Community / Calendar

Live Music: All

7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Posted by: Institute for the Arts & Humanities
Details:
Public Spaces, Private Lives: Social and Intellectual Life at the End of the Eighteenth Century

The end of the eighteenth century marked a turning point in the social and intellectual life of the great cities of Europe and America. From cafés to public houses, from drawing rooms to the great public parks, men and women enjoyed greater freedoms to socialize and debate the issues of the day. Enjoy food, drink, music, readings, and lively conversation in the spirit of these great salons as Penn State faculty offer informal presentations on a variety of topics focusing on art and culture in the late eighteenth century.
Monticello and Thomas Jefferson: Architecture and Music”

Lecture by
Craig Zabel
Head of the Department of Art History, Penn State

This lecture will examine Thomas Jefferson as the architect of his own mountaintop home of Monticello, just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. This house was built over several years (1770-82, 1796-1809) as Jefferson’s ideas about architecture evolved from the colonial Georgian traditions of Virginia to English Palladianism to the avant-garde Neoclassicism of France. The final building was a highly original assemblage of eclectic sources that were harmonized into an uncommonly human scaled and nature oriented home that personally embraced Jefferson’s multitude of interests. The grandeur of Monticello’s white columns and dome is juxtaposed with the harsh reality that this was a plantation built and worked by the enslaved African Americans that the revolutionary Jefferson owned.

The evening will also feature music by:

James Lyon, Baroque Violin, Professor of Music, Penn State
Amanda Maple, Harpsichord, Music Librarian, Penn State
Carol Lyon, Cello, Pennsylvania Centre Orchestra

Thomas Jefferson considered music “the favorite passion of my soul, and fortune has cast my lot in a country where it is in a state of deplorable barbarism.” Jefferson himself played the violin and despite the state of music in colonial America, evenings at Monticello were often filled with performances by family and visitors. In an attempt to re-create the atmosphere of a musical evening at his beloved home, our performers will be playing music known to be in Jefferson’s personal library using instruments typical of the time.

Details

COST:
BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Penn State School of Music
WEBSITE: http://www.music.psu.edu/upcoming