Week 4 - Music and Politics: Guest Lecture by Kelsey Jacobson Flashcards
What was the big question in Kelsey Jacobson’s lecture
What social-educational role do we believe art to have?
Should the entertainment we consume do good?
… does it?
What were the 3 big ideas of sentimentalism?
Huge growth in kinds of entertainnment, audience number sizes
Reaction to restoration theatre
Desire for theatre to “do good”
What were the capacities of Drury Lane?
1663: 650-700
1794: 3611
How many theatres were there in the 1600’s
two
How many theatres were outside London in 1805
more than 280
Ballad Operas
Popular music rather than conventional opera style, along dialogue
Uniquely english
Sometimes satirized “real” opera
What is an example of a Ballad Opera
The Beggars Opera
Who created the licensing act of 1737
Prime minister Robert Walpole is the one who introduces this act
Walpole reads sections of it to parliament, the show was apparently so offensive that the government couldn’t help but censor it
The licensing act of 1737
Censorship: Lord Chamberlain’s office can approve/reject all plays. No theatre can be performed or profit or reward unless approved by the government
Theatre patents renewed: now limited to 3 theatres (Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and in 1766 Haymarket)
What is the Burletta rule
Add 5 pieces of incidental music and it’s not considered spoken drama
Pay for a “drink” or a “concert” or a “chocolate”
What happened before sentimentalism took over
Theatre was “sexy” (woman in pants), used to be fun
Moved from this to a more controlled and demure
What did Thomas Hobbs (1651) believe
In the need for a absolute monarchy to control the masses
What did John Locke (1690) believe
People will form civil governments, living together according to civil law. People can be reasonable and good
What is Anti-theatricalism?
Growing body of influential literature about the ills of theatre and the dangers it poses in terms of corrupting people, leading them to vice, etc.
A short view of immorality and profaneness of the english state by Jeremy Collier
Beliefs Underscoring sentimental theatre
Theatre is a moral teaching tool
Learn to do the right thing by pulling heartstrings and touching emotions
Reflecting a middle-class environment where a character goes through moral trials for a happy (sentimental comedy) or sad (bourgeois drama) ending
Opportunity for virtue signaling: Look I’m crying at a sad thing, I must be a good person
“A pleasure too exquiste for laughter” - An opportunity for the audience to learn something
