Salon music, which marked the private sphere of music life during the 19th century, until recently represented an aesthetically uninteresting phenomenon. Musicological researches were, primarily, focused on art music, while the research of salon music was at the margin of scientific interest

Kokanovic Markovic, Marijana

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Marijana Kokanovic Markovic, The Social Role of the Salon Music in the Life and the Value System of the Serbian Citizens in the 19th Century, Belgrad: Institute of Musicology SASA 2014 [Zusammenfassung]

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Marijana Kokanović Marković (Belgrad / Serbia)Marijana Kokanović Marković, The Social Role of theSalon Music in the Life and the Value System of theSerbian Citizens in the 19th Century, Belgrad:Institute of Musicology SASA 2014Salon music, which marked the private sphere of music life during the19th century, until recently represented an aesthetically uninteresting phe-nomenon. Musicological researches were, primarily, focused on art music,while the research of salon music was at the margin of scientific inter-est. However, emergence of new scientific approaches based on theoreticalconcepts in social sciences and anthropology resulted in actualization ofresearches in different aspects of private lives from the past. That is how‘salon’, as a special form of ‘half-public privacy’, and in that way, salon mu-sic, became a new challenge for field researches. Salon music can nowadaysbe seen as a historical form of the popular music, which production anddistribution were under control of the free-market rules. Salon repertoire,with its pan-European commonalities, represented an all-European trendwhich in the 19th century spread over the areas inhabited by the Serbs.The chronological frame offered (until 1914.) matches the standard peri-odization of the European history (the Long 19th century) and it coincideswith the political, social and cultural events of the time. In that period,during the creation of modern civil state, a specific domain of private life,as well as a value system, mostly taken from Central Europe, was consti-tuted. Salon music was seen as a specific product, medium of a lifestyle andmentality of one particular era. In order to get answers to the questionson place and function of the salon music in a life and value system of onesociety or social group, it was necessary to step out of the traditional mu-sicology into the field of interdisciplinary research that includes sociology,history of culture, everyday life, and social history.During the archival research in Novi Sad, Belgrade and Vienna, a richbody of salon compositions by Serbian, as well as foreign composers, wholived among the Serbs, was collected, to clearly show channels of inter-cultural exchange and communication. The catalogues and list of musicpublishers were studied with the utmost care, which in turn provided an166 Marijana Kokanović Markovićinsight into supply and demand in the music industry at the time. Articleson music, published in daily and periodical newspapers, were a significantsource of information, too. Valuable information was provided through di-aries, memoirs, and literary works which pictured the lives of the Serbiancitizens in the 19th century, as well as other various books and manuals inwhich it was depicted what were the socially desirable norms of conductthat enabled decoding of bourgeois way of life, and upbringing of children,girls, especially. Finally, significant tiles in completion of the mosaic werethe historical items like: concert programs, ball invitations, letters etc.Important guidelines for better understanding of the salon music phe-nomenon were derived directly from practice. While editing the albumof the salon compositions for the piano, titled, From the Salons of NoviSad, the so-called ‘road’ from manuscripts to the note publications, thatis, from archives to performers, was finally ‘crossed’ in practice, too.1 An-other angle of looking at things, were the concerts of salon music held inSremski Karlovci and Novi Sad, which I organised with my students fromthe Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. This particular reconstruction of salonmusic performance, as well as the direct insight into the relationship be-tween the performers and the audience, resulted in better ‘sounding’ andunderstanding of the topic.“The introductory chapter” contains an explanation of titles and sub-jects of the research, critical analysis of previous musicological works onSerbian salon music of the 19th century, and a review of relevant theoreticaldiscourse on the salon music of the considered period.The following chapter is devoted to the “Music Publishing and SalonMusic Production”. This chapter discusses the issues on the specific con-ditions of production in Serbian salon music in 19th century. The authorpoints to what were the forms of salon music publishing and how the salonmusic was put on the music market. Special attention is paid to the salonmusic composers and their relation with music publishers, the genres theycomposed, and finally, the question of the status of women dealing withthat kind of composing music is introduced.In Chapter “Salon Music in the Life of the Serbian Citizens” it has beenpointed out to how the salon music was integrated into a bourgeois wayof life. Of great importance is the reconstruction of everyday way of life1From the Salons of Novi Sad. An album of salon dances for the piano, edited byMarijana Kokanović, Novi Sad: Matica srpska 2010.Salon Music in the Life of the Servian Citizens in the 19th Century 167of the social class, which was the bearer of that kind of music. Specialemphasis is placed on the social function of music education for children,especially young girls.Within sub-chapter “The Social Function of a Salon”, the questions re-garding the role of a salon in one’s house, its public function, salon fur-niture, have been discussed. It has been explained what were the causesfor social gatherings in the salons, which differed in relation to: part ofthe day, season in which they were hosted, visitors (women, men, or both),type and scope of gathering (regular weekly visits, or salon evenings orga-nized for large number of guests). In the sub-chapter “Court and BourgeoisSalons”, it has been pointed out to different types of salon socializing incourt, as well as, bourgeois circles. No doubt, the salons played significantrole in new, social, reception of music. Since in public life there were notthat many opportunities to listen to music, the salon in its various mani-festations, compensated for the lack of public associations and professionalinstitutions. Thanks to the mediating role of the salon, the former possibil-ity of music reception was greatly expanded in terms of genres and kinds,and music became an important part of society’s social representation. Atthe same time, it was through the role of the salon, that educated femalecitizens constituted the new role of women in the society.In the fourth chapter “Functions of the Salon Music”, compositions havebeen interpreted in the interactive relationship between: work – performer –audience. Objective of the musical work analysis was not to assess theartistic quality or non-quality of the salon music, in order to distinguishbetween successful and less successful compositions. Far more importantwas the awareness that at the time, the artistic quality with consumers ofsalon compositions (performers as well as audience) played no importantrole. Analysis of a musical work no longer sought aesthetic values in musicopus, but qualities and features that a certain musical work must have inorder to fulfill its purpose and function. Parameters of musical language,expression and style are put into service of historical and sociological ap-proach, which reveals the true meaning and significance of the salon music.The final chapter “The End of the Era of the Salon Music” discussesthe issue of ‘disappearance’ of salon music in the context of socio-economicchanges at the beginning of World War I. It points out to what influencedthe gradual disappearance of the salon music: invention of the gramophone,radio; changes in the way of women’s education; appearance of the ‘new’type of popular music.

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Marijana Kokanovic Markovic, The Social Role of the Salon Music in the Life and the Value System of the Serbian Citizens in the 19th Century, Belgrad: Institute of Musicology SASA 2014 [Zusammenfassung]

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