Editorial

Read The Historian 158: Music

Anniversaries provide enticing opportunities for historians and the public to reflect on moments from our collective past. For choral music lovers this year is significant as it is the four hundredth anniversary of the death of the Tudor composer William Byrd, which is being marked by a range of events across the country. Here Katherine Butler examines why the composer wished that ‘all men would learn to sing’. As Butler notes, at a time when some might question the value of the arts, both economically and more broadly, this seems a fitting way to commemorate the composer. It is not uncommon to hear Byrd’s work still sung today at Choral Evensong, the history of which Tom Coxhead investigates. David Fleming, meanwhile, challenges the idea that England was a ‘land without music’ during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Finally, Simon Banks explores the changing way opera has represented and interpreted particular episodes from history.

Whilst this issue is themed around music, there is much else of interest. Stephen Caunce presents the phenomenon of agricultural hiring fairs in Hull, a long since forgotten, and yet intriguing, feature of social life. Adrian Smith uncovers an overlooked connection between Brockenhurst and civil war Barcelona, whilst Ben Markham outlines how Iceland’s bid for independence during the latter stages of the First World War concerned British officials. Our regular features also shed light on lesser-known stories. Alyson Brown, Dan Copley and Jack Bennett examine the life of Jessie Reid Crosbie, a Liverpool-based educational reformer; Susan Walton makes the case for why Burton Agnes Hall is her favourite historical place; and Trevor James is to be found out and about amongst the religious sites of Ardmore, County Waterford. Finally, in our Membership Extra pages, Paula Kitching reviews a talk given by Stuart Carroll at this year’s HA Annual Conference, whilst Andrew Buck delves into the siege and battle of Antioch from the First Crusade.

I hope you enjoy the issue.