Book contents
- Instrumental Music in Late Eighteenth-Century Naples
- Instrumental Music in Late Eighteenth-Century Naples
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Musical Examples
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Naples on the Grand Tour and within the Historical Imagination
- 2 The Neapolitan Conservatories
- 3 Pedagogical Training and Formation in the Conservatory Curriculum
- 4 Maria Carolina as Cultural Patron and Icon
- 5 Music for the Queen and the Court of Naples
- 6 Genre, Style, and Transnational Crosscurrents
- 7 Maestri e operisti
- 8 Maestri e operisti
- 9 Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Maria Carolina as Cultural Patron and Icon
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 December 2020
- Instrumental Music in Late Eighteenth-Century Naples
- Instrumental Music in Late Eighteenth-Century Naples
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Musical Examples
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Naples on the Grand Tour and within the Historical Imagination
- 2 The Neapolitan Conservatories
- 3 Pedagogical Training and Formation in the Conservatory Curriculum
- 4 Maria Carolina as Cultural Patron and Icon
- 5 Music for the Queen and the Court of Naples
- 6 Genre, Style, and Transnational Crosscurrents
- 7 Maestri e operisti
- 8 Maestri e operisti
- 9 Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The last twenty-five years of the eighteenth century in Naples witnessed a profound transformation. At the center of this process of innovation, change, and upheaval was Queen Maria Carolina, the consort to King Ferdinand IV. Thanks to the influence of her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, Maria Carolina was not to be a mere spouse or observer; rather, she was destined to be the driving force for sweeping change within the Kingdom of Naples. Despite her well-documented limitations and even ineptitude, Maria Carolina established a formidable presence within contemporary artistic life. Unlike her husband, she possessed cultural sensibilities that were astute, and she was an engaged patron of art, music, and dance. This chapter focuses on Maria Carolina within the artistic sphere of her reign, namely as a cultural icon, with a specific emphasis on her role as a musical patron. Working from diverse sources – including historical research, surviving diaries, and personal correspondence, as well as related documents – this chapter establishes a portrait of Maria Carolina’s musical interests, with a specific focus on the cultivation of instrumental music at court, thereby shedding light on a largely unknown, yet important, sector of Neapolitan artistic life at the end of the eighteenth century.
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- Instrumental Music in Late Eighteenth-Century NaplesPolitics, Patronage and Artistic Culture, pp. 93 - 116Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020