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The Paris Conservatoire's rigorous curriculum for training both singers and instrumentalists led to a wealth of musical treasures in the form of pieces composed specifically for the end-of-year examinations, which culminated in a public prize competition, the Concours du Conservatoire. The solos composed for these examinations, both the sight-reading works and the longer contest pieces (morceaux de concours), constitute the first extended series of compositions for woodwinds, brass, and harp in music history, being composed nearly annually for each instrument beginning in the 1830s. The wealth of musical treasures resulting from this systematic accumulation of works represents the historical core of these instrumental repertories today. The present volume contains a selection of morceaux de concours and other pieces written in a similar style, representing some of the most influential oboists and composers associated with the Conservatoire.

Expertly arranged Trumpet Solo by Guillaume Balay from the Kalmus Edition series. This is from the 20th Century and Romantic eras.

Brings new insights to the music of well-known European composers by telling a fascinating, little-known story about French music publishing, specifically through the lens of Jacques Durand's Édition Classique. French composers, performers and musicologists acted as editors of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European 'classics', primarily for piano. Among these editors were Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel and Dukas; the objects of their enquiries included core works by Rameau, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Chopin. Presenting six composer-editor case studies, the volume shows that the French 'accent', both musical and cultural, upon this predominantly Austro-German music was highly varied. Editorial responses range from scholarly approaches to those directed by performance or compositional agendas, and from pan-European to strongly patriotic stances. Intriguing intersections are revealed between old and new, and between French and cross-European canons. Beyond editing, the book explores the Édition's role in pedagogy and performance, including by pianists Robert Casadesus and Yvonne Loriod, and in the reassertion of contemporary French composition, especially regarding innovation around neoclassicism. It will interest a wide readership, including musicologists, performers and concert-goers, cultural historians and other humanities scholars.