The Concert des Amateurs was a company which organized musical concerts in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Established in 1769 it was dissolved in 1781.

History

The Concert des Amateurs was created in 1769 and housed at the

Hôtel de Soubise The Hôtel de Soubise () is a city mansion '' entre cour et jardin'' (), located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. History The Hôtel de Soubise was built for the Prince and Princess de Soubise on the sit ...

in Paris. It was financed only by private funds.Included in private funds were donations and annual subscriptions. Unlike all other societies of the time, it competed with the

Concert Spirituel The Concert Spirituel ( en, Spiritual Concert) was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, Londo ...

, inaugurated in 1725. From 1769 to 1773, the Concert des Amateurs was directed by the founder of the society

François-Joseph Gossec François-Joseph Gossec (17 January 1734 – 16 February 1829) was a French composer of operas, string quartets, symphonies, and choral works. Life and work The son of a small farmer, Gossec was born at the village of Vergnies, then a French e ...

;

Joseph Bologne de Saint-George Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (25 December 1745 – 10 June 1799), was a French Creole virtuoso violinist and composer, who was conductor of the leading symphony orchestra in Paris. Saint-Georges was born in the then-French colo ...

replaced him.. Every week, from December to March, the Concert des Amateurs performed contemporary and/or unpublished works, sometimes in

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

. In the absence of financial means, the Concert des Amateurs disappeared in 1781.

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Le Concert des Amateurs

Le Concert des Amateurs à l'Hôtel de Soubise (1769-1781)
at Maison des sciences de l'homme
Concert des Amateurs
on Oxford Reference {{Portal bar, classical music, France Concerts Companies established in 1769 1769 in music 18th century in music Defunct companies of France