- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Princeton University Press; illustrated edition edition (8 Dec 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0691116210
- ISBN-13: 978-0691116211
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.7 x 2.5 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,310,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
Scherer has broken new ground with his exciting interdisciplinary approach and use of massive quantitative and qualitative data--the scale of this achievement cannot be overstated. -- Siobhan McAndrew, Business History
This new book by F.M. Scherer explores aspects of the music business in Western Europe during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and asks the question of how classical composers there made the transition from feudal to capitalist society. . . . Scherer brings a much-needed sense of maturity and respectability to the study of music and commerce. . . . Scherer's work on the economics of music publishing is especially informative. . . . Anyone interested in the rise of market practices in Europe will enjoy [this book], especially if they like casual music. -- James P. Kraft, Enterprise & Society
This new book by F.M. Scherer explores aspects of the music business in Western Europe during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and asks the question of how classical composers there made the transition from feudal to capitalist society. . . . Scherer brings a much-needed sense of maturity and respectability to the study of music and commerce. . . . Scherer's work on the economics of music publishing is especially informative. . . . Anyone interested in the rise of market practices in Europe will enjoy [this book], especially if they like casual music. -- James P. Kraft, Enterprise & Society
Product Description
In 1700, most composers were employees of noble courts or the church. But by the nineteenth century, Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Verdi, and many others functioned as freelance artists teaching, performing, and selling their compositions in the private marketplace. While some believe that Mozart's career marks a clean break between these two periods, this new book tells the story of a more complex and interesting transition.
F. M. Scherer first examines the political, intellectual, and economic roots of the shift from patronage to a freelance market. He describes the eighteenth-century cultural "arms race" among noble courts, the spread of private concert halls and opera houses, the increasing attendance of middle-class music lovers, and the founding of conservatories. He analyzes changing trends in how composers acquired their skills and earned their living, examining such impacts as demographic developments and new modes of transportation. The book offers insight into the diversity of composers' economic aspirations, the strategies through which they pursued success, the burgeoning music publishing industry, and the emergence of copyright protection. Scherer concludes by drawing some parallels to the economic state of music composition in our own times.
Written by a leading economist with an unusually broad knowledge of music, this fascinating account is directed toward individuals intrigued by the world of classical composers as well as those interested in economic history or the role of money in art.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
FEW would disagree with this admonition of Rocco the jailer to his new apprentice Fidelio. Read the first page
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2 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Graphs and Things LIke Graphs
16 Feb 2010
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I found most of this book pretty dull, but that may be as much as, if not more than, a matter of my expectations than anything else. I bought it based on a positive comment in another article, thinking that it would be primarily, well at least largely, stories/histories of how individual composers made their living, with of course groupings and other aspects pointing out areas of commonality and difference. But what I confronted was chart after chart that left me far less enlightened that I had hoped to be. Moreover, much of it was based on length of space devoted to individual composers in a Schwann record catalogue of the mid 1990's, and I must wonder how realistic a basis this is. In short, while I do not quibble with individual conclusions, beyond the Schwann issue, some of which I did find illuminating and mildly interesting, I did not feel that I was really that much ahead after finishing it than I had been before I started reading it. In other words, a fair amount of the information, I found not very important or grabbing, but I repeat that this may be more a comment on me than on the author. Perhaps it is nothing more than, for me, it seemed to say that at least this take on on economics can be pretty boring.
As to advice for others, I would only say that if you want to know, and in some detail, how Chopin earned his way, or Vivaldi, or a host of other reasonably well known composers, this is not the place to go, let alone how the lesser lights listed did so. (Only one of the 600 plus persons cited I do not know, at least by name; while I am not more than a person who enjoys greatly listening to music and do a great deal of it, I claim no particular musical expertise.) But, as I have already indicated, it was not for me a lively read, certainly not what I had thought it would be.
Still, an impressive group of persons including Harvard's president (my school), think highly of it as a ground breaking and important study. I can only say it wasn't that for me.
As to advice for others, I would only say that if you want to know, and in some detail, how Chopin earned his way, or Vivaldi, or a host of other reasonably well known composers, this is not the place to go, let alone how the lesser lights listed did so. (Only one of the 600 plus persons cited I do not know, at least by name; while I am not more than a person who enjoys greatly listening to music and do a great deal of it, I claim no particular musical expertise.) But, as I have already indicated, it was not for me a lively read, certainly not what I had thought it would be.
Still, an impressive group of persons including Harvard's president (my school), think highly of it as a ground breaking and important study. I can only say it wasn't that for me.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Art and Business, together forever
17 Jan 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Since I am in the music business, this book has been a good resource for historical information about the never-ending tension between the need to create the greatest art possible while keeping the arts organization in business. I would guess that it's primarily of interest to people in arts management or who do program annotations or who are interested in "behind the scenes" glimpses at how people behave when they're not before the public. I found it good reading, interesting, absorbing, and it has given me a better understanding of how hard it is to keep art and business in harmony.
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