Music hall

Music hall is a music genre that was mostly performed in the United Kingdom in the 19th and 20th centuries, similar but distinct to American Vaudeville and styles of music which evolved in parallel in continental Europe. The genre was closely associated with the music halls that provided mass entertainment; including songs, dances and comedy skits; between the 1830s and the early 1960s - though the style initially evolved in public houses, coffee houses and song and supper rooms. These music halls spread and proved popular in other countries, particularly in France, though this does not necessarily imply that the music was similar between music halls in different countries. Although the genre evolved from the English Folk Music listened to by the general population in the mid-19th century by the 1870s it had developed into its own distinct style influenced by other European Folk Music traditions and, in later years, Ragtime and Jazz. In the early twentieth century music hall gained increasing respectability, being included in the itinerary for the 1912 Royal Variety Performance, but also suffered a decline in popularity due to competition from emerging styles such as Big Band. In later years competition from Rock & Roll would prove terminal to the music halls, and the halls themselves had almost entirely closed by the 1960s, with the popularity of the music declining with them.