Les "Envois de Rome" des compositeurs pensionnaires de la Villa Médicis (1804-1914)

Abstract

If the cantatas which form the essence of the Prix de Rome competition are well known today (at least for the academic character which one frequently attributes to them), the same cannot be said for the envois de Rome -the works prescribed to composers during their sojourn at the Villa Medicis. Since 1803, a series of regulations implemented by the Academie des beaux-arts had imposed precise compositional requirements on the artists, yet they also demanded an originality of style. At the same time as fighting foreign influence (and notably Wagnerianism), the emphasis given to the so-called official genres gradually diminished : besides different types of vocal music (mass, opera, cantata...), the recognition given to the symphony (1846), the symphonic poem (1883), and chamber music (1894) rejects the modern-day notion that the Prix de Rome encouraged only lyric genres. In a clear display of post-war artistic patriotism, the creation of a Concert des Envois de Rome at the Conservatoire in 1874 finally provided a real context for the appreciation of these works - from then on judged by the public and the critics (instead of the academicians of the Institut).