Roy Johnston was a widely published expert on Irish music. His dissertation on ’Concerts in the Musical Life of Belfast to 1874’ earned him a doctorate from Queen’s University, Belfast in 1996. He published Bunting’s Messiah and contributed chapters to ’Music and British Culture 1785-1914: Essays in Honour of Cyril Ehrlich, Concert Life in Eighteenth-Century Britain’ (Ashgate, 2004) and ’Music in Nineteenth-Century Ireland’ . His work also appeared in ’The New History of Ireland’, the ’Dictionary of Irish Biography’, the ’New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians’, ’New History of Ireland’ and ’The Piano in 19th century British Culture’ (Ashgate, 2007). Declan Plummer is a musicologist and lecturer with research interests in music in nineteenth-century Britain and Ireland. After completing his undergraduate work with a bachelor’s degree in music at University College Cork, Declan continued his studies at Queen’s University Belfast and in 2011 was awarded a PhD in musicology that focused on the conducting career of Sir Hamilton Harty. He has published articles on Harty in The Musicology Review and the Journal of the Society of Musicology in Ireland. Declan currently works as a teaching assistant at the School of Creative Arts in Queen’s University Belfast, where he delivers lectures and tutorials for undergraduate modules in fundamental harmony and music history. He is a theory and aural skills tutor at the City of Belfast School of Music, and he is a teacher of Irish traditional music at Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

• Contents: Preface; Introduction; Prelude: the 18th-century musical legacy; Edward Bunting in the new century; The Anacreontic Society: an 18th-century throwback; Opera in a blighted theatre; Concert life in the 1840s and 1850s: the Anacreontic Society in its music hall; Concert life in the 1840s and 1850s: to God be the glory - The rise of the choral societies; Concert life in the 1840s and 1850s: welcome visitors; Edmund Thomas Chipp and the building of the Ulster Hall; Concert life after Chipp; Opera and the return of theatrical respectability; Concert life in the philharmonic era, 1874-99; Carl Rosa and the gilded elephants; Conclusion: fertile soil and stony ground; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.

Roy Johnston was a widely published expert on Irish music. His dissertation on ’Concerts in the Musical Life of Belfast to 1874’ earned him a doctorate from Queen’s University, Belfast in 1996. He published Bunting’s Messiah and contributed chapters to ’Music and British Culture 1785-1914: Essays in Honour of Cyril Ehrlich, Concert Life in Eighteenth-Century Britain’ (Ashgate, 2004) and ’Music in Nineteenth-Century Ireland’ . His work also appeared in ’The New History of Ireland’, the ’Dictionary of Irish Biography’, the ’New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians’, ’New History of Ireland’ and ’The Piano in 19th century British Culture’ (Ashgate, 2007). Declan Plummer is a musicologist and lecturer with research interests in music in nineteenth-century Britain and Ireland. After completing his undergraduate work with a bachelor’s degree in music at University College Cork, Declan continued his studies at Queen’s University Belfast and in 2011 was awarded a PhD in musicology that focused on the conducting career of Sir Hamilton Harty. He has published articles on Harty in The Musicology Review and the Journal of the Society of Musicology in Ireland. Declan currently works as a teaching assistant at the School of Creative Arts in Queen’s University Belfast, where he delivers lectures and tutorials for undergraduate modules in fundamental harmony and music history. He is a theory and aural skills tutor at the City of Belfast School of Music, and he is a teacher of Irish traditional music at Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

• Contents: Preface; Introduction; Prelude: the 18th-century musical legacy; Edward Bunting in the new century; The Anacreontic Society: an 18th-century throwback; Opera in a blighted theatre; Concert life in the 1840s and 1850s: the Anacreontic Society in its music hall; Concert life in the 1840s and 1850s: to God be the glory - The rise of the choral societies; Concert life in the 1840s and 1850s: welcome visitors; Edmund Thomas Chipp and the building of the Ulster Hall; Concert life after Chipp; Opera and the return of theatrical respectability; Concert life in the philharmonic era, 1874-99; Carl Rosa and the gilded elephants; Conclusion: fertile soil and stony ground; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.