Prior to the emergence of the public concert in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the center of important non-liturgical musical activity was the court, which provided an exclusive audience and a steady demand for music. However, a number of events contributed to the rise of the middle class in social prestige and financial and political power and the concomitant decline of the aristocracy. This rise of the middle class and the existence of several institutions which had provided public performances of music outside of the church helped to create a milieu favorable to the development of the public concert. The public concert affected the role of the musician, changed his economic situation, and ultimately influenced the kind of music he produced.
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