Music Hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatre which had its start in the public "song and supper" rooms of the 1850s. It flourished from the 1890s to the Second World War, when other forms of popular music evolved and it began to be replaced by films as the most popular form of entertainment.British Music Hall was similar to American vaudeville, featuring rousing songs and standard jokes, while in the United Kingdom the term vaudeville referred to more lowbrow entertainment that would have been termed burlesque in the United States.
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2 The Two Eras 3 Music Hall Songwriters 4 Music Hall Performers |
The music evolved from traditional folk songs, becomming by the 1850's more humerous as increasing affluence gave the lower classes access to the piano. By the 1870's the songs had lost their folk music roots, and particular songs also started to become associated with particular singers, often with exclusive contracts with the songwriter, just as many pop songs are today.
Towards the end of the style the music became influenced by ragtime and jazz, before being overtaken by them.
The most popular Music Hall songs became the basis for the Pub songs of the typical Cockney "knees up".
Music Hall entertainment is sometimes divided by era into Victorian Music Hall and Edwardian Music Hall. Toward the end of its heyday the terms theatrical variety or revue began to be used.
History of the Songs
The Two Eras
Music Hall Songwriters
Music Hall Performers
The term Music Hall is also used to describe a large musical venue, such as the Paris Olympia and Radio City Music Hall.
