ABSTRACT
England, in the mid- to late nineteenth century, was regarded by its continental neighbours as an ‘un-musical nation’. The work of German composers dominated the English music scene. The dominance of foreign art, or classical, music eventually gave rise to a drive to establish an English musical identity. At the same time, a number of activists were independently engaged in collecting folk-songs with a view to preserve a musical heritage that they believed would be lost with the passing of the older members of rural communities who they identified as the carriers of these songs. The impetus for the foundation of a folk-song society to enable the activities of collectors to be co-ordinated came from an unexpected quarter – The Irish Literary Society of London. When the Folk-Song Society was founded in 1898, it gave folk-song a platform and the musical establishment started to realise that English folk-song could provide the inspiration for an English identity in music. The folk-songs collected provided the raw material that would help musicians establish an English identity in the music they composed.
