Rebecca Gribble | Independent Researcher (original) (raw)

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Conference Presentations by Rebecca Gribble

British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies BSECS 46th Annual Conference 2017, 2017

I am a dedicated lecturer and seminar leader who works well both individually and as part of a te... more I am a dedicated lecturer and seminar leader who works well both individually and as part of a team. My research interests include musicians and how they move in social spheres, Bourdieu and 'capital' theories, the Linley family and their biographies, English society and artisans' place within it, and critical editions of Renaissance music. My successful grant applications total to £1586. My B.Mus and M.Mus degrees both produced an analytical dissertation based on the classical style, whilst my Ph.D. has taken a more sociological view of the eighteenth century. I am also highly interested in archives, both as using for research and managing the data therein.

The economics of musicians and their professions has been explored by several scholars, often in... more The economics of musicians and their professions has been explored by several scholars, often in relation to specific composers or performers of note (for instance, Handel and Mozart). There is, however, a wealth of untapped information available in insurance documents from the second half of the eighteenth century, which have not been fully catalogued or investigated. Some scholars have started this process, starting with the biggest collection of records from the Sun Fire company (see articles by Lance Whitehead and Jenny Nex), completing an overview and a keyboard specific study.
Many eighteenth-century insurance policies have survived at various archives throughout the country (most of them in London), and the information they provide can be illuminating to the insured’s lifestyle and finances. Details such as where they lived, what they owned that they felt needed to be insured, and what premiums these items cost them, can tell us much about the musical profession. Both native and foreign alike took out insurance policies to cover their prized possessions.
My previous research centres on the idea that musicians were not financially unstable, or even in the lower classes, as many historical narratives would have us believe. The surviving insurance records support my research, and show that music professionals were insuring household goods and clothes, as well as their instruments or tools required for their work. In this paper, I will discuss the records available and what information can be gleaned from them with examples of typical records. I will compare insurance records between professionals and performers to note the differences in finances and property.

The music profession in the eighteenth century was considered to be an immoral occupation. As su... more The music profession in the eighteenth century was considered to be an immoral occupation. As such, it was unsuitable as a profession for sons of the gentry and aristocracy. Musicians were generally expected to be of a lower class of society and were often seen as financially unstable. Whilst musicians did often hail from a lower social background than the gentry, their rise through the English social hierarchy was often swift and long-lasting. Should a man of the gentry or aristocracy feel musically inclined, there were rules that had to be followed to show that he was an amateur and not a professional. Many musicians were earning upwards of £1000 per year, which allowed them to own property. Thus, musicians were part of the voting body ¬– not an image which is usually associated with eighteenth-century musicians. Further, their acquaintances were often within the higher social circles, because they networked for patrons and prospective clients. This paper will discuss some musical families working throughout the latter half of the eighteenth century and their non-conformity with the contemporary view of eighteenth-century musicians. I will demonstrate that their levels of income were on a par with the gentry and they lived accordingly.

Biographies are a cornerstone of academia and thus have always been important objects to scholars... more Biographies are a cornerstone of academia and thus have always been important objects to scholars. Musical biographies are many and varied and, as such, are invaluable to musicologists. Many biographies are written in a purely chronological stance, following the subject throughout their life and discussing salient life events and, therefore, are rarely multidisciplinary. My current research is been based on a biography of Thomas Linley junior (an eighteenth century violinist). I have not, however, approached the biography from a purely chronological viewpoint. Rather, I have split Thomas Linley junior’s life into three main periods and I am investigating each of those periods as a single entity. I am using several sociological theories (such as Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of capital, and Howard Becker’s theory of ‘art worlds’) to help inform Thomas Linley junior’s life and thereby, inform the life of other musicians in the eighteenth century. My paper will discuss the problems this has presented but also will discuss the benefits to this kind of biography.

In the eighteenth century, musicians were usually considered to be part of the artisan culture, a... more In the eighteenth century, musicians were usually considered to be part of the artisan culture, and thus part of the lower orders of society. John Rule (a social historian) splits eighteenth-century society into three clear categories: the upper class (aristocracy and gentry), the middling people (farmers and trade), and the 'lower orders' ('artisan culture' and the poor).

This is a misconception partly based on our contemporary artistic ideals – perhaps inspired by musicians such as Beethoven – but also found in contemporary eighteenth-century society. Musicians were generally considered to be socially untouchable because they were not usually members of the gentry and worked in trade, and those that worked on the stage were considered morally dubious as well. However, taking a cross section of musical families in England, shows that they were not always part of the lower classes. Some musicians earned enough to take out mortgages on theatres, to open their own Assembly Rooms and even to own land. These are hardly the actions of 'poor' musicians. In this paper, I will explore and compare the fees that musicians earned through the theatre houses (arguably only a portion of any income of a musician) and show how this challenges our current beliefs about musicians in the late-eighteenth century.

Papers by Rebecca Gribble

Early Music, 2017

Data relating to 18th-century England is gradually becoming more accessible to historians, throug... more Data relating to 18th-century England is gradually becoming more accessible to historians, through various projects such as Locating London’s Past (www.locatinglondon.org) and the online proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674–1913 (www.oldbaileyonline.org), to name but two. Scholars are starting to interrogate the data in ways that provide new contexts and meanings to existing work in our fields—whether those fields are musicological, historical, social or economic in focus. A study day, Data for the Social Historian of 18th-Century English Music, held at Senate House, London, on 27 June 2017 brought together postgraduate students with established researchers, each with a different outlook on such data and its uses.

Thomas Linley junior, a musician in the late eighteenth century, created networks to facilitate h... more Thomas Linley junior, a musician in the late eighteenth century, created networks to facilitate his upward social movement despite the low status accorded to members of his profession in Britain at the time. Supported by his father, the family’s trajectory was to move into the upper echelons of society, leaving behind the low social status of musicians. The financially unstable, and socially inferior, view of the eighteenth–century musician has persisted throughout music history. By using Thomas Linley Junior as a case study I will show that this view, and expectation of musicians to be financially unstable, is not entirely accurate. Simon McVeigh has made forays into this area of music history already, with his research into the Italian violinist Giardini and his connections. This thesis takes his work a step further, using sociological theories by Pierre Bourdieu and Howard Becker to investigate these networks, their benefits and effects on their constituent connections.

Eighteenth-century writers were vocal in their opinion of the performing classes. Robert Campbell... more Eighteenth-century writers were vocal in their opinion of the performing classes. Robert Campbell included the trade of musician in his book The London Tradesman, and very little of it was positive, advising that musicians would purchase poverty if they chose to become a performer. Adam Smith acknowledged that they should be well paid for their talents, since they are so despised by their peers because of how they are employed. Therefore, there was a belief that performers were both paid badly and well. This paper explores both claims by looking at a snapshot of paybooks from the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres in London, as well as the New Assembly Rooms in Bath. Every profession has/had a wide range of pay, but the belief that all musicians and performers were financially unstable has been presumed because of the few that indicated this. This paper seeks to take a new view of eighteenth–century musicians and performers, and shed more light on their earning potential.

British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies BSECS 46th Annual Conference 2017, 2017

Early Music, 2017