Music In The British Provinces, 1690-1914

Description

The period covered by this volume, roughly from Purcell to Elgar, has traditionally been seen as a dark age in British musical history. Much has been done recently to revise this view, though research still tends to focus on London as the commercial and cultural hub of the British Isles. It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that by the mid-eighteenth century musical activity outside London was highly distinctive in terms of its reach, the way it was organized, and its size, richness, and quality. There was an extraordinary amount of musical activity of all sorts, in provincial theatres and halls, in the amateur orchestras and choirs that developed in most towns of any size, in taverns, and convivial clubs, in parish churches and dissenting chapels, and, of course, in the home. This is the first book to concentrate specifically on musical life in the provinces, bringing together new archival research and offering a fresh perspective on British music of the period. The essays brought together here testify to the vital role played by music in provincial culture, not only in socializing and networking, but in regional economies and rivalries, demographics and class dynamics, religion and identity, education and recreation, and community and the formation of tradition. Most important, perhaps, as our focus shifts from London to the regions, new light is shed on neglected figures and forgotten repertoires, all of them worthy of reconsideration. Contents List of Figures List of Appendices, Musical Examples, and Tables Notes on Contributors Preface and Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Used in Notes and Contributor Biographies Introduction: Centres and Peripheries 1 ‘A pretty knot of Musical Friends’: The Ferrar Brothers and a Stamford Music Club in the 1690s1 2 Music in the Minster Close: Edward Finch, Valentine Nalson, and William Knight in Early Eighteenth-century York 3 A Little Light on Lorenzo Bocchi: An Italian in Edinburgh and Dublin1 4 Disputing Choruses in 1760s Halifax: Joah Bates, William Herschel, and the Messiah Club1 5 The Role of Gentlemen Amateurs in Subscription Concerts in North-East England during the Eighteenth Century 6 The String Quartet in Eighteenth-century Provincial Concert Life 7 John Baptist Malchair of Oxford and his Collection of ‘National Music’ 8 Music of Rural Byway and Rotten Borough: A Study of Musical Life in Mid-Wiltshire 9 Mr White, of Leeds 10 The Larks of Dean: Amateur Musicians in Northern England 11 Finding Themselves: Musical Revolutions in Nineteenth-century Staffordshire 12 Lost Luggage: Giovanni Puzzi and the Management of Giovanni Rubini’s Farewell Tour in 1842 13 Outside the Cathedral: Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Local MusicMaking, and the Provincial Organist in Mid-Nineteenth-century England 14 Music for St Cuthbert, ‘Patron Saint of the Faithful North’: The Musical Repertory of St Cuthbert’s Catholic Church, Durham, 182 15 ‘That monstrosity of bricks and mortar’: The Town Hall as a Music Venue in Nineteenth-century Stalybridge 16 The Provincial Musical Festival in Nineteenth-century England: A Case Study of Bridlington1 17 Educating England: Networks of Programme-Note Provision in the Nineteenth Century1 Index