On Jan 15, 2007, at 2:56 PM, Kim Patrick Clow wrote:
On 1/15/07, Andrew Stiller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I have always found this distinction simplistic at best. Orchestras
began to break out of aristocratic boundaries almost immediately
(Corelli gave public concerts), and in London there were multiple,
competing orchestras aimed at various audiences throughout the 18th c.
Don't you think the examples you give are pretty unusual exceptions;
and not the rule? Neal Zaslaw's book "The Birth of the Orchestra:
History of an institution, 1650–1815" discusses the development of
the orchestra. From what he states,
while there are some exceptions, I get the sense orchestral concerts
were the venue of the nobility in Europe. Public concerts ( paid by
ticket sales from the public) were not the norm until the early 19th
century.
It's amazing what two different people can get out of the same book.
Yes of course a majority of 18th-c. orchestras were court
ensembles--but the others were hardly a negligible exception, and
become more and more frequent and widespread over time.
The idea that the orchestra *today* has a largely uppercrust audience
is ludicrous, as one visit to a symphony concert will prove to anyone.
I mean--am *I* from the upper crust? Is my wife, a nurse practitioner?
We subscribe to the Philadelphia Orchestra every year!
The London orchestral public concerts didn't really start until the
J.C. Bach / Abel academies
Spitzer and Zaslaw, pp. 276-305, say otherwise.
Andrew Stiller
Kallisti Music Press
http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/
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