Music and Image: Domesticity, Ideology and Socio-cultural Formation in Eighteenth-Century England

by Richard Leppert

This innovative study examines the place and practice of musical life in eighteenth-century England among the upper classes. Focusing on the home, it shows how domestic music-making was shaped by socio-cultural forces while itself contributing to socio-cultural formation. The evidence examined is extremely broad, but particular attention is given to visual representations of music in paintings, drawings and prints: one hundred illustrations are discussed. The author considers in detail the problematics of imagery itself, analysing both the ideological and the semiotic content of the visual image. Other material analysed includes the music of the period, instruction manuals, tracts on education, courtesy and conduct books, sermons, letters, diaries and memoirs, fictional writing and journalism.

Paperback

First published February 24, 1989

Reviews

[Kaitlyn Townsend · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Liked the exposure to the art, provided some interesting historical context and potential rabbit holes for research, but I felt like his arguments were meandering at times and that he often stretched his arguments to unreasonable lengths or failed to justify points upon which his argument rested.