Musically, London has often stood in the shadow of its European cousins. In early studies of the Classical period, musicological attention was usually concentrated on the leading Viennese composers, with only passing reference to England in so far as it related to the careers of these masters. The situation began to change in the 1950s with Charles Cudworth's and Stanley Sadie's pioneering studies of eighteenth-century England, and in recent years several English towns and cities have been the focus of further research. Investigations into London's burgeoning eighteenth-century musical life have revealed the capital's important role in developing modern performance standards and the evolution of a ‘canonic’ repertory, but most research has been centred around public concerts. Despite this increased scholarly attention, there are many frustrating gaps in our knowledge about these activities, and the dearth of information is even greater for most private concerts. There is, however, rich surviving documentation pertaining to the series conducted for nine successive years by the sons of the Revd Charles Wesley (1707–88), co-founder with his brother John Wesley (1703–91) of Methodism. Until now, scholars have failed to make full use of the Wesley materials, partly because of their scattered locations, but also perhaps from a sense that the concerts stood only on the periphery of London concert life. Nevertheless, a closer examination of the Wesley records—and a comparison between them and what is known about more public concerts—shows that these concerts were not as marginal an enterprise as is sometimes assumed.
Rescuing a Heritage Database: Some Lessons from London Concert Life in the Eighteenth Century
