Listening in Paris: A Cultural History Volume 21
(Part of the Studies on the History of Society and Culture Series)
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Book Overview
Beginning with the simple question, "Why did audiences grow silent?" Listening in Paris gives a spectator's-eye view of opera and concert life from the Old Regime to the Romantic era, describing the transformation in musical experience from social event to profound aesthetic encounter. James H. Johnson recreates the experience of audiences during these rich decades with brio and wit. Woven into the narrative is an analysis of the political, musical, and aesthetic factors that produced more engaged listening. Johnson shows the gradual pacification of audiences from loud and unruly listeners to the attentive public we know today.
Drawing from a wide range of sources--novels, memoirs, police files, personal correspondence, newspaper reviews, architectural plans, and the like--Johnson brings the performances to life: the hubbub of eighteenth-century opera, the exuberance of Revolutionary audiences, Napoleon's musical authoritarianism, the bourgeoisie's polite consideration. He singles out the music of Gluck, Haydn, Rossini, and Beethoven as especially important in forging new ways of hearing. This book's theoretical edge will appeal to cultural and intellectual historians in many fields and periods.
Drawing from a wide range of sources--novels, memoirs, police files, personal correspondence, newspaper reviews, architectural plans, and the like--Johnson brings the performances to life: the hubbub of eighteenth-century opera, the exuberance of Revolutionary audiences, Napoleon's musical authoritarianism, the bourgeoisie's polite consideration. He singles out the music of Gluck, Haydn, Rossini, and Beethoven as especially important in forging new ways of hearing. This book's theoretical edge will appeal to cultural and intellectual historians in many fields and periods.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0520206487
ISBN13:9780520206489
Release Date:December 1996
Publisher:University of California Press
Length:363 Pages
Weight:1.22 lbs.
Dimensions:1.0" x 5.9" x 9.0"
Related Subjects
Arts, Music & Photography Europe France History History & Criticism Music Performing Arts WorldCustomer Reviews
1 rating
Music History and More
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
This is a fascinating account of musical life in Paris between 1750 and 1850. Although Johnson is trying to discover why opera audiences became silent during this period, he has a lot more than just silence on his mind. The book explores the decline of aristocratic control over music and its take-over by bourgeois audiences; it also traces how music moved from being a cerebral experience to an emotional one. Johnson writes extremely well, and knows how to pick appropriate and witty anecdotes to keep the text moving along. This is one of the few books that both academic scholars and ordinary readers should be able to appreciate and enjoy; it is easily one of the best books on music history to come along in years, and fun to read as well.
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