Odd discovery re Mass in England in 1748
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    I found this in our catalog, as part of Gale's Eighteenth Century Collections Online:
    The Art of singing: or, A short and easy method, for obtaining a perfect knowledge of the Gregorian note .London : Printed for T. Meighan, in Drury-Lane, M.DCC.XLVIII.

    It's an odd duck. It begins with a very brief sight-singing tutor, then continues with instruction on singing the psalm tones, followed by the various versions of Benedicamus Domino, 23 p. in all.

    Now, I thought that in London in 1748, if you wanted to go to Mass, you needed to go to one of the embassies, which had their own musical establishments and probably didn't need laymen singing the Office. Why were they taught so little? This might have been for an Anglican or collegiate establishment, but it doesn't seem to be; there's detail on on the ranking of feasts, the sung texts are all in Latin, the last words of the booklet are "Laus Deo, virginique matri" (kind of "fighting words" in Prot-land)

    The main question:what sort of music activity (and where) would have made publishing this appear to be a solid business decision? What was the intended market? Any ideas?
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,093
    Thomas Meighan was the bookseller associated with the Challoner editions of the DR translation of the Bible.

    http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/MEEHAN/2005-08/1123638071
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    Thanks; that's useful. And yes, I imagined that '48 was no better year for Catholic publishing than 1608 was. Was this book intended perhaps for home devotionals?
  • Palestrina
    Posts: 422
    Look at Bennett Zon's book on the English plainchant revival of the 18th century.
  • DL
    Posts: 80
    Added to which, in the Thames Valley part of the world, where I live, about a thousand Catholics turned up in the 1767 Returns of Papists. There was a period up to the Gordon riots when Catholics could get on with things, provided they did so discreetly. I say Mass fairly often in two recusant chapels, one strongly associated with Bishop Challoner (his Missal is used from time to time), and there was quite some Catholic life hereabouts in the mid-C18th.

    If this sort of publication had any use outside London, it'll probably be in the libraries of one or other house: I'll have a look next time I'm there.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,482
    English plainchant revival of the 18th century.


    Please say more.
    I need to know because of reasons.
    Thanked by 1eft94530
  • Palestrina
    Posts: 422
    The book (published by OUP) bears that title. Well worth a read.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,093
    http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listing/2671570784294?r=1&kpid=2671570784294&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-Book_45Up-_-Q000000633-_-2671570784294

    Might want to see if it's available on interlibrary loan....
  • oldhymnsoldhymns
    Posts: 229
    For an excellent (and interesting) treatment of this subject see ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH MUSIC IN ENGLAND, 1791-1914: A HANDMAID OF THE LITURGY? by T.E. Muir, Ashgate Publishing Company, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-7546-6105-4

    It's an expensive book; I paid $122 for it last November but well worth the price.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    I've read Muir, excellent book. Zon is the guy doing the heavy lifting re history of RC music in England. I wish there were a comparable figure in the US (yes, it could become me, but I do musicology as a hobby, not a career).
  • oldhymnsoldhymns
    Posts: 229
    I've been corresponding with Muir lately about some research I've been doing, and he has been very helpful. I'm going to get a copy of his doctoral dissertation completed at U Durham, "Full in the Panting Heart of Rome" through my college's interlibrary loan system.
  • ViolaViola
    Posts: 411
    'The Art of Singing' was also known in Scotland. (Just completed a PhD on post-Reformation RC music in Scotland). Prominent Catholic nobility maintained RC chaplains in their households during the 18th century, both in England and Scotland; their position meant that they could ignore the penal laws much of the time, especially if they lived in remote locations. The book was also used in the colleges abroad, where priests were educated to avoid falling foul of the law back home. Bennett Zon devotes a lot of space to this book.
  • ViolaViola
    Posts: 411
    PS I think you can also find 'An Essay on the Church Plain Chant' on Gale's ECCO; another fascinating book, showing how differently the chant was interpreted in the 18th century, before Solesmes.
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
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