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This is to certify that the

dissertation entitled

Mathieu-Frédéric Blasius (1758-1829):

A Biographical Sketch, Catalog of Works, and
Critical Performance Edition of the
Quatuor Concertant in F, 0p. 1, No. 1

presented by

Cathy Louise McCormick

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph.D. Music

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MATHIEU-FRRDRRIC BLASIUS (1758—1829): A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH,
CATALOG OF WORKS, AND CRITICAL PERFORMANCE EDITION OF THE
QUATUOR CONCERTANT IN F, OP. 1, NO. I

By

Cathy Louise McCormick

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Music

1983

 

© Copyright by
CATHY LOUISE MCCORMICK
1983

\A‘

‘5'.

,‘n

 

/41-3t!7

ABSTRACT
MATHIEU-FRE’DE’RIC BLASIUS (1758-1829): A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH,
CATALOG OF WORKS. AND CRITICAL PERFORMANCE EDITION OF THE
QUATUOR CONCEBTANT IN F, OP. 1, NO. 1

By

Cathy Louise McCormick

The chronicle of events in the life of Mathieu-Frédéric
Blasius indicates that he was a prominent figure in the
Parisian music world of 1790-1816. A multitalented musician,
he was a performer, conductor, teacher, educator, and com-
poser. Known for his abilities on violin. clarinet, flute.
and bassoon, he debuted in Paris as a violinist at the Concert.
Spirituel in 1784, but in 1790 gave up his career as a soloist
to become music director of the Comédie-Italienne, later
renamed the Opera-Comique. For the twenty-five years that
he held this post until his retirement in 1816, his name was
synonymous with the Opera-Comique. He also conducted the
bands of the Garde Consulaire and the Grenadiers de la Garde
de Napoleon Ier' both of which played prominent roles in the
military reviews and parades under Napoleon. With the Resto-
ration Of Louis XVIII in 181#, Blasius became director Of
the 5th regiment band of the Imperial Guard. Contemporaries,
including Grétry, Méhul, and Dalayrac, whose works he per-
formed, highly regarded his abilities as a conductor.

Blasius was a professor at the Institut National de
Musique and the Paris Conservatory and an educator who

authored methods for clarinet and bassoon. As a composer he

Cathy Louise McCormick
wrote instrumental works, theatrical pieces, and wind band
or harmonie music for the Revolutionary fétes. His other
services to the Revolutionary cause occurred during his
tenure in the National Guard Band.

The dissertation includes a detailed biographical
sketch containing a discussion of Alsatian geography and
politics, both of which contributed a mix of French, Italian,
and especially German musical influences to the region.
Blasius's roots are noteworthy since he was among the
"colonnel alsacienne," or Alsatian musicians who contrib-
uted notably to eighteenth-century Parisian musical life.
His biography doubles as a sociological study of a musician
living in Paris throughout the radical political changes of
the late eighteenth century, when music was transformed from
a luxury Of the nobility into a propaganda tool of the
Revolution.

AA review of primary biographical sources yielded
enough information to warrant a new and more complete catalog
of the works of M.-F. Blasius. The catalog was compiled
from thirty-four sources and lists titles, publishers, and
locations of extant COpies of over three hundred works.

Also included is a critical performance edition of the
Quatuor Concertant in F, 0p. 1, No. 1, as scored for clari-
net, violin, viola, and cello and published in Paris by
Sieber in 1782. This edition is based on the Osterreich-

ische Nationalbibliothek manuscript, Mus.Hs. 22113.

Cathy Louise McCormick
Hitherto unpublished, this work's availability will broaden
the chamber music repertoire for clarinet and strings Of
the early Classical period. It is hOped that, by taking
an important figure out of the shadows and uncovering more
detail about French music at the turn of the century, this
biographical sketch, catalog, and edition will stimulate
interest in Parisian musical life of the late eighteenth

century.

To my mother and my father

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people have shaped this work: they have cri-
tiqued my ideas, provided essential sources, sparked my
imagination, or just plain nudged me along. Because they
have made this project possible, I owe them thanks.

Among them are those who untiringly read my drafts
with a sharp eye for detail--my Guidance Committee: Dr.
Dale Bonge, Dr. Russell Friedewald, Dr. Edgar Kirk, and
Dr. Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr. Special recognition is due Dr.
Bonge, chairperson of the dissertation, for his guidance.

Also, I am grateful to the Institute Of International
Education and the Austrian-American Education Commission.
Because of their grant, I had the Opportunity to research
eighteenth-century music in Vienna, Austria, at the
Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek and the Gesellschaft der
Musikfreunde, Musik-Archiv.

I am indebted to the directors of these libraries,
Dr. Canter Brosche and Dr. Otto Biba respectively, and to
Dr. Ernesto Milano, Acting Director, Biblioteca Estense,
Modena, Italy, for their kind assistance and permission to
use microfilm copies of the Blasius works.

Other libraries, whose staffs have lightened my task,

deserve mention: Michigan State University Libraries,

iv

East Lansing, Michigan: University of Michigan, Music
Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and the Library of Congress,
Music Division, Washington, D.C. Specifically, these
people aided invaluably: Mrs. Annie M. Pitts, HEad, Docu-
ment Delivery, and Dr. Richard E. Chapin, Director,
Michigan State University Libraries; and Mr. Wallace
Bjorke, Fbrmer Director, University of Michigan, Music
Library.

A Latin proverb of the Middle Ages Offers fair warning
to those who intend to write a dissertation: "Omne initium
difficile.” Certainly, beginnings are difficult, espe-
cially it seems, the beginnings of a dissertation. For
just as a spark is needed to ignite a flame, so too a
project requires a flash of insight at its inception. My
vision for this work originated from conversations with
Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr concerning the need for more
eighteenth-century chamber music for clarinet and strings.
For that, and for her encouragement, I am thankful. The
idea for the topic developed after I had read Pamela
Weston's books, Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past and Mpg;
Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past. These volumes have awakened
clarinetists to understanding that much of their history is
yet undisclosed, and that many unpublished musical treas-
ures still lie buried on library shelves. I am also appre-
ciative of Miss Weston's interest and her prompt reply to a
letter of inquiry concerning Blasius. When the task was

underway, Thea King lent her encouragement and valuable

advice concerning editing.
Finally, my deepest thanks, of course, are extended
to my parents, whose support made it possible for me to

research and write the dissertation, and to whom this

work is dedicated.

vi

av,

PREFACE

This project grew out of my query into unpublished
eighteenth-century chamber music for clarinet and strings
that would add variety to the present repertoire. Specif-
ically, the works of M.-F. Blasius caught my attention
after I had read Weston's More Clarinet Virtuosi of the
East and a recent reprint of Blasius's Nouveiie méthode dg
giaginette et raisonnement_ges_instruments, a source of
eighteenth-century performance practice for clarinetists.
I was further drawn to Blasius after discovering a manu—

script in the Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek entitled

"III Quartetti," which is generally not known, nor is it
listed in any of the various sources. After a survey of
three hundred seventeen publishers determined that the work
was not available to the public in a printed edition, the
project gained momentum.

Biographical information about Blasius is difficult
to obtain. Indeed, piecing together the details of his
life is analogous to reconstructing an ancient vase from
the bits and pieces found at an archaeological site. Sift-
ing through contemporary sources and searching for fragments
of information was remarkably similar to searching for pot-
sherds. Upon finding several, one carefully dusts them off,

examines each for its potential value, and rejoices on

vii

having found enough fragments to reconstruct the form and
logic of the whole--in the biographer's case, the chronology
of a life. Though bits and pieces are lacking, and infor-
mation is scarce, the facts that do remain establish the
important events of Blasius's life and career.

Because my biographical research was limited to librar-
ies in this country, many gaps are left to be filled in an
account of his life. I have attempted to construct an
Objective biographical sketch dictated by primary sources.
For the purposes of the sketch, it seemed apprOpriate to
divide Blasius's life into four periods, prefaced by an
introduction:

Introduction: Eighteenth-Century Paris

I Early Life and Musical Training in Alsace, 1758-

11 Early Years in Paris, 1784-90

III Reputation Established in Paris, 1790-1816

IV Retirement in Versailles until Death, 1816-29.
Because these divisions are delineated by important mile-
stones in his develOpment as a musician, they seem to lend
the correct emphasis to the events in his life. Since very
little analysis has been done of his music, and a style
analysis falls outside the scope of this work, musical
style was not considered in determining these periods. No
concluding date has been given to the first period because
it is unknown when Blasius left Alsace. Since Mathieu-
Frédéric and his brothers, Ignace and Pierre, were active
in eighteenth-century Parisian music circles--their foot-

steps Often overlapping--information on the two brothers

is included and will perhaps clear up some confusion. In

viii

my handling of the text, archaic spellings have been
modernized and accent marks added: all translations are
mine unless otherwise stated.
My biographical research yielded enough new infor-

mation to warrant inclusion of a catalog of works. Some
of the more interesting finds include the bassoon concerto,
which was thought to have been lost, and Pgince Polastgi,
a comic Opera with music by Blasius, which has not been
cited by other sources. This catalog of over three hundred
compositions is by no means considered complete since I
have not made a full-scale investigation of major libraries.
And while I have tried to include only information which
appeared to be accurate, the catalog may transmit errors
from sources where no other reference was available to
authenticate the citation. The order of the items within
each entry, where the information is available, is the
following:

title, number of work, key, total number of players,

Opus number, instrumentation;
place of publication, publisher, date of publication;
location of extant copies: place, library, library
number, type of COpy, (source).

Since publication dates are approximate, with some more
dependable than others, they are arranged in descending
order of reliability: 1782, [1782], [1782?]. The first
date is well-supported by contemporary sources, while the
second is more tentative, and in the last, a question exists.

Where possible, dates have been corroborated via journal

announcements. Out of the thirty-four references consulted

ix

in preparing the catalog, two early ones were of great
value: Gerber's Neues Historisch-Biographische§_Lexikgn
and Schilling's EncyclOpadie. Of more recent sources,
Rau's article "Blasius” in Die Musik in Geschichte und
Gegenwart contained the most complete list of works to
date and was used as a basis, being supplemented by numer- y
ous other lists and my own research. Sources of infor- e
mation about the works are indicated in parenthesis (by -
author or title) immediately after the information that i
they provide: the reader may thus be fully informed in
those cases where sources disagree. (Information that
involves no controversy and that many sources share,
appears without documentation). A listing Of sources
consulted appears at the end of the catalog.
The last section of the dissertation is a performance
edition of the ngiuor Concertani in F, Op. 1, No. 1, a
work taken from the Opus 1 set of three Quaiuor Concertanig
in F, Eb. and Bb. The three known extant copies of Opus 1
were consulted in preparing the edition: printed parts
XI 10733 in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Musik-Archiv,
Vienna, Austria; printed parts Mus. C. 14 in the Biblioteca
Estense, Sezione Musicale, Modena, Italy: and manuscript
parts Mus.Hs. 22113 in the OsterreiChische National-
bibliothek, Musiksammlung, Vienna, Austria.
The printed copies in Vienna and Modena are identical:
they were published by Sieber in 1782 and are scored for

clarinet or violin I, violin II, viola, and cello. The

sources for the 1782 date are the ngitkOpf_Themgtic
Cataiggue: Supplement Xngi782-84, where Opus 1 is the
first entry in the list of quartets, and Johansson's
French Music Publishers' Catalogues of the Secgngifiali_g§
the Eighteenth Century, in which a facsimile of a Sieber
catalog dated 1782 lists the work. Sieber's address as
printed on the parts also agrees with this date.

The manuscript copy differs slightly from the printed
version. While the notes in both are practically identical,
the few differences are due to instrumentation: the pub-
lished parts are scored for clarinet gr violin I, while the
manuscript is written only for clarinet on the lead part.

It appears that, with respect to the manuscript version,
the printed first part has been changed slightly to accom-
modate the violin's range. The manuscript is entitled
”III Quartetti" and is apparently not widely known since
it is not listed in any of the sources consulted. Beta-
radiography revealed two watermarks: the first, three
crescents in a horizontal row, which is commonly found in
Italian paper of the eighteenth century: and the second, a
decorated escutcheon with the initials ”CSC,” which is
strikingly similar to, and can be presumed to be a water-
mark from the paper manufacturer, Monastery mill C.S.C.,
from Toscolano in Lombardy. Unfortunately, neither provided
any specific information concerning dating.

As is to be expected, articulation is the other notice-

able difference between the manuscript and printed parts.

xi

Not only are the articulations quite different, but also
the printed parts clearly differentiate between the dot
and stroke, while in the manuscript no discernable differ-
ence exists and the staccato is apparently indicated only
by dots. As to the significance of the print’s differen-
tiation of the dot versus the stroke, matters are compli-
cated by the arbitrary use of articulation symbols in the
eighteenth century, which apparently were freely added by
cOpyists and engravers. Boyden notes that the dot, stroke,
and wedge were at times used interchangeably by printers,
thus making a clear-cut distinction between them impossible:
Poole echoes these sentiments and notes that this random
usage caused the traditional distinction between the dot
and the stroke to be lost.1

These problems were considered in deciding upon which
version of the work to base this edition. Obviously, the
most authentic version would be one authorized by the com-
poser. In this case, primary sources have not yet been
found to reveal if either version had been sanctioned by
Blasius, and according to Dr. Gunter Brosche, Director of
the Musiksammlung, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, the

manuscript is not an autograph.

 

1David D. Boyden, The History of Violin Playing from
Its Ori ins to 1761 (London: Oxford University Press, 1965),
p. 10: and H. Edmund Poole, "Music Engraving Practice in ,
Eighteenth-Century London: A Study of Some Forster Editions
of Haydn and Their Manuscript Sources," in Music and Bibii—
ography, Ed. Oliver Neighbour (New York: K.G. Saur, 1980),
pp. 123-2 0

xii

I chose to base my edition on the manuscript cOpy
because of its accuracy. In reconstructing both scores,
the manuscript was found to be virtually flawless, while
the printed version contained at least one minor mistake
on each page: omitted rests, notes, measures, and flags:
incorrect note and rest values: and even misplaced stems
and backward rests. The engraver’s slipshod work created
such problems in attempting to reconstruct the score from
the printed version that the manuscript parts had to serve
as a model.

Editing the Blasius manuscript involved the following:
putting the parts into score: modernizing the notation:
making the phrasing, articulation, and dynamics more consis-
tent among the parts: and where apprOpriate, writing out
ornamentation and adding suggestions for dynamics and artic-
ulation. Brackets enclose editorial additions, and critical
notes call attention to errors in the original that have
been corrected. In performing the work, trills should begin
above the note, and appoggiaturas are played on the beat.
For the benefit of the young performer, short appoggiaturas
are indicated by the following [fj, while long appoggiaturas
are shown with their rhythm enclosed in brackets. Slurs
have been added to connect the short appoggiaturas to the
main notes. The articulations that have been added, as well,
are intended for the novice: undoubtedly the experienced
clarinetist will want to follow his own preferences for

articulation. A rinforzando appearing under a group Of

xiii

notes should be performed as a sudden increase in volume,
more sudden than a crescendo: when the symbol is used with
a single note, it indicates an accent that is milder than a
sforzando.

Although this is a performance edition, care has been
taken to try to meet the needs of both performers and musico-
logists. Traditionally the practical or performance edition
has been defined as one produced from unstated or secondary
sources which may include additions or changes that may or may
not be marked. The scholarly or critical edition, by contrast,
strives to present the most authentic version after evaluating
all known primary sources, with editorial material distin-
guished from the original, but without considering some of
the needs Of performers.

In recent years, however, informed performers have cried
out for more information in their editions and have demanded to
know where the editor's additions began and end, and which
sources were consulted in preparing the edition. This discon-
tent is a welcome develOpment, for performers should be given
detailed information about the sources so they can make intel-
ligent decisions in preparing a work for the concert stage.

And certainly, all known primary sources should be examined in
order to prepare a truly fine edition. Such high-quality per-
formance editions, though containing much information, can
still also be prepared with the clean-looking copy that per-
formers desire. Moreover, they can also be used by the histo-
rian. With these facts in mind, this edition has been prepared

to meet the needs of both the performer and musicologist.

xiv

It is hOped that this work will add variety to the
repertoire of chamber music for clarinet and strings of the
early Classical period. In terms of musical style, the
quartet predates the mature works of Mozart and Haydn: the
absence of a clear and dramatic differentiation in themes
and retransitions that are neither prolonged nor dramatic
indicate that this composition precedes the mature Classic.
Two-bar repetitions within themes are frequent and suggest
the Mannheim school's idiom, as do the occasional use of
rinforzandos. The texture is basically homOphonic, but
interplay of voices occurs Often and produces a variety of
rapidly changing textures and figures, one of the most
interesting aspects Of the work. This "dialogue" between
voices in which all instruments share the melodic role is
one of the distinguishing characteristics of the guatuor
concertant.2 Finally, the unexpected harmonies and pleas-
ant tunefulness of the compositiOn make it an interesting

selection on a program.

 

2The New Grove Dictiow my of Music and Musicians,
6th ed., s.v. 'Quatuor concertant,’ byL Janet.M. Levy.

XV

LIST OF

Chapter

I. A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MATHIEU- FREDERIC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . .

BIASIUS O O O I O O O O O I O O 0

II. CATALOG OF WORKS

Introduction: Eighteenth-Century Paris

Early Life and Musical Training
in Alsace, 1758- . .
Early Years in Paris, 1784- 90. .
Reputation Established in Paris,
1790-1816 e e o O 0.0 e o 0
Retirement in Versailles until
Death, 1816-29 0 o o o o o o

Concertos

Quartets o o o o o o e o o o o
Trios I O O O O O O I O I O O
Duos . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sonatas . . . . . . . . . . . .
symphonies o o o o O O o o o 0
Wind Band Music (Music for Harmo
Theatrical Works . . . . . . .
Church Music . . . . . . . . .
Vocal Music . . . . . . . .
Pedagogical Works . . . . . .
Sources for the Catalog of Works

III. A CRITICAL PERFORMANCE EDITION OF THE

QUATUOR CONCERTANT IN F, OP. 1, NO.

Movement 1: Allegro . . . . .
Movement 2: Adagio . . . . .
Movement 3: Allegro Rondo . .

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . .

xvi

l

xvii

94
94
108
112

128

New Grove

RISM

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Die Musik in Geschichte gag
Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzykl -
padie der Musik. Edited by
Friedrich Blume. 16 vols. Kassel:
Barenreiter, 1949-79.

The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians. Edited by
Stanley Sadie. 6th ed. 20 vols.
Logdon: Macmillan Publishers,
l9 0. ,

Ré ertoire international des
sources musicales: Einzeldrucke
vor 1800. Edited by Karlheinz
Schlager. 8 vols. Kassel:
Barenreiter, 1971.

xvii

CHAPTER I
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 0F MATHIEU—FREDERIC BLASIUS
introguction: (Eighteenth-Century Paris

"A great number of foreigners is drawn to visit or
even to sojourn in this 'true home of Society' by the un-
equalled and unlimited facilities which it affords for the
pursuit of the sciences and arts, and the satisfaction of
. their tastes and needs, offering, as it does, so many solid
advantages as well as agreeable distractions--not least
that freedom which is so typically Parisian."l This was
Voltaire's description of eighteenth-century Paris, a
center of culture and learning flourishing amid the spirit
of the Enlightenment. Considering the Opportunities that
the City offered, it is little wonder that foreign immi-
grants and provincial Frenchmen-~both deemed foreigners by

native Parisians--flocked to Paris in the eighteenth century.

 

lLouis Ducros, French Societ in the Ei hteenth Cen-
tury, trans. W. de Geijer (New York: Burt Franklin, 1971),
p. 120. The original quotation follows: "Cette foule de
secours toujours prompts, toujours ouverts pour toutes les
sciences, pour tous les arts, les goats, et les besoins:
tant d'utilités solides réunies avec tant de choses
agréables, jointes a cette franchise particuliere aux
Parisiens, tout cela enga e un grand nombre d'étrangers a
voya er ou a faire leur sejour dans cette patrie de la

soci té" (Voltaire, Oeuvres completes ed. Louis Moland,
53 vols. [Paris: Garnier Fréres, 1878 , 14:517).

2
It is almost as if they had heeded the advice of
Rousseau, who urged, ”If you have a spark of genius, go
and spend a year in Paris. Soon you will be all that you

2 For in 1788

can be, or you will never be anything."
Mercier noted that "foreigners abound and arrive from all
the four corners of Europe."3 "Knock at all the doors,
from the highest to the lowest," wrote the Marquis de
Mirabeau, ”and you will hear people talking in every lan-
guage and every idiom. I will be bound that you will not
find more than three per cent of the population natives of
Paris."u
In fact, so many had migrated to Paris in the
eighteenth century that econOmists feared the provinces

would become depOpulated.5 The burgeoning of the pOpu-

lation was especially acute in the latter half of the

 

2Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile or On Education, trans.
Allan Bloom (New York: Basic Books, 1979): p. 352. ”Si vous
avez une étincelle de genie, allez passer une année a
Paris: bientdt vous serez tout ce que vous pouvez étre,
ou vous ne serez jamais rien" (J.-J. Rousseau, Emile ou de
l'éducation, ed. Fran 013 and Pierre Richard [Paris: Garnier
Fréres, 1961], p. #27 .

3Louis Sebastien Mercier, The Pictuge of Parig:
Before and After the Revolution, trans. Wilfrid and Emilie
Jackson (New York: Dial Press, 1929), p. 153.

“Paul Lacroix, The E1 hteenth Centur : Its Insti-
tutionsLiCustoms, and Costumes. France 1700-1789 (London:
Bradbury, Agnew, & CO., 1876: reprint ed. with new title
France in the Eighteenth Century: Its Institutigng,

Customs and Costumes, New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing
Co., 1963), p. 315.

51bid.

3

century. From 1700 to 1762, the pOpulace of metrOpolitan
Paris had increased by 86,577: from 1762 to 1784, by
218,185. The latter period exhibited a pOpulation increase
more than double the first, in less than half the time.6

Included in this influx drawn to Paris in the eight-
eenth century were many musicians. They came to Paris--
especially in the mid to late century--for a visit or
extended sojourn, some even remaining permanently. They
had journeyed from cities as distant as Vienna and London,
Turin and Prague, and from regions as diverse as Silesia,
Alsace, and Bohemia. Among them were the Mannheimers,
Johann and Karl Stamitz, Cannabich, Franzl, and Toeschi:
from varied points of origin traveled others: Schobert,
Edelmann, Boccherini, Benda, Pugnani, Viotti, Abbé Vogler,
Cherubini, Roeser, and of course Cluck, Pleyel, J.C. Bach,
and Mozart.

What lured these musicians from the "four corners of,
EurOpe" to Paris? What was the City's attraction? Accord-

ing to Barry Brook in La Symphonie frangaise, the answer is

clear: Paris was the music capital of Europe for most of

 

6Statistique de la France, 12 vols. (Paris: Ministre
des Travaux Publics, de l'Agriculture et du Commerce, 1837-
50), vol. 2: Territoire, pOpulation, pp. 154-55.

1.4,
the latter half Of the eighteenth century.7 Brook supports
this view by citing three factors: the numbers of musi-
cians, concert life, and publishing activities. When each
is developed individually, it stands solidly, and when all
are combined, they present convincing proof.

The first indicator is the most tangible and persua-
sive of the three: the statistics. From 1760 to the
French Revolution, more peOple were employed in the music
profession in Paris than in any other city: that is, more-
people were composing, performing, and publishing music
in Paris than anywhere else. SO says Brook, who cites as
evidence L'Almanach musicai Of 1783 and the Tablettes de
genommée des musiciensypour seryir a l'almanach dauphin
of 1785. Both sources list the number of musicians work-
ing in Paris including composers, teachers of voice and
instruments, instrument makers, music publishers, cOpyists,
printers, and engravers: moreover, the Tablettes contain

the additional categories of music merchants and performers.

 

7Barry S. Brook, La S honie francaise dans la secondg
moitié du XViiIe siécle, vol. I: Etude historiqug (Paris:
Publications de lTInstitut de Musicologie de l'Université
de Paris, 1962). p. 19. Some would argue that Vienna and
Mannheim present formidable challenges to Paris's hegemony
of the music world in much of the latter half of the eight-
eenth century. Not so, says Brook, for Vienna didn't assume
its dominant influence as a classical center until Mozart,
Haydn, and Beethoven had taken up residence there--at the
end Of the eighteenth century. Nor was Mannheim a rival
since first, it was a small town, not a thriving metropolis
like Paris: and second, it had lost most of its musicians
when the Elector moved the court to Munich in 1778, and
those musicians left behind went to Paris. Certainly, Brook
presents a strong argument to support his assertion that
Paris was the unrivalled music capital of Europe from 1760
to the Revolution.

 

5

The total from these categories in the Almanach of 1783 is
980, while in the Tablette of 1785, it is 1028. The iso-
lated figures are revealing, and they become significant
when viewed against Paris's population in l789--approx-
imately 500,000.8

The second mark of Paris's supremacy as music capital
in the latter half of the eighteenth century was its flour-
ishing concert life. Concerts of established musical
organizations as well as those sponsored by the nobility
were plentiful. And as the century waned and French society
was being reordered, the deposed aristocracy's legacy of
underwriting concerts was gradually assumed by wealthy
bourgeois who supported public concert series.9

Established musical organizations that contributed to
Parisian concert life at this time were the Opera and the
major Opera-comigue houses: the Théétre Favart and Theatre
Feydeau. Also included were some of the minor theaters
Operating in Paris before the Revolution, that by 1795

numbered approximately fifty.lo Moreover, the orchestras of

the Opera, the Theatre Favart, and the Théétre Feydeau gave

 

8Ibido , pp. 20-25 a

9See Ibid., pp. 28- 35: and Marie Bobillier [Michel
Brenet], Les Concerts en France sous l' ancien regime (Paris:
Librairie Fischbacher, 1900: reprint ed., New York: Da Capo
Press, 1970), pp. 209- 385.

10Charles Hervey, The Theatres of Paris (Paris:
Galignani & Co., 1847), p. l.

6

pOpular concerts besides their regular duties.ll

Concert life before the Revolution was largely sup-
ported by the nobility. Their private concerts for the
entertainment of their guests, salon concerts, established
the salon's importance in promoting the works of composers.
But further, the salon was a meeting place where upper
class noblemen and bourgeois men of letters exchanged
ideas: it was the hub Of Parisian cultural and intellectual
activity, around which the rest of France revolved.

Writers, intellectuals, philosophes, and musicians were
invited to stimulate talk or provide entertainment. The
outcome was important, for the participants welcomed,
disbussed, and Often precipitated the latest ideas and music
of the day.

Of the noblemen, such as La Poupliniére and the Prince
de Conti, who sponsored musicians at their private gather-
ings, many were amateurs who themselves performed in these
recitals. Their insatiable desire for new music prompted
them to encourage and sponsor composers, many of them
foreign, who were only too eager to fill their needs. The
dedication pages of compositions remind us of the symbiotic

relationship between composer and patron, and its

 

11The New Grove Qigiignary of Music and Musicians,

6th ed., s.v. "Paris: VI. 1789-1870," by David Charlton
and John Trevitt.

7
importance in establishing Paris as a concert center.12
The decline in the number Of salons at the end of the

century and the eventual elimination of the nobility as a
class in France created a void in Parisian concert life
that was filled by the concert series. Because the rising
middle class demanded public performances, the concert
series gained momentum in the late eighteenth century.
A review of the numerous major Parisian recital series
of the latter half of the century as listed in La Laurencie's
La Gout musical en France demonstrates their marked effect
on Parisian concert life:

Concert Spirituel

Concert des Amateurs

Concert d'Amis

Concerts des Enfants d'Apollon

Concert de la Loge Olympique

Concert de la Société d'Emulation

Concerts de la Ruine Clery

Concerts Feydeau.
Of these, the most renowned was the Concert Spirituel, for
it alone had a reputation that would have made Paris an
important music center. It was noted not only for its

large number of recitals, but also for programs that

 

12See Georggs Cucu§l, La Poupliniere et la musigue de
chambre au XVIII siécle (Paris: Fischbacher, 1913), pp.
375-76: J.-G. Prod'homme, ”AustrO-German Musicians in
France in the Eighteenth Century," The Musical Quarteriy
15 (April 1929): 179-80: and J.-G. Prod'homme, "A French
Maecenas of the Time of Louis XV: M. De La Poupliniére,"
The Musical Quarterly 10 (October 1924). 511-31 passim-

13Lionel de La Laurencie, Le Gofit musical en France
(Paris, 1905: reprint ed., Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, 1970),
p. 203. For detailed information, see Rita Benton, "Nicholas
Joseph Hallmandel and French Instrumental Music in the
Second Half of the Eighteenth Century" (Ph.D. dissertation,
State University of Iowa, 1961), pp. 84-89.

8

included foreign composers--some forty-six from 1777-90 14

By featuring foreign works, the Concert Spirituel held
special attraction for emigrés who sought performances
of their compositions. Lang, in Music_in Western Civili-
zation, observes that
beginning with the seventies the Concerts Spirituel15
became the model and envy of the world. All the great
traveling virtuosi were welcomed there, and the in-
clusion in the programs of the works of Gossec,
Handel, Stamitz, Wagenseil, Haydn, Mozart, Jommelli,

' Piccini, Johann Christian Bach, Toeschi, and many
others indigates the remarkable variety of the
offerings.

But this was only one of seven major recital series, not
to mention the numerous minor ones that existed. Thus
the concert series, which filled the entertainment needs
of the increasingly wealthy bourgeois, had a significant
influence on Parisian musical life.

Therefore in the latter half of the eighteenth
century, established musical organizations, the nobility,
and public series all contributed to making Paris a
cosmOpolitan concert center.

The third indication that Paris led the music world

in the latter half of the eighteenth century was its

thriving publishing businesses. Because many publishers

 

l”Constant Pierre, Histoige in Concert 8 irituel 1 2 -
1220 (Paris, 1900: reprint ed., Paris: Heugel et Cie, 1975),
pp- 175-76.

 

15The currently accepted practice is to use the singular
form. See New Grove, s.v. "Concert Spirituel."

16Paul Henry Lang, Music in Western Civilization (New
York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1941), p. 722.

9
and engravers Operated in the City, and because the
format of the Parisian edition set the standard for foreign
publishers, the Parisian publishing trade was important.
Certainly the mere numbers Of publishers convince us of
Paris's significance: firms such as Le Duc, Imbault,
Le Menu, Bailleux, and Venier were a few of the many
active in Paris, as listed in Johansson's French Music
Pgbiishers' Cataiogues of the SecondfiHali of the Eight-
eenth Century. Some Parisian publishers--Sieber, Boivin,
Le Chevardiere, and Pleyel--even specialized in the music
of foreign composers. Brook maintains that between 1750-
70, it is quite likely that more music was published in
Paris than in the rest of EurOpe.l7 Krummel's article
on publishing in New Grove terms before 1750 until
approximately 1780 the "classical" period of Parisian
music publishing, for at this time foreign publishers in
London, Amsterdam, and Germany copied the format of the

18 These facts clearly demonstrate

Parisian editions.
Paris's pOsition as an important cosmOpolitan publishing
center in the latter half of the eighteenth century.

Thus it is no surprise that Paris magnetized foreign
composers, for her multitude Of employed musicians, flour-

ishing concert life, and lead in music publishing and en-

graving drew them to this music center of the second half of

 

l7Brook, La Symphonie frangaise, 1:36.

18E2!_§£222: s.v. "Printing and Publishing of Music,"

by H. Edmund Poole and Donald W. Krummel, p. 267.

10

the eighteenth century.

Early Life and Musical Training in AisaceL3125 -

 

 

The allure of Parisian musical life attracted many,
including Mathieu-Frédéric Blasius. Like many emigre
composers who eventually settled in Paris, he first became
a proficient musician in his native region before moving
on. SO to sketch Blasius's musical develOpment, one must
first trace his early life in Alsace.

20

He was born Mathaausl9 Blasius on April 23 or 24,

 

l9Martin Vogeleis, Quellen und Bausteine zu einer Ge-

schichte der Musik und des Theaters im Elsass 500-1800
Strasbourg: F.X. Le Roux & Co., 1911: reprint ed., Geneva:
Minkoff Reprint, 1979), p. 697. The personal details about
Blasius in this paragraph were Obtained from Vogeleis. He
states that on Blasius's baptismal record only the name
Mathaaus appears, but that on his compositions the name
Frédéric was used more Often. In examining his works, one
finds the variations M.F. Blasius, M. Frederic Blasius, and
even Frederic Blasius or F. Blasius. Ulrich Rau, "Die
Kammermusik fur Klarinette und Streichinstrumente im Zeit-
alter der Wiener Klassik" (Ph.D. dissertation, Universitfit
des Saarlandes, l977),p. 428 n. 29?. supports Vogeleis's
statement that Frédéric was not a baptismal name. He feels
that since many Of Blasius's compositions were published
bearing the forename, Frederic, Blasius himself probably
chose to use this name. Rau received this information on
9/6/68 and 1/29/69 from Head Curator Himly of the Depart-
mental Archives in Strasbourg, the latter basing his

Observations on the following birth and baptismal record:
3 E 261 (5) fol. 95 verso.

20Ibid. Vogeleis states that the surname "Blassius"
is also an acceptable equivalent: however, "Blaze" or "Blasis"
is not. F.-J. Fétis, Bio ra hie universelle des musicians,
2nd ed. 8 vols. (Paris: Didot Frgres, Fils et Cie, 1873-75),
1 (1873):439, and Eduard Bernsdorf, Neues Universal-Lexikon
der Tonkunst, 4 vols. (Dresden: Robert Schaefer, 1856-65),
1 (1856):413, concur that "Blaze" is not an acceptable equiv-
alent. The substitution of incorrect surnames for ”Blasius"
has resulted in confusing his works with those of other

musicians. Such an example is found in Robert Eitner, Bio-
graphisch-Bibliographisches Quellen-Lexikon der Musiker und

 

ll

22

1758,21 in Lauterbourg, which is located in the eastern-

most extremity of modern continental France, in the

 

Musikgelehrten_ggr christlichen Zeitrechnung_bis zur Mitte
des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, ll vols. (Leipzig: Breitkopf
und Hartel, 1900-1904: reprint ed., Graz, Austria:
Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1959-60), 1 (1959):
63, who wrongly lists L'Amour Hermite, an gpéra-comique with
music composed by "F. Blassius," under the article on
Francesco Antonio de Blasis rather than correctly attri-
buting the work to Blasius. Fétis calls attention to those
sources that have incorrectly substituted "Blaze" for
"Blasius": Gustav Schilling, EncyclOpadie der gesammten
musikalischen Wissenschaften Oder Universel-Lexikon der
Tonkunst, 6 vols. (Stuttgart: Franz Heinrich Kahler, 1835-
42), 1 (1835): 665, and C.F. Whistlingfs Handbuch der musi-
kalischen Literatur, 3 vols. (Leipzig: F. Hofmeister, 1844).

21Because discrepencies abound, his birthdate is in

question. The sources list these dates: April 23, April 23/
24, April 24, and April 26. Vogeleis, Quellen und Bausteine,
p. 697, lists April 23/24, which possibly may mean that
Blasius was born on the cusp on the twenty-third and into

the morning Of the twenty-fourth, which would help account
for the confusion about his birthdate. Vogeleis does men-
tion the forename appearing on Blasius's baptismal records,
which suggests that he may have c0pied the birthdate direct-
ly from these records. The following recent sources list
April 24: New Grove, s.v. "Blasius," by Deanne Arkus Klein:
and Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzy-
klogadie der Musik, Supplement, s.v. "Blasius,” by Ulrich
Rau. But many of the older sources list April 23: Carl F.
Becker, S stematisch-chronolo ische Darstellun der musi-
kalischen Literatur (Leipzig: Robert Friese, 1836: reprint
ed., Amsterdam: Frits A.M. Knuf, 1964), p. 355: John D.
Champlin, Jr., Cyclopedia oi:Music and Musicians, 3 vols.
(New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1888), 1:194: Eitner,
uellen-Lexikon, 1:63-64: Fétis, Bipgraphie universelle, 1:
38-39: Ernst L. Gerber, Neues Historisch-Biographisches
Lexikonider Tonkfinstler, 4 vols. (Leipzig: A. Kuhnel, 1812-
14: reprint ed., Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck- und
Verlagsanstalt, 1966), vol. 2 0013. 426-27: M. Lassabathie,
Histoire du Conservatoire impériaiide musique et de déciama-
tion (Paris: Michel Lévy FrEres, 1860), p.‘427: and Schilling,
Encyclopadig, 1:665. Brook, La Symphonie francaise, 2:116
lists April 26, which may well be a misprint. 'The most
authoritative source seems to be Rau, "Die Kammermusik fflr
Klarinette und Streichinstrumente," p. 428 n. 298, who states
unequivocally that the birthdate is April 24 and bases his
finding on the birth and baptismal record cited in note 19.

22or'in German, Lauterburg: Because Alsace is a bicul-
tural region, proper names have French and German

12
département or administrative region of the Bas-Rhin.23

Lauterbourg is also situated within Alsace, a histor-
ical region that today lies within France. Rectangularly-
shaped Alsace borders the Rhine across from West Germany.
Its geographical location, between the French and German
peoples, has destined its fate--centuries of conflict and
the deracination of its people. This contested territory
has shifted between French and German control since the
800's, when Charlemagne's grandsons disputed the division
of the Carolingian Empire. Alsace was then transferred from
the original Gaul to the Middle Kingdom, and thus to
eventual rule by the Holy Roman.Empire--the German peOples.
Since then, it has had a checkered history up to the present
century.

Because Alsace has existed under both French and Ger-
man influences, one naturally expects the Alsatian identity
to be touched by both. It is, resulting in a unique blend
of both cultures. Such a hybrid blurs national lines and
imparts a cosmOpolitan flavor to the region, evident in
Blasius's time, as today.

In 1758, the year of Blasius's birth, Alsace was pros-
pering under the French. Only about one hundred years ear-

lier in 1648, Strasbourg had been a free city, a small

 

equivalents. In this study, French place names will be used
Since they are historically consistent: personal names will
be either French or German, depending on the individual's
chosen preference at the time.

23Lower Rhine.

13

republic within the Holy Roman Empire with a Lutheran
pOpulation that spoke German. But since the Peace of
Westphalia in 1648, when France was given an informal
proctectorate over the region, the French monarchy steadily
gained influence, gradually spreading its language and
culture. In 1681 Louis XIV had annexed the region and
by the time of the French Revolution, Alsace had been
incorporated administratively into France and was no longer
governed as a separate entity. This Gallic infiltration
brought social change, most Obvious in the religion and
language. With the French came administrative officials,
troops, and Catholic clergy that added to and transformed
the already existing upper Classes. The upper and ruling
classes in Alsace readily adapted by learning French,
adopting Catholicism, and even observing French salon
manners more Often. Naturally, the result was a wider gap
between upper and lower classes, with some of the latter
being practically untouched by the French presence.2u This
can be readily seen when noting that German still held its
place as the language understood by all--the common people's
tongue.

This German heritage is evident in the Blasius family
history since both parents of Mathaeus originated from within
the Holy Roman Empire. Johann Michael Blasius, Mathaeus's

father, was a master tailor from Rastatt, just beyond the

 

2“Franklin L. Ford, Strasbourg in Transition: 1648-
i289 (gambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958), pp° 159,
00, l 2.

l4

border. Johann Michael had married twice: first to
Euphrosine Nies, from 1738-50, fathering eight children:
and from 1751-84 to Dorothea Burgard from Schaidt in the
Palatinate, begetting ten children.25 The union with
Burgard resulted in the three Blasius children who later
became noted musicians: Mathaeus, and his two brothers,
Johann Peter, born September 2, 1752, and Franz Ignaz,
born April 11, 1755.26

Vogeleis in Quellen und Bausteine zu einer Geschichte
der Musik ung_ges Theaters in Elsass 500-i800 asserts that
both parents were musical.27 A reliable contemporary source,
Gerber's Neues Historischzgiographisches Lexikon der Ton-
kflnstler, specifically credits the elder Blasius with
giving his son, Mathaeus, instruction in the fundamentals

of music. Gerber states that Mathaeus then continued his

 

25Vogeleis, Quellen und Bausteine, pp. 697-98.
Vogeleis lists the parents's death dates: father June 21,

1784: mother November 10, 1785.

26Ibid., p. 699. .Yogeleis says that all three sons
were born in Lauterbourg. A discrepancy exists in the birth-
date Of Johann Peter: New Grove and MEG list it as Sep-
tember 2, 1752, while Vogeleis states September 15, 1764.
The former is probably correct because when the three
brothers later worked in Paris, the two violinists Mathieu-
Frédéric and Pierre used French forenames and were identified
as the younger and the Older, respectively.

27Ibid., pp. 697-98. He states that musicians named
Burgard were known in Lauterbourg. On July 6, 1900, Vicar
Reminger gave Vogeleis the information that a Georges Burgard
and Jean Burgard (the latter died in 1866) had taught cornet,
clarinet, and violin lessons in Lauterbourg for fifty years.
Vogeleis seems to imply that they may be related to Dorothea
Burgard, but he doesn't identify their relationship. (Cer-
tainly, this is a weak argument for proving that Dorothea
Burgard was musical).

15

28 Under Stadt's tutelage, adds

studies with Herr Stadt.
Schilling in EncyclOpadie der gesammten musikaiischen
Wissenschaften Oder Universel-Lexikon der Tonkunst, Mathaaus
perfected his instrumental playing and became a virtuoso.
Schilling describes him as an "excellent violinist and

29

clarinetist" while Choron and Fayolle's Dictionnaire

historigue des musiciens portrays him as a virtuoso on
30

violin, clarinet, flute, and bassoon. Since his later
posts mostly required his abilities on violin and clarinet,
he was probably best known for these instruments. As for
his brothers, Johann Peter mastered violin, flute, bassoon,
and clarinet, but he was best known as a violinist, while
Franz Ignaz was noted as a bassoonist.31
Although few specific details of Blasius's training
and musical develOpment in Alsace emerge, probable influences
can be identified after examining the region's musical life.
In many instances, musical life in a locality is directly
affected by the peripheral factors of politics and geography.

Certainly this is the case for Alsace.

By the eighteenth century, Alsatian politics was

 

28Gerber, Neues Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon,
vol. 2 col. 426.

29Schilling, Encyclopadie, 1:665.

3oA.-E. Choron and F.-J.-M. Fayolle, Dictionnaire
historique des musiciens, 2 vols. (Paris: Valade and
Lenormant, 1810-11: reprint ed., Hildesheim, West Germany:
Georg Olms Verlag, 1971), 2:84.

31Ibid., p. 454.

l6

decidedly French. France had such a firm hold in the
region that its language and culture dominated the upper
class. Not only had politics contributed to the appearance
of the French language in ruling circles and added a
Catholic-Protestant mix to Alsace, but politics had also
created an upper class that imitated the Parisian cultural
model: that is, the French salon tradition.32 This tradi-
tion included patronage of the arts, and the French upper
class imported with the annexation in 1681 set clear exam-
ples for the populace. One such new arrival was the re-
installed Catholic bishop of Strasbourg, an aristocrat
whose model as a benefactor set the tone for the upper class.
The changes in the arts brought about by the annexation were
significant, for

musical and dramatic entertainment . . . took on

more formal organization. Soon after 1681, per-

. haps partly to keep up with the reéstablished

bishop, who had his own staff of musicians for

the cathedral and palace, the Magistrat aban-

doned its previous custom of merely hiring a

group of instrumentalists whenever the occasion

demanded and instead founded a regular municipal

orchestra.
Concerts were held in the university's main lecture hall,
in the Temple-Neuf or principal Lutheran parish in Stras-
bourg, the French Theater or Comédie, and also in the

large guildhalls. especially the ”Mirror” and the "Mooress."34

 

32Ford, Strasbourg in_i§ansition, p. 100.

33Ibid., p. 174.

3L’Ibid.

1?

Strasbourg, the capital, largest city, and cultural center,
was said to have the second most important court music
establishment after Paris: it clearly imitated Paris's
court music and cultural life.35

Besides the effect of French politics on eighteenth-
century musical life in Alsace, geography also played a
role. Alsace's location, bordering the Rhine between the
French and German nations, made it a natural channel for
travelers journeying north and south as well as east and
west. Strasbourg's important shipping trade in the eight-
eenth century prompted Ford in Strasbourg in Transition:
1648-1282 to label it the ”greatest entrepdt on the Upper
Rhine,” for at this time its warehouses held goods bound
for Switzerland, Italy, Cologne, Frankfurt, and the Low
36

Countries. Ease of travel north and south on the Rhine
was complemented by improved land travel east and west.

Because roads had been rebuilt during the French rule of
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Strasbourg be-

came a convenient terminus for travelers proceeding to or

from Paris, Lyon, Nancy, Metz, Toul, Verdun, and to points

 

35Vogeleis, Quellen und Bausteine, p. 665.

36Ford, Strasbourg in Transition, p. 142. According to
Ford, not until 1775, when the Baden government built Kehl

as a rival port on the Rhine across from Strasbourg, was the
latter's shipping trade seriously challenged.

 

18

within the German republics and Alsace.37 By 1746, Paris
stages arrived and departed Strasbourg six days a week.38
The frequency of travel to destinations within France, and
more specifically to Paris, can be surmised from the descrip-
tion of a researcher of pre-l789 Alsatian newspapers:

The number of advertisements appearing in the

Strasbourg Wochenblatt for printed guides to France

in general and its capital in particular suggest

the extent to which travel to Paris wasBBecoming

"vulgarized" in the eighteenth century.
Good overland connections coupled with the convenience of
river transportation in the 1780's produced the result that
"Alsatians enjoyed the benefits Of communications as rapid
and dependable as any Europe was to know until the advent
of the railroad.“+0 '

The advantageous location and ease of travel to and

 

37Ibid., pp. 146-47. Ford elaborates, "Three times
per week public coaches arrived from and set Off to Lyon,
while on three other days there were arrivals and depar-
tures connecting Strasbourg with Nancy and the Three
Bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun. In addition,
numerous coaches made daily runs to other towns in Alsace.
The regular German stage, on the other hand, was still
limited at this date to two trips per week, though by
the 1780's it arrived and departed daily. These sched-
uled services, in all directions, were far outnumbered
by chartered trips of rented carriages or saddle horses."

38Strasbourg, Bibliotheque Nationals et Universitaire
de Strasbourg, MS 1540, quoted in Ford, Strasbourg in
Transition, p. 146.

39Fernand L'Huillier, "Remarques sur les journaux
strasbourgeois de la premiere moitié du XVIII siécle
(1715-1760)," Revue giAlsace (Delle-Thann-Colmar, 1936),
83:140, quoted in Ford, Strasbpgrg_inyTransition, p. 195.

quord, Strasbourg in Transition, p. 147.

19
from Strasbourg attracted many visitors--foreign merchants,

university students,“1

and tourists--who in turn gave the
city a cosmopolitan flavor.l+2 Certainly Alsace's geograph-
ical location was responsible for the mix of people passing
through, and these influences had important consequences

for Alsatian musical life.

 

ulIbid., p. 167. Ford lists the origins of the 5,000
students enrolled at the University in Strasbourg between
1756-93, at a time when the University was suppressed:
"There were 834 native Strasbourgers, 893 other Alsatians,
nearly 600 candidates from Lorraine, and 179 from the
interior of France. A German historian [Ford's source
is Arthur Schulze, Die Ortiiche und soziale Herkunft der
Strassbur er Studenten 1621-1 (Heidelberg:.n.p.,:1926),
p. 107] has put the Welschen (the French] as a language
group including many of the Alsatians and most of the
Lorrainers, at 1,137 during this period, 1,065 of them
studying law. In the final five years of 'normalcy,’
1786-1790, French-speaking subjects of the king repre-
sented 25 per cent of the student body--almost exact
parity with the Holy Roman Empire's contingent. Fer the
rest, in just these five years, besides German-speaking
Alsatians and Swiss, there were 226 students of other
nationalities, including eighteen from England, and no
fewer than sixty from.Russia."

uzIbid., pp. 165-66. 0f the travelers passing through,
Ford gives a vivid description: "Every year they came:
doctors from Switzerland, privy councilors from Baden,
professors from thtingen, collectors of antiquities from
Paris, and so on endlessly [Ford's source is Georges
Musset, "Les Rochelais a Strasbourg,” Comité_igs travggx
historiques et scientifi ues: bulletin de la section de
g€ographie 35 (1920):19l-20 . Just one file of letters
of recommendation, those sent by the historian, J.-J.
Oberlin, in Strasbourg to his friend, André Lamey, at the
Electoral Academy in Mannheim, gives an idea Of this
passing parade. 'Baron Rudbeck and Monsieur Bjornstahl
from Upsaal in Sweden' (1773): 'Mr. Coxe, a learned English-
man who is accompanying Milord Herbert, son of the Duke of
Pembroke' (1777): 'M. 1e Baron de Manhhausen and M.
Schonfeldt, his tutor' [the latter is likely J.-P. Schdnfeld
who later became the music director at the Temple-Neuf
in Strasbourg] (1777): 'the bearers of this letter,
Spaniards by birth, educated in natural history and above
all in mineralogy' (1778): 'Herr Durand Of Metz, an Officer
in the royal service' (1782): 'two Parisians, M. Bignon

20
The easy passage north and south on the Rhine no doubt
encouraged contact between the musicians of Mannheim and
Strasbourg. Just such an exchange Occurred in 1769 when
Franz Xaver Richter (1709-89) left Mannheim to become maftre
de chapelle of the Cathedral in Strasbourg. The composer
and theorist Richter had been a member of the Hofkapelle of
Elector Karl Theodor's court in Mannheim from 1747-69, where
he had worked with the Mannheim composers Johann Stamitz,
Anton Filtz, Ignaz Holzbauer, Giuseppe Toeschi, and Christian
Cannabich. 1
Further transfers of Mannheim musicians to Strasbourg

are hinted at by Mathias in Die Musik im Elsass:

The Cathedral music corps of Strasbourg and, because

of the identity of most of the members, also the

musical organizations of the City and the New Church

[or Temple-Neuf] had been handed down, one could

almost say, the artistic hggitage of the Mannheim

court mus1c establishment. -
Specifically, the presence of the Mannheimers Richter and
the bassist Jacobi is known. But it is speculative whether
Karl Stamitz, a pupil of Richter, followed his teacher to

Strasbourg.4u

 

and his tutor' (1787): 'Dr. Penneck, librarian at the British
Museum' (1788) were only a few of the travelers sent along

to Lamey by Oberlin" (Strasbourg, Bibliothéque Nationale et Uni-
versitaire de Strasbour , MS 786, quoted in Ford, Strasbourg
in Transition, pp. 165-66).

“B"Die Strassburger Mfinsterkapelle und, bei der Identitfit
der meisten Mitglieder, auch die Stadt- und Neukirchkapelle
fiberkam gewissermassen das kfinstlerische Erbe der Mannheimer
Hofkapelle" (Vogeleis, Quellen_und Bausteine, p. 664,
quoting Mathias, Die Musik im ElsassfStrassburg: F.X. Le
Roux, 1905], p. 20).

”“Ibio., p. 664.

21
At the time Of Richter's appointment, musical life in
Strasbourg was flourishing and included four large corps
Of musicians: those of the Catholic Cathedral and the
Lutheran Temple-Neuf, and those of the city and theater
orchestras.45 Richter's post, director of Cathedral music,
was Strasbourg's most important position. Furthermore,
Vogeleis affirms that "the Cathedral music corps in
Richter's time was the largest in the empire after the
royal music establishment in Versailles-Paris.“+6
According to Rita Benton, in her dissertation "Nicholas

Joseph Hfillmandel and French Instrumental Music in the
Second Half of the Eighteenth Century," the records Of
the Cathedral have been lost: however, she cites F.X.
Mathias, the Cathedral organist in the early part of this
century, who seems to have had access to the records and
provides this detailed account of Cathedral services after
the installation of the Catholic bishOp:

In the Cathedral, the Catholic service was reinstated

at great expense. For choral singing, the seminar

that was started in 1704 at the University provided

boarding school students, and the newly-founded

Cathedral school, choir boys. Outside of Advent

and Lent, for the music that was performed for the

Masses, Vespers, and motets of every Sunday and

feastday, naturally an orchestra and a permanent

choir of performers were employed, the latter of

which the best and most-trained choir boys joined.

According to Grandidier, the number of members

provided in the choir Of singers and musicians,
including music director and organist, was 46 in the

 

“5Ibid., p. 665.

n6"Die MUnsterkapelle war zur Zeit Richter's die
grdsste im Reich nach der kOniglichen Kapelle in Versailles-
Paris" (Ibid).

22

beginning. But according to financial statements
from the account books, 24 singers and 40 musicians
("symphonistes") were again later salaried. It is
not astonishing if the Cathedral's capital required
a sum of approximately 30,000 Livres for defrayal
of the annual expenses for music. There, one in no
way shied away from expense: likewise one was
permitted to look round for those with the best
abilities. Because of this, we see the most
important great names in music 7in the music direc-
tors as well as the organists.

 

In Essai historiques et topographigues sur l'église
cathedrals de Strasbourg, Grandidier lists the Cathedral
corps of 1782:

Music director
SOpranos
Contraltos
Tenors
Baritones
Basses
Organist
Serpents

First violins
Second violins

'F’PNHNNWNQH

 

47"Im MUnster war der katholische Gottesdienst mit
grossem Kostenaufwand wieder eingerichtet worden. Zum
Choralgesang stellte das 1704 zur Universitfit erhobene
Seminar die Alumnen, und die neu gegrflndete Mfinsterschule
die Chorknaben. Fur die ausserhalb der Advents- und
Fastenzeit jeden Sonn- und Feiertag aufzuffihrenden Musik-
Messen, -Vespern und Motetten aber ward ein Orchester und
ein standiger Kunstlerchor angestellt, dem die Besten und
Geschultesten der Chorknaben beitraten. Nach Grandidier
belief sich die Mitgliederzahl des Sfinger- und Musikerchores
mit Kappellmeister und Organisten anfangs auf 46. Nach
Ausweis der Rechnungsbficher aber wurden spfiter 24 sanger
und an die 40 Musiker ("symphonistes") besoldet. Es darf
darum nicht wundernehmen, wenn das Domkapitel zur Bestrei-
tung der Auslagen ffir Musik jahrlich einer Summe von zirka
30,000 Livres bedurfte. Da man aber keine Ausgaben scheute,
durfte man sich auch nach den besten Kraften umsehen. Da
treten uns sofort, als Kapellmeister wie als 0r anisten,
ganz bedeutende musikalische Grdssen entgegen" F.X. Mathias,
Die Musik im Elsass, p. 28, cited by Rita Benton, "Nicholas
Joseph Hfillmandel and French Instrumental Music in the
Second Half of the Eighteenth Century"[Ph.D. dissertation,
State University of Iowa, 1961], pp. 35-36.

 

23

Violas

Flutes (or oboe and clarinet)
Violoncellos

Bassoons

Contrabasses

Horns

Drum

Trumpets

46_total

C‘HNNNNNN

In the years 1770-1785, the number of singers

varied between 16-20, while that Of the instru-

mentalists, between 28-32: in the years 1768-89, 48

it is regularly 20 singers and 40 instrumentalists.
As director Of this ensemble, Richter's duties included
composing church music for Sundays and feastdays, preparing
periodic concerts for the city and the episcopate, the
latter held at the bishOp's residence, and furnishing music
for the Special Occasions Of church and state.“9

When Richter died in 1789, the Austrian Ignaz Pleyel

(1757-1831) sudceeded him at the Cathedral. In his youth,
Pleyel had studied with Haydn and in the early 1780's had

spent time in Italy, especially Naples. He then became

 

“B"Nach Grandidier, Essai sur la Cathédrale, p. 305,
zahlte dieselbe im Jahre 1782: l Kapellmeister, 8 Chor-
knaben ' ui chantent 1e dessus' (SOprano), 2 hautes-
contres Contr'alto), 3 hautes-tailles (hohe Tenore),

2 basses-tailles (Baryton), 2 basses de chaeur (tiefe Basse):
l Organist, 2 Serpents, 4 erste Geigen, 4 zweite Geigen,

2 Alto (Bratsche), 2 Fldten (Oder Oboe und Klarinette), 2
Violoncello, 2 bassons, 2 Kontrabasse, 2 Waldhbrner, l Pauke,
4 Trompeten. Im Ganzen 46 Personen. In den Jahren 1770-
1785 variiert die Zahl der sanger zwischen 16-20, die der
Musiker zwischen 28-32: in den Jahren 1786-89 sind es
regelmassig 20 Sanger und 40 Musiker" (Vogeleis, Quellen

und Bausteine, p. 65, quoting Philippe André Grandidier,

Essai histori ues et tOpo a hi ues sur l'é lise cathédrale
de Strasbourg Strasbourg: Levrault, 1782), p. 305).

“9Ibid., p. 669

 

 

24

an assistant to Richter at the Cathedral, probably around
1784, and also aided Jean-Philippe Schdnfeld in conducting
and organizing public concerts in Strasbourg, known as
the Pleyel-Schbnfeld concerts.50 SchUnfeld (1742-90),
unlike Pleyel, was a native Alsatian. His early music
instruction with J.F. Brfick in Strasbourg was complemented
with German training in 1770 when he became tutor to the
Manchhausen family in Brunswick. It was there, according
to Vogeleis, that he made contact with C.P.E. Bach. In
1777 he became assistant Kapellmeister of the main Lutheran
parish in Strasbourg, the Temple-Neuf. While on a leave of
absence in 1779, he studied in Italy and then returned to
the Temple-Neuf as Kapellmeister. From 1781 he was concert'
director for the city, later being assisted by Pleyel.51
At the Temple-Neuf, Schdnfeld worked with a well-known
organist named Sixtus Hepp (1732-1806), who was also a
product of German training.52

These four men--Richter, Pleyel, Schbnfeld, and
Hepp--were leaders of the major ensembles in Strasbourg in
the second half Of the eighteenth century and shared an

important link: all were foreigners or foreign trained.

Richter, a Bohemian who worked in Mannheim before coming

 

50New Grove, s.v. "Pleyel, Ignace,“ by Rita Benton.

51MQQ, s.v. ”Johann Philipp Schoenfeld," by Francis
Muller.

52

Ford, Strasbourg_in Transition, p. 205.

25
to Strasbourg: Pleyel, who was Austrian-born and studied

53

in Italy: Hepp, from Warttemberg: and the only native
Alsatian in the group, Schdnfeld, who was trained in Germany
and Italy--all had foreign ties. Their training reflected
the mix of influences present in Alsatian musical life in
the latter half of the eighteenth century as noted by
Mathias: "Thus in Strasbourg, the Mannheim traditions
(Richter's) merged with those of the Viennese and also,

when Pleyel and Schdnfeld had completed their studies in
Italy, the Italian."5“

Although Alsace has been referred to as a "bridge"
between German and French music,55 this bond of foreign
birth and training present among its music leaders at this
time proves that German musical influences were the stronger
Of the two. Ford maintains that "the continuing power of
German music, . . . was never matched by any corresponding
impulse from the side of France."56 While it is true that
Strasbourg modeled its musical life on Paris, the music
leadership of Strasbourg in the latter half of the eight-

eenth century had close connections to German music and

 

53Vogeleis, Quellen und Bausteine, p. 695.

5“"80 vereinigten sich in Strassburg mit den Mannheimer
Traditionen (Richter's) auch die Wiener, und da Pleyel wie
Schdnfeld seine Studien in Italien abgeschlossen hatte, auch
die italienischen" (Mathias, Die Musik im Elsass, p. 21,
cited in Vogeleis, Quellen und Bausteine, p. 735).

5SMGG, s.v. "ElsaB," by Joseph Muller-Blattau.

56Ford, Strasbourg in Transition, p. 205.

26

musicians, no doubt because of Alsace's close geographical
and ethnic ties to the east. Mannheim and other German
cities on the Rhine were more quickly reached than Paris
because the latter required overland travel. Ethnic ties
too, were a factor in Strasbourg's affinity to German music
circles: an anecdote of Mozart's stopover in Strasbourg in
1778, on his trip from Paris to Salzburg, illustrates this.
Because the musicians of Strasbourg had heard of Mozart
through acquaintances in Austria and Mannheim, they recog-
nized and warmly received him upon his arrival, prompting
Mozart to write to his father: TEveryone knows me. As
soon as they heard my name, the two Herren Silbermann57
and Herr Hepp, the organist, came to call on me, and also
Kapellmeister Richter."58

This strong German presence in the Alsatian musical
environment of the second half Of the eighteenth century
most certainly influenced Blasius. Since little is known
of his early training, one must speculate from the facts.
Lauterbourg, his birthplace, was only a short distance from

Strasbourg and Mannheim, and all were easily reached since

they bordered the Rhine.59 Blasius was active in musical

 

57Johann Andreas Silbermann (1712-83) and his brother
Johann Heinrich Silbermann (1727-99) were organ builders in
Strasbourg.

. 58Emily Anderson, ed., Theiietters of Mozart and His
Faml y, 2nd ed. prepared by A. Hyatt King and Monica Carolan,
2 vols. (New York: St Martin's Press, 1966), 2:629.

5?The distance from Strasbourg to Lauterbourg is little
over fifty-five kilometers or approximately thirty-three miles:

from Lauterbourg to Mannheim, about sixty kilometers or
thirty-seven miles.

27
life in Strasbourg, as will be shown below by the dedication
pages of his compositions. Although it is not known if he
ever traveled to Mannheim or other German towns, the pres-
ence of Mannheim musicians in Strasbourg no doubt left their
mark on him. One can assume that the strong German influ-
ences, the traces Of Italian training evident in contemporary
music leaders, as well as the overtones of the French pres-
ence and the Parisian cultural model affected Blasius's

training.

 

Early Years in Paris, 1284-20

Although little is known about the years 1784-90,
Schilling tells us that Blasius undertook concert tours:
”Mathias Friedrich, . . . together with a younger brother,
who played bassoon very proficiently, went to France very
early, where he was first heard in several large cities
with decisive applause, and finally in Paris gradually

l Franz Ignaz, the brother best

achieved . . . positions."
known as a bassoonist, probably accompanied him: if our
birthdates are correct, then Schilling erred in calling
the bassoonist the younger brother.

Highlighting the tour was possibly Mathieu-Frédéric's

appearance at the Concert Spirituel in 1784, where he

 

l"Mathias Friedrich, . . . kam frfih zeitig . . .
nebst einem jflngeren Bruder, der sehr fertig Fagott blies,
nach Frankreich, wo er zunfichst sich in mehreren grUBeren
Stadten mit entschiedenem Beifalle hbren lieB, und endlich
in Paris nach und nach zu . . . Stellen gelangte" (Schilling,

Encyclogfidie, 1:665).

28

performed a violin concerto of his own composition on
March 25. The Journal de Paris described his playing as
”full of merit” and his concerto as ”charged with the
greatest difficulties and rendered with neatness and
accuracy"2 while the Tablettesige renommée des musiciens
of 1785 termed his debut "le plus grand succés."3

By appearing at the Concert Spirituel, Blasius joined
the ranks of forty-eight other violinists presented in the
years 1778-90, many Of them the leading virtuosos: Kreutzer,
Viotti, Rode, Lahoussaye, Fodor, and Guérin.’+

Since the Concert Spirituel performance is the earliest

record thus far uncovered of Mathieu-Frédéric in Paris,

one assumes that he and Ignace had arrived in the City

 

2"Plein de mérite”: "hérisse' des plus grandee diffi-
cultés, rendu avec nettetté et justesse” (Journal de Paris,
27 March 1784, p. 389, quoted in Constant Pierre, Histoire
du Concert SpirituelI 1225-1220 [Paris: Heugel et CIe, 1975],
p. 211 . Pierre, Histoire du Concert Spirituel, p. 325,
lists the sources that announce Blasius s appearance:
Journal de Paris, March 23, 25, and 27. PP. 371, 379, and
389: Annonces, affiches et avis divers (Affiches de Paris),
March 22 and 25, pp. 7 and 787: and the Mercure, April 3,
p. 330

3Tablettes de renommée des musiciens auteurs com 081-
teursI virtuoses, amateurs et maItres de mugique vocale et
Insti'umentaleL les lus connus en chaque gengg . . .
(Paris: n.p., 1785: reprint ed., Geneva: Minkoff Reprints,
1971), n. pag.

“Pierre, Histoire du Concert Spirituel, pp. 208-9.

 

29

at least by spring of 1784.5 From Schilling's description,
one would guess that Paris was the final stop on their
tour. It is not known when Pierre arrived in the capital.6

In their articles on Mathieu-Frédéric, Schilling and
Gerber cite Herr von Boecklin, who reports in his Beitrgge
ggr Geschichte der Musik besonders in Deutschlgng having
met an excellent violinist in Strasbourg in 1785 with the
name of Blasius.7 It is unclear if Boacklin identified this
Blasius by forename, so he could have been referring to
Pierre, who also was a violinist. Baron Boacklin de
Baacklinsau, a patron of the arts, would have been acquainted
with the leading regional musicians:8 therefore, this source
only proves that a violinist named Blasius was active in
the cultural life of Strasbourg.v

Yet, the title pages Of Blasius's Six Quatuors

 

ESince printed COpies of Blasius's Six Quatuors Concer-
tants, Op. 3, which were published in Paris by Boflin, have
been dated at approximately 1780-82 by Janet Muriel Levy,
”The Qggtuor Concertant in Paris in the Latter Half of the
Eighteenth Century" (Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University,
1971), p. 399, and Fran ois Lesure, ed., Catalogue deyig
mu ° ue 'm rimée gvant 800: conservée dans les biblio-
the ues ubligues de Paris (Paris: Bibliothéque Nationale,
198%). p. 53, BlaSIus may have traveled to Paris before 1784
to have his works published. See below, n. 10.

6When performing in Paris, the three Blasius brothers
used French forenames, apparently to blend more easily into
Parisian society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7According to Gerber, Neues Historisch-Biographisches
Lexikon, vol. 2 col. 427, this citation appears in Baron
Baecklin de Boecklinsau, Beitrfige zur Geschichte der Musik
besonders in Qeutschlgng (n.p.: n.p., 1790), pp.96-97-

8Frangois-Frédéric-Sigismond-Auguste, Baron Boacklin
de Baacklinsau was born on September 28, 1745 in Strasbourg.
A nobleman, he was known for his work in philosophy and

{wit a... new

ET.

30
Concertants, Op. 3 and "Six duo [sic] pour deux violons,"
Op. 4 definitely do tie Mathieu-Frédéric to musical life in
Strasbourg of the early 1780's. Both record Blasius as
"Musicien de son Eminence Monseigneur 1e Prince Louis
Rene Edouard de Rohan, Evéque de Strasbourg at Grand Aumonier
de France."9 Opus 3 has been determined to have been pub-

10 And since Opuses 3 and 4

lished approximately 1780-82.
have identical dedications, publishers, in that both were
published in Paris by Bofiin, and close opus numbers, one
wonders if both works may have been published around the
same time. In any case, the published date of Opus 3

indicates that Blasius was in the service of the Prince

rOughly 1780-82.

 

history, and his interest in the arts, especially music. He
received a doctorate in philOSOphy in Strasbourg, visited
Italy, and was named member of the Académie des Arcades in
Rome and other learned societies. From 1771-82 he was

an Official Of the city government of Strasbourg. After
resigning this post, he became colonel of the infantry
regiment of Anhalt and closely advised the Margrave of
Brandenburg. His Beitrfige zur Geschichte der Musik besonders
in Deutschland appeared in 1790 and discusses the state Of
music in the major cities Of Germany.

9See Levy, "The Quatuor Concertant in Paris," pp. 19,

399. concerning Op. 3: the printed parts of Op. 4 are
located in the Music Division of the Library of Congress.

10Ibid., p. 399. Levy estimates the date of the printed
work to have been around 1780-81, while Lesure, ed., Cata-
logue_de la musique, p. 53, lists ca. 1782. Certainly these
works date between 1779 and 1786, since Rohan became BishOp
Of Strasbourg in 1779 and lost his title of Grand Almoner
in 1786, due to his involvement in the Diamond Necklace
Affair. According to MQQ, s.v. "Blasius,” by Ulrich Rau,
which contains a comprehensive listing of Blasius's works,
a set of three string quartets published in Paris by Louis
is also labeled Op. 3. Whether these three quartets are ,
duplicates of our Six Quatuors Concertants published by Boflin
remains to be determined.

 

31

Blasius had acquired an.important patron in this Prince
who held the titles of Bishop Of Strasbourg, Grand Almoner,
and Cardinal, in addition to various minor posts.ll His
aristocratic family, the Rohans, whose power was second
only to that of the ruling Bourbons, owned chateaus at
Molsheim and Saverne, a h6tel in Paris, and a palace in
Strasbourg.

Baroness d'Oberkirch, who like the Prince was a social
butterfly who flitted to and from upper class soirées,
provides a description Of his sumptuous quarters in Saverne.

His Eminence had built and decorated a palace fit for
a sovereign, which he maintained on a regal, ruinously
extravagant scale--a staff, for example, of fourteia
maftres d'h6te1 and twenty-five footmen. Imagine!

Indeed, the Prince was probably equally extravagant in

 

llAs Grand Almoner of France, he was "literally dis-
burser of the King's alms, the national charity fund, [and]
had at his discretion the granting of all pensions and
donations and was also titular head of the French Church

hierarchy" (Frances Mossiker, The ueen's Necklace [New York:
Simon and Schuster, 1961], p. 71n.). Abbg Georgel, Mémoires

our servir a l'histoire des événements de la fin du dix-
huitigme siécle (Paris, n.p., 1817), n.p., quoted in
Mossiker, The Queen's Necklace, p. 71, adds that the Grand
Almoner was "head of episcopate and clergy in a joint charge
with the King, independent of all other Cabinet ministers,
disburser of endowments for colleges and hospitals, cele-
brant of Mass in the royal chapels on all holy days and
commander of the Order of the Holy Ghost.” His minor posts
included Prince of Hildesheim, abbot of Noumoutier and of St.
Waast, director general of the Sorbonne, and member of all
the academies of France. Mossiker, ihegueen's Necklace,

p. 73, estimates his annual income to have been greater than
1,200,000 francs (which she calculates to be approximately
$273,000).

12Henriette-Louise de Waldner-Freundstein, Baroness
d'Oberkirch, Mémoires de la baronne d'Oberkirch (Paris n.p.,
1853), n.pag., quoted in Mossiker, The QueenTsNeckiggg, p.95.

32
supporting a musical establishment suited for his quarters.
To have worked for a patron who had such important contacts
in the capital no doubt aided Blasius in his early years
in Paris.

Between 1786-89, Mathieu-Fredéric and Pierre appeared
as violinists in the Concert de la Loge Olympique series.
During these years they shared the stage with such tOp vio-
linists as Viotti, Mestrino, Lahoussaye, Gervais, Bertheaume,
Fodor, Jarnowich, and Guénin.13

Contemporary accounts describe the brothers's instru-
mental specialities, so one can expect that Mathieu-Frédéric
and Pierre were primarily violinists, while Ignace's expert-
ise was bassoon:

Herr Kononikus Meyer praises, by the way, both brothers
as equally strong violinists. While one finds the
other only a bassoonist in the already mentioned or-
chestra of the comic opera.
Choron and Fayo11e verify that Mathieu-Frédéric was a
”virtuoso of the violin, clarinet, flute, and bassoon,

N 15

all at the same time, while Pierre "plays, with

 

13Blaze, F.-H.-J., L'0 era-Italien de l 48 a 18 6 (Paris:
By the Author, 1856), p. 231; and F.4J. F tis, Curiosités
historigues de la musigue (Paris: Janet et Cotelle, 1330),
p- 333-

lL""Hr. Kononikus Meyer rflhmt fibrigens beide Brflder als
gleich starke Violinisten. Indessen findet man den andern
bloB als Fa ottisten in namlichen Orchester der kom. Oper
angefflhrt" Gerber, Neues Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon,
vol. 2 col. 427).

ls"Virtuose a la fois sur le violon, 1a clarinette, la
flute et le basson, . . . " (Choron and Fayolle, Dictionnaire
historique, 1:8#).

33

remarkable superiority, several instruments. He performs
concertos on the violin, clarinet, bassoon, and flute."16
Ignace is mentioned as a "good bassoonist, who has been
attached to the orchestra of the Theater Feydeau for a very
long time."17

During Mathieu-Frédéric's early years in Paris, he
wrote and arranged music for wind instruments--Harmonie-
mugik, Fétis speaks of his being well-known for "composi-
tions for wind instruments and notably for some 'suites
d'harmonie' which were a very great success."l8 By 1786
ten works, many of them for bassoon, had been engraved
that bore the Blasius name, according to Gerber.l9

On December 8, 1787, a ”Nouv. Simphonie" by Blasius

was performed.20 Similarly, other contemporary symphonies

 

l6”Joue, avec une supériorité remarquable, de plusieurs
instrumens [sic]. Il exécute 1e concerto sur 1e violon, 1a
clarinette, 1e basson et sur la flute” (Ibid., 2.45u).

17"Bon bassoniste, a fort longtem s été attaché a
1'orchestre du theatre Feydeau" (Ibid. .

18"Venu jeune a Paris, Blasius s' fit connaitre par
ses compositions pour les instruments vent, et notamment
par des suites d'harmonie qui eurent un trés-grand succés"
(Fétis, Biographie universelle, 1:038).

l9"Es sind zu Paris bis 1786, bis 10 Werke unter diesem
Namen gestochen worden, worunter sich viele Fagottsachen
befinden" (Gerber, Historisch-Bio ra hisches Lexikon der
Tonkunstler, 2 vols. ILeipzig: Johann Gottlob Immanuel

Breitk0pf, 1790-92], vol. 1 col. 171).

20Pierre, Histoire du Concert Spirituel, p. 337. Pierre
states that these journals announced the performance: Journal
de Paris, December 6 and 8, pp. 1467 and 1475; and Annonces,
affiches et avis divers (Affiches de Paris), December 6 and
o Pp° 33 2 and 335 0

 

34
heard at the Concert Spirituel were those of Haydn, Gossec,
Sterkel, Stamitz the younger, Dittersdorff, Rosetti,
Schuster, Richter, Vogel, Reichardt, Kozeluch, Lachnith,
Abel, Leduc, Capron, Rigel, Froment, Janson the elder,
Candeille, Ragué, Pleyel, Bertheaume, and Guénin.21
In 1788 a "M. Blasius" was listed by the Almanach

22 If this

d'Alsace as a violin teacher in Strasbourg.
indeed was Mathieu-Frédéric, then possibly he was active
in Strasbourg for a short time before returning to Paris.
For in the year 1788, records show him having several
positions in Paris: the Parisian Calendrier musical
universel of 1788-89 chronicles his activity as a violin
teacher and as first violin at the Theatre des Petits
Comediens de S.A.S. Monseigneur Le Comte de Beaujolois,
his address being rue Saint-Honoré prés la place du Palais
Royal.23 Also, this was the year Mathieu-Frédéric and
Pierre held engagements as second violinists at the
Opéra:

Blasius the older and younger, both hold positions in

the second violins of the Parisian Opera orchestra in
the year 1788.

 

2lIbid., p. 191.

22The Almanach d'Alsace of 1782-92 is quoted in
Vogeleis, Quellen und Bausteine, pp. 724-25.

23N.E. Framery, Calendrier musical universel suite de
l'almanach musical (Paris: n.p., 1788-89; reprint ed.,
Geneva: Minkoff Reprints, n.d.), 9:2501, 10:2690.

2L'"’Blasius der altere und jfingere, beide standen im
J 1788 im Orchester der Pariser groBen Oper bei der zweiten
Violon" (Gerber, Historisch-Bio ra hisches Lexikon, vol. 1
col. 171 .

35
Other sources state that Mathieu-Frédéric became a first
violinist at the Comédie-Italienne Orchestra in 1788.25
Consequently, these appointments imply that Mathieu-Frédéric
remained in Paris on a regular basis from 1788.

The few records existing for Pierre and Ignace suggest
that they too may have stayed in Paris from around the same
period.26 While active in Parisian music circles, the Blasius
brothers were part of the Alsatian colony or ”alsacienne
colonnel,” the term coined to identify the significant
number of Alsatian musicians who had emigrated to Paris
in the latter half of the eighteenth century. They made
permanent contributions to Parisian musical life, for
besides the three Blasiuses, the members included the
pianists Louis Adam, Johann Friedrich Edelmann, Charles
Frangois Dumoncheau, Franz Joseph Hérold, Nicolas Joseph
Hdllmandel, and Andre Eler: the hornist Jean Joseph Rodolphe;
the cellist and trombonist Jacques Christian Widerkehr;

- the harpist Philippe-Jacques Meyer: the flutist Karl

Weiss; the oboist Gustav Vogt; and the singer, Antoinette
Cécile Saint-Huberty. Among these, Adam, the three
Blasiuses, Eler, Rodolphe, and Vogt were later named teach-

27

are at the Paris Conservatory.

 

25MGG, s.v. "Blasius," by Ulrich Rau: and New Grove,
s.v. "Blasius, Matthieu-Frederic," by Deanne Arkus Klein.

26See above, p. 32.

27Vogeleis, Quellen und Bausteine, p. 695.

36
Mathieu-Frédéric's first comic Opera was performed

with success in 1788: La Paysanne Supposée, ou La Féte de

la Moisson premiered August 28 at the Comédie-Italienne.28

This comedie in three acts, with a libretto by Dubois, earn-
ed fair to enthusiastic reviews.
The most scathing appraisal came from Baron Grimm,

the Parisian critic noted for his blistering attacks, who

has been labeled "biased and unsound":29

As for the music, its greatest failing is that it

is almost never suited for the words, the characters,
nor for the situation of the characters; otherwise
it foretells a kind of talent. M. Blasius is young
enough to learn that music, like the other arts,

has some standards from which it is not permitted

to stray, and that, when one360es not observe them,
all illusions are destroyed.

Yet, the Journal de Paris presents a partially favorable
view.
The music was well done and announces a man who

knows his art very well; but it has some long sec-
tions, some redundance, and too little variety for

 

28W. 28 August 1788. p. 1039.
29Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed.,

s.v. "Grimm," by E. van der Straeten.

30"Quant a la musique, son plus grand tort est de ne
convenir presque jamais ni aux paroles, ni aux caractéres,
ni a la situation des personnages: elle annonce d'ailleurs
une sorte de talent. M. Blasius est assez jeune pour
apprendre que la musique, comme les autres arts, a des
convenances dont i1 n'est pas permis de s'écarter, et
que, lorsqu'on ne les observe pas, toute illusion se
trouve détruite" (Friedrich Melchior von Grimm, Corre-
spondanpe littéraire, philosophique, et critique, par
Grimm, Rayna1,gMeister, etc., revue sur les textes ori i-
naux, comprenant outre ce qui a Eté publié a diverses
epoques, les fragments supprimés au 1813 par la censure,
les parties inédites conserves Ella Bibliotheiue ducale
de Gotha et a l'Arsenal a Paris, ed. Maurice_Tourneux,

vol. 15 lParis: Garnier Fréres, 1881], p. 309).

37

the scene. It is presumed that §his composer could
fare better in a second attempt.

Finally, the Mercure de France's critique glows with
praise:

The music in it is excellent and the musician deserves
without a doubt great respect. His style is perhaps
above the tone suited for this type of work: but it
is strong, proud, and learned; it announces a com-
poser of very great merit, whose work is superior,
infinitely superior to that of many extremely
successful musicians. It might have been desired,
that in favor of the interest which his talent must
inspire one might have deigned to allow the work

a certain course of performances capable of making

it felt and tasted; however, if the peOple of the
audience were insensible to the merit that M. Blasius
made evident he can console himself with the approval
of the true connoisseurs. He must keep himself from
renouncing a career in which he is destined to sfitain
some beautiful successes and an honorable fame.

Les Spectacles de ParisI ou calendrier historigue

31"La Musique a paru bien faite, & annonce un homme
qui connoft fort bien son art: mais elle a des lon eurs,
de la redondance, & trop peu de variété pour la Sc ne.
Il est a présumer que ce Compositeur seroit plus heureux
dans un second essai” (Journal de Paris, 29 August 1788,
Number 2,42, p. 1014'3). '

32"La musique en est excellente, & que 1e Musicien
méritoit sans doute de grande égards. Son style est peut-
étre au-dessus du ton qui convenoit au genre de 1'Ouvrage:
mais il est fort, fier, & savant: i1 annonce un Composi-
teur d'un trés-grand mérite, dont 1e faire est trés-
supérieur, infiniment supérieur a celui de beaucoup de
Musiciens a grands succés. I1 efit été a désirer qu'en
faveur de 1'intérét que son talent doit inspirer, on efit
daigné laisser a 1'Ouvrage un certain cours de represent-
ations capables de la faire senter & gofiter; mais si 1e
Peule des spectateurs a été insensibles au mérite que M.
Blasius a fait paroitre, i1 peut s'en consoler avec les
suffrages des vrais Connoisseurs, & il doit bien se garder
de renoncer a une carriére dans laquelle il est fait pour
atteindre a de beaux succés & a une célébrite honorable"
(Mercure de France, 6 September 1788, p. 40).

 

38

of 1789-91 list an "L. and a C. Blasius” as members of the
second violin section in the Concert Spirituel orchestra.
The initials of the forenames are possibly misprints for
Ignace and Pierre, whose addresses are given as follows:

L. Blasius rue S.H. au trésor royal 1789-91

C. Blasius rue S. Honoré, en face de31'h8tel d'Angle-

terre 1789; rue aux Fers 1790-91.

One of the Blasius trio, probably Ignace, played bassoon
in the orchestra of the ThéAtre de Monsieur, an gpéra-
comigue company that debuted January 26, 1789 and rivaled
the Comédie-Italienne.

Mathieu-Frédéric's Opera in one act, L'Amour Hermite,
premiered January 31, 1789 at the Petits Comediens de S.A.S.
Monseigneur Le Comte de Beaujolois.3u Schilling reports that
the work was well-1iked.35 Also in the same year, Blasius
wrote the music for Prince Polastri, as revealed by the

catalog of the Archives du Théétre National de 1'Opéra.36

 

333es Spectacles de Paris ou calendrier histori ue &
chronologigue des theatres Paris: Duchesne, 17 9-91 , p. 4.

34Louis Péricaud, Theatre des Petits Comediens de S.A.S.
Monsei eur 1e Comte de:Beaujolais (Paris: E. Jorel, 1909),
p. 69. The premiere is announced in the Journal de Paris,

31 January 1789, p. 142, while later performances are noted
in these issues: February 3, 10, 17, and 27, pp. 154, 182,
214, and 262; and March 9 and 13, pp. 314 and 330.

3SSchilling, Encyclopadie, 1:665.

36Brigitte Labat-Poussin, ed., Archives du Theatre
National de l'Opéra (Paris: Archives Nationales, 1977), p. 4.
This is a relatively unknown work that is not listed in any
other sources that I have consulted. A catalog of the
archive holdings states that a letter of Duprat in 1802
mentions Prince Polastri, music by Blasius (1789).

39

(Apparently, this is a little-known work since no other
sources that I consulted list it).

At the Concert Spirituel, Blasius's Symphony Concer-
tant for two horns was performed by Duvernoy and Buch on

December 8, 1789 and again on April 1, 1790.37
Reputation_§stabli§hed in Pari§,gl790-l8l6

On April 19, 1790, Blasius succeeded Lahoussaye as
music director and first violin of the Comédie-Italienne,
which was later named the Opera-Comique.l In this post, he
came into contact with the leading Opera-comigue composers
of the day--Méhul, Kreutzer, Grétry, Dalayrac, and Boieldieu,
among others. Needless to say, this was a prominent posi-
tion that gave Blasius instant recognition in Parisian
music circles. He served in this post until retiring in
1816 and left a distinguished reputation as a conductor.

During the years 1791-94, Blasius's address was rue

de Grétry, N. 3.2

 

37Pierre, Histoire du Concert Spirituel, p. 343.
Pierre lists the sources that announced the December 8, 1789
performance: Journal de Paris, December 7. p. 1600; and

Annonces affiches et avis divers (Affiches de Paris),
December 7 and 8. PP- 3483 and 3490: while the April 1, 1790
concert received a notice that same day in the Annonces,
affiches et avis divers (Affiches de Paris).

 

1Arthur Pougin, LLOpéra-Comi ue endant la revolution
de 1788 a 1804 d'a res des documents inedits, ed. Albert
Savine, 2nd ed. (Paris: Nouvelle Librairie Parisienne, 1891),
p. 35. On February 11, 1793, the Comédie-Italienne (also
known as the Theatre de la Rue Favart) took on the new name

Theatre de 1'Opéra Comique National.

2Les Spectacles de Paris, 1791-94, pp. 105. 118. 131:
and 163.

40

On August 25, 1792, Les Trois Sultans, an.gp§ra-
comigue in two acts with new music by Blasius, premiered
at the Opera-Comique.3

Blasius‘s next work in this genre received its first
performance on February 23, 1793, at the Opera-Comique. It
was Le Pelletier de Saint-Fargeau,,ou Le:Premier Martyr
de la Républigue Frangaise, a historical work in two acts
with a libretto by D'Antilly.’+ The plot reenacted the death
of the first martyr of the French Revolution, Le Pelletier
de Saint-Fargeau, and overall, the work was received favor-
ably. Schilling reports that it was well-likeds while
Gerber adds that Parisians judged it "splendid and learned.”6
Nonetheless, Grimm's assessment is voiced in his usual ‘
acerbic tone:

The music adds again to the disgust which this drama,

as emphatically7written as it is awkwardly conceived,
makes one feel.

 

3Umberto Manferrari, Dizionario universalegelle opera
melodrammatiche, 3 vols. (Florence: Sansoni Antiquariato,

1954), p. 134.

“Journal de Paris, 23 February 1793; other perform-
ances announced in the February 24, 25, 26, 28, and March 1
lssues.

SSchilling, Encyclopadig, 1:665.

6Gerber, Neues Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon,
vol. 2 col. 427.

 

7”La musique ajoute encore au dégofit que fait éprouver
ce drame aussi emphatiquement écrit que maladroitement congu"
(Grimm, Correspondance littéraire,_philosophique, et cri-
tique 9 163194-95) o

41

Though Les Trois Sultans and Le Pelletier de Saint-
Fargeau had premiered less than six months apart, the con-
trast between them is noteworthy: one, a light comedy,
the other, a political statement embodied in a dramatic
panegyric. They represent the change that had swept into
every aspect of Parisian society, the source of this change
being the French Revolution. It had inspired a genre of
opéra-comigues that proclaimed.the symbols of the Revolution
and glorified famous battles and patriots. Le Pelletier de
Saint-Fargeau was one of many that garnered support for the
republican cause: Kreutzer, Le Siége de Lille (1792); Trial
the younger, Le Réveil du Peuple (1793): DeshayeS. L9.
Mariage Patriotigue (1793): Gretry, La Rosiére Républicaine
(1793); Pay, L'Intérieur d'un Menage Républicain (1794);
Champein, Les Epreuves du Répu’blicain (1794): and Lemoyne,
Les Vrais Sans-Culotteg (1794), among others.8

This Revolutionary genre had been dictated by the
radical political events of the time. Throughout the vicis-
situdes of the Revolution--from the fall of the Bastille on
July 14, 1789 to the fall of Robespierre on July 27, 1794—-
anarchy prevailed. From September 21, 1792, when royalty
was abolished, through January 21, 1793, the death of
Louis XVI, and until Robespierre's arrest, terror reigned.
An eyewitness, Dr. John Moore, an English physician who

visited Paris from August to December 1792, recreates the

 

8See Gustave Chouquet, Histoire de la musique drama-

ti ue en France (Paris: Didot FrEres, Fil et Cie, 1873),
p. 196. .

42

moment:

Terror has acted a principal part since the beginning
of the revolution--Terror first produced the emigra-
tions, to which a great prOportion of the miseries
which France has suffered are owing--Terror produced
that shameful passiveness in the inhabitants of

Paris and Versailles during the massacres--Terror
prevented sympathy from appearing in the faces of
many who felt it in their hearts for the unfortunate
monarch, during this process, and Tergor at last
pronounced the sentence of his death.

The government's extreme methods of repression, signified
by the guillotine, spurred radical change in all segments
of society.

Like all the arts, music became a utilitarian tool.
Hauser, in The Social Histor of Art, speaks of art being
consciously "exploited" in the eighteenth century to
achieve the goals of the Revolution.

It is only with the Revolution that art becomes a
confession of political faith, and it is now empha-
sized for the first time that it has to be no "mere
ornament on the sgcial structure," but "a part of
its foundations." It is now declared that art must
not be an idle pastime, a mere tickling of the nerves,
a privilege of the rich and the leisured, but that
it must teach and improve, spur on to action and

set an example. It must be pure, true, inspired

and inspiring, contribute to the happiness of the
general public and become the possession of the
whole nation. . . . The real aim of the Revolution
was, incidentally, not the participation in the
enjoyment of art of the classes excluded from the
privileges of culture, but the alteration of society,
the deepening of the feeling of community and the
arousing of7an awareness of the achievements of the
Revolution. From now on the cultivation of art
constituted an instrument of government and enjoyed
the attention given only to important affairs of
state. As long as the Republic was in danger and

 

9John Moore, A Journal during a Residence in France,
2 vols. (Dublin: By the Author, 1793), 2:314.

43
fighting for its very existence, the whole nation
was called upon to serve it with all its combined
strength. In an address given to the Convention by
David, we find these words: ”Each one of us is

responsible to the natgonlSOr the talents he has
received from nature."

DFRANCOIS BENOIT: LgArt franc. ggus la Révol.
et l'Empire, 1897, p. 3.

71bid., pp. 4-5.
8JULES DAVID: Le Perntre David, 1880, p. 117.
Considering an individual's contributions, one might
think those of the musician to be of little consequence.
0n the contrary, music was considered an important means
for furthering the Revolution. The sages of the movement
looked to ancient civilizations for sustenance--Greece
and especially Rome. Revolutionary Paris was formed from
the roots of ancient Rome, and like Rome, she was given a
republican form of government and a pagan religion. Even
the symbols of the Revolution, the red cap of liberty and
the fasces, or bundle of sticks and ax bound together, were
borrowed from Rome, the former having been the Phrygian cap
worn by Roman liberated slaves.ll
Since the leaders of the Revolution had been weaned
on the writings of Greek and Roman philos0phers and knew

the affective powers of music as espoused in the Greek

doctrine of ethos, they recognized the art's potential as

 

loArnold Hauser, The Social History of Arr, trans.
Stanley Godman in collaboration with the author, 4 vols.
(New York: Vintage Books, n.d.), 3:147-48.

llWilliam Fleming, Arts & Ideas (New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, 1974 , p. 296.

44

a medium for propaganda. Through theater entertainment,
common street songs or ballads, and impressive military
music written to accompany the grandiose festivals of the
Revolution, music was an effective force in winning the
hearts and minds of the peOple. Clarifying music's role
is Framery's Avis auxpoetes lyrigues, ou de la nécessite
du rythme et de la césure dans les hymnes ou odes destinées
a la musique of approximately 1795:
Music is at last returned to its first purpose, that
of celebrating vivid deeds, of being the principal
embellishment of our feasts, to give them a more
solemn and august character: uniting citizens
through religiously patriotic songs: exciting in
them sweet and virtuous passions through the charms
of the melody, and giving birth in their soulizto
that touching harmony which reigns in accord.

Thus, Apollo's art had been fashioned into an agency
of the government, one which enticed the human spirit to
republican sentiments. The turnabout in the opéra-comigue
repertoire is only one example of how music in general, and

theater performances in particular, were adapted to carry

the message of the Revolution. As Moore reports on

 

12”La musique est donc enfin rendue a son institution
premiere, celle de célébrer les actions éclatantes, de
faire 1e principal ornement de nos fetes, de leur donner un
caractere plus auguste et plus solennel: d' attacher les
citoyens les uns aux autres par des chants religieusement
patriotiques; d' exciter en eux des passions douces et
vertueuses gm les charmes de la melodie, et de faire naitre
dans leurs es cette harmonie touchante qui regne dans les
accords; (N. Framery, Avis aux7ppetes lyriques, ou de la
necess1 e du rythme et de la cesure dans les hymnes ou odes
destinees 5 la musi ueEParis: Imprimerie de la Republique,
An £g3§l795)l, n.p., quoted in La Laurencie, Le Gout musical,
p.

45

August 16, 1792,

And

and

The influence of theatrical entertainments on the
public mind is too powerful to be neglected on the
present occasion: the music, the pantomine, and
the new pieces brought forth, all are calculated to
inspire sentimentslgnd passions favourable to the
second Revolution.

on November 18, 1792, he observes,

There are eight or ten theatres for dramatic enter-
tainments of one kind or other at present in Paris:
. . . The pieces represented are generally new, and
adapted to the spirit of the times, and to fortify
the minds of the audience in sentiments favourable
to the Revolution. Kings and Princes are repre-
sented as rapacious, voluptuous, and tyrannical:
Nobility as frivolous and unfeeling, fawning to the
sovereign, and insolent to their fellow subjects:
Priests as hypocritical, artful, and wicked. To
inspire a hatred to monarchical government, and

a love of republicanism, is one great object of
almost every new piece--even in those comic pieces
whose plots turn on an amorous intrigue, or some
object equally remote from politics or forms Of
government, sentiments of the same tendency occur,
and however awkwardly introduced they are sure of
being received with applause. A strict adherence-
to the unities of time and place, and other critical
rules, for which the French theatre was {armerly
distinguished is now little attended to.

Besides Operas, p1ays,and musical comedies, songs

hymns also spread the Revolution's message. ”A writer

in one of the Journals observes," wrote Moore, "that small

springs are capable of moving great machines, and that popu-

lar

ballads have had considerable influence in the revolu-

tions of nations.”15 Indeed, these "small springs" were

 

13Moore, A Journalrguring a Residence, 1:65.

l”Ibid., 2:235.

l51bid., 2:237.

46

the catalyst for the Revolution. Some would argue that
books and pamphlets effectively spread the political views
of the Revolution. But neither could reach the illiterate
masses as potently as songs.l6 Therein lies the difference.
Rogers, in The Spirit of Revolution in 1282, calls these
simple tunes the "essence of the spirit of the French
Revolution" and adds,

almost every event of any importance throughout the

Revolution occasioned the writing Of songs, . . .

nearly every phase of reform and every aspect of

Revolutionary faith found expression either in them

or in the more elaborate hymns which were composed

as part of the Revolutionary cults. Here . . . was

a distillation of what peOple felt in the course

of great social and political changes.
Certainly, the broad appeal of the Revolutionary song is
demonstrated by the many that have survived. Pierre, in
Lps Hymnes et chansons de la revolution, has identified
some three thousand political songs written between 1789-

18

1800. By November 24, 1793, the Committee of Public

Safety had decreed that the-"Marseillaise" was to be played
at all theatrical performances, demonstrating Rogers's view
that by 1793 the National Convention was fully aware of the
19

importance of songs as prOpaganda.

 

16Cornwell B. Rogers, The Spirit of Revolution in lg82
l9 9 .

(Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,
p. 7.

l71bid., p. 5.

18See Constant Pierre, Les Hymnes et chansons:ge 1a
revolutlon, aperpupgénéral et catalogue avec noticis
historlgues, analytiques et bibliographigues (Paris: Impri-
merie Nationale, 1904).

19Rogers, The Spirit of Revolution, pp. 17, 21.

47

In addition to songs and hymns, military music was
another means by which music aided the Revolution. It is
in this way that Mathieu-Frédéric Blasius probably made his
biggest contribution to the Revolutionary cause, because
from 1793-95 he was a member of the music corps of the
National Guard.20

This military band had been organized in 1789 with
forty-five members by Bernard Sarrette, a captain in the
National Guard, or army. When it was later expanded to
seventy members in 1790, it became the largest band ever

21 With its directors Gossec

in existence up to this time.
and Catel, it played an important role in the Outdoor festi-
vals of the Revolution.

Although the band was broken up in 1792, Sarrette
reorganized it in the same year and formed the Ecole
Gratuite de Musique de la Garde Nationale Parisienne on
June 9, 1792. The members of the National Guard Band taught
in this free school, whose purpose was to train musicians
for the military bands. Sixty battalions of the National
Guard presented a total Of one hundred twenty students for

entrance into this music school: the pupils aged 18-20 had

already received previous training in music, while those

 

20Constant Pierre, Le Conservatoire national de musique
et de declamation, documents historiques et administratifs
(Paris: Imprimerie National, 1900), pp. 92, 12 .

21Edwin F. Goldman, The Wind Band: Its Literature and
Technique (Boston: Allyn & LBacon, 1961), pp. 25- 26.

48

aged 10-16 had not.22

On November 8, 1793, the Convention renamed the school
the Institut National de Musique. The Institute consisted
of 115 artists of the National Guard Band who performed in
the fétes and instructed the six hundred students that had
enrolled. The members of the band were entrusted with
several responsibilities as listed in the November 22, 1793
Journal de Paris national: teaching, composing, and perform-
ing. They trained musicians for the army, thus providing
regimental bands for the armed forces; the composers wrote
military music for the fetes; and finally, the entire school,
both teachers and students, formed the ensembles that per-
formed in the fétes.23 Since the government considered
these duties important, it subsidized the school.

All three Blasius brothers were members of the
National Guard Band. Ignace joined in October 1793 when
he was nominated to the Ecole Gratuite as professor of the

24 Then on November 21, Frederic and Pierre

first class.
were among thirteen artists added.25 The Blasiuses remained
in the Institute through 1795 and were among the original

group of professors who taught at the newly-formed

 

22M. Lassabathie, Histoire du Conservatoire imperial
de musique et de déclamation (Paris: Michel Levy Freres,
l 0,1).19.
23Journal de Paris National, 22 November 1793, p. 1311.
24

Pierre, Le Conservatoire national, p. 85.

251bid., p. 92.

49
Conservatory, which in two years time had superseded the

26 For in 1795, the Institute was incorporated

Institute.
with Gossec's Ecole Royale de Chant et de Déclamation under
government decree to form the Conservatoire National de
Musique et de Déclamation on August 3, 1795. Again, the
declared purpose of the Conservatory was to train musicians
for the army as a means to carry out the fetes, and the
artists of the Conservatory also performed in these public
assemblies.

At the newly-founded Conservatory, Pierre and Frédéric
were professors of the first class for violin, and Ignace
was a professor of the second class for bassoon:27 thus,
they had secure posts that carried prestige. While COpies
of documents reproduced in Pierre's Le Conservatoire

national de musique et de déclamationI documents historigues

et administratifs do not mention Frédéric as teaching winds,

28

recent sources have listed him as professor of winds. It

does seem possible that Frédéric taught clarinet besides

 

26Ibid., p. 126.

271bid., p. 230.

28Besides Pierre, Lassabathie, Histoire du Conservatoire,
p. 240; and Albert Lavignac and Lionel de La Laurencie, ed..,
Enc clo édie de la musi ue et dictionnaire du Conservatoire,
Part 2: Techni ue--Esthetique--P8dagogie (Paris: Librairie
Delagrave, 1927), 3:1837; list Blasius as a violin professor.
Some recent sources recording him as professor of wind instru-
ments are Pamela Weston, More Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past
(London: Halstan & Co., 1977), p. 52, Marc Honegger,
Dictionnaire de la musique: les hommes et leur oeuvres, 2
vols. (Paris: Bordas, 1970), 1:116; Riemann, Riemann Musik
L xikon: Personenteil, 12th ed., 3 vols. (Mainz: B. Schott's
SUhne, 1959), 1:174: and Grove's Dictionary Of Music and Musi-
cians, 5th ed., s.v. "Blasius," by Alfred Loewenberg.

50
violin because his clarinet treatise, Nouvelle méthode de
clarinette et raisonnement des instruments, is dedicated
to the students at the Conservatory.

Conservatory members, Blasius among them, composed
military music for the fétes--those pageants of music, drama,
and spectacle designed to sweep up the ordinary citizen in
patriotic fervor. Usually, these large public assemblies
consisting of fiery speeches and symbolic ceremonies were
held outdoors. Participating in the festivities were
hundreds Of musicians, with the National Guard Band leading
the activities. Since professors of the Institute, and
later the Conservatory, taught the songs to the citizens,
the cOmmon people were encouraged to sing along at the
performances, making the spectators, in effect, performers.

Méhul, Cherubini, Kreutzer, Lesueur, Catel, Devienne,
L. and H. Jadin, Gossec, Eler, and Soler are among the
members of the Institute and the Conservatory who along
with Blasius wrote vocal and instrumental music for use in
the fetes.29 His Overture for winds was issued October-
November 1794 by the Magasin de Musique, an organization
established and subsidized by the government. It published
and distributed compositions of the members of the Institute

30

and Conservatory for use in the fétes.

 

29See Constant Pierre, Musique des fetes et ceremonies

de la revolution fran aise (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale,
1399)
30
Constant Pierre, Le Ma asin de musi ue a l' usa e des
fetes nationales et du conservatoire (Paris: Fischbacher,

1895), p. 127.

51

Blasius's Overture, scored for pairs of flutes, oboes,
clarinets, trumpets, horns, bassoons, three trombones, and
serpent, is one of his several works for wind band or
harmonie music.31 From approximately 1750-1830, the French
used the term "harmonie" to refer to their wind bands.32
According to Farmer's Militarprusic, the harmonie music
group was supposedly established by Frederick the Great for
pairs of oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons. It was this
instrumentation that the French military bands were modeled
on, starting first from the size of a sextet during the
Revolution and growing as the instrumentation was doubled.33
Many of the works during the Revolution were scored for
nine performers: pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons,
horns, and one flute.3u By 1795, the Conservatory's plan
of the military band was 1 flute, 6 clarinets, 3 bassoons,

l trumpet, 2 horns, l serpent, bass drum, and cymbals.

Farmer gives an example of how the instrumentation was

 

31See above p. 33. Pierre, Les Hyrpes et chansons,
854, lists Blasius's Overture while Pierre, Musique des

p.
étes, p. 525, contains a piano reduction of it.

32New Grove, s.v. "Harmoniemusik," by Roger Hellyer.

33He G. Farmer, Military Music (New York: Chanticleer
Press, 1950 , pp. 27, 37. Farmer says that the need to
balance the percussion was one reason for the added instru-
mentation.

34

Georges Kastner, Manuel énéral de musi ue militaire
a l'usa e des armées fran aises (Paris: Didot Freres, 1848),
p. 169.

52
doubled in the massed bands of the fétes:

On one Occasion there were 10 flutes, 30 clarinets,
18 bassoons, 4 trumpets, 2 tubae curvae, 2 buccins,
12 horns, 3 trombones, 8 serpents, with 10 side-,
bass- and kettledrummers, cymbalists and triangle
heaters. Indeed, for spectacular effects, three
hundred drummers sguld be mustered for a prodigious
roll when needed.

Along with writing wind music for the Revolution

at this time, Blasius also took part in writing an Opéra-
comigue with a patriotic theme. Les Congrés des Rois, a
work in three acts, premiered at the Opera-Comique on
February 26, 1794.36 It was unusual because twelve well-
known composers collaborated on the score--Blasius,
Kreutzer, Grétry, Méhul, Dalayrac, Deshayes, Solié, Devienne,
Berton, Jadin, Trial the younger, and Cherubini--while the
librettist, De Maillot, was an unknown. The complicated
plot can be quickly summarized: ..

The play showed the kings of EurOpe meeting at the

court of Russia where Cagliostro, republican in

sympathy, diverts them with a shadow play depict-

ing the ultimate triumph of France. The kings scoff

at this display and are discussing the partition

of France among themselves when cannons are heard

and triumphant sans-culottes arrive to put them

to flight. The tree of liberty is planted, symbols

of royaltthurned, and patriotic songs and dances

performed.

Grétry, in Réflexions d'un solitaire, narrates the

events surrounding the work, which illustrate how closely

 

3SFarmer, Military Music, p. 39.

36Arthur Pougin, LLOpéra-Comique pendant la revolution
de 1788 a 1804 aprés des documents inedits, ed. Albert
Savigg, 2nd ed. (Paris: Nouvelle Librairie Parisienne, 1891),
p. .

37Marvin Carlson, The Theatre of the French Revolution
(Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1966), p. 185.

53
politics and music were intertwined during the Revolution.

Another revolutionary drama . . . was set to music
in two days by all the composers in Paris. The
terrible committee of Public Safety commanded the
performers; all the numbers intended for singing
were put into one red cap, the names of the com-
posers into another, then the scrutineers decided
whic§8piece each one was to compose during the
day.

Blasius composed the overture, which created a sensation
at the premiere.

An extraordinary effect was produced at the first
performance. The overture had been assigned to
Blasius, first violin of the Opera and a good
composer. My air, "0 Richard, 8 mon rdi," as is
well known, was forbidden during the Revolution,
it became a death song for him who dared to sing
it. A person wrung the neck of an innocent par-
rot who had sadly sung it at his shOp in the rue
Saint-Honoré. I have heard this phrase at a
meeting of the national Convention: "You say,
colleague, that this man is not an aristocrat
and he was singing the infamous air '0 Richard,
8 mon roi'” Well! It was this song that began
the overture of Blasius. A shudder went through
the audience who rose with one accord on hearing
these unexpected strains: the orchestra stepped,
there was an alarming silence, until the music
continued with the refrain of the Marseillaise,

38Mary Hargrave, The Earlier French Musicians 16 2-
1834) (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1917),
p. 142. The original quotation follows: "Un autre drame
révolutionnaire . . . fut mis en musique en deux jours
par tous les compositeurs de Paris. Le redoutable Comité
de salut public en donna l'ordre aux Comediens: on
numérota tous les morceaux destinés au chant; ils furent
mis dans le bonnet rouge, et les noms des compositeurs
dans un second bonnet: alors 1e scrutin décida du morceau
que chacun devoit faire dans la journée" (Andre-Ernest-
Modeste Grétry, Réflexions d'un solitaire, 4 vols.
[Brussels: G. Van Oest & Cie, 1919-22: reprint ed., New
York: AMS Press, 1978], 2:113.

 

54

"Qu'un sang impur arrose nos sillons.” Then came

a burst of applause as the composer's intention

was revealed.
Although the music was warmly received, the plot was weak
and lacked purpose. Due to the libretto's aristocratic
tendencies and failure to portray the patriot Marat with
reverence, the Commune officially banned the work after its
second performance.u0

, Besides Blasius's conducting duties at the Opera-
Comique, he also directed the orchestra of the Theatre du
Lycée. During ”Year III” of the Revolutionary calendar,
corresponding to our September 22, 1794 to September 21,

1795, "Blasius the younger” held this post.41

 

39Ibid. "Une chose fit un effet extraordinaire a la
premiere représentation. L'ouverture étoit échue a Blasius,
premier violon du théétre et bon compositeur. On sait que
l'air '0 Richard, 8 mon rOi' (de ma composition) a été pro-
scrit pendant 1a Revolution: cet air étoit un chant de mort
pour celui qui l'osoit entonner. On arracha la téte a un
innocent perroquet qui 1e chantoit tristement sur sa
boutique dans la rue Saint-Honoré. J'ai entendu cette
phrase a une séance de la Convention nationale: 'Tu dis,
collégue, que cet homme n'est pas aristocrate et on lui
a entendu chanter l'air infame ”0 Richard, 8 mon roi!"'
Eh bien: c'est par cet air que commengoit l'ouverture de
Blasius. L'assemblée frémit et se leve spontanément a
ces accens réprouvés, 1'orchestre s'arréte apres ce début,
1e silence est effrayant, --et 1'orchestre continue par
le refrain de la Marseillaise: 'Qu'un sang impur arrose
nos sillons.’ Alors, la salle hurle ses applaudissemens”
(Grétry,oRéf1exions, 2:113). The air, "0 Richard, 0 mon
roi,” is from Gretry's Richard Coeur-de-Lion, an Opéra-
comigue banned during the Revolution for its royalist
sentiments.

qurthur Pougin, Méhul: sa vie son énie son
caractere (Paris: Fischbacher, 1889). P. 9%, citing Journal

de Paris, n.d.

lAnnuairedu lycée_ges arts pour l'an III (n.p., n.d.),
pp. 103:4: as cited by La Laurencie, IgEEole frangarse de
violon de Lully a Viotti, 3 vols. (Paris: Delagrave, 1922-24),
2:297n7. _

. 55

Sometime between 1796 and 1800, Blasius's Nouvelle
méthode de clarinette et raisonnement des instruments was
published in Paris. Because this tutor explains the ele-
ments of music, contains exercises for the novice, and is
dedicated to the students of the Conservatory, it seems
likely that Blasius may have instructed some beginning
clarinet students.

Although some sources also list Blasius as having
written a Méthode ie clarinette published by Michel c. 1795,
confusion exists since other sources deny the existence of

such a work.42

 

queston, More Clarinet Virtuosi, p. 53, lists Méthode
de clarinette published c. 1795 by Michel, and also printed
by Sieber. But William Menkin, "Frédéric Blasius: Nouvelle
Méthode de Clarinette et Rgisonnement des Instruments. A
Complete Translation and Analysis with an Historical and Bio-
graphical Background of the Composer and His Compositions
for the Clarinet” (D.M.A. dissertation, Stanford University,
1980), p. 14, claims that Blasius only wrote the Nouvelle
méthode, published c. 1796 by Porthaux in Paris. Concerning
the Nouvelle méthggg, statements vary. Thomas E. warner, ed.,
An Annotated Bibliography of Woodwind Instruction BooksI 1600-
1 30, Detr01t Studies in Music Bibliography, no. 11 Detro t:
Information Coordinators, 1967), p. 52, dates the work ca.
1800, and then cites Pietro Lichtenthal, Dizionario e biblio-
grafia della musica, 4 vols. (Milan: Fontana, 1826), 4:178,
who records the tutor as being published in 1796 by Michel
in Paris. Warner also quotes Anton Meysel, Handbuch der
musikaiischen Litteratur Oder ailgemeipe systematisch -
ordnetes Verzeichpiss_ger bis zum Ende des Jahres 1815 ge-
gruckten Musikalien, auch musikalischen Schriften‘upd Abbild-
un en mit Anzei e der Verle er und Preise, 12 vols. (Leipzig:
Meysel, 1817), p. 215, who cites an edition published before

1815 by Sieber in Paris.

56
Blasius also authored a bassoon method according to
Becker's Systematisch-chronologipghe Darstellupg der mugi-
kaiischen Literatur and the catalog of Auguste Le Duc
c. 1807. Frédéric Blasius wrote Méthode_ge basson, which
was printed in Paris by Leduc around 1800.1“3
The 1797 edition of Grétry's MémoiresI ou essais sur

la musique mentions a treatise written by Blasius, leading
one to wonder if Grétry is referring to the already docu-
mented clarinet and bassoon treatises or to another work
that lies yet undiscovered:

Concerning the differences which exist between instru-

ments with and.without reeds, see the treatise entitled,

De 1'Harmonie_pniverse1ip by father Mersenne, book one,

page 17. prOposition XVI: see also a pamphlet by

F. Blasius, first violin of the Comédie-Italienne,

a well-educgged man who is lacking neither knowledge

nor genius.
Because Blasius's ”pamphlet” is mentioned along with '
Mersenne's comprehensive work covering the foundation of

acoustics, one wonders if Blasius wrote a similarly detailed

study covering wind and string instruments.

 

“BBecker, Systematisch-chronologische Darstellung, p.
355: and Auguste Le Duc, ed., Catalogue des ouvrages gui

composentfiia bibiiothéque de l'abqpnement de lectpre musicale
aTAugpste Le Duc & Cie (Paris: Le Duc, ca. 1807), p. ,
cited by Warner, ed., An Annotated_Bibliograpry, p. 52.
Warner says that this bassoon method has not yet been located.

“u"Quant a la difference qui existe entre les instrumens
[sic] a anche ou sans anche, voyez 1e Traité intitulé, Qp
1'Harmonieuniverselle, par le pére Mersenne, livre premier,
page 17, proposition XVI: voyez aussi une brochure de F.
Blasius, premier violon a la Comédie italienne, homme fort
instruit, auquel i1 ne manque ni science, ni génie (Andre-
Ernest-Modeste Grétry, Mémoires, ou essais sur la musi ue,

3 vgégs [Paris: Imprimerie de la république, An V (1797)],
p. .

 

57

In the Year X, September 23, 1801 to September 22,
1802, Napoleon reorganized the Conservatory and reduced the
number of personnel. Pierre's Le Conservatoire national de
mppique et déclamation, documents historiques et admini-
stratifs reproduces a document showing that Pierre and Ignace
Blasius were discharged in the month Fructidor of Year X,
August to September 1802, while Frédéric resigned prior to
that time. Confusion exists over the exact date of
Frédéric's departure from the Conservatory, with sources
listing 1801 or 1802.u5

The Almanach des Spectacles of 1801 records Blasius's

address as rue St. Mars.“6

From about 1799-1804, Blasius directed the Consular
Guards Band (Garde Consulaire), being assisted by Michel
Gebauer. Its instrumentation consisted of

12 C clarinets (Bb were substituted in 1814)
F SOpranino clarinets
F piccolos

oboes

bassoons

horns

trumpets

trombones

serpents

bass drum

tenor drum

2 pairs of cymbals 47

l Jingling Johnnie.

NNNF-F‘«{:NN

 

usPierre, Le Conservatoire national, p. 159. Lavignac
and La Laurencie, Enc clo édie de la musi ue, Part 2, 3:1837,
lists Frédéric's departure as 1801.

. “6Almanach des s ectacles de Paris ou calendrier
hisfggique et chronologique des mm 1801),
p. O

 

47Kastner, Manuel général, p. 170: Julien Tiersot, Les
Fétes et les chants de la revolution frangaise (Paris:

58
Napoleon had limited the number Of fetes celebrated, but
made displays showier by stressing military parades and
reviews. No doubt the Consular Guard Band played an impor-
tant role in these ceremonies.

During 1804, Emperor Napoleon the lst was crowned,
and apparently the Grenadier Guard Of Napoleon the lst
(Grenadiers de la Garde de Napoleon Ier) was then formed.
M. Blasius directed this ensemble and also played clarinet,

as shown from the list of instrumentalists:

H

Nttf-‘NI-J-F'N-F'NN

clarinets, not counting the director
oboes

horns

trumpets
bassoons

piccolo

flutes in F
serpents
trombones

basses

triangle

cymbals

Jingling Johnnie
tenor drumua
bass drum.

Later, M. Gebauer the elder succeeded Blasius in this

position.

 

Hachette et Cie, 1908), pp. 241-42: Vogeleis, Quellen und

Bausteine. p- 698: and Gerber. Naus§_fii§12r1sshrflisgranh:
isches Lexikon, vol. 2 col. 426.
48

Jean Andries, Précis de l'histoire de la musique,
. m Il—f ‘—
depuls les temps les plus recules, su1v1 de notices sur un

rand nombre d'écrivains didacti ues et théoriciens de l'art
musical (Gand: de Busscher Freres, 1882), p. l54n. Schilling,
Encyclopadie, 1:665, calls Blasius music director of the

Guard in Napoleon's time, so he is probably referring to the
Grenadier Guard of Napoleon the lst.

59
Considering that Blasius was conductor of the Opera-
Comique and of military bands under Napoleon at a time when
parades and military displays were emphasized, these activ-
ities no doubt brought him fame. Demonstrating his popu-
larity is a letter sent from an irate concert-goer to the

editor of Correspondance des professeurs et amateurs de

musique.
Paris, July 12, 1804

To the editors or:ihe Correspondapce_ge musigue

SIRS.

There was, on Wednesday 22 Messidor, at the
Theater Favart, a concert for the benefit of an
artist: I imagine that it is the one that you
announced in your last issue that should be
given for the benefit of M. Lahoussaie, whom
you have justly praised. A pompous notice
announced that the orchestra would be directed
by M. Blasius, and that Mlle. Pelet would sing
an Italian scene and air of Didon: but neither
M. Blasius nor Mlle. Pelet appeared: is it lack
or regard for the public and for an esteemed
comrade, or is the notice a lie, that is what
I don't know: it is true in any case that these
types of mishaps happen only for benefit concerts,
and this is certainly not a way to make them
popular.

I salute you,

One ofpyour subscribersn9

 

“9Correspondance des_professeurs et amateurgpde
musi ue, 18July 1804, col.8457:
"MESSIEURS, ,

11 y a eu, mercredi 22 messidor, au theatre Favart,
un concert au bénéfice d'un artiste: je suppose que c'est
celui que vous avez annoncé dans un de vos derniers
numéros devoir étre donné au bénéfice de M. Lahoussaie,
dont vous avez fair un juste éloge. Une affice pompeuse
annongoit que 1'orchestre seroit dirigé par M. Blasius,
et que Mlle. Pelet y chanteroit une scéne italienne
et un air de Didon: mais ni M. Blasius ni Mlle. Pelet,
n'ont paru: est-ce manque d'égards pour le public at

60

The November 10, 1804 issue of the same journal
announces that M.F. Blasius conducted the overture on
November 18 at the Concerts de la rue de Grenell-Saint-
Honoré.5O If this notice is to be trusted, and it probably
can be since the editorial staff knew that they were under
the watchful eye of the anonymous letter writer, it estab-
lishes that Blasius appeared at well-known subscription
series. Evidently he supplemented his regular conducting
duties with these guest appearances.

By this time, he had achieved some recognition as a
composer. In 1803, several of the melodramas that he had
scored played at the small theaters on the Boulevard.51
Then on May 18, 1806, Blasius's Concertant for two horns
was performed at the Conservatory on a program which
included the works of Haydn, Cherubini, Viotti, Gossec,
Carat, and Rode.52 Later in 1808, a clarinet concerto
by Blasius was executed by twelve-year-Old Jean Pierre

53

Massaert at the Société d'Emulation in Liége, Belgium.

 

pour un camarade estimable, ou l'affiche est-elle mensongére,
c'est ce que j'ignore: toujours est-i1 vrai ue ces sortes
d'accidens n'arrivent qu'aux concerts de bénefice, et ce
n'est point un moyen de les mettre en faveur.

Je vous salue,

Un de vos abonnés."
SOC

orres ondance des rofesseurs et amateurs de musigue,
10 November 1804, col. 728.

51Fétis, Biographie universelle, Supplement et complement
(1878) : 1399'

52

 

Pierre, Le Conservatoire national, p. 483.

53Weston, More Clarinet Virtuosi, pp. 170, 337.

61

But even though his works were performed, he was still
regarded primarily as a conductor. Babault's Annales drama-
tiques, ou dictionnaire général des theatres of 1808 gives
us a first-hand account:

He is regarded as a second-class violinist: but he

excels above all as an orchestra directors where he

mer1ted succeeding the famous Lahoussaye.
A German artist in Paris reported in the Leipziger Allgemeipp
Musikalische Zeitppg that Blasius displayed good ability as
conductor of the Opera-Comique.55

With the Restoration of Louis XVIII in 1814, Blasius
became member of the king's private orchestra and director

56

of the 5th regiment of the Imperial Guard. He was also
composer for the huntsmen of the Imperial Guard, judging
from Jacques Boufil's Three Grand Duos, Op. 3, which disclose
this fact in their dedication. Because the duos were pub-
lished by Jouve in 1815-16, one can assume that Blasius held

this position around that time.57

 

5“"Il est regardé comme un joueur de violon de la seconde
force: mais i1 excelle surtout dans la direction d'un orche-
stre, 08 il a mérité de succéder au célébre Lahoussaye”
(Babault, nnales dramati ues ou dictionnaire énéral des
theatres, 3 vols. [Paris: n.p., 1808-I2: reprint ed., Geneva:

Slatkine Reprints, 1967], 2:64).

55Leipziger Aligemeipe Musikalische Zeitun , vol. 4
col. 321, cited by Rau, ”Die Kammermusik far Klarinette und
Streichinstrumente" p. 132.

56Cesar Gardeton, Annales de la musi ue ou almanach
musical pour l'an 1812 at 1820 (Paris: n.p., 1819-20:
reprint ed., Geneva: Minkoff Reprint, 1978), p. 101: and
Weston, More Clarinet Virtuosi, p. 53.

57

 

Weston, More Clarinet Virtuosi, pp. 53, 57.

62

Retirement in Versailles until DeathI 1816-22

Blasius's retirement as music director of the Opera-
Comique in March 1816, after twenty-five years in that post,1
was announced in the Annales de la musique ou almanach musi-
cal pour l'an 1819 et 1820:
M. Blasius, one of the orchestra directors of the
Feydeau,2just retired after twenty-five years of
service.
Thus 1816 marked the end Of his musical career since in this
year he resigned as conductor of the Opera-Comique and of
the 5th Regiment of the Imperial Guard, retreating to
private life in Versailles until his death in 1829:
Blasius (F.), composer, music director of the 5th
regiment of the Imperial Gugrd, pensioned from the
Comic Opera, to Versailles.

While surveying his career, one unearths snatches

 

1Fétis, Bio a hie universelle, 1:439: There seems to
be some disagreement with the date since Bernsdorf, Neues
Universal-Lexikon, 1:413, lists his retirement as 181 .

2"M. Blasius, l'un des chefs d'orchestre de Feydeau,
vient, aprés vingt-cinq ans de service, d'étre admis a
la retraite" (César Gardeton, Annales de la musi ue, p. 277)°

3"Blasius (F.), compositeur. chef de musique du 5e
régiment de la garde royale, pensionnaire de 1'Opéra Comique,
a Versailles" (Gardeton, Annales de la musique, p. 101: and
Gardeton, Biblio a hie musicale de la France et de "
1'étranger [Paris: Niogret, 1822: reprint ed., Geneva:
Minkoff Reprint, 1978], p. 578). Labat-Poussin, ed., Archives
du Théétre National de l'Opéra, p. 378, lists Blasius under
1824 as one of the artists entitled to a pension. Gardeton,
Annales de la musi ue, p. 18, records Blasius's address as
rue des Martyrs, n. 16, which is probably in Paris rather
than Versailles, since the volume lists Parisian musicians.

63

of contemporary writings that, like the sundry and jumbled
pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, must be laid side by side and
examined before being assigned their rightful place. Alone,
the snippets contain only a smattering of facts. Not until
the bits and pieces are judged for their overall importance,
compared, and then apprOpriately fitted together do they
reveal the whole picture--his achievements in proper per-
spective as seen through the eyes of his contemporaries.

Among his colleagues, who lauded his achievements as
a conductor, he was best known as music director of the
Opera-Comique. "A good orchestra director is a considerably
important matter in a lyric theater," concludes Gardeton in
Appgles de la musique ou almanach musical of 1819. "M.
Blasius had a special tact for seizing the intentions of
the composer and for representing them faithfully."4 Clement
and Larousse in Dictionnaire lyrigue ou histoire des Operas
report that "Blasius carried out with talent his duties as
orchestra director of this theater,"5 while Fétis adds that

he is an "excellent orchestra conductor of the Comic Opera

 

u”Un bon chef d'orchestre, est un sujet fort important
dans un theatre lyrique. M. Blasius avait un tact parti-
culier pour saisir les intentions des compositeurs, et
pour les rendre fidélement" (Gardeton, Annales de la musi ue,

p0 277)o ‘

5"Blasius a rempli avec talent a ce theatre les fonce
tions de chef d'orchestre" (Félix Clément and Pierre
Larousse, Dictionnaire lyrique ou histoire deg Operas
[Paris: Auguste Boyer et Cie, n.d.], p. 35).

64
6

Theater" and recounts Blasius's conducting abilities:
For a long time, all the composers remembered

with pleasure the care that he brought to the per-
formance of works which were entrusted to him: his
self-assurance, his self-control and the sensitivity
of his ear, with which he could discern at7an instant
the part in which a mistake had been made.

His other talents, as a composer and performer, were
also heralded. Gerber called him a "prolific composer"
and a "theoretical writer."8 Another reliable source,
Schilling, noted that he was an ”excellent violinist and
at the same time a clarinetist, diligent and tasteful

composer, and also in theoretical respects, a solidly

n9

educated musician. "Blasius was equally distinguished

. for his performing talent on violin, clarinet, flute

10

and bassoon," concludes Fétis, but he gave up his solo

career early to establish a reputation as a conductor.

6Fétis, Biographie universelle, 1:438.

7"Tous les compositeurs se sont rappelé longtemps
avec plaisir 1e soin qu'il apportait dans l'exécution des
ouvrages qui lui étaient confiés: son aplomb, son sangfroid,
et la délicatesse de son oreille, qui lui faisait discerner
a 1'instant 1a partie ou une faute avait été commise."
(Ibid., 13438).

8"Dieser Friedrich hat sich seitdem nicht nur immer-
fort als ein fruchtbarer Komponist, sondern auch als theore-
tischer Schriftsteller gezeigt” (Gerber, Neues Historisch-

Biographisches Lexikon, vol. 2 cols. 426-27 .

9"Vorztlglicher Violinist und zugleich Clarinettist,
fleiBiger und geschmackvoller Componist, und auch ein in
theoretischer Hinsicht grundlich gebildeter Musiker, . . . "
(Schilling, Lpgyclopadie, 1:665).

10”Blasius était également distingué par son talent
d'exécutlon sur 1e violon, sur la clarinette, sur le flute,
et sur le basson” (Fétis, Bio ra hie universelle, 1:438).

65
Chouquet's Histoire de la musique dramatigue en France

selects his best known Opera-comigue as La Paysanne Supposée

of 1788: his other works in this genre did not remain in
the permanent repertoire. Schilling summarizes his other
works:

The rest of his published compositions, which number
more than fifty, are purely instrumental works, which
have found great interest in France and also in Germany,
particularly his sonatas and concertos for violin, his
violin and clarinet duos and his symphonies for full
orchestra. They are splendid, though lacking the
depth of a Haydn and a Beethoven, but combine again,
with a Mozartian brilliance, the pleasantness and
pleasingness through which the elder Graun and Gluck,
among others, distinguished themselves. Those duets
appeared for the most part in Offenbach at Andre's

and are excellent practice pieces, as are his ”Suites
d'harmopie a 2 Parties tirées des O eras," that were
printed in Paris. The collection of 6 Quartets
concertants for Violin, Viola, Violoncello, and
Bassoon, which at the beginning of this century found
many dilettantes, is presumably by his less well-
known brother, although it was listed in most cata-
logs under his name. ~-

 

 

ll"Die fibrigen von ihm gedruckten Compositionen,
mehr denn 50 an der Zahl, bestehen in reinen Instrumental-
sachen, die sehr viel Teilnahme in Frankreich und auch in
Deutschland gefunden haben, namentlich seine Sonaten und
Concerte fflr die Violine, seine Violin- und Clarinettduo's,
und seine Sinfonien fflr groBes Orchester. Diese sind
prachtvoll, entbehren zwar der Tiefe eines Haydn und
Beethoven, verbinden aber mit einem Mozartischen Glanze
wieder das Wohltuende und Geffillige, wodurch unter den
Alteren Graun und Gluck sich auszeichneten. Jene Duette
erschienen zum grUQten Teile in Offenbach bei Andre, und
sind vortrefflich Ubungsstflcke, wie auch seine zu Paris
gedruckten "Suites d'harmonie a 2 Parties. tirées des
O eras." Die Sammlung von 6 concertirenden Quartetten fUr
Viollne, Altv., Violonc. und Fagott, welche zu Anfange des
jetzigen Jahrhunderts viele Liebhaber fand, ist wahrschein-
lich von seinem weniger bekannten Bruder, wenn gleich sie
in den meisten Catalogen auch unter seinem Namen aufgerhrt
wird" (Schilling, Encyclopfidie, 1:665).

66

Because Choron and Fayolle compiled approximately
fifty eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century sources in
their Dictionnaire historigue of 1810, it contains perhaps
the most telling summary of Blasius's career:

BLASIUS (Frédéric), music director of the theater

of the Comic Opera, virtuoso of the violin, clarinet,
flute, and bassoon, published, in 1796, Nouvelle Méthodp
de Clarinette et raisonnement des instrumens [sic]:
principes et théorie de musique.

He published sonatas, duos, trios, quartets and
concertos for violin, clarinet and bassoon. He
arranged the beautiful piano sonatas of Haydn for
quartets of two violins, viola and bass. Other than
military music that he published, he harmonized
several operas, I1 matrimonio segreto of Cimarosa,
among others.

The Operas that he gave at the Favart Theater were
a success 132their time, but have not remained in the
repertoire.

Clearly, in Parisian music circles he was regarded
first as a conductor, and second as an all-round musician--
a composer, performer, teacher, and educator. He had
achieved a secure position and the respect of his colleagues
in the intensely competitive music world of Paris--a milieu
that had funneled musicians from the four corners of Europe

into this music center of the second half of the eighteenth

 

12”BLASIUS (Frédéric), chef d'orchestre du theatre de
1'Opéra-Comique, virtuose a la fois sur la violon, 1a
clarinette, la flfite et 1e basson, a publié, en 1796, une
Nouvelle Méthode de Clarinette et raisonnement des instru-
mens [sic]: principes et théorie de musique. 11 a publié
des sonates, duos, trios, quatuors et concertos pour le
violon, 1a clarinette et 1e basson. 11 a arrangé en
quatuors pour deux violons, alto et basse, les belles
sonatas d'Haydn pour 1e piano. Outre la musique militaire
qu'il a fait graver, il a mis en harmonie plusieurs Opéras,
entr'autres I1 matrimonio segreto, de Cimarosa. Les Opéras,
qu'il a donnes au thegtre Favart ont eu du succes, dans
le tems [sic],mais ne sont pas restés au repertoire"
(Choron and Fayolle, Dictionnaire histori ue, 1:84).

67

century. Aspiring musicians had been advised, as Mozart
had been by his father, that "from Pari§_the name andriame
Of a man Of great talent resounds throughout the whole
.yprig."l3 By joining the stream of musicians that poured
into Paris, Blasius had tried his hand at the wheel of
fortune and succeeded where others had failed: not only
had he held an important conducting post for a quarter

of a century, a position that brought him immediate recog-
nition in Parisian music circles, but he also left his

mark as a multi-talented musician.

 

13Emily Anderson, ed., TheflLetters of Mozart, 1:478.

CHAPTER II

CATALOG OF WORKSl

Concertos

Violin Concerto NO. 1 in G a 11
Paris, A. Leduc, [1797 or 1798] (Johansson):

Location: Berlin (Vogeleis):
Darmstadt (Vogeleis).

Violin Concerto NO. 2 in A a 9

Paris, Pleyel:
Paris, Vogt et Veuve Goulden, 1797 (Lesure):

Location: Paris, Bibliothéque Nationale, Musique
No. Vm 1717. parts (Lesure).

Violin Concerto No. 3 in Bb
Paris , Erard, 1801:

Location: Belgium, Conservatoire Royal de Musique,
Bibliotheque, parts (RISED.

 

lSee pp. ix-x in the Preface.

68

69
Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in C a 9
For C Clarinet (Pound):

Paris, Cochet, 1802:
Leduc (Weston):

Location: Paris, Bibliothéque Nationale, Musi us
No. Vm 2423, parts (Weston, Pound
West Germany, Amorbach, FUrstlich
Leiningische Bibliothek, parts (R ISM ).

Clarinet Concerto NO. 2 in C a 9

Paris, Cochet, 1802:
Paris, A. Leduc (Rau):

Location: West Germany, Amorbach, Farstlich
Leiningische Bibliothek, parts (RI§_).

Clarinet Concerto No. 3 in F a 9
For C Clarinet (Titus):

Zurich, Nageli, 1805:
Girard (Titus, Weston):
Frey (Weston):

Location: Philadel hia, Free Library (Titus,

Weston :

West Germany, Amorbach, Fflrstlich
Leiningische Bibliothek, parts (315M):

Naples, Biblioteca del Conservatorio
di Musica S. Pietro a Maiella, parts
(RISM):

NapIes, Biblioteca Nazionale (Weston).

Clarinet Concerto NO. 4

Paris, Leduc (Weston):
1805 (Rau).

7O

Bassoon Concerto No. 1

Paris, Cochet, [180-] (New York Public Library

Reference):

Location: New York, New York Public Library,

parts (New York Public Library
Reference).

Quartets

Six Quatuor§_Concertants in C, G, Bb, d, F, c, 0p. 3
for 2 Violins, Alto and Violoncello

Three

Three

Three

Paris, Bouin, [1780-81] (Levy): Sc. 1782] (Lesure):
Paris, Mlle Castagner , [0. 1782 (Lesure):
Versailles, Blaisot, Ec. 1782] (Lesure):

Location: Paris, Bibliothé ue Nationale, Musique
No. Vmg 13723 (Lesure):
West Germany, Speyer, Pfalzische
Landesbibliothek, Musikabteilung,
parts (RISM):

New York, New York Public Library at
Lincoln Center, parts (RISM).

String Quartets, Op. 3

Paris, Louis (Rau).

String Quartets. 0P. 10
Paris, Leduc, 1785 (Rau).

String Quartets, op. 12
Paris, Sieber:

Location: Belgium, Conservatoire Royal de Musique,
Bibliotheque, parts (RISM).

71
Three String Quartets in F, c, C, 0p. 19
Gerber lists the work as Six Quartets, Op. 19:

Paris, Magasin de Musique, 1795 (Pierre Magasin,
Lesure):
1795 (Journal de Paris, 11 July 1795):

Location: Paris, Bibliothéque Nationale, Musique

No. K. 2360, parts (Lesure):

Prague, Narodni mfizeum--hud. oddéleni,
parts (RISM):, .

West Germany, Tubingen, Universitats-
bibliothek der Eberhard-Karls-
Universitat, parts (RISM):

East Germany, Schwerin (Mecklenburg),
Mecklenburgische Landesbibliothek,
Musikabteilung, parts (RISM).

String Quartets
Arranged from Piano Sonatas of J. Haydn.

Three Quatuors Concertants in F, Eb, Bb. 0P. l for

Clarinet or Violin, Violin, Viola, and Violoncello
Paris, Sieber, 1782:

Location: Vienna, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde,
Musik-Archiv No. XI 10733, printed
. part8:

Italy, Modena, Biblioteca Estense,
Sezione Musicale No. Mus. C. 14,
printed parts (RISM):

Vienna, Osterreich1sche National-
bibliothek, Musiksammlun No. Mus. Rs.
22113, manuscript parts entitled
”III Quartetti" for clarinet, violin,
viola, Violoncello).

Three Quartets in G, F, Bb, for Clarinet and Strings
Breitkopf & Hartel, 1782/4 (Weston).

72

Quartet, Op. 2 for Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Violon-
cello

Possibly more than one quartet:

[1799] (Orsten and Revea).

Six Quartets, Op. 13 for Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and
Violoncello

Paris, Sieber, [1788?] (Rau): [1799?] (Johansson).

Quartet in C for Bassoon, Violin, Viola, and Bass
Location: East Germany, Schwerin, Mecklenburgische
Landesbibliothek, Musikabteilung,

incom lete manuscript parts (Rau,
Klein .

Overture in Eb for Bassoon, Violin, Viola, and Bass
Location: East Germany, Schwerin, Mecklenburgische

Landesbibliothek, Musikabteilung,
manuscript parts (Rau, Klein).

Quartets, Op. 5 for Bassoon
Probably bassoon, violin, viola, Violoncello:

[6. 1788] (Klein):
Paris, Boyer, [1788?] (Johansson).

Six Quatuors Concertants, Op. 9 for Bassoon, Violin,
Viola, and Bass

Probably composed by Ignace Blasius (Gerber,
Schilling):

Paris, 1797 (Gerber, Rau).

73

Trios

Three Trios in F, A, C, Op. 48 for 2 Violins and
Violoncello

Books 1 and 2 (Fétis):

Paris, Bochsa Pére (Rau, RISM):
By the Composer (RISM):

Location: West Germany, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek
(Stiftung PreuBischer Kulturbesitz),
parts (RISM):

Italy, Milan, Biblioteca del
Conservatorio "Giuseppe Verdi," parts

(RISM).

Three Trios Dialogues, Op. 31 for Clarinet, Violin, and
Violoncello or Bassoon

Possibly identical to the Trios, Op. 31 for Flute,
Clarinet, and Bassoon (Rau):

Paris, Gaveaux (Rau, RISM):
Paris, Sieber [c. 1800-1310] (Weston):

Location: London, Royal Academy of Music (Weston):
France, Bordeaux, Bibliotheque
Municipale, parts (RISM).

Three Trios in Eb, F, Bb, Op. 2 for 2 Clarinets and
Bassoon

Paris, Porthaux (Rau, RISM):
Location: Vienna, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde,

Musik-Archiv No. VIII 2559, parts
(Whitwell, RISM).

Terzetto for 2 Clarinets and Bassoon

Location: Vienna, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde,
Musik-Archiv No. VIII 2560 (Whitwell,
Rau .

74
Six Trios for 2 Clarinets and Bassoon

In 2 Books (Rau):

Paris, Sieber (Rau).

Three Trios for Clarinet, Horn, and Violoncello
"choisis dans les ouvrages du célébre Michel [Yost]"

Book 1 published 1805 (Rau).

Duo pour Violon & Alto
Paris, Leduc, [1784?] (Johansson).

Six Duos, Op. 4 for 2 Violins
Paris, Bouin (Rau, RISM):

Location: U.S.A., Washington, D.C., Library of
Congress, Music Division, parts

(RISM).

Six Duos in Bb, F, C, G, D, A, Op. 8 for 2 Violins

Paris, Imbault, [1790?] (Rau): 1783 (Lesure,

Johansson):
Paris, Sieber, 1783 (Lesure):

Location: Paris, Bibliothegue Nationale, Musique
No. Vmg 20962 (Lesure) :
West Germany, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek
(Stiftung PreuBischer Kulturbesitz),
parts (RISM):
London, British Museum, parts (RISM):
London, Royal College of Music, parts

(RISM).

Six Duos Concertants, 0p. 26 for 2 Violins

Paris, Légouix (Rau).

75

Six Duos Dialogues in A, Bb, F, Op. 28 for 2 Violins
Book 1:

Paris, B. Viguerie (Rau, RISM):
Zurich, Johann Georg NAgeli (Gerber, Rau, RISM):
Offenbach (Gerber):

Location: Vienna, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde,
Musik-Archiv, parts (RISM):
Yugoslavia, Zagreb, Hrvatski glozbeni
zavod (zbirka Don Nikole Udina
Algarotti). parts (RISM).

Three Duos in Bb, F, C, Op. 28 for 2 Violins
Book 2;~ ’

Paris (Gerber): ,
Offenbach, Johann André (Gerber, Rau, aggm):
Zurich (Gerber):

Location: West Germany, Offenbach ameain,
Verlagsarchiv Andre, parts (RISM):
The Netherlands, Den Haag, Gemeente
Museum, parts (RISM).

Three Duos in G, A, Eb, Op. 29 for 2 Violins

Paris, 1796 (Gerber, Rau):
Offenbach, Johann André (RISM):

Location: West Germany, Offenbach am Main,
Verlagsarchiv Andre, parts (RISM):
Venice, Biblioteca del Conservatorio
”Benedetto Marcello," parts (RISM).

Three Duos in A, Bb, F, 0p. 30 Livre l for 2 Violins: and
Three Duos in D, G, Eb, 0p. 30 Livre 2 for 2 Violins

Offenbach, Johann Andre (aggm):

Location: West Germany, Offenbach am Main,
Verlagsarchiv Andre, parts (RISM).

76
Three Duos, Op. 32 for 2 Violins
Paris (Rau):

Location: Paris, Bibliothéque Nationale,
Musique (Vogeleis, Eitner).

Three Duos, Op. 33 for 2 Violins
Paris (Rau):

Location: Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale,
Musique (Vogeleis, Eitner).

Three Duos, Op. 39 for 2 Violins
(Rau).

Six Nouveaux Duos Concertants, Op. 43 for 2 Violins

Paris (Rau).

Six Duos Faciles, Op. 52 for 2 Violins

Paris, Légouix (Rau): 2nd edition (Vogeleis).

Six Duos Faciles, Op. 53 for 2 Violins

In 2 Books (Rau).

Three Duos in Bb, F, C, Op. A for 2 Violins
Paris, Magasin de Musique, [c. 1794] (Lesure):

Location: Paris, Bibliothéque Nationale,
Musique No. K. 2359. Parts (Lesure).

77
Three Duos in G, A, Eb, Op. B for 2 Violins
Paris, Magasin de Musique, [c. 1794] (Lesure):

Location: Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Musique
No. A. 34692, parts (Lesure).

Six Duos ConcertanEtls, Op. 12 for Flute and Violin

Paris, Bouin, 1788 (Mercure de France, 15 June 1788):
Versailles, Blaisot, 1788 (Mercure de France, 15
June 1788).

Duos, Op. 18 for 2 Clarinets

Paris, Sieber (Weston).

Six Duos, Op. 20 for 2 Clarinets

Paris, Magasin de Musique, 1794 (Pierre Magasin):
Paris, [1796] (Gerber, Rau):

Ozi, 1802 (Weston):

Schlesinger (Weston).

Twelve Duos, Op. 21 for 2 Clarinets

In 2 Books (Gerber, Rau):

Paris, 1796 (Gerber, Rau):
Offenbach, Andre (Gerber, Rau).

Six Duos, Op. 21 for 2 Clarinets

Paris, Ma asin de Musique, [c. 1794-95] (Pierre
Magasin%:

Paris, 021, 1802 (Weston):

André (Weston):

Schlesinger (Weston).

78

Six Duos Concertanltls, Op. 27 for 2 Clarinets
Possibly same as Six Duos Concertggltls, Op. 27

for 2 Bassoons:

Paris, B. Viguerie (Rau).

Six Duos, Op. 35 for 2 Clarinets
Petit (Weston).

Duos, Op. 38 for 2 Clarinets

Six Duos Trés Faciles in Bb, Eb, Bb, Eb, Bb, Eb, Op. 39
for 2 Clarinets

Paris, Leduc (Rau): [1797? or 1798?] (Johansson):
. Leipzig, BreitkOpf und Hartel, 1798 (Rau):
'Offenbach, Johann André (RISM):

Location: West Germany, Offenbach am Main,
Verlagsarchiv Andre, parts (RISM):

U.S.A., Washington D.C., Library of
Congress, Music Division.

Six Very Easy Duets from the Méthode

Sieber (Weston).

Six Duos Faciles, Op. 40 for 2 Clarinets

Paris, Leduc, 1800 (Gerber, Rau):
Paris, Cochet (Rau).

Six Duos, Op. 46 for 2 Clarinets

Paris, 1805 (Rau):
Naderman (Weston).

79
Six Duos for 2 Bassoons
Paris, Leduc, 1784 (Mercure de France, 1 May 1784):

Location: London, British Museum, parts (RISM).

Six Duo ConcertanEt]s, Op. 27 for 2 Bassoons

Possibly same as Six Duos Concertanltls, Op. 27
for 2 Clarinets:

Paris, B. Viguerie (Rau):
1795 (Journal de Paris, 2 October 1795):

Location: West Germany, Berlin: Staatliche

Hochschule fflr Musik und Darstellende
Kunst, parts (RISM).

Sonatas

Violin Sonatas

Paris, 1797 (Gerber).

Three Sonatas in G, D, A, for Violin with Bass Accompani-
ment

Paris, Sieber (RISM):
Location: West Germany, Frankfurt/Main, Stadt-
und Universitatsbibliothek, Musik-

und Theaterabteilun Nanskopfisches
Museum, score (RISM).

Sonata for Violin and Piano
Included in Alard, D., ed. Les Maftres classi ues
du violon. No. 42. Mainz: Schott, c. 1862.
Location: New York, New York Public Library (New

York Public Librar Reference):
British Museum Eitner .

80

Gravé for Violin and Bass
Possibly same as following entry:

Location: New York, New York Public Library,
manuscript (New York Public Library
Reference).

Gravé for Violin and Bass

No. 84 in Cartier, Jean-Baptiste, ed. L'Art du
violon. Monuments of Music and Music Literature
in Facsimile, no. 14. Paris: Decombe, [1803?]:
reprint ed., New York: Broude Brothers, 1973.

Three Sonatas, Op. 40 for Violin with Bass

Paris, Garnier (Rau).

Three Sonatas in A, Bb, Eb,.Op. 41 for Violin with
Violoncello Accompaniment,

Paris, Pleyel, 1800:

Location: Vienna, Osterreichische National-
bibliothek, Musiksammlung, score
(R_I__SM):

Denmark, COpenhagen, Det kongelige
Bibliothek, score (RISM):

Italy, Naples, Biblioteca del
Conservatorio di Musica S. Pietro a
Maiella, score (RISM):

Sweden, Stockholm, Kungliga Musikaliska
Akademiens Bibliotek, score (RI m):
U. S. A., Ann Arbor, Michigan, University

of Michigan, Music Library:

New York Public Library (New York Public
Library Reference).

81

Three Sonatas, Op. 43 for Violin with Bass Accompaniment

Paris , Erard, 1801:
Paris, Sieber (Vogeleis):
Lyon, Garnier, [c. 1800] (Lesure):

Location: Paris, Bibliothéque Nationale, Musique
No. Vm 833
K. 2358 (Lesure):

Denmark, Copenhagen, Det kongelige
Bibliothek, score (RISM):

London, British Museum, score (RISM):

The Netherlands, Utrecht, Instituut
voor Muziekwetenschap der Rijks-
universiteit, score (RISM):

U.S.A., Washington, D.C., Library of
Congress, Music Division, score
(bound with the Sonatas, Op. 60
for 2 Violins) (RISM):

U.S.A., Ann Arbor, Michigan, University
of Michigan, Music Library.

Three Sonatines in D, Bb, A, Op. 55, No. 1-3 for Violin
with Bass Accompaniment

Paris, 'Gaveaux (Rau, RISM):

Location: London, British Museum (Vogeleis,
Either):
U.S.A., Ann Arbor, Michigan, University
of Michigan, Music Library:
U.S.A., Washington, D.C., Library of -
Congress, Music Division, score (RISM).

Three Sonatines, Op. 55, No. 4-6 for Violin and
Violoncello

Paris, Gaveaux:

Location: U.S.A., Ann Arbor, Michigan, University
of Michigan, Music Library.

Three Sonatas in D, F, G, Op. 55 for Violin with
Violoncello Accompaniment

Paris, Duhan (Vogeleis):

Location: U.S.A., Washington, D.C., Library of
Congress, Music Division, score.

82

Three Grandes Sonates, Op. 60 for Violin with Violin
Accompaniment

Paris, G. Gaveaux, [1817] (Gardeton Annales):

Location: U.S.A., Washington, D.C., Library of
Congress Music Division (bound with
Sonatas, Op. 43 for Violin and
Violoncello):
U.S.A., Ann Arbor, Michigan, University
of Michigan, Music Library (only
Sonata in G, Op. 60, No. 3).

Six Grand Sonatas, Op. 66 for Violin with Violin

Paris, Gaveaux (Vogeleis, Rau).

Six Sonatas for Piano with Violin Accompaniment
Paris, Published by Author (Imprimerie de la
Société Littéraire Typographique), 1783
(Rau, Lesure, RISM):

Location: Paris, Bibliothéque Nationale, Musique
No. K. 2361, parts (Lesure).

Six Sonatas or Etudes Graduelles in G, C, F, D, A, C,
Op. 58 for Flute with Bass Accompaniment

In 2 Bockss
Paris, Magasin de Musique (Rau, RISM):
Location: West Germany, Berlin, Staatsbibliothek

(Stiftung PreuBischer Kulturbesitz),
parts (RISM) .

83
Six Sonatas, Op. 55 for Clarinet with Viola (Bass)
In 2 Books:

Paris, Ma asin de musique (Weston):
1805 (Rau):
Frey (Weston):

Location: Aarhus, Statsbiblioteket (Weston).

Six Sonatas, Op. 57 for Bassoon with Violoncello

Location: Milan, Biblioteca del Conservatorio
di Musica Giuseppe Verdi, manuscript
(Eitner, Rau, Klein).

Symphonies

Simphogig Concertante in E a 10 for 2 Horns

Paris, Imprimerie du Conservatoire, c. 1795
(Lesure, Rau, RISM):
Paris, Ozi, 1798 (Gerber, Rau):

Location: West Germany Harburg fiber Donaqurth,
Farstlich Ottingen-Wallerstein' sche
Bibliothek, SchloB Harburg, parts
(R__ISM):
West Germany, Manster (Westfalen),
Universitatsbibliothek, parts (RLSM):
Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale
No. A. 33440
Fol. Vm O d.77, parts (Lesure).

Symphony
Lost (Brook):
[1785?] (Brook).

84

Wind Band Music Music for ”Harmonie"

Overture in F for Wind Instruments, or Overture for
Wind Instruments, No. 8

Because of the two different titles, it has been
presumed that they represented two different
overtures. No doubt this confusion was caused
by the phrase, ”No. 8,“ which was used to show
that the overture was published by the Magasin
de Musique in installment No. 8 (October-
November 1794) in the series of music used in
the national fetes. A comparison of Pierre's
works will prove that both titles refer to the
same overture.

Arranged in score for piano in Pierre. Musigue des
fétes et ceremonies de la revolution frangaise.
Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1899.

Paris, Magasin de Musique, 1794 (Pierre Musi ue,
Pierre Ma asin, Pierre fiymnes):

Location: Paris,Ԥibliotheque Nationale, Musique
No. K 125, parts (Lesure):
Bibliotheque Nantes No. 22207

(Pierre Hygges).

Ouverture et Airs de Maison by Dalayrac, Arranged for
"L'Harmonie" by F. Blasius '

Paris, Imbault, [c. 1800] (Lesure):
1802 (Rau):

Location: Paris, Bibliothe ue Nationale, Musique
No. Vm 1049 Lesure).

Pot-Pourrifide Tous les Airs Qui Ont Rapport a la Famille

Royale Arrangéen Harmonie pour Touteyga Musigue

Milita1re

 

Paris , G . Gaveaux:

Location: U.S.A., Washington, D.C., Library of
Congress, Music Division.

85
Harmonie a 6

Paris, Pleyel (Rau).

uitesid'Harmonie, Tirée des Operas Nouyeaux No. 1-3
5 2 Parties

Paris, Janet (Gerber, Rau):
Paris, Leduc (Gerber).

Journal d'Harmonie a 1'Usage des Musiques Milita1res
Books 10 and 11:

Paris, Leduc (Rau, Vogeleis).

Harmonie Milita1reI Qontenant Marches, Pas Redoublés,
Rondeaux et Walses .

Books 1-4:
[c. 1817] (Gardeton, Annales).

Ouverture . . . a Grand Orchestre
Paris, Sieber (RISM):

Location: France, Le Mans, Bibliotthue Municipale,
parts (RISM).

Theatrical Works

La Paysanne Supposée ou la Féte de la Moisson

Comic Opera in 3 Acts (Rau, Stieger):
Librettist, Dubois (Manferrari, Stieger):

Premiere, 28 August 1788, Paris, Comédie-Italienne
(Journal de Paris, 28 August 1788, Mercure de
France, 6’September 1788: Rau, Stieger,
Manferrari).

86

L'Amour Hermigg, piece anacréontique, melee d'ariettes

Comic Opera in 1 Act (Gerber, Rau):
Librettist, P. Desriaux (Klein):

Premiere, 31 January 1789, Paris, Theatre
Beaujolais (Journal de Paris, 31 January, 1789):

Paris, Sieber, 1789 (Rau, RISM, Lesure):
Bonn, Simrock, 1793 (Rau, Vogeleis):

Overture for Large Orchestra from the Comic Opera
Paris, Sieber (Rau):

Location: Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, Musique

No. D 1286, score (Lesure):

Belgium, Conservatoire Royal de Musique,
Bibliotheque, score (RISM):

France, Avignon, Bibliotheque du Musée
Calvet, score (RISM): .

France, Dijon, Bibliotheque du
Conservatoire, score (RISM):

Sweden, Stockholm, Kungliga Teaterns
Biblioteket, score (RISM):

U.S.A., Boston, Boston Public Library,
Music Department, score (RISM).

Le Pelletier de St. Far eau ou 1e Premier Mart r de la
REpubligue Frangaise, traite historique
Opera in 2 Acts (Gerber, Rau):

Librettist, Bertin d'Antilly:

Premiere, 23 February 1793, Paris, Opera-Comique
(Journal de Paris, 23 February 1793):

Paris, 1793 (Rau).

Les Trois Sultanes ou Soliman Second

Comic Opera in 2 Acts (Manferrari):
New Music by Blasius to C.-S. Favart's Libretto
Rau :

Premiere, 25 August 1792, Paris, Comédie-Italienne
(Manferrari).

87
Prince Polastri
Music by Blasius (Labat-Poussin):
1789 (Labat-Poussin).

Le Congres des Rois

Comic Opera in 3 Acts:
Librettist, Maillot:

Blasius composed the Overture and collaborated
with these composers on the work: Kreutzer,
Grétry, Méhul, Dalayrac, Deshayes, Solié,
Devienne, Berton, Jadin, Trial the younger,
and Cherubini:

Premiere, 26 February 1794, Paris, Opera-Comique
(Klein, Rau).

Africo et Menzola

Melodrama in 3 Acts (Tourneux):
Librettist, Coffin-Rosny (Tourneux):

Performed, 10 March 1798, Paris, Theatre de
l'Ambigu-Comique (Tourneux).

Don Pédre et Zulika

Melodrama (Rau).

Adelson et Salvini

Melodrama in 3 Acts (Tourneux):
Librettist, Prosper Delamarre (Tourneux):
Ballets Composed by M. Adam (Tourneux):

Premiere, 1802, Paris, Théétre Gaité (Stieger):
Performed, 5 December 1803, Paris, Theatre de la
Gaieté (Tourneux).

88
Clodomire ou la Pretresse d'Irmensul
Melodrama in 3 Acts (Tourneux):
Librettists, Noel and Henri Lemaire (Tourneux):
Ballets by M. Aumer (Tourneux):

Premiere, 5 May 1803, Paris, Theatre de la Porte-
Saint-Martin (Tourneux) .

Ballet music
Unperformed (Fétis):

1791 (Rau).

Church Music

Mass in A for Tenor, Baritone, and Bass with Harmonie-
music Accompaniment

Location: Milan, Biblioteca del Conservatorio di

Musica Giuseppe Verdi, manuscript
parts (Rau, Vogeleis, Klein).

Vocal Music

Viva ;;Amougfetila Folig, Couplets
Author, C. Grenier (Klein):
In L e d'O hée, Année 3, No. 4 (RL§M):
Paris, A la Nouveauté (Rau, RLflfl):

Location: London, British Museum (RISM).

FrangaiseI Point de Vengeance, Couplets
1814 (Klein).

89
Pedagogical Works
Nouvelle Méthode de Clarinette et Raisonnement des
Instruments, Principes et Theorie de Musique
Paris, Porthaux, [c. 1796] (Menkin, Gerber,
Schilling, Rau):
Paris, Michel, 1796] (Warner):
Paris, Sieber, Before 1815] (Warner):

Location: Paris, Bibliotheque National (Weston).

Méthode de Clarinette

It has been questioned whether this work actually
existed:

Michel, [c. 1795] (Weston):
Sieber (WeSton).

Méthode de Basson
Paris, Leduc (Becker): [c. 1800] (Warner).'

Caprices ouigtudes du Violon, No. 18
Paris, Cochet (Rau, RISM):

Location: Czechoslovakia, Prague, Narodni
mfizeum--hud. oddéleni (RISM):

Probably identical to Caprices ou Etudes du
Violon

Paris, A. Leduc (Rau, RISM):

Location: New York, New York Public Library at
Lincoln Center (RISM):
U.S.A., Washington, D.C., Librar of
Congress, Music Division (RISM .

9O

Preludes ou Caprices pour 1e Violon

Location: New York, New York Public Library,

manuscript (New York Public Library
W)-

 

91
Sources:§or the Catalog of Works

Becker, Carl F. Systematisch- chronologische Darstell der
musikalischen Literatur. Leipzig: Robert Friese, 1836:
reprint ed., Amsterdam: Frits A. M. Knuf, 1964.

Brook, Barry S. La Symphonie francaise dans la seconde
moitié du XVIIIE siecle. 3 vols. Paris: Publications
de 1' Institut de Musicologie de 1' Université de
Paris, 1962.

Eitner, Robert. Biographisch-Bibliographisches Quellen-
Lexikon der Musiker und Musikgelehrten der christ-
lichen Zeitrechnung bis zur Mitte des neunzehnten
Jahrhunderts. 11 vols. Leipzig: Breitkopf und Hartel, L

 

1900- 4: reprint ed., Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-
und Verlagsanstalt, 1959-60.

Fétis, F. -J. Biographie universelle des musiciens. 2nd ed.
8 vols. Paris: Didot lFrEres, Fils & Cie, 1873- 75.

Gardeton, Cesar. Annales de la musi ue ou almanach musical
pour l'an 1819 et 1820. Paris: n.p., 1819-20: reprint

ed., Geneva: Minkoff Reprint, 1978.

Gerber, Ernest Ludwig. Neues Historisch-Bio ra hisches
Lexikon der Tonkflnstler. 4 vols. Leipz1g: A. KUhnel,
1812-14: reprint ed., Graz, Austria: Akademische
Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1966.

Imbault, Jean-Jérbme. Cataiggue thématioueges ouvrages de
musi ue. Introduction by Rita Benton. Archives de
1‘Edition Musicale Frangaise, vol. 8. Paris: n.p.,
c. 1792: reprint ed., Geneva: Minkoff Reprint, 1972.

Johansson, Cari. French Music Publishers' Catalogues of the
Second Half of the Eighteenth Century. 2 vols.
Stockholm: Publications of the Library of the Royal
Swedish Academy of Music II, 1955.

 

Journal de Paris. Paris, 1784-93.
Klein, Deanne Arkus. "Blasius." New Grove 2:785-86.

Labat-Poussin, Brigitte, ed. Archives du Theatre National
de 1'Opéra. Paris: Archives Nationales, 1977.

Lesure, Francois, ed. Catalogue de la musique imprimée avant
1800: conservée dans les bibliotheques publiques de
Paris. Paris: Bibliotheque Nationale, 1981.

92

Levy, Janet Muriel. ”The Quatuor Concertant in Paris in the
Latter Half of the Eighteenth Century.” Ph.D. disser—
tation, Stanford University, 1971.

Manferrari, Umberto. Dizionario universale delle ogere
melodrammatiche. 3 vols. Florence: Sansoni Antiquariato,
1954.

Matthaus, Wolfgang. Johann André Musikverlag zu Offenbach

am Main. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1973.

Menkin, William. "Frederic Blasius: Nouvelle Méthode de
Clarinette et Raigonnement des Instruments. A Complete
Translation and Analysis with an Historical and Bio-
graphical Background of the Composer and His Compo-
sitions for the Clarinet.” D.M.A. dissertation,
Stanford University, 1980.

Mercure de France. Paris, 1782-89.

The New York Public Library Reference Department Dictionary
Catalog of the Music Collection. 33 vols. Boston:
'617—_—'

G.K. Hall & Co., 19 .
Orsten, George S.F., and Revea, L. Clarinet Music of 1200 to
1820. Broomfield, Colorado: By the Authors, 19 .

Pierre, Constant. Les Hymnes et chansons de la révolution,
apercu général et catalogue avec notices histori ues,

anal'ti ues et biblio ra hi ues. Paris: Imprimerie
National, 1904.

. Le M asin de musi ue a l'usa e des fetes
nationales et du conservatoire. Paris: Fischbacher,

l 95.

. Musi ue des fetes et cérémonies de la revolution
frangaise. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, l 99.

 

Pound, Gomer J. "A Study of Clarinet Solo Concert Literature
Composed before 1850: With Selected Items Edited and
Arranged for Contemporary Use." 2 vols. Ph.D. disser-
tation, Florida State University, 1965.

Rau, Ulrich. "Blasius." MGG Vol. 15 cols. 840-41.

Repertoire international des sources musicales: iginzeldrucke
vor 1800. Edited by Karlheinz Schlager. 8 vols. Kassel:
Barenreiter, 1971.

Schilling, Gustav. Encyclopadie der gesammten musikalischen
Wissenschaften oder Universel-Lexikon der gonkunst.
6 vols. Stuttgart: Franz Heinrich KUhler, 1835-42.

93

Stieger, Franz. Opernlexikon. Part 2: Komponisten. Tutzing:
Hans Schneider, 1977- .

Titus, Robert A. "The Early Clarinet Concertos." Journal of
Research in Music_§ducation 13 (Fall 1965):169-76.

Tourneux, Maurice, ed. Bibliographie de l'histoire de Parig
pendant 1a revolution frangaise. 5 vols. Paris:
Imprimerie Nouvelle, 1913.

Vogeleis, Martin. Quellen und Bausteine zu einer Geschichte

der Musik und des Theaters im Elsass.500-1800.
Strasbourg: F.X. Le Roux & Co., 1911: reprint ed.,
Geneva: Minkoff Reprint, 1979.

Warner, Thomas E., ed. An_Annotated Bibliography gigWoodwing
Instruction Books, 1 00-1 30. Detroit Studies in Music
Bibliography, no. 11. Detroit: Information Coordi-
nators, 1967.

 

 

 

Weston, Pamela. More Clarinet Virtuosi of the Past. London:
Halstan & Co., 1977.

Whitwell, David. ”Early Small Wind Ensemble Manuscripts
in Vienna." The Instrumentalist 28 (August 1973),
pp. 44-46.

.1“ u

 

CHAPTER III

A CRITICAL PERFORMANCE EDITION OF THE QUATUOR
CONCERTANT IN F, OP. 1, NO. 1

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SELE C TED BI BLI OGRAPHY

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel. Essay on the True Art of
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”Concert Spirituel." New Grove. 4:640.

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Ducros, Louis. French ociet in the E1 hteenth Centur .
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