Foundation The society was founded during the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. In the brief lull between the ending of the
siege of Paris and the rise and fall of the
Paris Commune, a group of French musicians met on 25 February 1871 to agree how to promote French music. Before this, French concert halls were dominated by the German symphonic and chamber repertoire; for example, at the popular
Pasdeloup concerts between 1861 and 1873,
Berlioz and
Gounod were programmed 31 times each, and Saint-Saëns 12, compared to 43 performances of
Wagner's music and 350 of
Beethoven's. A wave of anti-German and nationalist sentiments that arose in the wake of the French defeat made the dominance of German music intolerable to many. (top) and
Camille Saint-Saëns|alt=Elderly white man with white hair and bushy beard; middle-aged white man with short greying hair and neat beard The moving forces behind the new society were
Romain Bussine, professor of singing at the
Paris Conservatoire and the composer
Camille Saint-Saëns. An executive committee was formed and had its first meeting on 17 March at Bussine's house in the rue Chabanais. Bussine was president,
Ernest Reyer vice-president (replaced by Saint-Saëns shortly afterwards),
Alexis de Castillon secretary and
Jules Garcin assistant secretary. Another clause in the constitution laid down, "No one can be part of the Society as an active member, unless he is French".
Development The society leaned heavily towards chamber music and away from opera. In the early years, concerts were for members only, but in an attempt to increase the society's income and enable it to pay for orchestras, tickets were later made available to the general public. In a survey of the society's work, Alain Cochart lists some of the well-known works premiered by or written for it in its first thirty years.
Chabrier's
Pièces pittoresques (1881) and
Bourrée fantasque (1893); Franck's
Piano Quintet (1880),
Prélude, Choral and Fugue (1885),
Variations symphoniques (1886) and
String Quartet (1890); Fauré's
Violin Sonata No. 1 (1877) and Piano Quartets Nos
1 and
2 (1880 and 1887);
Cinq mélodies "de Venise" (1892) and
La Bonne chanson (1895); Chausson's
Symphony (1891);
Dukas's ''
L'Apprenti sorcier'' (1897); and
Debussy's String Quartet (1893), ''
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894) and Pour le piano'' (1902). In 1910 a group of young French composers led by
Maurice Ravel rebelled, and set up a rival organisation, the
Société musicale indépendante (SMI). They secured Fauré as their president, and for a while outshone the older body, attracting composers including
Béla Bartók,
Manuel de Falla,
Arnold Schoenberg,
Igor Stravinsky and
Anton Webern. During the
First World War strong attempts were made to bring the old and new societies together. D'Indy stood down as president of the Société nationale to allow his old friend Fauré to become president of both organisations in readiness for the merger, but the younger elements of the SMI were not reconciled with the old guard, and the proposal foundered. The two organisations continued to function separately until the SMI was wound up in 1935, after giving 171 concerts in its 25 years of existence. In the inter-war years the Société nationale presented new works by composers including
Arthur Honegger,
Bohuslav Martinů and less well-known composers including Henri Lutz, Marcel Pollet, Marcel Lubey and
Déodat de Séverac. The society's existence came to an end in 1939, under its last president,
Florent Schmitt. In the early 20th century
Romain Rolland wrote: ==Notes, references and sources==