Description

If modernity in Berlioz’s time is taken as research into anything unconventional, anything that made it possible to escape the positivism of the Enlightenment, then one of its matrices could be the Romantic fascination for exoticism, for the spirit of the people, and for legendary models that were a product of a past at variance with classical antiquity. This article reiterates how what was called “local colour” in the 19th century was one of the main driving forces behind reformist thought processes and the changes happening in musical language in France. This can be seen in the works of Ladurner, Rossini, Liszt, Chopin, Félicien David and Salvador-Daniel, which are an illustration of this liking for Swiss, Slavic, Gypsy or Oriental inspiration.