Focusing on the period from roughly 1870 until the start of the Second World War, this dissertation provides a reappraisal of the formative decades of the early music revival, as well as a reassessment of its position within the larger cultural landscape of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In situating the revival within this context, my project seeks to illuminate its rich connections with the artistic, literary, and intellectual developments of the time. By reframing the discussion along these lines, I wish to show that far from being an isolated retreat into the musical past, the revival of early music was in fact an integral and vital element of modern culture, closely connected to many of the progressive artistic and intellectual movements active in the decades surrounding the turn of the 20th century.

After an introductory chapter that provides an overview of my topic, I proceed to a study on the evolving reception of the harpsichord in the 19th and early 20th centuries, using the instrument as an entry point for the examination of the tensions between the past and present. The third chapter focuses on two case studies: Gustav Mahler's 1909 "Bach Suite" and Fritz Kreisler's "Classical Manuscripts." The former work repackaged Bach for modern audiences, while simultaneously emphasizing the historical nature of the music. By contrast, the Kreisler works presented newly composed music as being the products of long-dead historical composers like Louis Couperin, Antonio Vivaldi, and Gaetano Pugnani. In discussing these works I look at how both Mahler and Kreisler shrewdly balanced perceived historicity with a desire for familiar appeal.

The fourth chapter provides a detailed study of Arnold Dolmetsch's engagement with the Arts and Crafts movement around turn of the 20th century, particularly his relationship with William Morris and the creation of the "Green Harpsichord." In my final chapter, I look at the role that recording technology played in both promoting in shaping the sound of early music in the 1920s and 1930s.