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Victorian Music History |
Entertainment was an important element in the life of the Victorians. They liked to be entertained and were good at entertaining others. A lot of people played musical instruments at home. Music brought great happiness in their lives. The hosts and guests joined in charades, dancing, games, fireworks, magic lantern shows and piano sing songs making their own lively entertainment. Fairs were held all over Britain from city to village green, but the first special fair of the Queen's new reign was held in Hyde Park. During the early Victorian era(1830s), most of the music programs were performed in public places like saloon. The older traditional folk songs were really famous during this time. But music of the 1850s had more contemporary feel to it and it often contained humorous lyrics. Early English music was said to have developed slowly. But the development of printing in the 1400's influenced the evolution of music profoundly. Madrigals, which were fine, poetic, non-religious choral verses were popular and musical composers wrote beautiful accompaniments for them in the late 1500's and 1600's. Then the musical instruments became renounced. Englishman composed a variety of music and played different musical instruments. Queen Elizabeth 1 was said to have granted two gifted composers---Thomas Tallis and Byrd a monopoly on the printing of music and music paper for some time. But, as music spread to the plain folk, they created music for their "folk dancing". Sir Arnold Bax, Britten, Williams and Walton are some of the composers who became famous for their work in 1900s. The emergence of a distinct music hall style can be credited to a fusion of musical influences. Music hall songs needed to gain and hold the attention of an often jaded and unruly urban audience. The term "glee," first evident in the middle of the 1600s, was a song for three or four unaccompanied solo voices that demanded considerable skill despite having limited contrapuntal activity. Its central role at the Noblemen and Gentlemen's Catch Club (1761) brought high patronage upon many English composers. Leo Francis Howard ("Frank") Schuster (1852-1927) has a great contribution in the Victorian musical history. Schuster loves music as much as it is humanly possible to do. Schuster was certainly one of the most generous musical benefactors of the period, with a special passion for the music of both Elgar and Fauré. The First Symphony, Violin Concerto, and tragic "symphonic study" Falstaff are three important works of Elgar. The music halls also depicted the politics in terms of personalities. The polititians who were appreciated by the music has were conservatives. Politicians who favoured change were the victims of the music hall's innate conservatism, and subjected to ridicule or even vicious attack - Dilke, Bradlaugh, Parnell and, for the most part, Glad- stone. |