The symphony in Britain and Ireland since 1900 : a critical history / edited by Nicholas Jones

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Jones, Nicholas, 1973- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Symphony--Great Britain--20th century.

Symphony.

Symphony--Great Britain--21st century.

Symphony--Ireland--20th century.

Symphony--Ireland--21st century.

Symphony--Great Britain.

Great Britain.

Ireland.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026

Summary:

"The symphony is one of music's most prestigious and enduring forms, yet its story in Britain and Ireland since 1900 remains surprisingly underexplored. This book reveals a rich, multifaceted tradition, its diverse voices from Ina Boyle and Vaughan Williams to the present day, its range of styles and contexts, and its lasting cultural impact"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Unmasking the symphonists : Composer identity and the symphonic genre / Amy E. Zigler

Performance institutions and commissioning bodies / Fiona M. Palmer

Media institutions and networks : Publishing, broadcasting and recording symphonies / Emily C. Hoyler O’Hare

Educating symphonists / David C.H. Wright

External influences : Style and technique / Christopher Tarrant

Critical reception / Imani Danielle Mosley

Elgar and the symphony in Britain before World War I : Contexts for the ‘looked-for genius’ / Matthew Riley

The interwar years / Jennifer Oates

Exploring routes to the symphonic tradition from the edge of Europe : The symphony in Ireland / Mark Fitzgerald

Scottish inspiration : The growth of a symphonic tradition in Scotland / Richard McGregor

A panorama of the symphony in Wales / Rhiannon Mathias

Continuation and tradition? The cultural function of the post-1945 British symphony / Jonathan Clinch

Reanimating the genre / Annika Forkert

Voices from the hinterland / Ben Earle

Ralph Vaughan Williams / Ryan Ross

The ‘inner flow of life’ : Narratives of agency and embodiment in the symphonies of Michael Tippett / Rebecca Thumpston-Gallagher

Eclectic unities? Malcolm Arnold’s ‘symphonic thinking’ / Oliver Chandler

Between tradition and transformation : The symphonies of Ruth Gipps / Jill Halstead

Peter Maxwell Davies’s symphonic imagination / Nicholas Jones

‘Rituals of movement, exhortation, petition and joy’ : The symphonies of James MacMillan / Phillip Cooke

The medium is the message / Rhian Samuel

On symphonying / Thomas Hyde

Creating epic narratives with the power of the symphony / Shirley J. Thompson

Symphonising now / Kevin O’Connell

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed July 29, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Symphony in Britain and Ireland since 1900

ISBN:

9781009254496

1009254499

OCLC:

1586758038

Publisher Number:

CIPO000392173

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license