2 | The Rise of Concerts

A far-reaching development in the sociology and economics of music was the rise of public concerts. Occasional concerts had been given before, in taverns, private homes, palaces, and theaters, but it was only in the middle of the eighteenth century that they became a significant force in musical life. Concert series, financed by subscription, were put on by the forerunners of today’s promoters. Concerts for the benefit of charity were set up on a regular basis as major society events.

In 1748 Europe’s first hall designed especially for concerts was built in a college town, Oxford. Still in use, the Holywell Music Room holds about 150 people.

Music of all kinds was presented at these new public concerts. One major series — the Parisian Concert spirituel, founded in 1725 — started out with sacred vocal music. But orchestral music was the staple, and the importance of concerts lay mainly in the impetus they gave to the composition of symphonies and concertos. For there were, after all, other public forums for church music (churches) and opera (opera houses). Now purely orchestral music, too, moved into the public domain, and its importance and prestige grew rapidly.

However, the livelihood of musicians still depended principally on court patronage, the opera house, and the church (see page 105). Concerts were certainly a factor in the careers of both of the masters of Classical style already mentioned: Haydn wrote his last symphonies, called the London symphonies, for concerts on two celebrity tours to that city, and Mozart wrote most of his piano concertos — among his greatest works — for concerts he himself put on in Vienna. But public concerts were a resource that Haydn did not draw upon much until the end of his long life, and they were not a reliable enough resource, alas, to sustain Mozart.