During the 18th century AD, there were many professional musicians in London, but there was also a flourishing native amateur music scene in the English provinces. Handel’s oratorios were often performed at amateur concerts and music festivals. The Methodist hymns composed by Charles Wesley (1707-88) revived congregational hymn singing.

Composing and playing music were both popular in provincial society. Very little amateur music was published, but a good deal circulated in manuscript. Music was played in the drawing rooms of country gentry and in public assemblies in towns patronised by rich merchants. Even amateur concerts were usually put on in series, paid for by subscription, so they were not cheap. Although stringed and wind instruments were not generally expensive, harpsichords and pianos were. We know from the novels of Jane Austen that playing keyboard instruments and singing were fashionable ‘accomplishments’ for contemporary young ladies.

There was music among the less well-off, too. Many small country churches had their wind bands, which played for hymn singing and village dances. They survived into the 19th century: Thomas Hardy’s novel Under the Greenwood Tree gives a vivid picture of these village musicians.