Social Order and Music

Today I read an introduction to a book by Riedel. The article was entitled “the social order and music.” Most of the article gives us the historical background of the nineteenth century. Everything relates to this idea of continuous expansion. Riedel discusses the influence of the French revolution and how the concept of government 'for the people' is shaping other nations. Inventors and inventions were multiplying. The cotton gin, electricity, the railroad, the telephone...All this mechanistic growth inevitably leads to continuous expansion: people are traveling further, communicating over wide distances, mass producing all sorts of new technologies. Mass education is a natural response to the need for specialized labor. It also embodies the ideals of the democratic system. Equality means equal opportunity to learn. Another hugely important innovation was in the field of medicine. Scientists eliminated diseases with vaccinations, public health improvements (including the use of soap), and with the addition of nursing and pharmaceutical professions.

Riedel finally connects this historical information with music. The most direct increase in music awareness comes from the increased middle class. With the wealth and the education, this class begins to attend the concerts. Originally for a small group of aristocrats, classical music begins to find a much larger body of supporters. Naturally, with the increase in concerts, comes the increase in performers. Publishing flourishes and the number of keyboard instruments grows. Music reviews, articles, newspaper appearances, and periodicals also increase the public’s awareness of classical music. The demand for more teachers and performers resulted in the construction of music conservatories.

I find that the discussion on the content of romantic music was the most interesting part of this introduction. The composers are trying to take people away from the world they live in. The mechanical ugly environment is not very appealing. Composers create this dream world full of nostalgia, wonder for nature, and personal expression. Wagner set Lohengrin, for example, in a castle (romantic image). The effect was to escape reality to confront the technical age with the natural: emotions of love, the rural folklore image, and the concept of exoticism.

There was also a significant change in the patronage system. Although the system was still around, it was quite different from how it worked in the Baroque and Classical eras. As in the previous periods, the aristocracy had a lot of control over the composing. The artists were restricted by the patrons stipulations—form, occasion, instrumentation—are sometimes out of the hands of the composer to decide. The patron says write a rondo for a brass choir at a royal party, and you do it. Because the patrons are now the middle class, there was a certainly a great deal of artistic freedom. Composers without patrons, however, had a hard time keeping a steady job, hence the cliché of the struggling, starving musician.

Nationalism was on the rise in the romantic period. Composers such as Grieg, Dvorak, and the Russian five, utilized characteristics of folk music in their works. Certain scales, melodies, melody types, and folklore forms, allowed these composers to differentiate their countries styles and therefore, promote nationalism.