Noise - a Human History of Sound and Listening

http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2013/03/reviewed-noise-human-history-sound-and-listening-david-hendy

In classical music, the asymmetry of the right to make noise is quite recent. Chamber music used to be the mainly ignored soundtrack to parties, while opera-goers would heckle or cheer ad libitum.

(via Instapaper)