Potere e influenza dell’industria culturale

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Italian cultural and economic framework was characterized by opposing forces. The improvement of the industrial sector was not sufficient to mitigate the discrepancies between North and South, and Giolitti’s mediating politics did not succeed in stopping the spread of anti-democratic tendencies: the widespread perception of a crisis flanked the certainty of a progress deemed unstoppable. In such a complex scenario, music publishing interacts with a “mass” that is more and more changeable and influential like a large public. Giulio Ricordi, at the head of the family business in its moment of greatest fortune (1888–1912), became the protagonist of an ambitious project, capable of creating a dialogue with contemporary culture.
The periodicals «Musica e Musicisti» (1902–1905) and «Ars et Labor» (1906–1912) represent some of the most successful realizations of the “Giulio Ricordi era”, thanks to the pervasive use of the visual medium (fine art illustrations and photographs) and of a reassuring and anti-elitist communication. What musical and cultural scenario can be reconstructed through a deep and multidimensional analysis of these periodicals? Is it possible to identify a “communicative intentionality” subsumed under an effective power strategy? In attempting to answer these questions, our paper will reflect on the continuous “negotiations of power” within the musical and cultural “narrative” promoted by Giulio Ricordi at the beginning of twentieth century.