The Social Worlds of Nineteenth-Century Chamber Music: Composers, Consumers, Communities

by Marie Sumner Lott

Overview

Music played an important role in the social life of nineteenth-century Europe, and music in the home provided a convenient way to entertain and communicate among friends and colleagues. String chamber music, in particular, fostered social interactions that helped build communities within communities.

Marie Sumner Lott examines the music available to musical consumers in the nineteenth century, and what that music tells us about their tastes, priorities, and activities. Her social history of chamber music performance places the works of canonic composers such as Schubert, Brahms, and Dvoøák in relation to lesser-known but influential peers. The book explores the dynamic relationships among the active agents involved in the creation of Romantic music and shows how each influenced the others' choices in a rich, collaborative environment. In addition to documenting the ways companies acquired and marketed sheet music, Sumner Lott reveals how the publication and performance of chamber music differed from that of ephemeral piano and song genres or more monumental orchestral and operatic works. Several distinct niche markets existed within the audience for chamber music, and composers created new musical works for their use and enjoyment.

Insightful and groundbreaking, The Social Worlds of Nineteenth-Century Chamber Music revises prevailing views of middle-class influence on nineteenth-century musical style and presents new methods for interpreting the meanings of musical works for musicians both past and present.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780252039225
Publisher:	University of Illinois Press
Publication date:	06/09/2015
Edition description:	1st Edition
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Marie Sumner Lott is an associate professor of music history and literature at Georgia State University and a winner of a 2013 ASCAP-Deems Taylor award.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables vii

List of Musical Examples ix

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction String Chamber Music and Its Audiences in the Nineteenth Century 1

1 Publishing Chamber Music: Archival Evidence for Chamber Music Production and Consumption 21

2 "Domesticating" the Foreign in Arrangements of Operas, Folk Songs, and Other Works for Chamber Ensembles 46

3 Music for Men of Leisure: An Examination of the Domestic String Style 79

4 Redefining the "Progressive" Style in Responses to Beethoven's Late Quartets 107

5 Creating "Progressive" Communities through Programmatic Chamber Music 144

6 Audience and Style in Brahmss String Chamber Music 174

7 The Diversity of Dvorák's String Quartet Audiences 217

Appendix 1 J. Strunz, string quartet transcription of no. 18, "Prière" (Prayer), from Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable 245

Appendix 1 C. W. Henning, string quartet transcription of no. 8, "Leise, leise, fromme Weise" (Gendy, gently, pious words), from Weber's Der Freischutz 250

Appendix 3 M. Kässmayer, string quartet arrangement of "Mein Herz ist im Hochland" (My heart is in the Highlands) from Deutsche Lieder, op. 14, no. 4 259

Notes 265

Bibliography 291

Index 305

Editorial Reviews

"By focusing on the milieu of middle-class amateurs rather than the professional world of the concert hall that has occupied most scholars, Lott provides a fresh perspective on the production and consumption of chamber music in nineteenth-century Europe. The Social Worlds of Nineteenth-Century Chamber Music is an exemplary contextual study that enhances our appreciation of not only canonic masterworks but also lesser-known pieces written for this thriving market."—Walter Frisch, author of Music in the Nineteenth Century


By considering nineteenth-century chamber music as a practice that involved not only composition but also production, marketing, and both amateur and professional performance, Marie Sumner Lott provides a fascinating and valuable new perspective on both familiar and unfamiliar music. Anyone with a serious interest in chamber music for strings—or indeed nineteenth-century European musical practice—will enjoy and learn from The Social Worlds of Nineteenth-Century Chamber Music.—David Gramit, author of Cultivating Music: The Aspirations, Interests, and Limits of German Musical Culture, 1770-1848


Sumner Lott's book is well organized and easy to read, and it contains many fresh insights into nineteenth-century string chamber music.—Christina Bashford, author of The Pursuit of High Culture: John Ella and Chamber Music in Victorian London

From the Publisher