Music and Victorian Philanthropy
The Tonic Sol-Fa Movement

A history of the revolutionary tonic sol-fa sight-singing method, investigating the impact of this musical system on British Victorian society.

Charles Edward McGuire (Author)

9780521449687, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 July 2009

264 pages, 15 music examples
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.55 kg

'… [a] captivating study …' Contemporary Review

Providing a fresh approach to the social history of the Victorian era, this book examines the history and development of the tonic sol-fa sight-singing system, and its impact on British society. Instead of focusing on the popular classical music canon, McGuire combines musicology, social history and theology to investigate the perceived power of music within the Victorian era. Through case studies on temperance, missionaries, and women's suffrage, the book traces how John Curwen and his son transformed Sarah Glover's sight-singing notation from a strictly local phenomenon into an internationally-used system. They built an infrastructure that promoted its use within Great Britain and beyond, to British colonies and other lands experiencing British influence, such as India, South Africa, and especially Madagascar. McGuire demonstrates how tonic sol-fa was believed to be of importance beyond music education – that music could improve the morals of individual singers and listeners, thus transforming society.

Preface
1. Dissenters, philanthropists, and the world of tonic sol-fa
2. Temperance and tonic sol-fa
3. Missionaries and tonic sol-fa
4. Suffragists, suffragettes, domestic ideals, and tonic sol-fa
Epilogue: tonic sol-fa, the public, and the end of an era
Appendix: provenance of tonic sol-fa journals.

Subject Areas: Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4], Music [AV]