Classical music of the United Kingdom
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The current UK Collaboration of the Fortnight is Classical music of the United Kingdom. Every fortnight a different UK-related topic, stub or non-existent article is picked. Please read the nomination text and improve the article any way you can. |
This article, Classical music of the United Kingdom, includes a history of the form and discussion of its most notable composers and musicians. Well known composers such as Edward Elgar, Vaughan Williams and George Handel were all from, or did significant work in, the British Isles. The United Kingdom also has a history of orchestras and venues.
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Music before 1500
The earliest surviving piece of composed music in the UK is the setting of the folk song "Sumer Is Icumen In" ("Summer is a-coming in"), sometimes known as the Reading rota because the manuscript comes from Reading Abbey, although it was not necessarily written there. Its composer is anonymous, possibly W. de Wycombe, and it is estimated to date from around 1260. It is notable for its elaborate six-part structure for such an early piece.
In the fourteenth century, the Franciscan friar Simon Tunsted is believed to have been one of the music theorists who influenced the "Ars Nova"—the movement which freed European music from its earlier restricted styles. He is generally credited with the authorship of "Quatuor Principalia Musicae": a treatise on musical composition.
In the fifteenth century, John Dunstable (or Dunstaple, as it is sometimes spelt) was England's most celebrated composer. Nearly all his manuscript music in England was lost during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but some of his works have been reconstructed from copies found in continental Europe, particularly in Italy. The existence of these copies is testament to his widespread fame within Europe. He may have been the first composer to provide liturgical music with an instrumental accompaniment[1]
John Hothby (ca. 1410–1487), was an English Carmelite monk, who travelled widely and left little composed music but wrote several theoretical treatises (eg La Calliopea legale), and is credited with introducing innovations to the mediaeval pitch system. These allowed the introduction of additional chromatic pitches into the scales (what we would think of as the black notes of the piano keyboard).
Several aspects of English medieval music led to trends throughout Europe. The treatment of thirds and sixths as consonances seems to have arisen earlier in England than elsewhere, and the practice of fauxbourdon developed in England. Also, the neumatic notation of Sarum chant eventually developed into the square-note notation still used in the Liber usualis and other compendia of Gregorian chant. The earliest evidence of choral polyphony (as opposed to solo ensemble polyphony) is from the Old Hall manuscript (1420, although most of its music was composed before 1400), where there is occasional divisi.
Music of the 16th and early 17th centuries
In the early 16th century, Henry VIII was a keen patron of music. He played various instruments himself and an inventory, taken after his death in 1547, reveals that he owned a large collection, including 78 recorders. He is sometimes credited with compositions, including the part-song Passetyme With Good Companye but, although it is likely that he learnt the rudiments of composition, no music has been unequivocally attributed to him.
The 16th century was the period of composition of some of Europe's greatest polyphonic choral music and, in Britain, the works of Thomas Tallis stand amongst the best. His Spem In Alium is a magnificent motet for 40 independent voices—an amazing polyphonic tour-de-force which is almost without parallel. His legacy also includes the harmonised versions of the plainsong responses of the English church service, still in use by the Church of England.
During this period, music printing (technically more complex than the printing of text) became possible. Although Britain was not leading the music printing revolution, a collection of songs was published in England in 1530 and A forme of Prayers (with music) was published in Edinburgh in 1564. Elizabeth I granted the monopoly of music publishing to Tallis and his pupil William Byrd which has ensured that their works were widely distributed and have survived in various editions, but arguably limited the potential for music publishing in Britain. Byrd wrote church music and instrumental music for viols and keyboard, as well as being one of the founders of madrigal composition.
The English madrigal (based on a form of music imported from Italy) reached its peak with composers such as Thomas Morley, John Dowland, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Campian, and Thomas Tomkins. A collection of 29 madrigals, edited by Thomas Morley and entitled The Triumphs of Oriana was published in 1603 in honour of Queen Elizabeth.
Music would have been used in the theatre of the time, including within the plays of William Shakespeare. In addition there were masques, a form of lavish musical play where the story was communicated in song but was otherwise quite different in form to an opera [2].
The Civil War and Commonwealth period (1642-1660)
During much of this period, church music was prohibited (except for the singing of Psalms) and the theatres were closed. This stifled much of the musical creativity which had blossomed during the previous era.
This was, however, the period when opera was first performed in Britain, and promoted by Sir William Davenant.
The Restoration
This period was dominated by Pelham Humfrey and Henry Purcell. Purcell composed church music, festive odes and music for the theatre.
Music of the 18th century
The leading figure in British music of the early 18th century was a naturalized Englishman, George Frideric Handel. Although he was born in Germany, he played a defining role in the music of the UK. His orchestral music (such as the Water Music, and the Music for the Royal Fireworks) and his choral music (particularly the Messiah) virtually set the British taste in music for the next 200 years. Today, they remain amongst the most popular concert works; still account for significant album sales; and are widely performed by amateur ensembles as well as the top professional performers.
In the same period, John Gay wrote his best-known work, The Beggar's Opera (1728), although the music was actually written by Johann Christoph Pepusch. Also, Thomas Arne composed a notable body of work, largely for the theatre, of which his song Rule Britannia is probably the best-known.
In the later part of the century, the home-grown classical music of the UK seems to have suffered a decline, with the public attention focusing on virtuoso performers from overseas and a cultural preference for German and Italian music.
Music of the 19th century
In the early 19th century, the irish composer and virtuoso pianist John Field was highly influentual in his style of playing which is thought to have been an inspiration to Schumann, Chopin and Liszt. He is credited with having invented the nocturne as a musical form. Later in the century, another Irishman, Charles Villiers Stanford would also exert a strong musical influence.
During this period, the Edinburgh-born Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie was renowned in Britain as a composer and conductor.
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan is best remembered for his collaborations with the dramatist and librettist William S. Gilbert and for their operettas, such as The Pirates of Penzance (1880), The Mikado (1885) and The Gondoliers (1889).
