ABSTRACT
Histories of the development of an ‘English National Opera’ in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century typically emphasize the origins of the movement in ideas about social reform. With national culture in mind, the emancipatory ‘everybody’ in both titles referred to a broadening of the audience for an elite art form along class lines. While the historical existence of this rhetorical link is indisputable, what follows will seek to reposition ideas about opera and democracy in relation to an ‘everybody’ that extends beyond – and often runs counter to – the version of community bounded by national identity; and indeed against identity as such. Edward Dent’s activities and outlook are often seen as oppositional in nature, as we see from Winton Dean’s tribute to mark the centenary of Dent’s birth.
