To learn more about French folk music, come to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and explore the archival collections. Despite the word “American” in its title, the American Folklife Center has ethnographical materials in over 500 languages (including French), documenting cultural expression around the world. The Center also holds collections featuring performances of French folk music. Learn how to make the most of your visit to the American Folklife Center.
Link: Phonothèque nationale collection of traditional songs of France and French colonies
Citation: Phonothèque nationale collection of traditional songs of France and French colonies (AFC 1949/008), Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C
Description: Collection of field recordings and other sound recordings issued on 20 audio discs by the Phonothèque nationale and Musée de la parole de l’université de Paris. Includes songs,
choral music, dance music, festival music, religious music, chants, orchestral music. In particular, the recordings in this collection were made between 1897 and 1948, thereby coinciding with the time frames in which Debussy, Ravel, and Tailleferre were active.
Link: The folk music of France no. 1-37 ; Tour de France, no. 8-15, radio program series.
Citation: Folk music of France, no. 1-37; Tour de France, no. 8-15, radio program series (AFC 1948/099), Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C
Description: Collection of radio programs titled “The Folk Music of France” produced in New York City by the North American Service of the French Broadcasting System. Each 13-15 minute program features the folk songs and music of a French province or region, including Corsica and the Basque region, where Maurice Ravel was born.
Each of these three French composers — Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Germaine Tailleferre – was affected by the Great War (World War I). Visit the Library of Congress Veterans History Project online collections and explore them through the digital discovery tools. Each of the featured World War I Correspondence Collections includes first-person accounts of American military personnel who served in France.
In the Veterans History Project’s Joseph Rosenblum Collection, you can read how Corporal Rosenblum contrasted the realities of war with the mental escape offered by the music of composer Frédéric Chopin. Chopin ( 1810 – 1849) was no stranger to political conflicts, as he had endured the stresses brought to his native Poland during the November Uprising in 1830. Over time, he garnered a significant following in Poland, France (his adopted homeland), and abroad. By the end of the nineteenth century, his music was rendered regularly by prospective students of the Paris Conservatory, including Maurice Ravel.
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