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'''Music Hall''' is a type of British theatre which had its start in the public "song and supper" rooms of the [[1850s]]. It flourished from the [[1890s]] to the [[World War II|Second World War]], when other forms of [[popular music]] evolved and it began to be replaced by films as the most popular form of entertainment.

British Music Hall was similar to American [[vaudeville]], featuring rousing songs and standard jokes, while in the United Kingdom the term ''vaudeville'' referred to more lowbrow entertainment that would have been termed ''[[burlesque]]'' in the United States.

==History of the Songs==

The music evolved from traditional folk songs, becoming by the 1850's more humorous as increasing affluence gave the lower classes access to the [[piano]]. The change in musical taste arose as a result of the rapid [[industrialisation]] and [[urbanisation]] of  previously rural populations. The new urban communities, cut off from their cultural roots, required new and accessible  means of entertainment. Music Halls were originally bar rooms which provided entertainment, in the form of [[music]] and speciality acts, for their patrons. By the middle years of the [[nineteenth century]] the first purpose-built music halls were being built in [[London]]. The halls created a demand for new and catchy popular songs that could no longer be met from the traditional [[folk-song]] repertoire. Professional songwriters were enlisted to fill the gap.


==Musical Origins==

The emergence of a distinct music hall style depended upon a fusion of musical influences. Music hall songs needed to gain and hold the attention of an often unruly urban audience. In America from the [[1840]]s [[Stephen Foster]] had reinvigorated folk song with the admixture of negro [[spiritual]] to produce something entirely new. Songs like ''Golden Slippers'' and ''The Old Folks at Home'' spread round the globe, taking with them all the appertenances of the [[minstrel]] song. Other influences on the rapidly-developing music hall idiom were Irish and European music, particularly the [[jig]], [[polka]] and [[waltz]].

Typically a music hall song consists of a series of  [[verses]] sung by the performer alone, and a repeated [[chorus]] which carries the principal [[melody]], and in which the audience is encouraged to join.

In Britain, the first music hall songs often promoted the alcoholic wares of the owners of the halls in which they were performed. Songs like ''Glorious Beer'', and the first major music hall success, [[Champagne Charlie]], in [[1854]], had a wide influence. Champagne Charlie is often credited with inspiring [[William Booth]] to form the [[Salvation Army]], and for giving rise to the famous quotation: "Why should the devil have all the good tunes?"

By the 1870's the songs had lost their folk music roots, and particular songs also started to become associated with particular singers, often with exclusive contracts with the songwriter, just as many [[Pop music|pop]] songs are today.

Towards the end of the style the music became influenced by [[ragtime]] and [[jazz]], before being overtaken by them.

The most popular Music Hall songs became the basis for the [[Pub song]]s of the typical [[Cockney]] "[[knees up]]".


==The Two Eras==

Music Hall entertainment is sometimes divided by era into Victorian Music Hall and Edwardian Music Hall. Toward the end of its heyday the terms ''theatrical variety'' or ''revue'' began to be used.

Music Hall began as a largely [[working class]] entertainment, and its association with beer halls and gin palaces led to it being initially shunned by polite society. As Music Hall grew in popularity, the original arrangement of a large hall with tables at which drink was served, changed to that of a drink-free [[auditorium]]. The acceptance of Music Hall as a legitimate cultural form was sealed by the first Royal Variety Command Performance before King [[George V]] in [[1912]].

[[Music publication]] was boosted by the application of [[copyright law]] to musical compositions. The term [[Tin Pan Alley]], for  the music publication industry gained currency from the banging of pots and pans by publishers in order to disrupt their rivals' auditions.

After [[World War II]], competition from [[Television]] and [[Rock and Roll]] led to the slow demise of the British music halls. The final blow came when ''Moss Empires'', the largest British Music Hall chain, closed the majority of its theatres in [[1960]]. Stage and Film [[musicals]], however, continued to be influenced by the music hall idiom. [[Oliver]], [[Dr Dolittle]], [[My Fair Lady]], and many other musicals continued to show strong roots in music hall.


==Music Hall [[Songwriter]]s==
*[[Joseph Tabrar]], writer of [[Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow]]
*[[Felix Powell]], writer of ''Pack up Your Troubles''
*[[Noel Gay]], writer of ''Lambeth Walk, There's Something About a Soldier, Leaning on a Lamppost''.
*[[George Le Brunn]], writer of ''Oh! Mr Porter!''
*[[Harry Lauder]], writer of ''Stop your Tickling Jock, I Love A Lassie''.
*[[Fred W Leigh]], composer of ''Don't Dilly Dally'' and ''The Army of Today''.


==Music Hall Performers==
*[[Charlie Chaplin]]
*[[Sydney Chaplin]]
*[[Marie Lloyd]]
*[[Vesta Victoria]]
*[[Harry Lauder]]
*[[Harry Champion]]
*[[Dan Leno]]
*[[Gracie Fields]]
*[[Flanagan and Allen]]
*[[Florrie Forde]]
*[[George Formby]]
*[[Fred Karno]]
*[[Stan Laurel]]


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The term ''Music Hall'' is also used to describe a large musical venue, such as the [[Paris Olympia]] and [[Radio City Music Hall]].

==Reference==
* Adapted from the [[Wikipedia]] article, "Music Hall" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Hall January 8, 2004