From Servant to Savant: Musical Privilege, Property, and the French Revolution exposes the fundamental role that the French Revolution played in the emergence of modern professional musicianship. Geoffroy-Schwinden demonstrates how the French Revolution set the stage for the emergence of so-called musical Romanticism among the likes of Beethoven and the legacies that continue to haunt musical institutions and industries.
CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Note on Translation of Sources
Introduction
On Privilege, Property, and Professionalization
The Abolition of Privilege
The Politics of Historiography and the Archive
Chapter Summaries
Part I Musical Privilege
Chapter 1 Legal Privilege and Musical Production
The Privilege to Perform
Musical Privilege in Publishing, Commerce, and Manufacturing
Privilege as Property
The Dilution of Privilege
Chapter 2 Social Privilege and Musician-Masons
French Masonry, Music, and Parisian Sociability
Brother Servants and Occasional Brothers
Talented Brothers, Architects of Music, and Free Associates
Fellow Professionals and Savants
A Little Lesson in Social Harmony
Part II Property
Chapter 3 Private Property: Music and Authorship
Proprietary Tremors on the Eve of Revolution
From Musical Privilege to Musical Property
The Declaration of the Rights of Genius
Chapter 4 Public Servants
From Pleasing Paris to Serving the Nation
An Institution of Their Own
Patriotic Servants
Professionalization and Public Patronage
Chapter 5 Cultural Heritage: Music as Work of Art
Music and the Fine Arts under the Revolution
The Conservatory's Museum of Musical Works
The Museum's Imperial Agenda
The Edifice is Rising
Cultural Property and Artworks for the Future
Chapter 6 National Industry: Music as a Useful Art and Science
Music, the Useful Arts, and Mechanical Invention
Interlude: A Method in the Madness
Mechanical Innovations: Useful to Whom?
The Conservatory's Design for a Romantic Machine
Postlude: A Detractor Breaks his Silence
Conclusion: Privilege by Any Other Name
Appendix
Bibliography
Index