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Introduction

Beginnings and Contexts, the Themes of a History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 August 2019

David C. H. Wright
Affiliation:
Royal College of Music, London
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Summary

The Introduction provides the background that led to the founding of the RCM. It argues that its vision came out of the musical achievements of August Manns and George Grove at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, which hosted London’s first permanent concert orchestra. It suggests that the long-established trope of the ‘English Musical Renaissance’ gives a misleadingly composer-centric view of the late Victorian British musical condition, which ignores the vitality of the different participative musical cultures of the time, such as brass and wind bands or choral singing. It demonstrates how different Grove’s conception of the RCM was from the then-failing RAM in providing a complete and systematic musical training. It relates the attraction of the RCM’s education to the fact that examined accreditation for music teachers (the ARCM) was now a worthwhile professional investment. The Introduction presents one of the book’s central arguments, that from a national perspective, the College is as important for its students who worked to raise musical standards locally as for its star performers and composers.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Royal College of Music and its Contexts
An Artistic and Social History
, pp. 1 - 24
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • Introduction
  • David C. H. Wright, Royal College of Music, London
  • Book: The Royal College of Music and its Contexts
  • Online publication: 26 August 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316681336.001
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  • Introduction
  • David C. H. Wright, Royal College of Music, London
  • Book: The Royal College of Music and its Contexts
  • Online publication: 26 August 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316681336.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • David C. H. Wright, Royal College of Music, London
  • Book: The Royal College of Music and its Contexts
  • Online publication: 26 August 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316681336.001
Available formats
×