@TheEdVerse So, I haven't poked around, but I'm kinda curious.
Of the great Sword Coast cities, which is most Parisian in its artistic expression, value, and compensation to the arts? Are musical performances still married to rhetoric as in theatre/music? Are modes associated 1/
— Justin Ray Glosson (@ivstinus) August 29, 2019
with spiritual/divine phenomena (such as modes matching planets in Alchemical symbolism), do most theatres/venues fit the romantic art space, classical, baroque, renaissance, or medieval? Where did notation develop in the Realms? What background scale is the backbone of music 2/ theoretical treatises? And finally… do any chivalric orders prefer to follow the 7 heavens instead of a single deity? #forgottenrealms #dnd #storyteller #music
— Justin Ray Glosson (@ivstinus) August 29, 2019
1)
It varies over time, but Waterdeep has always been most tolerant/varied in style and had the most noble patrons sponsoring art of all sorts. Followed by Athkatla, Baldur’s Gate, and Neverwinter, usually in that order 2)
Nobles, wealthy ‘wannabe nobles,’ guildmasters, and courtiers (i.e. the Palace) have always commissioned instrumental music for “background pleasantry” during feasts (LOW volume, unlike most “bands” performing in our modern…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 30, 2019
3)
…real world), and this extends to what we might call “chamber music” performed by quartets or less in passages outside bedchambers, for guests in the early evening (when “retiring” to undress and bathe, before slumber). 4)
And beyond fanfares, many musicians hire themselves out to those willing to pay, to play “motifs” announcing their arrival at a function/revel, or even tavern or club. So, no, not exclusively married to rhetoric.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 30, 2019
5)
However, theatrical performances are the biggest reliable employer of musicians, day in and day out, in Waterdeep and all other Sword Coast cities. Clubs run a close second, as “house bands” and hosting visiting concerts.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 30, 2019