It seems to me that music in the past, prior to its mass-production, was less prominent as an art. It appears to have benefited in this degree enormously by the technological developments in the latter half of the 20th century.
I base this view strictly on my reading of a considerable number of 19th century literary works, where music appears to be a very small part of the people's lives, unlike literature.
Although there existed writers of the 19th century who wrote significantly of music (ETA Hofmann is a good example, and at the same time a bad example since he was a composer himself), and sometimes it plays a significant role in the text (as in The Kreutzer Sonata, by Tolstoy), in general it has a diminished part.
Of course i realize that looking for it in literature is not the best idea. But even if popular music played a part in the life of the "common" people, it does seem to me to be almost entirely overlooked in serious literary works, even more so if one does not count the references to classical music.
Now the opposite is true: popular music is everywhere. It has become such a powerful industry that it made almost inevitable that all people at some time in their lives are trying to idolize the musicians, and discuss their favourite musical works of this genre passionately.
In your view did this rise in popularity of pop music appear only relatively late in human history, and also do you think this is detrimental or positive for the arts as a whole?
I base this view strictly on my reading of a considerable number of 19th century literary works, where music appears to be a very small part of the people's lives, unlike literature.
Although there existed writers of the 19th century who wrote significantly of music (ETA Hofmann is a good example, and at the same time a bad example since he was a composer himself), and sometimes it plays a significant role in the text (as in The Kreutzer Sonata, by Tolstoy), in general it has a diminished part.
Of course i realize that looking for it in literature is not the best idea. But even if popular music played a part in the life of the "common" people, it does seem to me to be almost entirely overlooked in serious literary works, even more so if one does not count the references to classical music.
Now the opposite is true: popular music is everywhere. It has become such a powerful industry that it made almost inevitable that all people at some time in their lives are trying to idolize the musicians, and discuss their favourite musical works of this genre passionately.
In your view did this rise in popularity of pop music appear only relatively late in human history, and also do you think this is detrimental or positive for the arts as a whole?