Music Essays English Music Hall

practice of medicine Essays English medical specialty opusor hallA Short History of the English practice of medicine hall.The term Music antechamber is used to refer to a venue, or to a form of entertainment taking place at that venue, typically featuring a number of miscellaneous acts, possibly including harmonyal turns, comedy and acrobatics, in a relatively formalised programme. It is also often termed variety.This essay considers the un judgment of convictionly roots of Music Hall, its produce in the late 19th century, and its subsequent loss of fashionableity in the face of competition from other media in the 20th century. taken into account are the socio-economic environment and also the reading of musical styles within the Music Hall context. It will be sh suffer that the beguile of Music Hall is quiet down widespread in popular culture today.BackgroundMusic Hall developed from a range of entertainments, many of which had been single-valued function of Engli sh culture for centuries.Broadsides basic appeared in the 1500s (Gammond 1991 82) they were an early equivalent of the newspaper. News stories and satire were printed in verse form with the instructions To the tune of, with the intention that the text should be sung to a healthy- cognise musical theme, typically a folk-ballad. The music itself was rarely printed, and so broadsides relied on the tradition of passing tunes on orally. In by and by broadsides, tunes were often popular songs from plays, with the intention of promoting shows in return for sponsorship an early form of advertising revenue. The ballad was engrained in culture, scarce the demand and resources of the populus were not yet sufficient to halt the growth of a setance industry.Also influential were the many fairs which were trading and entertainment events. In his diary, surface-to-air missileuel Pepys mentions attending Bartholomew Fair in 1661 and seeing the monkeys dance (Pepys 1661), and a number of Musi c Halls in the late 19th century featured animal acts (Gillies 1999 31).One-man shows, such as those offered by Charles Dibdin (1745-1814), show elements of entertainment that were later developed in Music Halls. Dibdin can be seen as a key link between earlier folk-art traditions and the increasingly commercialised musical humanity of the 19th century (Gammond 1991 153-5). He was a prolific song-writer, who had considerable success with light opera houses and by selling rights to his songs. These were the early days of copyright law, which developed in the late 19th century firstly to grant exclusivity of performance rights to singers and subsequently to effect a royalties system for composers.Two types of venue preceded Music Halls and had a peculiar(prenominal) influence on them taverns and song-and-supper rooms. In taverns, a working-class clientele participated in singing along with their drinking. In song-and-supper rooms, the middle-class man-about-town (no women were admit ted) could enjoy a repast era singers entertained. tune-and-supper rooms typically opened around midnight, and entertainment could be bawdy.Some of the early stars of Music Hall began their careers in taverns and song-and-supper rooms. Sam Cowell (1820-1864) is an example, and can be considered one of the first professional singer-songwriters. By 1850, he was earning a good living from the song-and-supper rooms, but had begun his career as an actor and had also performed in opera. In Villikins and his Dinah, regularly performed by Cowell, we see portionistics that were to become widespread in Music Hall songs, in particular the use of commentary between sections of the song to change magnitude its drama. Thus prior to verse 8, where the ghosts of Villikins and Dinah appear to Dinahs father, the performer sets the sceneNow this is the superlatively supernatural wisitation sic which appeared to the parient sic at midnight after the disease of his only progeny. (Davison 1971 23)Th e affectations in the language and pronunciation suggest the creation of the narrator as a character in his own right, and characterisation is another important element of the Music Hall song, as will be seen shortly.The growth of Music Hall was dependent on an audience able to pay for it, and with an interest in what it had to offer. The growth of a potential market is evident by the mid-19th century, when a number of Music Halls were opened (Sadie 1980 XII/832). In the mid-1840s, Evans, a former song-and-supper room was reopened as a Music Hall. In 1849, Charles Morton, a pioneer of Music Hall, took over the Canterbury Arms in Lambeth and developed it as a venue. He enlarged it in 1856, and in 1861 opened the Oxford Music Hall in Oxford Street (Sadie 1980 XII/832). This idea of having a chain of venues gained ground in the latter part of the century. untimely Developments 1850-1870The 1850s and 60s can be considered as a first phase of Music Hall. Programmes were varied, with clas sical and popular music appearing on the similar bill. Extracts from Gounods opera Faust (1859) performed in Music Halls provided the first hearings of the work for English audiences.A number of early Music Hall songs use old musical themes with new texts for example, Sam Hall can be traced back to a ballad about Captain Kidd. Harry Cliftons Polly Perkins of Paddington Green (1863) uses what appears to be a folk-tune (possibly Nightingales Sing), but its lyrics possess a snappishness not seen in folk music Polly doesnt marry a Wicount or a Nearl, but in the punchline of the song, weds a bow-legged Conductor of a twopenny bus (Gammond 1991 411). The same tune is used for another well-known Music Hall song, Cushie Butterfield, which was particularly popular in the Newcastle area. Tyneside had its own strong Music Hall tradition, giving rise to songs such as The Blaydon Races and Keep Your Feet Still Geordie Hinney and all three songs display a similar humour to Polly Perkins. The ly rics draw on local dialect Cushie is a young lass in Gyetsid Gateshead who likes hor beor her beer (Davison 1971 31).With Champagne Charlie (1868), the development of the character song is evident. Performed and co-written by George Leybourne, the Champagne Charlie character is described as a swell a well-to-do man-about-town with a taste for Mot. Unlike Villikins, the text is in the first person, Leybourne bonnie the Champagne Charlie character in performance. The song is perhaps the first advertising jingle, and was used to promote Mot, with Leybourne rumoured to partial to the drink (he died prematurely of alcoholism). His salary at this time was around 30 a week certainly adequate to indulge in the Champagne Charlie lifestyle. However, the character was an act Leybourne was not a nob, but a former mechanic who remained illiterate and spoke with a strong Black Country accent (Gammond 1991 334)Concern was growing over the activities in Music Halls. Articles in The Tomahawk focu s on the quality of the entertainment it had been suggested that the Music Hall would exercise a beneficial influence over the pass on of music amongst the lower classes but Music Hallis mischievous to the art which it pretends to uphold (Anon 1867). At the time, improvement of the working classes through access to the arts was promoted among some thinkers. Two years later, Music Halls are criticised for being dens of vice I am positively assuredthat on certain recognised nights loose women are admitted to these places without payment. (Greenwood 1869). The often poor reputation of the Music Halls contributed to later attempts by the authorities to regulate their activities.Heyday 1870-1900The development of Music Halls should be seen in context of wider developments in the social and economic environment of Victorian England. Following the Industrial Revolution, workers migrated from rural communities to cities, and this pattern accelerated in the 1870s. By the mid-1880s, around h alf the population of capital of the United Kingdom had been born elsewhere (Harris 1994 42-3). Simultaneously, leisure time increased. In the late 1860s, a half-day holiday was introduced on a Saturday, and in the 1870s, the 9-hour working day was introduced (Harris 1994 139). Leisure time became a larger part of life for the working classes, and Music Hall was one activity that benefited from this.Drinking had always formed an element of the Music Hall entertainment, but the ruling classes had sought to control this. In 1878, London County Council restricted the consumption of liquor to the back of the halls (Sadie 1980 XII/833), also demanding that a proscenium patronizing and fire curtain be installed at all venues (there had been a number of fires at Music Halls). A number of smaller operators were labored to shut down, while the larger operators built up chains of venues, with Music Halls growing in size and number. In June 1888, a House of Lords debate quoted a figure of 4 73 Music Halls in London alone (Gillies 1999 23).Larger halls meant that some of the intimacy of earlier venues was lost. Instead of a Chairman introducing acts and enjoying banter with the audience, venues identified performers by use of an indicant board, with each act having a number. In this environment of larger audiences, the most successful performers were able to command substantial fees, and some became internationally famous.Up to this point, Music Hall stars had been almost exclusively male, but from around 1880, women appeared regularly at Music Halls and were among the most successful Music Hall stars. Marie Lloyd is probably the best known by 1891, she was appearing at several venues each night and earning 100 a week. At this time, a 2-up, 2-down house in Oldham cost 150-180 (Harris 1994 113). In 1911, cardinal years later, only just over 2% of the population earned over 160 in a year (Harris 1994 107). In comparative terms, therefore, Lloyds earnings were on a par w ith a Premiership footballer today. In her early career, she infamously fell foul of performing rights by adopting The Boy I tell apart Is Up In The Gallery as a key song in her repertoire, and she is still strongly associated with it. However, Nelly Power, another singer of the day, had exclusive performance rights for the song, and Lloyd was forced to stop singing it (Gillies 1999 18 et al).At this time, exclusive association with a particular song enabled a performer to generate bookings, as nobody else was allowed to perform it. Songwriters sold a song with performing rights to a singer, and were thereafter not entitled to any supercharge income. They relied on writing more songs on the same basis, but campaigned for further payments and the royalties system of today developed.Pantomime was also an outlet for Music Hall stars, who would appear singing the songs for which they were most famous. This had a profound influence on the development of pantomime, with traditional char acters such as Harlequin and Columbine dropped in favour of interpretations of fairy tales built around the Music Hall personalities and their repertoires.The music publishing industry had grown alongside the development of Music Halls. By the 1830s, songs such as He was such a nice young man and All round my hat (a folk tune) were produced for sale at Pleasure Gardens or song-and-supper rooms. The music catalogues of publishers typically included a range of material including songs, operatic arias, hymns and dances. Charles Sheard was publishing Music Hall material from around 1852 as part of its Musical Bouquet series (Gammond 1991 410). From 1850-1900, the price of a piano dropped and some manufacturers introduced periodic payment schemes, making the instrument more accessible (Gillies 1991 66). This helped the Music Hall songs become firmly engrained in the popular musical culture of the time.Songs had an air of reputability about them until around 1860, after which many starte d to display more vulgarity. This was still subtle by modern standards Dan Lenos trademark song The Swimming eclipse (by Herbert Darnley) makes much of the need for bodily contact with the ladies being taught to swim if they feel theyre sinking, and so To my manly chest they cling (Davison 197169) but goes no further than suggestion.Some venues decreased the classical element of their music programmes. ogre (1879) comments that the operatic selections which were at one time the distinguishing feature of the Oxford have of late years been quit, and evidence from Music Hall programmes from this time onwards shows a focus on popular idioms. However, other Music Halls continued to offer what might be considered as more highbrow entertainment. The Alhambra in Leicester Square specialised in ballet, and Evans in Covent Garden offered songs, glees, and part songs, executed by a well-trained choir (Anon 1867). The ballets at the Alhambra continued to at least the turn of the century a nd it also staged a number of operettas.Decline 1900-1920In its early days, Music Hall had been seen as a largely lower-class entertainment. In the early 1900s, it gained respectability, with knighthoods for some of its key personalities and the first Royal Command Performance, featuring Music Hall acts, taking place in 1912 (Sadie 1980 XII/833).A number of developments led to the decline of Music Halls. In 1914, eating and drinking in the auditorium was banned (Gammond 1991 409 et al) and Music Halls in effect became theatres. umteen continued to offer seasons of variety performances, and there was still great interest in the entertainment, but it was now required to compete with new media first the cinema, then radio. New music styles such as jazz were also gaining in popularity. Its influence is evident in some later Music Hall songs Lily of lagoon (1898) uses syncopation and describes an idealised world of African Americans living in the Southern States of the US. Its use of la nguage such as nigger and coon would be considered wicked today, but reflects the very different attitude to race at the time (Davison 1971 95). The song was written by the English songwriter Leslie Stuart for Eugene Stratton, an American performer who appeared regularly blacked up this practice was widespread within the Music Hall, and continued for many years with The Black and White Minstrels a popular TV show as late as the 1970s.By the 1940s, Music Hall had largely disappeared. Gramophones provided musical entertainment in the home. The stars of variety diversified Gracie Fields developed firstly a film career then focused on radio broadcasts in addition to appearances in variety (Gammond 1991 189), and George Formby appeared in a number of films as well as continuing the work of his father (also George Formby, a popular variety singer at the turn of the century) in Royal Command performances and other revues (Gammond 1991 203).The bequest of the Music HallThe influence of th e Music Hall is still very much evident in British culture. It played a major part in the development of stand-up comedy, and the Comedy Club, which has seen a revival in recent years with chains such as Jongleurs, owes an obvious debt to the Music Hall tradition.The variety show featured regularly on TV well into the 1970s on shows such as The Good Old Days, and the yearly Royal Command Performance, with a range of acts, is still televised. Pantomimes too feature many characteristics of those in the late 19th century, with TV personalities taking the roles that Music Hall celebrities enjoyed a hundred years ago.The musical styles seen in Music Hall continue to influence artists. Obladi, Oblada (Lennon and McCartney, recorded by the Beatles 1968) features a fourline verse with sequence-based melodies and a unproblematic refrain, with a line repeated, reminiscent of the choruses inviting audience participation in Music Hall. More recently, Blurs Parklife (1994) uses the concept of p erformer taking on a personality, with club- and concert-goers joining in with the Parklife motif at the end of each line, much like a Music Hall audience would have joined in with choruses. Music Hall should therefore be seen not just as a cultural phenomenon in its own right, but as a development in a long history of popular song and entertainment.Bibliography Clarke, Donald (Ed) (1989) Penguin Encyclopaedia of normal Music (Viking, London) Davison, Peter (1971) Songs of the British Music Hall (Oak Publications, New York) Dickens, Charles Jnr (1879) Dickens Dictionary of London Music Halls, reproduced on www.arthurlloyd.co.uk Frith, Simon and Marshall, Lee (2004) Music and Copyright (2nd Edition, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh) Frow, Gerald (1985) Oh Yes It Is A History of Pantomime (BBC, London) Gillies, Midge (1999) Marie Lloyd The One and Only (Gollancz, London) Gammond, Peter (1991) The Oxford Companion to Popular Music (Oxford University Press, Oxford) Harding, James (1990) George Robey and the Music Hall (Hodder and Stoughton, London) Harris, Jose (1994) Private Lives, Public Spirit Britain 1870-1914 (Penguin, London) Kilgariff, Michael (Compiler) (1998) Sing us One of the Old Songs A Guide to Popular Song 1860-1920 (Oxford University Press, Oxford) Middleton, Richard (1990) Studying Popular Music (Open University, Milton Keynes) Price, Richard (1999) British hostelry, 1680-1880 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) Sadie, Stanley (1980) New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Vol. 12 pp831-834 (McMillan, London) Thompson, F M L (1988) The Rise of Respectable Society A Social History of Traubner, Richard (1984) Operetta A Theatrical History (Gollancz, London) Victorian Britain 1830-1900 (Fontana, London) Waites, Bernard, Bennett, Tony and Martin, Graham (Eds.) (1982) Popular Culture Past and Present (Croom Helm, London, in connexion with the Open University) Weightman, Gavin (2003) What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us (BBC, London )Websiteswww.arthurlloyd.co.ukAnon (1867) Extracts from The Tomahawk, 14th and 21st September 1867Dickens, Charles Jnr (1879) Music Halls from Dickenss Dictionary of LondonGreenwood, James (1869) The septette Curses of Londonwww.pepysdiary.comPepys, Samuel (1661) Diary extract from 31st August 1661RecordingsBlur Parklife (From the album Parklife, 1994, Food Records) The Beatles Obladi, Oblada (From the White Album, 1968, Parlophone)