The art of music, Vol. 04 (of 14)

by Unknown

III

It is quite impossible to say when and where the first musical society made its appearance in New England. Though both Mr. Elson and Dr. Ritter assert that the Stoughton Musical Society was founded in 1786 its right of priority is not apparent. Even if it had its beginning in the singing school which Billings taught at Stoughton in 1774, it still must yield precedence to the St. Cecilia and Orpheus societies of Charleston, the Orpheus Club of Philadelphia, and the Harmonic Society of New York—all of which were in existence before the latter date.

Mr. Sonneck thinks that some sort of musical society existed in Boston as early as 1761. Certainly an Aretinian Society existed there in 1782, as we know from the announcement of a concert in which it took part. Apparently it was devoted to the cultivation of sacred choral music. An organization known as the Musical Society was founded in Boston some time before 1786. In that year it gave a concert of 'Sacred Musick, vocal and instrumental—for the benefit and relief of the poor prisoners confined in the jail of this town.' Apparently William Selby was conductor of the society, at least during the years 1786-88, and a regular series of subscription concerts were given every season until 1790, when the society seems to have gone out of existence. There must have been other societies in Boston at the same time, for we find that the proceeds of a concert held in 1787 were to be devoted to the rebuilding of the Meeting House in Hollis Street, 'agreeably to the generous intentions of the Musical Societies in this town who have projected this concert.' Some of these may have been founded before the Musical Society.

The Stoughton Society, of which so much has been made in the histories, is of importance chiefly because it was the first society that we know of which was formed among the people and not among cultured amateurs and professional musicians. Otherwise it is of slight interest. It did nothing particularly noteworthy and we cannot even say that it was an organization of high artistic efficiency. The fact that its nucleus was a singing class of Billings is hardly an endorsement of its quality, for there is no evidence that Billings possessed any qualifications as a trainer of choruses. He was still primitive enough to include female voices in the tenor part. Nevertheless, as Deacon Samuel Tolman informs us, the Stoughton Musical Society was 'large and respectable' and was 'attended with spirit.' Its fame was great throughout Massachusetts and only once was its supremacy questioned. The incident is related by Mr. Elson as follows: 'Many clergymen in following the good old fashion of "exchanging pulpits," had become familiar with the excellent church music of Stoughton, and sounded its praise abroad. The singers of the first parish of Dorchester, Massachusetts, took umbrage at this and challenged the Stoughton vocalists to a trial of skill. The gauntlet was at once taken up, and the contest took place in a large hall in Dorchester, many of the leading Bostonians coming out to witness it. The Dorchester choristers were male and female, and had the assistance of a bass viol. The Stoughton party consisted of twenty selected male voices, without instruments, led by the president of the Stoughton Musical Society, Elijah Dunbar, a man of dignified presence and of excellent voice. The Dorchester singers began with a new anthem. The Stoughtonians commenced with Jacob French's "Heavenly Vision," the author of which was their fellow townsman. When they finally sang, without books, Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" the Dorchestrians gave up the contest and gracefully acknowledged defeat.' At least the choristers of Massachusetts were enthusiastic and sincere, and for their enthusiasm and sincerity one can forgive them many faults.

How many musical societies existed in Boston during the last years of the eighteenth century we cannot say. There seems to have been a number of them. In 1789, during the visit of Washington to Boston, 'an Oratorio or Concert of Sacred Musick' was given in which the choruses of the oratorio of Jonah were sung by the Independent Musical Society. There is no evidence of the dates at which this society began or ended its existence, but it must have been a fairly efficient organization. There was no lack of competent musicians in Boston at that time, and choral singing especially seems to have been in high favor with a goodly share of the population. The society of the Sons of Apollo, which existed in 1795, was probably a vocal organization also, though we know nothing about it. Boston possessed a Philharmonic Society which was founded probably before 1799. Possibly Gottlieb Graupner, one of the most prominent figures in the early musical life of Boston, was among its founders, and it seems likely that it was identical with the Philharmonic Society which is supposed to have been founded by Graupner and his friends in 1810 or 1811. According to Mr. J. S. Dwight, author of a 'History of Music in Boston,' the Philharmonic was 'simply a social meeting, held on Saturday evenings, when, in their small way, they practised Haydn's symphonies.' This statement, however, does not square with the fact that the society gave regular concerts and was described by the musical journal, 'Euterpeiad,' as a 'useful nursery of music.' Its last concert took place in 1824 and apparently it went out of existence in that year.

During the last few years of the eighteenth and the first decades of the nineteenth centuries musical societies began to spring up in the smaller cities throughout the country. Very little information concerning them has come to light, but it is probable that research will finally disclose a surprising amount of serious musical activity in places which so far have escaped mention in our musical histories. The impression that musical culture in early America was confined to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charleston has taken firm root and is confirmed by most of the evidence on the subject which has appeared. But research in American musical history has for the most part been extremely superficial and determined in its direction by preconceived impressions which are wholly one-sided. Such special studies in early American musical history as have been made—those of Mr. O. G. Sonneck, for example—have exploded many longstanding fallacies and misconceptions and undoubtedly further research will clear the field of other myths now generally accepted as incontestable.

There was a St. Cæcilia Society at Newport, R. I., in 1793, and we find mention in 1797 of the anniversary meeting of the Concord Musical Society. What the nature of these societies was we can only guess. They were undoubtedly conscious attempts to organize all the music lovers of these towns into compact bodies for the better promotion and enjoyment of their favorite art. It is our conviction that dozens of such societies existed in the smaller towns throughout the country. In fact, it would seem that sometimes several societies co-existed within a very small area—at least in New England—and formed themselves into associations. We have an instance in the case of the Essex Musical Association of Massachusetts, which was founded in 1797. A copy of its constitution is preserved in the Roston Athenæum. In 1821 the 'Euterpeiad' woke up to the fact that there was a very large amount of musical activity throughout the country. 'During the last week,' it says, 'we noticed the following musical performances that were to take place in the present month of May: A concert of sacred music by the Beethoven Society at Portland (Me.), a grand concert at Augusta (Ga.), a select oratorio at Providence by the Psallion Society, a grand concert of music by the Philadelphia Musical Fund, the grand Oratorio the "Creation" by the Harmonic Society of Baltimore, a performance of sacred music by the New Hampshire Musical Society at Hanover, in Boston an instrumental and vocal concert for the benefit of Mr. Ostinelli, and a public oratorio by the Handel and Haydn Society.'

About this time there existed in Dartmouth College a Handel Society, which is notable as having been the first serious attempt by an American college to promote musical culture. It was also the last for a considerable period. Concerning this society Dr. Ritter quotes the following from a letter written to him by Dr. A. G. Brown, president of Hamilton College: 'The aims of the society were of the best. A good working library of the best musical works then attainable was procured, including such works as the "Messiah," the "Creation," The Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Anthems, the old Colony Collection, and other music of like kind. This was carefully studied by the Society, and at the regular weekly meetings carefully sung.... Members of the society were chosen after due examination, and counted it an honor to be members of the association. Ladies were admitted as honorary members. And I have never heard better church-music than from that society at some period of its existence. Its influence did not stop within the walls of the college, but was widely diffused, and continued beyond college life.' Unfortunately its influence did not continue for very long.

Building of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston (1850)

Without doubt there were many musical societies in Boston during the early years of the nineteenth century, but, with the exception of the Philharmonic Society, we have been able to discover only the Massachusetts Musical Society, formed in 1807 'for improving the mode of performing sacred music.' It would appear that this society confined its activities exclusively to hymns, with the natural result that few members were attracted to it. It ceased to exist in 1810. Whatever other societies may have existed in Boston were completely overshadowed by the founding of the Handel and Haydn Society in 1815. This famous organization antedates several of the societies we have already mentioned, but the greater part of its career is covered by a later period. We consequently defer treatment of it to the chapter dealing with these important modern societies, of which it may be said to have been the first.

W. D. D.

FOOTNOTES:

[35] Until 1790, as we have previously noted, the name was spelled 'Cæcilia.'

[36] It must not, of course, be forgotten that a comparison between this and a modern orchestral program would be unfair. The program was light, and conspicuously ignored the great Germans, but it was good of its time and kind. It included an oboe solo, which must have been a novelty to New Yorkers.

CHAPTER V
THE BEGINNINGS OF OPERA

Scarcity of theatrical performances in America; Charleston and Tony Aston; New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere—The Revolution and after; rivalry between New York and Philadelphia—The New Orleans opera.

Accepting the year 1750 as the earliest in which indisputable records appear of opera in New York, writers on American musical history pass over the remainder of the century with a few brief references and escape with evident relief to the arrival of García's Italian troupe in 1825.[37] This willingness to let the dust lie undisturbed on certain phases of our musical development is hardly justifiable in the present instance, for undoubtedly these writers were well aware that opera in America during the eighteenth century was not such an infrequent and sporadic thing as to deserve no extended mention. Mr. H. E. Krehbiel, in his anecdotic and entertaining 'Chapters of Opera,' writes: 'There are traces of ballad opera in America in the early decades of the eighteenth century, and there can exist no doubt at all that French and Italian operas were given in some form, perhaps, as a rule, in the adapted form which prevailed in the London theatres until far into the nineteenth century, before the year 1800, in the towns and cities of the Eastern seaboard which were in most active communication with Great Britain.'

If ballad operas were known in America in the early

decades of the eighteenth century and French and Italian operas were given before the beginning of the nineteenth, it is surely worth while to consider what part they played in the musical life of the country. The subject, of course, is bristling with difficulties. Information is scarce and not easily accessible. Much of the difficulty is due to the fact that before the nineteenth century there were no opera companies, in our sense. Operatic performances were given by regular theatrical companies whose repertory was made up partly of straight drama and partly of opera. Artistic versatility was a characteristic of the period, and performers like Mrs. Oldmixon and Miss Broadhurst were prominent not only on the dramatic and operatic stage, but also on the concert platform. Our search for the beginnings of opera, therefore, lead us naturally to early records of the American theatre, and an examination of these elucidates some interesting facts.