European Musical Competitions, 1700-1940

History, Context and Meanings

McGuire, Charles Edward (ed.)

As music moved from the church and court into the public sphere, competitions – as loci of taste, judgements of one performer’s excellence over another, or as a way to improve the musical abilities of a nation – became increasingly important throughout Europe. Such competitions had multivalent meanings: in some cases, they became a way to achieve public fame and have a lucrative career in an era when individual patronage was on the wane. In others, they encouraged new national schools of performance, attempted to resurrect a historical tradition, or placed an official imprimatur on an existing one. European Musical Competitions, 1700-1940: History, Contexts and Meanings is the first volume to investigate the rise and preponderance of such contests throughout the continent. The fourteen essays in this volume address competitions by individuals from Johann Sebastian Bach to Josefa Bustamante in locations across Europe from Dublin to St. Petersburg and Osijetk to Paris. It further illumines how government-sponsored institutions in such diverse places tried to both foster musical abilities and foment taste.