The Problem of Eclectic Listening in French and German Concerts, 1860–1910

Between 1820 and 1870, European musical culture changed. Previously, a certain type of program had dominated the musical sphere: contemporary works spanning various genres including opera. In the 1870s new actors emerged. A learned world of classical music came into being, focusing on orchestral and chamber pieces, with less of a connection to opera. New kinds of songs, increasingly termed “popular,” began to make their mark in roughly similar European venues. In these contexts, listening practices reflected radically different social values and expectations. But did mixed programming remain in some concert performances? Did listeners demonstrate eclectic musical tastes? Taking examples from Paris, Frankfurt, Leipzig, and Berlin, this chapter shows how links were made between contrasting repertoires by the importation or adaptation of works. A process that seems at first to have been an exception turns out to have been a conventional system of exchange.