Tag Archives: social history

Jam, Jerusalem, and musical innovations

Posted on 13 September 2019 by mj263

The very first branch of the Women’s Institute in the United Kingdom was formed 104 years ago this week in a small village with a very long name, Llanfair PG, on Anglesey. Originally formed in Canada in 1897, the WI … Continue reading →

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I opened a box…

Posted on 1 June 2018 by mj263

As has previously been mentioned on MusiCB3, my colleague Susi has, until relatively recently, been busy cataloguing some of the many concert programmes that we hold here at the UL. Those catalogued so far can be found on the Concert … Continue reading →

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The greatest show on earth

Posted on 19 January 2018 by mj263

What do Bristol, Blackpool, Norwich & Great Yarmouth, Newcastle-under-Lyme, London, and Belfast & Derry have in common? They will be the focus throughout 2018 of Circus 250. It’s 250 years this year since the modern circus was born, when Newcastle-under-Lyme … Continue reading →

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Politically incorrect

Posted on 13 October 2017 by mj263

Cads, bounders, and unbecoming women in opera and song: episode two – an unpalatable truth Last week, Susi introduced the latest exhibition to take place in and around the Anderson Room : Cads, bounders, and unbecoming women. The genesis of the exhibition … Continue reading →

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Songs of desolation II

Posted on 8 July 2016 by mj263

In last week’s blog post we looked at the popular music that was being published in Britain during the first half of the First World War. By 1916, songs published in the UK were moving away from the more militaristic … Continue reading →

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Songs of desolation I

Posted on 1 July 2016 by mj263

July 1st 2016 marks the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. The first day of the battle remains the most costly single day in British military history  with around 20,000 deaths, and a further 40,000 casualties. The Somme was costly too … Continue reading →

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Up, up, and away

Posted on 18 September 2015 by mj263

Purely by chance this week I came across Le Navire Aérien by Gustave Huot. This suite of pieces for piano has the most extraordinary cover – a bizarre airship consisting of a set of 4 hydrogen balloons and, unlike the later Zeppelins, … Continue reading →

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