“Nouveau Siècle”1900 1910 The Nineteen Noughties

JAZZ; THE NEW MUSIC

From its obscure origins in New Orleans, jazz spread throughout America and then to the rest of the world. It became emblematic of the carefree hedonism of post-World War America – the Jazz Age. But what were the ingredients that made the music so revolutionary and who were its creators?

EDWARD ELGAR: HOPE AND GLORY

In 1900 Elgar’s career as a composer was stalling. At 42, it seemed he would never make it. But he persisted and over the next few years produced a series of compositions which made him the most famous figure in English music. However this complex man was not always happy about the way others appropriated his work.

OTTOLINE MORRELL, THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST

How did a lonely, troubled girl become the most celebrated hostess on the London art scene? Ottoline Morrell was the supporter, mentor and sexual partner of some of the great names of early twentieth century British culture , including members of the Bloomsbury Group. But despite her lavish generosity, gratitude was in short supply.

THE PEOPLE’S MUSIC

To say that English folk music was underappreciated in the late nineteenth century is an understatement. Edward Elgar hated it. But in the early 1900s fellow composers such as Holst and Vaughan Williams were inspired by it – going out to meet folk singers, collecting songs and making recordings. The result was some memorable, enduring music.

WINDS OF CHANGE

Romanticism – and Richard Wagner in particular – was the dominant force in the European concert halls and conservatories of the early 1900s. Between them, a small a number of composers began to change things – although they came at it from very different angles and produced very different outcomes.

VOTES FOR WOMEN – ITS BECAUSE YOU DID NOTHING

Democracy had been a long time coming. Throughout the Nineteenth Century there had been a slow evolution of voter enfranchisement from the homeowners to the middle class and ordinary workman. It was a man’s world and women were to be seen (displayed) and not heard. The professions were closed off, the universities shuttered and women were confined to the home or the streets…..The fight was on!

NEW LAMPS FOR OLD - CHINA AND THE WEST

While the romance of Madame Butterfly lulled Europeans into a sense of reinforced superiority relationships with a superior Chinese culture continued to decline. The Chinese were probably right to isolate themselves from the influence of the West but eventually the great Empire would begin to shrink the alien invasion began to take place. Americans, British and the French wanted to stake their mercantile claims and exploit what they perceived to be ripe pickings. There was a terrible cost.

EAST END MEETS WEST END - JEWISH ARTISTS AND THE BLOOMSBERRIES

At the turn of the century this remarkable group of English intellectuals felt secure in their unofficial control of the artistic world. Based geographically in squares and circles and living often in complex and frowned upon sexual triangles they shaped the development of Art for much of the early part of the 20 th century. So sure of themselves were they, that they admitted to their presence, a group of young Jewish artists who added a spice of the exotic to an already complicated mix.

INVENTING THE FUTURE - TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT

In almost every area of scientific and technological advance there were exponential developments that burst into the twentieth century with an undoubted roar. It was the roar of engines, the sound of gramophones, the transatlantic radio, the intimacy of the telephone, the ballon overhead and the discovery of new materials such as Bakelite. A world in a cauldron of boiling change, change so fast that they couldn’t catch their breath.

REVOLUTIONS AND ASSASSINATIONS - THE NATIVES ARE RESTLESS

The Nineteenth Century forewarned the break up of Empires. There were many that seemed precarious and bound to topple. The Ottoman Empire, The Russian Empire, The Austro Hungarian Empire, China. Meanwhile the old Queen sat firmly on her throne, grandmother and mother of the nations. While some of her grandchildren plotted against her very Empire and Monarchs and politicians the world over were the targets of successful assassins.

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