Music sheets
Our collections already held a few pieces of Victorian music
with titles such as The GPO (A Post Card Tragedy) by G W Hunt. In some cases,
however, only the illustrated cover had survived and not the entire musical
score or lyrics within.
During the 19th century, popular music was
performed at concerts, choral recitals, in the theatre and in the music
hall. Before record players and radio made
it possible to listen to music in the home, the only way to capture the
melodies and songs was to perform them yourself on the piano. As a result, the publication of sheet music
grew rapidly during the Victorian period. Each item may have only cost two or three shillings (10p or 15p), but the
average worker’s weekly wage was about £3.00 (60 shillings), so it was a considerable investment. Nevertheless, a popular song could sell as many
as 80,000 sheets.
As the subject of a humorous song or a romantic ballad, the
postman and his duties featured in many a music hall performer’s repertoire.
Our collection has two examples that advertise that they were sung by
established Victorian artists Fred Coyne and James Fawn.
Other
sheets of music reflect a topical postal event or activity such as the
introduction of the Parcels Post or the first inland aerial post. A song sheet
produced in 1939 ('I’m sending a letter to Santa Claus'), shows how important letters
were in time of war. Research work
undertaken by the Royal College of Music has found many musical titles that
have a postal connection (see the Postal Music section of our Collections
section).
Many artists were employed in illustrating music and some specialised in music sheet covers. One acclaimed artist, Alfred Conanen, became noted for his scenes of contemporary street life and his eye for detail can be seen in the illustration for ‘The Parcels Post’. You can find out more about illustrated music sheets through the relevant webpages of the British Library or the Theatre Museum.
The V&A Purchase Grant Fund has allowed us to purchase these illustrated song sheets so that we can appreciate both the lyrics and the music as well as the covers.
We have purchased song sheets for the following pieces of music:
- 'The Parcels Post' circa 1883
- 'The Post Horn Gallop', mid 19th century
- 'The Rat Tat or Postman's Polka', 1853
- 'The Postman's Knock', late 19th century
- 'The Postman or I Do Like To Be In The Know You Know', circa 1889
- 'The Postman's Birthday one- or two-step', 1914
- 'The Postman or The Night Mail Gallop', late 19th century
- 'The Aerial Post - Descriptive Fantasia', circa 1911
- 'I'm Sending A Letter to Santa Claus', 1939
Return to V&A Purchase Grant Fund page
