ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses at three interrelated musical institutions in the nineteenth century: the Madrigal Society, founded in London in the early 1740s; the Devon Madrigal Society, founded in Exeter, 1825; and the Bristol Madrigal Society, founded there in 1837. Sir John Leman Rogers, a Devon land-owner, erstwhile Member of Parliament, and musical dilettante, was unanimously elected a member of the Madrigal Society in February 1819. Wesley must have been familiar with the ritual of the DMS, having been taken as a chorister of the Chapel Royal choir to gatherings of the Madrigal Society by the Master of the Children, William Hawes. Edward Taylor, a musical journalist and singer, had attended meetings of the Madrigal Society since his mid 30s, and his own interest in madrigals is apparent early on in his association with the society.
