It was Oscar Wilde's patrimony as an Anglo-Irish writer which allowed him to combine the detachment of a foreigner with the first-hand experience of a native. This, together with his sharp social observation, unfailing ear for dialogue and biting wit, resulted in characters who were often only just larger than life, and, far from being caricature, the above quotation encapsulates a view of music and musicians in Britain which hardly changed between 1850 and 1930.

The Victorian attitude to music exhibited the compartmentalisation with which we now characterise the era in general. Musical entertainment for the aristocratic and upper-middle classes was largely opera (invariably Italian), together with orchestral and benefit concerts, at which the centre-middle classes were also to be seen. These concerts would include symphonies and other orchestral works as well as concertos and that staple of the British concert, solo vocal items, usually featuring a soprano. The Victorian penchant for public displays of piety was satisfied by frequent oratorio performances in the choral concerts that became fixtures in many parts of the country; the best-known of these, the Three Choirs Festival, still thrives. For the lower-middle and working classes there were the various spa and seaside orchestral concerts and, later, the Music Hall.