From economic, political, and philosophical influences to intellectual history, in recent years the historiography of music in nineteenth-century Britain has dug yet deeper into the cultural and social contexts in which music operated. Paul Watt’s valuable study, Music, Morality and Social Reform in Nineteenth-Century Britain, offers another significant element to these studies, drawing on a selection of case studies to set out both general and specific consideration of music’s relation to morality and society. At the same time, the history of music increasingly pervades other historical disciplines, and Watt’s volume will prove no less valuable for researchers across the history of nineteenth-century Britain and beyond.

Music in nineteenth-century Britain is regularly characterized in relation to the idea of a moral good or with reference to the concept of “rational recreation” (6): the deliberate cultivation of recreational activities that were intended to be character-building, to improve morals, or to develop other socially beneficial attributes. While many previous studies have included some consideration of this idea, a book devoted to examining the moral role of music is both timely and important. Watt notes that morality pervaded all elements of society during the period, influencing ideals of masculinity and femininity, nationalism, colonialism, and religion. Although Music, Morality and Social Reform is closely related to previous studies of music from the perspectives of politics, education, and religion, for example, Watt forges his own path, bringing both new examples and new perspectives to the discipline. Taking as its starting point H.R. Haweis’s oft-quoted Music and Morals (1871), it also goes well beyond the readily available publications of the Victorian era to investigate the practices, preferences, and experiences of a wide range of publics, performers, and audiences.

The chronological reach of Watt’s examples runs across the nineteenth century, with a focus in places on the later decades, although a broader chronological span is represented in the introduction and elsewhere, with examples from the 1700s to the 1920s. Watt’s book offers a range of geographical perspectives from Australia and the United States, as well as Britain, making use of the rich corpus of publications from all three nations during the period. It also draws on a variety of musical genres, particularly making use of genres associated with private and amateur music-making and taking a refreshingly non-hierarchical approach to varieties of music and their contexts. Although engagement with current literature is relatively sparse, chapter 2 includes a helpful discussion on the public and private dimensions of music-making, and other references—such as to Peter Kivy’s “Musical Morality” (Revue Internationale de Philosophie 62, no. 246 [2008]: 397–412) in both the introduction and afterword—serve to underline the relevance of this subject across a wide range of related ideas and topics.

Music, Morality and Social Reform is structured around a series of case studies, each addressing key historical and thematic elements of the topic. Watt steers us through his chosen examples carefully, building a convincing picture of his topic across different cross-sections of society, geography, and chronology.

Part one is centered on educational schemes. As Watt explains in the introduction, he considers morality a “character-building process” achieved via “rational or moral education,” and the case studies here include education via hymns and songs, etiquette books, and evening classes for working men (8). The chapter on elementary education draws heavily on articles from the Girl’s Own Paper, a valuable source on the role of women in music, while the chapter on etiquette books introduces a range of interesting examples and sources which may well be of use to other scholars of the period, such as the anonymous 1851 publication Etiquette for Ladies (60) and Social Etiquette (1896) by Maud C. Cooke (65). Chapters 2 and 3 include extensive background detail on the etiquette books and mechanics’ institutes, respectively, drawing out specific references to music while offering an overview of its context.

Part two offers greater variety and a broader view. Chapters on William Stanley Jevons, Hannah More, and Octavia Hill examine the place of music in key philanthropic and political movements, while the final chapter traces the role of music in the religious community of Malcolm Quin. Here, Watt explores his subject matter more deeply and convincingly, integrating discussion of music more closely into its social and philosophical context.

As Watt notes, the case studies together bring into light “some of the neglected areas of nineteenth-century musical history” (12). Yet, the book is important not just because it plugs some key gaps in historical investigation. It also works to bind together key areas of study—religion, society, education, politics, and well-being—and the ways in which music weaves through them all. It addresses some of the concepts which have underpinned the writing of the history of music in nineteenth-century Britain, and it offers new perspectives on the history of the underlying relationship between music and humanity.

Music, Morality and Social Reform in Nineteenth-Century Britain is beautifully put together with high-quality images, a thorough index and bibliography that offer more avenues for further exploration, and footnotes that provide a wealth of useful links and information. Throughout, the readable, lucid, and enjoyable writing style is a testimony to Watt’s evident fascination with his subject and close engagement with his sources and characters. Data and quotations are included, allowing direct consideration of the raw materials of the research, while clear structures such as subheadings aid the reader’s navigation of the text. At times the book focuses on the detail at the expense of the bigger picture, and a greater sense of discussion and conclusion would have been welcome. Of necessity, significant portions of the volume are concerned with contextual detail beyond the immediate question of music. Nevertheless, Watt engages closely with the ideas and problems of his subject matter while writing in a manner accessible to scholars without subject expertise. The overall result is a valuable addition to the literature that forms an essential contribution to our understanding of music, social, and cultural history.