History
The preliminary stages
The birth of the Paris Conservatoire was preceded by two distinct establishments: the Royal School of Singing and Declamation (founded on January 3, 1783 to supply the Opéra) and the Municipal School of Music (founded in 1792 to train instrumentalists for the National Guard Band, a phalanx of Republican volunteers assembled by Bernard Sarrette in 1790).
The municipal school was formalized on November 8, 1793 (18 brumaire an II), when the National Convention decreed the creation "in the Commune of Paris" of a National Institute of Music. The Conventionalists allocated a regular budget to the establishment, and allotted to it the musical instruments confiscated from émigrés.
All these early establishments had François-Joseph Gossec as director.
The birth certificate
On August 3, 1795 (Thermidor 16, Year III), following a general impetus for reform (creation in 1794 of the École Polytechnique and the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers), the Convention promulgated a law establishing the Conservatoire de Musique, replacing the previous schools.
The institution was administered by a board of directors (Gossec, Méhul, Cherubini) headed by Bernard Sarrette, "commissaire chargé de l'organisation". Its teaching was primarily instrumental (mainly winds, with a few string and harpsichord classes). In addition to training musicians, the Conservatoire's mission was to devise a method for each discipline, and to take part in national festivals.
On October 22, 1796, it moved into the buildings of the former royal school of singing and declamation: Hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs, rue Bergère (now rue du Conservatoire).
The empire
Appointed director in 1800, Bernard Sarrette held the post throughout the Empire.
The institution's mission expanded to include training future boarders for the Opéra-Comique, Théâtre-Italien and Comédie-Française. On March 3, 1806, a declamation school was founded within the Conservatoire, which was renamed the Conservatoire de Musique et de Déclamation. Courses in Dance, Lyric and Dramatic Declamation, Theatrical Maintenance and Body Movement completed the curriculum.
In 1806, François-Antoine Habeneck created the student orchestra, with which he gave numerous performances until 1815 during the famous "student exercises" (including the first French auditions of several Beethoven symphonies). Also instituted during Sarrette's tenure were the Bibliothèque (foundation stone laid on August 4, 1801) and the Grand Prix de Rome (1803, for student composers).
Luigi Cherubini
Perceived as an offshoot of the Revolution, the Conservatoire was officially closed under the Restoration (1816), following the dismissal of Bernard Sarrette (1814). Renamed the École royale de musique et de déclamation, the institution was reintegrated into the King's Menus-Plaisirs and placed under the supervision of Inspector General François Perne until 1822. The name Conservatoire de musique was restored with the appointment of Luigi Cherubini (April 20, 1822).
Director until 1842, Cherubini did his utmost to shield the Conservatoire from political tribulations. Anxious to enhance the quality of teaching, he instituted a system of entrance and exit competitions, completed the official teaching methods, strengthened the teaching of singing and opened numerous classes, including : Keyboard for singing (1822), Piano for women (preparatory class, 1822), Piano for men (preparatory class, 1827), Harp (1825), Double bass (1827), Trumpet (1833), Piston horn (1833), Trombone (1836).
Cherubini also restored the student orchestra concerts (1823), which led to the creation of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, entrusted to François-Antoine Habeneck (1828), and instituted lyric and dramatic "exercises" (1841).
Daniel Auber
Director from 1842 to 1871, Daniel Auber pursued his predecessor's policies, adapting them to the tastes of his time.
In particular, he strengthened the teaching of voice and dance, and entrusted classes to great artists: Halévy (composition), Pierre Baillot (violin), Gilbert Duprez and Laure Cinti-Damoreau (voice), Henri Herz, Antoine Marmontel and Louise Farrenc (piano).
Auber also restored the old "student exercises" (1842) and worked to establish a uniform tuning fork, the standard of which was deposited with the Conservatoire in 1852.
It was also under Auber's direction that the Musée des instruments opened its doors on November 20, 1864, following the state's acquisition in 1861 of the instrument collection assembled by Louis Clapisson.
Ambroise Thomas and Théodore Dubois
Auber's successors, Ambroise Thomas (1871-1896) and Théodore Dubois (1896-1905), continued the work accomplished to date.
Great new teachers join the institution: César Franck, Charles-Marie Widor and Alexandre Guilmant (organ), Louis Diémer, Édouard Risler and Raoul Pugno (piano), Martin Marsick (violin), Gabriel Fauré (composition).
New classes were also opened: History of Music (1871), Viola (1894), Clarinet (entrusted to Turban) and Harp (entrusted to Alphonse Hasselmans).
Gabriel Fauré
Director from 1905 to 1920, Gabriel Fauré focused on rejuvenating the school's repertoire and methods.
Keen to prepare future laureates for musical life, he opened up singing to the Lied repertoire, encouraged chamber music, expanded the repertoire to include music of the 16th and 17th centuries, and obliged harmony and composition students to take the History of Music class (taught by Maurice Emmanuel). He also opened competition juries to outside personalities (Debussy, Ravel, Dukas, Messager), and instituted classes in Orchestral Conducting (1914), Timpani (1914), Mimic Art (for singing students) and Counterpoint (entrusted to André Gédalge).
Fauré also worked to renew the teaching staff, calling on Maurice Vieux (viola), Maurice Maréchal (cello), Paul Taffanel (flute), Charles Tournemire and Marcel Dupré (organ), Alfred Cortot and Marguerite Long (piano).
He also oversaw the move of the Conservatoire to the former Jesuit College (rue de Madrid) in 1911.
Time of war
Succeeding Fauré, Henri Rabaud (1920-1941) inaugurated yet more new classes (Danse pour les jeunes filles, 1925) and called in Paul Dukas (composition, 1927), Marcel Moyse (flute, 1932), Yves Nat (piano, 1934) and Charles Munch (conducting, 1939).
A study of the institution's archives during the Occupation reveals that, as soon as the first status of Jews was adopted (October 3, 1940), the Conservatoire's management carried out a survey to identify "Israelite" teachers and students: Conservatoire teachers considered to be Jewish were dismissed on December 18, 1940; in June 1941, students considered to be Jewish could no longer take part in competitive examinations; on September 25, 1942, in application of a note from Minister Abel Bonnard stating that "no Jewish student should be maintained or admitted to the Conservatoire", they were informed of their dismissal.
Claude Delvincourt, who succeeded Henri Rabaud in April 1941, carried out a large number of reforms until 1954. Realizing his long-standing plan to create a training structure for the orchestral profession, in October 1943 he founded the Orchestre des Cadets du Conservatoire, which exempted its members from requisition by the Service du Travail Obligatoire (S.T.O.).
Claude Delvincourt (1941-1954) then took on the difficult task of directing the establishment during the German occupation and the upheavals of the post-war period. In 1943, to avoid the recruitment of students called up for compulsory military service, the new director set up the Cadet Orchestra, which would remain one of the school's jewels after the war.
Numerous classes were opened under his direction: Saxophone (1942), Elementary Music History (1946), Percussion (1947), Pedagogy (1947), General Culture and Aesthetics (1947), Dance (boys, 1947), Chamber Music (upper class, 1947), Music History Seminar (future third cycle, 1948), Harpsichord (1950), Martenot Waves (1968).
Delvincourt also appointed prestigious teachers, including Pierre Fournier and André Navarra (cello, 1941 and 1949), Norbert Dufourcq (music history, 1941), Lucette Descaves (piano, 1941), Olivier Messiaen (analysis, 1942), Marcel Beaufils and Roland-Manuel (Esthétique, 1947), Darius Milhaud (composition, 1948), Lily Laskine (harp, 1948), Charles Panzéra (singing, 1951) and Yvonne Lefébure (piano, 1952).
He also brought about the separation of music and drama (1946), leading to the creation of the Conservatoire national d'art dramatique. The Conservatoire de musique was then renamed the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris.
The Conservatoire today
As Delvincourt had already pointed out in 1945, the cramped conditions of the rue de Madrid premises became more and more acute with each passing year. But it was Marc Bleuse (1984-1986) who, forty years later, was responsible for preparing the Conservatoire's place in the Cité de la Musique project, decided by President Mitterrand in 1984. Alain Louvier (1986-1991) was responsible for the move to La Villette (inauguration: December 7, 1990).
From Marc Bleuse and Alain Louvier to Xavier Darasse (1991-1992) and Marc-Olivier Dupin (1993-2000), the Conservatoire's teaching has continued to diversify, culminating in an organization of nine departments, most of them recent creations: Early Music (1984), Sound (1989), Choreographic Studies (1989), Jazz and Improvised Music (1991), Pedagogy (1992).
This pedagogical renewal also manifested itself in the opening of new classes, including: New technologies (1984), Gregorian choir conducting (1985), Renaissance polyphony (1989), 20th Century writing (1992), Generative improvisation (1992), Musical culture (1992), Ethnomusicology (1994). The Diplôme de Formation Supérieure (1994) was another concrete step in this direction. Alain Poirier (2000-2009) carried out a number of projects, including in particular the introduction of the three cycles (Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, PhD) to comply with the scheme initiated by the Bologna declaration. Throughout its history, the Conservatoire has managed to evolve in a remarkable way, while constantly preserving its values. The implementation of the European higher education process at the Conservatoire is one of the most recent examples of this ability to adapt, in the service of better recognition of diplomas, greater European mobility for students and the promotion of research. After a brief spell at the helm of the Conservatoire under Pascal Dumay, appointed on September1, 2009, Bruno Mantovani took over from August 2010 to July 2019. Emilie Delorme succeeded him on January1, 2020.
A second Conservatoire National Supérieur was founded in Lyon in 1980. New statutory provisions consolidated in 2009 concern the two public administrative institutions in Lyon and Paris, under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
The directors
Bernard-Sarrette 1795-1822
Luigi Cherubini 1822-1842
Daniel Auber 1842-1871
Ambroise Thomas 1871-1896
Théodore Dubois 1896-1905
Gabriel Fauré 1905-1920
Henri Rabaud 1921-1941
Claude Delvincourt 1941-1954
Marcel Dupré 1954-1956
Raymond Loucheur 1956-1962
Raymond Gallois-Montbrun 1962-1983
Marc Bleuse 1984-1986
Alain Louvier 1986-1991
Xavier Darasse 1991-1992
Marc-Olivier Dupin 1993-2000
Alain Poirier 2000-2009
Pascal Dumay 2009
Bruno Mantovani 2010-2019
Émilie Delorme 2020-