In 1741 Dr. Watts' 'Psalms' were printed in Boston, and an edition of Watts' 'Hymns' were printed in the same year by Dr. Franklin in Philadelphia. The next important publication was a part of Tansur's collection,[12] which was printed by William Bailey at Newburyport, Mass., in 1755, under the title of 'A Complete Melody in Three Parts.' In 1761 there was published in Philadelphia a large work called 'Urania, or a Choice Collection of Psalm-Tunes, Anthems and Hymns. From the most approv'd Authors with some entirely new: In Two, Three and Four Parts. The Whole peculiarly adapted to the use of Churches, and Private Families. To which are prefix'd the Plainest and most Necessary Rules of Psalmody. By James Lyon, A.B....' Three years later appeared in Boston 'A Collection of the best Psalm Tunes, in two, three and four parts; from the most approved authors, fitted to all measures, and approved by the best masters in Boston, New England; the greater part of them never before printed in America. Engraved by Paul Revere, printed and sold by him and Jos. Flagg.' In his preface Flagg, with admirable patriotism, pointed out that, though most of the tunes in his book came from across the Atlantic, the paper on which they were written was of American manufacture; and he hoped that the fact would recommend his book 'even to those who have no peculiar relish for the music.' We shall have more to say of Flagg in a later chapter. Daniel Bailey, of Newburyport, published in 1764 'A new and complete Introduction to the Grounds and Rules of Music in two books,' of which the first is taken from Williams and the second from Tansur. In 1769-71 Bailey issued a two-volume work called 'The American Harmony.' The first volume is a reprint of Tansur's 'Royal Melody,' together with 'A new and correct Introduction to the Grounds of Musick, Rudimental, Practical and Technical,' also taken from Tansur. The second volume is a reprint of Aaron Williams' 'New Universal Psalmodist.'[13]
Most of the music in the collections of Lyons, Flagg, and Bailey was the work of contemporary English church-composers. Some of it may have been written by Americans, but there has been identified only the anthem called 'Liverpool,' in Lyon's collection, which is the work of William Tuckey, of New York. This is only pseudo-American, however, as Tuckey was an Englishman. It is merely an imitation of the weak style of verse anthem then popular in England, and the same is true of the other compositions which may be American. Notwithstanding the poor quality of the music, the success of Bailey's collections serves to show the advance which church singing must have made in New England. The florid 'fuguing choruses' and canons, popular among the hymn-writers who followed Purcell in England, were not very noble or inspiring music, but their performance entailed a degree of musical expertness far removed from the cacophantic crudity of which the Rev. Thomas Symmes and his contemporaries so plaintively spoke. At the same time it may be pointed out that these early collections of psalm-tunes are full of errors, due to the lack of persons competent to read proofs of musical works, and, if the leaders of church choirs were not musicians enough to correct such errors in the rendering, either their ears were yet imperfectly trained or they had a sense of free harmony far in advance of their age. Furthermore, it was very late in the eighteenth century before the reform in church singing became general throughout New England. In the 'History of Worcester' we read of an energetic duel on August 5th, 1779, between the old deacon and the singers, in which the deacon read the psalm according to the 'lining-out' method, while the choir simultaneously sang the verse without pause, according to the new system. Force of numbers and noise finally overpowered the doughty old champion of tradition, who, we are informed, 'retired from the meeting-house in tears.' It was as late as 1785 before the parish of Rowley joined the march of progress, as we find the following entry under that date in the 'History of Rowley': 'The parish desire the singers, both male and female, to sit in the gallery and will allow them to sing once on each Lord's day without reading by the deacon.'
II
We may assume that musical culture made noticeable progress in New England in the second half of the eighteenth century. Among the mass of the people it remained somewhat primitive, but among the cultivated classes in Boston and the larger cities the best contemporary music was heard frequently and with appreciation. As we shall see in a later chapter, public concerts were held in Boston at least as early as 1731, and they seem to have compared favorably with similar functions in European cities. But of musical life in the intimate sense there was still comparatively little. Brissot de Warville writes from Boston in 1788: 'You no longer meet here that Presbyterian austerity which interdicted all pleasure, even that of walking, which forbade travelling on Sunday, which persecuted men whose opinions were different from their own. The Bostonians unite simplicity of morals with that French politeness and delicacy of manners which render virtue more amiable. They are hospitable to strangers and obliging to friends; they are tender husbands, fond and almost idolatrous parents, and kind masters. Music, which their teachers formerly proscribed as a diabolical art, begins to make part of their education. In some houses you hear the forte-piano. This art, it is true, is still in its infancy; but the young novices who exercise it are so gentle, so complaisant and so modest, that the proud perfection of art gives no pleasure equal to what they afford.'
There were at that time very few pianos in New England and we find from the newspaper advertisements that the teacher usually lent his own piano to his pupils for practice. We have it on the authority of Mr. Elson that the efforts of the pupils were customarily confined to Gyrowetz, or to 'Washington's March,' 'The Battle of Prague,' or the Sonata pour le Clavecin ou Forte-piano, qui représente la bataille de Rossbach. Composée par M. Bach—not the majestic Johann Sebastian, of course. Ritter has copied the following titles from a manuscript book of the late eighteenth century: Ça Ira, 'White Cockade,' 'Irish Howl,' 'French March,' 'Hessian Camp,' 'Duchess of Brunswick,' 'Duetto' by Mancinelli, 'Water Rice,' 'Nancy of the Mill,' 'O Bessy Bell,' 'German Spaw,' 'Ossian's Ghost,' 'Duke of York's March,' 'Duetto,' by Dr. Arne, 'Every Inch a Soldier,' 'Quick March of the Twenty-sixth Regiment,' 'March,' 'Poor Soldier,' 'Sound Alarm,' 'When Nichola first to court began,' 'Sweet Village of the Valley,' 'Minuetto,' 'Dead March in Saul,' 'Bright Phœbus,' 'Ode to Harmony,' 'Swedish Air,' 'Quick March,' 'King of Sweden's March,' Marche des Marseillais, 'Hessian Air,' 'Baron Steuben's March,' 'Prince Frederick's March,' 'Sonata from Minuetto in Samson,' 'March in Joseph,' 'Trio' by Humphrey.
It may be of interest to note some of the secular music published in New England at that time. We find the following advertisement in the 'Columbian Centinel' of Boston in 1798. 'Just published, price one dollar, neatly bound and lettered, sold by E. Larkin, No. 47, Cornhill, "The Columbian Songster and Free Mason's Pocket Companion." A Collection of the newest and most celebrated Sentimental, Convivial, Humorous, Satirical, Pastoral, Hunting, Sea and Masonic Songs, being the largest and best collection ever published in America. Selected by S. Larkin.' In the same year there appeared in Northampton, Mass., 'The American Miscellany.' From the foreword of the ingenuous editor we learn that in this work 'a general preference has been given to American productions, and perhaps nothing will more effectually exhibit the progress of the human mind in the refinements which characterize the age, than the songs which, from general consent, are now in vogue.' The exhibit is not very complimentary to the 'progress of the human mind.' Most of the songs contained in these collections are flatly commonplace, many of them are cheap and tawdry in the extreme. It would hardly be fair to look upon such publications as reflecting the musical taste of the cultured class in New England. Just what proportion that class bore to the total population we cannot say. We can safely assume, however, that the concerts given in Boston and elsewhere during the second half of the eighteenth century fairly indicate the taste of the musical elect in New England. The citation of a few programs in this place will, consequently, not prove amiss.
A concert in honor of President Washington's visit to Boston, given on the 27th October, 1789, is advertised as follows:
FOR PUBLIC ORNAMENT
An Oratorio
or Concert of Sacred Musick
will be performed at Stone Chapel, Boston, in presence
of the President of the United States.
First Part