Kislány a zongoránál. A zene a középosztály magánéletében a 19. században
Damsel at the Piano: Music in the Private Life of the Middle Classes in the Nineteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: During the nineteenth century, music became an important accessory in the spheres of private life for the middle classes. The bourgeoisie borrowed the modes of representative music consumption of the upper classes in a more modest form: instead of hired music professionals, a guest or the girls of the house performed music at social functions. While the aim of the bourgeois salon music was supposed to provide a kind of ‚secular sacral’ experience, the ritual of playing and enjoying music was also an accessory of social represen­tation for most people. As there were more and more people who assumed the lifestyle and behaviour norms of the educated middle class, an increasing number of them also considered listening to classical music boring and tedious. Due to the fashion of musical entertainment at home, the small upright piano quickly became an indispensable part of the furniture of urban upper and mid­dle classes. The key to the success of this expensive instrument was that it was capable of representing two important sources of prestige at once: wealth and education. Learning to sing and play the piano became a must for well-bred daughters. A finely trained singing voice and piano skills raised the social pres­tige of the individual and their family, and such skills also significantly increased the chances of middle class girls in the marriage market. At the same time, in the discourses about women’s education, piano skills were often considered as the synonym for fake splendour, the opposite of real erudition and moral educa­tion. Piano training, almost exclusively for women, came to be the compulsory norm regardless of personal talent and interest. Moreover, it also became one of the spheres of socialisation, where women could be taught obedience. The study uses music history, contemporary media, and egodocuments to trace a process whereby piano ownership and musical education became middle class conven­tion. By presenting general European trends, it also explores the ritual function of music in social life with a particular focus on Hungarian developments.

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