Notes by Valerie Sly, 2026

Overview:

Alabama Symphony The French Connection: April 23, 2026, Carver Theatre

In the early 20th century, there was no more happening place for an artist than Paris. In the years after the First World War, the city attracted a veritable who’s who of creatives—Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, Claude Debussy, Cole Porter—all of whom called Paris their home, as did the three composers featured on this program.

Arts culture in early 20th-century Paris was very different from that of other major European centers at the time. While the long-standing musical meccas of Germany and Austria grappled with something of an identity crisis—where could music go now that Mahler and Strauss had pushed tonality to its limits?—Paris emerged as a hub of internationalism and creative cross-pollination.

Take the Ballets Russes, for example: the famous company founded by Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev, who sought to present Russian ballet tradition to the western world. At the Ballets Russes, you might have seen stars like Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova dancing choreography by George Balanchine (later the founder of the New York City Ballet), accompanied by scores from composers like Igor Stravinsky and Claude Debussy, with costumes by Coco Chanel and sets designed by Pablo Picasso. Ballet in general played a large role in uniting artistic disciplines. Each of the composers on this program wrote extensively for ballet, and the influence of dance on their music is apparent.

For American artists in particular, a stint in Paris came to be seen as a kind of rite of passage, with figures like Aaron Copland and George Gershwin spending significant time studying there. But there was another import from the United States that would make an enormous mark on French art: jazz.

Jazz first came to Paris via American military bands during the First World War. After the war, many African American servicemen chose to remain in France rather than return to the racial segregation of Jim Crow America, and before long Paris had become something of an outpost for the Harlem Renaissance, attracting artists like Langston Hughes and Josephine Baker. Parisians weren’t entirely sure what to make of this new art form. Many saw it as low brow and elementary compared with more traditional European art music. But those who understood the true complexities of jazz harmony quickly became enamored. Jazz clubs grew to be central pillars of Parisian artistic life, serving as meeting places where artists could rub elbows and exchange ideas. Before long, these new sounds moved from dark, smokey rooms to concert halls, ballet stages, and art exhibits.

The influx of international voices, coupled with already-established trends like Impressionism and the rise of Neoclassicism, amalgamated into a distinctly French sound characterized by lightness and transparency that was often seen as a rejoinder to what was perceived as the bombastic and pretentiously academic music coming out of Germany. Whether or not that assessment is merited, the resistance to it produced an eclectic and charming collection of music emblematic of this unique time and place.