Considering the great activity apparent in the musical life of Philadelphia during the second half of the eighteenth century, the dearth of musical organizations is surprising. There appears to have been a musical club under the auspices of which subscription concerts, known collectively as the 'Amateur Concert,' were given between 1787 and 1789. This and the Orpheus Club already mentioned were the only musical societies existing in Philadelphia during the eighteenth century as far as we can discover. The Uranian Society is hard to classify, but it was really more an educational institution than a musical society in the accepted meaning of the term. It was founded in 1784 by Andrew Adgate, as an 'Institution for the Encouragement of Church Music,' an 'Institution for promoting the knowledge of psalmody' and an 'Institution for diffusing more generally the knowledge of Vocal Music.' Evidently there was some confusion in Mr. Adgate's mind as to the exact purpose of his institution. It was a somewhat Utopian scheme, contemplating the establishment of a free school for the study of vocal music, open to all denominations and subsisting on public bounty. The institution became known as the Uranian Society in 1785 and as the Uranian Academy in 1787. The plan of the academy, as finally formulated in the latter year, shows that its purpose had definitely narrowed down to the teaching of church music. The country was not yet ripe for such an undertaking and the enterprise failed, but between 1785 and 1787 it was responsible for a number of choral concerts on a scale hitherto unequalled in America.
Considering that there was an active concert life in New York at least as early as 1754, it might be presumed that musical societies of some sort existed there at that date, but we have no evidence on the subject. The first mention we find of a musical society in New York is contained in the advertisement of a concert in 1773 at which some of the instrumental parts were played by gentlemen of the Harmonic Society. Possibly the Harmonic Society had already been in existence for some years, but up to 1773 it escaped mention in the newspapers. How long it lasted we cannot say. In 1786 we find in the New York 'Daily Advertiser' an announcement that 'the Society for promoting vocal music meet at six o'clock this evening at Mr. Halett's School Room in Little Queen Street, agreeable to adjournment.' No further mention of the society appears and there is no clew to its name or to the length of its existence. Obviously it was not identical with the Harmonic, for the gentlemen of that society seem to have been devoted chiefly to instrumental music.
There was in New York a St. Cecilia Society, founded apparently in 1791, 'with a view to cultivate the science of music and good taste in its education' (?). Instrumental music was its main consideration and it held weekly concerts, the nature of which we have been unable to discover. We know only that 'the principal professors of music' were 'members and performers at these concerts.' The society lasted until 1799, when it was amalgamated with the Harmonical Society, which had been founded in 1796 'for the purpose of cultivating the knowledge of vocal and instrumental music.' The result of the amalgamation was the Philharmonic Society which held its first annual concert at the Tontine Hotel on Broadway in December, 1800, 'with a variety of vocal and instrumental music by the most celebrated performers in the city.' It is impossible to say how long the Philharmonic lasted, but probably it survived until well into the nineteenth century.
In 1793 there appears a mention of a Uranian Musical Society, which 'was instituted for improvement in sacred vocal music.' Meetings were held every Wednesday, and, judging from the number of prominent New Yorkers included in its membership, the society must have exercised considerable influence. The last mention of it appears in 1798, but there is no evidence that it ceased to exist in that year. Of the Polyhymnia Society, founded in 1799, and the Euterpean Society, which probably first appeared in 1800, we know nothing. According to Ritter, the latter was considered as 'perhaps the oldest musical society in the United States,' and 'as the lineal descendant of the old Apollo.' There is absolutely no evidence to support either of these statements. Mr. Sonneck quotes from the 'Sketches and Impressions' of Thomas Goodwin, published in 1887, the following note on the subject: 'The Euterpean, an amateur orchestra, was already an old organization half a century ago. It had been well managed, and owned a small library and several valuable instruments.... I have a program of its forty-eighth anniversary concert, given January 21, 1847, which would carry its organization back to the last century.' From the fact that the Euterpean Society does not appear among the musical societies in the directory of 1799, Mr. Sonneck is inclined to the opinion that the society was founded on January 21, 1800.
Probably in New York and elsewhere in America there were a number of convivial clubs in which music, especially the singing of glees and catches, occupied an important place. The frequency of such organizations in England is an argument in favor of the assumption, for English life was reproduced very much in detail by the American colonists. It is not surprising that they escaped mention in the contemporary press, as their activities were not of any public interest. An exception must be made in favor of the Columbian Anacreontic Society, which was modelled upon the famous Anacreontic Society of London. The latter is of special interest to Americans, since it furnished indirectly the music of 'The Star Spangled Banner.' The New York version of the society probably was more innocuous than its English model, though its affairs must have been marked by a robust jolity. It was founded by John Hodgkinson, a former member of the London Anacreontic Society, whose excellent musical endowments and achievements did not prevent him from being a faithful worshipper of Bacchus, and possibly it numbered also in its membership other graduates of its English prototype. The exact date of its foundation is not known, but it certainly existed in 1795, as we glean from the following item in a concert program of that year:
'Collini's Odes on the Passions (!), to be spoken by Mr. Hodgkinson. With music representative of each passion; as performed at the Anacreontic Society, composed by J. Hewitt.' This, Mr. Sonneck notes, 'is in all probability the earliest example of melodramatic music composed in America.' Unfortunately we have no other data on the nature of the music performed at the concerts of the society. These were held usually at the Tontine Coffee House, and it may be assumed that they were devoted chiefly to catches, glees, and other songs similar to those performed by the English society, but perhaps not so intimately frank. Unlike the English society, but curiously like every American stag society, before or since, the Columbian Anacreontic held an annual ladies' night. The custom carries an unpleasantly philistine flavor, which is further emphasized when we read an announcement that such members of the society as chose to attend a benefit performance for John Hodgkinson would be accommodated in the 'Shakespeare Box' and would 'wear their badges.' But in spite of all this it seems to have been of some value in the musical life of New York.
II
During the first half of the nineteenth century the chief musical societies in New York seem to have been the New York Choral Society, the Philharmonic Society, the Euterpean Society, the Handel and Haydn Society, The Musical Fund, and the Sacred Music Society. Of the Euterpean Society we have already spoken as having been founded probably in 1800. Apparently it was composed chiefly of wealthy amateurs and was somewhat dilettante in its activities. A contemporary critic thus arraigns it: 'This society, from its long standing, the respectability of its officers, and the individual talent of its members, might possess the most extensive influence in the musical community. It has in its possession funds, and the largest library of instrumental music in the country; and yet, with all these advantages on its side, what has the Euterpean done, or what does it do? It can be summed up in a few words. A few of its members meet every Friday evening and play overtures and symphonies; and every year they give an indifferent concert and a ball, the last of which is the chief attraction. Now, we ask the Euterpean if, like a horse in a mill, they are forever to pursue this eternal round?'
The Euterpean did not continue that or any other course for very long, but, whatever justice there may have been in the foregoing criticisms, it was certainly the only instrumental music society in New York during the years immediately preceding the advent of the Philharmonic. Possibly its annual concert was 'indifferent,' but the program of 1839, quoted by Dr. Ritter, which includes compositions of Herold, Auber, Bellini, Boehm, Purcell, Rossini, and Thalberg, would argue the contrary.[36] The orchestra was of sufficiently good symphonic proportions. It consisted of six first violins, five second violins, four tenors, three 'celli, two contrabasses, four flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, kettle drums, drum and cymbals. Apparently the principals in the orchestra of the Euterpean lacked zeal and enterprise, but, whatever their faults, we are justified in looking upon the society as the parent of the Philharmonic and as an important factor in the development of orchestral music in New York.
Of this Philharmonic Society, which succeeded the Euterpean and which is still flourishing, we shall speak in a later chapter. As far as we can discover it had nothing to do with the earlier society of the same name which was founded in 1799 of the junction between the Harmonical and the St. Cecilia societies. The earlier Philharmonic is somewhat elusive. If the occasional allusions to a Philharmonic Society during the first decades of the nineteenth century referred to the same organization, it probably existed until about 1829. There is a possibility, however, that the original Philharmonic failed and that various attempts were made to form other societies under the same name. Dr. Ritter says that the Musical Fund, organized about 1828, was the successor to a Philharmonic, the object of which was 'to promote the cultivation of the science of music; to afford facilities for the exhibition of talent, and its advancement to fair competition among the profession and amateurs.' As the Musical Fund gave monthly rehearsals for 'the display of glee and solo talent,' it may be inferred that the Philharmonic was concerned mainly if not altogether with vocal music; but we have been unable to discover any evidence which would show that the two societies had anything in common.