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Who came before us
A
brief history of literary and music salons
Yes,
there is Paris and, yes, there is Gertrude
Stein. And yet, the known history of salons
dates from as early as the 7th century C.E.
This rich, vibrant story has us traveling
from Arabia, through both Eastern and Western
Europe, England, Argentina, Taos, New Mexico,
California, Philadelphia, and New York City.
Salon hosts were primarily highly-educated
women. They determined who was to be invited.
They moderated the discussion and debate
about art, music, literature, current events
and issues. These conversations were an
essential feature of the salon. At its core,
however, a salon was a social gathering.
As a participant, you would find yourself
in the company of the host within her private
residence (and, in some instances, a coffee
house - as is ours). Here, artistic expression
and ideas were shared, discovery and education
valued.
And in the beginning . . . Literary Salons
in Pre-Islamic Arabia
The tradition of literary circles in Arabic
culture appears to have been born with Al-Khansa
who would "stand in the Ukaz market
in Mecca reciting her poetry and airing
her views on the scholarship of others.
(Arabic Literary Salons in the Islamic Middle
Ages; Poetry, Public Performance, and the
Presentation of the Past by Samer M. Ali
-2010) One of the less well-known salons
in Beirut met for three consecutive nights
during the full moon, where male and female
guests stayed awake until dawn. In early
20th century Egypt, we find Mayy Ziyada
and her literary salon, which one historian
(Kkhaldi) argues was a "microcosm for
the Arab Nahdah or 'Awakening.''
In good company . . . Music Salons of
the 17th through 20th centuries
Attending a music salon or soirée
in 17th century Western Europe, you might
well find yourself in the presence of Johann
Sebastian Bach and his sons - and in 18th
century Paris, Mozart. If you were to attend
one of the Mendelssohn family's salons in
Germany in the 19th century, you would certainly
find the child prodigy, Felix, playing before
writer, poet and philosopher, Goethe. Frederic
Chopin was a frequent salon guest. Italian
salons attracted composer Giuseppe Verdi.
Pauline Viardot, a well-known Paris salonnière
(hostess), mezzo-soprano, and composer,
helped launch the career of Camille Saint-Saens
and Jules Massenet, among others. The influence
of these soirées was so great that
"new genres of music began to develop
specifically for salons" (www.osborne-conant.org/Taos.htm
- in PowerPoint link). In 19th century Eastern
Europe, Mikhail Glinka, Franz Liszt, and
Pauline Viardot were guests of the poetess,
Jewgenja Rostopecha, who hosted one of several
music salons in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Paris salons of the late 19th and early
20th centuries facilitated some of the greatest
compositions by Debussy and Ravel, among
others.
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