Early 19th century music pedagogy – German and English connections

Abstract

Calls to improve congregational psalmody in 18th century England strongly influenced early music pedagogy. In the first decades of the 19th century English music educators, concerned with psalmody and music in charitable schools, looked to Germany for models of successful practice. The Musikalisches Schulgesangbuch (1826) by Carl Gotthelf Gläser (1784–1829) influenced the music materials designed by Sarah Anna Glover (1786–1867). These, in turn, directly influenced John Turner (dates unknown), William Hickson (1803–1870) and, indirectly, John Curwen (1816–1880). It is illuminating to explore how influential a small collection of German didactic songs could be during an early and very active phase of the development of English school music curricula.