After spending 10 months in Argentina in 2023, I became quite enthralled with tango and tango music. Of course, in order to understand where the influence of the music came from, one must travel across the ocean over to the province of Auvergne, France. From this region, derived a song and dance called la bouree. This music was accompanied by a bagpipe variation called the cornemuse or cabrette. The term musette came from the name of the instrument. The musette dances evolved into the tango, the walz, and the paso doble. Eventually, the music evolved to include other genres like jazz and blues.

Bal Musette History
The French attended a bal musette as a form of social entertainment, much the way that the Argentines attend a milonga today. This entertainment was popular among the artistic and literary avant-garde socialites. It was so popular that it was often the focus of artists like Manet and Toulouse-Lautrec.
Attending a bal musette was popular until the mid-20th century. It even found its way into literary works by Ernest Hemmingway. Hemmingway references it in “A Moveable Feast,” and the bal musette inspired one scene in “The Sun Also Rises.” As someone who truly enjoyed reading Hemmingway in high school, I found this intriguing. His inspiration was a result of his experience living above a bal musette located at 74 rue du Cardinal-Lemoine. That ball was called “Bal au Printemp” or Spring Ball.

Instruments and Dance
Musette (Cabrette)
Musette music is instantly recognizable. Most associate it with the romantic allure of Paris, with its minor keys, jaunty melodies, and styles that evoke the resilience of the human spirit. The musette (cabrette) is a small goatskin bagpipe. This instrument was wildly popular in Auvergne in the 19th century (1800s). The word musette originated in the 13th century. This sophisticated bagpipe has a cloth bag (or goatskin bag) filled with air. The musician would hold the bag under one arm while placing his or her fingers over the various holes on the attached pipes to create a drone sound. It was very common in the countryside region of Limousin. It was often played alongside the hurdy-gurdy or the violin.
Hurdy-Gurdy or Viella a Roue
This unique instrument dates back to the 12th century. Similar to a bagpipe, it uses drone to create its sound. The drone is produced by a wheel that is turned by the musician as they play the strings. It is the first stringed instrument to be played by keys. In other words, this instrument played the strings in a similar manner as a harpsicord or piano does today while simultaneously maintaining a drone with the turning of the wheel.
The musette was later brought from this remote region to Paris by immigrants looking for work. Many of them opened cafes or bars, where they would often hold bals musettes (this is identical to the milongas in Argentina - they are also held in cafes and bars at night - converting the space into a dancehall). The bals musettes were found on rue de Lappe in the Bastille district. Emile Vacher, who created the Bal musette, first called it bal des bougnats. Due to the cramped spaces, the styles of dancing that were created involved very tightly coupled dancers. Traditional dances were now made with smaller steps and 360° (or more!) turns.
Accordion
The first bals musettes had a variety of music styles performed. Popular music included mazurkas, waltzes, bourrées, and polkas. Most popular were the waltzes. As a result, many often refer to waltzes as musettes (see music composition titles of various composers for reference). However, there would soon be a new instrument added to the scene when Italian immigrants appeared with the accordion. Many were resistant to the instrument initially as they felt it was a bit brash, but its sophistication won them over eventually. Soon, it was one of the most prominent instruments heard. By the early 1900s, the accordion had completely replaced the cabrette and the hurdy gurdy.

Evolution
During WWI and WWII the bals musettes continued to grow and flourish. New musical styles were added to the repertoire, including foxtrots, javas, and paso dobles. This eventually led to the inclusion of jazz, otherwise known as “swing.” This particular dance was staunchly resisted the same way that the accordion was when it first arrived to the scene. The acrobatic nature of the dancers did not align well with the tightly coupled dancers on the dance floor.
This evolution occurred as a result of the musicians who were playing in both bal musette and swing ensembles on alternating nights due to the growth of the gig culture for musicians. As a result, they would sneak in a random piece from the differing repertoires, intermixing the experience for the dancers within the course of an evening. By the 1940’s, this was standard fare.
Another new element, commonly considered a result of jazz improvisation, was Manouche. Manouche was often referred to as gypsy music, played by musicians who joined the musette bands as banjo players and guitarists.
Musette accordion was the sound of popular French music in the 1950’s. Only to eventually find itself marginalized by the newer dance music like rock and disco in the coming decades. Despite this, it has still survived remarkably well in France. Dance groups perform to accordion waltzes and javas. It is also not uncommon to find them at weddings around the country, especially in rural summer balls.
The last two decades of the 20th century found a resurgence in musette accordion with popular groups that were on the cutting edge. Les Negresses Vertes was among them.
Some merged musette accordion with a variation of the punk that was popular at the time. As we see in the example below by Les Garçons Bouchers.
In the 2000s, we continue to see the inclusion of this style of music popular in France. Têtes Raides began in the late 1900s and continue to produce new music in this style today.
Tango, originating out of Buenos Aires, Argentina, also found its way back to the dance floors of France. This was commonly seen among the LGBTQ community who would hold dances on Friday and Saturday nights called La Boîte à Frissons (The Trembling Box, an old slang term for an accordion). Dancing in the arms of a partner continues to be popular on dance floors in France and around the world.
References
Tchamouroff, S. (date unknown) Bal Musette: A short history. The Washington Metropolitan Accordian Society. https://www.washingtonaccordions.org/bal-musette.html
Bal-Musett Instruments. Resonance: Music Heritage of La Francophonie. Canadian Museum of History. https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/arts/resonance/res5_13e.html
History of the Accordion Musette (2020). Fonteneau Accordéons. https://en.fonteneau-accordeons.fr/blogs/le-blog-de-laccordeon/histoire-de-laccordeon-musette
History of the bals musette (dances with accordion music). (1999) Dances sans visa. https://fresques.ina.fr/danses-sans-visa-en/fiche-media/Dasavi00705/history-of-the-bals-musette-dances-with-accordion-music.html