First Annual Symposium of the Institute for Gounod Studies. 23-24 March 1991. The College Club, Pittsburgh
The Institute for Gounod Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, founded in cooperation with the University of Paris in February 1989, is envisioned as a site and a forum for the study of French music, especially that of the nineteenth century. It has three aims: to examine the creative influence of Charles Gounod; to perform his music and rarely heard works of others; and to examine the political, economic, psychological and linguistic contexts of nineteenth-century French musical activity. In addition to developing a research collection of books, scores, recordings and manuscripts of the nineteenth century, the Institute has also organized a yearly symposium that will enable scholars working in the field to exchange information and ideas. Organized by Prof. Kenneth Langevin of Carnegie Mellon, who is also a moving force behind the establishment of the Institute, the First Annual Gounod Symposium, was held 23-24 March 1991, at The College Club in Pittsburgh. At this two-day symposium scholars from the United States and Canada presented fifteen papers that touched upon a number of the leading French or Paris-based composers of the nineteenth century: Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Liszt, Thomas, Offenbach, Saint-Saans, Bizet, d'Indy and Debussy. Gounod, for his part, received special attention as a composer of opera. Within these parameters, however, topics ranged widely, from literary or metaphorical interpretations to the presentation of little-known social-historical information and the performance of nearly forgotten works and early versions, either live or on tape. The first of the four sessions, organized around literary contexts, opened with a paper by William E. Grim (Ohio University), "Gounod's Faust as a Literary Metaphor." He pointed out that the popularity of Faust led to its frequent use as metaphor and subject matter 133