The arrangement to play: Music at Uppark in the Long Nineteenth Century

Abstract

‘The arrangement to play’ examines the intersections between the ‘musical’ and ‘social’
dimensions revealed in this study of more than 500 pieces of previously uncurated nineteenth century sheet music. The listing of the music scores owned by women residents at Uppark is the basis for an investigation into the content, composition, acquisition and other associated aspects of this domestic repertoire, which is dominated by music for solo piano and many arranged (rather than original) items.

A review of one of the residents and owners of Uppark, Frances Bullock (1818-1895), develops the profile of an aristocratic woman’s music collection with some detailed analysis of the music she owned, and its musical and historical contexts. This indicates the significance of social aspects and functions of her repertoire, including the role played by gifts of sheet music which she received. I look at how the scores draw the domains of concert hall, stage and popular music into the home, resulting in musical and social connections.

My exploration of the compositions and career of Brinley Richards, a Welsh proponent of piano arrangements, illustrates the opportunities afforded to him by the emerging economy of industrialised Britain, and the consequences of that for domestic repertoire. His acquaintance with Frances Bullock provides a particular vignette of the intersection of musical and social life in the nineteenth century.

This exploration of the profiles and activities of a domestic performer and domestic composer, developed from the domestic repertoire of one country house, reveals not only the variety of scores but equally significantly the several roles and functions of the music, whose visibility is brought out through the use of a multi-dimensional perspective. This affirms the rationale for wider terms of reference in the exploration of the comparatively unresearched, and sometimes trivialised, domestic repertoire.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record