Paper short abstract:

The paper will analyse the impact of new trends related to cultural exchanges and the music market on the social and professional careers of the musicians in Lisbon in the late eighteenth-century, both native and foreigners who had chosen the Portuguese capital to develop their activities

Paper long abstract:

The development of the public sphere during the eighteenth century turned music into a commodity, accessible to all who could pay for it, either in the form of a concert ticket or the purchase of sheet music and instruments for domestic use. It also contributed to liberate the composer and performer from the dependence of representational culture of the ancient régime. The new paradigm not only led to the increasing variety of cultural and musical goods exchanged as generated significant changes in the social condition of the musicians, widening their professional expectations and opportunities within the labor market.

The paper intends to analyse the impact of the new trends related to cultural exchanges and the music market on the social and professional careers of the musicians in Lisbon in the late eighteenth century (both native and foreigners who had chosen the Portuguese capital to develop their activities), as well as their role in the development of musical practices and repertoires linked to private initiative within a society that slowly began to encompass the challenges of the public sphere. Several musicians, including instrumentalists of the Royal Chamber, had paralell free lance activities and became agents of the emerging music market as sheet music editors and sellers, private teachers or promotors of assemblies, balls and concerts. Different profiles of musicians will be considered, comprising examples of their life conditions and income.