Beginnings of Institutional Musical Life in the 19th-Century Romanian Principalities – Steps Towards a Much-Desired Modernisation
Beginnings of Institutional Musical Life in the 19th-Century Romanian Principalities – Steps Towards a Much-Desired Modernisation

Summary/Abstract: The 19th century was, for the Romanian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldova, the time of important transformations. The temporal arch includes metamorphosis in the political, social-economic and cultural structure of this area in the East of Europe but under the influence of the Orient, which took place concurrently with a sense of waking up to a national consciousness and with factors favouring emancipation. Until around the middle of the century, the old, represented by Oriental tradition, and the new, manifest through the process of ineluctable Europeanisation, coexist. In its turn, musical life changes, be it with regard to recreational activities, education, the private or the public environment. Openness to the West is more and more evident. The advance towards modernity starts from the ambiance of the salons, balls, social and musical evenings at the royal and boyar courts, and arrives at the first music schools and, later, at the Bucharest and Iași Conservatories. A short study of the Bucharest Conservatory mirrors the difficult evolution of the Romanian higher music education, which set out, with elan and idealistic goals, on the long road to becoming truly professional.

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