'To Entertain the Fancy'
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‘To Entertain the Fancy’: The Orchestral Concert Song in England, 1740-1800 Thomas Rowlandson, Comforts of Bath: 'Concert at the Upper Rooms' (1798) http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/199443/1/A-Private-Concert,-Plate-2-From-Comforts-Of-Bath,- 1798.jpg (Accessed 5 January 2012) Stephen Charles Foster Goldsmiths, University of London Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2013 DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is the result of my own work. Where other sources of information have been used, they are acknowledged and cited in the appropriate manner. 3 ABSTRACT The orchestral concert song is a genre of solo song with instrumental accompaniment written or adapted for concert performance. In eighteenth-century England it formed a major part of the output of many composers, both native and foreign, with the London pleasure gardens being the principal venue of performance. However, this genre has not received much scholarly attention, and such literature as exists is largely concerned with the secular cantata, which was very much in a minority in terms of the overall output. Furthermore, this literature has focussed on the music itself, giving little attention to the surrounding issues that caused the genre to come into being, to grow and eventually to decline. This study therefore endeavours to build on existing scholarship by not only discussing the other parts of the repertoire – namely the strophic song, the rondo and the aria – but also by examining the social and cultural influences upon the concert song as a whole. This examination precedes the historical account, which is in three parts: the early years (1740- 1762); the period in which J.C. Bach and Arne were the predominant composers (1762-82); finally the later years of the century (1782-1800), during which the genre declined. The concluding chapter assesses current knowledge of the concert song, with a view to further investigation and potential revival. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ................................................................................................................................ 2 Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ 6 List of Musical Examples ....................................................................................................... 7 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... 11 Foreword .................................................................................................................................. 12 Abbreviations and Explanatory Notes ............................................................................. 14 Preface ...................................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 1: The Study: Themes ...................................................................................... 38 a) Typology ....................................................................................................................... 38 b) The Orchestra and Orchestration ......................................................................... 49 c) Musical Style ............................................................................................................... 73 d) Vocal Technique ........................................................................................................ 84 e) Music, Text and Context ......................................................................................... 89 f) Publication .................................................................................................................... 97 Chapter 2: 1660-1740: Socio-Cultural Influences and Origins of the Concert song ................................................................................................................ 109 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 109 Early Concerts and Vocal Music .............................................................................. 111 Art Song: From Private to Public ............................................................................. 120 Ballad Opera, Opera in the Ballad and ‘English’ Music .................................... 130 The ‘Garden Culture’ and ‘Musical Democracy’ .................................................. 138 Handel .............................................................................................................................. 148 Synthesis? Songs of the 1730s .................................................................................. 152 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 156 Chapter 3: 1740-1762: The Early Years ..................................................................... 159 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 159 Cantatas in the 1740s ................................................................................................... 165 Song Collections of the early 1740s ......................................................................... 169 London i) Arne .............................................................................................................. 174 London ii) Boyce ........................................................................................................... 194 London iii) Worgan, and Other London Composers ........................................ 201 Provincial Composers .................................................................................................. 212 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 214 Chapter 4: 1762-1782: i) Bach and Arne .................................................................... 215 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 215 The Influence of the Symphony ............................................................................... 216 The Influence of Opera............................................................................................... 218 Bach’s route to Vauxhall ............................................................................................. 229 The Vauxhall Songs ...................................................................................................... 232 Bach’s Other Concert Songs ...................................................................................... 240 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 244 Arne’s Later Songs ........................................................................................................ 245 Conclusion: Bach and Arne or Bach versus Arne .................................................. 250 Chapter 5: 1762-1782 ii) A musical Language, spoken with different Accents ............................................................................................................................ 253 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 253 5 Native Composers ........................................................................................................ 253 Michael Arne .................................................................................................................. 254 Samuel Arnold ............................................................................................................... 255 William Bates .................................................................................................................. 260 Thomas Carter .............................................................................................................. 263 Charles Dibdin ............................................................................................................... 264 John Abraham Fisher ................................................................................................... 266 James Hook .................................................................................................................... 268 John Potter ...................................................................................................................... 273 William Yates.................................................................................................................. 274 Other London Composers ......................................................................................... 277 Provincial Composers .................................................................................................. 280 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 284 Foreign-born