Music for the Donkey in the Office of the Feast of Fools 1807 - 1808

Editor: This etching, "Music for the Donkey in the Office of the Feast of Fools," by Aubin-Louis Millin, from 1807-1808, shows pages filled with musical notation. It looks so precise and ordered, but the title hints at something a bit more absurd. What’s your take on this piece? Curator: It tickles my fancy, this jumble of apparent seriousness undermined by that whimsical title. It reminds me of academic debates taken too far, arguments so refined they've lost touch with common sense! You know, a "Feast of Fools" was a medieval celebration, turning societal norms upside down, so placing "music for a donkey" within that context makes this a wonderfully sarcastic commentary. Do you hear that subtle mocking in the notes? Editor: I see what you mean! So, is Millin critiquing the musical establishment, maybe suggesting some compositions were, well, worthy of a donkey’s ears? Curator: Precisely! Or, perhaps, mocking the *listener*. Is the problem the music, or is the audience an ass? Art can be wonderfully cheeky, can’t it? It may also reference the shift in the intellectual environment following the French Revolution. Did learned discourse really produce the hoped-for progress? This might suggest his doubts... What instrument do *you* think might suit such a piece? Editor: Ha! I was thinking a kazoo solo! Learning the historical context really makes a difference; otherwise, it just looks like old sheet music. Thanks, I totally get it now! Curator: It’s all about the layers, isn’t it? Now I am off to hunt down kazoo concertos.