Stimulating Music: The Pleasures and Dangers of “Electric Music,” 1750–1900 | Zendy

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Stimulating Music: The Pleasures and Dangers of “Electric Music,” 1750–1900

Author(s) -

James Kennaway

Publication year - 2011

Publication title -

configurations

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.112

H-Index - 22

eISSN - 1080-6520

pISSN - 1063-1801

DOI - 10.1353/con.2011.0018

Subject(s) - sympathy , harmony (color) , criticism , aesthetics , subject (documents) , music theory , music history , popular music , psychology , literature , art , visual arts , social psychology , computer science , musical , library science

Far from being a purely modern idea, the notion of "electric music" was already common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The shift in thinking about music from cosmic harmony to nervous stimulation made metaphors and speculative theories relating music and electricity irresistible. This essay considers the development of the idea of electric music, looking at its associations with a sexual "body electric." It will then examine how this conception of music went from being the subject of sympathy to becoming part of a medical critique of music as a dangerous stimulant, with echoes in music criticism and beyond.

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