Classical music of the United Kingdom
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This article, Classical music of the United Kingdom, includes a history of the form and discussion of its most notable composers and musicians. Composed music in the UK is traceable back to at least the 13th century and has influenced the wider European development of classical music through individuals ranging from Simon Tunsted, in the fourteenth century, to Benjamin Britten, in the 20th. Well known composers such as Edward Elgar, Vaughan Williams were all from the British Isles. The United Kingdom also has a history of orchestras and venues, with the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts having provided an annual music programme of international status, from 1895 to the present.
[edit] Music before 1500
The earliest surviving piece of composed music in the UK is the setting of the folk song "Sumer Is Icumen In" ("Summer is a-coming in"), sometimes known as the Reading rota because the manuscript comes from Reading Abbey, although it was not necessarily written there. Its composer is anonymous, possibly W. de Wycombe, and it is estimated to date from around 1260. It is notable for its elaborate six-part structure which is virtually unique for such an early piece.
In the fourteenth century, the Franciscan friar Simon Tunsted is believed to have been one of the music theorists who influenced the "Ars Nova"—the movement which freed European music from its earlier restricted styles. He is generally credited with the authorship of "Quatuor Principalia Musicae": a treatise on musical composition.
In the fifteenth century, John Dunstable (or Dunstaple, as it is sometimes spelt) was England's most celebrated composer. Nearly all his manuscript music in England was lost during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but some of his works have been reconstructed from copies found in continental Europe, particularly in Italy. The existence of these copies is testament to his widespread fame within Europe. He may have been the first composer to provide liturgical music with an instrumental accompaniment
John Hothby (ca. 1410–1487), was an English Carmelite monk, who travelled widely and left little composed music but wrote several theoretical treatises (eg La Calliopea legale), and is credited with introducing innovations to the mediaeval pitch system. These allowed the introduction of additional chromatic pitches into the scales (what we would think of as the black notes of the piano keyboard).
Several aspects of English medieval music led to trends throughout Europe. The treatment of thirds and sixths as consonances seems to have arisen earlier in England than elsewhere, and the practice of fauxbourdon developed in England. Also, the neumatic notation of Sarum chant eventually developed into the square-note notation still used in the Liber usualis and other compendia of Gregorian chant. The earliest evidence of choral polyphony (as opposed to solo ensemble polyphony) is from the Old Hall manuscript (1420, although most of its music was composed before 1400), where there is occasional divisi.
[edit] Music of the 16th and early 17th centuries
In the early 16th century, Henry VIII was a keen patron of music. He played various instruments himself and an inventory, taken after his death in 1547, reveals that he owned a large collection, including 78 recorders. He is sometimes credited with compositions, including the part-song Passetyme With Good Companye but, although it is likely that he learnt the rudiments of composition, no music has been unequivocally attributed to him.
The 16th century was the period of composition of some of Europe's greatest polyphonic choral music and, in Britain, the works of Thomas Tallis stand amongst the best. His Spem in alium is a magnificent motet for 40 independent voices—an amazing polyphonic tour-de-force which is almost without parallel. His legacy also includes the harmonised versions of the plainsong responses of the English church service, still in use by the Church of England.
During this period, music printing (technically more complex than the printing of text) became possible. Although Britain was not leading the music printing revolution, a collection of songs was published in England in 1530 and A forme of Prayers (with music) was published in Edinburgh in 1564. Elizabeth I granted the monopoly of music publishing to Tallis and his pupil William Byrd which has ensured that their works were widely distributed and have survived in various editions, but arguably limited the potential for music publishing in Britain. Byrd wrote church music and instrumental music for viols and keyboard, as well as being one of the founders of madrigal composition.
The English madrigal (based on a form of music imported from Italy) reached its peak with composers such as Thomas Morley, John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Campian, and Thomas Tomkins. A collection of 29 madrigals, edited by Thomas Morley and entitled The Triumphs of Oriana was published in 1603 in honour of Queen Elizabeth.
Music would have been used in the theatre of the time, including within the plays of William Shakespeare. In addition there were masques, a form of lavish musical play where the story was communicated in song but was otherwise quite different in form to an opera .
[edit] The Civil War and Commonwealth period (1642-1660)
During the Commonwealth period conditions were hard for professional musicians: the royal court was in exile, the theatres were closed, and church music was prohibited. Many church or collegiate choirs were disbanded and their organs removed or silenced.
There was however no Puritan ban on secular music. Indeed Cromwell had the organ from Magdalen College, Oxford set up at Hampton Court Palace and employed an organist and other musicians. Musical entertainment was provided at official receptions, and at the wedding of Cromwell's daughter.
Music also flourished in domestic settings during the Commonwealth, particularly in the larger private houses. The first opera performed in Britain, promoted by Sir William Davenant, was staged at Rutland House in 1656. In smaller establishments the consort of viols became a popular form whose leading composers were John Jenkins and Matthew Locke.
Since the opportunities for large scale composition and public performance were limited, music under the Protectorate became a largely private matter.
[edit] The Restoration
This period was dominated by Pelham Humfrey and Henry Purcell. Purcell composed church music, festive odes and music for the theatre.
Christopher Simpson's work, The Division Violist, first published in 1659, was for many years the leading manual on playing the viol and on the art of extemporising "divisions to a ground", in Britain and continental Europe. A facsimile edition was reprinted by Arnold Dolmetsch in the 1950s and is still used as a reference by early music revivalists.
The diary of Samuel Pepys, himself a music lover, collector of instruments, and an amateur composer, provides a rich primary source for domestic music in the Restoration period.
[edit] Music of the 18th century
The leading figure in British music of the early 18th century was a naturalized Englishman, George Frideric Handel. Although he was born in Germany, he played a defining role in the music of the UK. His orchestral music (such as the Water Music, and the Music for the Royal Fireworks) and his choral music (particularly the Messiah) virtually set the British taste in music for the next 200 years. Today, they remain amongst the most popular concert works; still account for significant album sales; and are widely performed by amateur ensembles as well as the top professional performers.
In the same period, John Gay wrote his best-known work, The Beggar's Opera (1728), although the music was actually written by Johann Christoph Pepusch. Also, Thomas Arne composed a notable body of work, largely for the theatre, of which his song Rule Britannia is probably the best-known.
In the later part of the century, the home-grown classical music of the UK seems to have suffered a decline, with the public attention focusing on virtuoso performers from overseas and a cultural preference for German and Italian music.
[edit] Music of the 19th century
In the early 19th century, the Irish composer and virtuoso pianist John Field was highly influentual in his style of playing which is thought to have been an inspiration to Schumann, Chopin and Liszt. He is credited with having invented the nocturne as a musical form. Later in the century, another Irishman, Charles Villiers Stanford would also exert a strong musical influence.
During this period, the Edinburgh-born Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie was renowned in Britain as a composer and conductor. He celebrated his native Scotland in his two Scottish Rhapsodies for orchestra and in a fantasia for pianoforte and orchestra on Scottish themes.
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan is best remembered for his collaborations with the dramatist and librettist William S. Gilbert and for their operettas, such as The Pirates of Penzance (1880), The Mikado (1885) and The Gondoliers (1889).
Towards the end of the century, Edward Elgar gained public acclaim with, for example, the Enigma Variations (1899), his first major orchestral work.
This century saw the trend towards larger orchestras and correspondingly larger musical venues, permitting public concerts for mass audiences. Covent Garden's Royal Opera House was opened in 1858, on the site of an earlier theatre; the Royal Albert Hall was built in 1878. The Crystal Palace concerts were inaugurated in 1855, with August Manns as the principal conductor, directing some 20,000 concerts.
Orchestras which were founded in this period include the Hallé Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was not founded until 1946.
[edit] Music of the 20th century
In the early 20th century Britain produced some notable composers: William Wallace, Frederick Delius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and John Ireland, for example. A feature of the music of several of the composers of this era was an interest in the use of British folk music as source material. Examples include Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite for brass band and Delius' Brigg Fair as well as subtler references to folk themes in other works.
In the second half of the century, William Walton and Benjamin Britten are of especial note as composers, although there are strong contrasts between their individual approaches to music and its part in the national identity. Walton's work featured fanfares and patriotic themes: for instance he composed the ceremonial marches Crown Imperial, written for the coronation of George VI, and Orb and Sceptre, for that of Elizabeth II. Britten, on the other hand, made a conscious effort to set himself apart from the English musical mainstream, which he regarded as complacent, insular and amateurish. However, his works, such as the operas Peter Grimes (1945), and Billy Budd (1951), as well as his instrumental compositions, including his Nocturnal after John Dowland for guitar (1964), place him amongst the most accomplished composers of the century.
The century continued and developed the concert tradition. Sir Henry Wood's name will forever be associated with The Proms, which started life in 1895 as the Queen's Hall Promenade Concerts, but transferred in 1941 to the Albert Hall, where they are still held. The Aldeburgh Festival, founded by Benjamin Britten is another annual musical event of international status.
The advent of broadcasting and recording technologies have opened the possibility of classical music to larger audiences—without the need for ever larger orchestras. It is arguable that this trend may have contributed to the revival of interest in early music which has been led, in Britain, by such figures as Arnold Dolmetsch and David Munrow.
The late 20th century is often characterised as a period dominated by the Cult of personality and this has affected classical music along with the rest of the arts. This has tended to focus British public attention on virtuoso performers such as James Galway (flautist), John Williams (guitarist), Vanessa Mae (violinist), Aled Jones (vocalist) and others. This elevation of a relative few to "superstar" status has arguably been at the cost of reducing the "ordinary" orchestral instrumentalist to a poorly-paid and under-rated role.
[edit] Music of the 21st century
In the present era, classical music in Britain must contend and co-exist with a dominant culture of popular music. Specialist music education at establishments such as the Royal College of Music, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Royal Northern College of Music and Guildhall School of Music provide world-class music teaching to gifted classical musicians, though the general level of classical music education in Britain is somewhat limited.
In this century, music, like most other aspects of society, has become globalized, and it is increasingly difficult to speak of "music of the UK" as a separate entity. Gifted UK musicians train and perform all over the world: conversely, many of the places in UK music schools are taken up by overseas musicians, and most concerts are international in their content and their performers.
Composition is alive and well: Peter Maxwell Davies, Julian Anderson and Andrew Lloyd Webber represent very different strands of composition within UK classical music.
[edit] Timeline
[edit] References
This article draws heavily on (and to some extent summarises) other articles from the category of classical music in the United Kingdom. In addition, it references the following sources:
- ↑ The Encyclopedia of Classical Music edited by Peter Gammond, Salamander Books, ISBN 0-86101-400-6
- ↑ Ibid.
- Percy A. Scholes, The Oxford Companion to Music, Tenth Edition, Oxford University press, 1970
- Latham, R (1983) The Diary of Samuel Pepys. Volume X — Companion, Bell & Hyman, London. ISBN 0-7135-1993-2. See the entry under "Music" by Richard Luckett, for both the Commonwealth and Restoration periods.
