London(i)
- Nicholas Temperley,
- Philip Olleson,
- Roger Bowers,
- H. Diack Johnstone,
- Richard Rastall,
- Peter Holman,
- Marie Axton,
- Richard Luckett,
- Andrew Wathey,
- Robert D. Hume,
- Simon McVeigh,
- Edward Croft-Murray,
- Arthur Jacobs,
- Gabriella Dideriksen,
- John Snelson,
- Cyril Ehrlich,
- Michael Musgrave,
- David C.H. Wright,
- Elizabeth Roche,
- Bernarr Rainbow,
- Anthony Kemp,
- Kathleen Dale,
- Peter Ward Jones
- and William J. Conner
Extract
Capital of Great Britain. The ‘City of London’ is a small (about 3.2 km²) commercial area, north of the River Thames; but ‘London’ (or ‘Greater London’) is taken to apply to a much larger region, comprising (at the beginning of the 21st century) 33 boroughs, two of which are the Cities of London and Westminster (the seat of national government). It is by far the largest city of Europe.
London has ancient musical traditions, deriving from its many ecclesiastical institutions (including St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey), its importance as a court and centre of government, and its commercial prosperity. It has been a magnet for musicians from Europe (and more lately the rest of the world, especially the British Commonwealth and the USA) since the 17th century; from the 18th century onwards many leading composers settled in or visited London to compose for the rich and appreciative audiences – Handel, J.C. Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Spohr, Weber, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Verdi, Wagner and almost every composer of note since. Through its concert life, opera and musical theatre, as well as its espousal of popular and world music of all kinds (not least within the recording industry, it has maintained its reputation as a leading international centre of musical activity....
