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1 - The Sociable Muse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2019

W. Dean Sutcliffe
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
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Summary

Introduces the main argument, that much about the instrumental music of the later eighteenth century can be grasped with reference to the concept of sociability. The concept is defined and placed alongside other rubrics such as expression, language and behaviour. Sociability is separated into affective and technical spheres. Haydn, a market leader both critically and commercially, is the central figure for the study. The modern reception of later eighteenth-century style is discussed with particular reference to Haydn and Mozart, noting the critical tendency to occupy a moral high ground above the image of a ‘shallow sociability’, and concluding with the challenge ‘When else … in Western music history has a whole style been so often understood negatively, as a problem in need of a solution?’. Then I investigate the listener-friendliness of the style: the pronounced orientation of this music towards a listening subject was historically novel. This music both challenges listeners and puts them at their ease.

Type
Chapter
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Instrumental Music in an Age of Sociability
Haydn, Mozart and Friends
, pp. 1 - 54
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • The Sociable Muse
  • W. Dean Sutcliffe, University of Auckland
  • Book: Instrumental Music in an Age of Sociability
  • Online publication: 19 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139012126.002
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  • The Sociable Muse
  • W. Dean Sutcliffe, University of Auckland
  • Book: Instrumental Music in an Age of Sociability
  • Online publication: 19 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139012126.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Sociable Muse
  • W. Dean Sutcliffe, University of Auckland
  • Book: Instrumental Music in an Age of Sociability
  • Online publication: 19 September 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781139012126.002
Available formats
×