The networks of production, dissemination and reception of modernist symphonic repertoire in early 20th-century Lisbon

Description

In the decades of the 1910s and 1920s, Lisbon witnessed an unprecedented flourishing of interest in public symphonic concerts. At the end of 1911, at the Teatro da República, a series of concerts was established by an orchestra conducted by Pedro Blanch, which would continue its activity in successive annual series until its dissolution in 1928. Among some other short-lived attempts, the annual series that unfolded from 1913 at the Teatro Politeama also stood out, initially conducted by David de Sousa, and after his death by José Viana da Mota (1918-1920) and Joaquim Fernandes Fão (1920-1925). In 1925, this ensemble transitioned to the new Teatro do Ginásio, which hosted it until 1930. It is also worth noting the brief series of concerts conducted by Pedro de Freitas Branco at the Tivoli from 1928 to 1932. This is a central episode in the history of music in Portugal, due to the impetus it provided towards updating the capital’s musical life. In fact, these concerts played an important role in promoting a very broad orchestral repertoire that was largely unknown to the Lisbon public.
This paper considers in particular the situation of the modernist symphonic repertoire in Lisbon between the beginning of the 1910s and the turn of the 1930s, placing it within the scope of broader ongoing processes. The aim is, on the one hand, to explore the motivations and actions of a group of agents and institutions of musical life, namely conductors, orchestras and concert managers, but also music critics and their respective periodicals. This contributes to the knowledge of the networks of production, dissemination, and reception of musical modernism at stake in the Portuguese case, as well as to the understanding of the way in which modernist ideals and practices intersected with changing tastes and market forces, which had an unavoidable impact on the capitalist mode of organisation of cultural life. On the other hand, in an approach informed by theoretical perspectives originating from social/economic history and the sociology of music, the aim is to examine the connection between all this and the social processes then underway, namely the indicators relating to changes in the public’s reaction to the aesthetic products of modernism (between resistance and adherence, at least apparently, within the scope of their behaviours of distinction and the emerging phenomenon of snobbery).

Period	6 Jun 2025 → 8 Jun 2025
Event title	International Conference — Modernism and Its Art Worlds
Event type	Conference
Degree of Recognition	International