Abiding memories: the community singing movement and English social life in the 1920s

Popular Music ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVE RUSSELL

AbstractThe community singing movement was a distinctive feature of English popular musical life in the mid-1920s. Although initiated by individuals who saw it as essentially educational, it was rapidly appropriated by sections of the press, and especially the Daily Express, as an instrument in the circulation wars of the period. It was typified by a restricted range of music comprising ‘national’ songs, hymns (with the performance of ‘Abide with Me’ at the FA Cup Final singing particularly important), and songs of the First World War. This mixture and the concomitant neglect of modern popular song reflects the rather nostalgic thrust behind activities, with calls for community singing to recreate a ‘Merrie England’ that would heal the deep social divisions of the 1920s. Whether the singers were fully aware of these various musical and socio-political agendas is unclear, but community singing undoubtedly enjoyed a period of considerable popularity, with the music appreciated for allowing displays of individual and collective emotion.

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Fantauzzo

In March and December 1917 the British Empire won two much-needed victories in Mesopotamia and Palestine: Baghdad and Jerusalem. Both cities were steeped in biblical and oriental lore and both victories happened in a year that had been otherwise disastrous. Throughout the British Empire the press, public, and politicians debated the importance of the two successes, focusing on the effect they would have on the empire’s prestige, the Allies’ war strategy, and the post-war Middle East. Far from being overwhelmed by the ‘romance’ of the fighting in the Middle East, the press’s and public’s response reveals a remarkably well-informed, sophisticated, and occasionally combative debate about the empire’s Middle Eastern war effort.


Popular Music ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 5-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vic Gammon

Recent research shows that the English folksong collectors, who were active before the First World War, systematically selected what they took down from rural working-class singers, basing their selection on what they considered to be worth preserving from such singers' repertories. Their work, then, can only give us a biased and highly mediated impression of popular singing traditions (see Harker 1972 and 1982; Gammon 1980). The purpose of this article is to see if it is possible to go beyond the work of the collectors, to try to grasp something of the wholeness of popular nineteenth-century singing traditions, and also to situate those traditions socially.


Author(s):  
Н.Ю. Стоюхина ◽  
А.А. Костригин

Статья посвящена недостаточно изученному вопросу в истории российской психологии - деятельности отечественных психологов в годы Первой мировой войны. Авторы обобщили найденные на данный момент сведения о нахождении и роли разных психологов как в военных событиях, так и в научной и общественной жизни того времени. Представляются три группы персоналий в зависимости от того, в каком положении по отношению к военным действиям они оказались: участие в действующей армии; пребывание в Германии во время войны в качестве пленного гражданского лица; жизнь и научная деятельность в тылу. Среди психологов, которые служили в армии во время Первой мировой войны, рассматриваются биографические данные и воспоминания П.Н. Шефтеля, Г.Я. Трошина, В.Ф, Чижа, А.Б. Залкинда, И.А. Арямова, Л.Н. Войтоловского, А.А. Смирнова, Б.М. Теплова, М.Я. Басова, Л.А. Бызова, М.В. Шика. К группе психологов, которые оказались в Германии во время войны, относятся А.О. Маковельский, А.Ф. Лосев, И.Н. Шпильрейн, Н.Е. Румянцев. Описываются результаты научных событий, состоявшихся в России в годы Первой мировой войны, - Третий и Четвертый Всероссийские съезды по экспериментальной педагогике, исследовательские работы в Психологическом институте им. Л.Г. Щукиной, коллективные публикации. Отмечается, что обращение к деятельности психологов во время Первой мировой войны является важным с позиций не только истории психологии, но и исторической психологии: кроме изучения жизненного пути персоналий и анализа результатов научных исследований этого периода представляет интерес и описание образа и роли ученого в военное время, особенностей научной активности в военных условиях. Авторы статьи призывают профессиональное сообщество дополнить список персоналий, которые принимали участие в Первой мировой войне и на которых война оказала значимое влияние, и другими именами. The article is devoted to an insufficiently studied issue in the history of Russian psychology - the activities of Russian psychologists during the First World War. The authors summarized the information found to date about the location and role of various psychologists both in military events and in the scientific and social life of that time. Three groups of personalities are presented, depending on the position in which they found themselves in relation to military operations: participation in the active army; stay in Germany during the war as a captured civilian; life and scientific activities in the rear. Among psychologists who served in the army during the First World War, the authors describe the biographical data and memories of P.N. Sheftel, G. Ya. Troshin, V.F. Chizh, A.B. Zalkind, I.A. Aryamov, L.N. Voitolovsky, A.A. Smirnov, B.M. Teplov, M.Ya. Basov, L.A. Byzov, M.V. Shik. The group of psychologists who remained in Germany includes A.O. Makovelsky, A.F. Losev, I.N. Spielrein, N.E. Rumyantsev. The article describes the results of scientific events in Russia that took place during the First World War - the Third and Fourth All-Russian congresses on experimental pedagogy, research work at the Psychological institute named after L.G. Shchukina, collective publications. It is noted that the appeal to the activities of psychologists during the First World War is important from the standpoint of both history of psychology and historical psychology: in addition to studying the life path of personalities and analyzing the results of scientific research of this period, it is also of interest to describe the image and role of a scientist in wartime, features of scientific activity in war conditions. The authors of the article urge the professional community to add other names to the list of personalities who took part in the First World War and on whom the war had a significant impact.


2020 ◽  
pp. 69-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Apendiyev

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Kazakhstan region, namely Aulieata and Shymkent (Chernyaev) districts, was one of the main German settlements. These areas, which belong to the Syrdarya region of the Turkestan region, have been inhabited by Germans since the last quarter of the 19th century and are considered to be one of the main European ethnic groups. The Germans interacted with the local population and contributed to the development of ethno-demographic processes in the region. However, the development of such processes and the political and social life of the Germans had a negative impact on the First World War. At the beginning of the twentieth century, this war, which was a major international factor, created a great war between the empires, and it also divided the peoples. From the first days of the First World War, 1914-1918, relations between the Russian Empire and Germany were at war. This situation changed the political life of the Germans and the German community living in the Russian Empire. Such changes took place especially in the lives of German settlers in the European part of the empire. His main examples were the military persecution of Germans, the stigmatization of Germans in society, the establishment of chauvinistic attitudes among ethnic groups, and similar factors. In Russia, local Germans have been labeled "internal enemies." The fate of German communities in all regions of the Russian Empire was closely monitored in 1914-1918, and in general, since 1914, the fate of the Germans has been very constructive. At the same time, there is a legitimate question as to whether the situation in the Turkestan region is the same as in other regions of the Russian Empire. Similarly, the article raises questions about the situation of Germans in Shymkent and Aulieata districts of the Syrdarya region, and seeks answers in this regard. The article examines the political situation and social life of Germans in the South Kazakhstan region during the First World War. The main task of the article is to show the life of local Germans and their place in society. In addition, the political and social history of other peoples in the region will be considered.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Kerby

The newspaper articles written by the Australian Harry Gullett and his English counterpart Philip Gibbs during the opening months of the First World War provide important insights into the nature of war reporting, propaganda, censorship, and the relationship between the press and the military. Despite differences in background and temperament, their reports, which were written prior to official accreditation, were remarkably similar in tone and content for Gullett and Gibbs shared the belief that war was a regenerative force that would purify and strengthen a degenerate pre-war Britain. Both writers adopted a rhetoric in their initial wartime correspondence that emphasized traditional martial and patriotic values that they believed were an antidote to the weakness and disunity of a pre-war Britain beset by industrial, social and political upheaval. Battles would therefore be best presented as extended heroic narratives in which there was order, honour and greatness. This approach exerted an influence as pervasive as censorship itself.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Mein

AbstractDo the imprecatory psalms authorize reprisal attacks against civilian targets? This question was at the heart of a controversy that arose in Britain during July 1917, which brought together the unlikely combination of the German bombing campaign and the Church of England’s process of liturgical reform. When a meeting of the Canterbury Convocation approved the removal of Psalm 58 and several other imprecatory psalms, there was an immediate stir in the Press. This public debate about Convocation’s decision offers a valuable window through which we can discern the ongoing vitality of British biblical culture during the First World War.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document