School Music Abroad (1879-1901)

Accounts of a series of separate visits to schools in many parts of Europe and the USA at a time when the "myth" of continental musical supremacy was being seriously challenged in Britain. Although published under one cover here, these accounts were written separately. Hullah's was drawn up in the form of an official report to the Board of Education when serving as government inspector of music in 1879. Apart from its interest as a firsthand account of conditions, the document had wider significance. The outspoken criticism it contained of the state of music teaching in German schools became the catalyst that enabled Hermann Kretzschmar to lead his successful crusade for reform in 1903. J.S.Curwen's accounts, on the other hand, were written later as well as being those of a private individual. They were originally intended for publication in the journal of the Tonic Sol-fa movement founded by his father.