In the idyllic example of the studious student that I am, I started this post by poking around on THE BLOG, and trying to fulfill the learning outcomes exactly, came across this post. This post reminded me that while having fun learning from and serving the people on the Navajo Reservation are good ideas, this class requires a bit more research out of me. In this case you will now read about my words on Mozart. Yes, that's right, if you stay tuned you too can know what the engineer thinks of the crazy musician and what he could possibly contribute to the world of knowledge. Mostly the world of written knowledge.
This is one of those really cool University opportunities when you get to relate two classes and use ideas you explored in one to think about another.
Last spring I took what I thought, at the time, would probably be one of the least inspiring classes of my general education. It turns out I was mostly right, but because I was looking for something to like about my Music 101 class I took a look at music paralleled the general rise of knowledge, on my own.
One of the ideas that I am finding most relevant, in the context of my current class at least, is the idea of patronage. Although I don't exactly mention it in this essay I wrote for that class, much of what I found while researching for it puts Mozart as one of the heroes of the break from the patronage system. This great change lead to some of the greatest music of the day.
When Mozart broke from the Archbishop of Salzburg, he rejected the patronage system. Prior to Mozart most of the musicians we know about today received salary from a patron (aka a rich person who wants to be surrounded by the finer things in life, like a personal musician). Musicians then composed music mainly at the request of their patron, and occasionally on the side. Mozart, in his free spirited style, rejected one patron, the Archbishop, essentially making the Vienna public his patron. After Mozart many still clung to the patronage system as a source of steady income. However, many more such as Beethoven continued to lead to a more complete break from the patronage system. In Romantic era composers such as Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Johann Strauss, worked outside of the patronage system, turning to the people as their source of income.
This shift reflects a simliar transition for publishers, and to some extent the authors, of books. Due to the expense of making a codex (see what Madison has to say about these), they were generally only made for patrons (aka a rich person who wants to be surrounded by the finer things in life, like books). Some scribes worked to copy precious texts and simply preserve knowledge, but most received payment from patrons for the texts they produced for them. But then along comes Gutenberg and his printing press.
With the advent of printing, books, as we know them now, shifted patrons from simply the rich to a broader spectrum of people. (See Emily's post on chapbooks for the poor.) Because knowledge was cheaper to share, those sharing it began to share with more people. This motivation contrasts the similar shift in music, because there is no evidence that it suddenly became cheaper to produce plays, operas, or easier to make money from them. The shift in this case seems to be that the composers wanted more freedom in their works.
It would be interesting to look at other similar shifts and their motivations. For example, government anyone? Hmm...
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| From jimmiehomeschoolmom. |
Last spring I took what I thought, at the time, would probably be one of the least inspiring classes of my general education. It turns out I was mostly right, but because I was looking for something to like about my Music 101 class I took a look at music paralleled the general rise of knowledge, on my own.
One of the ideas that I am finding most relevant, in the context of my current class at least, is the idea of patronage. Although I don't exactly mention it in this essay I wrote for that class, much of what I found while researching for it puts Mozart as one of the heroes of the break from the patronage system. This great change lead to some of the greatest music of the day.
When Mozart broke from the Archbishop of Salzburg, he rejected the patronage system. Prior to Mozart most of the musicians we know about today received salary from a patron (aka a rich person who wants to be surrounded by the finer things in life, like a personal musician). Musicians then composed music mainly at the request of their patron, and occasionally on the side. Mozart, in his free spirited style, rejected one patron, the Archbishop, essentially making the Vienna public his patron. After Mozart many still clung to the patronage system as a source of steady income. However, many more such as Beethoven continued to lead to a more complete break from the patronage system. In Romantic era composers such as Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, and Johann Strauss, worked outside of the patronage system, turning to the people as their source of income.
This shift reflects a simliar transition for publishers, and to some extent the authors, of books. Due to the expense of making a codex (see what Madison has to say about these), they were generally only made for patrons (aka a rich person who wants to be surrounded by the finer things in life, like books). Some scribes worked to copy precious texts and simply preserve knowledge, but most received payment from patrons for the texts they produced for them. But then along comes Gutenberg and his printing press.
With the advent of printing, books, as we know them now, shifted patrons from simply the rich to a broader spectrum of people. (See Emily's post on chapbooks for the poor.) Because knowledge was cheaper to share, those sharing it began to share with more people. This motivation contrasts the similar shift in music, because there is no evidence that it suddenly became cheaper to produce plays, operas, or easier to make money from them. The shift in this case seems to be that the composers wanted more freedom in their works.
It would be interesting to look at other similar shifts and their motivations. For example, government anyone? Hmm...
This is great stuff! This idea of change in the spread of knowledge reminds me of Emily's post (which can be viewedhere) on the change in the education system going from expensive schools to Church provided free schooling. This made all the difference in widespread knowledge as it was going from only the people who could afford it to basically everyone. It's like the spread of music in your post, Mozart chose to make music for the public, not (completely) a private patron.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's really cool. I never really thought about how printing could affect things beyond those directly related to books or written knowledge. Also, is it just me, or does it seem like the advent of printing directly corresponds with the beginning of major rebellions against governments?
ReplyDeleteYour right, I think we've seen this theme many times in our studies. How knowledge is spread really alters society.
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