Overview and wealth of detail

It seems almost impossible to summarize an era like the 18th century, which is not really an era at all, in one book. The political, ideological, artistic and musical arc it covers is too broad. Elisabeth Schmierer - who researches and teaches at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen - therefore does not focus on individual personalities, but rather follows the developments of various genres, which she in turn illuminates against the respective social background. How did church music develop during the Enlightenment and the emergence of the concert business? How does the song appear in front of the "mirror of bourgeois musical culture"? Above all, again and again: where does music theater stand? This is highly informative because Schmierer also compiles a wealth of material on side areas such as ballet pantomime or program music.

Sometimes almost a little too much, so that one is in danger of losing the overview while reading. The absence of footnotes (instead there are lots of brackets) makes the text even less easy to read. There are almost no pictures or musical examples. Although a glossary in the appendix explains the most important terms, this does not prevent the book from being rather unclear.

I will pick out a favorite example, the Passion poem by the Hamburg writer and city councillor Barthold Heinrich Brockes, which was set to music by some of the most important composers such as Handel, Telemann and Stölzel, and which Bach also used. These names and a few more are mentioned, as well as the fact that Brockes reintroduced the Gospel text into the Passion Oratorio, albeit with a few rhymes. And that is all. Nothing about the highly individual and exciting solutions to which the highly expressive text inspired the musicians. No, the enumeration continues at breakneck speed.

Ultimately, the volume, which features three women making music on the cover, cements the impression that female composing played no role at all in that era. Only Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre appears as a female composer. Juliane Reichardt is missing, as is Madame de Montgéroult, who was one of the first female teachers at the Paris Conservatoire. Despite such omissions, the volume provides a good overview and is certainly useful for all those who teach music history and would like to link it within a wider framework.
Elisabeth Schmierer: The music of the 18th century, 345 p., € 32.80, Laaber, Lilienthal 2022, ISBN 978-3-89007-858-8