Book excerpt: In 1844, Mrs. Frederick Widder held a soirée musicale in her lavish Toronto home. Both the music and program were standard fare for the time but, for the author, it has implications beyond a single drawing-room extravaganza. Through the study of this elaborate domestic concert, the author reveals the way musical life affected and reflected contemporary values, thoughts and beliefs of the distinct categories of class and gender in pre-Confederation Canadian society.