This collection of essays presents a portrayal of concert life in Britain that contributes greatly to the wider understanding of social and cultural life in the eighteenth century. The perspectives of performers, organisers, patron, audiences, publishers, copyists and consumers are all included.

Contents: Foreword; Introduction, Simon McVeigh. Part 1 Towns And Cities: Concert topography and provincial towns in 18th-century England, Peter Borsay; Clergy, music societies and the development of a musical tradition: a study of music societies in Hereford, 1690-1760, Elizabeth Chevill; Competition and collaboration: concert promotion in Newcastle and Durham, 1752-72, Roz Southey; Musical culture and the capital city: the epoch of the beau monde in London, 1700-1870, William Weber. Part 2 Sources And Genres: 'The first talents of Europe': British music printers and publishers and imported instrumental music in the 18th century, Jenny Burchell; Musicians and music copyists in mid-18th-century Oxford, Donald Burrows and Peter Ward Jones; The catch and glee in 18th-century provincial England, Brian Robins; The string quartet in London concert life, 1769-99, Meredith McFarlane and Simon McVeigh. Part 3 Contexts For Concerts: Music and drama at the Oxford Act of 1713, H. Diack Johnstone; The pleasures and penalties of networking: John Frederick Lampe in the summer of 1750, Roy Johnston; 'So much rational and elegant amusement, at an expence comparatively inconsiderable': the Holywell concerts in the 18th century, Susan Wollenberg; Gigs, roadies and promoters: marketing 18th-century concerts, Rosamond McGuinness; Women pianists in late 18th-century London, Nicholas Salwey. Index.