Page 206 - 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. 206
glasbena društva v dolgem 19. stoletju: med ljubiteljsko in profesionalno kulturo
apex a single society with its own chorus and orchestra and access
to a large modern concert hall.37
The “Philharmonic Society” initially offered four annual concerts on
a subscription basis, taking place on Fridays. With this society’s formation
began what Roy Johnston and Declan Plummer call the “philharmonic era”
in Belfast’s musical life.38 During these years Belfast also became a regular
stop on the circuit of travelling British opera companies (such as the Carl
Rosa Company).39 It was now among the 15 largest cities in Britain and Ire-
land, and its cultural life reflected this position – until the decline of its in-
dustries, particularly after the Second World War, also started to affect its
abilities to maintain a rich international concert life.
Music Societies in Armagh
Armagh is the smallest of the cities discussed in this essay; the 1821 cen-
sus counted 8,493 inhabitants – and the number would not have changed
much over the course of the century (in 2011 its population was just under
15,000).40 It is thus much smaller than Dublin or Belfast, and less cultural
and musical activity is to be expected. Its importance stems from the fact
that St Patrick is supposed to have built a church there, so that it later be-
came Ireland’s “ecclesiastical capital”. Today it is the seat of both the Catho-
lic and Protestant Primates of All Ireland. Just like in Dublin, the old, medi-
eval cathedral is still being occupied by the Protestants, while the Catholics
built a new one once it became possible after the Catholic Emancipation.
In Armagh the two cathedrals (both named after St Patrick) now face each
other on top of two hills in the middle of the city.
The archives of the Protestant cathedral contain a broad range of mu-
sical sources: 429 volumes with some 4,000 pieces of music, including sec-
ular as well as sacred works.41 According to a study by Anne Dempsey the
music covers the period from the early seventeenth to the early twentieth
37 Johnston, “Concert Auditoria in Nineteenth-Century Belfast,” 248.
38 Roy Johnston and Declan Plummer, The Musical Life of Nineteenth-Century Belfast
(London, New York: Routledge, 2016), 261–308.
39 See: Ibid., 309–30.
40 L. A. Clarkson, “Household and Family Structure in Armagh City, 1770,” Local Popu
lation Studies 20 (1978): 19, http://www.localpopulationstudies.org.uk/PDF/LPS20/
LPS20_1978_14-31.pdf.
41 Anne Dempsey, “The Armagh Cathedral Collection in the Fabric of Ireland’s Musi-
cal History,” in Music in Nineteenth-Century Ireland [Irish Musical Studies 9], eds.
Michael Murphy and Jan Smaczny (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 130.
204
apex a single society with its own chorus and orchestra and access
to a large modern concert hall.37
The “Philharmonic Society” initially offered four annual concerts on
a subscription basis, taking place on Fridays. With this society’s formation
began what Roy Johnston and Declan Plummer call the “philharmonic era”
in Belfast’s musical life.38 During these years Belfast also became a regular
stop on the circuit of travelling British opera companies (such as the Carl
Rosa Company).39 It was now among the 15 largest cities in Britain and Ire-
land, and its cultural life reflected this position – until the decline of its in-
dustries, particularly after the Second World War, also started to affect its
abilities to maintain a rich international concert life.
Music Societies in Armagh
Armagh is the smallest of the cities discussed in this essay; the 1821 cen-
sus counted 8,493 inhabitants – and the number would not have changed
much over the course of the century (in 2011 its population was just under
15,000).40 It is thus much smaller than Dublin or Belfast, and less cultural
and musical activity is to be expected. Its importance stems from the fact
that St Patrick is supposed to have built a church there, so that it later be-
came Ireland’s “ecclesiastical capital”. Today it is the seat of both the Catho-
lic and Protestant Primates of All Ireland. Just like in Dublin, the old, medi-
eval cathedral is still being occupied by the Protestants, while the Catholics
built a new one once it became possible after the Catholic Emancipation.
In Armagh the two cathedrals (both named after St Patrick) now face each
other on top of two hills in the middle of the city.
The archives of the Protestant cathedral contain a broad range of mu-
sical sources: 429 volumes with some 4,000 pieces of music, including sec-
ular as well as sacred works.41 According to a study by Anne Dempsey the
music covers the period from the early seventeenth to the early twentieth
37 Johnston, “Concert Auditoria in Nineteenth-Century Belfast,” 248.
38 Roy Johnston and Declan Plummer, The Musical Life of Nineteenth-Century Belfast
(London, New York: Routledge, 2016), 261–308.
39 See: Ibid., 309–30.
40 L. A. Clarkson, “Household and Family Structure in Armagh City, 1770,” Local Popu
lation Studies 20 (1978): 19, http://www.localpopulationstudies.org.uk/PDF/LPS20/
LPS20_1978_14-31.pdf.
41 Anne Dempsey, “The Armagh Cathedral Collection in the Fabric of Ireland’s Musi-
cal History,” in Music in Nineteenth-Century Ireland [Irish Musical Studies 9], eds.
Michael Murphy and Jan Smaczny (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2007), 130.
204
