Listening in Paris : a cultural history /
James H. Johnson.
- xvi, 384 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
- Studies on the history of society and culture ; 21 .
- Studies on the history of society and culture ; 21. .
Based on author's dissertation (doctoral)-- University of Chicago, 1988.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 349-377) and index.
List of Illustrations -- List of Musical Examples -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Opera as Social Duty -- Expression as Imitation -- Tears and the New Attentiveness -- Concerts in the Old Regime -- Harmony's Passions and the Public -- Entertainment and the Revolution -- Musical Experience of the Terror -- Musical Expression and Jacobin Ideology -- Epilogue: Thermidor and the Return of Entertainment -- Napoleon's Show -- The Theatre Italien and Its Elites -- The Birth of Public Concerts -- In Search of Harmony's Sentiments -- The Social Roots of Silence -- Operatic Rebirth and the Return of Grandeur -- Beethoven Triumphant -- The Musical Experience of Romanticism -- Afterword -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
"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."--Publisher description.
0520206487 9780520206489
94006492
Music--History and criticism--France Music--Social aspects Music appreciation