Noir Désir were a French rock band from Bordeaux. They were active during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, and have had two albums certified double platinum in France and three certified gold.
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Jean Ferrat was a French singer-songwriter and poet. He specialized in singing poetry, particularly that of Louis Aragon.
Zebda is a French music group from Toulouse (France) known for its political activism and its wide variety of musical styles. The group, which was formed in 1985, consisted of seven musicians of diverse nationalities, and the themes of much of their music involved political and social justice, the status of immigrants and minorities in France, and the inhabitants of the French banlieues, or suburbs
Léo Ferré was a French-born Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer, whose career in France dominated the years after the Second World War until his death in 1993.
Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan, known as Renaud, is a popular French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style.
Charlie Hebdo ( French for Charlie Weekly) is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. Irreverent and stridently non-conformist in tone, the publication describes itself as above all secular, skeptic, and atheist, far-left-wing, and anti-racist publishing articles about the extreme right (especially the French nationalist National Front party),religion (Catholicism, Islam, Judaism), politics and culture.
IAM have been around since the very start of French hip-hop, with their politically-motivated music touching on everything from racism and Islam to cultural identity.
Assassin's lyrics often cover socio-political themes such as colonization, slavery, women's rights, conspiracy theories, and they were probably the first hardcore group to rap about politics in France.
Bérurier Noir (anti-Front National)
Music
The growth of classical music parallels that of painting. Despite work from earlier periods by Louis Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, and Jean-Baptiste Lully, for example, French music gained a broad international following only in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Such composers as Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Saëns, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and the Polish-born Frédéric Chopin created a distinctively French style, further developed in the 20th century by composers such as Pierre Boulez, Darius Milhaud, and Erik Satie. In the late 20th century much experimentation occurred with electronic musicand acoustics. The Institute for Experimentation and Research in Music and Acoustics (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), in Paris, remains devoted to musical innovation. A new generation of French musicians includes the pianists Hélène Mercier and Brigitte Engerer.
Training for the musical profession remains traditional. Local conservatoires throughout the country provide basic grounding; some provincial schools—at Lyon and Strasbourg, for example—offer more advanced work, but young people with talent aim for the National Conservatory of Music in Paris, where Nadia Boulanger taught. Since World War II, Paris has hosted internationally famous conductors, such as Herbert von Karajan and Daniel Barenboim, who have made contributions in revitalizing an interest in classical music. Major visiting orchestras perform at the Châtelet Theatre or the Pleyel Concert Hall, and concerts are given by smaller groups in many of the churches. There is a network of provincial orchestras.
Although interest in classical music has grown at the amateur level, it is practiced by a relatively small number. The young tend to be preoccupied with popular music, especially that imported from the United States and the United Kingdom. The tradition of the French chanson, the romantic French ballad, has continued, however, following such legendary stylists as Juliette Gréco, Edith Piaf, Belgian-born Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, and Georges Brassens. Moreover, France has produced rock performers such as Johnny Hallyday and the group Téléphone, as well as chanteuses of the 1960s such as Franƈoise Hardy, known for pop music called yé-yé (“yeah-yeah”). Other well-known artists of the late 20th century included Julien Clerc, Jean-Jacques Goldman, and Renaud. However, all were considerably more popular nationally than internationally. Singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg achieved global popularity for his sensual music as well as his romantic links to actresses Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin. Later, Gainsbourg’s daughter Charlotte emerged as a force in her own right, garnering acclaim for her acting skills as well as her finely crafted pop songs. Perhaps France’s biggest international music act of the 21st century was the electronic duo Daft Punk, who brought dance-club beats to stadium-sized crowds around the world.
The Paris Opéra, established in 1669, prospered under the efforts of Lully, Rameau, Christoph Gluck, Berlioz, Georges Bizet, and Francis Poulenc. France was known for the traditions of opéra comique and grand opera, among others.
This information has been taken directly from Nancy Green's Artist and Activists Libguide at the Timberlane Regional High School.
