The Athlone history of music in Britain

This is an account of music in Britain in the Romantic period from 1800 - 1914, with contributions by the leading musicologists and musical historians. It reflects a change of approach in traditional musicological investigation in its concern with music as something deeply rooted in the social and cultural life of its period. An introductory section analyzes the function of music in a rapidly changing society, with the rise of musical education and the expansion of music publishing. Then the field is divided into two broad categories. Firstly, Popular and Functional Music, including all those kinds of music that burgeoned in Victorian times, but have long been considered outside the realm of "serious" study - work songs, music hall, musical comedy, dance music, band music, hymn tunes and drawing room ballads. The second category, Art Music, offers fresh reappraisals of Bishop, Field, the Wesleys, Sterndale Bennett, Sullivan, Parry, Elgar and a host of lesser composers. The final section of the book contains chapters on the development of criticism, full range of music examples and a considerable bibliography.