ABSTRACT
In 1902 William Galloway published a slim volume entitled The Operatic Problem. This chapter reflects a sense of unease and dissatisfaction within the music profession and among its supporters that opera was failing to flourish and take its place within British society, either as a source of entertainment and edification, or as a part of the country's wider growth as a musical and cultural nation. The United Kingdom's status as an imperial power encouraged a belief that a cultural renaissance was imminent and its political and commercial status would not allow itself to be bettered in matters artistic by poorer and less powerful countries. There is a healthy prejudice in the minds of most English men against state subsidies for undertakings which ought to and can flourish by the ordinary commercial methods if efficiently managed. National opera needed to be acceptable, accessible to a whole nation, with the former meaning common to one nation nor likely to become common to others.
