I’m a poor student of music and history but my opinion:
Europe was a civilization in a perpetual state of war with
power rarely concentrated, so even concentrated wealth was local and therefor still distributed amongst different kingdoms and nobles.
This means more opportunity and support: One village/patron/noble/king doesn’t like your style? Go travel and find someone else to sponsor you.
I don’t think this was possible elsewhere.
East Asia for example—thanks in part to Confucianism—had China dwarfing most of the region, with a stifling top down meritocracy.
And today, China and the United States have incredible sway over the globe I imagine things are stalled.
Europe was a civilization in a perpetual state of war with power rarely concentrated, so even concentrated wealth was local and therefor still distributed amongst different kingdoms and nobles.
This means more opportunity and support: One village/patron/noble/king doesn’t like your style? Go travel and find someone else to sponsor you.
I don’t think this was possible elsewhere. East Asia for example—thanks in part to Confucianism—had China dwarfing most of the region, with a stifling top down meritocracy.
And today, China and the United States have incredible sway over the globe I imagine things are stalled.