Imperialism, Education, and Power in Nineteenth-Century Britain: the National Training School for Music, 1876–1882

The National Training School for Music (NTSM, 1876–1882) was a Victorian-era music education institution situated in South Kensington, directly preceding the Royal College of Music (RCM, established 1883). Perhaps due to the NTSM’s short operational period, it is little-mentioned in academic work on nineteenth-century music education, yet it has a complex history that reveals much about the state of music, education, and the functioning of British society during this time. Giles Brightwell and David Wright have conducted investigations into its history, particularly its relationship with the RCM. This thesis builds on their research and takes inspiration from Erin Johnson-Williams’s work on the imperial history of music education stemming from Britain for a different perspective on the School's existence.

This dissertation analyses the NTSM's existence from an imperial perspective. Chapter 1 uses archival material to outline the School's context, history, and objectives. Chapter 2 establishes a theoretical framework building on ‘domestic colonialism’, which refers to the appearance of policies and tactics used by the British Empire abroad in a home context. Finally, in Chapter 3, I apply this framework to the NTSM's objectives and administration revealing that the School functioned as a microcosm of the Empire and used these tactics to spread its influence across the country. I suggest that this was part of an attempt by the upper and upper-middle classes to redefine the boundaries of ‘respectable’ music-making as part of broader negotiations of class power. This research primarily contributes to nineteenth-century music studies concerned with the place of education and formalised institutions in Britain and its Empire. Future research might apply the theory of domestic colonialism to explore other institutions concerned with the nation’s music.