The Ideal World Of Mrs. Widder's Soirée Musicale: Social Identity And Musical Life In Nineteenth-century Ontario Social Identity And Musical Life In Nineteenth-century Ontario

The printed program of Mrs. Widder's 1844 Soiree Musicale, a formal concert at her lavish Toronto home, lists eleven musicians performing opera, parlour ballads, and glees. This information helped trace the networks which drew a working tenor and leisured Lady and Gentlemen Amatueurs into a brilliant program balancing aesthetics with social politics. The Widder program reveals how conventions linking class and gender with musical genre and local issues shaped the meaning of musical life both public and private. The Soiree Musicale, a concert form transplanted from imperial London, was the embodiment of an idealized hierarchical universe. From classical recitals to the Phantom of the Opera, Kristina Guiguet's international singing career prompted this study of nineteenth-century Canadian musical life. Her Carleton University Master's thesis, the original version of this publication, won the University Medal for Outstanding Graduate Work (M.A.). The domestic soirée musicale was a private party at which a formal concert, complete with printed programs, was performed. Amateurs from the hosts' circle performed with professional musicians in a mixture of musical genres including opera, parlour ballads, glees, and instrumental salon music. This book offers a new approach to the concert program as evidence of social, political, and business history. It centres on the earliest known domestic soirée musicale in Ontario, held in 1844, and reconstructs the world of one elite group assembled at the home of a prosperous Toronto land developer. After a historiography of the soirée musicale, chapter 2 considers the process of constructing the concert program itself and suggests how immediate local concerns might contribute to the meaning of musical life. Chapter 3 examines class and masculinity by connecting the professional activities of representative male singers with the patterns of musical genre associated with them. In chapter 4, the skilled performing of the amateur women on the program is described in terms of Victorian gender ideology. Chapter 5 reviews the story of one lady amateur who made a break for artistic freedom under the cloak of its domesticity. In the final chapter, the interpretive model developed from the soirée musicale program is used to suggest how future research might account for the bewildering range of variations in music programs that appeared in Ontario in the later 19th & early 20th centuries The Printed Program Of Mrs. Widder's 1844 Soiree Musicale, A Formal Concert At Her Lavish Toronto Home, Lists Eleven Musicians Performing Opera, Parlour Ballads, And Glees. This Information Helped Trace The Networks Which Drew A Working Tenor And Leisured Lady And Gentlemen Amateurs Into A Brilliant Program Balancing Aesthetics With Social Politics. The Widder Program Reveals How Conventions Linking Class And Gender With Musical Genre And Local Issues Shaped The Meaning Of Musical Life Both Public And Private. The Soiree Musicale, A Concert Form Transplanted From Imperial London, Was The Embodiment Of An Idealized Hierarchical Universe.--book Jacket. Overture : Mrs. Widder's Drawing Room, March 12, 1844 -- Ch. 1. The Scrambled Kaleidoscope : Historiography Of The Ontario Soiree Musicale -- Ch. 2. Programming Politics : Musical And Thematic Structure Of Mrs. Widder's Program -- Ch. 3. Mr. Widder Sat Silent While Other Men Sang : Musical Genre, Masculinity, And Class -- Ch. 4. Mrs. Widder Sang Awfully Well : The Dignified Struggle Of The Lady Amateur -- Ch. 5. Singing Tight Her Chains : Miss Hagerman, Mrs. Widder's Exceptional Lady Amateur -- Encore : Turning The Kaleidoscope : Evolving Patterns Of Meaning 1844-1907 -- App. 1. Lyrics Of Mrs. Widder's 1844 Program -- App. 2. Lyrics Of Mr. Humphrys' 1851 Program. By Kristina Marie Guiguet. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 147-154). Includes Abstract In French. Cover Frontmatter Abstract Résumé Table of Contents Illustrations Preface Overture: Mrs. Widder's Drawing Room, March 12, 1844 Chapter 1: The Scrambled Kaleidoscope Historiography of the Ontario Soirée Musicale Chapter 2: Programming Politics Musical and Thematic Structure of Mrs. Widder's Program Chapter 3: Mr. Widder Sat Silent While Other Men Sang Musical Genre, Masculinity, and Class Chapter 4: Mrs. Widder Sand Awfully Well The Dignified Struggle of the Lady Amateur Chapter 5: Singing Tight Her Chains Miss Hagerman, Mrs. Widder's Exceptional Lady Amateur Encore: Turning the Kaleidoscope Evolving Patterns of Meaning 1844-1907 Acknowledgements Appendix 1 Lyrics of Mrs. Widder's 1844 Program Appendix 2 Lyrics of Mr. Humphreys' 1851 Program Endnotes Bibliography Backcover