This survey distills a wide range of documentary and musical evidence relating to a particularly rich period in the city's history. Aspects discussed include concert life, the choral tradition, the gradual establishment of an honors school of music, visiting musicians such as Handel and Haydn, Liszt and Joachim, and the role of figures such as William Crotch, Frederick Ouseley and Hubert Parry in raising the status of music and the musical profession.