The English Musical Renaissance and the Press 1850-1914: Watchmen of Music (Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain)

Hughes, Meirion

ISBN 10: 0754605884 / ISBN 13: 9780754605881

Published by Routledge, 2002

About this Item

The aim of this volume is to analyze the contribution of music journalists to the revival of English music in the second half of the 19th century - the phenomenon that came to be called the "English musical renaissance". In so doing it re-evaluates their impact on British musical history. Series Editor(s): Zon, Professor Bennett. Series: Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Num Pages: 260 pages, Includes 9 b&w illustrations. BIC Classification: 1DBKE; 3JH; 3JJC; AVGC; HBJD1; HBLL; KNTJ. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 242 x 157 x 25. Weight in Grams: 544. . 2002. 1st Edition. hardcover. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780754605881

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The English Musical Renaissance and the Press 1850-1914: Watchmen of Music (Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain)
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0754605884
• ISBN 13: 9780754605881
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The importance of nineteenth-century writing about culture has long been accepted by scholars, yet so far as music criticism is concerned, Victorian England has been an area of scholarly neglect. This state of affairs is all the more surprising given that the quantity of such criticism in the Victorian and Edwardian press was vast, much of it displaying a richness and diversity of critical perspectives. Through the study of music criticism from several key newspapers and journals (specifically The Times, Daily Telegraph, Athenaeum and The Musical Times), this book examines the reception history of new English music in the period surveyed and assesses its cultural, social and political, importance. Music critics projected and promoted English composers to create a national music of which England could be proud. J A Fuller Maitland, critic on The Times, described music journalists as 'watchmen on the walls of music', and Meirion Hughes extends this metaphor to explore their crucial role in building and safeguarding what came to be known as the English Musical Renaissance. Part One of the book looks at the critics in the context of the publications for which they worked, while Part Two focuses on the relationship between the watchmen-critics and three composers: Arthur Sullivan, Hubert Parry and Edward Elgar. Hughes argues that the English Musical Renaissance was ultimately a success thanks largely to the work of the critics. In so doing, he provides a major re-evaluation of the impact of journalism on British music history.

About the Author

Meirion Hughes, a freelance historian, co-authored (with R.A. Stradling) The English Musical Renaissance 1860-1940: Construction and Deconstruction (1993), a volume which has appeared in a revised edition as The English Musical Renaissance 1840-1940: Constructing a National Music (2001). He contributed essays on Elgar to Music and the Politics of Culture (1989), on Rossini to Conflict and Coexistence (1997), and has written and presented several broadcasts for BBC Radio 3.