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CENSORSHIP OF THE GOÛT MODERNE IN 1730S LUDWIGSBURG AND THE MUSIC OF GIUSEPPE ANTONIO BRESCIANELLO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2005

Extract

The year 1730 saw the Württemberg court (based at the magnificent palace of Ludwigsburg, some fifteen miles north of Stuttgart) promote Kammerjunker (gentleman-in-waiting) Christian Adolf von Ziegesar to the newly created position of aristocratic Obermusicdirector (chief music director). Since no template existed, the officials charged with drawing up his contract were instructed to make discreet enquiries regarding the same position at other ducal and electoral courts – a line of investigation that proved to be rather less than successful. One ‘Baron von Thüngen’, a Württemberg Kammerjunker with experience of a number of other courts (including Würzburg), reported unequivocally that to the best of his knowledge no court employed a nobleman in this position, but rather the directorship of musical matters was normally the responsibility of the Kapellmeister. Such a view appears to be confirmed by Julius Bernhard von Rohr (1688–1742) in his contemporary book on court ceremonial: he commented that a few places employed intendants des plaisirs charged with the overall supervision of large-scale divertissements, but made no mention of a similar position relating specifically to music.

Type
Essays
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

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