edward Said on 20 May 1997 at Cambridge University, on an opera with exotic elements, Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz.1 Said’s lecture, entitled ‘Les Troyens and the Obligation to Empire’, forms a continuation of his interest in theories of Orientalism and imperialism with regard to their connection with music. The connections between classical music, culture and politics have begun to be explored by several historians of music, and work such as Said’s has contributed greatly to facilitating this process.2 With regard to exotic music, Said’s direct contribution has previously been confined primarily to a study of Verdi’s opera Aida, the political context of which was explored at some length in his Culture and Imperialism.3 His statements in his Cambridge lecture are therefore of importance as they broaden the application of his ideas concerning art, politics and culture into the realm of music still further.