Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/340

 were active in discussing questions of acoustics, of structure, and of artistic value, is significant.

Throughout the century the social status of music as an art left much to be desired. As a rule, musicians, unless attached to the church or employed in the opera, were forced to occupy a menial relation to some titled patron. But the rise of instrumental music turned attention to the public concert as a frequent social event, gave employment and stimulus to the independent virtuoso, and ultimately led to the organization of fixed orchestras. Gradually these changes wrought a change in the character of music as a calling or profession. They also tended to lift musical art to a place of greater dignity in popular estimation. To these results every extension of the literary and scientific discussion of musical subjects through publication was a distinct contribution.