‘National airs’ in the life and works of William Shield (1748-1829)

William Shield (1748-1829) was a successful and respected composer of vocal, chamber and theatre music who performed alongside the greatest musicians of his day, and became Master of the King’s Music, yet has received little scholarly attention. This thesis is the first to present detailed musical analysis of Shield’s compositional approach contextualized by in-depth exploration of his family background, cultural heritage, professional development and social networks. In Chapter 1 I review extant literature and introduce key sources, before extrapolating insights from Shield’s treatises into his professional interests, particularly his ideological and practical approach to ‘national airs’. Chapter 2 demonstrates how I have cross-referenced archival materials to provide a more rigorous, nuanced narrative of Shield’s early life, and identifies musical indicators of his formative experiences in early compositions. Chapter 3 builds on this background with cultural and technical analysis of Shield’s ‘national air’ arrangements, comparing and contrasting his compositional techniques with those of contemporaries. In Chapter 4 I follow a comparative structural overview of Shield’s theatrical works with in-depth analysis of one piece, The Highland Reel, reviewing elements of the published score and wordbook in light of contemporary cultural trends and political events. Chapter 5 expands on the political context for Shield’s career, exploring his relationships with influential, sometimes controversial figures, and analysing how his music reinforced or subverted text to convey overt and hidden reflections of contemporary issues and debates. In Chapter 6 I discuss mechanisms for posthumous transmission and performance of Shield’s compositions, how he has been memorialised, and whether and how his theatre works might be revived and reinterpreted today, concluding with thoughts on potentially fruitful areas for future research.