Why did interest in folk music increase among European intellectuals in the late 18th century?

In the late 18th century, interest in folk music among European intellectuals increased significantly as a reaction against the rationalism of the Enlightenment and the rigid order of Classicism.21

This shift was driven by several key factors:

• Romantic Ideals: The Romanticism movement fostered a deep appreciation for nature, emotion, and the subjective experience. Intellectuals began to venerate folk music as a spontaneous, authentic creation of the people, untainted by the artistic self-consciousness or aesthetic theories of the urban elite.21
• Nostalgia and Preservation: As the Industrial Revolution and urbanization drew people away from agrarian lifestyles, the perceived simplicity of rural life became highly attractive. Intellectuals viewed the "folk" as a group in danger of extinction and sought to collect and preserve their traditions, songs, and dances as a way to safeguard a vanishing way of life.34
• Nationalism: Folk music was increasingly seen as the embodiment of a nation's common experience. Figures like Johann Gottfried von Herder championed the study of the Volk (the people) to encourage national pride and cultural identity, using folk traditions to unify ethnic groups and emerging political entities.23