The mood of general optimism about the progress of English music did not last. The older generation of conservative critics, such as Davison and Chorley, left the scene, leaving Joseph Bennett as the most prominent representative of the tendency. Of their replacements, only J.A. Fuller Maitland carried a torch for Parry and Stanford. Others, including E.A. Baughan, G.B. Shaw, J.F. Runciman and later Ernest Newman, were outspoken in their criticisms of what they saw as the sterility of much English music. The apparent flowering of native composition reflected a temporary falling off in the supply of attractive foreign music, and it would only need a renewal of that supply to render it out of favour again. Moreover, the genre demanded by provincial festivals – oratorio – had largely been abandoned by foreigners (Dvořák’s Requiem, premiered at the 1891 Birmingham Festival, was an exception). English commentators continued to make reference to Handel and Mendelssohn – oratorio composers of the relatively distant past. In other genres a new generation of foreign composers was coming to the fore: Grieg, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss in orchestral music; Mascagni, Puccini and others in opera.

The debate about English music became inextricably bound up with the debate about the progress or regress of music in general. Existing scholarship, often preoccupied with rebutting the ‘Land ohne Musik’ taunt, has given the impression that contemporary commentators were predominantly interested in native music. However, critics were just as interested in new foreign music and looked to it for indications of the future direction of composition. For this reason, each section below begins with an overview of the critical commentary on music in general, including foreign music.

As the scale of music provision – especially in London – grew, the account of the debate about music becomes necessarily thicker, so the period between 1888 and 1907 has been divided into four five-year sections. Broadly speaking, the commentary consisted in part of responses to individual works and in part of more reflective discussion of issues and trends.

Music in general

Many commentators believed that music, having ascended to the height of excellence in the works of such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn, was descending into decadence.