The only classical composer she mentions in her novels is the now obscure English publisher and pianist Johann Baptiste Cramer, just a few years older than Austen.
1.”įor as much as Austen loved and collected music, and created characters in her novels who also loved music, she was light on specifics in her novels. So she has a lot of popular music but, for example, she had a popular song called ‘William.’ But when music scholars really looked at the 20th and 21st centuries, they discovered it was actually based on Haydn’s Piano Concerto No. “The line between classical and popular music was very soft in that period,” Ray noted. So what kind of music did Jane Austen like to play? Jane Austen House Jane Austen's House in the village of Chawton.
All six of her novels were published after moving to Chawton. It wasn’t until Austen moved to Chawton in Hampshire in 1809 that she had a piano in her home again.
“Music scholars of the period who also read Jane Austen like to propose that unless Jane Austen had music in her life, her writing didn’t proceed the way it should.” “In Bath, we don’t think she had an instrument to play and she does very little, if any, writing in Bath,” Ray told CPR Classical. When Austen was 21 years old, she and her family moved to Bath, England. But scholars like Ray believe that music was more than just a passion, it might have been a linchpin to her writing creativity. She practiced every morning and acquired music from friends by copying pieces note for note, in addition to purchasing her own sheet music. Playing piano was an integral part of Austen’s life. ”There’s a lot of music in Jane Austen’s novels, and that’s what an accomplished young woman was supposed to be able to do,” said Ray, author of “Simply Austen” and “Jane Austen for Dummies.” “Emma would play better if she practiced more,” said Joan Ray, Austen scholar and Professor Emeritus of English at University of Colorado Colorado Springs, referring to the title character in Austen’s 1816 novel “Emma.” Darcy in “Pride and Prejudice.” Music and the piano are an integral part of Anne Elliot’s character, the protagonist in Austen’s sixth and last completed novel “Persuasion.” One of her most cherished heroines, Elizabeth Bennet, played the piano for Mr. More books have been written about Austen than the six novels she published.īut what you might not know is Austen’s inextricable link to music. Jane Austen’s witty novels of everyday life for the privileged in 18th century England have captivated readers for over two centuries.
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