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Founding of Academie Royale de Danse
Founding Letters Patent, Academie Royale de Danse, accessed April 7,2015 http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k76291j Founded by Lous XIV in 1661, the Academie Royal de Danse was one of the first examples of the popularisation of ballet, which following the founding of the Academie developed and became a common performance of the stage. The exclusion of the lower classes seen here shifted dramatically as stage performance developed. -
Just for the Wealthy
Jan Steen; The Family Concert; 1666; Oil on canvas ; 34 1/8 x 39 3/4 in. (86.6 x 101 cm). Accessed April 6, 2015 http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/Renaissance/FamilyConcert Jan Steen, a Dutch painter, visualizes a family at home, making music and relaxing. Steen emphasizes wealth and luxury which reflects the possible Dutch preoccupation of displaying wealth. Classical music was primarily for the rich but this would all change after the Industrial Revolution. -
Invention of the Fortepiano
Cristoforti Fortepiano and sketch accessed on April 5, 2015, Located at Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, New York.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cris/hd_cris.htm The predecessor of the modern piano was created by Bartolomeo Cristoforti of Italy in 1700. The pianos that legendary composers such as Beethoven and Tchaikovsky played on were fortepianos. The evolution of the fortepiano coincides with the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of large-scale public performances of music. -
Carnival of Venice Popularizes
Tiepolo, Giandomenico. The Minuet or Carnivale Scene. 1750. Collection Du Louvre, Musée Du Louvre, Paris, France. Accessed April 5, 2015. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Scene_Carnival_Tiepolo1750.jpg. The 18th century saw immense popularization of the Carnival of Venice in Italy. People traveled from all over Europe to attend the masquerade balls in St. Mark’s Square, gamble in the casinos at night, and enjoy celebrating the end of Lent with people wearing costumes and masks -
Covent Garden Organised Riot
Lithograph depicting the riot during 'Aterxes',1763; 20.3 x26, Victoria & Albert Museum, from http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O158352/riot-at-covent-garden-theatre-print-unknown/ In March, 1763, a riot broke out at Covent Garden in London following the attempt to rise prices of tickets. The half-price ticket ensured theatre attendance by all classes by allowing people to attend the performances at the third act, or at nine o'clock, After several weeks the owners re-lowered the prices. -
The Game of Hazard
Rowlandson, Thomas. Kick Up at a Hazard Table. 1787. The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Accessed April 6, 2015. http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/392858. Hazard is an old English dice game that has been played since as early as the fourteenth century. It was an important pastime; the nobility played it “to chase away the boredom and make some extra money”. -
Beerhouse Act: Drinking With Your Buddies
Men standing outside a beerhouse. Digital image. Our History. Greene King: Bury St. Edmunds, n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. http://www.greeneking.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=158. The Beerhouse Act was passed by Parliament to liberalize regulations that governed the brewing and sale of beer. It resulted in the opening of tons of new beerhouses (pubs with only beer, to be drunk on the premises) and breweries all over England. -
From Fanny to Felix: Female Composers and Discrimination
Portrait of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel; 1842; Oil on panel
16 15/16 × 14 3/16 in. (43 × 36 cm); Accessed April 7, 2015. http://thejewishmuseum.org/collection/31380-portrait-of-fanny-mendelssohn-hensel Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, sister of famed Felix Mendelssohn is a brilliant composer in her own right. European society of the early 19th century, however, proved to be a limiting factor for female composers. Fanny Hensel had to compose under her brother's name just to get her early pieces published. -
Awaken Thee, Romanian! - Anthems and Nationalism
Andrei Mureșanu; Transcript of Mureșanu's poem in Romanian.
Accessed on April 6, 2015
http://adevarul.ro/assets/adevarul.ro/MRImage/2013/07/29/51f60803c7b855ff5681cc0e/646x404.jpg During the first year of the Romanian Revolution, poet and revolutionary Andrei Mureșanu wrote the lyrics to what becomes the Romanian National Anthem. This is not only specific to Romania as songs and anthems become beacons of nationalism all throughout Europe. -
First Human Cannonball: Rise of Circuses
Zazel: Presenting the First Human Cannonball. The Human Marvels. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2015. http://www.thehumanmarvels.com/zazel-the-human-cannonball/. Circuses, freak shows, and weird, strange things people did for the sake of entertainment starting fascinating people. In 1877 at the Royal Aquarium in Westminster, London, a fourteen-year-old performer named Zazel was the first to launch from a “cannon”. -
Pantomime and Circus popularised by Charlie Keith
Charlie Keith's Travelling Circus, photograph, 1890, from Victoria & Albert Museum, Accessed April 7, 2015 from http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/v/victorian-circus/ Circus was a new type of Variety show which relied on pantomime, and the involvement of the audience. They drew on material and conventions from society and gained popularity. Charles Keith was an important figure in the popularisation of pantomimes, which were relatively cheap and easily accessible for all. -
Tolstoy and The Power of Darkness
"Tolstoy resting in the woods", Repin Ilya Yefinnovich, 1891 from state Treytyakov Gallery, accessed April 6, 2015 from http://www.wga.hu/index1.html
Leo Tolstoy became relatively successful and well-known following the production of many plays. His success which accompanied a rising sense of Russian nationalism, connecting Russia with the other cultural hubs of Europe. The play was strongly influenced by Naturalist ideas, and was therefore popular among that particular group of people. -
Opening of Theatre-Libre
A Programme Design for Theatre Libre, Henry Gabriel Ibels, 1892 from "Naturalism and symbolism in European Theatre", Schumacher, C.; 1996. The Theatre-Libre was opened by Andre Antoine, who wanted to produce plays without censorship. The plan had originally been to perform plays of the young and unknown dramatists, but also relied on well-known writers to gain prestige. It was known for its good quality staging and the intimacy of producing plays that few others would not. -
Sails to Steam Engines: The decline of sea shanties
Laura Smith, The Music of the Waters: A collection of sea shanties.
Accessed on April 7, 2015 http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/09/23/the-10-manliest-sea-shanties/ and https://archive.org/stream/musicofwaterscol00smituoft#page/n43/mode/2up/search/blow+the+man+down Many of the working songs of decades of sailors have been lost but a few still remain. The period after the introduction of steam engines rendered sea shanties useless and showed that industrialization can profoundly impact Europe. -
The Birth of Cinematography
La Sortie De L'Usine Lumière à Lyon. Dir. Louis Lumière and Auguste Lumière. YouTube, 28 Dec. 1895. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI63PUXnVMw. On December 28th 1895, the French brothers Louis and August Lumière presented, for the first time in history, a community viewing of eight short films they had made. An audience came and paid to see the movies projected on the screen. -
Absurdist Literature: The Metamorphosis
Kafka, Franz. Metamorphosis. New York: Vanguard, 1946. Print. The Metamorphosis by Austro-Hungarian author Franz Kafka follows the absurdist fiction movement, which concentrated on existentialism, satire, and dark humor. It is quite a ridiculous plotline, but that is what made it entertaining for twentieth century Europeans. They needed something to take their worries off of the war and violence all around them. -
"Bubbly" Revue Show opened to audiences
Sheet music for 'Bubbles' from the revue 'Bubbly', printed by Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew Ltd, 1917; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, from <http://www.vam.ac.uk/c Bubbly provided relief for the otherwise gloomy times that existed during the First World War. Andre Charlot, a Frenchmen composed much of the lighthearted music, while English theatre director Charles Cochran directed it. It demonstrated the breaking down of language and social barriers to produce a performance enjoyed universally. -
The Ox on The Roof - Music after The Great War
Jacques-Émile Blanche, Le groupe de six 1921
Accessed on April 7, 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Six#/media/File:Les_Six_Tableau.jpg The Ox on The Roof, a ballet piece by Darius Milhaud was an uncharacteristic composition incorporating Brazilian sounds. Inspiration was usually found in Europe, the epicentre of arts, but Milhaud's piece signalled a global shift on the view of Europe as the global centre for arts. More importantly, Milhaud's group, Le Six had a political message to share.
