From French Romances to Music for Benjamin Franklin: An Examination of the D'Artois Collection from the House of the Countess of Artois, Wife of King Charles X of France

Abstract

The D'Artois Collection presumably belonged to Maria Theresa of Savoy, Countess of Artois, wife of future King Charles X of France. It provides valuable insights into domestic musical repertoire in a French royal household in the late-eighteenth century. The Collection includes three volumes for a total of 130 pieces spanning a wide variety of genres, from romances and Italian operatic arias (the two most common genres in the Collection), to Masonic pieces, settings of sacred Latin texts, fables, drinking songs, and a few instrumental pieces. The format and history of the three volumes are discussed, as well as concordances for all the pieces. The Collection is examined in the light of the countess's upbringing at the court in Turin and the musical culture at Versailles in the last two decades of the Ancien Régime, with a particular emphasis on operatic arias. This essay unveils new information on Louis Charles Demignaux and other individuals holding offices in the house of Artois, whose names appear in the manuscripts as authors or composers of some of the pieces. It also includes a discussion of one of the most remarkable pieces in the Collection, Demignaux's 'Hymne à l'amitié', a rare example of an extant Masonic cantata. This piece was performed for Benjamin Franklin during his visit to the Masonic lodge Les Trois Frères Unis at the court in Versailles in June 1783, only a few months before the Peace of Paris, which marked the end of the American Revolutionary War.