Musicology 314, 22 March 2023

Handout 3d: The rise of middle-class public patronage

The middle class
 The middle class already existed by the start of the 17 th century, though it was
relatively small. The Renaissance had seen middle-class people begin to influence the
more powerful tiers of society. People of this class became core members of
aristocratic courts due to their high levels of education.
 In the Baroque, and especially the 18th century, the influence of the middle class grew
considerably. This was due to a number of factors.
o (1) There was a large increase in the population of Europe, due mainly to
agricultural improvements — the population increased by 50 – 80% during the
18th century (compared to an increase of 10 – 20% in the 17 th century).
Obviously, the majority of this new population was not of noble birth. This
combined with (2) a massive growth in manufacturing and trade. The
scientific revolution was sweeping through Europe, and with it came
advancements in technology. The middle class grew considerably as a result of
the new commercial markets available to them (though the poor remained far,
far more numerous than any other class). (3) The ideals of the Enlightenment
placed a great emphasis on social equality, which led the middle class to assert
itself politically.
 Although the middle class grew enormously, it remained small in comparison to the
lower class. The poor did not benefit from the scientific revolution or the
Enlightenment. They were generally (1) forced off the land they had occupied for
generations, and (2) pushed into overcrowded urban living conditions as they (3)
sought any form of income after the loss of their lands — this usually meant working
terrible jobs for low wages. When we discuss the “public” music of the 17 th and 18th
centuries, we are referring to music written for and enjoyed by the middle class and
the landed gentry (a land-owning class, who lived a life of leisure, making a large
income off nothing but rent). The lower class factors into the history of Western Art
music predominantly in the form of musicians themselves (who were in most cases
more like a lower tier of the middle class), and the subjects chosen for nationalist and
all manner of Romantic musical treatments (consider Schubert’s Der Leiermann).
Public concerts
 The early public concerts were given by salaried musicians (in the employ of the
monarchy and aristocracy, mostly) as a means to supplement their income. These
musicians also gave private music lessons to amateurs. Amateur music-making was
very much on the rise among the middle class, which caused not only an increase in
teaching opportunities, but also a general increase in the interest given to music.
 The first public concert on the record was given in London, in December of 1672. It
was organised by John Banister, a violinist in the court of King Charles II. The civil
war between Charles I and Parliament and the unstable period directly following this
led to an economic downturn in England, which meant that court musicians’ salaries
were neither large nor entirely reliable. Many of these musicians had to turn to other
 sources of income, and John Banister found himself in this position. The musicians
who played with him at the first public concert did so in return for a percentage of the
total income.
 Banister’s concert had a simple structure. Audience members paid a fee at the door,
ordered and paid for food and drink once inside, and were free to relax and enjoy the
music. The music was representative of diverse genres, from solo instrumental, to
consort, to Italianate song. The concept proved popular, and other similar concerts
began taking place.
 Concerts were advertised in various forms of print media, including newspapers and
posters.
 These were concerts of a type predating the Romantic (and contemporary) concert
culture. People were free to chat and walk around, listening to whatever music caught
their attention, and letting it drift on in the background otherwise. It was as much a
social occasion as a listening one.
 Public concerts really took off after around 1720. They had started in England, but
soon spread to America, France, and the German regions. Examples:
o Concert Spirituel (Paris, founded 1725). Started by composer and oboist Anne
Danican Philidor (Anne was a male name in this case). This series was mainly
comprised of contemporary music, from France and elsewhere in Europe. It
contributed to bringing Italian, German, and Austrian styles into the French
taste. Typically, concerts of this period involved new music, and were a space
for contemporary musical tastes to manifest and spread.
o Academy of Ancient Music (London, founded 1726). Notable for being the
first concert series for the performance of music from the past — almost all
other music being performed was written by contemporary composers.
Compare this to the present day… This idea gained popularity steadily over
the following centuries. Madrigals and sacred music of the 16 th and 17th
centuries were the focal genres of the Academy.
o Series founded in 1763 in Leipzig by Johann Adam Hiller (may have been a
continuation of a previous series), which moved in 1781 to the Gewandhaus (a
trading house for clothing manufacturers). The Gewandhaus orchestra still
exists today, with an unbroken history from 1781.
 Concert programmes were longer and more diverse in the 17 th and 18th centuries than
in most concerts today. Grout, Burkholder, and Palisca present an example from a
1781 concert presented by “Monsieur Raymond” in France. The programme for this
concert was about three hours long, and included a symphony, two concerti, a
symphonie concertant, several arias, and an oratorio.
 The poster for Monsieur Raymond’s concert includes a poem, meant to entice women
to attend the concert. Having a good number of women of appropriate social standing
at these concerts was an important guarantor of prestige. The poem’s self-satisfied
misogynist overtones speak volumes. Only eleven years after this poem was put to
use, Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Women, one of the
earliest stirrings of feminist philosophical writing in Europe. The poem reads as
follows:
 TO THE LADIES
Charming sex, whom I seek to please,
Come embellish the abode of our talents;
By your presence warm up my accents:
Just one of your looks brings me to life and lights me up.
Eh! what does it matter to me, this much vaunted Laurel
With which genius is crowned,
This seal of immortality,
If it is not Beauty who gives it.
(Reprinted from Grout, Burkholder, and Palisca, page 467 in the 9th edition.)

 Note the use of the word “genius”. This idea was not prominent in the Baroque, as
musicians were primarily viewed as craftsmen, but by 1781, perhaps it was hinting
towards something to come in the following century…
SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:
Burkholder, J.P., Grout, D.J., and Palisca, C.V. 2014. A History of Western Music. 9th
edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Hill, J.W. 2005. Baroque Music: Music in Western Europe 1580 – 1750. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company.