Check out the latest episode of my podcast, Sound Philosophy. This episode is entitled “The 19th-Century Parlor Ballad.” It examines the 19th-century parlor ballad as a genre that helped to define shifting notions of the family and womanhood in the United States. I start by reviewing the prerequisites for a robust music industry (necessary to support a prolific production of song) and then discuss changes the family underwent in the early 19th century with the shift from an agrarian lifestyle to a more modern, urbane mode of living. I then discuss the role of nostalgia and the idealization of women in the parlor ballad. Examples are drawn from Thomas Moore, Stephen Foster, and George Frederick Root.
The performances are by me and Kelly Inskeep. Enjoy!