Page 178 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2023. Glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo ▪︎ Music societies in the long 19th century: Between amateur and professional culture. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 6
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glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo
George Hogarth described it as “a period of orchestral destitution”, saying
“there was not in London any orchestra formed for, and capable of, the per
formance of what is properly called orchestral music”.3 There were various
amateur societies that existed at a superficial level. One such was known
as The Concert of Antient Music4 that played only music that was at least
twenty years old. It was a very private organisation, certainly operated by
amateurs. “The opera and theatre bands were only employed in playing the
weak overtures and thin accompaniments of the Italian and English opera in
fashion in these days” writes Myles B. Foster a century later.5 Additionally
the performance of chamber music as we know it scarcely existed on a pro-
fessional level. Outside the field of music it was a turbulent time. The French
revolution was fresh in people’s minds and England was in the middle of an
industrial revolution of its own, with the associated social consequences.6
Yet this mattered little to the upper classes. Here there was, despite the res-
ervations expressed, a body of musical professionals who wanted to make
music progress on all fronts. The aims of a professional music society were
simple: to improve the standard of performance generally, notably by estab-
lishing a high quality orchestra, and to attract from the European continent
to England, and London in particular, the best performers and compos-
ers and to present them to a limited number of wealthy amateur subscrib-
ers. The intention to improve the standard of local English or British musi-
cal composition was not an obvious or stated objective, although over the
years a small number of composers and conductors made it their business.
After a meeting of a group of musical professionals on 24 January 1813
and another some two weeks later, the Philharmonic Society of London was
established. The thirty musicians who signed the declaration came from
various branches of the profession: most were instrumental performers,
some were singers, a small number were composers and a few were con-
3 George Hogarth, The Philharmonic Society of London: from its foundation, 1813, to its
fiftieth year, 1862 (London: Bradbury and Evans, 1862), 2–3.
4 The obsolete spelling was pretentiously retained, as related by Myles B. Foster, Histo
ry of the Philharmonic Society of London 1813–1912 (London: John Lane, 1912), 3–4.
5 Foster, History [1912], 3.
6 This point was vividly illustrated by an exhibition in 2020–2021 in the Tate Britain
Gallery in London of selected paintings of Joseph William Mallord Turner (1775–
1851). Prominent in some of the paintings was the poverty and grime of the times.
See: David Blayney Brown, Amy Concannon, and Sam Smiles, eds., Turner’s Mod-
ern World (London: Tate Gallery, 2020) which includes reproductions of all the ex-
hibited paintings.
176
George Hogarth described it as “a period of orchestral destitution”, saying
“there was not in London any orchestra formed for, and capable of, the per
formance of what is properly called orchestral music”.3 There were various
amateur societies that existed at a superficial level. One such was known
as The Concert of Antient Music4 that played only music that was at least
twenty years old. It was a very private organisation, certainly operated by
amateurs. “The opera and theatre bands were only employed in playing the
weak overtures and thin accompaniments of the Italian and English opera in
fashion in these days” writes Myles B. Foster a century later.5 Additionally
the performance of chamber music as we know it scarcely existed on a pro-
fessional level. Outside the field of music it was a turbulent time. The French
revolution was fresh in people’s minds and England was in the middle of an
industrial revolution of its own, with the associated social consequences.6
Yet this mattered little to the upper classes. Here there was, despite the res-
ervations expressed, a body of musical professionals who wanted to make
music progress on all fronts. The aims of a professional music society were
simple: to improve the standard of performance generally, notably by estab-
lishing a high quality orchestra, and to attract from the European continent
to England, and London in particular, the best performers and compos-
ers and to present them to a limited number of wealthy amateur subscrib-
ers. The intention to improve the standard of local English or British musi-
cal composition was not an obvious or stated objective, although over the
years a small number of composers and conductors made it their business.
After a meeting of a group of musical professionals on 24 January 1813
and another some two weeks later, the Philharmonic Society of London was
established. The thirty musicians who signed the declaration came from
various branches of the profession: most were instrumental performers,
some were singers, a small number were composers and a few were con-
3 George Hogarth, The Philharmonic Society of London: from its foundation, 1813, to its
fiftieth year, 1862 (London: Bradbury and Evans, 1862), 2–3.
4 The obsolete spelling was pretentiously retained, as related by Myles B. Foster, Histo
ry of the Philharmonic Society of London 1813–1912 (London: John Lane, 1912), 3–4.
5 Foster, History [1912], 3.
6 This point was vividly illustrated by an exhibition in 2020–2021 in the Tate Britain
Gallery in London of selected paintings of Joseph William Mallord Turner (1775–
1851). Prominent in some of the paintings was the poverty and grime of the times.
See: David Blayney Brown, Amy Concannon, and Sam Smiles, eds., Turner’s Mod-
ern World (London: Tate Gallery, 2020) which includes reproductions of all the ex-
hibited paintings.
176
