The stanzas beginning, 'And did those feet' are among the most famous
works written by the Romantic poet and artist, William Blake. Set to
music by Hubert Parry in 1916 and renamed, 'Jerusalem', this hymn has
become an emblem of Englishness in the past century, and is regularly
invoked at sporting events, public and private ceremonies, and, of
course, as part of Last Night of the Proms. Yet when Blake first
engraved his lines in his epic work, Milton a Poem, he had been tried
for sedition. Likewise, although Parry was commissioned to compose his
music as part of the war effort by the organization Fight for Right,
he soon removed permission for that group to perform his hymn and
instead gave the copyright to the women's suffrage movement.
'Jerusalem', then, is a much more contested vision of England's green
and pleasant land than is often assumed. This book traces the history
of the poem and the music from Blake's original verses, written in
Felpham, via the turmoil of the First and Second World Wars, its
recording history in the late twentieth century, and its use in
political controversies such as the 2016 Brexit vote. An anthem for
both the left and the right, Blake's own vision of what it meant to
build Jerusalem in England is both strange and familiar to many who
invoke it. As such, this book explores the deep complexities of what
Englishness means into the twenty-first century.
Les mer
Blake, Parry, and the Fight for Englishness
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780192660831
Publisert
2022
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter