2023-06-11 11:41:37
At the National Library of France, the size of the collections is measured in kilometres. The “music” fund represents 18 to 19 km: scores, manuscripts, drafts, notes, correspondence, programs, posters, photos… Stored in temperature and light-controlled reserves, available for public consultation, these archives provide information on the creative activity of great composers. Of this imposing ensemble, the personal archives of “non-classical” music do not go far: less than a kilometre.
This year, two donations enrich this fund of popular music. An exceptional collection of manuscripts by Barbara (the songs Göttingen, Blues, My most beautiful love story, In the wood of Saint-Amand, My childhood…), ceded by the Barbara Perlimpinpin association, joined the reserves in February. And an important gift from Gabriel Yared, who wrote the music for the films The English Patient, 37.2° in the morning, The lives of others…, has just arrived on rue de Richelieu.
Printed music enters by legal deposit
The mission of carrying out an active collection policy for all types of music – variety, rock, children’s songs, reggae, rap, etc. – was set in 2016 at dmusic department of the BnF, which employs around forty people under the direction of Mathias Auclair. The BnF then embarked on a proactive quest for popular music archives: Brel, Brassens, Barbara, Juliette Gréco, Boris Vian, Léo Ferré, Antoine Duhamel, composer of the music of Pierrot le fou and of Let the festivities begin…, enter the walls.
“We are looking for personal archives, drafts, manuscripts, correspondence, all documents that are not published, but which represent a major source for researchers”, explains Benoît Cailmail, deputy director of the music department at the BnF. In other words, everything that precedes the publication, the BnF also receiving by legal deposit all the printed music, that is to say the scores transmitted by the publishers.
The arrival of the Béruriers noirs, an important step
The arrival of the Béruriers noirs fund in 2021 marks a milestone. “Their baroque rock repertoire of the 1980s is becoming fashionable again, it is a source for many artists who come to seek this reference of alternative French rock”, emphasizes Benoît Cailmail, opening the boxes brought by the singer François Guillemot and his partners. We discover a jacket (black, of course!), flyers, songs, photos of this flagship group of the punk rock scene with a brief existence (1978-1982) but with a major influence.
Before this coup, the BnF had bought, in 2002, the manuscript score of The black Eagle they Barbara. “The document was not autograph, because Barbara did not write her songs, she composed them from the pianoo with a dictaphone”, says the curator. On the other hand, the manuscripts of Large Oak de Brassens, acquired in 2020, are written in his hand on schoolboy sheets. We see the author polishing his song to perfection. The BnF pre-empts the documents for €31,200 at a public sale at Artcurial. For €24,710, she acquires those that show Coat of arms take turns. Brassens writes in octosyllables and prepares for his rhymes a long list of flowers and precious stones: he will keep none of them at the end!
Brel’s spiral notebook
Another jewel of the reserves, another style, a small spiral notebook by Brel reveals various very different drafts of Jacky’s Song and D’Amsterdam, crossed out, annotated, mixed with small drawings. The document was also pre-empted in 2018. While it is possible to acquire archives of deceased artists during public sales or to obtain donations during inheritances, convincing practicing authors is more complicated. “In popular music, we have no offer, because most living artists do not know that conservation by the BnF exists”, deplores Benoît Cailmail.
Many variety artists also do not imagine that their archives could be of interest to the BnF, or even that they have historical value. Two reactions bristle the collectors: “But I have nothing to give you!” » or “Ah, damn it, I threw it all away! » To convince, the curators describe their mission of general interest: to collect, preserve, communicate to readers. “We are a bit like undertakers, we remind them that they are not eternal,” says Benoît Cailmail. His plea is grounded: “What are you going to bequeath to posterity? If someone later wants to look at your work and understand how you worked, what sources will they have? Donate your records! For you, it will be a gift, and the State will spend a lot to preserve them for future generations. »
But giving personal papers is not easy. Dominique A and Renaud preferred to lend some for exhibitions and then take them back. Competition from museums and private collectors also comes into play. Thus, Charlotte Gainsbourg keeps documents from her father, exhibited this spring at the Center Pompidou, for the museum she is dedicating to him and which is due to open in Paris in September.
Five times the estimate for the Brassens manuscripts
Selling one’s manuscripts at auction is also a strong temptation for authors and their heirs, even if in France, we remain very far from the Anglo-Saxons. “The market for singer archives remains small”, confirms Frédéric Harnisch, director of the books and manuscripts department at Artcurial. He organized the Brassens sale of September 22, 2020: “We sold everything at prices much higher than estimated. It was a considerable set of interesting, relevant, attested and indisputable provenance: the documents that Brassens had offered to his friend Fred Mella, a member of the Compagnons de la chanson. » In total, the 22 lots were purchased for €377,650, five times more than the estimate, with nine pre-emptions from the City of Sète and the BnF.
“With this sale, we reached a new public, who came with a strong emotional bond, who wanted a souvenir. The quality of the documents did the rest,” explains Frédéric Harnisch. A Brassens sheet costs between €2,000 and €3,000. “But don’t imagine that many other artists will be in the same boat! », says the expert. The great authors, such as Aznavour or Nougaro, attract interest, but no rating exists for the musical archives. Living artists must therefore judge for themselves their posterity and the fate of the papers they will leave behind. The BnF, the oldest cultural institution in France, promises them a form of eternity.
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Record auction for pop hit archives
2022, David Bowie, Starman. Written in blue ink on a squared sheet, the manuscript was bought for €227,000.
2020, les Beatles, Hey Jude. During an online sale for the 50th anniversary of the separation of the Beatles, the manuscript of Lennon/McCartney is awarded at 832,000 €.
2020, Bob Dylan, Most Likely You Go Your Way. The lyrics to this album track Blonde On Blonde are purchased for €45,000.
2015, Don McLean, American Pie. The 17 pages of annotated manuscripts of the famous ballad sell for 1.12 million euros.
2014, Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone. The preparatory texts for the manifesto song of the Beat Generation are sold for 1.9 million euros.
2010, John Lennon, A Day in the Life. This Beatles song is said to have been written by Lennon alone. His autograph manuscripts sell for 1.12 million euros.
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