Philharmonies. Amateurs and French musical life in the first 19th century

During the early 19th Century, French Cities' musical life was reshaped through "philharmonic societies". Founded by amateurs, usually helped by professional musicians, this type of organization appeared all around the country. Mainly dedicated to concerts - establishment of an orchestra, organization of regular events, and choice of repertoire -, their activities did not limit themselves to it. Philharmonic societies were also shaped like learned societies : they published memoirs and brochures and were also devoted to the uprising of music education. Inheriting from the 18th Century's practices, they were also redrawing a new model : by widening their social base and by finding sources of finance outside patronage. In order to understand this artistic movement, one must go back to the definition itself of the "amateur" in the music domain.