[FR] Music made in Europe

Party / Perform. Since its launch 40 years ago, the most popular and spontaneous music festival has played on the double meaning of this phrase, as seen on its annual posters. The brilliant idea of its creators in 1982 – Maurice Fleuret and Jack Lang – was to encourage the millions of French people who play an instrument or sing in a choir to get out and perform. In the streets, in train stations, in kiosks and squares. ‘Music will be everywhere and the concert nowhere’ sums up the generous vision of an event that aims to unite amateurs and professionals and open up to all musical genres for an evening marking the beginning of summer, echoing Saint John’s Day.

The Music Festival succeeded in its social challenge right from the start. ‘It enters prisons, shares the lives of patients and hospital staff, brings schools closer to music, establishes links and exchanges between the city and its suburbs, irrigates rural communities, and promotes the work of individuals, groups, associations and entire communities,’ says the French Ministry of Culture, which created the event.

Although the celebration lasts only a day, or rather a night, it usually requires years of practice, hours of rehearsal, creative exploration and moments of creative block. The exhilaration of playing outdoors is preceded by solitary scales, the difficulty of a passage that has to be rehearsed over and over again, vocal warm-ups and stage fright at the thought of performing in public. But desire prevails and emulation does the rest. Beyond borders.

The event quickly took on a European dimension. Thanks to the European Year of Music in 1985, just three years after its launch, it was exported. From Athens, François Mitterrand kicked off an evening on 21 June that year where ‘30 million Europeans, mainly young people, (…) will play music, well or badly, but will express what is in their hearts’. A ‘Charter of Partners of the European Music Festival’ was signed in 1997 in Budapest by cities across the continent. The text set out the principles, notably that the festival should be free for all audiences.

French alliances and institutes contributed to the Europeanisation of a festival that everywhere relies primarily on amateur participation. It became Fest der Musik in Germany, Make Music Day in the United Kingdom, Festa della Musica in Italy and Dia Internacional de la Música in Spain. Today, 120 countries around the world celebrate it.

While the language of music is universal, its reach too often remains confined to its country of origin. From France, we are unaware of what people listen to and what is being created in Greece, Sweden, Portugal or Poland. Even the famous Eurovision Song Contest does not cover the whole spectrum. The aim of our sound exhibition ‘Music made in Europe’ is, without any claim to exhaustiveness, to break down the barriers between national successes. Through a selection of tracks, we aim to awaken musical curiosity about what is ultimately not so far away, to listen to the far corners of the continent.

Including Ukraine, which has been living for four months under the whistle of bombs and the roar of explosions. For just as long, charity concerts and anti-war songs have been reminding us of the consoling power of music, that ‘language of emotions’ as Kant defined it.

Thanks to Anne-Julia Manaranche, editorial manager of our think tank, for her talented visual, textual and audio layout and, above all, for her wide and eclectic selection of music. She put it together with the help of our team from across Europe, who drew on their favourite playlists. Thanks also to photographer Juliette Seguin, whose snapshots taken across the continent perfectly capture the joy of playing and listening to music. A celebration that should always be repeated.