Description
Co-organizer (with Ferraguto and Mahiet) of special alternative-format session, "Music, Diplomacy, and Social Networks in the Long Eighteenth Century."Music’s use in international relations has long been a subject of scholarly interest. Scholars of twentieth-century music, in particular, have explored the ways in which state-sponsored cultural diplomacy aimed to soothe international tensions while promoting domestic values abroad. While such research has traditionally revolved around twentieth-century topics, scholars have recently (and fruitfully) turned toward earlier periods, as illustrated by the recent special issue of Early Music on music and diplomacy.
Music in the long eighteenth century (c. 1650-c. 1850) represents particularly fertile ground for such inquiries, for this is the period in which a conception of the modern nation-state first emerged. As a barometer of political power and a purveyor of cultural norms, music could both shape national identity and mediate transnational encounters. Because of its perceived ability to communicate feelings and its inherent abstraction, it music also came to have political utility. With the assistance of text, image, and dance, music supported political allegory and propaganda. The act of performance, meanwhile, could serve as a means of both enforcing and crossing borders. The transfer of music and musicians across Europe enabled cross-cultural encounters and cosmopolitan styles. As a luxury commodity, music signified both individual and collective prestige.
The session brings together six scholars–four panelists, a respondent, and a session chair–with varied but overlapping interests in music of this period. The four panelists examine the elaboration of a cosmopolitan, transnational society through diplomatic sociability, as mediated by musical entrepreneurs, instruments, performances, works, venues, and ideas.
| Period | 8 Nov 2013 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Pittsburgh, United States, PennsylvaniaShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |