This module provides a social and cultural history of composition, performance and listening in Britain 1830-1939. Questions relating to the social functions of the arts and the impact of economic and political change on practices of participation will be explored, together with themes like cultural exchange and the role of music in religious observance. Students will engage with politically charged ideas such as Wagnerism, folk-song revival, `Englishness¿, and the rediscovery of Tudor music in debate over questions relating music to complex identities. They will explore ways in which the institutional profile and social and cultural commitments of musicians were shaped how far they were prepared to support movements such as romanticism and modernism.