Félicien David – the revealer of musical exoticism in the Romantic Era
Félicien David – the revealer of musical exoticism in the Romantic Era

Summary/Abstract: This paper argues about one of the features which distinguish 19th century Romantic art: exoticism. Unknown cultures, distant places, different peoples, all these were considered exotic and fascinated the European public. The Orient was perceived as an exotic world, the study of its cultures became widespread, works of art representing the East were created – this approach to the East is one of the meanings of the term Orientalism. The magic of the East captured the artists, writers and musician, among them Félicien David, the French composer who, after travelling to the Orient and spending two years in Egypt would return to France with the sound of the desert imprinted in his soul and merge the music of the East with the traditional European compositional techniques, creating a new language to express exoticism through music, his masterpiece: „Le Désert”.

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