In Search of Song

Prize: Honorable Mention for the 2013 Pauline Alderman Award given by the International Alliance for Women in Music 'This is a valuable study of a significant personality in the early years of folk song collecting.' English Dance & Song magazine, www.efdss.org 'This, the first book devoted to the life of Lucy Broadwood, makes amends for a considerable period of neglect... This book deserves a place on music lovers' shelves partly because it touches on so many familiar lives, but also because much of it is new material... Through sparing use of secondary material and well chosen, unfamiliar illustrations, we have an accurate portrayal of a reserved and courageous woman.' The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society Journal '... a valuable resource for readers interested in the musical life of this era more generally... this is an important and engagingly written book... [De Val is] to be commended not only for her outstanding archival work - pursued with a thoroughness both reminiscent and worthy of Broadwood's own efforts - but also for finally bringing to light the critically important public, private, personal, and professional roles played by one of the most extraordinary women in the history of English music.' Music and Letters 'Dorothy de Val deserves extended praise for bringing Broadwood's important story to light. With its rich examination of the period's social and musical scene, as well as its revealing portrait of a complex individual, her book has something in it for everyone and should attract a wide readership.' Notes 'Designed for musicologists [...] de Val's monograph holds appeal also for folklorists, ethnomusicologists, scholars of Victorian and Edwardian history, and fans of the wealth of musical activity that abounded in nineteenth-century Britain... it brings a women of note out of the historical shadows and places her at the center of early folk music revival.' IAWM Journal 'Broadwood's diaries allow the author to entice readers with interesting details (e.g. Victorian prescriptions for arsenic, cocaine spray, and electric cures), but these details never overwhelm the main themes. Readers will agree with the author that Lucy Broadwood's life "affords important insights into the life of women in this period". De Val has integrated these insights into an excellent introduction to Broadwood's world and the Folk Song Society, and this work is now required reading for anyone interested in this period of English music.' NABMSA Newsletter