Reprint of the original, first published in 1881.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

Philip Ross Bullock looks at the life and works of Rosa Newmarch (1857-1940), the leading authority on Russian music and culture in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century England. Although Newmarch's work and influence are often acknowledged - most particularly by scholars of English poetry, and of the role of women in English music - the full range of her ideas and activities has yet to be studied. As an inveterate traveller, prolific author, and polyglot friend of some of Europe's leading musicians, such as Elgar, Sibelius and Jank, Newmarch deserves to be better appreciated. On the basis of both published and archival materials, the details of Newmarch's busy life are traced in an opening chapter, followed by an overview of English interest in Russian culture around the turn of the century, a period which saw a long-standing Russophobia (largely political and military) challenged by a more passionate and well-informed interest in the arts Three chapters then deal with the features that characterize Newmarch's engagement with Russian culture and society, and - more significantly perhaps - which she also championed in her native England; nationalism; the role of the intelligentsia; and feminism. In each case, Newmarch's interest in Russia was no mere instance of ethnographic curiosity; rather, her observations about and passion for Russia were translated into a commentary on the state of contemporary English cultural and social life. Her interest in nationalism was based on the conviction that each country deserved an art of its own. Her call for artists and intellectuals to play a vital role in the cultural and social life of the country illustrated how her Russian experiences could map onto the liberal values of Victorian England. And her feminism was linked to the idea that women could exercise roles of authority and influence in society through participation in the arts. A final chapter considers how her late interest in the music of Czechoslovakia pi

Die britische Sinfonik ist erst in jüngster Zeit ins allgemeine Interesse gerückt. Ein Überblick über die sinfonische Entwicklung im Vereinigten Königreich seit den Anfängen im 18. Jahrhundert bis ins 20. Jahrhundert blieb aber bis heute ein Desideratum. Der hier vorgelegte Überblick zeigt, wie sich die Identität einer britischen Sinfonik über mehr als hundert Jahre entwickelte, geprägt durch Einflüsse vom europäischen Kontinent und von dem Bedürfnis, eigene Wege zu finden. Gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts nahm das sinfonische Schaffen in Großbritannien stark zu, brachte jedoch erst mit Edward Elgar einen prominenten Vertreter von internationalem Rang hervor. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt dieser Publikation liegt auf jenen Werken, die zu einem gewissen Grade von anderen überschattet wurden, unveröffentlicht oder unaufgeführt blieben. Das Ergebnis ist das Bild einer vielgestaltigen sinfonischen Landschaft Großbritanniens, das die ästhetischen Perspektiven der einzelnen Komponisten wie auch ihre soziokulturellen Kontexte erhellt. Ein umfangreiches Verzeichnis aller bekannten Werke und eine ausführliche Bibliographie laden zu weiterer Erkundung des Sujets ein. Only in relatively recent times has any real attention been given to British symphonies. So a comprehensive survey, showing what exists and how the situation in the United Kingdom developed, from the beginnings in the 18th century until well into the 20th century, is long overdue. The preliminary survey presented here shows how a British symphonic identity gradually took shape over more than a century, through influences from abroad and, at home, enterprising attempts to find new ways of expression. By the end of the 19th century, British symphonists had produced an impressive body of work, yet only with the appearance of Elgar’s two symphonies in the following decade did this flourishing school find a champion of international renown. In this publication, light is shone on those works that have to some extent been overshadowed, as well as on those that have remained unpublished or unperformed. The result is a multi-faceted panorama of British symphonism, offering many insights into the composers’ thinking and their socio-cultural contexts. A comprehensive catalogue of all known works and an extensive bibliography invite readers to delve further into the subject.

The interrelationship of music and theology is a burgeoning area of scholarship in which conceptual issues have been explored by musicologists and theologians including Jeremy Begbie, Quentin Faulkner and Jon Michael Spencer. Their important work has opened up opportunities for focussed, critical studies of the ways in which music and theology can be seen to interact in specific repertoires, genres, and institutions as well as the work of particular composers, religious leaders and scholars. This collection of essays explores such areas in relation to the religious, musical and social history of nineteenth-century Britain. The book does not simply present a history of sacred music of the period, but examines the role of music in the diverse religious life of a century that encompassed the Oxford Movement, Catholic Emancipation, religious revivals involving many different denominations, the production of several landmark hymnals and greater legal recognition for religions other than Christianity. The book therefore provides a valuable guide to the music of this complex historical period.