Politics: Staging Power

As a cultural and social practice, music intersects with early modern theories and practices of statecraft and political philosophy in significant ways. Musical harmony functioned as a symbol for the well-ordered state and ruler. Musical education was one of the means for rulers to acquire princely virtues. Lavish expenditure in music was instrumental for the construction and display of a ruler’s legitimate authority in the political arena. This paper concentrates on several case studies that constitute especially effective statements on the political relevance of music in the early modern period.