Guildhall School researcher Dr Berta Joncus explores the forgotten music of Abolition song, in partnership with the British Library and Handel Hendrix House

Guildhall School is pleased to announce Abolition Song and its Legacies, a new research project and concert series, probing the previously unknown repertories of British Abolition song and music associated with Britain's Black communities from 1788 onwards.  

Led by Dr Berta Joncus, in partnership with the British Library and Handel Hendrix House, the two-year project on this forgotten music began in October 2024 and will include the production of digitised scores with the British Library, six seminar days featuring scholars from across a range of disciplines, and six recorded performances featuring early career artists. 

‘Abolition song’ – a term created for this project – denotes the roughly 65 high-style airs promoting Abolitionism, composed from 1788 to 1830 for private and public concerts in Britain, with some songs soon reaching the United States. As the protest song of its day, Abolition song argued for recognising enslaved peoples’ inalienable human rights. It emerged in parallel with Black virtuosi performing in Britain, and against the backdrop of Black communities making music here since the 16th century. 

Abolition Song and its Legacies will research, publish, perform, and record Abolition song, and Black heritage music and writings relating to this song repertory. The project’s Artistic Director Joseph McHardy guides concert planning and delivery, while Tim Parker-Langston delivers the musicians’ rehearsal-workshops. Academic Leads in literature, visual arts, music and history – Professor Joan Anim-Addo, Dr Sarah Thomas, Dr Janet Topp Fargion, and Professor Matthew Smith respectively – will co-chair seminars in conjunction with each performance. 

The first concert will take place in the intimate space of Handel Hendrix House in January 2025. 

Principal Investigator Dr Berta Joncus said: “Abolition Song and its Legacies provides a crucial opportunity to interrogate newly discovered 18th-century Abolitionist vocal music, and explore its place in the histories of the British trade in enslaved peoples, the abolitionist movement, Black writers in Britain, and the musical legacies of Black communities here. In engaging project musicians to perform selected songs and keyboard music across six concerts, along with readings from 18th-century Black authors in Britain, we can lift these important artistic contributions off the page. Some of this work is challenging, and the musicians, joined by the project's twelve-person team of scholars, will discuss their own reactions, insights, and aspirations with audiences after each concert.”   

Abolition Song and its Legacies is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.