Music and urban sociability in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Europe
New methods, new perspectives
Published on Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Abstract
The city is a privileged field for encounters between historians and musicologists. The work of recent decades has seen a significant renewal, particularly with regard to the Modern Age, during which music became a central component of the urban experience. The diversification of themes is the key ingredient to this renewal. Institutional studies have given way to more complex approaches that combine artistic, social, political, cultural and economic issues to show how music was negotiated in urban contexts. Through the central theme of urban sociability and an unusual periodization, this workshop aims to highlight the original work of emerging scholars in which the spatial issues of urban musical practices are predominant, in order to compare sources, methods and questions.
Announcement
Journée d’étude « Musique et sociabilités urbaines fin XVIIIe-début XIXe siècles : nouvelles méthodes, nouvelles perspectives » Journée d’étude organisée par Mikko Saira (University of Turku, Finland) et Thierry Favier (Université de Poitiers) avec la collaboration de Katharine Ellis (Cambridge University) Contributions de dix chercheurs émergents, doctorants ou jeunes docteurs venus d’Europe et des États-Unis. Financement Institut Universitaire de France et Laboratoire Criham Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires en Histoire, Histoire de l’Art et Musicologie - UR 15507
Programme
Lundi 4 mai 2026 – 9h / 18h
9 :00 – Accueil
9 :30 – Thierry Favier Introduction
9 :45 – 11 :30
- Mikko Saira (University of Turku) Musical life in Turku and the circulation of music 1790–1840 : Challenging previous research and methods
Respondent : Paul Ailleret
- Mateusz Pawel Kawa (Universität Mozarteum Salzburg) “So Many Asses and So many Virtuosi” : Urban Musical Sociability in Correspondence of Chopin and his circle
Respondent : Damián Martin Gil
- Paul Ailleret (Université de Poitiers) A survey of concerts in the capital : Venues for symphony concerts in Paris in the late 18th century
Respondent : Mary Kirchdorfer
11 :30 – Pause
11h :45 – 13 :00
- Clare Beesley (Utrecht University) Performing childhood : examining the performance of child-adult relationships in the repertoire of the British eighteenth-century prodigy Marianne Davies (c1743/4-buried 1814) and the music and poetry her performances inspired
Respondent : Jan Temme de Vries
- Nadav Ovadia (CNSMD Lyon, HfMT Hamburg) The Pantaleon Beyond the Court : George Noëlli’s Career Pursuits and Networks in the Beau Monde
Respondent : Mateusz Pawel Kawa
Après-midi
14 :30 – 16 :15
- Mary Kirchdorfer (Universität Wien) Uncovering the Roles of Women in Viennese Concert Life 1780–1830
Respondent : Clare Beesley
- Jan Temme de Vries (Universität Basel) Scientific Revolution and Divine Revelation : The Theological Use of the Night Sky in Devotional Music in Copenhagen, 1770–1799
Respondent : Peter Koch Gehlshøj
- Damián Martin Gil (Université de Poitiers, Conservatorio Profesional de Cáceres) : The guitar in the city : the example of Paris at the end of the Ancien Régime
Respondent : Peter Kohanski
16 :15 – Pause
16 :30 – 17 :45
- Peter Koch Gehlshøj (University of Copenhagen) “Not Merely for Pleasure” : Satire and Censorship in 18th-Century Copenhagen’s Music Theatre
Respondent : Mikko Saira
- Peter Kohanski (University of North Texas) Musical Sociability and Anglo-American Masculinity in Colonial Philadelphia
Respondent : Nadav Ovadia
17 :45 : Katharine Ellis (Cambridge University)
Conclusions
Illustration : De Bully ( ?), Intérieur d’une salle de spectacle du XVIIIe siècle lors de l’entracte, dessin à la plume et à l’aquarelle.
Informations complémentaires
En présentiel à Poitiers et en visioconférence (sur inscription)
Contact et inscription (pour la visioconférence)
Thierry Favier thierry.favier@univ-poitiers.fr
Subjects
- Early modern (Main category)
- Mind and language > Representation > Cultural history
- Periods > Early modern > Eighteenth century
- Mind and language > Epistemology and methodology > Epistemology
- Society > Urban studies
- Society > History > Social history
- Mind and language > Epistemology and methodology
- Mind and language > Epistemology and methodology > Corpus approaches, surveys, archives
Places
- Bâtiment E08 Salle 2 Rez-de-jardin - Pavillon Universitaire Musique et Danse 15 rue Guillaume VII le Troubadour
Poitiers, France (86)
Event attendance modalities
Hybrid event (on site and online)
Date(s)
- Monday, May 04, 2026
Attached files
Keywords
- musique, sociabilité, europe, opéra, concert, histoire, musicologie, lumières
Contact(s)
- Mikko SAIRA
courriel : mivasa [at] utu [dot] fi
Information source
- Thierry FAVIER
courriel : thierry [dot] favier [at] univ-poitiers [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Music and urban sociability in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Europe », Study days, Calenda, Published on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, https://doi.org/10.58079/165ep

