Music Hall Memory Box

 

Musical Style

 

The first generation of music hall singers, those performing in the supper rooms of the 1840s and 1850s, sang older songs that were known nationally. Sam Cowell made his name in the song and supper rooms by performing ‘A frog he would a wooing go’, which was popularised by Joseph Grimaldi in the early 19th century, but had origins in the 16th century.  However, the old songs were not just reproduced in the supper rooms, but instead, singers added verses, and in some cases, they performed entirely new lyrics to old tunes. For example, Sam Cowell introduced a song called ‘Widow glib and Sir Steeple’ into his repertoire, with new lyrics written by George Darvel, but set against the melody of ‘A frog he would a wooing go’.

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Additionally, singers performed medleys of the older songs, or performed older songs with comic reworking. The most famous example of this was W.G. Ross’s rendition of 'Sam Hall' which he first performed at Cyder Cellars in 1849, and toured the supper rooms with in the 1850s. The ballad was originally called 'Jack Hall' and was written in the 18th century following the execution of an infamous thief, Jack Hall, in 1707 at Tyburn. Ross’s rendition saw him perform in an all-black costume, while biting on a bone-white clay pipe. He would shudder, and cry out his lines, before returning to a soft whisper. The performance was chilling, and the song reworked in this way made it an influential piece of propaganda against capital punishment. This song, sang in this manner by Ross, was an early music hall hit and endured in popularity for many years.

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As the music halls expanded from the supper rooms to purpose built halls, entirely original songs appeared. The audience now expected a performer to deliver a song with personality, and consequently, many stars developed their own character styles on the halls. These ranged from coster comedians to lion comiques. However, to cement their chosen styles, performers needed new songs.  A new group of songwriters appeared to meet his demand. Typically, these new songs borrowed elements from dance music, including a regularity and simplicity of rhythm, and numerous songs were modelled on The Waltz and Polka. The chorus was the high part of every song, and allowed for the audience’s participation. The stanzas typically unfolded at the rate of spoken speech, while the chorus was purposely made faster.

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Moreover, the music was used to set the attitude of a song. For example, a melody inappropriate for the lyrics would be used to create satirical rhetoric. Some comic songs would introduce an overtly sentimental mood, but would soon puncture the mood with comical lyrics. These stylistic techniques continued to be seen throughout the heydays of the halls. Comic songs undoubtedly characterised the halls, but sentimental songs (ballads) and serio-comic songs were frequently performed.

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In the supper rooms performers were accompanied by only a piano, and in the earliest days of Evan’s Supper Rooms, singers had no musical accompaniment at all. However, as time progressed, music halls introduced orchestras. By the 1870s, the largest halls had 25 members in their orchestras, but for smaller halls, touring singers could rely on having five band members to play their accompaniment.