MUSICOLOGY LECTURE 1 WEEK 2

What is History?
The past itself
A series of events connected with a particular object,
individual, community institution
A record of past events
HISTORIOGRAPHY The art of writing history and study of
written history
Constructing History of Western Music:
The past as a reflection of the present
Influence of interpretation on structure: 2 ways history
influences historians: 1) DIACHRONIC history: Traces
development of subject over long period of time
2) SYNCHRONIC history: Focuses more narrowly on a
specific period
N.B Chronic Time, Dia Through, Syn at the same,
combined
No account of a historical transformation can be cogent unless
it performs a dialectical oscillation between synchronic and
diachronic thinking
William Sewell
Example Overview of Womans History in C19th (General
overview/Diachrony)
Move towards greater freedom and autonomy, suffrage
campaigns, access to various professions (medicince/law),
access to h. education etc
Overview of Woman Singers in C19th (Narrow Look/Synchrony)
Artistic Freedom and autonomy increasingly compromised by
rise in status of composer, conductor and stage director, rise in
popularity of tenor
TENSION BETWEEN THE 2!

History as a reflection of the present:

Organisation of early music histories: -Classifications
(Dictonaries)
-Chronological Order (Narratives) -> C18th mainly
Idea of Progress
Chronological accounts of history usually imply historical
continuity e.g Beethoven as natural successor to Mozart
(Tia DeNora points this out)
Historical continuity seen in terms of continuous progress
in C18th and C19th
Present seen as summit of achievement (Burney perfect
example) no appreciation of other cultures or earlier
music, opposite to London at this time which was very
much backward looking (Tia De Nora) Hawkins less
opinionated but still believes in progress; views Handel as
culmination of musical achievement anything after often
viewed as decadent (London at the time Tia De Nora)
in the enlightenment
Burney and Hawkes both believed in historical progress.
Underlying enlightenment belief in continuous,
progressing history seen in Kants writings! Important
figure in enlightenment. (Finish copying these notes)
Musical Evolution
Early C19th: Histories of great men rise in
importance (e.g Napoleon) R.G Kiesewetter believed in
this, chose most influential and wrote about them.
Leads to increase in musical biographies on composers
Theory of evolution developed during 1850s; clear
account in Darwins Origin of Species (1859)
encourages idea of progress as things adapt and
improve as to progress. Principle of Divergence!
Evolution used as an analogy by historians, music
historians moved from great men to studying evolution
of music (Check lecture notes)

Progress idea in C20th

1st half brings backlash on progress ides due to WW1
idea arose that not all technological advances were good,
smashed earlier optimism. Same way, it was claimed the
advances undermined earlier music, not better, simply
different.
Some general music histories still produced, but mainly
student texts
Musicologist work increasingly detailed, they tend to
produce synchronic histories
Despite emphasis on change, assumptions of progress are
still ingrained.
Influence of Interpretation on Strucure:
In earliest music histories (C17th and C18th) only 2 music
periods: Ancient and Modern
C19th -> 3-part dimension develops 3 Ages of Man
C20th (early and mid) -> 7 periods, though some labels
cause problems e.g baroque (considered derogatory
originally, meaning literally bizarre or weird) and
Renaissance, argument over when precisely periods
finish/begin
SUMMARY
Interpretations of the past have not been constant; important
to question assumptions about how we have been taught to
think about the past. Interpretations of the past are influenced
by current ideas and priorities and change as these shift, but
some ideas and assumptions become ingrained e.g idea of
progress!