This engaging and immensely readable book is the first history of British music to be published for fifty years. It tells the fascinating story of the people who have shaped Britain’s musical life over the centuries: the composers and
performers; the promoters and impresarios; the conductors and critics. It shows how its music evolved - and is still evolving - against a background of religious, social, political, technical and technological change. It addresses readers with all levels of musical knowledge and interest, from the musically-minded and musically-informed to those seeking an accessible introduction to the subject.

Volume Two tells the story of music in Britain during the 19th and 20th centuries: the founding of new institutions, colleges and orchestras; and the growth of German influence under Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It traces the rise in cultural importance of popular music: folk music from the countryside and the industrial and mining towns; popular song from the pleasure gardens and the music halls. It asks whether there really was an English Musical Renaissance. It examines the cultural disruption and the consequences for musical life of the two World Wars. It looks at the post-1945 process of recovery; at the emergence of British opera, women composers, skiffle, trad jazz and symphonic rock. And it ends with the massive explosion of pop and rock music from the 1960s onwards, the radio and television programmes, the famous names and the classic albums.

Telling how the musical life of the British Isles has developed since 1800, Laurence Bristow-smith looks at the music itself and the rich cast of characters who wrote it, played it and conducted it. The story is inextricably bound up with the social and political history of the British Isles, so it continues to resonate in our lives today.