English Arts & Music

Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.

Traditional Arts of England

England and larger Britain are home to an art tradition that has drawn from both foreign cultures and its own indigenous styles. Like other peoples of the British Isles, its earliest inhabitants left behind cave art and inscribed stone monuments to record their presence. Over time, waves of Celtic culture brought more advanced motifs and technologies to the islands, including sophisticated metalworking. The Roman conquest introduced sculpture, mosaics, Christian monastic art, and more complex architecture to Britain. Elements of all these influences were then adopted by Germanic invaders-turned-kings, the Anglo-Saxons.

Anglo-Saxon art perhaps marks the beginnings of true English art. They carried with them Teutonic and Nordic symbols like interlacing animals, which would become a prominent part of Insular Celtic manuscripts and metallurgy. The Normans, another Germanic people who conquered much of Britain in the 11th century, maintained closer ties to the courts of Continental Europe. Their arts shaped and were shaped by the developments of other Catholic states such as France and the Holy Roman Empire. Most art of the time reflected Christian themes or depicted rulers and battles.

As painting grew more refined in Europe, monarchs like King Henry VIII imported painters to document their reigns. This led to the development of native Renaissance schools and artists. During the Reformation, however, a large portion of England’s Catholic art was destroyed. The kingdom’s output of religious artwork declined considerably over the following decades. In response, its artists began to explore more secular themes, including history, mythology, and the natural world. This has led to the modern art scenes of England and Britain, which explore a wide variety of subjects across media both traditional and modern.

Painting and Illustration in England

Formal painting and illustration in England date back to its Roman and early Christian eras. As in other monasteries of the British Isles, the monks of what is now England produced illuminated manuscripts and other works. Their art was meant to embellish scriptures and other religious texts, such as the books of hours used in prayer services. This tradition continued through Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman rule. Unfortunately, many of the manuscripts and larger paintings were destroyed as part of the Protestant Reformation. Other works portrayed the deeds of kings, especially after the Norman conquest. Their illustrations tended to use a colorful, flattened style to depict their subjects.

Renaissance painting styles saw a relatively slow start in England, with most portrait artists of the time being imported. Nonetheless, England developed a somewhat niche school of miniature portrait painting. This art required a fine eye for detail as well as a steady hand, pioneered by artists such as Nicholas Hilliard. By the 19th and 20th centuries, painters like John Constable, J.M.W. Turner, John William Waterhouse, and John Singer Sargent had gained international recognition.

English Literature

England has produced many notable pieces of literature throughout its history. Several major works have survived from the medieval era. One of the earliest is Beowulf, an 8th-century Anglo-Saxon epic. Beowulf tells the story of its titular hero as he battles monsters, rules a kingdom, and eventually meets his death. In post-Norman times, medieval romances grew popular across Europe, including the 15th-century Le Morte d’Arthur. Another notable work is Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories written in the 14th century. Chaucer follows a group of pilgrims of all social classes as they tell tales from London to Canterbury.

English literature hit its stride with the adoption of the printing press, around the same time as its Reformation. Suddenly, poetry, drama, and novels could be distributed to a mass audience, and literacy increased with them. William Shakespeare, a playwright and poet, is widely remembered as one of England’s finest writers. The King James Bible was translated into English in the early 17th century. In 1667, John Milton published Paradise Lost and invented English words like gloom, terrific, fragrance, and debauchery.

Novels became a major industry in the 18th and 19th centuries. Early offering like Gulliver’s Travels and Robinson Crusoe led to a profusion of authors and poets like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Mary Shelley, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many more. British literature has also produced many works specifically for children, led by authors such as Roald Dahl, C.S. Lewis, and Lewis Carroll.

Music and Dance of England

England’s musical history can be divided between its folk and formal traditions. The common people of Britain, like so many others, have sung at work, play, and worship for thousands of years. The folk music of England has seen less attention than that of neighboring Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Most of its older tunes have survived as nursery rhymes, lullabies, and pub songs.

Among the upper classes, court and later classical music were generally preferred. England’s first notable composer was Thomas Tallis, who served in the courts of King Henry VIII and his children. Perhaps the most famous composer working from Britain was George Frideric Handel, who wrote the Messiah oratorio in 1741.

Britain experienced a musical boom in the 20th century, centered on the genres of pop, rock, and punk. The nation has since produced many notable musicians and bands, including the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Clash, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen, and more.

Modern English Art

Modern English artists continue to work across a variety of media, both traditional and digital. One common, but not ubiquitous, theme in its contemporary art is the loss of empire and the position of the United Kingdom in a changing world. In addition, London is still a hub of the international art trade. The United Kingdom has seen some criticism over its museum artifacts, many of which were taken from former British colonies.

References

“English Folk Music.” The English Folk Dance and Song Society, The English Folk Dance and Song Society, www.efdss.org/efdss-education/resource-bank/beginners-guide/music#efdss-english-folk-music-introduction.

Jayapalan, N. History of English Literature. Atlantic Publishers. 2001.

Jenkins, Simon. A Short History of England. Profile Books. 2011.

Kumar, Krishan. The Idea of Englishness: English Culture, National Identity and Social Thought. Ashgate Publishing. 2015.

Mackerness, Eric David. A Social History of English Music. Routledge. 2013.

Olsen, Kirstin. Daily Life in 18th-Century England. 2nd Ed. ABC-CLIO. 2017.

Rothenstein, John. An Introduction to English Painting. I.B. Tauris. 2001.

“The World Factbook: United Kingdom.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 12 July 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html.

White, R.J. A Short History of England. Cambridge University Press. 1967.

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