The Music of Imperialism

 

The music of late nineteenth century British imperialism took many forms. From beer hall ballads to Evangelical hymns highlighting the goals of an increasing missionary movement, popular music characterized nationalist pride in empire. In Britain particularly, with a far flung global army on which the sun never set, music celebrated the glory of empire whether in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta or the martial tunes of the “Soldiers of the Queen.” Rule Britannia was the epitome of what it meant to be British. As the Japanese forces converged on Singapore at the state of World War II, colonial leaders sat in the lounge of the Raffles singing, “There will always be an England.”

 

“Men of Harlech” and Beer Hall Jingoism

 

Two years after the gallant defense of Rorke’s Drift, the regiment adopted the tune Men of Harlech. The song hearkened back to the time of the War of the Roses when a handful of men held the old Harlech Castle for seven years against a superior force. Now it pointed to British action in the Zulu Wars. (The song was used in the 1964 film Zulu, albeit with different words) Stirring tunes like Heart of Oak and Rule Britannia, both written a century earlier, captured the spirit of national patriotism. Commenting on the events of early 1878 in the Russo-Turkish War, Queen Victoria wrote her daughter saying, “But we shall yet assert our rights – our position – and ‘Britons will never be slaves’ will yet be our motto.”

 

In the nation’s pubs, another song was being sung:

 

We don’t want to fight,

But, by Jingo, if we do,

We’ve got the men,

We’ve got the ships,

We’ve got the money too.

 

According to Penny Summerfield, music-hall entertainment (as well as pub tunes) and popular ballads of the day fed patriotism and impacted the government’s actions toward the empire. Under public pressure, Britain sent its fleet to stop Imperial Russia from acquiring Constantinople. In the mid 1880s, popular outcry forced the Gladstone administration to send an army up the Nile to relieve Khartoum and one of England’s imperialist heroes, General Charles Gordon.

 

Empire and the New Jerusalem

 

Although written in 1804, William Blake’s “Jerusalem” characterized the self-perception of Britain. It was set to music in 1916 and is still part of a venerable repertoire that recalls the days when God favored England to bring civilization to Rudyard Kipling’s “half devil, half child.” (From his poem, The White Man’s Burden)

 

I will not cease from mental fight,

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand

Till we have built Jerusalem

In England’s green and pleasant land.

 

Blake’s intention was far from an imperialist endorsement, yet his words were later adapted to fit the Utopian ideals of imperial egalitarianism.

 

In 1878, HMS Pinafore opened in London and ran for 571 performances. Perhaps Gilbert and Sullivan’s most characteristic refrain in the piece highlighted the notion of providential superiority, a by-product of Social Darwinist beliefs:

 

For he is an Englishman

And he himself hath said it

And it’s greatly to his credit

That he is an Englishman

 

This was the spirit of “Jerusalem” and Elgar’s later “Land of Hope and Glory.” In many ways, the patriotic ballads and songs legitimized empire and Britain’s self-perceived unique role as a global force. Still today, the “Last Night at the Proms,” part of an annual summer concert festival, features the songs of empire, ending with Rule Britannia, as concert goers in the over-filled Royal Albert Hall frantically wave the Union Jack.

 

Rule Britannia!

Britannia Rules the waves

Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.

 

Sources:

 

John M. Mackenzie, Imperialism and the Popular Culture (Manchester University Press, 1986).

Andrew Porter, The Oxford History of the British Empire: the Nineteenth Century (Oxford University Press, 1999).

Jeffrey Richards, Imperialism and Music: Britain 1876-1953 (University of British Columbia Press, 2001).

Penny Summerfield, “Patriotism and Empire: Music-Hall Entertainment,” (in Mackenzie, cited above), Chapter 2.

Published in Suite101 2/16/2009, M.Streich copyright