This object of study is a piece from a larger collection of American sheet music, titled “I Won’t Be a Nun”. At the top of the paper, the title is printed in a humbly decorative font. Looking closely at the patterns in the paper, it appears to be wove paper, rather than laid paper. The paper shows signs of being bound by string, notably the tiny holes on the left margin. In addition to the font of the text, the uniform size and shape of the notes suggests that music is printed using a press rather than by hand. Below the physical music, as opposed to within the staves of the music, there are four groupings of lyrics, totalling in five refrains. Below the title, there is a line of text in a bold serif font describing its printing information and maker: “NEW YORK Engravd Printed & Sold by E RILEY No 29 Chatham Street.”
Though the color is now a cool beige, the paper was likely white when it was made. The edges of the paper tend to be darker than the center, though there are some stains across the middle. It’s been folded several times, and the patches of tape on the back suggest there have been tears. This shows that the music was used liberally and was not an object that was not decorative or highly valued in mint condition. Other marks on the page reveal who exactly was using it. There are faint numbers written above many of the notes from 1 to 5, notation that refers to the correct fingers to use when playing each note. It seems that this music was used to teach someone piano, likely the children of the home. The paper shows signs of being bound by string, notably the tiny holes on the left margin, likely a larger American songbook. E Riley likely refers to Edward Riley, a music publisher, instrument maker, and professor of music who operated in Manhattan between 1811 and 1842 1.
Why does this matter?
Objects, in their creation and use, reveal how people may have constructed their identity in their specific time and place. Even common objects that have everyday uses reveal stylistic trends of the time and perhaps the values behind them. What does this sheet music say about the time in which it was made? I argue that this sheet music was one of many instruments that created and communicated a middle-class identity as well as an aspiration to “genteelity”.
Romanticism, in general, fostered a great surge of private art. The representations of private lives in biographies, autobiographies, and diaries reflected the aspirations of the middle class, the primary consumers of the new art. Inexpensive editions of books for home reading, addressed to a growing urban and newly literate public, as well as music for home singing and playing created opportunities for both authors and composers 2. More and more people were able to read music in their homes as amateur musicians and Romantic voice and keyboard pieces became the popular music of the new bourgeoisie. Once something reserved for career musicians and those in the upper class, music education became more accessible to the everyday family.
Despite its proximity to the private lives of those in the house, the 19th-century parlor was anything but. It was a “‘sacred’ space, where weddings, funerals, and other public events were held.” 3. and, as we’ve seen earlier in this class, a reflection of how the family wanted to appear to their guests. It was, therefore, a very controlled space for the performance of gender and class. As opposed to the male-dominated public world of work, this semi-public space was the operating room of the Victorian woman.
As American industry grew in the first half of the 19th-century, an emerging middle class wished to project an image of gentility, elegance, and learnedness that was previously reserved for the elite class. With parlor songs such as “I Won’t Be A Nun”, hosts were able to show off the quality of their education and the strength of their emotional spirit, (something which could not be taught but was instead, inherited by blood). By extension, this communicated the quality of their home life, reflecting both the family’s rising class status as well as the competency of the Mother of the House. Here, women’s first social role is as a mother or potential mother, and the music was a social tool to create “good mothers” who would, in turn, create “good children”.
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