Page 200 - 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
the Hibernian Catch Club, Anacreontic Society and University
Choral Society were the domain of the aristocracy; the upper mid
dle classes and professional aristocracy were represented by the
Philharmonic Society, Antient Concerts Society, Societa Armoni
ca, University Church Music Society, Metropolitan Choral Society,
Amateur Harmonic Society and Dublin Concordant Society; and
the lower middle- and working-class societies were the Dublin Sa
cred Harmonic Society, Dublin Harmonic Society and Tradesmen’s
Harmonic Society.13
Since the societies were private clubs, members had to pay an annu-
al subscription. At the top end – for societies such as Dublin’s “Society of
Antient Music” and the “Metropolitan Choral Society” – this could be £1
(according to the British National Archive’s currency converter £1 in 1850
is roughly equivalent to £80 today)14. Membership of the “Dublin Harmo-
nic Society” cost 10s (one half of a pound) while the multi-denominational
“Dublin Sacred Harmonic Society” charged its members 5s (one quarter of
a pound). Members of the “Metropolitan Choral Society” in Dublin (1841-
1847) had to pay no subscription at all; membership there was also not based
on being proposed by an existing member. The “New Philharmonic Socie-
ty” in Dublin (founded in 1872) also didn’t charge its members a subscripti-
on fee. As the century progressed, more and more music societies catering
for different classes, interests and tastes emerged.
Music Societies in Dublin
As the capital and administrative centre of Ireland, Dublin was the largest
city on the island. In 1798 its population consisted of 198,000 people15 while
the 1911 census counted 375,000 inhabitants.16
The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland lists an impressive 85 music so-
cieties as being active in Dublin at one point or another during the nine-
13 Ibid., 212.
14 Currency Converter, The National Archives, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
currency/.
15 Patrick Fagan, “The Population of Dublin in the Eighteenth Century with Particular
Reference to the Proportions of Protestants and Catholics,” Eighteenth-Century Ire
land / Iris an dá chultúr 6 (1991): 148, https://www.jstor.org/stable/30070912.
16 Thomas A. Welton, “Notes on the Census of Ireland, 1911,” Journal of the Royal Sta
tistical Society 77, no. 2 (Jan. 1914): 205, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2339803.
198
the Hibernian Catch Club, Anacreontic Society and University
Choral Society were the domain of the aristocracy; the upper mid
dle classes and professional aristocracy were represented by the
Philharmonic Society, Antient Concerts Society, Societa Armoni
ca, University Church Music Society, Metropolitan Choral Society,
Amateur Harmonic Society and Dublin Concordant Society; and
the lower middle- and working-class societies were the Dublin Sa
cred Harmonic Society, Dublin Harmonic Society and Tradesmen’s
Harmonic Society.13
Since the societies were private clubs, members had to pay an annu-
al subscription. At the top end – for societies such as Dublin’s “Society of
Antient Music” and the “Metropolitan Choral Society” – this could be £1
(according to the British National Archive’s currency converter £1 in 1850
is roughly equivalent to £80 today)14. Membership of the “Dublin Harmo-
nic Society” cost 10s (one half of a pound) while the multi-denominational
“Dublin Sacred Harmonic Society” charged its members 5s (one quarter of
a pound). Members of the “Metropolitan Choral Society” in Dublin (1841-
1847) had to pay no subscription at all; membership there was also not based
on being proposed by an existing member. The “New Philharmonic Socie-
ty” in Dublin (founded in 1872) also didn’t charge its members a subscripti-
on fee. As the century progressed, more and more music societies catering
for different classes, interests and tastes emerged.
Music Societies in Dublin
As the capital and administrative centre of Ireland, Dublin was the largest
city on the island. In 1798 its population consisted of 198,000 people15 while
the 1911 census counted 375,000 inhabitants.16
The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland lists an impressive 85 music so-
cieties as being active in Dublin at one point or another during the nine-
13 Ibid., 212.
14 Currency Converter, The National Archives, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
currency/.
15 Patrick Fagan, “The Population of Dublin in the Eighteenth Century with Particular
Reference to the Proportions of Protestants and Catholics,” Eighteenth-Century Ire
land / Iris an dá chultúr 6 (1991): 148, https://www.jstor.org/stable/30070912.
16 Thomas A. Welton, “Notes on the Census of Ireland, 1911,” Journal of the Royal Sta
tistical Society 77, no. 2 (Jan. 1914): 205, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2339803.
198
