Opera on the Move in the Nordic Countries during the Long 19th ...

100 Anne Reese Willén
the higher-paid musicians, or at least six month’s salary for most musicians
in the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong> Orchestra. In addition to this charge, which
included staff costs, the artist had to make special agreements with other
artists for additional solo performances. The general practice of having concert
programmes featuring both vocal and instrumental works necessitated
the involvement of singers and musicians. Concert programmes consisting
only of instrumental music were uncommon.
On the organisational level concert performance was institutionalised
early through the introduction of official practices such as contracts of employment
and the theatre regulations. Other aspects such as the programme
of concerts, the repertoire and other customs were also institutionalised in
the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong>. This was reflected in Stockholm in general as
concerts in other places took the same form.
Concert programming in Stockholm
Irrespective of who arranged the concerts, or where the performances
were held, the programmes almost always consisted of a mix of vocal and
instrumental pieces. William Weber extensively explores concert programming
in Leipzig, Vienna, Paris and London at the end of the eighteenth and
the first half of the nineteenth centuries in his book, The Great Transformation
of Musical Taste (Weber 2008). In sum, the general principle in Europe
during the first half of the nineteenth century was to alternate between vocal
and instrumental pieces, mostly following certain patterns developed in
the four above-mentioned musical centres. The content of the programmes
varied depending on the kind of concert, but the main types Weber mentions
– the benefit concert and the orchestral series – were also the most
common in Stockholm and followed this principle. The vocal contributions
were mainly popular opera pieces, although later in the period there was
more “serious” music in some concerts (Weber 2008, pp. 159f). The main
genres of instrumental music, which focused mainly on the orchestra, were
the symphony and the overture, but solo contributions such as concertos
were also popular. The programmes at the Royal Swedish <strong>Opera</strong>, and more
generally in Stockholm, tended to be organised along the same lines as in
Leipzig, for example. The first part opened with an overture or symphony
(movement) and continued with a vocal piece, an instrumental piece, an-
currency, Riksdaler banco (Swedish currency 1777-1873) and the sum was 272 R:d bco:
the two were not exactly the same amount, but similar when converted into today’s
monetary values.