Concert Life in London from Mozart to Haydn

This book is a detailed investigation of a lively and innovative period in London's cultural life.

Simon McVeigh (Author)

9780521413534, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 August 1993

324 pages, 13 b/w illus. 1 map
23.6 x 16 x 3 cm, 0.66 kg

"The range of things taken up heighten awareness of what goes into the making of any musical culture." Key Reporter

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the pace of London's concert life quickened dramatically, reflecting both the prosperity and the commercial vitality of the capital. The most significant development was the establishment of the public concert within the social and cultural life of fashionable society. The subscription concerts that premiered symphonies by J. C. Bach and Haydn were conspicuous symbols of luxury, even though they were promoted on broadly commercial lines. Drawing on hitherto untapped archival sources and a comprehensive study of daily newspapers, this book analyses audiences at venues as diverse as the Hanover Square Rooms, Vauxhall Gardens and City taverns. The musical taste of the London public is investigated in the light of contemporary theories of aesthetics, and there is detailed discussion of the financial and practical aspects of concert management and performance, in a period that encouraged enterprise and innovation.

List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
Map of London in the second half of the eighteenth century
1. Prologue
Part I. The Social Role of the Concert: 2. 'An exclusive principle': subscription and ancient concerts
3. Other types of concert
4. The concert in London life
Part II. Attracting an Audience: 5. The musical product: novelty and familiarity
6. The musical product: programming
7. Taste and national idioms
8. Musical style: 'music intended to reach the heart'
9. Musical style: the learned, the sublime and the dramatic
Part III. Concert Management and the Musician: 10. The finances of concert promotion
11. Life as a professional musician
12. The practicalities of concert promotion
13. Epilogue
Appendices
Notes
Musical sources
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4]