With mechanical reproduction came the hitherto unimaginable phenomenon of listening to multi-instrumental music by yourself. More often, if you had the means, you got to sit in the panopticon of the concert hall, seeing and being seen to the accompaniment of Verdi-an experience most fully described by Edith Wharton in the opening scene of The Age of Innocence (1920), just as it was going out of style. Before the invention of the record and the gramophone (1887), the only form of listening people knew was social the closest thing to a private musical experience was playing an instrument for yourself, or silently looking over a score. The concern that recorded music promotes solipsism and isolation isn’t new.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |