The eighteenth century concerts at London's Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens represented a major turning point in the history of public concerts. They were relatively inexpensive and attracted patrons from nearly all walks of life, from the nobility down to the lower middle class. The usual fare at Vauxhall Gardens was the English-language pop tunes of the day, interspersed with instrumental pieces of modest length and the occasional serenata -- semi-staged short operas for just a character or two. Most of the music from Vauxhall ...
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The eighteenth century concerts at London's Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens represented a major turning point in the history of public concerts. They were relatively inexpensive and attracted patrons from nearly all walks of life, from the nobility down to the lower middle class. The usual fare at Vauxhall Gardens was the English-language pop tunes of the day, interspersed with instrumental pieces of modest length and the occasional serenata -- semi-staged short operas for just a character or two. Most of the music from Vauxhall is witty, simple, elegant in style, and, in keeping with the tenor of the times, a little affected, overtly gracious, and superficial; it is seldom covered on recordings. Nonetheless, it represents the first flowering of English song as it is known in a modern sense, and thus its incompatibility with tastes nearly three centuries hence has not prevented expert performers from dipping into the Vauxhall till once and a-hey, such as Philip Langridge does on Signum's Songs from the...
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