Peter Day of the BBC has been doing a bit of financial archeology, digging up evidence of the financial life of George Frideric Handel (short written story here, limited-term access to the radio story here). Says Day, Handel was not only innovative in his compositions, but also in the composition of his industry:
Handel seems to have been among the very first modern musicians not
to rely on patronage of court or cathedral for his main income. Instead,
he was an entrepreneurial promoter, risking his own money on operas and
oratorios. His fortunes waxed and waned with the popularity of the
genres and the fashions of the time.
Handel’s alternative business model to church or royal patronage eventually made him a rich man, and supported his investments in some of the early financial markets of his time. And his innovation may have inspired subsequent composers and musicians to explore the same idea.
A generation later, Beethoven, another business innovator, also broke from traditional patronage, and ”supported himself through a combination of annual stipends or single
gifts from members of the aristocracy; income from subscription
concerts, concerts, and lessons; and proceeds from sales of his works” (Wikipedia).
Both composers provide further evidence that our modern mingling of art and business isn’t modern at all, but centuries old. We’ve just designed a few different corporate structures to extend and enhance what Handel was doing long ago.
Handel must have gotten some of his funding from the state/church- he worked for George I. It’s interesting to see how far back the subsription system goes. Many artists are stereotyped as not having good business or money skills, but I would argue that it is essential to have those skills to keep your art alive. (or hire a good manager to do it for you!) I’m glad not all classical/baroque composers ran themselves into the ground like Mozart.
It’s good to see examples of artists who were capable and willing to support themselves off of their own work, rather than fighting for handouts from governments or charitable organizations. The only way to fight the stereotypical starving artist living off grants is to put forward an image of a self-sufficient worker. Hopefully, these two examples will educate both future artists and the general public alike.
That’s interesting to know about Handle and Beethoven. The sad thing is that most people don’t think about ‘arts management’ as a career. Almost every time I tell someone that my major IS Arts Management I have to explain what this means. I thought I wouldn’t have to explain my major anymore once I switched from oboe performance. It was always so frustrating when they asked “Is that the long thing with the weird tube?” NO!!
(Sorry for the vent). I think that the arts business industry is really a unique experience and specialty. To know that the musicians not only are musically inclined but know how to manage a business like Handle and Beethoven makes me admire them even more.
I think these two examples show that business and the arts naturally go hand in hand, and do not necessarily contradict each other.
I think there are a large number of people today that beleive that the arts and business should be separate. However, this shows that even back to the 1700’s, artists thought that they should be paid for their work, and rightfully so. Artists should be paid for their time and for their skill, and this is clearly not a new idea.
I find it interesting that Handel would have put his own money out like that. However, it has long been practice to teach in order to sustain yourself so that you are able to create. Knowing that people such as these were doing it only shows that artists can be capable of taking care of themselves and escape being seen as the typical ‘starving artist’.
This is really cool to learn. I never realized how far back the idea of arts management goes. The more history I learn about arts management, the more it encourages me as an artist. I have been doing some form of arts management for a few years now and I understand the importance of being able to think both in artist terms and management terms. Handel and Beethoven were both brilliant artists who understood how be business men. I think every artist is capable of this once they are willing to let themselves be defined by something other than the ‘artists stereotype”.