British Music and the French Revolution
Author: Paul F. Rice
Date Of Publication: Jun 2010
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-2110-0
Isbn: 1-4438-2110-1
British Music and the French Revolution investigates the nature of British musical responses to the cataclysmic political events unfolding in France during the period of 1789–1795, a time when republican and royalist agendas were in conflict in both nations. While the parallel demands for social and political change resulted from different stimuli, and were resolved very differently, the 1790s proved to be a defining period for each country. In Britain, the combination of a protracted period of Tory conservatism, and the strong spirit of patriotism which swept the nation, had a profound influence on the arts. There was an outpouring of concert and theatrical music dealing with the French Revolution and the subsequent war with France. While patriotic songs might be expected when a country is at war, the number of recreations on the London stages of events taking place on the Continent may surprise. Initially, such topical subjects were restricted to the summer or “minor” theatres; however, government restrictions were relaxed after 1793, giving Londoners the opportunity to see topical theatre in the royal or “patent” theatres, as well. The resulting repertoire of plays and recreations (often propagandist in nature) made considerable use of music, and those performed in the “minor” theatres were all-sung. Consequently, there exists a large repertoire of music which has been little studied.

British Music and the French Revolution investigates this repertoire within a social and political context. Initial chapters examine the historical relationship between France and Britain from a musical perspective, the powerful symbols of national identity in both countries, and the complex laws that governed commercial theatres in London. Thereafter, the materials are presented in a chronological fashion, starting with the fall of the Bastille in 1789, and the Fête de la Fédération in 1790. The period of the Captivity was one of growing tension and fear in both France and Britain as war became an ever-increasing threat between the two nations. Two subsequent chapters examine the war years of 1793 until first half of 1795. The choice of a five-year period allows the reader to follow British musical reactions to the fall of the Bastille and subsequent events up to the rise of Napoléon.

Paul F. Rice is Professor of Musicology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His research interests include the operatic and concert music of eighteenth-century France and Great Britain. The author of three previous books, he has also prepared editions of music for six CD recordings on the Naxos, Dorian and Centaur labels. He is a frequent broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, specializing in opera documentaries.

Dr Paul Rices' new book British Music and the French Revolution is an important, impressive and thorough-going study of music and theatre in England in the last decated of the 18th century. the French Revolution, with its political and social upheavals inspired British librettists and composers to fashion musical dramas dealing with the French Revolution, which served as a spring-board for dozens of musical/theatrical works.

Remarkably little has been written about the relationship of the French performing arts and the French Revolution. British Music and the French Revolution is the first study to examine the analogous relationship in Britain. Given that this period in British history shaped the destiny of the country for much fo the 19th century, the study is long overdue.

The Book examines a little-known repertoire of theatrical and concert materials, and it does so within a complete social and political context. In his study, Dr Rice reveals the complex relationship between the needs of politics and hte creative energies of composers, playwrights and theatrical singers and actors.

Dr Rice's study significantly expands our understanding of the relationship between the performing arts and government during the crises of war, and reveals how the government of PM William Pitt used the media to 'instruct' audiences to receive new artistic works based on their patriotic content alone. At the same time, the study reveals the tremendous change in musical styles that took place in the Royal Theatres at Covent Garden and Drury Lane, moving from concert and operatic styles to those of popular songs and folksongs. All in all, this is an excellent book which Cambridge Scholars should be proud to publish.

- Professor Erich Schwandt, School of Music, University of Victoria, Canada

Price Uk Gbp: 49.99
Price Us Usd: 74.99

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