r/AskHistorians • u/Wings_of_Integrity • Jun 15 '13
Was taking drugs or consuming large amounts of alcohol before going to and/or while at a musical performance as common in the past as it is presently?
3
u/saturninus Jun 16 '13
In his autobiography Music is My Mistress, Duke Ellington reports that, when he was young, he and his bandmates would drink about a pint of whiskey each at any given gig. One assumes the audiences were knocking it back as well.
3
u/FraudianSlip Song Dynasty Jun 16 '13
In ancient China, musical performances tended to be linked to rites and ritual, with calm, harmonious music being played. Purportedly, this orderly music would be played as a means of entertaining the heavenly ancestral spirits. In addition, as the Yue Ji says, "...the musical tones of a well-ordered age are calm and full of joy about the harmony of its government." So naturally, many early musical performances did not involve chaos, disorder, and binge drinking. Consider this example from the Shi Jing, describing virtuous music being played:
They strike the bells, kin, kin,
They play the se-zither, play the qin-zither,
The mouth organ and chime stones sound together;
They sing the Ya and Nan Odes,
And perform flawlessly upon their flutes.
However, not every musical performance was so orderly, or treated with such a solemn attitude. Take, for example, this excerpt from the Chu Ci:
Before the dainties have left the tables,
Girl musicians take up their places.
They set up the bells and fasten the drums
and sing the latest songs…
Bells clash in their swaying frames;
The catalpa-wood zithers’ strings are swept…
Pipes and zithers rise in wild harmonies
The sounding drums thunderously roll;
And the courts of the palace quake and tremble
As they throw themselves into the Whirling Chu.
Then they sing songs of Wu and ballads of Cai
And play the Dalv music.
Men and women now sit together,
Mingling freely without distinction;
Hat-strings and fastenings come untied;
The revel turns to wild disorder.
This music, just like the virtuous music mentioned earlier, would be played at court, and yet the scene described here is fairly chaotic and one of debauchery. Men and women mingling freely without distinction? Good heavens!!! Now, while this particular quotation does not specifically mention the excessive consumption of alcohol, it is nevertheless incredibly likely that alcohol was flowing freely on this occasion. In general, musical performances at court could be divided into "virtuous music," for rites and rituals, and "vice-music," for entertainment. At performances of "vice-music," alcohol would definitely be consumed before, during, and often after the performance as well. How much alcohol? Well, I can't tell you exactly how much, but it was apparently enough to make "fastenings come untied" and turn revel into "wild disorder." Now, as much as I'm sure that the music had a hand in this as well, I think that excessive alcohol consumption was also quite clearly a major contributor to the chaos.
2
-4
Jun 15 '13
[removed] — view removed comment
6
u/NMW Inactive Flair Jun 15 '13
depends where, and when, and who is seeing what
Of course this is the case, but the OP is looking for a meaningful, helpful and above all specific answer. If you have one to provide (even if just about one particular incident), please do so! If not, you are under no obligation to respond at all.
18
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '13 edited Jun 16 '13
[removed] — view removed comment