23.6.11

Fête de la Musique

The “Fête de la Musique” was organised for the first time in France in 1982. It is now celebrated in more than 100 countries. It takes place June 21, summer solstice. So, this year for the 30th time.

It brings out large crowds, especially in the evening hours and if the weather is correct. This year was a bit gray, but the evening was quite fine, just one local shower around midnight.

I made a tour of some events; you can’t see and listen to everything. All kinds of playing and singing take place in every street, in many bars and restaurants, in churches…

Here are some afternoon photos from the Luxembourg Gardens.
Some other shots from a bit “everywhere”.
There was of course music along the Seine banks, but also on many of the boats.
Early evening I went to the medieval Collège des Bernardins (see previous post) where a concert of Mongolian music was proposed. It’s of course very “special”, but I like a lot and the performing three artists, “Ensemble Enkjargal”, were just incredible! Below is a little sample of what it can sound like. There were some chairs, but most of us were sitting on the floor. A fantastic atmosphere! (I have now planned a visit to Mongolia, not only for the music, but also…)

Later in the evening I went to a concert given by the “Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France”, directed by Paavo Järvi. We listened to Schumann for about an hour. Again we were sitting on the floor. Guess where it took place? (See also top picture, where the orchestra is slightly mirrored.)
Coming back home, I could still enjoy the music from the nearby bars.

29 comments:

Montreal Photo Daily said...

You know Peter... I always found your posts to be very informative and entertaining, but this one is definitely way beyond all that! I feel like I'm in Paris enjoying all these events with you as my host. So, thanks again. Au revoir!

Hello from Montreal.

Olivier said...

la fete de la musique à Paris, cela doit etre super, avec tous ces petits concert a chaque coin de rue.

Virginia said...

Oh I loved being in Paris last year for this. What a wonderful night. Thank you for the Mongolian music (which is very calming and peaceful. I see why you enjoyed it. Would like to hear this while we do our yoga class) and the very special photos from the Louvre. Oh my, you had quite a full night Peter!
V

Studio at the Farm said...

YAY ... you made it, with the photos. What a superb musical feast! And thank you for adding the absolutely other-worldly Mongolian ensemble [love the "throat singing"]

SusuPetal said...

Summertime and all kind of festivities! Trevlig midsommar, Peter.

hpy said...

Je n'ai rien entendu. Pourtant je suppose qu'il y avait de la musique aussi chez nous.

Thirtytwo degrees said...

Very exotic sounding...merci!

claude said...

C'est une belle invention cette fête de la musique, il y en a pour tous les goûts. Chacun y trouve les émotions qu'il attand.

Unknown said...

What a colourful event. Seems so far away from where I live, so I hope to visit one day.

Cezar and Léia said...

The music video is wonderful!
So glad that you enjoy this special day there, your pictures are fabulous!
Hugs
Léia

nathalie said...

Merveilleuse première photo qui donne une idée du cadre magique du concert. Quelle idée de génie !

(j'aurais dû me libérer dans l'après-midi, c'est là qu'il y a eu les choses les plus intéressantes à Avignon. Le soir c'est surtout les décibels sur les places et la bière qui coule à flots !)

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Wonderful post, Peter. Thanks so much for sharing!

Delphinium said...

Hello Peter. Pas mis les pieds à la fête de la musique dans ma petite ville suisse. J'ai bossé jusqu'à 19h00 et quand je suis rentrée chez moi, j'ai bossé encore sur un autre truc jusqu'à 23h00.
Je trouve que le concept de "fête de la musique" est intéressant. Par contre, je trouve que cela donne parfois tout et n'importe quoi dans la programmation...
M'enfin... je suis une vieille casse-pied. :-))

Cergie said...

Quelqu'un a-t-il trouvé que la photo du dessus avait été prise ICI ?
Je me demande si l'accoustique était bonne, ce devait être très particuliers d'être là pour ça....
J'aurais aimé être dans la jardin du Luxembourg aussi. J'aurais songé à une Biergarten.

Synne said...

Oooh, I love Music Day, and the fact that Norway has taken up the tradition, only here it falls on the first Saturday of June each year.
How beautiful to see all those musicians gathered under the glass pyramid! Must have been super ambient!
I like how music unites us, no matter where we're from, what language we speak or how we look. It's universal.

Thérèse said...

La musique mongolienne est vraiment tres prenante! Un pays en tete de liste pour moi qui n'aime plus voyager...
Cergie a fait une bonne description de la ou tu te trouvais.
Un beau recapitulatif de la journee. Tu devais etre sur les rotules en fin de journee ou devrais-je dire en fin de nuit?

hpy said...

Pour info, Hervé est dans les Landes, pas loin de Dax. Nous l'avons appelé hier soir, parlé longuement. Si tu veux plus d'info, tu as mon courriel et mon numéro de téléphone.

Jeanie said...

Such a treat to enjoy so much wonderful music! It strikes me as fairly easy to stumble on wonderful music in Paris! You certainly found some at the festival!

Starman said...

Bonjour, Peter. We missed it by a couple days.

arabesque said...

wow peter, to actually sit inside the Louvre even without armrest,
and then witness a performance,
the feeling must've been magical. ^0^
beautiful shots of inside and out.

joanna said...

Peter:

Not only is Paris beautiful the people know how to live -- joie de vi·vre ,,,

The music is hauntingly beautiful - it reaches into your soul past all the senses to a much deeper place within. It must have been sounded fantastic inside that building.

Merci,

joanny

Pierre BOYER said...

Belle hommage à une très belle fête populaire...
Merci !

Pierre

Maria O. Russell said...

What a beautiful post. I would have loved being there. Music is my life!

Thank you,Peter.

joanna said...

Peter:

I had to listen again to the beautiful music, although, I must admit for some reason it evokes very strong emotions and brings tears for something unknown.

joanny

Parisbreakfasts said...

Paris has the BEST fetes to whatever subject they can dream up..

Though they don't seem to have street fairs like NYC.

Still the weekly marches are like a street fair kind of, sort of...

M said...

Peter, This brought back wonderful memories of my experience last year. I had never heard Mongolian musice before -- love it! Thank you for sharing your very busy day with us!

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Ditto Marie and Virginia about our experiences last year. It was amazing and quite cool for June. You have outdone yourself this year and I am determined to return for this wonderful (more than just a day) week of music!

Bises,
Genie

Trotter said...

Another one I missed... How I miss those times when I always had a meeting in Paris around June 21st... :-(

MadAboutParis said...

Bravo...Paavo Järvi - he used to be the conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony...have fun in Mongolia Peter!