Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
14
PawełMajewski
work.Therewasnoneedforthis,sincetherivalswerenotsomuchtheper-
formingartistsastheinstitutionsofpoliticalpowerthatstoodbehindthem.
Thisstateofaffairschangedrapidlywiththedeclineofthefeudalsys-
tem.ThebourgeoisiethatconsolidateditspowerinEurope’sgeopolitically
mostimportantcentresfeltnoneedtoproveitsadvantageoveradversaries
ineitherpolitical,militaryor(asignificantchange)economiccontestsinvolv-
ingart.ThiswasoneofthereasonsforartgainingRomanticautonomy.The
agonisticfactorwasneverthelessstillpresentinartisticpractice,and–since
inthe19thcenturyartbecameindependentofpoliticalpatronage–thedesire
toproveone’sworthinpurelyartisticcontestsbecamethemorestronglyfelt.
Thisdesirefounditsmostdistinctexpressionintheinstitutionofclas-
sicalmusicperformancecontests.Theconditionsfordesigninganagon
wereparticularlyfavourableinthisfield.Theparticipantshadthesametype
ofinstrumentsattheirdisposal,aswellasarelativelyuniformlyconstructed
setofmusicmaterialtobeperformed.ThesamecanonofmusicGfromBach
toBartók’,whichconstitutestherepertoireofthevastmajorityofmusic
competitions,isatthesametimepartandparceloftheculturalcapital
ofthosesocialgroupsthatmakeupthecompetitionaudience.
Detailedstudiesofthethusestablishedrelationbetweenthreegroups:
competitionparticipants,jurorsandtheaudience–aretodaythedomain
ofscientists,whoseeffortsconstituteavaluablecontributiontosociologically
andanthropologicallyorientedstudiesonmusic,understoodnotonlyand
notprimarilyastheartisticworkcontainedinthescore,butalsoasatype
ofsocial-culturalpracticeengagedandsituatedinnumerouscontextswhich
exhibitnocloserelationtoacousticphenomena4.
Theinstitutionofmusicperformancecompetition(sinceitsbeginnings
inthelate19thcentury)involvesatension(frequentlyreachingthelimits
ofdestructivecontradiction)betweenarbitraryaestheticjudgmentsrelated
toactsofmusicperformanceandtheproposedexplicitandobjectivecharac-
terofthecriteriaforassessment.Researcherspointtothestrongimpactthat
thistensionexertsonallthegroupsinvolvedinthecompetitionprocedures,
andexplainhowthejurors,theaudienceandtheperformersthemselves
attempttorelieveoratleastneutralisesuchtension.Theproblemcannotbe
solvedonthebasisofaestheticandsocialprinciplesfunctioninginWestern
cultures;itspresenceismostlikelyoneofthekeyfactorsgeneratingthe
society’sinterestinsuchcompetitions.Whatpotentialforexcitementwould
sucheventshold,afterall,iftheirparticipants’abilitiesweremeasuredwith
acalliperorametronome?
4OneofthemostimportantstudiesofthiskindisL.McCormick’sPerformingCivility.
InternationalCompetitionsinClassicalMusic,Cambridge–NewYork2015.
