On 15 Oct 2004 at 19:25, John Howell wrote: > Possibly a C theme, or a variation on the B theme. Prior to the late > 18th century, ALL music was ephemeral. . . .
And: > Development section. Guess what? The music of Mozart, Haydn and > Beethoven NEVER WENT OUT OF STYLE! Bach had Palestrina in his repertory. In Salzburg, the sacred repertory included music of the previous 100 years (though all of it by local Salzburg composers). In Leipzig, Bach's music never disappeared (contrary to the hagiography of the Bach revival), and his music was studied and valued by many composers outside Leipzig (including, quite notably, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann (before Mendelssohn's big revival) and just about everyone we've heard of and many we haven't). What changed around 1800 was how widespread the acclaim for these musicians became. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven were the first composers to have European-wide reputations that outlasted them. A couple of things caused this: 1. development of commercial mechanisms to allow publishing and distribution continent-wide (culture-wide). 2. the rise of a middle class to buy music (and perhaps doing so as a way of taking on the airs of the upper class). Before that time music was largely local (with many notable exceptions, of course, but none with the reach of either of the Classical period's big three). So, I would argue that the beginning of the Classical canon is probably a result of the industrial revolution. There's also a huge role in there for the rise of German nationalism, but that's another thesis entirely. -- David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton David Fenton Associates http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
