Date Thesis Awarded
5-2009
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
Modern Languages and Literatures
Advisor
Maryse Fauvel
Committee Members
Michael Leruth
Thomas Payne
Abstract
This honors thesis explores the significance of the French pipe organ within the cultural and historical context of 18th century Paris. As the center of the French Enlightenment, Paris experienced changes including the rise of a 'public' voice, the development of the public concert, and the questioning of Catholic authority. As a fundamentally liturgical instrument, how did the organ respond to this changing cultural and political climate? Through a study of the presentation and reception of Parisian organs and their music, I will argue that, though the pipe organ was constricted by its place as a religious icon, its music and presence were able to work within these constraints to reflect and contribute to the formation of an Enlightened Paris in eighteenth-century France.
Recommended Citation
Wagstaff, Laura Frances, "Instrument of Enlightenment: A Cultural History of the Pipe Organ in Pre-Revolutionary Eighteenth-Century France" (2009). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 298.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/298
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.