Breaking into song with Victorian Quakers

In this section
Breaking into song with Victorian Quakers

Lecturer in music Jo Hicks recently took part in a study day hosted by the Nineteenth-Century Song Club and the University of Notre Dame in London

The Nineteenth-Century Song Club (c19songclub.com) is a project that attempts to open up an extended conversation between musicologists, historians, folklorists, and literary scholars about the role of song in the nineteenth century. Our latest meeting took place in London in October and centred on the poetics and politics of breaking into song.

Contributions addressed a range of topics and case studies, including: famous Georgian and Victorian actors who sang in parts of their solo shows; Napoleonic-era vaudeville and the conundrum of one character replying in song to another character who only ever speaks; Chartist meetings where attempts to protest in song never quite got off the ground; historical theories of music cognition based on the desire to complete musical phrases; and much more besides.

Jo's talk, 'How Can I Keep from Singing? Notes on a Quaker Dilemma', explored the occasional emergence of singing in nineteenth-century Friends' Meetings. This was despite longstanding resistance, on the part of Quakers, to congregational hymns and any other forms of pre-ordained service structures. Given that the emphasis was so squarely on spontaneity, and the idea of being moved to utterance only by the Holy Spirit, there was much debate about whether it was ever appropriate to break into song--or join in with singing--as part of religious meetings.

Search News

Browse by Month

2024

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2024
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2024
  6. Jun
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2024
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2024
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2024
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2024

2023

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2023
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2021

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2021

2020

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2020
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2020

2019

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2019
  8. Aug
  9. Sep There are no items to show for September 2019
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2019

2018

  1. Jan
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 2018
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2018
  7. Jul
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2018
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2017

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2017
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep There are no items to show for September 2017
  10. Oct There are no items to show for October 2017
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2016

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2016
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 2016
  3. Mar There are no items to show for March 2016
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2016
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2016
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2016
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2016
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2016
  9. Sep
  10. Oct There are no items to show for October 2016
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2015

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep There are no items to show for September 2015
  10. Oct There are no items to show for October 2015
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2015
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2015

2014

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar There are no items to show for March 2014
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2014
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2014
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2014

2013

  1. Jan
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 2013
  3. Mar There are no items to show for March 2013
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2013
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2013
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2013
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2013
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2013

2012

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar There are no items to show for March 2012
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2012
  7. Jul
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2012
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2012

2011

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2011
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2011
  12. Dec

2010

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2010
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2010
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec