ABSTRACT
In 1867, the first concert of a significant series of ballad concerts was given – organised by the publisher John Boosey – at St. James’s Hall in London. The so-called London Ballad Concerts were extremely prominent in the second half of the century. Founded by the publisher to promote the sales of their Ballad sheet music, the concert series continued for nearly 70 years. At around the same time, women song and ballad composers like Maria Lindsay, Liza Lehmann, Claribel and many others started to gain success particularly through their vocal music. Did ‘the Rise of the Woman Ballad Composer’ (Scott 2001, pp. 60–80) also become visible at these concerts? How did they contribute to the composers’ successes and vice versa? To investigate this context, I focus on the programmes of the London Ballad Concerts. For this purpose, a collection of concert programmes has been consulted. The programmes are analysed with regard to the structures of the concerts (genres, composers, interpreters, etc.), and consideration is also given to announcements and advertisements that appear in printed programmes.
