In the current revival of interest in British musical life of the 19th century, much new research has been done on the economic history of music and musical institutions. The writings of the economic historian Cyril Ehrlich, and of many who have been influenced by him, have shown how far the composition, performance, and reception of music were governed by material self-interest. There is no question that this body of work has brought a new realism and balance to the study of the period. As one reviewer put it, ‘the British musical scene in this period was one driven by the commercial impetus to a far greater extent than that of any other country’.

There is another side of the matter that requires equal attention: the influence of intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic leadership on the taste of consumers of music, regardless of economic or social factors. One important channel by which knowledge and taste in music were disseminated was the public lecture, which gained a new prominence in 19th-century Britain.

Public Lectures on Music

Public lecturing in England on secular topics can be traced to Sir Thomas Gresham (1518–79), who made provision in his will for ‘a college in London for the gratuitous instruction of all who choose to attend the lectures’. Lectureships were endowed in seven subjects: divinity, rhetoric, geometry, medical science, astronomy, law, and music. John Bull, the first Gresham professor of music, began lecturing in 1596. But in the following centuries the Gresham lectures fell into neglect. Significant lectures on music were given only on isolated occasions during the 18th century, and most approached the subject from a scientific or philosophical standpoint.

A new era of public lecturing began in 1800 when the Royal Institution, founded by the American-born Count Rumford, began to promote lectures at its premises in Albemarle Street, London, for improving knowledge of science and encouraging practical inventions. In 1805 music was added to the list of subjects covered, and regular courses of lectures on music date from that year. Several other organisations followed suit during the next few decades, in London, Edinburgh, and other cities across the country.