London Voices, 1820-1840

London, 1820. The British capital is a metropolis that overwhelms dwellers and visitors alike with constant exposure to all kinds of sensory stimulation. Over the next two decades, the city’s tumult will reach new heights: as population expansion places different classes in dangerous proximity and ideas of political and social reform linger in the air, London begins to undergo enormous infrastructure change that will alter it forever.

It is the London of this period that editors Roger Parker and Susan Rutherford pinpoint in this book, which chooses one broad musical category—voice—and engages with it through essays on music of the streets, theaters, opera houses, and concert halls; on the raising of voices in religious and sociopolitical contexts; and on the perception of voice in literary works and scientific experiments with acoustics. Emphasizing human subjects, this focus on voice allows the authors to explore the multifaceted issues that shaped London, from the anxiety surrounding the city’s importance in the musical world at large to the changing vocal imaginations that permeated the epoch. Capturing the breadth of sonic stimulations and cultures available—and sometimes unavoidable—to residents at the time, London Voices, 1820–1840 sheds new light on music in Britain and the richness of London culture during this period.
 

“"This wide-ranging collection suggests fruitful new avenues for research."”

"These are exciting times for musicologists and historians of music, as is cogently demonstrated by Roger Parker and Susan Rutherford's new edited collection, London Voices, 1820-1840: Vocal performers, practices, histories. By 'means of sound, and particularly by means of 'voice, '' this volume puts the sonorous, specifically the vocal and musical, at the centre of its historical analysis. . . . What London Voices does so well, is to explore these themes through the voice, especially those musical, providing a model of what musicologists have to contribute to broader social-cultural histories. It is not just that this book mobilizes wider contexts to explore vocal culture, but it shows how 'the voice' played an active role in shaping social, political, and religious history."-- "Revue de Musicologie"
"This innovative and important collection of essays tracks the politics of the musical 'voice' as it travels across classes, spaces, and boundaries in early nineteenth-century London. London Voices, 1820-1840 attends to the sounds of song that rose above the clatter and noise of the fastest-growing city in the world. Usefully disturbing the boundaries between elite and popular, this book argues for the power of the idea of 'voice' for diverse interest groups and initiatives at a time of political and social upheaval. London Voices, 1820-1840 offers a whole new way of hearing the period."--Clare Pettitt, King's College London

Roger Parker is the Thurston Dart Professor of Music at King's College London. He is the editor of Nabucodonosor, a volume in the University of Chicago Press's critical edition of the works of Giuseppe Verdi and is co-general editor (with Gabriele Dotto) of the Casa Ricordi critical edition of the works of Donizetti.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.