The
History of Music Sheet Covers
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The invention of the upright piano in 1827 meant that even modest-sized
houses (who could afford it) had room for a piano. The piano became
one of the main forms of home entertainment long before the era
of television and sound systems. In the 1840s, sheets of music
and songs from popular plays and
quadrilles, polkas, mazurkas and waltzes were firm family favourites.
Victorian sheet music covered a huge range of themes. Songs and
music from popular plays were often published. Because recordings
were not available, buying the music sheets was the only way to
play the music at home. The American actress Adah Isaacs Menken
made the equestrian drama Mazeppa, popular in 1864. The
musical Babil and Bijou, written by pantomime and burlesque
writer Planché, was a success at Covent Garden Theatre
in 1872.
Mazeppa Sheet Music
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This song sheet cover is from a cantata by Michael William Balfe telling the story of Mazeppa, the Polish nobleman who is tied to the back of a wild horse by his enemies. A cantata is a drama set to music, but not, as with an opera, intended to be acted. In 1861, the actress Adah Isaacs Menken caused a sensation in the role, playing a man, and appearing on the horse wearing little more than a flesh-coloured body stocking. She became so synonymous with the part that the cover to this 1865 edition of Michael Balfe's music features a picture of her in the part. The first performance of Balfe's Mazeppa was sung at Exeter Hall in June 1862. The episode with the horse was represented instrumentally, accompanied by the 'suffering accents' of Mazeppa. All the music was mysteriously stolen after that performance, never to be recovered. Created: Around 1865 This object features in the
Circus
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