![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Book Review
Nov. 1st, 2014 02:09 pmMusic in the Eighteenth Century
by John A. Rice
Rice organizes his book on 18th century music rather geographically, taking the reader on something of a musical tour of Europe, showing the development of musical life in each area. This development - especially how the social and political changes of the eighteenth century affected musical life - is a major theme of the book, and Rice's organization supports it very well. It was particularly interesting to see how the features of modern music-making started to emerge during this period: public concerts, freelance composers and performers, etc.
Like the other books in this series (Western Music in Context), Music in the Eighteenth Century gives as wide a view as possible of its period instead of concentrating on a few "great men". This approach is very appealing as it allows more attention to the contributions of women and minorities as well as at how music really worked in those societies. This latter aspect was especially fascinating in this period, as Rice shows how music moved from being mainly the preserve of the aristocracy to being an art and activity for a much wider swathe of society.
by John A. Rice
Rice organizes his book on 18th century music rather geographically, taking the reader on something of a musical tour of Europe, showing the development of musical life in each area. This development - especially how the social and political changes of the eighteenth century affected musical life - is a major theme of the book, and Rice's organization supports it very well. It was particularly interesting to see how the features of modern music-making started to emerge during this period: public concerts, freelance composers and performers, etc.
Like the other books in this series (Western Music in Context), Music in the Eighteenth Century gives as wide a view as possible of its period instead of concentrating on a few "great men". This approach is very appealing as it allows more attention to the contributions of women and minorities as well as at how music really worked in those societies. This latter aspect was especially fascinating in this period, as Rice shows how music moved from being mainly the preserve of the aristocracy to being an art and activity for a much wider swathe of society.
