This quadrille, ‘composed on old songs for young singers’, is for piano and child singers in a simple style, easily playable by young performers. The composer, Henry Schallehn (1815–1891), was a German musician active in Canada.
The cover illustration shows how a Christmas tree of the period might have looked, complete with jaunty international flag and trinkets nestling in the branches, and children dancing underneath.
Victorian Britain reinvented Christmas in the mid-1800s, introducing or re-introducing many of the traditions familiar to us today: trees, carols, family gatherings, food and drink.
The Victorians even pioneered the idea of what a century later would be called the ‘Christmas single’: seasonal novelty pieces for the thriving market of amateur pianists entertaining at home. The piano was a symbol of gentility and accomplishment, and tens of thousands were sold every year – though the cheapest Broadwood still cost £45, a year’s salary for many manual workers.
Simon Callow explores Charles Dickens’s depiction of the Christmas feast and investigates the origins of England’s festive culinary traditions.
Judith Flanders describes how many of our own Christmas traditions – from trees and crackers to cards and carols – have their origins in 19th-century industrial and commercial interests.
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