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Borrowing Culture: British Music Circulating Libraries and Domestic Musical Practice, 1853-1910

In Victorian Britain, music circulating libraries libraries operated by music publishers Novello & Co. and Augener & Co. supported upper- and upper-middle-class patrons in their pursuit of cultural capital that would help them perform their socioeconomic status. Studying these libraries in the context of domestic music-making reveals the economic and social impact of these libraries in the lives of amateur musicians and in the music publishing industry. An analysis of the account books in the Novello Business Archives demonstrates that the direct income that Novello & Co., Ltd.'s Universal Circulating Musical Library generated was negligible at best. Yet the fact that the library continued to be part of the business for over forty years indicates that Novello & Co., Ltd. found it to be profitable in some way. In this case, the library could have helped the publisher to attract customers through branding and advertising, in addition to informing publishing decisions by tracking demand. Catalogs for music circulating libraries, as well as for the publishers who owned them, contain lists of library and publisher inventory and pricing. Studying changes in these catalogs reveals how patrons' tastes changed over time. A case study of violin-piano duets in multiple catalogs confirms a continued preference for continental composers over British composers, and another case study of violin-piano duets by Felix Mendelssohn shows a growing taste for arrangements of pieces originally composed for large ensemble. Changing tastes had an effect not only on what music Victorians performed, but also on what pieces publishers offered, and, ultimately, on works' places in the canon.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1707295
Date08 1900
CreatorsCooper, Amy Nicole
ContributorsMondelli, Peter, Friedson, Steven M. (Steven Michael), 1948-, McKnight, Mark, 1951-
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
Formatvii, 159 pages : illustrations, Text
CoverageUnited Kingdom, 1853/1910
RightsPublic, Cooper, Amy Nicole, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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