Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatre which had its start in the public "song and supper" rooms of the 1850s though these were part of trend beginning with the grant (known as the "Killigrew and Davenant patent") given to Thomas Killigrew and Sir William Davenant by King Charles the Second in the 17th Century. After the austerity of life under Oliver Cromwell the British were happy to be allowed to enjoy themselves again.
The "Killigrew and Davenant patent" in the course of time led to the setting up of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and Drury Lane. Other, minor, playhouses were licenced by local magistrates. Inns and taverns then developed into independent places of amusement and laid the foundations of the middle-class and lower middle-class institution of the music hall. It flourished, in its heyday, from the 1850s to the Second World War, when other forms of popular music evolved and it began to be replaced by films as the most popular form of entertainment.
British Music Hall was similar to American vaudeville, featuring rousing songs and standard jokes, while in the United Kingdom the term vaudeville referred to more lowbrow entertainment that would have been termed burlesque in the United States.
History of the Songs
The music associated with Music Hall evolved from traditional folk songs, becoming by the 1850's more contemporary and humorous as increasing affluence gave the lower classes access to commercial entertainment and to a wider range of musical instruments, including the piano. The change in musical taste from traditional to more professional forms of entertainment arose as a result of the rapid industrialisation and urbanisation of previously rural populations. The new urban communities, cut off from their cultural roots, required new and readily accessible forms of entertainment.
Music Halls were originally bar rooms which provided entertainment, in the form of music and speciality acts, for their patrons. By the middle years of the nineteenth century the first purpose-built music halls were being built in London. The halls created a demand for new and catchy popular songs that could no longer be met from the traditional folk song repertoire. Professional songwriters were enlisted to fill the gap.
Musical Origins
The emergence of a distinct music hall style depended upon a fusion of musical influences. Music hall songs needed to gain and hold the attention of an often unruly urban audience. In America from the 1840s Stephen Foster had reinvigorated folk song with the admixture of negro spiritual to produce a new and vibrant form of popular song. Songs like Golden Slippers and The Old Folks at Home spread round the globe, taking with them the idiom and appertenances of the minstrel song. Other influences on the rapidly-developing music hall idiom were Irish and European music, particularly the jig, polka and waltz.
Typically a music hall song consists of a series of verses sung by the performer alone, and a repeated chorus which carries the principal melody, and in which the audience is encouraged to join.
In Britain, the first music hall songs often promoted the alcoholic wares of the owners of the halls in which they were performed. Songs like Glorious Beer, and the first major music hall success, Champagne Charlie, in 1854, had a wide influence. Champagne Charlie is often credited with inspiring William Booth to form the Salvation Army, giving rise to his famous quotation: "Why should the devil have all the good tunes?"
By the 1870's the songs had lost their folk music roots, and particular songs also started to become associated with particular singers, often with exclusive contracts with the songwriter, just as many pop songs are today.
Towards the end of the style the music became influenced by ragtime and jazz, before being overtaken by them.
Music Hall songs were often unashamedly aimed at their working class audiences, reflecting the experiences and humour in their daily lives. Songs like My Old Man (said Follow the Van), Knocked 'em in the Old Kent Road and Waiting at the Church, expressed in melodic form situations that the urban poor were very familiar with. Music Hall songs could be romantic, patriotic, humorous or sentimental, as the need arose. The most popular Music Hall songs became the basis for the Pub songs of the typical Cockney "knees up".
The Two Eras
Music Hall entertainment is sometimes divided by era into Victorian Music Hall and Edwardian Music Hall. Toward the end of its heyday the terms theatrical variety or revue began to be used.
Music Hall began as a largely working class entertainment, and its association with beer halls and gin palaces led to it being initially shunned by polite society. As Music Hall grew in popularity and respectability, the original arrangement of a large hall with tables at which drink was served, changed to that of a drink-free auditorium. The acceptance of Music Hall as a legitimate cultural form was sealed by the first Royal Variety Command Performance before King George V in 1912.
The pressure for greater rewards for music hall songwriters led to the application of copyright law to musical compositions. This in turn boosted the music publication industry, and the sale of music in printed form. The term Tin Pan Alley, for the music publication industry gained currency from the practice of rival publishers of banging together pots and pans in order to disrupt their competitors' musical auditions.
After World War II, competition from Television and other musical idioms, including Rock and Roll, led to the slow demise of the British music halls. The final blow came when Moss Empires, the largest British Music Hall chain, closed the majority of its theatres in 1960. Stage and Film musicals, however, continued to be influenced by the music hall idiom. Oliver!, Dr Dolittle, My Fair Lady, and many other musicals continued to retain strong roots in music hall.
Music Hall Performers
The term Music Hall is also used to describe a large musical venue, such as the Paris Olympia and Radio City Music Hall.
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