What constituted popular music in 19th century Italy?

by RioAbajo

What style(s) of music would have been the most popular among the non-elite in 19th century Italy? How accessible would it have been? For instance, how often and in what venues could a farmer or craftsmen hear music?

As a bonus, if you can speak to other areas of Europe (particularly Iberia, Britain, or France) I would be very interested.

flotiste

You kind of have two questions there.

The music that was popular in 19th century Italy would not have been the kind of music the non-elite was listening to, nor something a farmer would have been able to hear.

Until after the industrial revolution, music performance is not something that a peasant would have had much access to, beyond folk music, and anything you can sing or perform yourself.

In 19th century Italy, Romantic opera would have been at the height of its popularity. Rossini, Verdi, Donizetti and others would have been the height of style, and opera, particularly opera with themes of love and humanism.

Opera Buffa (Comic Opera) was also very popular in Italy, and would have been more accessible, but still not within the realm of a peasant or farmer. These kind of productions were large, requiring a full orchestra, full chorus, and a medium-large cast of soloists. They were (and are) expensive undertakings, and as a result, the ticket prices would have been equally expensive. This would have been the case throughout Europe for peasants of any variety. Outside of church, they would not have had much music in their lives that they didn't make themselves.

That being said, there is a TON of folk music tradition in all of the countries you list. They typically develop mostly outside the classical music tradition, use different instruments, and occasionally entirely different musical structure. If you look up folk music of Italy, Britain, France, or Iberia, you'll get a ton of examples of the kinds of music that common people would have heard, or played.

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/concise-history-western-music4/ch/19/outline.aspx http://www.nthuleen.com/papers/M52opera.html