John Abraham Fisher's A Comparative View of the English, French and Italian Schools: A British musician tours Europe

Abstract

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, travel in Europe passed from the ranks of the adventurer and explorer to that of the ordinary person. In particular, travel to continental Europe became popular with he British. Both the speed at which travel could be undertaken and the relative safety of such travel had improved to the point that, by the end of the eighteenth century, entire families could travel from Britain to parts of the continent without undue fear. For some, such visits abroad were voyages of discovery; for others, they were the means by which to give children an education that would be impossible or too expensive to obtain back at home. This interest in matters European also extended into the realm of music, and there was much interest in Britain in foreign musical styles and performance practices.