it is in no respect as exact as the methods of Dupuit or Bouin, nor are the explanations as detailed. This second printing is only understandable by assuming that the aristocratic amateurs did not lay such importance on the perfection of their playing, but were satisfied with more simple directions. From this point of view the methods of Dupuit or Bouin are more suited for virtuosi than for aristocratic dilettantes. Also, Corette was already known in society for his numerous other methods for the guitar, harpsichord, violin, violin cello and bagpipes.
D. The After-effects of the Hurdy-gurdy Vogue
During the reign of Louis XVI the significance of the hurdy-gurdy in courtly society gradually diminished. The descent of the hurdy-gurdy from the aristocracy back to its previous position did not happen abruptly on account of a sudden disinterest in the instrument, but happened within a framework of a gradual lack of interest for it. At a time in which the instrument still enjoyed great respect in society, it was played not only in salons, but served also for entertaining guests in the cafes and restaurants of Paris, where it was also used for a long time for entertainment. The hurdy-gurdy was heard in the Café Procope in the Rue des Fossés-Saint-Germain-des-Prés, an important meeting place of literary figures and cavaliers [fn],and before the French Revolution, also often for the entertainment of guests in the Café Royal d'Alexandre on the Boulevard du Temple [fn]. Even at the beginning of the 19th century the Boulevard du Temple was a center for hurdy-gurdy players: in the final act of the vaudeville "Fanchon la Vielleuse", presented
in 1801, one of the actresses sings:
"Au boulevard du Temple
le jeudi l'on contemple
Tous les gens du bon ton.
Pourquoi la mode a-t-elle
Fait choix de ce lieu?
C'est, dit-on, pour entendre la vielle
La vielle de Fanchon" [fn].
On the Blvd. du Temple
All the fashionable people
are seen each Thursday.
Why is it stylish to make
this choice of venue?
It is said, to hear the hurdy-gurdy,
"Fanchon la Vielleuse" was a three-act play with a text by Jean Nicolas Bouilly and J. Pain and music by Joseph-Denis Doche. The librettist Bouilly also wrote a libretto with the title "Léonore ou l'amour conjugal", which was translated into German by Joseph von Sonnleithner and set to music by Ludwig van Beethoven ("Fidelio"). Doche was at the vaudeville theatre in Paris since 1794 and from 1815 became the first conductor of the orchestra. Among his duties he had to compose airs for theatrical works as well as stage music. In 1801 the "Fanchon la Vielleuse" was performed for the first time at the Théâtre de Vaudeville and had a long-lasting success. The life and experiences of Fanchon were not entirely invented. A Savoyard girl, born in Paris in 1737, with the name of Françoise (called Fanchon) Chemin, later married as Mme. Menart, served as a model [fn]. The events in the life of this Fanchon Chemin were not adopted by the authors; the only things in common with the model lay in the names and their occupation as a hurdy-gurdy player.
The success of the "Fanchon la Vielleuse" gave rise to a great number of imitations in France and in Germany, where this production was known through August von Kotzebue. The musical "Fanchon das Leyermädchen" came into being after Kotzebue had seen J.H. Bouilly's and J. Pain's vaudeville in Paris in 1804. He was so enthused about it that he translated the libretto and gave it to Friedrich Heinrich Himmel, the head of the court band of Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, to provide the music for it. Presented
as early as the 16th of May 1804 for the first time in Berlin, this production had just as long-lasting success as the French original [fn]. The music consists of simple song themes; the noteworthy feature is the frequent use of uneven rhythms also seen in the French music for the hurdy-gurdy from the 18th century. [fn]
The same material appeared once again on the German stage, in Berlin 1854, in a musical "Muttersegen, oder die neue Fanchon"[translation JW: Mother's blessing, or the 