PATRONAGE SYSTEM IN THE BAROQUE AND CLASSICAL PERIODS

Patronage System in The Baroque And Classical Periods

I Introduction

A. Current problem: The importance of patronage in the context of Baroque

and Classical music periods

B. Population/Area of Focus: music students, and music connoisseurs

C. Key terms: patronage, church, music, wealth.

Thesis Statement: Due to the connection of music and power within

Baroque and Classical music periods, the cultural and historical shifts

caused the change in privatized financial support from novelty and church

to the hands of the wider public.

II Background

Historical Overview of Baroque music: The drama, use of musical devices as a

characteristic of baroque music, but also large commissons and demands of

respective patrons1.

The increased virtuosity in both instrumental and vocal level;

The use of Baroque keyboard instruments with the most

important example of organ, used at church and home, and

An ongoing process of going towards authenticity and use of

exact historically accurate instruements.

1 Wendy Heller, Music in the Baroque, Ed. Walter Frisch (W. W. Norton & Company, 2013),

56.
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All these facts are consequences of an ongoing patronage and their

sophisticated taste which influenced the Baroque music production.

Historical Overview of Classical music: The role of aristocracy as a patron of

musicians, and music as an entartinment tool.

Current socio-political situation allowed for a steady demand for new

works, although the musicians are still not valued enough.

Nevertheless, the patronage system created a certain economic

security2.

The success of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven in this period has

marked both the rise and decline of Patronage system.

Gaps in The Research: The time and culture gap; non-sufficient research for

music patronage during these particular periods.

III The emphasis of the link between music production and patronage system:

Symphony, concerto and sonata as representations of the need for

large-scale forms by Classical masters.

The Aristocracy accepted that art adores life and it attracts the masses3

2 Leon Botsein, ''Patronage, Performance, and Scholarship'', Musical Quarterly 95, No. 4.

(2012): 451-458.

3 Daniela Kaleva, ''Patronage through Dissemination: Louise Hanson-Dyers Patronage of

Gustav Holst, Context 37 (2012): 7791.

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The transformation of patronage happens with the rise of more wealthy

and educated middle class society. Although the musician is still a

servant, his social status is upgrading as well.

The understanding the role of women as both patrons and performers

(opera singers, ballet dancers).

IV. The research about experiences of famous artists during the transition in financing

musical production

Haydn is a personification of change from patronage to the freelancing

system,

Beethoven4. as one of the first independent musicians who wrote,

composed and sold music without the patronage system involved5;

The emerging freelance work becomes a very important option, such is the

creation of music guilds and monopolies.

V. The debate of the privileges and flaws working under the patron or as a free artist

France as an absolute monarchy becomes a field of conflict between

the style and good taste versus the taste of many.

The patron as a protector of ''good'' music.

4 Jan Swafford, Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph, (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), 32.

5 Iain Fenlon, ''Joseph Haydn and Beethoven between court and nobility'', in Music and

Patronage The Library of Essays on Music, Politics and Society, ed. Paul Merkley. (Farnham:

Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2012) 74.

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VI. Conclusion

Restatement of Thesis: Because of the changes in socio-economic state during Baroque

(1600-1750) and Classical music period (1750-1820), the Patronage system evolved

and eventually declined with large effects on music production.

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Bibliography

Botsein, Leon. ''Patronage, Performance, and Scholarship'', Musical Quarterly 95, No. 4.

(2012): 451-458.

Fenlon, Iain., ''Joseph Haydn and Beethoven between court and nobility'', in Music and

Patronage The Library of Essays on Music, Politics and Society, edited by Paul

Merkley. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2012.

Heller, Wendy. Music in the Baroque, Edited by Walter Frisch. New York: W. W. Norton &

Company, 2013.

Kaleva, Daniela. ''Patronage through Dissemination: Louise Hanson-Dyers Patronage of

Gustav Holst'', Context 37 (2012): 7791.

Swafford, Jan. Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.