Experience a lecture-performance exploring the music of the early days of the French Revolution Thursday, May 2, at 7 p.m., in the theater of the Downtown Branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, 1201 Caroline Street. The free public event is sponsored by the Fredericksburg Sister City Association, the French sister city of Fredericksburg.
The talk will focus on the period’s music as it relates to General Lafayette’s command of the French National Guard, and the dissolution of the Ancien Régime. The program is the third in a series of free lectures offered as a part of the Fredericksburg Lafayette Bicentennial Commemoration. The commemoration honors Lafayette, with a focus on this American Revolutionary hero and his visit to Fredericksburg in 1824.
The title of the lecture, Ça Ira, refers to “a popular song from the French Revolution,” said Craig Vasey, president of the French sister city group. “The phrase means ‘It’s going to be alright,’ ” he explained.
The speakers for the evening are Dominic Giardino, an historical clarinetist based in Williamsburg; and Dr. Chris Troiano, of George Mason University. The two researchers specialize in historical performance. Their lecture-performance “will transport listeners to the desperate but optimistic early days of the French Revolution,” when “music left the aristocratic great rooms of Versailles, and poured onto the streets of Paris,” commented Giardino and Troiano.
The evening’s program will also include accompaniment by Music of the Regiment, an ensemble of historical performance musicians.
More information about the Ça Ira lecture and its presenters, about the lecture series, and about the Commemoration Weekend, planned for November 23-24, is available at fxbg.com/lafayette.
