Published in three volumes between 1962 and 1964, La Symphonie française au XVIIIe siècle was Barry S. Brook’s groundbreaking study of the French symphonic tradition. At a time when histories of the classical symphony focused overwhelmingly on German-speaking musical centers, Brook sought to reassess the role of France in the development of 18th-century orchestral music and to document a repertory that had largely disappeared from scholarly discourse.

The project combined historical research, thematic cataloguing, and musical editing on an unprecedented scale. Working in about 40 libraries, archives, and private collections across Europe and the United States, Brook assembled documentation for hundreds of symphonic sources, many of which had been overlooked, misidentified, or presumed lost. His research identified more than 150 French composers who collectively produced over 1,200 symphonies and symphonies concertantes during the18th century.

The first volume presents a historical study of French symphonic culture, tracing the emergence, dissemination, and reception of the symphony in France. The second volume provides a comprehensive thematic catalogue of sources, while the third volume publishes a selection of previously unavailable scores. Together, the volumes established a documentary foundation for the study of French orchestral music and opened new avenues for research on composers, concert life, publishing, patronage, and performance practice.

Beyond its immediate findings, La Symphonie française au XVIIIe siècle exemplified the research methods that would characterize many of Brook’s later projects: large-scale archival investigation, international scholarly collaboration, source recovery, and systematic musical documentation. By bringing together dispersed materials from collections throughout Europe and North America, the project helped reshape scholarly understanding of the 18th-century symphony and remains a foundational resource for the study of French instrumental music.

Contact information:

Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation
CUNY Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(212) 817-1991

cmrd@gc.cuny.edu