Until less than a century ago, the house was a creative space par excellence: both music performances for the public and music education had their place within the domestic circle. Specific music genres were practiced there, such as reductions of orchestral music for piano or four-handed piano, lieder and its predecessor, the romance, both with piano or harmonium and with guitar or harp accompaniment, chamber operas or works for magic lantern projections. Music education also took place at home, especially for women and for the aristocracy, since conservatories were originally only intended for those who could not otherwise afford music lessons. That private education was sometimes very thorough, is evident from the many compositions left behind by the ‘amateurs’.
This invisible music scene is an essential part of our music history. However, since the public music scene entered the home via recordings and radio, many works, which only circulated in the private circuit, have now disappeared from musical practice, regardless of the talent of their makers and performers.
In this project, we will try to map the house music culture in 19th century Belgium. We will re-imagine the 19th-century house as an artistic space, explore the – diffuse and heterogeneous – source material as a creative breeding ground, and explore the house music culture as a cultural-historical fact.
Maybe there is something to learn, in view of trends towards local and small-scale production.
Image: Stevens Alfred (1823-1906), Het theekopje, ca. 1874-1878 (Musée royal de Mariemont, Morlanwelz)
Update: June 2025
