Between church and concert the pluri-activities of moulinois musicians in the 18th century

It is surprising how easily church musicians were able to switch to new types of musical activity when the places of worship they had served before the Revolution suddenly closed. One might easily be seduced into believing that the careers of these singers and instrumentalists took place in an entirely self-contained world, that of church choirs and chapels. Yet the organisational rigor of these "musical institutions devoted to God" did not forestall exchanges with the secular music world, even though sources often remain silent in this matter. This article presents the first results of a simultaneous study carried out on the various musical structures in a single provincial town : Moulins, the capital of Bourbonnais. It reveals that there were no real barriers between the Concert and the music of the local church. We find musicians coming and going between the Academy of Music (founded in 1736) and both the Collegiate church of Notre-Dame and the parish church of Saint-Pierre des Menestraux. Whether a famous master of music or a simple church singer from a much more modest background, the same singers and instrumentalists perform both in secular and religious contexts, displaying multiple talents.