La vie musicale sous Vichy

Music has so far remained absent from historical studies of the cultural life of the French Vichy Regime (1940-1944). The result of the combined research of some twenty musicologists and historians, this book attempts to fill this gap. Without geographic or aesthetic boundaries, it allows us to measure the impact of wartime on the careers of musicians, the reception of works and certain forms of sociability, attendance at concerts or amateur practice to be considered as derivatives of the difficulties of daily life. The conduct of musicians is not found to be specific to their profession: as in all circles, a minority resisted, another collaborated and the majority accommodated. The attitudes of men and the functioning of institutions can be seen in these texts, which highlight a pivotal period in the history of 20th century music. If music benefited from the favors of the Vichy regime, it was also the first cultural weapon of the Nazis. Despite the double yoke of the Nazi occupier and a totalitarian regime which applies exclusionary laws, musical events (opera, symphonic concerts, jazz, variety songs, radio broadcasts, record production ...) take an intense part in the surprising proliferation of cultural life in the dark years.