The London Madrigal Society and the Role of Antiquarian Societies on the Reception History of Early English Music, 1726–1832

Bassler, Samantha Elizabeth (2024). The London Madrigal Society and the Role of Antiquarian Societies on the Reception History of Early English Music, 1726–1832. PhD thesis The Open University.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.00099765

Abstract

According to conventional wisdom, there was a lack of interest in early music, and especially English music, during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. This is contrary to the evidence of England’s long history of antiquarianism, which stretches back into the fifteenth century. The focus of this thesis is the history of antiquarianism and its influence on musical tastes in England, and on the history of the ancillary musical tastes of antiquarians as a subset of the English population. The thesis includes an examination of antiquarian societies, specifically musical antiquarian societies, and the importance of antiquarian societies to the club culture of England writ large. The London Madrigal Society (LMS), an antiquarian organisation with a large library deposited in the British Library (shelfmark GB-Lms.Mad.Soc.A–D, F–H), is integral to this study, and the thesis includes an examination of its holdings. The Academy of Ancient Music, as the founding organisation to the Madrigal Society, is also significant to this study, due to its shared membership, repertoire, and governance with the LMS. The Madrigal Society’s collection has not yet received sufficient mention by scholars considering English antiquarianism; as an in-depth study of the LMS, this thesis will demonstrate the pivotal role antiquarians played in the preservation of early music in London.

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