The Music of the Gothic 1790-1820

This data set comprises material relating to Dr Emma McEvoy’s project Music of the Gothic 1790-1820. As well as the imagined music of Gothic novels, this project examines the actual music of Gothic plays, early melodrama, operatic romances and song settings, by composers such as William Shield, Samuel Arnold, Stephen Storace, Michael Kelly, Thomas Busby, William Reeve, Harriet Abrams, James Sanderson, Matthew Peter King, Charles Horn, John Braham, and Henry Bishop. Making the music available to 21st-century audiences is one of the project’s central aims. In 2022, a grant from the British Academy and Leverhulme Trust funded archival visits and made possible the realisation of the research in the form of a lecture-recital and a recording session. The following files consist of: 1 – An audio collection, recorded at the University of Westminster Recording Studios, 29th October 2022, by Ollie Dow, and edited and mastered by Robert Lee. 2 – A list of the audio files. The music was arranged (from vocal scores) by the musical director, Seb Gillot. 3 – A film of the lecture-recital “Music of the Gothic”, written and delivered by Emma McEvoy, with the participation of vocalists and instrumentalists under the direction of Seb Gillot. The event took place on 28th October 2022 at the Wallace Collection, where it was filmed by Jérome Monnot and the audio recorded by Robert Lee. Film editing by Robert Lee. The musicians involved in the events are: Seb Gillot – musical director, arranger and pianist Jane Gordon – Violin I Sophie Simpson – Violin II George White – Viola Tim Smedley – Cello Richard Lines-Davies – Flute and Oboe Alice Lee – Clarinet and Bassoon Issy Bridgeman – Soprano Helena Cooke – Mezzo-soprano Guy Cutting – Tenor Laurence Williams – Bas