Page 201 - 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
P. 201
music societies in ireland during the nineteenth century
teenth century.17 However, many of these only lasted for between one and
five seasons. Still, the number demonstrates that there was a demand for
them and new ones were formed as quickly as old ones vanished. Rodmell
tries to explain this fluctuation as follows:
Part of the problem, it seems, was that many performed the same
music and drew their membership and audiences from the same
social group, Dublin’s Anglican middle and upper classes; to com
pound this many societies permitted only men to be members.18
Meetings of music societies took place on almost every day of the week:
the “Anacreontic Society” met on Monday19, the “University Church Music
Society” initially on Monday and later on Wednesday20, the “Antient Mu-
sic Society” on Thursday21 and both the “University of Dublin Choral Soci-
ety” and the “Amateur Harmonic Society” on Friday22, to name just a few.
Like societies elsewhere in Europe, concerts of the Dublin music socie-
ties consisted of a mix of arias, choruses and occasionally some instrumen-
tal pieces stemming from many different works – only rarely were complete
oratorios, cantatas, operas, symphonies or concertos presented. The “Soci-
ety of Antient Music”, a society dedicated to choral music which played a
central part in Dublin’s musical life from 1834–1864, provides a good exam-
ple of this programming strategy. At a charity concert on 23 March 1838 the
Society performed 25 pieces from 12 works by seven composers, led by Han-
del: six numbers from Judas Maccabaeus, two from Jephta, four from Acis
and Galathea, the overture of Esther (the only instrumental piece which
opened the evening) and an arrangement of “Zadok the Priest” on the text
of “God Save the Queen”. Haydn was represented by two numbers from
The Creation and four from The Seasons. Of the 25 pieces 14 were by Han-
del and six by Haydn. Marcello, Mozart, Morley, Pepusch and Festa had
one piece each in the programme.23 At another concert on 4 June 1844 the
Society presented extracts of Handel’s Jephta, namely 16 out of the orato-
17 Ita Beausang, “Music Societies (Dublin),” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland,
vol. 2, eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin Press,
2013), 712–13.
18 Rodmell, “The Society of Antient Music,” 212.
19 Ferris, “The Use of Newspapers,” 93.
20 Ibid., 173.
21 Ibid., 143.
22 Fitz Gibbon, “College Choral,” 41; Ferris, “The Use of Newspapers,” 198.
23 Rodmell, “The Society of Antient Music,” 215.
199
teenth century.17 However, many of these only lasted for between one and
five seasons. Still, the number demonstrates that there was a demand for
them and new ones were formed as quickly as old ones vanished. Rodmell
tries to explain this fluctuation as follows:
Part of the problem, it seems, was that many performed the same
music and drew their membership and audiences from the same
social group, Dublin’s Anglican middle and upper classes; to com
pound this many societies permitted only men to be members.18
Meetings of music societies took place on almost every day of the week:
the “Anacreontic Society” met on Monday19, the “University Church Music
Society” initially on Monday and later on Wednesday20, the “Antient Mu-
sic Society” on Thursday21 and both the “University of Dublin Choral Soci-
ety” and the “Amateur Harmonic Society” on Friday22, to name just a few.
Like societies elsewhere in Europe, concerts of the Dublin music socie-
ties consisted of a mix of arias, choruses and occasionally some instrumen-
tal pieces stemming from many different works – only rarely were complete
oratorios, cantatas, operas, symphonies or concertos presented. The “Soci-
ety of Antient Music”, a society dedicated to choral music which played a
central part in Dublin’s musical life from 1834–1864, provides a good exam-
ple of this programming strategy. At a charity concert on 23 March 1838 the
Society performed 25 pieces from 12 works by seven composers, led by Han-
del: six numbers from Judas Maccabaeus, two from Jephta, four from Acis
and Galathea, the overture of Esther (the only instrumental piece which
opened the evening) and an arrangement of “Zadok the Priest” on the text
of “God Save the Queen”. Haydn was represented by two numbers from
The Creation and four from The Seasons. Of the 25 pieces 14 were by Han-
del and six by Haydn. Marcello, Mozart, Morley, Pepusch and Festa had
one piece each in the programme.23 At another concert on 4 June 1844 the
Society presented extracts of Handel’s Jephta, namely 16 out of the orato-
17 Ita Beausang, “Music Societies (Dublin),” in The Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland,
vol. 2, eds. Harry White and Barra Boydell (Dublin: University College Dublin Press,
2013), 712–13.
18 Rodmell, “The Society of Antient Music,” 212.
19 Ferris, “The Use of Newspapers,” 93.
20 Ibid., 173.
21 Ibid., 143.
22 Fitz Gibbon, “College Choral,” 41; Ferris, “The Use of Newspapers,” 198.
23 Rodmell, “The Society of Antient Music,” 215.
199
