This thesis examines the role of music in the life and works of the Romantic Irish author and lyricist Thomas Moore (1779-1852). It details Moore's musical knowledge and ideas with the aim of repositioning him within contemporary Romantic music and literary culture. The first chapter provides a comprehensive musical biography of Moore and argues that Moore engaged with, and was influenced by, contemporary philosophical treatises on music. Chapter two investigates Moore's works alongside other popular 'national air' collections of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, and focuses on Moore's popular song-book collections Irish Melodies (1808-34), National Airs (1818-27), and Sacred Songs (1816-24). The latter two works in particular have received scant scholarly attention to date, while criticism on the Irish Melodies has largely focused on these songs as poetic texts lacking in political fervour. Chapters three and four focus on placing Moore's songs back in the medium for which they were originally intended: sociable amateur performance. Chapter three explores Moore's performances of his songs in the drawing-rooms of London's elite, and argues that these are an essential, yet traditionally neglected aspect of Moore's musical career. The final chapter turns to these performances specifically in relation to gender and highlights the popularity of Moore's songs amongst female amateur performers. This study aims to provide a deeper understanding of Moore's expansive and multi-faceted musical career, and will demonstrate that it is only when we consider his songs as songs that emerged from a number of important contextual influences that we can begin to reposition him as a pivotal figure in Romantic literary and musical culture.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:695265 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Burns, Joanne |
| Publisher | Queen's University Belfast |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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