The Great Transformation of Musical Taste: Concert Programming from Haydn to Brahms - Softcover

Weber, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521124239 ISBN 13: 9780521124232

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Grounded in knowledge of thousands of programs, this book examines how musical life in London, Leipzig, Vienna, Boston, and other cities underwent a fundamental transformation in relationship with movements in European politics. William Weber traces how musical taste evolved in European concert programs from 1750 to 1870, as separate worlds arose around classical music and popular songs. In 1780 a typical program accommodated a variety of tastes through a patterned 'miscellany' of genres, held together by diplomatic musicians. This framework began weakening around 1800 as new kinds of music appeared, from string quartets to quadrilles to ballads, which could not easily coexist on the same programs. Utopian ideas and extravagant experiments influenced programming as ideological battles were fought over who should govern musical taste. More than a hundred illustrations or transcriptions of programs enable readers to follow Weber's analysis in detail.

About this title

Book Description

Tracing the evolution of musical taste in European concert programs from 1750 to 1870, William Weber demonstrates how separate worlds arose around classical music, popular songs, and opera selections. The book includes over a hundred transcriptions of programs, enabling the reader to follow the analysis in detail.

About the Author

William Weber is Professor of History at California State University, Long Beach.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521124239
• ISBN 13: 9780521124232
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 380