In 1893 Clara Lindow sang the ballad Dreamtide to her own guitar accompaniment in the Cumbrian hamlet of Lowick. A writer for the local newspaper not only admired her 'marked skill and ability' but also considered the concert to be a sign of 'the onward march of light and learning in our time'. Amateurs like Miss Lindow were at the heart of a Victorian revival of guitar playing, especially for accompanying the voice, which has never been fully acknowledged and has often been denied. This book is a ground-breaking history of the guitar and its players during the era when the Victorians were making modern Britain. The abundant newspaper record of the period, much of which is now searchable with digital tools, reveals an increasingly buoyant guitar scene from the 1860s onwards. No part of Victorian life, from palace to pavement, remained untouched by the revival.
Contents; List of musical examples; List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. A Victorian Conspectus; 2. Guitar players and their repertoires to the 1860s; 3. The book of acts; 4. New opportunities from the 1860s onwards: penny readings and Amateur concerts; 5. Madame Catharina Josepha Pratten and others; 6. The guitarists of the streets; Appendix A; Appendix B; Appendix C; Bibliography.
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