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The guittar, now commonly known as the ‘English guittar’, is a small plucked instrument which was widely used in the British Isles from the middle of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th centuries. Appearing in a variety of shapes and sizes, and having essentially wire strings and an open major tuning, it was more related to the cittern, and quite different from the Spanish guitar. Being cheap, elegant, and relatively easy to play, the guittar quickly became popular among amateur musicians, especially upper-class ladies. In addition, the guittar was at the forefront of mechanical and technical invention, and especially the later types of the instrument were often fitted with several innovative devices that found use on other contemporary or successor instruments. This thesis refines the results of past research concerning the guittar by undertaking a critical review of the relevant literature, and by introducing new data collected during the detailed examination and comparison of numerous surviving guittars in museums and private collections. The results are supported by the investigation of a wide variety of primary sources, including literary references, newspaper advertisements, patent records, legal documents, music scores, and iconographical evidence. The research has led to the establishment of a methodology for the documentation and classification of extant guittars using a prototype template, and to the creation of various reference databases for the future study of the instrument. This thesis is the first complete study of the guittar in the British Isles during the second half of the 18th century. It presents the most important facts and figures related to the origins and development of the instrument, while documenting and highlighting its main historical, musical and technical features, with emphasis on aspects of design, construction and decoration. Additionally, this thesis examines the guittar’s social and cultural role as a predominantly domestic female instrument, and also brings to light new interesting details about the establishment of a guittar trade within and outside the British Isles. Finally, it accounts the main reasons for the decline of the guittar and also identifies its significance in the wider fields of musicology and organology, indicating possible relations and influences with other contemporary musical instruments across Europe.

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Until the recent publication of twelve choral compositions, Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) was known solely as a professional violist and composer of chamber music and art songs. Clarke composed choral music throughout her active period from 1906 to 1944. In 2004, the first study of Clarke's complete compositional output provided an introduction to the choral music, but only covered selected works. The present study traces the development of Clarke's compositional style through chronological analysis of all twelve choral compositions and an incomplete fragment. Clarke's choral music reveals the selection of high quality, expressive texts; exploration of the timbral, registral, and textural potential of unaccompanied choral music; changes in the treatment of all musical elements; the persistent acquisition of new techniques; and reliance on English choral genres including the madrigal, glee, carol, part song and motet. Chapter one establishes Clarke's importance through a survey of publication, criticism, and scholarship. The chapter also examines the society in which Clarke lived and the issues women composers encountered. A biography then reveals that despite obstacles, Clarke tenaciously pursued compositional study, eagerly acquired new techniques, and expressed enthusiasm for each compositional project. Her skill was confirmed by success in competitions and festivals. Throughout her active period, Clarke supported herself as a professional violist who specialized in chamber music, and a busy performing schedule limited her compositional work. Chapter two documents Clarke's formative vocal- and chamber-music experiences and suggests that her thorough knowledge of chamber music influenced her approach to choral composition. The chapter continues with analysis of Clarke's first seven choral works. The first three are well-crafted part songs that demonstrate Clarke's assimilation of basic compositional techniques. The next four show the increasing complexity of Clarke's style that culminates in her mature masterpiece, "He That Dwelleth in the Secret Place of the Most High." Chapter three presents analysis of three choral arrangements, two works for women's voices, and a choral fragment for mixed voices. The last five complete choral compositions confirm elements of Clarke's mature style and demonstrate her interest in exploring the new challenges of choral arranging and writing for women's voices. While Clarke's choral arrangements of her own songs are idiomatic adaptations for unaccompanied, mixed voices, the last three compositions display the diversity of styles Clarke employed in her late works. Chapter four summarizes changes in Clarke's choral style from 1906 to 1944, examines reasons for her obscurity, and raises questions that merit further research. The appendix which follows clarifies Clarke's intentions and illustrates common editorial issues and solutions through comparison of choral manuscripts and published editions.

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British musical style changed dramatically after 1880 primarily due to factors which may be subsumed under the general heading of nationalism. This change from an essentially Germanic style has been termed the British musical renaissance by many writers on the subject. Within this new musical language, several distinctive substyles arose. One of these, British pastoral style, has been alluded to by Frank Howes and others, but these allusions do not contribute to an understanding of the works purportedly belonging to that style. It is the purpose of this study to define British pastoral style and examine its relation to the British musical renaissance. The method employed for defining style will be that of Jan LaRue's as described in his Guidelines for Style Analysis. What is British pastoral style? Judging from the literature, British pastoral style is a type of British music written between 1900 and 1950 which evokes pastoral images, especially those associated with the British landscape. A stylistic analysis of selected works will define British pastoral style through enumeration and discussion of the style's musical constituents. A more refined definition of British pastoral style is achieved by an in-depth analysis of E. J. Moeran's Fantasy Quartet, which represents a large portion of British pastoral music, that is, works featuring the oboe. Finally, an examination of British pastoral style's relation to the British musical renaissance will reveal reasons for this particular manifestation of British musical style.