La Fête de la Musique

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June the 21st has come and gone. Midsummer Day? The Solstice? Father’s Day? Well, yes, all these things of course, but here in France it’s la Fête de la Musique, and a day I have come to love. It’s been around in France since 1982, when it was promoted by Jack Lang, the then Minister of Culture, who was himself following the lead offered by the French equivalent of Radio 3, France Musique. The idea then, as now, was that on this day, musical events of all kinds should be freely available to the public. They don’t pay, and performers aren’t paid.

It took off. In community after community, all over the country, the day is given over to musical fun. Small children from the local École de Musique squawking away on their half-sized violins, the local choir singing anything from Songs from the Shows to a Mozart mass in the context of the Sunday morning service, jazz in the local bar, country (pronounced cooontry) music in the town square, maybe a quartet in the Salle d’Honneur at the Mairie…… everything and anything.

As the hours pass, you can wander round town - almost any town, and drift from bar to bar, from square to square, and as one melody fades away, you’ll be walking towards something maybe quite different a street or two away, with food and drink to be had from impromptu stalls, or the bars and restaurants.

I spent my weekend in Puivert with a small group of people singing mainly 13th century music: (this year the area is commemorating the Crusade against the Cathars in 1209 in all kinds of ways). Naturally, we had to perform as part of the Fête. And it was all such fun. We were singing on a sunny, gusty day in the open air, under the covered mediaeval market. We followed a squad of small junior drummers who seemed to be offering homage to Queen ‘Boum boum BOUM; boum boum BOUM, Puivert! Puivert!), and after us, a small band was busily plugging in all kinds of electronic equipment before they could get started (we couldn’t stay, unfortunately - we were off to Lavelanet for another concert). All of us had our followers, of course, who’d chosen to come and hear US. But what’s so great about this kind of event is that in fact the audience stayed to listen to everyone, and so were exposed to all kinds of things they wouldn’t normally have dreamed of listening to. And they enjoyed it. Everyone’s contribution is equally valued. Whether you’re professional, semi-professional, an enthusiastic amateur, a beginner, young or old, you all have your part to play.

The Fête de la Musique is only the first. Summer time is festival time, throughout the Ariège, throughout the Midi- Pyrénées , throughout France. Come and try a few!

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Photos

The junior orchestra at Laroque play in the square
Somehow I didn't take any photos this year....so here's one from last year