Paris (AFP)

A collective of "artists and intellectuals" called on Friday to "save the musical heritage of Notre-Dame" after five layoffs at the Cathedral Cathedral, following the fire that ravaged the cathedral in April.

In this text published in the daily newspaper Le Figaro, nearly thirty signatories - writers, medievalists, musicologists, musicians, theologians, religious - are particularly worried about the dismissal of the head of the medieval sacred music department, Sylvain Dieudonné, whose describe the action as "an incomparable heritage, cultural and liturgical asset (...) which has brought to light the musical heritage specific to the cathedral, revealing an authentic school of Paris which, from the 12th to the 16th centuries, produced a repertoire of very high musical value ".

The Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris provides comprehensive instruction in the field of solo and choral singing. However, they note "liturgically, a Gregorian office, every Sunday morning, ensured the vitality of this religious heritage and thus showed the solidarity of the tradition which the liturgy reveals".

"In the light of the cathedral fire, it is to be feared that some, measuring the world mark that Notre-Dame de Paris could be, are not tempted to transform mastery into a sort of remake of the Army Choirs red, intended to occur worldwide by wandering a brand, "they write again.

A group of 22 choir students, former singers and parents denounced in a press release published on December 17 "extremely serious procedures for five dismissals, completely abusive and unjustified" and announced that they refused to sing the same evening a concert planned in the Saint-Sulpice church.

The association Musique sacrée at Notre-Dame de Paris, which manages the Maîtrise, had justified the dismissals as essential budgetary consolidation measures, stressing that the fire of April 15 and "the substantial reduction of our concert season resulted in in a few months the loss of a quarter of our operating budget. "

These measures "in no way lead to the cessation of the practice of Gregorian chant and medieval music, nor of their teaching", had assured the association.

The Notre-Dame fire on April 15 sparked extraordinary mobilization in France and around the world: € 922 million in donations and pledges were confirmed, for a total of 320,000 donations.

© 2019 AFP