The beggars’ opera house

Reaction to the fire at Notre Dame has focused on the building as a great religious centre, a treasure house of artworks and religious relics, and a monument to Gothic architecture. Hardly mentioned is Notre Dame’s position as the crucible of Western classical music; possibly the most important building in the art form’s development.

Its musical glory days began soon after consecration in 1196. It was surrounded by liberal arts schools, with scholars and theorists from all over Europe. Thanks to them, virtuoso singers and the incredible acoustics, something extraordinary came into being — polyphony, music in many parts; the most momentous invention in Western music history.

One composer who stands out from that period is Magister Perotinus, or Pérotin, whose towering pieces of four-part polyphony have unsurpassed grandeur. Fortunately, the manuscripts that preserve his music and others of the Notre Dame School are scattered in monasteries and libraries all over Europe, so were in no danger from the fire. There might be quite a few manuscripts lost, however, because Notre Dame had other rich periods in its history. Some fine composers later held the post of master of music, including Louis Campra. And the neoclassical organ built in the 1730s was the best in France. Vespers, the most popular service, went down so well with the poor of Paris that it was nicknamed l’opéra des gueux (the beggars’ opera).

But the really important moment was the installation in 1868 of a new organ, the work of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. With its “symphonic” sound, it spawned a whole school of French organ composers, including Louis Vierne, Notre Dame’s organist in 1900.

The organ was a colossus, with five keyboards, 115 stops and almost 8,000 pipes. The most visible monument to Notre Dame’s glorious musical history, we should be thankful it has survived. — © The Daily Telegraph