The Legacy of Folk Song: The Influence of Cecil Sharp on Music Education

Abstract

Cecil Sharp's educational significance is clear – he introduced the music of an oral tradition into schools. Breaking the domination of the literate tradition was no mean achievement. Of course the general climate of educational reform helped, and folk song provided an ideal model of a supposedly instinctual form which would be able to transform the hitherto rigid style of schooling. Nevertheless the folk song movement developed into a narrow orthodoxy.In his work Sharp probed into relationships between art, race, and national identity, and tackled notions of authenticity and knowledge; issues which are at the heart of the search for an adequate philosophy of music education.