The north-east of England in the eighteenth century was a region
where many different kinds of musical activity thrived and where a
wide range of documentation survives. Such activities included
concert-giving, teaching, tuning and composition, as well as music
in the theatre and in church. Dr Roz Southey examines the impulses
behind such activities and the meanings that local people found
inherent in them. It is evident that music could be perceived or
utilized for extremely diverse purposes; as entertainment, as a
learned art, as an aid to piety, as a profession, a social
facilitator and a support to patriotism and nationalism. Musical
societies were established throughout the century, and Southey
illustrates the social make-up of the members, as well as the role
of Gentlemen Amateurs in the organizing of concerts, and the
connections with London and other centres. The book draws upon a
rich selection of source material, including local newspapers,
council and ecclesiastical records, private papers and diaries and
accounts of local tradesman, as well as surviving examples of music
composed in the area by Charles Avison, Thomas Ebdon and John Garth
of Durham, amongst many others. Charles Avison's importance is
focused upon particularly, and his Essay on Musical Expression is
considered alongside other contemporary writings of lesser fame.
Southey provides a fascinating insight into the type and social
class of audiences and their influence on the repertoire performed.
The book moves from a consideration of music being used as a
'fashion item', evidenced by the patronage of 'big name' soloists
from London and abroad, to fiddlers, ballad singers, music at
weddings, funerals, public celebrations, and music for marking the
events of the American War of Independence and the French
Revolutionary Wars. It can be seen, therefore, that the north east
was an area of important musical activity, and that the music was
always interwoven into the political, economic, religious and
commercial fabric of eighteenth-century life.
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