It just occurred to me that I ought to have added: To get an idea of the culture that fostered musical literacy even among very "ordinary" people, just read D.H. Lawrence, specifically Sons and Lovers.
Cheers, Paul Gretton -----Original Message----- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Paul Gretton Sent: 01 November 2009 19:20 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [NSP] Re: [BULK] Re: [nsp] file Anthony Robb wrote: >>>dot reading was an extremely rare skill at the time If you mean specifically among players of the NSP (or the fiddle, then perhaps - I wouldn't know. But if you mean in general, then that is a far too sweeping statement. Musical literacy was my no means uncommon, even among the working class. You are ignoring the influence of the Sunday school system, particularly among Nonconformists, and the self-improvement movement among the so-called "better" working class, with the miners being among the leaders. Large numbers of "ordinary" people could read music - witness the great Handel festivals and organisations like the Huddersfield Choral Society. Cheers, Paul Gretton To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
