Available online
Description
This programme is the ninth in the series which makes up the television components of the fourth level course "Sources end Historiography". It attempts to show students the value of mus...ic Hall songs normally not considered by students of social history as evidence for the interests, experiences and prejudices of a large group of ordinary Victorians vho have left little written evidence of life from their point of view. In it, Edward Hayward presents a picture of the Halls as highly popular social centres, whose artistes provided entertainment which, he suggests, related closely to the lives of working men. Roy Hudd and Peter Reeves sing five songs as illustration. The programme is staged at Wiltons Music Hall, Wapping, East London, the oldest and best preserved early music hall in the country, built in 1858.
This programme is the ninth in the series which makes up the television components of the fourth level course "Sources end Historiography". It attempts to show students the value of mus...ic Hall songs normally not considered by students of social history as evidence for the interests, experiences and prejudices of a large group of ordinary Victorians vho have left little written evidence of life from their point of view. In it, Edward Hayward presents a picture of the Halls as highly popular social centres, whose artistes provided entertainment which, he suggests, related closely to the lives of working men. Roy Hudd and Peter Reeves sing five songs as illustration. The programme is staged at Wiltons Music Hall, Wapping, East London, the oldest and best preserved early music hall in the country, built in 1858.
| Module code and title: | A401, Great Britain 1750-1950: sources and historiography |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A401; 09 |
| First transmission date: | 17-06-1974 |
| Published: | 1974 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:28 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Peter Dunkley |
| Contributors: | Edward Hayward; Roy Hudd; Peter Reeves |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Entertainment; Music hall |
| Footage description: | This programme is an outside broadcast recorded in Wilton's Music Hall, Grace's Alley, London E.1. It opens with Roy Hudd singing the first verse of 'The War Song', I877. Titles over. Edward Hayward, in the street outside Wilton's describes the rise of London music halls and shows a plan of Wilton's. Prints illustrate the settings and audience of the time. Inside the hall, Hayward shows the stage dressed as it would have been in the l860s, and describes the prices and customers. Roy Hudd sings, 'The heavy swell of the sea' 1871. (Full text of the songs is given in the broadcast notes). Hayward links to Peter Reeves singing "'E's a reg'lar Barney Tomato", 1896. Hayward analyses the social significance of music hall. Peter Reeves sings "Forgotten", (c.1880). Hayward describes the typical subject matter of music hall songs and mentions the grandeur of the buildings in comparison with the audience's own houses. Describing ancillary attractions at many music halls aquariums, art galleries and brothels - he stresses the importance of drink as the economic mainstring of the halls, indicating that their decline dates from the introduction of legal restrictions on drinking in view of the stage. The halls were also felt to be politically subversive. Illustrating the point Roy Hudd sings the complete version of 'The War Song', said to have been paid for by party funds. Hayward sums up and in conclusion Hudd sings a pastiche of 'The War Song' by Herbert Carbell: 'I don't want to fight', 1877. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/71385 |
| Production number: | 00525_3144 |
| Videofinder number: | 3345 |
| Available to public: | no |
