Music in the Nineteenth Century (Frisch): Preface and Chapter 1

To me the most important point in the Prefaces and Chapter 1 is the statement that music

is a product of its time and place. The Romantic Era saw a growth in both home based and

concert music. Both of these were a consequence of the greater wealth, freedom and personal

choices available to the growing professional and commercial classes in Western Europe in the

nineteenth century. While industrialization brought about terrible living conditions for many of

the working classes attracted to the big cities from the countryside, commerce and the growth in

global trade generated an increased need for bankers, lawyers, and other professions. These

professionals had growing social aspirations and this led to an increased demand for music

lessons and education among the families of the wealthy, and to music making in the home as a

means of entertainment. This was essentially the start of music as a consumer product, with the

establishment and growth of small independent, and eventually large publishing houses to meet

the need for printed music.

This growing consumption of music also led to an increase in public performance of

music, the establishment and greater size of orchestras, and larger concert halls to accommodate

them and their audiences. It also encouraged the growth of the star system, whereby major

performers such as Paganini and Liszt attracted large audiences and huge public following, along

with commensurate performance fees.

A number of these trends in the Romantic Era can be seen as precursors to the social

impact of music in our own times. We can trace a direct line from the purchase of printed scores

for personal consumption through to the piano-player, the gramophone, cassettes, CD’s, mp3’s,

etc. (although it has to be said that the availability of performances by professionals has

significantly reduced the commitment to personal performance.) The large scale orchestral and
opera performances of the nineteenth century are still available today, but occupy a much less

prominent position, having been joined and in many cases supplanted, initially by music hall,

then by musical theater and eventually by today’s large scale rock concerts. The trend towards

public availability of music, enhanced by the growth of electronic media, has led to a ubiquity

that would have been unthinkable one or two centuries ago.

The author addresses the difficult task of how he chooses his starting and end points,

mentioning the French Revolution (1789), the Congress of Vienna (1815) and the start of World

War I (1914). What he does not mention are what I believe to be the fundamental points about

the emergence and decline in the dominance of Romantic music. Firstly, in my view the most

important factor in the emergence of Romanticism was the social and economic change brought

about by the Enlightenment in the second half of the eighteenth century. There is an irony in this

view since at a philosophical level Romanticism was a reaction against the classical views of the

Enlightenment. However, at a socio-economic level it was the ideas of the Enlightenment that

brought about the advances in science, and the greater freedom of religion, belief and personal

activity that were essential for the appearance and growth of Romanticism in music (and other

arts). Secondly, Romanticism ceased to be the dominant force in classical music early in the

twentieth century when many (but not all) major composers abandoned tonality because it no

longer met their artistic needs. I believe that these two points are crucial in establishing the

context of Romanticism in the history of classical music.