The House of Novello: Practice and Policy of a Victorian Music Publisher, 1829-1866 - Brief Article - Book Review

Contemporary Review, Jan, 2004

The House of Novello: Practice and Policy of a Victorian Music Publisher, 1829-1866. Victoria L. Cooper. Ashgate. [pounds sterling]45.00. 220 pages. ISBN 0-7546-0088-2. The author, who is Commissioning Editor for Opera and Theatre Studies at Cambridge University Press, rightly argues that the work of any publishing house must consider the social and economic environments within which it worked.

The aim here, therefore, is to explore the 'growth of one firm in relation to the socio-economic forces that moulded and influenced its development'. This survey begins when Alfred Novello took on the company from his father, who had founded it, and the survey ends when Alfred totally severed his link with the company. Under Alfred Novello the company grew into one of Britain's largest and most important music publishers. Whilst not ignoring the relations with composers, the author concentrates on Novello's as a business. She eschews the chronological approach for the thematic and her chapter discuss the socio-economic environment from 1829-1866, 'house editorial techniques', a study of the works published during the period, 'contemporary issues of the Victorian music publisher', and the establishment of the firm's paper, The Musical Times. This is an erudite and well researched study that introduces one to a neglected aspect of Victorian civilisation. (P.P.F.)