Sharp, Cecil (James)

Sharp, Cecil (James), English folk music collector and editor; b. London, Nov. 22, 1859; d. there, June 23, 1924. He studied mathematics and music at Uppingham and Clare Coll., Cambridge. In 1882 he settled in Adelaide, where he worked in a bank and practiced law, becoming assoc. to the Chief Justice of Southern Australia; in 1889 he resigned from the legal profession and took up a musical career. He was asst. organist of the Adelaide Cathedral, and co-director of the Adelaide Coll. of Music. In 1892 he returned to England; was music instructor of Ludgrove School (1893–1910) and principal of the Hampstead Cons. (1896–1905). At the same time, he became deeply interested in English folk songs; publ, a Book of British Songs for Home and School (1902); then proceeded to make a systematic survey of English villages with the aim of collecting authentic specimens of English songs. In 1911 he established the English Folk Dance Society; also was director of the School of Folk Song and Dance at Stratford-upon-Avon. During World War I he was in the U.S., collecting folk music in the Appalachian Mountains, with a view to establishing their English origin. In 1923 he received the degree of M.M. honoris causa from the Univ. of Cambridge. In 1930 the “Cecil Sharp House” was opened in London as headquarters of the English Folk Dance Soc. (amalgamated with the Folk Song Soc. in 1932).

Writings

(all publ, in London): English Folk-song: Some Conclusions (1907; second ed., 1936; fourth ed., 1965, by M. Karpeles); Folk-singing in Schools (1912); Folk-dancing in Elementary and Secondary Schools (1912); with A. Oppe, The Dance: An Historical Survey of Dancing in Europe (1924). folksong editions (all publ, in London): Folk Songs from Somerset (1904–09); with S. Baring-Gould et al., Songs of the West (1905); with S. Baring-Gould, English Folk Songs for Schools (1905); with H. Macllwaine and G. Butterworth, The Morris Book (1907–13); with G. Butterworth, Morris Dance Tunes (1907–24); with G. Butterworth and M. Karpeles, The Country Dance Book (1909–22); Country Dance Tunes (1909–22); English Folk-carols (1911); The Sword Dances of Northern England (1911–13; second ed., 1950–51, by M. Karpeles); with O. Campbell, English Folk-songs from the Southern Appalachians (1917; second ed., 1932; third ed., 1960, by M. Karpeles); Folk-songs of English Origin Collected in the Appalachian Mountains (1919–21); M. Karpeles, ed., Cecil Sharp’s Collection of English Folk Songs (1973).

Bibliography

A. Fox Strangways and M. Karpeles, C. S. (London, 1933; second ed., 1955; rev. by Karpeles as C. S.: His Life and Work, 1967).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire