CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MUSIC ML 200.149"" """""^ '■"'"^ 3 1924 022 439 164 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022439164 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC STfje mstors of American ^rt iEtitob bg 3ofjn ffi. Uan JSgfee THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SCULPTURE. By Lo- RADO Taft, Member of the National Sculpture Society. With 12 photogravures and many text illustrations. Imp. 8vo. THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC. By Louis C. Elson, Musical Editor of the Boston Advertiser ; author of "Our National Music," etc. With 12 photogravures and many text illustrations. Imp. 8vo. THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN PAINTING. By Samuel ISHAM, Member of the Society of American Artists. With 12 photogravures and many text illustrations. Imp. 8vo. Nearly ready. THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN ILLUSTRATION, EN- GRAVING, AND ETCHING. By Joseph Pennell, author of " Pen Drawing and Pen Draughtsmen," " Lithog- raphy and Lithographers," " Modern Illustration," etc. Illustrated with original materials. Imp. Svo. In preparation. Cl^e i^(0tott of amcrtcan art CDtteD b^ 31ol)n C. ©an D^be THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC BY LOUIS C. ELSON AUTHOR OF " OUR NATIONAL MUSIC," " SHAKSPEARE IN MUSIC," ETC. WITH TWELVE FULL-PAGE PHOTOGRAVURES AND ONE HUN- DRED AND TWO ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 1904 All rights reserved Copyright, 1904, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up, electrotyped, and published March, 1904. y. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick Sf Smith Co. Noriiiood, Mass., U.S.A. EDITOR'S NOTE This series of books brings together for the first time the materials for a history of American art. Heretofore there have been attempts to narrate some special period or feature of our artistic development, but the narrative has never been consecutive or conclusive. The present volumes begin with colonial times, and carry the record down to the year 1904. They are intended to cover the graphic, the plastic, the illustrative, the architectural, the musical, and the dramatic arts, and to recite the results in each department historically and critically. That the opinions ventured should be authoritative, the preparation of each volume has been placed in the hands of an expert, — one who practises the craft whereof he writes. The series is therefore a history of American art written from the artist's point of view, and should have special value for that reason. In this " History of American Music," the second of the series, the author has told of the beginnings, the foreign influences, the changes, the methods, the personal endeavors, that have gone to the making of our present music. Many of the events here nar- rated occurred but yesterday or are happening to-day, and hence have little perspective for the historian. It has not always been possible to say a final word, even if that were desirable. In its stead the widely scattered facts have been brought together and arranged sequentially that they might tell their own story and point their own conclusion. February, 1904. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Religious Beginnings of American Music i II. Early Musical Organizations 27 III. Instrumental Music and American Orchestras 41 IV. Musical Societies and Institutions •]■;) V. Opera in America .... 95 VI. The Folk-music of America .... .... 123 VII. National and Patriotic Music .... ... 140, VIII. American Tone-masters .... 165 IX. The Orchestral Composers of America 191 X. Other Orchestral Composers of America 215 XI. Operatic, Catjtata, and Vocal Composers 229 XII. American Song-composers 243 XIII. Organists, Choir and Chorus Leaders 259 XIV. The American Composers for Pianoforte 279 XV. American Women in Music 293 XVI. Musical Criticism and Authorship 311 XVII. The Musical Education of the Present 339 XVIII. Qualities and Defects of American Music 361 General Bibliography 3^7 Index 369 r PHOTOGRAVURES PLATE I. Theodore Thomas Frontispiece FACING PAGE II. Park Street Church, Boston 27 III. Henry L. Higginson 41 IV. William H. Fry 95 V. Edward Alexander MacDowell 165 VI. Horatio Parker 191 VII. Anton Seidl 215 VIII. George W. Chadwick 229 IX. King's Chapel, Boston 243 X. Benjamin Johnson Lang 259 XI. Mrs. H. H. A. Beach 293 XII. John K. Paine 339 ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT FIGURE PAGE 1. St. Mary's Tune ..... 2 2. Title-pageof "Bay Psalm Book" 6 3. Page of " Bay Psalm Book " .... ...... 7 4. Page from Dr. Thomas Walter's Singing-book . . . . . . .11 5. Advertisement from Old Salem Newspaper ....... 13 6. Billings's " Chester " ... 14 7. The Brattle Organ 17 8. Advertisement from Boston Gazette, 1767 ....... ig 9. Advertisement from Massachusetts Magazine, 1792 21 10. Advertisement from Boston Chronicle, 1764 23 11. Advertisement from ^a/^OT Gfl^^//^, 1790 29 12. Symphony Hall, Boston 30 13. Home of Handel and Haydn Society in 1850 33 14. Carl Zerrahn 35 15. Dr. Lowell Mason 37 16. Heading of an Early Musical Journal . 44 17. Jonas Chickering ...... . 47 18. Georg Henschel ....... 51 19. Wilhelm Gericke . . 54 20. Arthur Nikisch 57 21. Emil Paur 60 22. Walter Damrosch .....-..•••••■ 63 23. Fritz Scheel 7^ 24. Theodore Thomas 74 25. Dr. Leopold Damrosch -79 26. The Germania Orchestra, 1850 83 27. The Mason-Thomas Quintette 86 28. The Kneisel Quartette 89 29. Stage of Metropolitan Opera House . . . , 97 30. Bispham as Wolfram in " Tannhauser " loi 31. Mme. Lilhan Nordica i°5 32. Emma'Eames as Juliet "■ 33. Louise Homer as Amneris i'5 34. Autograph, of Anton Seidl . i'8 xii ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT FIGURE PAGE 35. Suzanne Adams as Marguerite • • • .121 36. Nineveh Flute 124 37. IVIarch of Flute Priests 127 38. Omaha Large Flute 131 39. Ojibway Drums 134 40. Stephen C. Foster 137 41. Liberty Song 140 42. " Yankee Doodle," Old English Setting 144 43a. American Setting of " God save the King '' 145 43 b. American Setting of " God save the King " 146 43 c. American Setting of •' God save the King " . 147 44. " Washington's March '' and " Yankee Doodle "....... 149 45a. First Edition of " Hail Columbia " ■ ......... 152 451^. First Edition of " Hail Columbia " 153 46. Francis Scott Key 156 irja. " Star-spangled Banner " — English Drinking-song ...... 158 47^. " Star-spangled Banner " — English Drinking-song 159 48. " Glory Hallelujah " .162 49. Manuscript Music by Professor J. K. Paine 168 50. Manuscript by George W. Chadwick 173 51. Josef Rheinberger 177 52. Allen A. Brown Room. Boston Public Library 181 53. New England Conservatory of Music 184 54. Arthur Foote 188 55- Henry K. Hadley 193 56. Manuscript by Van der Stucken 196 57. Frederic Grant Gleaspn 200 58. Louis Adolphe Coerne 204 59. E. R. Kroeger 208 60. Arthur Whiting 212 61. C. M. Loeffler 219 62. Louis Maas 223 63. John P. Sousa ............. 226 64. J. C. D. Parker 232 65. H. M. Dunham ............. 235 66. Dudley Buck . 239 67a. Letter by Robert Franz 244 67 b. Letter by Robert Franz . 245 68. Ethelbert W. Nevin 249 69. Clayton Johns . 251 70. Frederic Field Bullard 253 71. Augusto Rotoli . . . . . . . . . . . _ .21:5 72. Music Hall Organ, Boston ,5, ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT xiu 73- 74- 75- 76. ^^■ 78. 79- 80. 81. 82. 83- 84. 85. 86. 87. 90. 91. 92. 93- 94. 95- 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. lOI. 102. Organ in Jordan Hall, Boston George E. Whiting J. Wallace Goodrich Samuel P. Warren Clarence Eddy Dr. William Mason Louis M. Gottschalk William H. Sherwood Carl Baermann Rafael Joseffy Miss Margaret R. Lang Mrs. Julia Rive-King Miss Leonora Jackson Mme. Camilla Urso John S. Dwight Henry T. Finck . Henry E. Krehbiel William J. Henderson George P. Upton . W. S. B. Mathews Dr. Eben Tourjde Stephen A. Emery Julius Eichberg Manuscript by Eichberg Antonin Dvorak . Frank Damrosch . Philadelphia Academy of Music Musical Fund Hall, Philadelphia Music Hall and College of Music, Cincinnati Frank Van der Stucken PAGE 266 268 270 272 275 278 282 285 288 290 296 299 303 308 313 317 321 324 329 333 340 342 345 346 349 352 354 356 360 363 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC CHAPTER I THE RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN MUSIC In presenting a history of the development of American music, one ought, if following chronological sequence, to speak first of the songs of the Aborigines ; but although these were, as a matter of course, the earliest melodies that can be traced on this continent, it will be found, when the subject is alluded to in a later chapter, that the music of the North American Indians is responsible for very little of the composition of later times, and seems to have been almost as absolutely " no thoroughfare " as the ancient chants of China. The true beginnings of American music — seeds that finally grew into a harvest of native compositions — must be sought in a field almost as unpromising as that of the Indian music itself, — the rigid, narrow, and often commonplace psalm-singing of New Eng- land. It may be admitted that there was a civilized music on these shores that antedated even these psalm-tunes. There were Eng- lishmen in Virginia almost a generation before the Pilgrims reached their cisatlantic destination ; but these adventurers sang their home-songs with absolutely no attempt to alter or to modify them to their new surroundings ; they made no effort to establish any new school of music, either vocal or instrumental; and although they gave concerts long before the Pilgrims or Puritans (who would have deemed " concerts " a very heterodox thing) lifted their voices in holy strains in. New England, these were merely a reproduction of similar events as they took place in England. They were exotics — abnormal things that took no root in American soil and brought forth no fruit of any kind. The far Jess artistic music that was developed in Puritan Boston THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC and Pilgrim Plymouth was something that, although it had its origin overseas, soon became indigenous to the soil, and altered gradually from the style of its prototype as, in the Middle Ages, the Gregorian chant altered in France and became the Cantus Gallicanus. At the very start, both Pilgrims and Puritans, although differing on many points of doctrine, united in a distrust of music. Calvin's views as regards the " divine art " (he had grave doubts about its divinity) tinctured the earliest music of New England. The Pil- o-rims would have abolished it all but for the fact that the ancient Hebrews had undoubtedly employed psalm-singing in their religious services. They therefore, while rejecting hymns and other sacred music, allowed Psalms to be sung during their devotions. CoMtijJ, '^ant^y^ini^i/^/im^. 'sn'^i\\\i\n\^^\\\^l\\\^^^^ m i \ o \ \ (!\\V \ \\ ^\ u^o iii r«Churches ( which I purpofe'' ly forbear to mention ) with as muchDifFerenca as there can poffibly be between York and 0*>- ferd, or any two other different Tunes. There- fore any Manithatpleads with me for what they call the OldlVay, 1 can confiite him only by making this Demand, IVhat itthtOlD Way? Which I am fure they cannot tell. For, one- Town fays, their's is the true OldPFay, another Town thinks the fame of their's, and fo does a Third of their Way of tunirjg it. But let fuch. B Men Fig. 4. — Page from Dr. Thomas Walter's Singing-book. although the sacred side of music was still vastly in preponderance, several of the musical collections contained secular selections. Northampton, Worcester, and other towns vied with Boston in printing these books, and by the end of the century their number was not far from sixty, counting only New England publications.^ 1 The faithful chronicler Sewall records the result of the singing-schools ; the singing at divine service suddenly became better. In his diary, under date of March 16, i72i,hesays : "At night Dr. Mather preaches in the School-House to the young musicians, from Rev. 14. 3. — No man could learn that song. — House was full and the singing extraordinarily excellent, such as had hardly been heard before in Boston. Sung four times out of Tate and Brady." Tate and Brady were two English poets (the former born in Ireland) who published their "book of Psalms in Metre" before 1696. It is probable, therefore, that an English edition was used by the singers, for we find no record of a colonial edition until nearly a score of years later. ^ George Hood, in his "History of Music in New England," p. 170 et seq., gives quite a detailed list of these. 12 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC The next step in the march of progress, a most natural one, was the appearance of a few native composers. As was to be expected, the first efforts of the American muse were somewhat awkward and contained many transgressions against harmonic rules; but there was often a rough vigor in the native compositions, and even at its poorest the art of musical creation was a welcome interruption to the habit of plagiarism from English sources which had obtained up to this time and which will be illustrated in the chapter devoted to our national music. The first of the native composers was William Billings. He was born in Boston, October 7, 1746, and died there, September 29, 1800. He was a self-taught musician; an apprentice to a tanner, he seems to have neglected his regular work, in some degree, for the avocation of composition. He wrote his earliest attempts at harmony with chalk upon the sides of leather in the tannery. He was an eccentric character who found many ready to laugh at him, but his earnest love of music and unswerving honesty of purpose won him some influential friends. Among these were Governor Samuel Adams and Dr. Pierce, who encourasred his earliest ventures into the field of publication. The first of his publications was " The New England Psalm Singer, or American Chorister," which was published in 1770. The time was opportune for the presentation of a book of this kind; the " Bay Psalm Book" was beginning to be superseded by Watts's " Hymns " and other works; a taste for variety in music had been cultivated by the singing-schools, yet the musical collections had not struck into new paths but, at this time, still held to the old selections that were familiar to the New Englander. Billings was a believer in the effects of florid counterpoint (of its rules, however, he was entirely ignorant), and early began to introduce into his work "fugue-tunes," which were really not fugues at all. In such pieces the different parts naturally presented more of contrast than was possible in choral-like harmony, and this diversity seems to have charmed Billings, who thus rhapsodizes over its beauties : — " It has more than twenty times the power of the old slow tunes, each part straining for mastery and victory, the audience entertained and delighted, their minds surpassingly agitated and extremely THE RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN MUSIC 13 fluctuated, sometimes declaring for one part, and sometimes for another. Now the solemn bass demands their attention, next the manly tenor; now the lofty counter, now the volatile treble. Now here, now there ; now here again, — O ecstatic ! Rush on, you sons of harmony ! " The above not only gives a fair description of imitative counter- point, but affords an index of the enthusiasm of this first Ameri- can composer, whose zeal in choir-singing was so great SamUCl WadfwOrth that his sturdy voice gener- "DEGS leave to inform the Publick, but ally drowned out all the ZJ\' I^^Sl^'^lscVo^^^^^^^^ others in his vicinity during his Dwelling-Houfe near the Town-Houfe, to be the musical nart of thp qpr ^^^"^ °" '^"^''''^y and Friday Evenings, from 6 to 9 me musical part 01 tne Ser- o-cbck. if any of the Sex are defirous of being vice. inftru£ted in this beautiful Science, they fliall be ^j^. . inftrufted in the neweft Method. Ihere were, however, Ye FemaU Sex, /pray dmw near. Other opinions about " fugue ^^ ^»fi<: fweet pray lend an Ear; ,, . . Young Virgins all with beauteous Voice, tunes and tneir use in Make mujlc Harmony your Choice. sacred music, as the follow- Philo Mufico. ing words of Samuel Hoi- Fig. 5. -advertisement from Old Salem c> Newspaper. yoke, used as preface to his " Harmonia Americana" (published in 1791), may show: — " Perhaps some may be disappointed that fuguing pieces are in general omitted. But the principal reason why few were inserted was the trifling effect produced by that sort of music ; for the parts, falling in, one after another, each conveying a different idea, con- found the sense, and render the performance a mere jargon of words." To return to William Billings : the first of his books spoken of above contained 108 pages, and presented 120 tunes as well as 22 pages of elementary instruction and an " Essay on the Nature and Properties of Musical Sound." It boldly bore as a motto : — " Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Hast Thou perfected praise." This motto was peculiarly fitted to the composer who was entirely innocent of musical laws, at least as regarded composition. Billings acknowledged this with childlike frankness in his preface : — H THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC " Perhaps it may be expected by some, that I should say some- thing concerning Rules for Composition ; to these I answer that Nature is the best dictator, for all the hard dry studied rules that ever were prescribed, will not enable any person to form an Air, any more than the bare Knowledge of the four and twenty letters, and strict Grammatical Rules will qualify a Scholar for composing a piece of Poetry, or properly adjusting a Tragedy without a Genius. It must be Nature, Nature must lay the foundation, Nature must inspire the Thought. . . . For my own part, as I don't think myself confined to any Rules for Composition laid down by any that went before me, neither should I think (were I to pretend to lay down rules) that any who come after me were any ways obligated to adhere to them any further than they should think proper ; so in fact I think it is best for every Composer to be his own Carver. Therefore, upon this consideration, for me to dictate, or pretend to prescribe Rules of this Nature for others, would not only be very unnecessary but also a very great piece of Vanity." BILLIKaS. 1770. CHESTER. L. M. g^^e^gi^^^p^j^ijgiBig^^^La Let tliebighheav'nyoiiraongsinTitei'niosespacionsGeldaof bnlliant light, Where sud and moon aud plan-ets roll, And stars that glow irom pole topole. Fig. 6. — Billings's "Chester." In 1778 Billings brought out a revision of the above work (102 pages) which he now called " The Singing Master's Assistant," and his recantation of his former audacity was as naive as his original defiance. It ran as follows: — " Kind Reader, no doubt you remember that about ten years ago I published a book entitled ' The New England Psalm Singer ' ; and truly a most masterly performance I then thought it to be. How lavish was I of encomiums on this my infant production ! Said I, Thou art my Reuben, my first born, the beginning of my strength ; but to my great mortification I soon discovered that it was Reuben in the sequel, and Reuben all over. I have THE RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN MUSIC 15 discovered that many pieces were not worth my printing or your inspection." The second book soon received the name of " Billings's Best," and became very popular throughout New England. Many of Bil- lings's tunes were heard around the camp-fires of the Revolutionary army, and " Chester," the best known of them all, was often played by the fifers in the Continental ranks (Fig. 6). Billings frequently wrote his own text, and his ringing verse to the last-named tune was an admirable outburst of patriotism: — " Let tyrants shake their iron rod And Slavery clank her galling chains, We'll fear them not ; we trust in God, New England's God forever reigns." Billings was a fiery patriot, as may well be conjectured from the above. In his first volume he was still a British subject, as may be seen by his opening verse : — " O, praise the Lord with one consent, And in this grand design, Let Britain and the Colonies Unanimously join." But when the Revolution began, his muse was turned against " Britain " with a vengeance. In his " Lamentation over Boston " (because of its being occupied by English soldiers) he employed the metaphor of the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Psalm, and " By the rivers of Watertown, we sat down ; Yea we wept as we remembered Boston." And he continued by calling down frightful imprecations upon himself, — " if I forget thee, O Boston ! " No man is ridiculous who is thoroughly in earnest.^ One can forgive Billings his hundreds of errors of harmonic construction because of his devotion to his chosen art and to his country. He was handicapped in many ways ; his lack of musical education was but slightly amended by a study of Tans'ur's faulty " Musical Grammar " (Fig. 8), and his general education was of the slightest. When he left 1 John Eliot alludes to Billings as " an original genius," and speaks of him as the editor of the Boston Magazine. 1 6 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC the tannery and launched upon a musical career he suffered poverty almost constantly; he was very untidy in personal habit, he was physically deformed, and his sight was defective. Such a man was likely to become the butt of many coarse natures, and practical jokes were often played upon the unfortunate son of the Muses. He had a sign over the door of his house, near the White Horse Tavern, with " Billings' Music " inscribed upon it. One night two cats were found suspended from this, by their tails, giving vocal illustrations that roused the entire neighborhood. On another occa- sion a wag sought him. out, and after much flattery besought him to answer an important musical question. The important point turned out to be a query as to whether snoring was to be classed as vocal or instrumental music. After his second volume Billings issued four others as follows : "Music in Miniature," 32 pages, 12 mo, published in 1779 (this little volume was intended for insertion in the psalm-books of the time); "The Psalm-singer's Amusement," 103 pages, 1781; "The Suffolk Harmony," 56 pages, 1786, and "The Continental Har- mony," 199 pages, published in 1794 (Fig. 9). He also issued some separate compositions, chiefly anthems. Billings is said to have introduced the use of the pitch-pipe into the choir, an important improvement when one considers the ludi- crous mishaps that often occurred when the tune was pitched by ear,^ ^ These mishaps may be surmised by the following extract from the Diary of Judge Samuel Sewall : — " 1705. Sixth-day, Dec ■ 28. Mr. Pemberton prays excellently, and Mr. Willard preaches from Ps. 66. 20. very excellently. Spoke to me to set the tune ; I intended Windsor, and fell into High Dutch [this was another name for 'Canterbury'], and then, essaying to set another tune, went into a Key much too high. So I prayed Mr. White to set it ; which he did well, Litchf. [Litchfield] -Tune. The Lord humble me and instruct me, that I should be the occasion of any interniption in the 'Worship of God." Yet this slip did not deter the musical enthusiast from trying again, for later in the diary we read : — "July 5,1713. Mr. Stoddard preaches P.M. . . . At the close appoint ij^ staff in the first part 40th Ps. I try'd to set Low Dutch tune and failed. Tried again and fell into the tune of 1 19th Psalm, so Capt. Williams read the whole first part, that he might have psalm to the tune." Nor did this second mishap daunt the zealous psalm-singer, and subsequently his efforts seem to have met with better success, for the Diary states (regarding a wedding ceremony) : — " Oct. 22, 1713. Sung the 45th psalm from the 8th verse to the end. five staves. I set it to Windsor tune. I had a very good Turky-Leather Psalm-Book, which I looked in. while Mr. Noyes read : and then I gave it to the Bride-groom saying, ' I give you this Psalm-Book in order to your perpetuating this song: and I would have you pray that it may be an intro- duction to our Singing with the Choir above.' " FIG. 7. —THE BRATTLE ORGAN. Reproduced by courtesy of the Rev. Henry Emerson, Rector of St. John's Church, Portsmouth. THE RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN MUSIC 19 and it is said that he was the first to use the violoncello in church music in New England. That- he was the first to introduce con- certs in the colony (for which he is often given the credit) ^ must be regarded as improbable, for he was born in 1746, and Mr. Dipper gave two concerts in Boston in 1761 (Fig. 10), at which time the young Billings was perhaps still chalking his first compositions on the sides of sole leather in the tannery. That he continued poor to the end of his days is clearly indicated by an advertisement in the Massachusetts Magazine for August, 1792, regarding his last volume, which concludes with the foUovvinp;: — " The distressed situation of Mr. Billings's family has so sensibly operated on the minds of the committee as to induce their assistance in the intended publication." ^ We have stated that Billings committed many harmonic and con- trapuntal errors. In spite of these his music deserved preservation from oblivion ; it was melodic and cheerful; it was strongly rhyth- ' I A^N 1 TJR 'S mic and, for all its "fuguing," Royal Melody Compleat, was easily memorized ; it was *e ufl and beO EtStion, mhh AddiiioBs. «n copper •^ Plate,- may be had a« JOHN PEKKlNS's Shop ia not above the heads of his pub- Onioo street, Boltoii, nest Door 10 Mr. Ftedtriek ,. A T3 J.1 111 H^illiam Ceycr'i. N. B. At the Tame Plan nay be lie. A Beethoven could have tad a Urge Aflbrtmew of P»p« Hanginee iorRoons. obtained no hearing in America *'=• 8— advertisemenl- from , . , , Boston Gazette, I'jb-j. in the eighteenth century, but Billings found a willing audience and cheered many a fireside and camp where higher art would not have been understood. Although Billings's publication of 1770 was the earliest example of native composition of part music, a few melodies were probably evolved before this time. The chief contemporary of Billings was Oliver Holden, whose "Coronation "^ has held its own much better than Billings's masterpiece, " Chester," and is as popular to-day as it was a century ago. Holden was no better educated musically than 1 Ritter's "Music in America" states tliis erroneously. ^ Another proof of his ending his days in poverty is found in the fact that his grave was not marlNV IIAT.L, ISCiSTilN". Gottlieb Graupner, Thomas Smith Webb and Asa Peabody, for a meeting of those interested in the subject ' of cultivating and improv- ing a correct taste in the performance of sacred music' In that meeting, held on the 30th of March, 1S15, the Handel and Haydn Society originated. On the 20th of April their constitution was adopted. The following Mayday witnessed their first private practis- ing from the old Locke Hospital Collection ; and on the succeeding Christmas evening at the same consecrated chapel where Washing- ton attended that memorable public concert a cjuarter of a century before, and where that solemn Jubilee of Peace had been so recently EARLY MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS 31 celebrated, their first grand Oratorio was given to a delighted audi- ence of nine hundred and forty-five persons, with the Russian consul, the well-remembered Mr. Eustaphieve, assisting as one of the per- formers in the orchestra." With the exception of the great concert in Philadelphia, already spoken of, this was the largest musical event that had yet occurred in America, and it was by all odds the most ambitious, the most classical, and the most important. The chorus numbered nearly one hundred, and of these but ten were female voices. The orchestra, of which we shall speak hereafter, consisted of less than a dozen performers, and the organ assisted in most of the numbers. All Boston was in sympathy with the event, the Columbian Centinel, two days before the concert, had published a eulogy of the society, and the fashionables of the town were interested, many of them as performers. Boston at this time possessed many musical enthusiasts and, at last, some thoroughly trained European musi- cians. Dr. Jackson was probably the most skilful of these, but he held aloof from the doings of the Handel and Haydn Society during its experimental stages, only heartily cooperating with it after the organization was able to get along without him. The concert on that memorable Christmas Eve began at 6 p.m., and must have been about four hours in length. We have received a description of it from an actual auditor. General Oliver, who spoke of it as an occasion of great dignity and impressiveness rather than of fervid applause, although occasionally the plaudits would burst forth with much spontaneity. Part I was wholly devoted to num- bers from Haydn's "Creation"; Parts H and HI were Handelian. Tickets were ^i each, with a reduction on taking a quantity, — four or six. The officers of the society at its beginning were : — President, — Thomas S. Webb. Vice-President, — Amasa Winchester. Treasurer, — Nathaniel Tucker. Secretary, — Matthew S. Parker. Trustees, — Elnathan Duren, Benjamin Holt, Joseph Bailey, Charles Nolan, Ebenezer Withington, John Dodd, Jacob Guild, W. K. Phillips, and S. H. Parker. Almost all the singers in the first dozen concerts of the society 32 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC were native Americans, but European soloists were soon sought for in the more and more elaborate concerts given by the association. The ambitious character of the society is indicated by the fact that, in 1823, it wrote to Beethoven offering him a commission to write an oratorio especially for its use. The commission is not mentioned in the soci- ety records, and Thayer, the chief biographer of Beethoven, thinks that it was given unofficially by Richardson and a few other mem- bers. That an order was sent is quite certain. Schindler, a friend and biographer of Beethoven, informed Mr. Thayer that, in 1823, a Boston banker, whose name he did not recall, had occasion to write to a Viennese banker named Geymliller, and had enclosed an order for Beethoven to compose an oratorio for somebody or some society in Boston, and Schindler adds that this order was received by Beethoven. At that time Beethoven was about to begin a work to be entitled " The Victory of the Cross " for a Viennese society, and he deter- mined to send this work (which he afterwards abandoned) to Boston. He was delighted with this commission from across the ocean. In one of .Beethoven's note-books (in Berlin) Thayer found this memorandum : — " Biihler writes — ' The Oratorio for Boston ; ' — I cannot write what I should best like to write, but that which the pressing need of money obliges me to write. This is not saying that I write only for money." ^ There was also a notice of the work in the Morgenblatt filr gebildete Leser, November 5, 1823, in an article on Beethoven, which alludes to an oratorio with English text, for Boston, as a pro- jected work. Fortunately it remained only a project ; one shudders to think of the fate of a work of perhaps the caliber of Beethoven's great Mass, or "The Mount of Olives," or the finale of the " Ninth Symphony," handed over to the tender mercies of an American orchestra and chorus in 1823. Much more legitimate was the appeal of the society, in later years, to Robert Franz, to finish the additional accompaniments to Handel's " Messiah." The complete version of the great old masterpiece was first given by the Handel and Haydn Society, and its achievement is due to the assistance of its officials and their ^ "History of the Handel and Haydn Society," by C. C. Perkins, Vol. I, No. 2, p. 87. EARLY MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS 33 commission to Franz. Incledon, Phillips, and other English solo- ists engaged by the society soon taught it the true Handelian interpretation of the " Messiah," and some of them speak in terms of praise of the work accomplished in Boston even before 1820. In the early days of the Handel and Haydn Society, the presi- dent of the association was supposed to act as the conductor, but as a matter of fact the chorus and orchestra followed the time indi- cated by the leading violinist, who was, for a considerable time, Signor Ostinelli, one of the foreign musicians who so thoroughly advanced the music of Boston and of America. Fig 13 —Home of Handjil and Ha\d\ bociLrv ii^ 1850. From an old print. It is interesting and almost an historical study to watch the advancing programmes of the society from its inception. Up to 18 18 the concerts were made up of sacred selections, but on Decem- ber 25 of that year comes the " Messiah " complete, perhaps the first entire oratorio performed in America ; the next year the " Crea- tion," also complete;^ then followed the " Dettingen Te Deum." ' There are, however, other claims which must be mentioned in connection with the first complete oratorio given in America. The Moravians at Bethlehem, Pennsj'lvania, in 1811, gave a performance of the "Creation" ; the "Messiah" was performed in Trinity Church, New York, January g, 1770, and repeated in 1771, and again in 1772. Whether these were complete performances we have not ascertained, but they certainly deserve mention as pos- sibly the earliest oratorio performances on American soil. D 24 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC These were probably the only complete works for many years. A Haydn and a Mozart Mass appeared in 1829; in 1834 the larger part of Beethoven's "Mount of Olives" was presented; then followed a period of Neukomm, and that composer's " David " (not a great work and very seldom heard at present) was repeated an incredible number of times from 1836 to 1845. In 1836 "David" was per- formed twelve times; in 1839 it received fourteen performances; in 1840 the same composer's "Mount Sinai" began to be performed by the society, but, although it received many representations, it by no means equalled " David " in the frequency of its repetitions. In 1845 fourteen performances of "Samson" lifted a heavy load of debt from the society ; in 1849-50 the society won considerable success with an opera. Donizetti's " Martyrs " was performed seven times. The concerts took place, at first, in King's Chapel, afterwards in Boylston Hall, then in the Melodeon, then in Music Hall, and finally in Symphony Hall (Fig. 12), where they now occur. A picture of the Melodeon as it appeared in 1850 is shown herewith (Fig. 13). The building with the flag at the window is the old home of the Handel and Haydn Society ; the one with lanterns at its entrance is the Boston Theatre, where many of the early operas were given. The Handel and Haydn concerts are chiefly given on Sunday evenings. The first president was Thomas Smith Webb, two years; then came Amasa Winchester (a most tactful and gentle leader), seven years; Robert Rogerson ; Lowell .Mason, five years; Samuel Richardson, two years; Charles W. Lovett, two years ; Bartholomew Brown ; George J. Webb, three years ; Charles Zeuner; James Clark; I. S. Withington, and Jonas Chickering. The subsequent presidents were not so important, for, in 1847, the president ceased to be the conductor, a regular leader being engaged by the society. Charles E. Horn was the first of these conductors. In 1850 the posts of president and director were again temporarily united in the person of Charles C. Perkins,^ but after that they were permanently separated, and the following conductors were appointed: J. E. Goodson, 185 1; G. J. Webb, 1852; Carl Berg- 1 Too much praise cannot be given to this cultured gentleman ; he aided music in many ways, and his " History of the Handel and Haydn Society" (whence many of the above facts are taken) would have been a monumental woi'k, had it not been abruptly ended by the death of the author, in 1886. The work was subsequently continued by John S. Dwight. EARLY MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS 35 mann, in the same year. Carl Zerrahn (the most prominent con- ductor of the Hst), who was appointed in 1S54, held the position of conductor of this society for more than forty years (to 1895). Ben- jamin J. Lang followed him. After this there came a thorougli renovation of the society. There were in its ranks many veterans who had done loyal service during the days "when Music, heavenly maid, was young" in Boston; their voices had grown thin with years, their vocal method had become antiquated now that Boston was a musical centre with many thorough instructors. It was a sad task to bid these depart, but necessity forced such a course. A new examination of voices was ordered, the numbers of the choristers were reduced, new members were admitted, and a thorough musical reorganization began under the direction of Mr. Emil Mollenhauer, who is at present the conductor of the society. As Carl Zerrahn (Fig. 14), prom- inent in various fields of music, did most of his service in connection with the Handel and Haydn Soci- ety, it is fitting that we should here speak of the influence that he ex- erted upon American music. He was born in Malchow, in Mecklen- burg, July 28, 1S26. Coming to America in 1S48, he was for a time the first flute-player of the Ger- mania Orchestra (Fig. 26). In 1854 he beran his career as conductor by assuming the leadership of the Handel and Haydn Society, and inaugurated many instrumental concerts in Boston at his own risk. In 1865 he became conductor of the Harvard Symphony Concerts, in addition to his other duties. The leadership of the Worcester festivals also became his charge, and he likewise conducted the Salem Oratorio Society. The great triennial festivals of the Handel and Haydn, and the still vaster Peace Jubilee in Boston, were led by him. In 1872 he led the chorus of twenty thousand voices, at ■ V ^"' '!iEi|^B ■ 1 t f«^.;-;^ ■ 1 1 1 1^ ^^ Hi^j i 1 |rF i^l9H Hi -# f\ H m ■ ^HiH fo'^mmm H it 1^ H Fig. 14. — Carl Zp:krahn. 36 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC the second jubilee. He conducted in other cities, even in the far West. When he completed his fortieth year of service with the Handel and Haydn Society he was given a benefit, which was a triumph such as few musicians are ever accorded. Thousands of dollars poured in at the box-office; a gold medal studded with diamonds was given him by the society; floral offerings in incredible pro- fusion came from the public. It was New England's outpouring of gratitude for nearly a half-century of loyal service to art. " Elijah " was the oratorio given at this concert. Mr. Zerrahn was exactly the man for his time and place ; he was not of the rank of a Thomas or a Seidl, but his sure and decisive beat was firm as a rock, and bred confidence even in the amateur singer. His unfailing good humor, his painstaking explanations, made him the idol of all his choruses. He was the best possible leader for the transition period of American chorus and orchestral music, and one of the most important factors in their advance. The great service to American music rendered by this society has not been limited to the mere performance of large classical works during a period when America was yet semi-barbaric in the art; it has also published oratorios and collections of music that were far in advance of the music described in our first chapter. The best of the collections was made by Dr. Lowell Mason (Fig. 15), a man who stands as the chief link between the early American composers and the school of the present — if it can be called a school. Dr. Lowell Mason (the degree was conferred by the University of New York) was born at Medfield,* Massachusetts, January 8, 1 792. His youth was spent in Savannah, Georgia, where he became a clerk in a banking house. He pursued music as an avocation, and found a good instructor in the person of F. L. Abel, who opened to him the field of original composition. The first results of this were revealed in a compilation of sacred music, which contained many of his own works. The manuscript was offered unavailingly to publishers in Philadelphia and in Boston. Fortunately for our musical advancement it finally secured the attention of the great musical society of America, and by its committee was submitted to ' Baker, " Biographical Dictionary of Musicians," misstates tlie birthplace as " Boston." FIG. 15. — DR. LOWELL MASON. EARLY MUSICAL ORGANIZATIONS 39 Dr. G. K. Jackson, the severest critic in Boston. Dr. Jackson approved most heartily of the work, and added a few of his own compositions to it. Thus enlarged, it was issued as "The Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music, harmonized for Three or Four Voices, with figured Bass, for Organ and Pianoforte." Mason's name was omitted from the publication at his own request, which he thus explains : — " I was then a bank officer in Savannah, and did not wish to be known as a musical man, as I had not the least thought of ever making music a profession." President Winchester, of the Handel and Haydn, sold the copy- right for the young man. Mason went back to Savannah with prob- ably ^500 in his pocket as the preliminary result of his Boston visit. Edition followed edition, and at the end of five years the book had yielded a profit of more than $4000. On realizing this success Mason determined to accept an invitation to come to Boston and enter upon a musical career. This was in 1826. He was made an honorary member of the Handel and Haydn, but declined to accept this, and entered the ranks as an active member. He had been invited to come to Boston by President Winchester and other musical friends and was guaranteed an income of $2000 a year. He was also appointed, by the influence of these friends, director of rnusic at the Hanover, Green, and Park Street churches, to alternate six months with each congregation. Finally he made a permanent arrangement with the Bowdoin Street Church, and gave up the guarantee, but again friendly influence stepped in and procured for him the position of teller at the American Bank. It has been already stated that in 1827 Lowell Mason became president and conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society. It was the beginning of a career that was to win for him the title of " the father of American church music." Although this may seem rather a bold claim it is not too much under the circumstances. Mason might have been in the average ranks of musicianship had he lived in Europe; in America he was well in advance of his surround- ings. It was not too high praise (in spite of Mason's very simple style) when Dr. Jackson wrote of his song collection : " It is much the best book I have seen published in this country, and I do not 40 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC hesitate to give it my most decided approbation," or that the great contrapuntist, Hauptmann, should say that the harmonies of the tunes were dignified and church-Hke, and that the counterpoint was good, plain, singable, and melodious. Charles C. Perkins gives a few of the reasons why Lowell Mason was the very man to lead American music as it then existed. He says: — " First and foremost, he was not so very much superior to the members as to be unreasonably impatient at their shortcomings. Second, he was a born teacher, who, by hard work, had fitted himself to give instruction in singing. Third, he was one of themselves, a plain, self-made man, who could understand them and be understood of them." ' Dr. Mason resided in Bostonfrom 1826 until 1851, when he removed to New York. Not only Boston benefited directly by this enthusiastic teacher's instruction, but he was constantly travelling to other societies in distant cities, and helping their work. He had a notable class at North Reading, Massachusetts ; and he went, in his later years, as far as Rochester, New York, where he trained a chorus of five hundred voices, many of them teachers, and some of them coming long distances to study under him. Before 1840 he had developed his idea of " Teachers' Conventions " and, as in these he had representatives from many different states, he made musical missionaries for almost the entire country. He left behind him no less than fifty volumes of musical collections, instruction books, and manuals. Dr. Mason married Miss Abigail Gregory in 181 7, and had four sons, all of whom became prominent in American musical life. Two were founders of the American organ manufactory of Mason & Hamlin, and one of the quartette was Dr. William Mason, of whom more hereafter. Lowell Mason died at " Silverspring " (his residence at Orange, New Jersey), August 11, 1872, bequeathing his great musical library, much of which had been collected abroad, to Yale College. 1 " History of the Handel and Haydn Society," Vol. I, No. 2, p. 95. CHAPTER III INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC AND AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries instrumental music was by no means so common as vocal music. It was much oftener heard in Baltimore, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and New York than it was in any part of New England, for in the last-named locality there was still a prejudice against it as being frivolous and allied to immorality. Yet even New England had a few instrumental enthu- siasts. Allusion has already been made to the organ-playing that took place in the house of Mr. Brattle. In Judge Sewall's home there was virginal-playing in the seventeenth century. A note in the famous Sewall Diary (December i, 1699) shows that a "Mr. Hiller" either sold or repaired these instruments, in Boston, at that time. Regarding the class of compositions performed in America upon spinets and virginals, perhaps the less said the better. In the last half of the seventeenth century there was a ceaseless succession of marches and "battle-pieces" written for the spinets.' The taste of London, rather than that of France or Germany, was followed by the colonies, and even the fingering used in England (" x, i, 2, 3, 4," for the five fingers) was so thoroughly assimilated, that it to-day bears the name of " American fingering." In the eighteenth century we find many advertisements of horns, flutes, clarinets, violins, and trombones, a proof that band-playing ^ The virginals and spinets were of much less compass than the piano (only from three to four octaves), and differed from that instrument in having jacks instead of hammers. In- stead of the string being struck, as it is in the piano, the jack was provided with a little spur of goose-quill which plucked the thin wire almost as a mandolin-player plucks his string with his "pick." There was, therefore, a constant staccato eifect produced upon these instruments. No shading was possible, all notes having the same power and quality. The harpsichord (also used in America at this time) was a larger and more powerful instrument of the same general mechanism. 41 42 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC was beginning to be popular,^ and in 1773 J. Flagg established a band in Boston. Mr. Henry M. Brooks, a reliable antiquarian, in his " Olden- Time Music," states that the earliest reference to music that he has been able to discover in the advertisements of the American news- papers, is in the Newport (Rhode Island) Mermry of December 19, 1 758, which runs : — " Any person who plays well on a violin, on application to the printer hereof, may be informed where he will meet with proper encouragement." Naturally enough, in the warlike times of the eighteenth century, the fife became a favorite instrument. Music stores did not exist, and an advertisement in the journal above quoted, in 1766, announced that Abraham Remsen " sells sewing-materials, jewelry, dress goods, violins, wash-balls, frying-pans, Liverpool ale, etc." In the first concert advertised in a Boston paper {Postboy, of February 2, 1761) two French horns were used in addition to the harpsichord. By 1792 we find the "Piano Forte" announced in some of the public concerts. Music teachers began advertising for pupils in the eighteenth century. Their terms were not very high; the best received, for lessons given at the residence of their pupils, was an "entrance fee " of ^5 and ^i a lesson thereafter. But many were content with half of this fee. That these pioneers in teaching were not extremely prosperous is shown by the fact that they not only tried to teach half a dozen other instruments, but also offered to instruct in drawing, languages, dancing, and (a good proof of the scarcity of instruments) they allowed their pupils, for a slight additional fee, the use of their piano for the purpose of practising. 'The manufacture of instruments began in America in the last half of the eighteenth century. Philadelphia and New York had instrument-makers and repairers at that time, and Samuel Blyth, in Salem, made several spinets for which he received from ^15 to ^20 each. According to the Boston Gazette, Mr. John Harris, of Boston, was 1 At the beginning of the nineteenth century tlie West Point Band was held to be the best in the country. It consisted of five clarinets, two flutes, two horns, one bassoon, one trumpet, one trombone, one bugle, and one drum. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC AND AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS 43 the first spinet-maker in America, a country which now leads the world in the manufacture of pianos. The Gazette of September 18, 1 769, says : — " It is with pleasure we inform the public That a few days since was shipped for Newport a very curious Spinnet, being ,the first ever made in America, the performance of the ingenious Mr. John Harris, of Boston. (Son of the late Mr. Joseph Harris, of London, Harpsichord and Spinnet maker) and in every respect does Honour to that Artist, who now carries on Business at his House, a few doors Northward of Dr. Clark's, North end of Boston." Before this date, however, the first American organ had been built (in 1745) in Boston, by Edward Bromfield, Jr. He had intended giving to this instrument twelve hundred pipes, but died, at the early age of twenty-three, before it was entirely completed. In this case the builder was an amateur, and the organ seems never to have been used in any church. Thomas Johnstone, of Boston, also built jaractical church organs in 1752 and 1754. Music stores began to appear with the earliest years of the nine- teenth century. Gottlieb Graupner had a musical establishment at No. 6 Franklin Street, the two sons of Dr. G. K. Jackson, on Mar- ket Street, and there was also the " Franklin Music Warehouse " on Milk Street, No. 2. At this latter warehouse some of the earliest upright pianos manufactured in this country were made. From 1813 to 1819 this company made over fifty upright pianos and twenty organs, some of large size. Square pianofortes had been made at an earlier time in the United States. Who made the first American piano.? That is still a mooted question. The statement has been made that John Behrent,^ a native of Philadelphia, constructed one in 1774. New York claims to have had piano-makers as early as 1785. It is a matter of record that Benjamin Crehorne, of Milton, Massachusetts, in 1803, made 1 In Scliarf and Westcott's "History of Philadelphia" we read (Vol. II, p. 879) — "The first piano, in all probability, that was built in this country, was made by John Behrent, in Third Street (opposite Coates' burying-ground, below Brown Street). He advertised in 1775 that he had 'just finished an extraordinary instrument by the name of the Pianoforte, made of mahogany, being of the nature of a Harpsichord, with hammers and several changes.' " The same work further states (Vol. Ill, p. 2289) that James Julian, in 1785, advertised ■ — '' The great American Pianoforte of his own invention.'' 44 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC an instrument which is claimed to have been the first authenticated American piano. In the Columbian Centinel oi July 30, 1806, there is an advertisement announcing " American Piano Fortes " (as well as English ones) for sale. It is certain that the first piano manu- facture of any importance took place in and around Boston. It may be mentioned, in passing, that the Franklin Music Ware- house published a musical journal, the first of its kind. This was entitled the Euterpeiad (Fig. 16), and was begun in 1820. It gives a good insight into the taste, or lack of it, that guided music in America at this time. " The Waterloo March," " Lord Welling- ton's Grand March," " Lord Wellington's Trumpet March," " The Cobourg Trumpet March," " The Battle of New Orleans," the time- honored " Washington's March," and other bombastic pieces which g /-jRv ml OM, MUSICAL INTELLIGENCEM, No. 1.] BOSTON, SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1S21. [Vol. II. Fig. i6. — Heading of an Early Musical Journal. gave a maximum of noise with a minimum of difficulty, were in con- stant demand. Ritter ' gives an account of the mobbing of a band which attempted to play a movement of a Haydn symphony in New York at the beginning of the nineteenth century. After loud calls for "Washington's March" and "Yankee Doodle" the gallery began bombarding the classical musicians with eggs and vegetables. It was about this time that the pioneer of American piano-build- ing, Jonas Chickering (Fig. 17), came to Boston. He was born at New Ipswich, New Hampshire, in April, 1798 ; in this town he worked as apprentice to a cabinet-maker named John Gould. When the single piano of New Ipswich got out of order, young Chickering boldly offered to try and repair it.^ This he succeeded in doing, and 1 "Music in America," p. 135. ^ Tlie instrument was a London piano made by Cliristopher Ganer and originally used by the Princess Amelia, daughter of George III. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC AND AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS 45 his experiments with the instrument aroused that interest in piano construction which ended only with his Hfe. At about twenty years of age he came to Boston with his mechanical and musical abilities, and very little else. He joined the Park Street Church, and sang in its choir. He also joined the Handel and Haydn Society in 1818, and afterwards became its conductor and president. He was suffi- ciently advanced in vocal work to sing the solo part of David in Neukomm's oratorio of that name. Very soon after arriving in Boston the youth obtained employment with Mr. John Osborne, then the only piano-manufacturer in the city, and in five years he had mas- tered all the details of the business and made many improvements in piano construction. About 1820 Chickering associated himself with James Stewart, a Scotchman, who, two years later, returned to England. In 1823 Chickering began business on his own account. The statement that is frequently made, that he manufactured the first American upright pianos, may be doubted on the authority of numerous advertisements in the Boston papers of 1819-20;^ but it is certain that in 1830 he began the regular manufacture of such instruments, of a much better design and quality than had existed before that time. Chickering soon associated himself with a sea-faring partner. Captain John Mackay. This was of great advantage to both par- ties, for Mackay would often sail to South America with pianos and bring back cargoes of the precious woods used in their construction, thus making a profit on both trips. The firm of Chickering & Mac- kay came to an end when the captain, in 1841, having determined that this should be his last sea venture, sailed away from Boston, and never was heard of more. Chickering subsequently bought out the son, and thereafter kept the business in his own family. In 1837 Chickering patented the first practical casting of a full iron frame to resist the tremendous tension of the modern piano without constantly allowing the wires to deflect from pitch. This and other important inventions patented in 1843 and in 1845 made the American piano the most durable in the world. The maker was ' In the Palladium there is a letter from the Franldin Music Warehouse, dated Feb. 23, 1819, which states that this company had made above fifty upright pianofortes from the year 1 8 13 to that time. 46 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC quite unspoiled by his prosperity, and remained to the end of his days a genial and even jovial nature, caring little for formality or for elegance of dress, always ready to go either to the workman's bench or to any meeting that promised advancement for his city. He died December 8, 1853. Having now traced the beginnings of piano music and manufac- ture in America, it is necessary to turn back a half-century and study the birth of orchestral music. Again we are obliged to follow its first steps in Boston, for that city had the good fortune to possess the first orchestral director and the first permanent orchestra of this country. In 1787 there was, in a Hanoverian regiment in Germany, a very good oboe-player named Gottlieb Graupner. Leaving bis regiment with an honorable discharge, in 1788, this musician settled in London. Three years later Haydn came to that metropolis, and his manager, Salamon, brought together the largest symphony orchestra that the world had possessed up to that time. In this orchestra was the German oboe-player. He seems to have been a rolling stone, for soon after the London experience he came to Prince Edward's Island on this side of the Atlantic. In 1797, he was in Charleston, South Carolina, and married a vocalist there. The next year he settled in a more musical city, — with only a half-dozen professional musicians, — and his remaining years were devoted to carrying the orchestral banner in Boston. Gottlieb Graupner is the father of American orchestral music. He had scarcely arrived in Boston when he set about forming the first orchestra that this country possessed. He was fortunately a good all-round musician, and could play the contrabass, the piano, and the clarinet, as well as the oboe. Although he found but few professionals in Boston, he was fortunate in discovering a number of musical enthusiasts who worked with more than professional ardor. The Russian consul, Alexi Eustaphieve, entered into the orchestral scheme that Graupner unfolded, most heartily. Filippo Trajetta, who came to Boston in 1 799, was probably entirely devoted to the vocal art, and could not assist the new undertaking during the short time that he remained there. Mr. Mallet, although a vocalist, was able to play contrabass ; Mr. Schaffer was a per- former upon the violoncello ; Mr. Granger was a good clarinettist ; FIG. 1 7. — JONAS CHICKERING. From the painting in possession of Ciiiclcering & Sons. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC AND AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS 49 Signer Ostinelli was an excellent performer, and became first violinist of the orchestra. These were the professionals, but, as intimated, some amateurs imitated the example of Mr. Eustaphieve, and joined the organization. In a little hall hired by Graupner, but afterwards in Pythian Hall in Pond (now Bedford) Street, the society met every Saturday night for social and musical purposes. In 182 1 this society was still existing, as witness the following notice from the Euterpeiad of October 27 of that year. " The Phil-harmonic Society " This nursery of Instrumental music opened their season on Saturday evening last at a new Hall lately erected in Orange street, hereafter to be denominated The Pantheon ; it is commodious in its arrangements, with ante-rooms, &c. and affords a convenience suitable to the objects contemplated by the Phil-harmonic Society ; it is 72 feet in length by 22 in width, is well lighted, and is proved to be an eligible Music Hall. " The Concerts of this Society are chiefly instrumental ; the music is always heard with attention and oft times delight. The orchestra consists of nearly all the gentlemen of the profession in town, and the members are principally amateurs both vocal and instrumental ; its support is derived from an annual assessment of ten dollars upon its members, who gain admission by ballot. The public Concerts are always fully attended by a large assemblage of ladies and gentle- men, introduced by members who possess certain privileges of admission on public nights. The following gentlemen compose the officers of the Society for the year ensuing. G. Graupner, President. B. P. TiLDEN, Vice-President. M. S. Parker, Treasurer. Wm. Coffin, Jr., Secretary. John Dodd, Wm. Rowson, Thomas Granger, \ Trustees. Amasa Winchester, Eben. Frothingham, CO THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Mr. Graupner was president of the society as long as it existed. The orchestra was certainly in existence before the Handel and Haydn Society began its career; it was probably founded in 1810 or earlier. It numbered from ten to a dozen members, and confined its work to the simpler fields of classical music. The symphonies of Gyrowetz, entirely obsolete to-day, were favorite pabulum for the struggling musicians. Occasionally Graupner would insist upon trying a Haydn symphony; his enthusiasm for that master knew no bounds. At this early epoch Boston was far in advance of New York in having an oboe. A German musician writes from New York, in 1828 — "only one oboeist exists in North America, and he is said to live in Baltimore " (? Boston). In a review of Der Freischiitz, printed in New York in 1830, the critic writes : — " The overture was well played : an addition was made to the orchestra- of two horns and a clarinet, the latter to supply the place of an instrument but little known in America, yet essential to the compositions of Weber and Rossini ; we allude to the hautboy." And another reviewer writes, in 1831, regarding an orchestral concert : — " The band, led by Mr. Hill, contained some individual talents of a high order ; but they played by no means together. Mr. Norton performed a concerto on the trumpet with good effect, and Mrs. Thorn on the harp has the caliber of an excellent amateur. We should, however, be inclined to think her a great acquisition to the city as a teacher of that refined and ladylike instrument. The overture to ' Guillaume Tell ' we have never heard executed faith- fully in this city, owing to the want of instruments — six violoncelli being an impossibility, and a corno inglese with hautboys not having been imported." The oboe was not permanently in a New York orchestra until 1839. A reviewer speaks of the English horn as a novelty, in May, 1843, saying: — " Signor Paggi, whose astonishing performances on the oboe created such a sensation at Nagel's concert last week, will, previous to his departure for Europe, afford our citizens an opportunity of hearing him once more on his new and favorite instrument. He will also }3erform a solo on the English horn — a musical novelty — INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC AND AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS 51 never yet attempted in public on this side of the Atlantic. Signor Paggi will be assisted at his concert by Rapetti and other eminent professors." As Graupner himself played the oboe (sometimes also the con- trabass) part, it is natural to suppose that there was no real conduct- ino; in our sense of the word. But Boston was not behind London in this matter, for Spohr, at about this time, thus describes the method of leadership in England: — " This particularly excited my astonishment, for, considering the way in which orchestras are led in England, it must be extremely difficult to carry the whole through cor- rectly. According to old custom (for the English are always loath to relinquish an old custom even when they know a better), the person presiding at the pianoforte accompanies from the score, and takes no part in the direction of the orchestra. On the contrary, the first violin, who may be properly called the leader, has merely the part of the first violin placed before him, and therefore it is impossible that he can either observe the introduc- tion of the wind instruments, or see that the whole be accurately performed. He does not even mark the time with his bow, a precaution which seems indispensably necessary in an orchestra arranged on so unconnected a plan, but merely executes his part as the rest of the performers do. It is not therefore surprising that failures should occasionally arise, particularly in the forte passages — a circumstance which can never happen wdien the time is marked visibly, but not audibly." Such conducting was employed in England with an orchestra of sixty-six performers! It is therefore extremely probable that our own first orchestra went through its scores almost undirected.^ 1 Conducting with a baton be?an in Boston in 1843. if we may trust the official report of the Academy of Music, of that year, which congratulates the society upon having its orchestra led for the first time, by a conductor (George J. Webb) with a baton, who was not obliged to play in the orchestra, but could devote his entire attention to the ensemble effects. It may be added that conducting with a baton cannot be traced, even in Germany, before 1801. Weber first employed it in Dresden in 1817, and Spohr in London in 1820. Fig. iS. — Georg IIenschel. 52 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Graupner was active in many other musical ways, outside of the Philharmonic Orchestra, for he appeared in miscellaneous con- certs, he gave lessons, he had a music store and music-printing establishment on Franklin Street, and seems to have been the most active musical influence in old Boston. It must be noticed that the foreign influence was beginning to tell in our musical affairs, and that a few musicians from abroad now settled, more or less perma- nently^ in Boston. In addition to Graupner one can mention M. Pick, who arrived in 1792, M. Mallet, who was organist of Dr. Kirk- land's church and was flnally partner of Graupner (he was here as early as 1793), and Hans Gram, who, in 1793, was the organist at the Brattle Church. Several French refugees, with more or less musical ability, were forced to fly to America because of the Revolution in their country. As for Signor Trajetta's influence, it was more exerted in New York than in Boston, as we shall see later. Mr. John S. Dwight gives the date of the last concert of the Philharmonic Orchestra as November 24, 1824. Sixteen years after this, an orchestra of much larger dimensions was founded in Boston through the instrumentality of the Academy of Music, the first great school of music founded in America. Of the school we shall speak in its proper place ; to follow, at present, our orchestral story, we may state that in 1840 the Academy founded a large orchestra which introduced Beethoven's symphonies to a New England audience, the First and the Fifth symphonies being given during the initial year of this orchestra's existence. The orchestra existed for seven years, and repeatedly performed great works by Beethoven and other classical composers. It consisted of from twenty-five to forty performers, and many of these were amateurs. It had an especial predilection for overtures, and these preponder- ated heavily over the symphonies in its programmes. Although Boston took the lead in the matter of a permanent orchestra, it is quite possible that sporadic organizations existed in other American cities contemporaneously with Graupner's associa- tion. Philadelphia, for example, long ago attracted a German popu- lation, among whom were numerous musicians. There is record of several musicians from Hamburg having formed a band in that city INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC AND AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS 53 as early as 1783, but it seems not to have been anything more than a temporary money-making scheme. In 1820, however, there was started in Philadelphia an associa- tion that ought to have had as great an influence as any in the country, but for lack of public support it remained circumscribed in its influence. This was the Musical Fund Society, which was begun February 20, 1820, to assist indigent professional members and to diffuse a musical knowledge in the city. It was broader in its scope than the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, for it gave both secular and sacred music, it founded a school, it built a music hall, and it combined instrumental and vocal music in its concerts. At its first concert, given April 24, 1821, not only Handel and Graun choruses were given, but Beethoven's First Symphony was played, probably for the first time in America. It also gave Haydn's " Creation " in 1821, two years after the first per- formance by the Handel and Haydn Society. The society con- tinued to give concerts until 1857. New York was not so advanced in orchestral matters. There was an instrumental organization, called the " Euterpean Society," founded in 1799, which gave one concert each year, but it exerted no great influence, although it existed for about thirty years. There were strange instrumental concerts given, in the early part of the nineteenth century, in the metropolis. The following programme ' may show what kind of " programme-music " our forefathers de- lighted in. Tuesday, March 23, 1802 Concert and Ball at LowelPs Hotel, Broadway Act I Grand sinfonie characteristic of the peace with the French Republic, composed by the celebrated Wranizsky, consisting of ten descriptive movements, viz. : No. i. The Revolution. 2. March of the English. 3. March of the Austrians and Prussians. 4. Procession and Death of Louis XVI. 5. Funeral March. 6. March of the English. 7. March of the Allies. 8. Tumult of a Battle. 9. Negotiations for Peace. 10. Joyful exclamations for that happy event. Song Mr. Fox Concerto, piano Mr. Gilfert (Lately from Europe.) 1 Quoted from the New York Musical Courier, National edition, third section. 54 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Song ^^- Jefferson Concerto, violin Mr. Hewitt Song Concerto, clarinet, composed and performed by Mr. Gautier. Miss Brett Act II Overture Song Catch, Poor Thomas Day Messrs. Wilson, Jefferson and Tyler. Song , . Pleyel , Mr. Tyler Mr. Wilson Concerto, violoncello Mr. Nicolai, Jr. gi-,jj- ^ -t ^ - ^ U hon ni he 1 i ge i ge i ge hon ni he 1 etc. '^^ • ^ r -1 F -1 ' 1 1 "1 -V -V -V -y ^ ^v - ye 1 ye 1 ye ! ye I The words are merely " I go " endlessly repeated. ye I ye I ye 1 Alletrro tnolto. — • — « — *— F«--» — • — •- -P- =P=p: P=i= rpr=^ v=^r- Ho wa he yas te - e ho - o na yo o i nui ka i ho yo ri shi vi :t- d= ZfT a- --=f F=r=5tF=f= I 1 F F til-F- F- '^^ tan no he he ye ye he ye he ye-e he ye he ye ye ye ye ye ye. The words are — " Friends — Rocks, — always firm. — Forward." THE FOLK-MUSIC OF AMERICA 133 Far more advanced is the folk-song that has grown up around Southern plantation life. Here we find melody, emotion that we can readily understand, and sometimes simple harmony, — in fact all the elements that constitute the power of folk-music in the old world. The chief instrument of the plantation, the banjo, is also much more advanced than any instrument which we find used by the Indians. It has been charged, however, against the negro music of the South, that it is not American at all, but African. To this one may reply that although the melodies have been brought forth by Africans, or Afro-Americans, the music is distinctly a result of American surroundings. The African in his native land never brought forth anything akin to the songs of the plantation. It was the life of the cotton-field, the cabin, and the river, that gave birth to these expressive musical numbers, and as music is most frequently the child of sorrow, the slave life speaks its melancholy in some of these songs. The ecstatic religious vein, far removed from African music, also is heard in many of the measures. Many of the songs are easily accessible in different collections, and one need only allude to the tenderness of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," or the plaintiveness of " Nobody knows de Trubble I've Seen," as examples of the sorrow and religion combined in this music. Some of the camp-meeting songs are less dignified than these, but their improvisational style, their strong rhythm, their feverish ecstasy, and their strong dramatic action, carry us back to a remote past, being strongly akin to the song of Deborah and Barak, or that of Miriam, in the Scriptures. There is a very close analogy between the slave music in its religious phases and the music of the Bible.^ Sometimes we find the sound held superior to the sense, by the dusky singers, as when they give the refrain of " Jews, screws, defidum " to one of these camp-meeting songs, utterly unconscious of the original state of the poetry, — "Jews crucified him," — but these are after all only exceptions, the poetry, even when illiterate, being often earnest and genuine. Here, then, is the true folk-song of the United States, if it pos- sesses any at all. It is unfortunate that a pseudo-plantation school 1 See Elson's "Curiosities of Music," Chap. II ; "Hebrew Music." 134 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC of composition has been built upon this foundation, and pushed so far that it has wearied many. Unluckily most people imagine this false vein to be derived from the negro music of the South. " Rag- time " {i.e. " ragged time " ) is the euphonious epithet applied to this temporary apparition. The plantation music sometimes employs syncopation, but it certainly does not suffer from such a St. Vitus's dance as is portrayed in the compositions of this modern class. This rubbish must be cleared away before a true use can be made of the plantation music as a folk-song foundation. There have, however, been some remarkable applications of the negro music in classical forms. Mr. G. W. Chadwick, in the Scherzo of his second symphony, has made use of this native material, and Antonin Dvorak has built an entire symphony and considerable chamber music upon it. It has been elaborated as folk-song, with a beautiful simplicity and directness, by Foster, who is as truly the folk-song genius of America as Weber or Silcher have been of Germany. Stephen Collins Foster (Fig. 40), although born in the North, came to his Southern instincts by inheritance, for his father emi- grated to Lawrenceburg (now a district in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania) from Virginia. In this town the boy was born on a most appropriate date, July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of American independence, while a band „ „ ^ was playing " The Star-span- FiG. 39. — OjiBWAY Drums. r ^ & r From " Report of Bureau of Ethnology." g^^d Banner " in the WOodcd grounds of his father's estate. The father had been a prosperous merchant in Virginia, and was the most prominent citizen of the Pennsylvania town in which he subsequently settled.^ His mother was Eliza Clayland Tomlinson, a descendant of one of the oldest families of Maryland, the Clay- lands, and it was from her that Foster inherited his keen artistic tastes. There was something of foreign blood also in Foster's veins, 1 The senior Foster actually laid out Lawrenceburg, which he at first intended to call Fosterville, but afterwards named in honor of Captain Lawrence. THE FOLK-MUSIC OF AMERICA 135 for his great-grandfather was an Irishman, a citizen of Londonderry, who emigrated to America early in the eighteenth century. The father was musical in some degree, playing upon the violin, but only in the family circle. The mother was poetic and of most refined and cultured nature. In 1840 Foster was sent to Athens (Pennsylvania) Academy, and in 1 84 1 to Jefferson College, near his home. He had shown musi- cal taste from childhood, teaching himself the flageolet, and studying the works of such masters as Mozart and Weber. He was of an untrammelled nature, and much of his knowledge was self-acquired. He taught himself French and German, but he seems never to have been brilliant in the schoolroom. At Athens Academy he wrote out his first composition, a work for four flutes, entitled the "Tioga Waltz," and had the pleasure of hearing it performed at a public exercise of the school, the composer playing the first flute himself. In 1842 he published his first song, "Open thy Lattice, Love," in which, contrary to his subsequent custom, the words were not by him- self. He made a friend of Mr. Henry Kleber, a musician of Pitts- burg, and this artist, without becoming a regular teacher, helped him greatly by advice and by occasional correction of his manuscripts. Foster had a group of five friends (including his brother), young men, who met at his house twice a week to study singing under his direction, and in 1845-46 he composed many excellent folk-songs for this club, among them " Oh, Susannah " and " Old Uncle Ned," both true types of plantation music. About this time a minstrel troupe came to Pittsburg, and " Oh, Susannah " was submitted to them for approval. The song was performed publicly, and at once won such a success that Foster decided to make this style of composition his vocation. His friends desired him to study composition thoroughly, and his family were willing that he should do so, but he knew how little he had benefited by academic work, and feared that scientific study would only pervert his natural bent in song-creation. For a little while, at this period, he acted as bookkeeper for his brother at Cincinnati, and was not only pursuing his work in music and languages unaided, but was also teaching himself drawing and painting as well. He attended many negro camp-meetings to 1^6 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC study the style of singing in which he had become deeply inter- ested. As already intimated he wrote the words to all of his most successful songs, and his poetry is as natural and spontaneous as his music, forming one of the great charms of his works. As examples of Foster's most beautiful folk-songs we may men- tion " My Old Kentucky Home," " Massa's in de Cold, Cold Ground," " Old Uncle Ned," " Nellie Bly," and above all " The Old Folks at Home," or " Suwannee River," as it is often called. He wrote about i6o songs in all. " The Old Folks at Home," which may be called the chief American folk-song, sold very close to one million copies, and appeared in dozens of different arrangements; yet the composer received almost nothing for it. " Beautiful Dreamer," published in 1864, was Foster's last work. The charm of all his popular songs was their directness and pathos. The same tender melancholy that one finds in the actual songs of the planta- tion, such as " Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," or " Nobody knows de Trubble I've Seen," will be discovered in such a lament as " Massa's in de Cold, Cold Ground," or " My Old Kentucky Home." The utmost simplicity is in all of these songs, the harmonies seldom go beyond the three chief chords, yet when one tries to imitate this simplicity it is found to be most difficult to acquire. Some of the greatest composers might try for it in vain. In more elaborate work Foster was not so successful. Such a love-song as " Come where my Love lies dreaming " shows fluency of melody, but by no means compares in rank with the charming spontaneity which is to be found in the composer's other works. Ritter, in his " Music in America," while paying a touching tribute to Foster's memory, falls into the error of stating that Foster's "Ellen Bayne"^ (he misprints it "Ellen Boyne ") was the original melody of " John Brown's Body," and is, unfortunately, followed in this misstatement by other writers. " Ellen Bayne," while possess- ing the same metrical structure as " Glory Hallelujah," is not the same melody, and is not nearly as good a marching tune as the latter. One can find a much closer resemblance between Foster's " Willie, we have missed you " and the old Scottish " Jock 0' Hazeldean " than between these two songs. ^ Ritter also omits all mention of Foster's chief song, " The Old Folks at Home." THE FOLK-MUSIC OF AMERICA 137 If the chief American folk-song writer had little musicar educa- tion, he possessed glorious poetical instincts. He lived unhonored and unrecognized, he died poor, he was one of the gentlest and sweetest of natures ; but he was too convivial and too easily led by his companions. His love for his parents was pathetic in its intensity, and his reverence for the memory of his mother, whom he idolized in life, bordered upon mania. His business abilities were about on a par with those of Schubert, and like that composer he would rush his manuscript to the publisher almost before the ink had dried. Many of his later songs were, therefore, "pot- boilers " of the most pro- nounced type. Yet some publishers paid Foster larger royalties than greater com- posers have received. Pond & Co., of New York, sent him checks aggregating thousands of dollars, for royalties, during one part of his career. His later years were, however, most pathetic and painful. Foster married, in 1854, Miss Jennie McDowell, a lady of good family and of fine character. The union was unfortunate ; Foster's irregular habits were growing upon him, an-d he was the last man in the world to biiild up a home. A separation was bound to ensue, which was, however, not total, for correspondence was kept up, and the wife hastened to New York when Foster died there. A pathetic incident is told of his receiving a picture of his little daughter, who lived with the mother. He opened the envelope containing it, upon the street, and burst out weeping, bitterly deploring the fate that pre- vented him from living with those he loved, and who loved him. The New York days were Bohemian enough, in all conscience. Fig. 40. — Stephen C. Foster. 138 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Foster's appearance was not unlike that of a tramp, during much of this time ; a shabby coat, a cheap glazed cap, a scar upon his upper lip, one would scarcely imagine this to be the chief folk-song com- poser on this side of the Atlantic. He had a great love for poetry, and it is not surprising to learn that Poe was his favorite poet. He could recite pages upon pages of this author from memory, and his declamation evinced a keen appreciation of the subtleties of the works. He had another and very different source of inspiration ; he was always incited to com- position by a trip in one of the Broadway stages, and would often ride up and down the great thoroughfare in one of these public vehicles, thinking of new melodies as he journeyed. Spite of the amount of money that he received during these years, his was a hand-to-mouth existence, and he and his friend George Cooper, the poet, would often concoct a song in the morning, sell it at noon, and not be a penny the richer by night. The end came suddenly. He was staying at the American House, one of the most inexpensive of lodging-places, and there one night he fell (while in his room) and cut himself severely. An artery was severed, and he was too faint to summon assistance. By the time he was discovered he had lost so much blood that there was no hope of recovery. In the common ward of a New York hospital this genius died. Unidentified at first, his body was taken to the morgue, but the speedy advent of friends pre- vented its being buried in the potter's field. The accident occurred January 10, 1864, and Foster's death took place three days later, he being at that time only thirty-three years old. He was buried at Pittsburg, beside the father and mother whom he had loved so dearly. At his grave a band played " Come where my Love lies dreaming " and " The Old Folks at Home," — a most fitting requiem. His daughter was his only descendant. One cannot deny that Foster could have attained to higher paths in art, and that dissipation obscured his genius somewhat, in later years; and yet one cannot help feeling the deepest sympathy with this wild-brier rose of music, growing all by itself, a product of the soil, not of the hot-house. The personality of Foster was attractive, but not impressive ; he THE FOLK-MUSIC OF AMERICA 1 39 was of slight form and under the middle height ; his manner and the expression of his countenance was shy and diffident; he had soft and most expressive dark eyes (his most characteristic feature) and a high forehead. Had he been of taller stature, he would have been of a distinctly Southern type. He was courageous, yet gentle, and kind-hearted in a superlative degree. In thus raising the curtain upon the unhappy life of Foster, the most typical of all American song-composers, we feel that the reader will perceive that one may not here apply an ordinary standard of judgment ; that censure must be mute. It was said of Burns that "the light that led astray was light from Heaven," and surely this gentle, sensitive, and diffident nature caught something of the celes- tial gleam. The busy American life was not a pleasant environ- ment for such a poet. He should have lived the dreamy, lazy life of the Southern plantation, of which he has given us such graphic pictures. Foster's is the most pathetic story of American music, the tale of a tortured and troubled career, extinguished in misery. CHAPTER VII NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC MUSIC The patriotic songs of a nation, those which are generally called " national anthems," are often closely intertwined with history, and most frequently spring up spontaneously, in response to some urgent need. Very seldom is a national song deliberately thought out and created according to a preconceived plan, and still more rarely are the melodies borrowed from some other nation. As exceptions to the above rule one may men- The New and Favourite . T T"RTrT? T^V ^r^TVr^ *^°'^ ^^^ Austrian national L.ll>£.i\XI i^V^INO-, hymn, which was composed In FREEDOM we're Boi-n. &e. , tt i • ii-i • • Neatly eng-raved on Copper-plate, the by Haydn m deliberate imi- fizcofhalfajheet of Paper, tation of England's powerful Set to MUSIC for the VOICE, anthem, — " God save the And to which is alfo added, , A Set of NOTES adapted to the King, — and the use of the GERMAN FLUTEand VIOLIN, melody of the latter anthem as hjuft publidied and to be SOLD at the national music by Germany. LONJ)OtJBook-floie,Kmg.Jlreet,BoJion^ America borrowed the Price Sixpence Lawful fingle, and „ ,. , ^ , ,, FourShjl LINGS Lawful^ the dozca. English tune and many others Fig. 41. -Advertisement OF "Liberty Song." during the evolution of itS patriotic music. Having no good composers during the stirring times of the Revolution or the War of 18 1 2, this country was obliged to appropriate to its own use the tunes of other nations. We shall therefore find, in the course of this chapter, that America possesses very few national tunes of its own, and that our patriotic music is almost wholly an imported article, so far as its melodies are concerned. The earliest patriotic song in America that we have been able to unearth is a " liberty song " that was advertised in the Boston Chronicle, of October 16, 1768 (Fig. 41). The words were by Mrs. 140 NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC MUSIC 14 1 Mercy Warren, wife of General James Warren, of Plymouth, Mas- sachusetts, and possibly the music was her own. If this was the case, then the " Liberty Song " was probably the first native Ameri- can composition. The words of this ante-Revolutionary production ran as follows : — " Come join hand in hand, brave Americans all, And rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty's call ; No tyrannous arts shall suppress your just claim, Or stain with dishonor America's name. Cho7-us. " In freedom we're born, and in freedom we'll live ; Our purses are ready ; Steady, friends, steady ! Not as slaves, but as freemen, our money we'll give. " Our worthy forefathers, let's give them a cheer. To climates unknown did courageously steer ; Through oceans to deserts for freedom they came. And dying, bequeathed us their freedom and fame. Ckorus. " Their generous bosoms all dangers despised. So highly, so wisely, their birthrights they prized ; We'll keep what they gave, we will piously keep. Nor frustrate their toils on the land and the deep. Chorus. " The tree their own hands had to Liberty reared They lived to behold growing strong and revered ; With transport they cried, — 'Now our wishes we gain, For our children shall gather the fruits of our pain.' Chorus. " Swarms of placemen and pensioners soon will appear, Like locusts, deforming the charms of the year ; Suns vainly will rise, showers vainly descend, If we are to drudge for what others shall spend. Chorus. " Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all ; By uniting, we stand ; by dividing, we fall ; In so righteous a cause let us hope to succeed, For Heaven approves of each generous deed. Chorus. 142 Chorus, THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC " All ages shall speak with amaze and applause Of the courage we'll show in support of our laws ; To die we can bear, — but to serve we disdain ; For shame is to freemen more dreadful than pain. " This bumper I crown for our sovereign's health, And this for Britannia's glory and wealth ; That wealth and that glory immortal may be, If she is but just, and if we are but free. Chorus. " In freedom we're born, and in freedom we'll live ; Our purses are ready ; Steady, friends, steady ! Not as slaves, but as freemen, our money we'll give." Of the first edition of this song, as advertised above, we have been unable to find a copy. It was reprinted in an almanac during the ensuing year, but without harmony, and was probably published, and composed, merely as a melody, unless the music was bor- rowed from some foreign source. Its author, and composer (.?), Mrs. Warren, wrote many subsequent political pieces, and died at Plymouth in 1814. In 1770 a new version of the song was written and published in Bickerstaff's almanac, the title now being changed to " The Massa- chusetts Song of Liberty." The sentiments were now no longer so gracious toward the glory and wealth of Britannia, as the context will show : — " Come swallow your bumpers, ye Tories, and roar. That the sons of fair freedom are hampered once more ; But know that no cut-throats our spirits can tame, Nor a host of oppressors shall smother the flame. Chorus. " In freedom we're born, and, like sons of the brave, Will never surrender. But swear to defend her ; And scorn to survive, if unable to save." The music was as follows : — NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC MUSIC 143 #^ -t Come join hand hand, Brave A cans all, And i * ^=^ t^ rouse your bold hearts at fair Lib - er - ty's call. No ty ran-nousacts shall sup- '^^. _q_p * =Se press your just claim, Or stain with dis-hon - or A mer i ca's name. In gg.^ ^ * fez rprrii Free - dom we're born and in Free-dom we'll live. Our purs -as areread-yl l=S^ Z^TJ^l :S;-iC Stead-y, friends, stead-y 1 Not as slaves but as free men our mon - ey we'll give ! "Yankee Doodle" (Figs. 42, 44) antedated the above song, but not as an American patriotic work, for it was originally set as a song in derision of the Americans. The origin of the melody of this song is veiled in mystery. For a full account of all that has yet been unearthed regarding the tune, we refer the reader to " The National Music of America,'" but we may here state that the origin of the melody has not yet been discovered, although an old Dutch melody (a nursery song) bears a strong resemblance to the first part of the tune, and there is also a German street-song which has similarity to it. It was possibly an old English folk-dance, although this is rather surmised by its general characteristics than by any original yet discovered. The statements that it was sung in derision of Oliver Cromwell, that it is a Hungarian national melody, or that it is a Dutch harvest song, are not true. Equally fictitious is the assertion that the melody was sung to the words of " Lucy Locket lost her Pocket" during the reign of Charles II. The tune was first brought into prominence by an English sur- geon, Dr. Shuckburgh (the name has been misspelled in many ways), who was in Albany with either General Abercrombie or General Elson, "The National Music of America," Boston, 1889. 144 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Jlle^etlo. 9- fe i± i I sing U lys - ses and those chiefs Who ^- =t= ^p^ out of near a mil-lion So luck - i - ly their =1= :^^& -jg^^v^ ^^a =t=t: ba- con sav'd Be -fore the walls of II - ion. -i-J-i-J ;& •1 i; i=p i ;^ =s(= Yan - kee doo-- die, doo - die, doo, Black =5 3^ :l- ^ P^4^^^^^^^ ne-gro he get fum - bo; Andwhenyoucometo -!— i^-^ rpF ! ! I ll TT ^ ^^^g^^^^S our town We'll make you drunk with bum - bo. Fig. 42. — Old English Setting of "Yankee Doodle," 1788. Amherst, during the French-Cana- dian War, and either in 1755 or 1756 set words to the melody (giv- ing no clew as to whence he took the tune) in derision of the New England troops which were then moving toward Albany in very motley array. The Americans admired the tune although it was used in sarcasm against them not only by Dr. Shuckburgh, but by the British soldiers in Boston in the first years of the Revolution and the epoch immediately pre- ceding. It became the chief na- tional air of America during the latter part of the Revolution, a melody taken from the enemy. The most important tune, which was boldly appropriated from English sources very early in our national career, was " God save the King." The origin of this melody has also given rise to much contention ; for a full pres- entation of the facts of the case we refer the reader to Mr. W. H. Cummings's recent book on this topic.^ The following may be quoted from a review of this book : — " Dr. Cummings, who has de- voted some time to the study of the song, says that it was written by Dr. John Bull, who was born about 1563, was Gresham professor in 1596, and left England about * " God save the King,"' London, 1893. NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC MUSIC 145 130 THE AMERICAN SONG L. An ode for the fourth of JULY. ^If^ll^llll^p^^^El^i Come all ye Tons of fong, Pour the full found along m^mM^mB ^^:f:^:-z-xz-zzzzTBz Eztisz^sz; 161 3. It is not improbable that the air is one of those composed by him for the banquet given by the Merchant Tailors' Company to James I, on July 16, 1607, when the composer is said by a con- temporary chronicle to have performed upon a ' very rich pair of organs.' Or the air may have been com- posed for the Chapel Royal with the Latin words. There seems to be every probability that the tune as Bull composed it has un- dergone from time to time various changes, such as popular airs are likely to meet with. Who wrote the words is a matter not so easily discovered, and it is not certain that it is capable of exact settlement. Accord- ing to Dr. Cum- mings's book, it assuredly was not Ben Jonson, as some per- sons have argued. "'The first public performance of the song was not men- tioned for nearly a century and a half after it was written by Bull. This took place at the Drury Lane Theatre on September 30, 1745. A few weeks later a version of the song in the form of a trio by Dr. Arne was sung at Covent Garden, and it was referred to as " An old anthem that was sung at St. James's Chapel for James II, when the Prince of Orange was landed." L ,«L _.— *_«.—«., ..e.J.m—- , fyj4:E=EE:E:|:EEEE|:3J k:Ezt---xErEj3±:*z?z::i::i:f.izzz::z1 In joy ful ftrains ; Beneath thefe weflern flcies, Fig. 43a. — Early American Setting of "God save THE King." 146 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC See a new empire rife,Bur{ling with glad furprife i:*r^=:ft:iP- ZfZZZl gfeteeteS [fli;:i '"That the tune belongs to England is shown beyond dis- pute by this writer. The old charge that Bull merely took the tune from Lully is disproved by the fact that Lully was not born until five years after the death of Dr. Bull. "'The Dutch ver- sion of the hymn printed in 1763 is plainly traced to the English anthem. There were several Jacobite versions of the words, and in this fact is found all the ground for the state- ment that the tune is of Scotch origin.' " ^ As early as 1779 the melody was adapted to American use, a set of patriotic verses being written to it and published in the Pennsylvania Packet of Philadelphia, in that year. A little later an " Ode for the Fourth of July" was set to the same tune, and became very pop- ular throughout the country. We give a facsimile of this from the American Musical Miscellany of 1798 (Figs. 43 a, 43<5, 43^). Many other poetic set- tings to the same melody followed, and the tune had become fairly national in character long before it took its present American shape. 1 Cummings, " God save the King." Ty - ran-nic chains. iiiiSa^iili Liberty with keen eye, Pierc'd the blue vaulted (ky, Refolv'd us free ; Fig. 43 b. Early American Setting of " God save THE King." NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC MUSIC 147 A children's celebration took place in Park Street Church, in Boston, July 4, 1832, and for this occasion Rev. Dr. Samuel F. Smith, then a theological student at Andover, wrote the words of " My Country, 'tis of thee," which have since become the favorite, and in fact the only, mode of singing this melody in the United '5* States, on patriotic occasions. Nevertheless, not a few Americans have felt dissatis- fied that Dr. Smith's words should be sung to so mark- edly foreign a melody. The society of the Cincinnati (de- scendants of officers of the Revolutionary army) offered a gold medal for a new tune that should prove available for the American words. In 1903 this medal was awarded to Arthur Johnstone, of New York, for writing such a musical setting; but, as yet, " America " is sung con- stantly to the old English tune. " Hail Columbia " was, from the birth of the poem, accepted as one of the chief national tunes. It had, how- ever, existed as an instrumen- tal work for nine years before it was wedded to poetry. THE AMERICAN From her Imperial feat, Beheld the bleeding ftate, Approv'd this day's debate And firm decree. Sublime in awful form, Above the whirling ftorm, The Goddefs flood ; She faw with pitying eye, War's tempeft raging high, Our hero's bravely die, In fields of bloodi High on his fhining car, Mars, the ftern God of war. Our ftruggles bleft : Soon viftory wave her hand. Fair Freedom cheer'd the land, Led on Columbia's band To glorious reft. Now all ye fons of fong. Pour the full found along, Who {hall control ; For in this weftern clime, Freedom fhall rife fublime, Till ever changing time, Shall ceafe to roll. Fig. 43 ^1^ v3 MARCH Boston Priirted and fold hy GGraupner at his Mul'iril cadeniir N"» Jfyf 4^ fH — J 1 1 1 ' Ci» 1 r- iff*. f r^ if 1 - , i ^ir r^ i3=^=^ _.^z5!iE=-=^^=t ^^t=r ^=ri J ' ' 1 ^ "^ N If - r^ It Itt ^ flir -iV- Puji 8 e >88g -A, r fn CjC ►n c ■)' ^ ^ r -, 1^^ 1 1- j > ^-^ - Ji"j J - 1 f- t- »- 4- {^ :^ ti*J ^ =^4?:*y -i - !! — 5^ M"#* ^F^ :? ^=i 1 5 — = = Jd ^ ^ j' J Jljjijjl j^ »J;££££f|f ^fflfE/ f f N YANKEE DOODLE ^s-v ■ ■ f p :^*_ -■f ? T> - ■ - pr ^ H»-^ -J- ^ r-3 . ■ [T JT^ rC'r rr"" ^^ tF -ff f 4< a r f J — ■ — A C * d -T 1- -p — f — ^ r ^ — ^-^-=\ — — ^t^ — - * * • d J * 1 ^ ^ 4 ■ ip.*> h* C— hT-ff — -feitLp- bi ^^— -*-7 tl y-^=^ 1 -5==_ -F- l: L -H ^'jJ - FIG. 44. — EARLY PRINTS OF "WASHINGTON'S MARCH" AND "YANKEE DOODLE." Ijo THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC of national unity (which the Anti-Federalists looked at askance) was applauded to the echo. Eventually the political song became a national one. Yet at the time there were plenty of dissenting voices. The " antis," led by Jefferson and Madison, held it to be adverse to France and a covert attack on state rights. Baches Aurora of April 27, 1798, said: — " The song is the most ridiculous bombast and the vilest adula- tion to the Anglo-monarchical party." The careful reader will find considerable exaggerated metaphor in the verses, a prevalent fault of the time. A reproduction of the first edition of this song, while it was still known as a political affair, is given herewith (Figs. 45 «, 45 b). It will be seen that the har- monization is of the crudest sort. Almost all national songs undergo a polishing process before they become permanent in the repertoire, and " Hail Columbia " has been considerably revised since it began its career as a " Federal song." " The Star-spangled Banner " is a borrowed work, as far as its tune is concerned, and it was very well known in America under different titles for at least sixteen years before Francis Scott Key set his celebrated words to it. The melody is of English origin, and it was at first a drinking-song. The bold and spirited style of its progressions and the forcible character of its final cadence fitted excellently to the Bacchanalian adjuncts of its earliest performances, but these points make " The Star-spangled Banner " rather an unsingable anthem for great public occasions. There is some doubt about the year of its origin. In the eigh- teenth century the Anacreontic Society of London was a wild and jovial association in which the artistic members were offen heard in original works of an hilarious character. In short, it was a Bohemian gathering not unlike the Savage Club, of London, in its palmiest days. Between 1770 and 1775, Ralph Tomlinson, Esq., was the president of the Anacreontics. During his presidency he composed the words of a song which he entitled " To Anacreon in Heaven." It was either Dr. Samuel Arnold or John Stafford Smith, Esq. (both members of the society), who furnished the tune. It has been stated that it is an old French tune, but this has not been substantiated. There is certainly no tune resembling it in John Stafford Smith's NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC MUSIC 151 " Musica Antiqua," in which he set forth the most remarkable old tunes that he had collected. If, as is probable, Dr. Arnold composed the tune, he did not claim it in its printed editions, for neither author nor composer are named in the old copies of the drinking-song. It appeared as a masonic hymn in Holden's " Selection of Masonic Songs," which is dated " Dublin, a.l. 5802 " (a.d. 1802), but America had appropriated the tune to her own purposes four years before this. The Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society celebrated its anni- versary on June i, 1798, with a meeting and a banquet in Boston. To this festivity there came Mr. Thomas Paine (he afterwards changed his name to Robert Treat Paine, because of the notoriety of Thomas Paine, the radical and free-thinker) with a new patriotic song which was to be the feature of the occasion. Announcements had been made of this in the press beforehand. The Columbian Centinel, on Wednesday, May 30, 1 798, printed the following : — Adams and Liberty On Friday morning will be published from the press of Thomas & Andrews, and sold at all the book-stores, the Boston Patriotic Song called Adams and Liberty. Written by Thomas Paine, A.M. To be sung at the anniversary of the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society on that day. And on Saturday, June 2, the following statement appeared in the same newspaper : — " The Boston Patriotic Song of ' Adams and Liberty,' written by Mr. Paine, was sung and re-echoed amidst the loudest reiterated plaudits. Dr. Fay did great justice to its merits." This setting was the first patriotic use of the tune of " The Star- spangled Banner" in America. It had nine long stanzas (for the patriots feared no prolixity), and it became so universally popular that Mr. Paine received ^750 from the publishers for his copyright — an enormous sum for those days. A stanza is herewith given as an example of the style of the song: — " Ye sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought F'or those rights wliich unstained from your sires had descended. May you long taste the blessings your valour has bought, And your sons reap the soil which your fathers defended. Sang by M^ FOX Written by J:HOPKINSO\ Ef glo ry hal le - ^mM^m^^m^mm meet us? Say, broth-ers, will you meet us, On Ca-naan's hap - py shore? meet you, By the grace of God we'll meet you Where part-ing is no more, ev er, Je- sus lives and reigns for - ev er On Ca-naan's hap -py shore, lu jah 1 Glo - ry, glo - ry hal - le lu jah. For - ev - er, ev er more. Among the composers who added to the repertoire of famous songs of the Civil War, one must accord a prominent place to George F. Root, who wrote " The Battle-cry of Freedom," which was one of the most successful of the songs of its time. He also produced " Tramp, tramp, tramp, the Boys are Marching " and " Just before the Battle, Mother," both of which were famous in the music of the war. These songs have no especial history attached to them. The composer was born at Sheffield, Massachusetts, August 30, 1820, and died August 6, 1895, leaving a talented musical son (Fred. W. Root) behind him. Dr. Root (he received the title of Mus. Doc. from the University of Chicago) was one of the disciples of the Lowell Mason system, already described, and studied with George J. Webb, and other Boston teachers, besides spending a year in Paris for musical purposes. He was one of the enthusiastic "convention leaders," who followed Lowell Mason in this early method of diffusing music among the masses. Probably the composer who won the most decided successes with his songs during the Civil War, was Henry Clay Work. He sounded the most characteristic note of all the American composers of the time, and his songs give almost every note in the gamut of expression, from sarcasm to triumph, from gayety to military glory. Yet neither Work nor Root would be called trained composers in these latter days, when the highest and largest forms of music have been attained by our native musicians. But Work was a very earnest man, and no one can doubt the sincerity of his music, or its Origin, Fort Warren. Music- arranged by C. B. MARSH. CHOROa. . I 1 11, ISBI. u * i/ • i-LUir 1 John Brown's body lies a mouldering in.the grave, John Brown's body lies a mouldering in the grave, John Brown's body lies a mouldering in the grave. His soul's marching on ! CHORUS. Glory, Rally, Hallelujah! Glory, Hally Hallelujah! Glory, Hally, Hallelujah! His soul's marching on! 2 He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord, He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord. He's gone to be a soldier in the array of the Lord, His soul's marching on! chorus. Gfory, Hally, Hallelujah! &o. His soul's marching on I 3 John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back- John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back — John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back — His soul's marching on! CHORUS. Glory. Hally, Hallelujah! &c. His soul's marching on! 4 His pet lambs will meet him on the way— His pet lambs will meet him on the way — His j>et lambs will meet him on the way — They go marching on ! CHORUS. Glory, Hally, Hallelujah! &c. They go marching on! 5 They will hang Jeff Davis to a tree! They will hang Jeff Davis to a treei They will hang Jeff Davis to a tree! As they march along! CHORUS. Glory, Hally, Hallelujah! &c. As they march along! 6 Now, three rousing cheers for the Union! Now, three rousing cheers for the Union! Now, three rousing cheers for the Union 1 As we are marching on! CHORUS. Glory, Hally. Hallelujah! Glory, Hally, Hallelnjah! Glory, Hally. Hallelujah! Hip, Hip, Hip, Hip, Hurrah! Published by C S. HALL, 256 Main Street, CHARLESTOWN, Mass. Rntered, accorcjing to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by C. S. HALL, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. FIG. 48. — EARLY EDITION OF "GLORY HALLELUJAH." NATIONAL AND PATRIOTIC MUSIC 163 originalit)^ He was born in Middletown, Connecticut, October i, 1832, and died at Hartford, June 8, 1884. He was naturally a strong partisan in politics, for his father had suffered in the cause of aboli- tion. The family removed to Illinois during Work's childhood, and he had the misery of seeing his father imprisoned for his anti-slavery views during this Western sojourn. He seems to have had scarcely any musical education, yet he wrote successful songs even in his boyhood. His songs of " Kingdom Comin' " and " Babylon is Fallen " were his first contributions to war music, and they are as individual as the compositions of that other natural musician, — Stephen C. Foster. Many other popular songs came from Work's fertile brain, some of them being written in the cause of temperance. But the great success of this earnest writer was " Marching through Georgia," one of the most characteristic, if one of the most partisan, songs of the war. It may be mentioned, as a curious fact, that Stephen C. Foster, the best of the native song-writers of this time, made no marked success in the domain of war music. On the Southern side Mr. H. L. Schreiner and Mr. A. E. Blackmar wrote war-songs of considerable spirit. We have shown, in the history of "Glory Hallelujah," how a song of peace became metamorphosed into a song of war. In the case of one well-known song this process was reversed, and a hymn of peace was evolved out of a bellicose subject. During the Civil War every musician in the United States seemed to be intent upon composing a new national song. The utter failure of these attempts has already been suggested, yet they went on, unceasingly, during the eventful four years. Among those who strove to compose the song that should reverberate through the ages was a modest Ger- man living in Boston in very straitened circumstances. Matthias Keller caught the " national-song fever " in the early stages of its epidemic, and promptly produced a lofty, perhaps somewhat gran- diloquent, " hymn," entitled " Save our Republic, O Father on High ! " This had its momentary vogue, and was then laid aside. When Gilmore planned his second Peace Jubilee (see Chap. IV), he desired to have some special song of peace to commemorate it. He thought of Keller and his moribund hymn. The composer's 1 64 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC permission secured, he hastened to Oliver Wendell Holmes witl the music and a request that the poetic doctor set new and peacefu words to the tune. Dr. Holmes consented to assist at this unu sual placing of the cart before the horse, and reversed the usual ordej of things by allowing the music to inspire the poem. The resuli was unexpectedly good, and the latest contribution to our nationa songs was the result. " Angel of Peace, thou hast wandered toe Long " is not of the profoundest music nor of the most thrilling poetry, yet its sentiments admirably fit a nation that is not aggres- sive or bent on conquest, a nation that brings beneficence to the world at large and that offers welcome to the oppressed and is supposed to oppress none, a nation such as America is — when at her best. It is very probable that the giant strides made in composition in this country may very soon result in some other national song re- placing those above described. Among the many composers who are now creating a repertoire of important works in America, there must be one who will some day feel impelled to write us a true national anthem. Possibly the reader of this chapter will come to the belief that the ideal national song in America is not yet written or composed. CHAPTER VIII AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS Although it may be a difficult task to grade justly each mem- ber of the host of composers which has sprung -up in recent times, it is by no means so difficult to select the leaders. Such selection, however, ought not to be based merely upon the size of works created, nor even upon general influence. Seidl and Thomas and Zerrahn exerted a vast influence, yet were not composers; B. J. Lang has printed very few compositions, yet his teaching, his leader- ship of important clubs, his production of many masterpieces which were unattainable to the majority of conductors, make him one of the most prominent of American musical figures. But in the proper classification of " American Tone-masters " these celebrated names must be passed by. The Nestor of the American composers in the great classical forms is Professor John Knowles Paine (PI. XII). He was born in Portland, Maine, January 9, 1839, and made his first appear- ance as an organist and composer in public at eighteen years of age. A pupil of the celebrated Kotzschmar, in Portland, he afterward, in 1858, went to Germany, studying, in Berlin, the organ under Haupt and composition under Wieprecht and Teschner. This continued for three years, during which he appeared many times in German cities as an organ virtuoso. Returning to America in 1 86 1, he became the chief organist of the country, judged by the German standards. It was largely through his influence that the great organ set up in Music Hall in i860 became appreciated by the public, and he had been a moving spirit in the purchase of this instrument, while he was yet in Germany. In 1862 he began the Harvard College musical course, which will be de- scribed later. 165 1 66 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC In 1867 he directed his first great worlc, a Mass in D, at the Sing-Akademie, in Berlin, in the presence of some of the royal family and a large public. The European press complimented the young composer heartily upon his attainments, yet seemed to agree that the composition did not strike into any new path, but kept to the beaten track. His next work in the large forms received its first performance in the composer's native land. This was nothing less than an oratorio — " St. Peter" — which was first pub- licly given in Portland, Maine, June 3, 1873, and repeated the fol- lowing year in Boston. It is interesting to note the care which the composer took in this work. He frequently consulted with a prom- inent vocal teacher, John O'Neill, regarding the practicality of this or that solo; he showered forth all his contrapuntal gifts in the choruses. The orchestral parts were extremely difficult, and the work as a whole showed much more of ingenuity than of inspira- tion. The Handel and Haydn Society did its full duty by the first American composer, by its performance of the work in 1874, after which it was seldom heard except in excerpts. But it certainly proved that America had made a great advance in music, and now possessed at least one leader who could write respectably in the most difficult musical form of all. It was Mr. Paine's inaugural as the first thorough composer in the classical forms in America ; it was the first oratorio written on American soil. The next epoch-making work was Paine's first symphony, in C minor, a composition sufficiently classical to be played by Theodore Thomas's orchestra, in Boston, January, 1876. This work (Op. 23) was afterwards given many times by the same orchestra. The second symphony, in A, entitled " Spring," was, however, a much greater performance. In the earlier works, Paine allowed the rules of music to master him, becoming somewhat pedantic and Kapellmeis- terish ; now he became master of the rules, and his poetry began to assert itself. The final movement of the "Spring" symphony (Op. 34) is a glorious outburst of thanksgiving almost comparable with the finale of that other tribute to spring, the great B flat sym- phony by Schumann. The symphony was composed in 1880. It is the composer's favorite work among his orchestral compositions. AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 167 When the Centennial Exhibition of the United States took place in Philadelphia, in 1876, there were only two prominent native com- posers to whom the nation could turn for a lofty opening hymn, — Paine and Dudley Buck. Paine's "Centennial Hymn " was decidedly more of a success than Wagner's "Centennial March," which was also composed for the opening ceremonies ; a success was also made by Buck, with a choral work. In 1877 Professor Paine composed a symphonic fantasy based on Shakespeare's " Tempest," which was the fii-st important Ameri- can composition performed by Gericke at the Boston Symphony Concerts. Soon after he prepared a musical setting of the " CEdipus Tyrannus " of Sophocles, for a set of Greek performances at Har- vard, in 1 88 1. Here at last we find, and for the first time, an American composition that not only equalled but excelled European settings. Mendelssohn had set music to Greek plays with success, introducing double choruses, strophe, and antistrophe, and many other skilful contrapuntal devices. Paine did not follow this lead, nor did he, on the other hand, attempt to reproduce the unison sim- plicity of an ancient music which, after all, we understand but hazily. He allowed himself to be inspired by the loftiness of the text, and he employed unison, harmony, counterpoint, merely as they evolved themselves from the tragedy, and not with any preconceived attempt at a system. The performances of the play were powerful in the extreme, and not the least part of them was the dignified music, — the greatest composition which up to that time had been written in this country. Among subseciuent works we may mention " Phoebus, Arise " (1882); Miilon's " Nativity," composed in 1883 for the Handel and Haydn triennial in Boston, a work of fine contrapuntal texture and much beauty ; " Song of Promise," a cantata composed for the Cin- cinnati Musical Festival of 1888; "Columbus March and Hymn," composed for the opening of the Columbian Exposition of Chicago, in 1892; and a great number of songs, organ compositions, part- songs, and chamber-music. Some of these works, especially the "Spring" symphony, have had hearings in European concerts; in fact, Professor Paine was the first American orchestral composer who gained anything of a transatlantic reputation. To-day there 1 68 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC are many who have planted the American musical standard upon European soil. One of Professor Paine's orchestral works may be mentioned as illustrating the connection between music and painting. It is called " An Island Fantasy," and may be classed as a symphonic poem. Composers are very frequently inspired by poems, even in their instrumental works. In this case the inspiration was a / Fig. 49. — Manuscript Music by Prof. John K. Paine. couple of paintings (of the Isles of Shoals, in New Hampshire) by an American artist, — J. Appleton Brown. The work itself sug- gests both the menace and the beauty of the sea. Since the com- position of this symphonic poem more than one modern musician has taken his themes from painting. Bocklin, the Swiss artist, has inspired Weingartner to a symphonic poem, by his paint- ing, — "The Elysian Fields," — and Hans Huber has written an AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 169 entire symphony, each movement of which represents one or more of the paintings of the same artist — a veritable picture gallery in symphonic music ! But Professor Paine was one of the earliest to translate paintings into instrumental music. In 1901 he composed the music for Aristophanes' "The Birds," which was performed by the Harvard Classical Club in May, 1901 ; and his latest and best work is an opera — "Azara" — which has been translated into German and published with German and English text. The libretto is by Professor Paine himself, and is •derived from the old Trouvere story, the poetic " Aucassin and Nicolette." Any one who reads this charming mediaeval idyl will note the many sylvan touches, the Saracenic scenes, and the bold contrasts. All these present a splendid series of pictures for the composer, and Professor Paine has taken full advantage of them. The action is rather slow for these days of " Toscas " and " Bohemes," but the artistic effect attained is undeniable. Professor Paine may be classed as a moderate conservative in music. At one time he was bitterly opposed to the Wagnerian ■school, and even wrote some magazine articles against it. Time has mellowed his views of Wasfner as it has eliminated the pedantic element from his later music. Any one listening to the forest music in " Azara " will readily see that the composer believes in the best points of the Wagnerian methods. Nothing can better prove the rapid advance of music in America than the fact that when Professor Paine began his career he stood alone, the one classical composer of America ; while to-day there are •at least three men, Chadwick, MacDowell, and Horatio W. Parker, who might dispute the field with him, and there are a score of others who have won transatlantic reputations. Music has made even more rapid strides than literature among us. Less than a •century ago it was contemptuously asked by a British reviewer, "Who reads an American book.?" To-day some American writers have surer reputations in England than in their native country. But in music it is much less than half a century since Paine was first heard as a curiosity in Europe, while now, in recent conversa- tions with the present writer, such men as Rheinberger, Reinecke, Lamoureux, and Massenet have shown familiarity with the works 170 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC of the three men mentioned above and with many others of our native composers. The appearance of an American composition on a European programme no longer causes the sHghtest surprise ; and, more than this, England has ordered compositions from our leading musicians for her chief musical festivals. All three of the men named as possible rivals for the chief place among our native composers are young men, ol^ comparatively so, and give promise of more important works to come. George Whitfield Chadwick (PI. VIII), the most versatile and chronologically the first of the group, was born in Lowell, Massa- chusetts, November 13, 1854. He comes of the purest American stock, his great-grandfather having fought in Stark's regiment, at the picket-fence, at the battle of Bunker Hill. Both of his parents were musical ; his father taught in an academy and singing-school near Concord, New Hampshire, and his mother sang in the church choir. All of his uncles and aunts were more or less active in the old style of psalmody, which we have described in connection with New England's earlier days. The family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts, in i860. The father being occupied by business affairs, the elder brother taught Chadwick piano and harmony, and during his boyhood he sang alto in a church choir in Lawrence. His first connection with organ-playing was at the handle of the bellows, but he was soon promoted from the blowing to the play- ing of the instrument, and attained some knowledge of the manipu- lation of the organ before 1869. His first attempts at composition were made while a pupil at the Lawrence High School, and were chiefly songs and dances for the piano. Some of these he preserved and used a quarter of a century later, in his successful comic opera, " Tabasco." Chadwick's first regular instruction in music began at the New England Conservatory (of which he afterwards became director) in 1872, his chief teachers there being Dudley Buck and George E. Whiting. There seems to have been no "juvenile prodigy" element in Chadwick's life, in spite of his strong love for music. He was a clerk in his father's insurance office for three years, — 1873-76. Yet his musical studies went bravely on, and Eugene Thayer became his organ-instructor to such good purpose that at AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 171 this time he did such feats as playing several of Bach's greatest organ fugues from memory, besides composing in the small forms and even essaying small orchestral compositions as well as a couple of overtures and two piano trios. His father opposed his musical tendencies as likely to be quite unremunerative ; and this was the most discouraging period of the composer's life. He was compelled to drudge along in a business for which he had not an iota of inclination; no further money was allowed for musical tuition, and there seemed no prospects for the future. At last, taking a bold step, the young man of twenty-two went to a college in the pretty town of Olivet, in Michigan, and there began a professional career. This was brief, for it only lasted a year, but in that time, by teaching organ, piano, and harmony, by conducting a large chorus, and by giving a series of organ concerts, the young Chadwick saved enough money to go to Leipsic in 1877 and begin his first thorough study of composition. His teachers there were Reinecke and Jadassohn, the latter taking a most friendly interest in the young genius who was so bravely battling against odds. The writer has Jadassohn's personal assurance that Chadwick, the young American, was the most brilliant student in his class. At this time Chadwick wrote much, his " Rip Van Winkle " overture and two string quartettes being publicly performed at the Prilfung oi 1879. He even made sketches for a symphony. The summer of 1879 was spent in Dresden, and he entered the Royal School of Music, being among the first American pupils of Rhein- bdrger (we shall find many famous Americans there a little later) and studying score-reading and conducting with Abel. Mean- while the score of the "Rip Van Winkle" overture had been sent to Boston and performed at the Harvard Symphony concerts, where it made a fine impression, showing that one more American was entering the higher fields of music. In the spring of 1880 Chadwick returned to Boston, and in May of that year he conducted the " Rip Van Winkle " overture at a Handel and Haydn festival. In 1880 he became a teacher. at the New England Conservatory of Music, and since that time he has dwelt in Boston. In 1897 he became musical director of the 172 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC above-named conservatory, and the broad curriculum of that insti- tution, especially the orchestral, operatic, and chorus work, are chiefly due to his personal efforts. Such versatility is difficult to classify in a history of this char- acter. Chadwick might be spoken of under the head of " Organists," " Conductors," or " Teachers," and some of the musicians spoken of under these heads might also be described, fairly, as " Composers." Mr. Chadwick has succeeded in each of these capacities. As an organist he has held position at the South Congregational Church, in Boston, and has had many other prominent posts, yet, in spite of his early efforts in this direction, he has not made this his chief aim except as a vehicle for musical composition. As a teacher he has had remarkable success, and some of his pupils have become leaders in the American musical advance. Horatio W. Parker, Arthur Whiting, J. Wallace Goodrich, and Henry K. Hadley were each and all students under Mr. Chad wick's guidance. His method is by no means a conservative one. He says : " I believe in a sound contrapuntal education, then as much harmonic breadth as possible. I believe in form, but not in formality." Such a teacher is broad enough to perceive the greatness of every school from Bach or Palestrina to Wagner or Richard Strauss. Chadwick's harmony book is the result of his own methods of teaching. He always regrets that he could not have taken lessons from Cesar Franck, for whom he has a profound esteem. As a conductor Chadwick was one of the earliest Americans to make a record, after Pi-ofessor Paine, and, by coincidence, his career as a conductor began with Paine's " OEdipus " at the Globe Theatre in Boston and at Booth's Theatre in New York, in 1881; before this he had only conducted his own " Rip Van Winkle " overture, in America. For seven years he was conductor of the Boston Orchestral Club; from 1889, for ten years, he led the Spring- field (Massachusetts) music festivals, and here he brought out Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and many more modern works. He was conductor of the W^orcester Festival for four years, leading, among other great works, Berlioz's " Damnation of Faust " and the first performance in English of Franck's " Beatitudes." At one of these festivals he also brought out his own sacred opera of " Judith." AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 173 As a composer Chadwick is to be reckoned as the equal of any one on this side of the Atlantic. His " Rip Van Winkle " overture was recognized at once as rivalling any American composition of its time. In 1880, therefore, there were only two prominent orches- tral composers in America, — Chadwick and Paine. Without attempting a catalogue of Chadwick's compositions, which extend into every field of music, we may examine a few details of those works on which his reputation chiefly rests. He rHt^tTrurd^*^ J m ^ r ^ ^ r ]■ f - r ^ £ ^ ^ iXa^ H>^,n^ tt.vT-^i^ ii-i^A" -s^^ ^^-rw -w^y Fig. 50. — Manuscriit by George W. Chadwick. has always been the foremost composer of overtures in America. In '' Rip Van Winkle," he holds well to classical form, as was to be expected in a score submitted as a graduation work in a Ger- man conservatory. His " Thalia " and " Melpomene " overtures are finer works and are true concert overtures, giving the spirit of comedy and of tragedy, without becoming programme music — i.e. instrumental music attempting to tell a definite story. To hold to the proper sonata-form without becoming rigid, is one of Chadwick's great gifts; he has reconciled the symmetrical form with modern passion. 174 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Especially is this the case with his concert overture, " Adonais." It is astonishing how much the American composers have been attracted by Keats. With Chadwick it was the threnody which Shelley sang to the memory of Keats that inspired the musical work. Not that it becomes in any degree programme music, — it is too subjective for that; but it gives the mood of the poet, the brooding over loss, the Weltschmerz, that is in the poem. The thought of Shelley, that one learns in suffering what one teaches in song, is carried out. Noble music is too often the offspring of sorrow, and in this overture we have " the Pard-like spirit, beautiful and swift," harried and pursued by relentless fate until " Life, like a dome of many-colored glass, Stains the white radiance of eternity." There is Hellenic dignity in this work and in the " Melpomene " overture that is like the portrayal of an Orestes pursued by the Furies, a Euripidean picture of human helplessness. It speaks well for Chadwick that, while able to portray the tragic, he has also a bright sense of the humorous. In his second symphony these two contrasted phases lie side by side ; the second movement is full of jollity, while the third presents dignity, loftiness, double counterpoint, and science in combination. In this work there is continuity of thematic material in the last two movements, and in a return of the opening thought at the close of it all. Chadwick has composed three symphonies. He himself con- siders that his real " pace " was begun with the second, in B flat. In this work one may also find the first real effoii of an American composer to utilize the only folk-song which our country possesses, — the music of the South, the themes of the plantation. This occurs in the Scherzo, the second movement, spoken of above. And it may be remembered that this work was composed long before Dvorak came to America and began the same quest. The third symphony, in F, though less characteristic, shows much AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS I 75 facility in scoring. Thus much for the orchestral works, which have been performed in the Boston Symphony concerts alone more than twenty times. In chamber-music Chadwick has achieved the best that America can show to-day. His piano quintette, in E flat, is a work of high- est rank, and his latest string quartette is not only noble in de- velopment, but beautiful in melody. In all of his large works he deserves laudation for avoiding the demon of cacophony which has run rampant in some of the modern music. Many of the recent American composers seem to have adopted all the faults of Wagner and assimilated none of his great merits. Naturally such a composer shines forth well in the vocal forms. If any proof were necessary that Chadwick combines tune with his classicism, it would be furnished by the fact that he has written a comic opera — " Tabasco " — that won a decided popular success, one of its tunes (the march) having been whistled all over the country. But a higher application of the vocal gifts can be found in the com- poser's " Phoenix Expirans " and the " Lily Nymph," two cantatas much used by choral societies. The most ambitious work of all is Chadwick's " Judith," which is a sacred opera, and was intended for performance upon the stage, but has thus far been given as an oratorio, upon the concert platform. In this work the composer shows his most modern tendencies, even using the leit-motif, but with far more conservatism than is found in the Wagner operas. The composer calls the work "a lyric drama," but it is a good guide-post on the path that is being taken by the twentieth-century oratorio. Splendid contrasts occur between the religious loftiness of the old Hebrews (chiefly broad chorales or contrapuntal choruses) and the brutal sensuality of the Assyrians, expressed in dances or in bombastic marches. A combination of these two elements, in the second part, gives a most skilful display of the composer's ability; and the simultaneous presentation of the .sighs of the prisoners and the laughter of their conquerors is sup- ported with some of the most graphic orchestration imaginable. There is one well-developed fugue in the work, and other fugal and canonic passages. The love-scenes are somewhat too long, and will probably demand pruning if the work is to be given upon the stage. 176 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC The end of the second act, with the cry of " All's Well," given by the receding sentinel, is a masterful touch. Chadwick's songs are not equal (possibly he has written too many of them), and yet some of them are among the best of Ameri- can lyrics. His " Allah " (a noble conception), " Bedouin Love- song," " The Lily," the " Two Folk-songs," and many others might be cited as comparable with the best German Lieder. The piano compositions are not important, but there are some skilful works for organ, especially some studies of canon, that deserve mention. Chadwick received the honorary degree of M.A. from Yale Univer- sity in 1897. Horatio William Parker (PI. VI), or Horatio Parker (for he has dropped the middle name), was born at Auburndale, a suburb of Boston, September 15, 1863. His family was originally an English one, and his ancestors came to America in 1635. His father, Charles E. Parker, was a distinguished architect, and many promi- nent edifices throughout New England are monuments to his skill. Parker's musical talents were undoubtedly inherited from his mother, who was for a time the organist of Grace Church, in Newton, Massa- chusetts, and is a lady of considerable literary attainments. The libretto of the composer's " Hora Novissima " was translated from the Latin by her, and the librettos of " The Holy Child " and " St. Christopher" have come from her pen. As a child the young Horatio disliked music; he enjoyed literature, and gave evidence of excellent gifts of memory by repeating poems when he was but five years old, but all of his mother's efforts could not awaken any musical enthusiasm in the boy. At the age of fourteen, however, a sudden change seemed to come over the lad in the matter of musical appreciation. His mother says: "In October, 1877, Horatio suddenly began to take great interest in music, to ask all sorts of questions about it, and to spend literally whole days at the piano, beginning at daylight, and stopping only when his father sent him to bed, perhaps at II P.M. From this time onwards he had but one object. Sports and recreation were left out of his life, and the necessary education was with great difficulty imparted in the intervals of music study." ^ '■ Quoted from the London Musical Times, September i, 1902. AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 177 His mother gave him his first piano lessons. He began to com- pose at this time, without, however, being trained in the science. He was not daunted by laclc of knowledge, but is said to have set fifty of Kate Greenaway's poems to music in two days, with good melody and sufficient accompaniment. His mother also taught him the organ, and at sixteen he became organist at St. Paul's Church in Dedham (Massachusetts), and later at St. John's Church, Roxbury (Boston). He began his studies in _ harmony with Stephen A. Emery, the gentle musician who did such constant pedagogic service at the New; England Conservatory of Music. He also stud- ied piano with John Orth. Finally he began studying composition with Mr. Chadwick, who laid a thorough founda- tion, and then sent the lad of eighteen to his own old teacher, Rheinberger (Fig. 51), in Munich. Parker studied three years with the famous contrapun- tist, and Rheinberger seemed to regard him as a favorite pupil. His organ technique, thanks to his mother, was sufficiently good for Rheinberger to intrust him with the solo part in his organ concerto (in F) at a public performance in Munich. At this time, too, several of Parker's own compositions were performed by the orchestra of the Royal Music School, of which Rheinberger was the inspector, and these received very favorable notices from the Munich press. Returning to the United States, in 1885, the young man of twenty-two at once found occupation. He became director of music at St. Paul's and St. Mary's schools, at Garden City, Long Island, near New York, and soon was appointed organist at St. Andrew's Church, in Harlem (New York) where he directed a boy choir. He left this to become organist and director of the Church of the Holy Trinity, New York, and then became one of the faculty of Mrs. Thurber's " National " Conservatory, being for some years ViG. 51. — Josef Rheinberger. lyS THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC teacher of counterpoint in that institution. In May, 1893, he was appointed organist and musical director of Trinity Church, in Boston. The next year, 1894, he accepted the professorship of music at Yale University. The chair of music was founded at Yale, in 1893, through the donation of Robbins Battell, an alumnus of the university. Mr. Parker was its second occupant, and has held the position from 1894 to the present time. He has received the honorary degree of M.A. from his university. As regards the music course at Yale, it is largely upon the lines of the curriculum of Harvard University ; but, as New Haven has not the orchestral facilities of Boston, Professor Parker has extended his work somewhat to meet this deficiency. He teaches harmony, counterpoint, and composition, as Professor Paine does at Harvard, and also gives lectures on the history of music; but besides this he teaches a class in orchestral scoring, and conducts six orchestral concerts every year. The university supports the orchestra as a proper adjunct to its music course, and, to make the connection still closer, one concert each season is devoted to the performance of orchestral compositions by Yale students. These concerts are not mere college functions ; the public is permitted to attend, but, in order to make the occasions as educational as possible, Professor Parker prefaces the orchestral work with a short lecture, analyzing the compositions and playing the different themes and figures upon the piano. As was the case in Harvard, the accommo- dations of the music department have been outgrown. At present a large concert hall is being erected (to be called Woolsey Hall), which will seat nearly three thousand people, and is to have one of the finest of organs. Parker's compositions extend into every kind of musical work from symphonies and oratorios to piano pieces and songs. He is less impassioned than MacDowell, less poetically melodic and dramatic than Chad wick, but he has created dignified contrapuntal works which not only hold high rank in America, but have compelled the highest respect abroad. We append a list of Parker's works as an example of the versatility of the American composer (for similar lists might be shown to the credit of all the five men whom we have classed as the tone-masters of America). AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 179 OP. I. 2. 3- 4- S- 6. 7- 9- 10. II. 12. 13- 14. IS- 16. 17- 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23- 24. 25- 26. 27. 28. 29. The Shepherd Boy. Male chorus. Five part-songs. Psahn 23. Female chorus, organ, and harp. Concert overture in E flat. Regulus. Overture in A. Ballad of a Knight and his Daughter. Symphony in C minor. King Trojan. Ballad for chorus and orchestra. Five pieces for pianoforte. Three love-songs for a tenor voice. String quartette in F (MS.). Venetian overture in B flat (MS.). Scherzo in G minor. Orchestra (MS.). Blow, thou Winter Wind. Male chorus. Idylle (Goethe). Cantata. Ballad of the Normans. Chorus (MS.). Four organ pieces. (Set i.) Morning and evening service in E. Four pieces for pianoforte. Four organ pieces. (Set 2.) The Kobolds. Chorus and orches- tra. Three sacred songs. Six lyrics for pianoforte. Six songs. Two love-songs. Harold Harfager. Chorus and or- chestra. Two choruses for female voices. Four organ pieces. (Set 3.) Overture to Count Robert of Paris (MS.). 30 31 32 33 34' 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44, 45 46 47 48, 49 5° 51 52 53 54- 55- Hora Novissima. Cantata. The Dream King and his Love. Cantata. Prize composition. Five organ pieces. Six choruses for male voices. Three songs. Suite for violin, pianoforte, and violoncello (MS.). Four organ pieces. The Holy Child. Christmas cantata. Quintette for strings in D minor (MS.). Four choruses for male voices. Cahal M6r of the Wine-red Hand. Baritone solo and orchestra (MS.). Suite for violin and pianoforte (MS.). Ode for Commencement. The Legend of St. Christopher. Adstant Angelorum Chori (a ca- pelld). Prize composition. A Northern Ballad, for orchestra (MS.). Six old English songs. Choruses for male voices. Three pieces for pianoforte. A Wanderer's Psalm. Cantus Pere- grinus. Three songs. A Greek ode, for chorus and or- chestra, for the celebration of Yale Bicentennial, 190 1. A star song, for solo, quartette, cho- rus, and orchestra. Organ concerto — organ and full orchestra. " Hora Novissima," a setting of the old poem of Bernard de Mor- laix, is one of the most important works that America has yet pro- duced. It was fitting that, in such a subject, the composer should reproduce some of the intricacy and asceticism of the old school of I So THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC pure counterpoint, and that he should sometimes introduce the unaccompanied vein {a capella) of the ancient composers. The work was completed in 1893, and was first performed by the New York Church Choral Society, in the Church of the Holy Trinity, in New York. The fugal writing in the work is of the most praise- worthy character, and such numbers as " Pars Mea " and " Urbs Syon Unica" show that Mr. Parker drinks deeply at the Pales- trinian spring. " Hora Novissima " has been performed repeatedly by the Handel and Haydn Society, and once at the Worcester (Eng- land) Festival, where it was conducted by the composer. This last- named performance took place in 1899, and is memorable as being the first English musical festival at which the work of an American composer was presented. Such a success was won that Parker was commissioned to compose a work for the Hereford Festival of 1900, for which he furnished "A Wanderer's Psalm." Since then Eng- land has most cordially received " The Legend of St. Christopher," — one of the most fluent and attractive on the above list. The pure style of "Jam sol recedit " of this cantata, or oratorio, is an exhibition of Parker at his very best. The fugue — " Quoniam tu solus" — shows him at his contrapuntal height. It has one peculiar vocal defect (Hke Handel's "Unto us a Child is Born"), which is that its short phrases too often end on s, which, in a chorus, causes an incredible amount of hissing. Better, however, that the hissing should come from the singers than from the audience, and the fugue, per se, is an excellent specimen of the best American work in this school. It has a subject somewhat like that of Bach's fugue in D major ("Well-tempered Clavichord," Book II, No. 5), finely developed both in a direct and an inverted manner, and there is very ingenious stretto treatment. It is in such touches as these in " St. Christopher " that Parker is greatest ; he is less so when he deals with such a fiery subject as a picture of the infernal regions and the cohorts of Satan. Although he pictures hell as full of syncopations and diminished seventh chords, and the chromatic progressions lead to a tonal jungle where none but expert singers can find the path, Satan (accompanied by castagnettes and glockenspiel, instead of piccolo) is not quite as convincing as the pious hermit with his serene and rather Gothic sacred music. AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS I8l Fig. 52. — The Allen A. Brown Room, Boston Public Library. The largest musical collection in America. The organ concerto, named last upon the above list, is an inter- esting work, but not as practical as it might be. Organ concertos are rare, but the Frenchmen, Widor, St. Saens, and Guilmant, have managed to unite orchestra and organ without making a mesalliance. Mr. Parker follows the Rheinberger solidity rather than the Gallic grace in this work. He banishes the woodwind as being too near the organ color, and causes the harp and the solo violin to become the foils to his chief instrument. The second movement shows much ingenuity, particularly in the introduction of some bizarre kettledrum effects, and the finale is again the display of the skilful contrapuntist. Much of Mr. Parker's work is music for musicians ; his rather ascetic, somewhat undramatic, style can scarcely appeal strongly to the masses, — which is a failing that leans to virtue's side. At his best he is a really great composer (least so, perhaps, in songs or piano pieces), but the copiousness of his writing hardly does justice to the loftier numbers of his repertoire. He has received a most remarkable 1 82 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC compliment for an American musician, the honorary degree of Mus. Doc. from Cambridge University, England. Earnest, dramatic, passionate, and romantic, Edward Alexander MacDowell (PI. V) is most powerful in just the field where Parker is least strong. The training of MacDowell served to nourish just those qualities which were to a certain degree innate, with the most fortunate results. He was born in New York, December i8, 1861, and his best and chief teacher was the tropical and fiery Teresa Car- reno. To her he has dedicated his Second Piano Concerto. But many other teachers contributed to equip this most dashing of American composers. He went to Paris in 1876, and enrolled him- self in the conservatory there, studying theory with Savard, and piano under Marmontel. In 1879 he went to Wiesbaden, where he studied with Ehlert for a time. Then to Frankfort, where Karl Heymann taught him piano and, best of all, Joachim Raff guided him in composition. This was the chief influence in the career of MacDowell, for Raff taught him routine work as no other could have done, and it was too late for the elegant vein of Raff to import effeminacy into the virile style of his pupil. Possibly because the two were opposites in their natures they became friends, and, through the influence of Raff, MacDowell be- came a prominent piano teacher in the conservatory at Darmstadt, when he was but twenty years of age. Liszt soon recognized the genius of the young American, and obtained a hearing for his first piano suite before the leading society of Germany. There followed three years of concert touring, and then, in 1884, MacDowell settled down to teaching in Wiesbaden. In 1888 he came to Boston, where he taught and composed, giving concerts occasionally, with great success. Princeton University soon conferred upon him the degree of Mus. Doc. and, in 1896, MacDowell was called to the chair of music in Columbia University, New York. Here he followed in the path which Paine had originated at Harvard and which Parker was treading at Yale. His work has been attended by the same success that we have described in connection with the two older universities. MacDowell is more radical than many of his contemporaries, but he is so well endowed with vigorous ideas that this becomes decidedly more of a virtue than a fault. Naturally the continental AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 183 countries of Europe appreciate his works more keenly than the English, the latter having been educated in a rather precise school of musical conservatism which is only at present beginning to thaw out. On May 14, 1903, he made his appearance before the London Philharmonic Society, by invitation, playing his Second Concerto. This work, dedicated to Teresa Carreho, was played by her at the Crystal Palace popular concerts, three years before the composer performed it in London.^ Before this England had become fairly familiar with some of MacDowell's songs, and with his beautiful " Indian Suite." The concerto, which we value as one of the best of the composer's works (yet do not rank with the First Concerto), won a popular triumph under Dr. F. H. Cowen's direction, but it set the critics by the ears at once. To cause heated discussion is generally the proof of individuality in music, and the English re- viewers could not grasp the boldness of MacDowell as they had comprehended the counterpoint of Parker. Some found traces of Brahms in the concerto ! They might better have discovered indica- tions of MacDowell's Scottish ancestry in it. Others found touches of " Parsifal " ; others discovered Tschaikowsky. The utter lack of unanimity of judgment showed that the reviewers were face to face with a modern whom they could not fully comprehend. Yet MacDowell is not iconoclastic. He has been trained too thoroughly by Raff to become formless, but he applies the old forms with a new spirit; he modernizes, and is far removed from pedantry. The reviewers of London were unanimous in praise of his piano playing, and he is certainly in the very front rank of American artists in this field. As a teacher, too, he has been an inspiration to many students, and this part of his work has been of great importance to the development of piano playing in America. But it is as one of the tone-masters of America that MacDowell stands forth most prominent in our musical history, — one of those American composers who first won recognition for American music of classical form in Europe. It is no doubt too early to give a full judgment of the value of MacDowell's work. Some excellent reviewers have gone, perhaps, to extreme lengths in their praise 1 MacDowell's First Concerto has been heard in Amsterdam, Dresden, and a number of other European cities ; in fact, all of his large works have been heard in Europe. 1 84 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC of his compositions. Henry T. Finck, in his "Songs and Song- writers," places MacDowell with the very greatest of the world in his Lieder. One may, however, dissent from this opinion because, even when the musical thought expressed is noble, the songs are often instrumental rather than vocal in their spirit. Rupert Hughes, in his " Contemporary American Composers," states : — "An almost unanimous vote would grant him rank as the FiG. 53. — The New England Conservatory of Music. greatest of American composers, while not a few ballots would indicate him as the best of living music writers." The French have a saying, "// nest plus lourd fardeau quun grand nom acquis trap tot!" One must not forget Chadwick's Second Symphony and his fine overtures, Paine's " CEdipus " and "Azara," and Parker's " Hora Novissima," in passing judgment on the value of MacDowell's works. Yet one can grow enthusiastic easily enough over the juiciness, the romance, the originality of this great composer. He is, thank Heaven, not a cacophonist. In the AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 1 85 midst of all his freedom of development and his most fiery moods he does not turn to musical ugliness as a necessary adjunct of modern composition ; he does not strain for uncouth progressions, nor pur- chase his originality at the expense of sanity. To us his " Indian Suite " is one of the best examples of his art. He has built this orchestral work on actual Indian themes, but we do not value this proceeding, since the figures used are utterly un- familiar to almost every auditor, and do not, of themselves, suggest anything national ; the composer could evolve a hundred original figures, equally effective, if he wished to do so. But the develop- ment and the treatment of these figures is another story. We find here a poetic presentation of phases of Indian life that is equal to anything ever evolved from this subject; and, as this life exists (or has existed) nowhere but in America, this work becomes our own in a double sense. The composition presents a wide scope of emotion, from the exquisite tenderness of a " love-song " to the fierce expo- sition of the panoply of war, with galloping of horses and cries of warriors. One can also pay tribute to MacDowell's scoring, although he does not try to attain modern extremes here either ; he achieves the fitness that characterizes Tschaikowsky rather than the extreme difficulties and complexities which too often mar the modern orchestral web. The expressive tone-coloring of the dirge and the powerful use of the woodwind in the third movement of the suite may be referred to in illustrating our meaning. The welding to- gether of the piano with the orchestral forces, in the two concertos, is further evidence of the ability of the composer in this direction. One sometimes finds evidence of MacDowell's Scottish fore- fathers in his songs, and he has won, perhaps, his best results in setting poems by Burns. Mr. Finck thus speaks of some of the vocal works : ^ — " Were I asked to name the two greatest living song-writers, I should say Edvard Grieg and Edward MacDowell. There is a certain affinity between these two composers, traceable, no doubt, to their Scotch ancestry. Grieg and Wagner are the only composers whose influence can be distinctly traced here and there in MacDowell's songs, but it is no more than a harmonic atmosphere which he 1 " Songs and Song-writers," p. 238. 1 86 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC breathes in common with them when he gets into certain emotional spheres. His ideas are always his own, and there are plenty of them. . . . MacDowell is undoubtedly a genius." In piano composition MacDowell is first among his contempo- raries. Not only has he composed some very graceful works in the smaller forms, but he has also written sonatas which have indicated what the twentieth-century composers must do with the old form if they wish to perpetuate it. It will thus be seen that MacDowell has succeeded in three dif- ferent directions, — orchestral composition, piano works, and songs. Yet the future only can reveal what place this most individual of American composers is to occupy permanently. That it is to be a hio-h one there can be no manner of doubt; that much has been demonstrated already. As against the very contradictory English criticisms above spoken of, it may be stated that Massenet, in Paris, speaks of MacDowell's concerto with great enthusiasm. He has fairly won all the important European critics and musicians to his music. An anecdote connected with his First Concerto may serve to show how a great pianist and brother-composer appre- ciated him. Eugen d' Albert, the noted pianist, had taken Mac- Dowell to one of Liszt's afternoon receptions in Weimar, at which the modest young American musician began, as the French say, to " efface himself," according to his wont. But d'Albert had other things in view than MacDowell's self-effacement. He was begged to perform to the assembled company, and, seating himself at the pianoforte, announced that he would play something entirely new, that existed as yet only in manuscript. He then proceeded to play the first movement of MacDowell's First Pianoforte Con- certo, which was received with enthusiastic acclamations, everybody present naturally thinking the composition must be his own. Liszt was especially delighted. When the expressions of admiration had in a measure subsided, d'Albert quietly pointed to MacDowell as the real composer of the novelty. There is one point (a minor one) on which one may disagree with MacDowell : he writes almost all of his expression and tempo- marks in E^iglish. It is no affectation that causes most musicians (Wagner, Schumann, and Berlioz excepted) to use Italian terms. AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 187 Music has become almost a universal language ; its written form (notation) is more wide-spread than any other. We must not localize such a universal tongue by writing its signs in the vernacular. By priority of usage Italian should be the language attached to music. Beethoven himself gave up the German language, after trying it one year in this connection, and returned to the use of Italian for expres- sion and tempo-marks. A Mac Do well piano work, for example, could be understood in every European country ; but his mark — " Slow and with much feeling " — would mean nothing to a dozen nations which would have zova^xtSxt.v^d.Q.d. '' Lento e con molto espres- sione ! " In his " Indian Suite " this is obviated by the use of Ger- man, English, and French (with Italian also used for expression marks), but his shorter works are not thus supplied. Inspiration drawn from the poets is not lacking in MacDowell's work. Indeed, at one time he thought of taking up poetry instead of music. " Lancelot and Elaine " is an orchestral outcome of Tenny- son's poem. " Hamlet " and " Ophelia " are two orchestral poems direct from Shakespeare. Although separate, they are interdependr ent — a species of Faust and Marguerite. Indeed, they remind one somewhat of this last-named pair as pictured in Liszt's symphony, for Hamlet has military passages contrasted with his moments of revery and sorrow, and Ophelia (like Gretchen she is chiefly pictured by muted violins) has much of foreboding and premonition. There is also a transference of thematic material from one to the other of these movements that gives them a beautiful unity. It is a work that, like the " Indian Suite " and the two piano concertos, grows stronger by repeated hearing. In selecting five names as the chief composers of this country, we must acknowledge the verdict but a temporary one, for there are other composers who have rivalled their work in this or that separate performance ; and there are important symphonies, operas, and chamber-music to be mentioned later in connection with other men and women. Our reasons for the selection are many. These five were the first to write worthy compositions in the classical forms in America. They were the first to achieve a transatlantic reputation. They were the first to win successes in all the different fields of musical creation, as, with the exception of Chopin, all the THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC great masters of music have done. And these five names (up to the present time) have appeared far more frequently upon the pro- grammes of our symphonic concerts than any others. Four of the five have also been important factors in public musical education, Paine being the head of musical training at Harvard, Chadwick at the New England Conservatory of Music (Fig. 53), Parker at Yale, and Mac Do well at Columbia. The fifth man, Mr. Arthur Foote, has employed his excellent abilities as a teacher only in a private capacity thus far. Arthur Foote (Fig. 54) was born at Salem, Massachusetts, March 5, 1853. He first studied composition with Stephen A. Emery, in Boston. Entering Harvard, he took the classical course and graduated with the class of 1874, but remained to study music in Paine's department (before the professorial chair was established), and obtained the degree of A.M. for his work here, in 1875. After this he studied organ with B. J. Lang, who has educated many of the leading American musicians, as will be seen later. Foote became organist of the First Unitarian Church in Boston, in 1878, and has held that post ever since. He teaches piano and composition in Boston. Foote has little of that dramatic force which one finds in the works of Chadwick and MacDowell; he charms rather by grace and ease and by his easy leading of voices in contrapuntal pas- sages. Naturally therefore, in such a work as " The Wreck of the Hesperus," he falls short of one's ideal. On the contrary, in his suite for orchestra in D minor (Op. 36) he equals any com- poser of this form — even Franz Lachner, its modern progenitor. This suite must not be confounded with his suite for string orchestra, in D major (Op. 21). The last named, although grace- ful, symmetrical, and well-constructed, is not to be compared with Fig. 54. — Arthur Foote. AMERICAN TONE-MASTERS 189 the greater suite, which is for full — very full — orchestra. In the D minor suite, piccolo, English horn, trombones, tuba, triangle, and harp appear, over and above the regular forces, and the large orchestra is handled with an ease and beauty that is very attractive. The work has been given more than once by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and ought to take high rank in the standard repertoire of native orchestral compositions. The dramatic cantatas are less inspired. In the " Wreck of the Hesperus," for example, the chorus repeat the unimportant words, " The Hesperus," in contrapuntal manner until the dramatic effect is entirely lost. In another similarly vigorous topic, the " Skeleton in Armor," we find the same fault, a display of counterpoint where terse directness is required. The sentiments of the viking (at once suggesting a baritone or tenor robusto solo) are given to chorus and quartette. There is not an iota of difference between the trium- phant " Skoal to the Northland ! Skoal ! " and the prosaic " Thus the Tale Ended ! " The " Corsair's Crew " are too suave and well bred for actual sea-rovers, and the hero himself is a contrapuntal and gentlemanly viking. The other excellent contrapuntist, Horatio Parker, met with similar musical shipwreck upon the Arctic seas in his orchestral " Northern Song." Foote's string quartette (Op. 4) and his piano quintette (Op. 36) have both been performed with great success by the Kneisel Quartette and other string organizations. The latter has a folk-song element that is especially effective. His " Francesca di Rimini," held by some to be his greatest work, is not as con- vincing to us as the above-mentioned suite ; it is too reserved for the anguished tale which Tschaikowsky and Liszt have told so well. His overture, " In the Mountains," is a fine work, and his pianoforte trio in C minor has won success both in America and in England, this and other of his works having been played at the Monday popular concerts in London. He has also won decided success with his songs, and such Shakespearian settings as " It was a Lover and his Lass," and "When Icicles hang by the Wall," are most singable and interpret the poems perfectly. His "Irish Folk-song" is a gem in its way, and deserves its great popularity. IQO THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Among Foote's larger works of especial power we may mention a sonata for violin and piano (Op. 20, G minor) which has been played successfully in England, a serenade for string orchestra (Op. 25), and a remarkably skilful motet for mixed chorus, "Vita nostra plena Bellis," which has been sung by our chief choral societies. All together Mr. Foote is a conservative and classical composer who never has written anything trivial or unworthy. CHAPTER IX THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA In classifying the many well-known names which follow, there has been an endeavor to give prominence to the chief feature of the work of each composer. Thus, for examples, although Dudley Buck has won laurels in organ composition, and has written an orchestral overture, yet his fame rests chiefly upon his cantatas, and he will be spoken of in the chapter devoted to such forms ; Walter Damrosch has composed in almost every branch of music, yet his most prominent composition has been an operatic one, and we shall speak of his other works in connection with that school of creation. Almost all of the American composers of rank have done more or less orchestral work, but the men now to be passed in review have achieved their chief laurels in this field. Henry K. Hadley (Fig. 55) was born in Somerville, Massa- chusetts, in 1871, and is one of the youngest of the American composers who are attempting the large forms. His father was a prominent musician in Somerville and is at present one of the most efficient of instructors in the public school music of that city. The younger Hadley, after some instruction from his father, studied harmony with Stephen A. Emery, of Boston, counterpoint and composition with George W. Chadwick, and violin with Charles N. Allen. Under Mr. Chadwick's guidance he advanced far enough to complete an orchestral overture and a string quartette, before he was twenty-one years of age. At twenty-three he went to Vienna and studied further with Mandyczewski, and here he wrote several orchestral works, including an excellent suite — his third work in this form. In 1896 he was again in America, at Garden City, Long Island, teaching in the same school (St. Paul's) in which that other famous young American musician, Horatio Parker, had begun his class-teaching career. 191 192 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC He now entered into the symphonic field, writing two sym- phonies which are virile and powerful in a high degree. The stamp of Seidl's approval certainly means a great deal, and that conductor produced a Hadley symphony a year before his death. His Third Suite also had the honor of performance by the Ameri- can Symphony Orchestra, under Franko. A festival march, a heroic overture, a cantata, and a number of songs indicate that the young composer is at present very active. One may pay the sin- cerest tribute to* Hadley 's music in its freedom from morbidness and excessive dissonances. There are too many Mrs. Gummidges abroad in our music nowadays, and some of the imitators of Wagner are plus royaliste que le Roi, and do not express the slightest emo- tion without breaking all the rules of Richter and using all the discords that an over-swollen orchestra is capable of producing. Judging by the heartiness of Hadley's First Symphony, this com- poser is to have much to say in America's music in the near future. The name of Van der Stucken scarcely indicates an Ameri- can, and the wearer of it is of Belgian descent (German on his mother's side), yet Frank van der Stucken (Fig. 102) was born in Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas, October 15, 1858. In spite of the fact that much of his life was spent abroad, he has worked in this country to such good purpose that he certainly ought to be classed with Americans, according to his birthright. The father was a captain of Texas cavalry, in the Confederate army during the Civil War, who went to Europe after the defeat of the Southern cause. In Antwerp the son studied under Peter Benoit, and he lived in Europe from 1866 until 1884. The thoroughness of his compositions may be judged by some of the honors that were paid him during his European career. He became Kapellmeister of the Stadt Theatre of Breslau ; in Antwerp his music was sung in the churches and a ballet performed in the theatre ; Grieg wrote enthu- siastically of his songs; Liszt, in 1883, was his sponsor when he gave a concert of his own compositions in Weimar, and in 1891 he was invited to give a similar concert in Antwerp. It was in 1884 that Van der Stucken became conductor of the Arion Male Chorus of New York. In 1892 he took this society on a tour through Europe, showing the foreign critics something of the THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 193 standard of vocal execution among organizations in this country. He conducted novelty concerts and other symphonic concerts in New York, 1885-88, and was the first orchestral conductor to give a concert entirely made up of " American compositions " — not the most judicious thing in the world to do, with all the repertoire of the world from which to choose. What was far better than this, he frequently placed American compositions on his regular pro- grammes, when our composers stood the test of comparison with the masters of the old world. Never- theless it must stand to his credit that he gave a concert of American compo- sitions at the Paris Exposition of 1889, and several other exclusively Ameri- can concerts in different cities. From 1 89 1 to 1894 he did good work for the German male choruses in America, establishing festivals and training large masses of singers. In 1895 he became conductor of the Cin- cinnati Symphony Orchestra, and in 1897 dean of the Cincinnati College of Music, retiring from the latter post in 1903. Therefore it is not only as composer that Van der Stucken de- serves notice, but as conductor, teacher, and propagandist as well. As orchestral writer Van der Stucken is decidedly modern. He deals with an orchestra of the largest proportions, and some of his scores (the revision of the symphonic prologue, " William Ratcliffe," for example) are as complex and as highly colored as even the Richard Strauss phantasmagoria. His latest work, a symphonic prologue entitled " Pax Triumphans," has been performed in Han- over and Brunswick with great success. On American soil there is only one composer who can equal the skill with which he draws highly spiced effects from the ultra-modern orchestra, — Charles M. LoefHer, — of whom hereafter. Van der Stucken's breadth of treatment is well shown in his "William Ratcliffe," a symphonic prologue, which represents the Fig. 55. — Henry K. Hadlev. ig4 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC composer in his most modern guise. Heine's tragedy, on which this is founded, is lugubrious enough to require a Tschaikowsky in its darker moods. In the play McGregor kills Edward Ratcliffe, Fair Betty dies of grief, Ratcliffe kills two suitors for the hand of Maria, and winds up the cheerful proceedings by killing McGregor, Maria, and himself. Two ghosts also appear at intervals to add to the blitheness of the plot. Here is the orchestra employed by the com- poser: piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two English horns, two clari- nets, a bass clarinet, two bassoons, a double bassoon, four horns, two cornets, two trumpets, three trombones, a bass tuba, a pair of kettle- drums, triangle, a snare-drum, cymbals, a bass drum, gong, two bells, two harps, a pianoforte, and the usual forces of stringed instruments. Add to this that the composer blends cornets and trumpets, a la Berlioz, that he employs a bass-drum trill, a la Verdi (and Berlioz does this also), that there are guiding motives as definite and as freely used as in Wagner, that " fff " occurs many times and " ffff " once, and the reader will readily comprehend that it is with a mod- ern we are here dealing. Van der Stucken has not attempted Scottish local color in this work, and here he has been wise. Only one to the manner born can achieve the Scottish lilt; perhaps MacDowell, of all American composers, does it best, because of his Scottish ancestry. Even the German composers, Beethoven, Schumann, Bruch, and Franz, have failed to catch the Scottish style, and the lesser men have stumbled over it, although Mendelssohn proved that a foreigner could succeed in attaining it. Van der Stucken gives a dignified picture of tragedy rather than a local sketch ; ghosts are ghosts the world over, and speak no especial dialect. Although the work is continuous, he has at least outlined the character of the four-movement symphony, each divi- sion, however, being very freely treated. It is programme music (instrumental music telling a definite story) from first to last, and has its printed synopsis. Love idyl, destroyed happiness, catas- trophe, lament, William's sorrows, the ghosts, another catastrophe, retrospects, and general lamentations, — these are a few of the emo- tions depicted in this sombre tale. Not every one will sympathize either with the subject or the ultra-modern treatment, but all will THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 195 unite in tribute to the composer's orchestral skill and to the grandeur of his climaxes. We have spoken of Van der Stucken as the pupil of Benoit ; but he had some guidance from Reinecke, Grieg, and Langer. It was not from these, however, that he gained his brilliancy of scoring and his employment of guiding motives ; it was probably from Liszt, whose works he studied and with whom he was thrown in contact for a short period. Before this time he is somewhat more conserv- ative, and,, to our thinking, more beautiful. His music to Shake- speare's " Tempest," for example, which he wrote in Breslau before the Liszt-Grieg epoch, is a fine work of which any composer might be proud. In his songs (Fig. 56) Van der Stucken is also very modern, working up great climaxes with much skill, yet in defiance of all conservative rules. He is at present the dominating musical influ- ence of Cincinnati, and is restoring to the city some of the prestige which it lost when Thomas went to Chicago. He is the chief composer in the West, and one of the foremost in America. But Chicago has also had its orchestral composer, and again we find a thorough New Englander achieving high rank in com- position. Frederic Grant Gleason (Fig. 57) was born in Middle- town, Connecticut, December 18, 1848, and his first studies were made with Dudley Buck, in Hartford, Connecticut, to which city his parents moved when Gleason was five years old. In 1869 he went to Germany to study in the higher branches of music. He studied in Berlin (not at the Hoch-Schule, as is sometimes stated) with Oscar Raif, C. F. Weitzmann, Albert Loeschhorn, and August Haupt, being a private pupil of these celebrities. He also studied at the Leipsic Conservatory under Moscheles, Plaidy, Richter, and Lobe. Returning to America, Gleason became organist of differ- ent churches in Connecticut until, in 1877, he was appointed teacher of piano, composition, and orchestration at the Hershey School in Chicago. From that time on he was a prominent pioneer in the cause of good music in the West. With Mr. Gleason we again find an example of the versatility of the American in music. He became famous as a composer, but he also did yeoman service as a musical critic, being musical editor 196 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC of the Chicago Tribune from 1884 to 1889. He exerted great in- fluence as a teacher from 1877, when he was in the Hershey School, and he was the director of a Chicago conservatory until nearly the day of his death. He was a member of the New York Manuscript Society, almost from its organization ; he was first president of the Chicago Manuscript Society (these are societies for the encourage- ment of the American composer), and at the time of his death was again its president, having been elected by a unanimous vote. Mr. Gleason died in Chicago, December 6, 1903. The compositions of Gleason are many of them in the largest '.UM^Mk^i dn^wii^ty ^m ^m £ "^ ^2^ 1 i ,i. : ^ ^^ T=^ FT / ^/ ff 5- 0V'hr.\ V ^^m Fig. 56. — Manuscript by Van der Stucken. forms : a grand opera, " Otho Visconti," of which the overture has been performed in Leipsic ; another grand opera, " Montezuma " ; a cantata, "The Culprit Fay"; two symphonic poems, "Edris" and " The Song of Life " ; important organ works, including a sonata for the instrument, and many other choral and instrumental works. He is also the author of the text of his two operas. In addition, he composed a symphonic cantata for the opening of the Auditorium in Chicago. The quality of his work can best be judged by the fact that Theodore Thomas, who is not given to flattering the American composer, has directed many of Gleason's compositions. Thus, at THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 197 the World's Fair at Chicago, the prelude to " Otho Visconti " was given by the Thomas Orchestra ; the procession of the " Holy Grail," a richly scored work, and the symphonic poem " Edris " have also been performed by the same organization in its Chicago concerts. " The Song of Life," rather a tragic composition which dwells upon the dark side of life, bears the motto (from Swin- burne) : — " They have the night, who had, like us, the day ; We, whom the day binds, shall have night as they; We, from the fetters of the light unbound, Healed of our wound of living, shall sleep sound." This work was given by Thomas, November 30, 1900, in Chicago. Mr. Gleason was decidedly a modern ; he used the leit-motif in his operas and in his cantatas, was fond of the most extensive orchestral effects, and cared more for breadth than for mere melody. He was not very strict in his part-writing, and broke harmonic laws without always getting a powerful result, but he was often noble in his orchestration and poetic, rather than dramatic, in his operatic work. There is another American orchestral composer in Chicago, who may be mentioned as an important contemporary. Henry Schoenefeld was born in Milwaukee, October 4, 1857. His father was a musician and taught the boy until his seventeenth year, when he went to Leipsic and became the pupil of Reinecke, Pap- peritz, and others. He won a composition prize there, for a choral and orchestral work, which was brought out at the Gewandkaus, the young Schoenefeld directing. Subsequently a year was spent with Lassen at Weimar. In 1879 he came back to America and settled in Chicago, where he is now a conductor of a large male chorus (the Germania), and a teacher. At the moment of this writing, however, he is resident in Berlin, where several of his works are being pro- duced. The chief claim of Schoenefeld is his clear and unaffected style and his hearty Americanism. He has from the first tried to bring definite American melody into classical music, and to accomplish this he has used exactly the means that Dvorak suggested, a igS THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC development of plantation music, but, like Chadwick, he did this before Dvorak made the discovery. Schoenefeld's suite (Op. 15) has a movement that is as distinctly plantation as the banjo itself. This use of local color was increased after the Bohemian composer had set our concert audiences hunting negro melodies, and in an overture entitled "The Sunny South," Schoenefeld became very frankly American. Dvorak was strongly attracted toward this young composer, and complimented him highly when his " Rural Symphony " won the prize of ^500 offered by the National Conservatory, of which Dvorak was then director. Nor was this the only prize that Schoenefeld captured. In 1899 he won Marteau's award for the best American sonata for violin and piano, with some of the first musicians of France serving on the jury. In this work again our American took his cue from the banjo and sent a new music to Europe. Notwithstanding the foreign performances of Schoene- feld's works, notwithstanding the prizes won, the orchestral num- bers have not yet been printed. There is, unfortunately, no public demand for large works among us that can impel a publisher to take the risk of adding to the scanty printed repertoire of American orchestral music. Turning again to the East we find a colony of young American composers in New York, and some of them dauntlessly writing orchestral works. Henry Holden Huss is one of the leaders of this band, and one of those Americans whose compositions have an international repute. He was born June 21, 1862, in Newark, New Jersey. His father, an esteemed musician, directed his early studies. Otis B. Boise was his teacher of harmony, counterpoint, and composition. In 1883 Huss went to Munich where at the Royal Music School he was a fellow-student with Horatio Parker and Arthur Whiting, under Rheinberger. He has inherited some of that composer's love of form, and he does not break away from the highway of music and scratch through the brambles of disso- nance. Several of his compositions were performed publicly in Munich during his stay at the school, and, at his graduation, he played the solo part in his rhapsody in C major, for piano and orchestra. This work at once achieved success, and immediately THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 199 after Huss's return to America it was brought out by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. With this same orchestra he played his "Piano Concerto," in 1894, under Mr. Emil Paur. The work was played again at these concerts by Adele Aus der Ohe (to whom it is dedicated), in 1903, and has been performed in many other cities with great success. It is well within the lines of form, although the cadenza of the first movement does not come at the end, but in the centre, and the development is very skilful. Mr. Huss has written an "Ave Maria" for female chorus, soli, string orchestra, organ, and harp, which has been performed under the direction of Thomas, Lang, and other famous leaders. A trio in D minor (violin, violoncello, and piano) has been given at many classical concerts, including those of the Kneisel quartette. His " Andante and Polonaise " for violin and orchestra has been heard at the Trocadero, in Paris, and Raoul Pugno has performed several of Mr. Huss's piano compositions abroad. Again it is possible to praise a young American composer for the avoidance of radical extremes. Mr. Huss is sometimes too extended in developing figures, but he is always in good form, melodic even in his Durchfiihrung, and he works up his climaxes well. It is probable that with greater simplicity, with less ingenuity of figure treatment, this composer would be yet more attractive, for his melodic gifts are sometimes hidden by his learning. Another of the New York set of composers is Harry Rowe Shelley, who was born at New Haven, Connecticut, June 8, 1858. He studied at Yale University, under Professor Gustav J. Stoeckel, and was organist of the Center Church, in New Haven, when only fourteen years of age. Subsequently, he was for a long time in New York, under Dudley Buck, Max Vogrich, and Dvoi^ak. He also studied some in Paris and London, but the larger part of his musi- cal education was achieved on American soil. At twenty he was organist of the First Church, in New Haven, and three years later he became musical director of Dr. Storrs's Church in Brooklyn. He has since then been organist at the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church. Shelley has written two symphonies, the first, in E flat, having been performed in New York in 1897, a vioHn concerto which has also been heard in various concerts, a cantata, and an opera. He 200 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC has essayed about all the forms. His fantasia for piano and orchestra is one of his most successful works. His life has, however, been passed more in the atmosphere of church music than in the concert room. He is very graceful in the smaller forms, and his organ music deserves special mention. Another New York composer who is a quaint combination of classicist and radical, who seeks to reconcile extreme popularity and classical form, is Silas Gamaliel Pratt. He was born in Addison, Vermont, August 4, 1846. His youth was devoted to commercial pursuits, but he employed all of his spare moments in musical study. His boyhood and youth were spent as a clerk with different musical firms in Chicago. His musical career practically began at twenty- two, when he gave a series of piano recitals, in Chicago, and, imme- diately thereafter, went abroad for further musical study. In 1868 he was in Berlin, studying piano with Bendel and Kullak, and com- position with Wuerst and Kiehl. Like Schumann, he studied too assiduously at the piano and achieved the same result, — a lame wrist, which, as was the case with the great Germ.an, sent him into composition. Some of his works were performed in Germany before he returned to his native heath. But Chicago, just after the great fire, was by no means the place for a musician to thrive, and Mr. Pratt was forced back into the selling of music, and obliged to leave the making of it to a more favorable time. In 1875 he was again in Berlin, studying score- reading with Heinrich Dorn. On his return home he stopped in London, and was able to direct two of his compositions in the Alexandra Palace, in London. After his return he began work on his opera, " Zenobia." There never was a better example of the irrepressible Yankee in music than Mr. Pratt at this time. A hundred schemes seemed to form in his mind simultaneously. Large musical events and great musical compositions, many of them intensely patriotic and Fig. 57. — Frederic Grant Gleason. THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 20 1 even of the " spread-eagle " order, were planned. Had Mr. Pratt not had the advantage of a good European musical training, he might have been a second Gilmore, but, fortunately, his classical studies kept his aggressive Americanism somewhat in check, and his work grew better and better. When the bombast is eliminated from some of his " patriotic " works, there is a residue of good technique and worthy music, and in the less magniloquent works Mr. Pratt is often very effective. He has achieved something in all of the large musical forms. A partial list of his compositions presents operas, " Zenobia " and " Lucille " ; cantatas, " The Last Inca " and " The Triumph of Columbus," although the latter may be called a patriotic opera ; three symphonies, one of which is entitled " The Prodigal Son " ; a grand centennial overture ; an orchestral work on Paul Revere's ride; "The Battle of Manila"; an anniversary overture on the centennial of American Independence ; a brilliant march called " Homage to Chicago " ; several shorter pieces for the orches- tra which have been successful ; and over fifty pieces for the piano, most of which are practical and pleasing. Mr. Pratt's restless energy has caused him to direct several of these works in London, Amsterdam, Berlin. He is at present director of the West End- School of Music in New York. Had this composer been less ambi- tious, he would have achieved more ; yet he has won his triumphs, and stands as an example of American energy and pluck. And now we come to the opposite type, the quiet musician who composes without any effort to astonish the world, a faithful slave to the tyrant Frau Musica, asking no reward but the privilege of laying his offerings upon her altar. Too few musical readers, in the earliest years of the twentieth century, have heard of Louis Adolphe Coerne (Fig. 58). This is an oversight that later years must rectify. He has written a host of works in almost every musical form, and is a poetic as well as a prolific writer. He was born in Newark, New Jersey (the city which also claims Henry Holden Huss as its citi- zen), February 27, 1870, and therefore is among the youngest of the American composers in the large musical forms. Like Pratt, he has also written a " Zenobia," a grand opera, which serves to suggest that the story of the Queen of Palmyra has considerable attraction for the American operatic composer. 202 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC The father of Coerne was an American citizen, though of Dutch and Swedish ancestry. His mother was an American woman and a descendant of English settlers. He spent his early childhood in Germany and France, and at the age of six he began the study of the violin. Returning to America, he entered the Boston Latin School, where for six years he had a thorough training in the classics. Upon graduating, he was admitted to Harvard University, where, together with other subjects, he studied harmony and com- position under J. K. Paine. Simultaneously he continued his violin studies under Franz Kneisel, then of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. While at college, Coerne wrote as musical critic for the Cambridge Tribune. In 1890 he went to Munich, where he studied organ and com- position under Rheinberger at the Royal Academy of Music. Upon graduating with honors in 1893, he directed his symphonic poem " Hiawatha," a work which he afterwards directed in 1894 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Munich he also played his organ concerto, which he later played at the Columbian Exposition and again at Buffalo. Before returning to this country he made several protracted tours through Italy, France, and England. He presently received an ofificial invi- tation to visit the Exposition at Chicago as solo organist, and after his arrival there the Bureau of Music made request for the composi- tion of a festival overture, to be played at the closing exercises of the Exposition. In the fall he went back to Boston, his former home, and accepted, first, the position of organist and choir-master of a boy choir in Roxbury, and afterward a position at the Shepard Memorial Church in Cambridge. During the winter he was actively employed in publishing earlier works and in teaching. In 1894 Coerne was called to Buffalo, New York, as director of the Buffalo Liedertafel and Buffalo Vocal Society, and subsequently took the position of director and organist of the Church of the Mes- siah there. During these years he composed his first opera, en- titled " A Woman of Marblehead." He went to Columbus, Ohio, in 1897, to fill the position of organist and choir-master of Trinity Church, and subsequently assumed the directorship of the Arion Club and the Columbus Maennerchor. From 1899 to 1902 he THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 203 lived abroad, devoting himself to composing, publishing, and teach- ing. An order to finish an uncompleted mass of his former master, Rheinberger, was given him, and he also composed his second opera, " Zenobia." This latter work has been accepted for per- formance at the Berlin Royal Opera House. At the close of the year 1902, Coerne returned to Boston, and again accepted a position as organist and choir-master. He was called to take charge of the department of music at Harvard University for the Summer School of 1903, and he is now musical professor at Smith College. Like most of the American composers of the present, Coerne has been in search of American subjects for his muse. His first opera, " A Woman of Marblehead," deals somewhat with the Floyd (or Flood) Ireson episode. We may add, parenthetically, that it is a pity that poor Floyd Ireson should be held up to scorn by the good poet Whittier, and the librettist, who follows his lead, as a hard-hearted man. It has been abundantly shown that he was innocent of the crime for which the women of Marblehead punished him. The opera is a worthy work, has some broad cli- maxes in its first act, and a sufficiency of melody throughout. The second opera, " Zenobia," from its acceptance abroad, would seem to be a work of much importance. Mr. Coerne has done his best orchestral work in " Hiawatha," something not so highly colored as the great cantata of Coleridge Taylor (the only negro composer of classical music), nor yet so directly derived from the aboriginal music as MacDowell's " Indian Suite," but clear and well-developed music nevertheless. Sometimes Coerne yields too much to his skill in elaboration, but he is by no means to be classed with the dissonance-mongers, nor has he the consecutive-fifth habit, which too often covers a paucity of ideas. He is sane, healthy, a little too diffuse at times, but always musi- cianly and earnest. Every branch of music is represented in the list of this young composer's writings — concert overtures, symphonic poems, operas, a string quartette, organ compositions, canons, songs, piano pieces. Most of them have been published in Europe — German publishers having accepted many of them. The organ works are of excellent 204 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC worth, thanks to the evident contrapuntal ability of the composer. Altogether it is very possible that in a few years Coerne's name may take its place on the list of the accepted tone-masters which America has produced. Another name that may some day find place among the leaders of our music is that of Frederick S. Converse. This composer was born at Newton, Massachusetts (a fashionable suburb of Boston), January 5, 1871, and is therefore still at the early part of his career. He was educated in the schools of Newton, and studied piano under local teachers. He went to Harvard Col- lege in 1889 and, of course, came under the influence of its musical director. He graduated in 1893 with the highest honors in music and, at that time, a violin sonata, his Op. I, was publicly performed. It is not every composer who begins his career with a large classical composition. A few months of commercial career convinced the young Converse that he was unsuited to business, and he then decided to make music his profession. He thereupon studied pianoforte for two years with Carl Baermann (whom we shall speak of again) and composition at the same time with Chadwick. After this he went to that Mecca of so many American composers, the Royal School of Music, at Munich, from which he graduated in 1898, with honors in composition. His symphony in D minor (Op. 7) was first produced at this time. The following winter the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed the first movement of this work. After graduation Mr. Converse came back to America, and is now resident in Boston, where he was for two years a teacher in the New England Conservatory of Music. He has written several large orchestral works and much chamber- music. Among the works that have been performed in America are two symphonic poems, inspired by Keats, one entitled the " Festival of Pan" and the other "Endymion's Narrative," which the composer calls " Romances for Orchestra," -^ a term quite as applicable as Fig. 58. — Louis Adolphe COERNE. THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 205 " Poemes Symphoniques." He has also written a concert overture, " Euphrosyne," a string quartette, a sonata for violin and piano, a suite for piano, and a ballad for baritone voice and orchestra, " La Belle Dame sans Merci," — all of which have been performed or published. Of the works mentioned above we prefer " Endymion's Narra- tive," which is a most worthy addition to the orchestral repertoire of the present. There is no straining for effect in this romance, no endeavor to invent new and impossible progressions, yet it is thoroughly modern withal, and deals with the largest orchestral score without attempting unnecessary tumult. Nor does Converse disdain melody when it is requisite, and there is a march theme in the work which is the happy medium between classical and popular music. Best of all, the work is in the dreamy, sylvan style of Keats, and is a noble translation of the spirit of the poem " Endymion " into the tonal form. It is a good illustration of the saying that music begins where language ends. The " Festival of Pan " was inspired by the same poem, but is less romantic, less melodic, and more skilful. One can scarcely imagine Keats inspiring a fugato, such as occurs in a portion of this work. Neither of the two com- positions are to be regarded as "programme music," for the com- poser does not schedule his meanings, but leaves the auditor free to read his Keats and make his own application. The first movement of the symphony (all we have heard of the work in America, as yet) is in strict sonata-allegro form, as one would expect in a conserva- tory composition, but shows good climaxes and a commendable control of the orchestral forces. There is another Converse who has also written in the largest orchestral forms. This is Charles Crozat Converse, who was born in Warren, Massachusetts, October 7, 1832. This earlier composer drifted from music into law, and his larger works are mostly in manuscript. We confess a lack of familiarity with them, yet the Hst is formidable enough. There are two symphonies, ten orchestral suites and overtures, three symphonic poems, an oratorio, six string quartettes, and a very popular hymn, " What a Friend we. have in Jesus," which we know and do not find very musical. Theodore Thomas, Walter Damrosch, and Anton Seidl have produced some 2o6 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC of his works. Mr. Converse was a student at Leipsic Conservatory, and several of his compositions have been published in Europe. Yet another young American symphonist may swell the list. Howard Brockway was born in Brooklyn, November 22, 1870. In his youth he studied with Kortheuer, in New York. At twenty he went to Berlin, and studied piano with Barth and composition with the American teacher there, O. B. Boise — his own father- in-law. The latter trained his fellow-countryman and relative so well that by twenty-four he had written a symphony, a symphonic ballad, a violin sonata, a romanza for violin and orchestra, and many other works. Many of his compositions were published abroad, and he conducted a concert of his own works at the Sing Akademie in Berlin, where he received much praise. Brockway's "Sylvan Suite" for orchestra was performed under Gericke at the Boston Symphony concerts. This suite is very cleverly written, is quite genial and agreeable throughout, yet intro- duces some counterpoint in a tricksy fugue given to the Will o' the Wisps, which shows that these fairies are more classical than has been supposed. There are semi-popular touches in the " Dance of the Sylphs," a neat waltz, and a march theme in the fourth movement, while the finale, " At Daybreak," is a strong climax to a pleasant sylvan suavity. A graceful composer is Brockway, who will no doubt grow broader. He is at present engaged as instructor at the Peabody Institute, in Baltimore, where O. B. Boise has recently become professor of composition. In speaking of the West in connection with musical progress, we have up to this point confined ourselves to two cities, Chicago and Cincinnati ; and these two cities have certainly been the most important in the orchestral advance, in music festivals, in operatic performances. Yet a few orchestral writers have appeared outside of them. Cleveland, the home of several good composers, has one orchestral writer. Beck, who, under more encouraging circum- stances, might have become, may yet become, a great influence in the art that is growing stronger each day in communities which but a short time since were entirely commercial. Johann H. Beck was born in Cleveland, Ohio, September 12, 1856. He studied violin, first in Cleveland, afterwards in the THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 207 Leipsic Conservatory. Returning to Cleveland from Germany, he at once devoted himself to the large forms of composition. It is needless to say that there was little encouragement for this in his native city at that time. Nevertheless Beck kept bravely on, writing overtures, a cantata, chamber-music, and a few songs. His teachers in Germany (in composition) had been Reinecke and Jadassohn, and of course they taught him expression without sub- verting the rules of form and harmonic progression. Beck's large works are, unfortunately, not accessible, being in manuscript. Yet they have been played both in America and in Europe. We can only judge of them by the little that has been heard at concerts of the Music Teachers' National Association, but it would seem as though Beck with his manuscripts, in Cleveland, and practically unknown in the Eastern cities with large orchestras, is like a giant in a closet. But he is no longer a solitary classicist in Cleveland. Wilson G. Smith, Jg,mes H. Rogers, and others have brought that city into line with the modern school of composition and made it in some degree a musical centre. St. Louis, large metropolis as it is, has lagged behind somewhat in the musical field. Even its great International Exhibition (of 1904) promises little in the field of music (save organ recitals) that can compare with the new compositions, the symphonic concerts, the musical congress, that marked the Columbian Exhibition at Chicago, in 1893. Yet St. Louis, too, has its orchestral composer — its musical leader — and this artist is a native-born citizen. Ernest Richard Kroeger (Fig. 59) was born in St. Louis, August 10, 1862. His father was a native of Schleswig-Holstein, his mother was of English birth. The young Kroeger was at first obliged to enter a business career, and from fifteen to twenty-three the only musical study that he had was gained in the moments left free from commercial pursuits. At twenty-three, however, he decided to make music his profession. All his studies have been pursued in America, and chiefly in the West, wherefore he may stand as a typically Western composer. He has aimed high in his writings. His list of compositions includes a symphony, a sym- phonic overture on " Sardanapalus " which has been performed by Seidl in New York, and another overture entitled " Hiawatha," in 208 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC which he used actual Indian themes. This work was given at Omaha by the Thomas Orchestra. The American theme has rather drawn him. Not only his "Hiawatha" shows this, but in "Ten American Sketches" (Op. 53), he portrays Negro, Indian, mountain, and prairie life, and sounds a characteristic note founded upon the idea of the folk-tone. Victor Herbert's Pittsburg Orches- tra produced his " Thanatopsis " over- ture. Like F. S. Converse, he has been inspired by Keats's poetry, and has written an overture entitled " En- dymion." He has composed in many veins of chamber-music, and some of his works in this field have been pub- lished by the German firm of Breit- kopf & Hartel. A concerto for piano and orchestra still remains in manu- script. A whole host of piano and vocal compositions by Mr. Kroeger have been published, and among these are anthems, quartettes, choruses, and the like. He has written organ composi- tions of substantial worth, and his contrapuntal skill may be judged by his prelude and fugue for piano, a skilful and serious work. Mr. Kroeger's labors in music have been many (for the musician in America must needs be versatile). He has been organist, choir- master, conductor, founder, and leader of clubs, head of a college of music, and has been most prominent in teaching and developing music in his native city. He has received his reward (for cities are not always ungrateful). He has been made chief of the Bureau of Music of the St. Louis Exhibition, of 1904, and the many impor- tant organ recitals, to be given by artists from every part of the United States, are due to his efforts. It is doubtful if Pittsburg would accept the title of a " Western " city; but the term may be applied to dissociate it from New York and Boston, the Eastern musical centres, and New Orleans, the Southern musical city. Pittsburg has, thanks chiefly to Andrew Fig. 59. — E. R. Kroeger. THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 209 Carnegie, become a musical centre in recent years, and in organ playing, as we shall see in a later chapter, it has had advantages beyond many an Eastern city. It has its own symphony concerts, and it has its little group of composers. Of these one stands forth as a representative American composer. Adolph Martin Foerster was born in Pittsburg, February 2, 1854. He inherited his musical gifts from his mother, who was his first teacher. For a time he had no intention of following music save as an accomplishment, but, after three years spent in com- mercial pursuits, he came to the conclusion that in music only could he achieve success. The serious study of the art began with him in 1872, and for three years from that time he was in Leipsic a pupil of Richter and Papperitz in composition, Grill and Schimon in voice, and Wenzel and Coccius in piano. On his return to America he became a teacher at the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Con- servatory, but after a year in this post he returned to Pittsburg, where he has since remained. Here he at once pushed to the front in musical matters. He was very soon made conductor of the Symphonic Society, and in 1883 he directed the Musical Union and the Choral Society. The influence of Robert Franz, in Halle, Germany, upon this American composer, has not been a slight one. Foerster's six songs (Op. 6), are dedicated to the German master, who was his close friend. Many of the orchestral works of Foerster remain in manuscript, although most of them have been performed. So long as we have a public not fully acquainted with the orchestral works of the great masters this must necessarily be the fate of the mass of American composers. But that acquaintance is being speedily made, and we may hope that, in the near future, instead of unnecessary repe- titions of standard works, or interpretations of the efforts of untried European fledglings, there will be a constant demand for worthy compositions of American musicians, leading to their publication as well as to their performance. " Thusnelda," by Foerster, a characteristic orchestral piece founded upon a poem by Schaefer, has, however, attained the dignity of print. A " Faust " overture (in spite of Wagner), a march-fantasia, a festival march (performed by Seidl) and some others, yet await their publisher. In songs 2IO THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC and in piano compositions Foerster has been very successful. He is sufficiently melodic and romantic, without becoming mawkish, and he is clear in what he wishes to say. Perhaps nothing can show the growth of music- in America more vividly than the fact that one can find great artists and good composers even in the cities most remote from what we have called "musical centres." San Francisco possesses its pianists, organists, composers, and conservatories, and in far Colorado there has been not only a good conservatory, but a composer, an orchestral com- poser of native birth, Goldmark, who is likely to be heard from frequently in the near future. Rubin Goldmark is a nephew of the great composer of the same name, in Vienna. He was born in New York, in 1872, and received his education in the public schools there, and in the College of the City of New York. He took his first musical studies in New York, with Alfred Livonius, with whom he after- wards went to Vienna. Arrived in the Austrian capital at seven- teen, he began earnest study with Door, in piano, and Fuchs, in composition. On his return to New York he studied both branches further with Joseffy and Dvorak. His health sent him to Colo- rado Springs, where he established a college of music, and where he resided until 1903, when he again returned to New York. At nineteen Goldmark composed a theme and variations, for orchestra, which was performed by Seidl, in New York, with much success. At twenty there came a piano trio, which caused Dvorak to say, "There are now two Goldmarks ! " A "Hiawatha" over- ture (that Indian rises as constantly as Banquo's ghost, at the American musical banquet) has been played by the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra ; a violin sonata, a host of songs, and a liberal list of other compositions form the contributions of this young com- poser to our art. What has been heard and seen of these works proves the young Goldmark to be a remarkably scientific musician, graceful in his thoughts, and fine in his orchestral coloring. Another composer from the middle West is Carl V. Lachmund, who was born in Booneville, Missouri, in 1854, and went abroad at a very early age to study music. At thirteen he was at Cologne, under Heller and Seiss ; a little later at Berlin with the two Schar- THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 211 wenkas and Moszkowski ; finally with Liszt at Weimar, where he stayed for some years. Lachmund was active in the opera at Cologne, and became known to the German concert-rooms through a trio for harp, violin, and violoncello, and also a concert prelude that was quite popular. Since his return to America his " Japanese Overture " has received performance by Thomas and Seidl, and he has become prominent in New York, where he has taken up his residence. This chapter may be fittingly brought to a close with one of the more important names, that of a composer who, by some, is consid- ered one of the very few Americans to be called a master. Arthur B. Whiting (Fig. 60) has written in almost all the musical forms, both great and small, and has won success in many of them. His works have been played by all of the great orchestras of America, and many of them have had interpretations abroad. And in this connection a clear statement may be made. The single perform- ance of a large work does not always prove much. So many wires are pulled, there is so much playing of musical politics, that works of an inferior order sometimes appear upon a programme of the highest class. Some conductors, and notably Thomas, Gericke, Paur, and Seidl, have sought to stem this tide, and their indorsement means much. The works of some native composers, however, are in actual demand and are played over and over again. The concertos of MacDowell, the overtures of Chad wick, the suite in D minor by Foote, and numbers by Paine, Horatio Parker (chiefly vocal), and Arthur Whiting, are played purely because they are worthy compositions, just the same as a work by Brahms, or R. Strauss, or Grieg. Arthur Battelle Whiting (who is a nephew of the organist and composer G. E. Whiting) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 20, 1 86 1, and is a member of a remarkably musical family. His father was a musician of some prominence, and the young Whiting was given instruction of the best character from the very beginning. William H. Sherwood was his teacher in piano, J. C. D. Parker in harmony, and George W. Chad wick taught him the higher grades of composition. Then came the trip to Munich, where he formed one of the excellent band of Americans 212 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN .MUSIC which Rheinberger instructed, and of which Chadwick was one of the earliest members. On his return to America he settled in Boston, marrying into one of the oldest New England families. Within the last few years, however, he has made New York his home. He is not a composer who gives forth a large list of compositions, for he works slowly and seems to prize finish as much as inspiration. Almost all of his early works were instrumental or orchestral. Recently, how- ever, he has won a striking success in a vocal setting of Oliver Herford's cycle of poems entitled " Floriana," in which he has dis- played a charming delicacy and a thorough comprehension of the needs of the vocalist. It is in the dainty and graceful moods that we find this composer at his best, and we find him lacking when vigor and fiery dramatic expression are required. Yet he has been fairly successful in setting some of Kipling's " Barrack-room Ballads," which certainly are not over-delicate. Yet it is not to be doubted that " Floriana " is, up to the pres- ent time, his most successful and artistic work in the vocal field. Naturally, as Mr. Whiting is a clever pianist and a prominent teacher of the in- strument, most of his works tend in that direction. Yet some of his piano works are combined with orchestra in such an ad- vanced manner that it gives the composer the right to appear in this chapter. He has written a piano concerto, in D minor (Op. 6), which has been heard in American symphony concerts as long ago as 1888. The orches- tration of this work is quite advanced, and there are bold modula- tions in it that are beyond the suavity of some of Mr. Whiting's later works. Even before the composition of this concerto the composer had brought forth classical pieces. A piano trio, per- formed in Munich, we have never heard, but a concert overture, performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in 1886, made a very favorable impression, although not of the power of the Chad- wick overtures, which had preceded it. In 189 1 a suite, in G Fig. 60. — Arthur Whiting. THE ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 213 minor, for string orchestra and horn quartette (Op. 8) made its appearance. The combination of musical forces was an unusual one, yet it was very successful. In this suite Mr. Whiting showed that he was a master of sonata form, and his gi-ace and elegance were well exhibited. About the same time the Kneisel quartette concerts presented a violin sonata by the young composer, the per- formers being Mr. Kneisel and Mr. Whiting. But the most ambitious of Mr. Whiting's works is the fantasia for piano and orchestra, in B flat minor (Op. 11). In this the com- poser not only has more of virile power than in his other large com- positions, but he even manages to innovate in musical form, giving a pastorale, nominally as a second movement, but really as the contrasted second portion of the first movement, for it is followed by a condensed return of the first movement before the finale begins. This is a form which we do not recall ever having met before, yet it is symmetrical and decidedly useful in classical treat- ment, shortening the composition, yet not depriving it of any of its effective contrasts. As might have been expected from a pianist, the chief instrument is made rather prominent, having long stretches of absolute solo ; but this can be readily condoned in so free a form as a fantasia. All together, then, Mr. Whiting, beginning in too suave and Chesterfieldian a manner, has grown constantly, and is now one of the prominent composers in the larger forms. His compositions become more and more powerful with each successive number, and his piano works are among the most useful in the entire American repertoire. CHAPTER X OTHER ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA After narrating the advent of American compositions in Europe it now becomes necessary to speak of some Americans who have expatriated themselves — those who studying abroad, at the end of their musical course, tempted by the musical atmosphere of foreign climes, and possibly believing that success in the higher branches of the profession was difficult at home, settled in Europe almost permanently. This list is happily a short one. The first of these is Otis Bardwell Boise, who taught music in Berlin for many years. Boise was born in Oberlin, Ohio (a very active musical town), August 13, 1844. He was educated at the public schools in Cleveland, Ohio, and was an organist at fourteen years of age. In 1861 he studied in Leipsic, under Hauptmann, Richter, Moscheles, and others; and in 1864 there came still further study in Berlin, under KuUak. Then he returned (tem- porarily) to his native land, and from 1865 to 1870 engaged in teaching, and playing the organ, in Cleveland. From 1870 to 1876 Boise was in New York, as a teacher of composition in the New York Conservatory and organist in the Fifth Avenue Presby- terian Church. He was in Europe again in 1877, composing and studying ; and now he won the friendship of Liszt, who helped him in his work and undoubtedly aided him in his recognition abroad. Another attempt in New York followed, from 1878 to 1881, and then came seven years of business affairs instead of music. Finally, in 1888, there began the period of his expatriation, and from that time (until very recently) Boise remained in Berlin. There has been a good reflection of his work in America, for Howard Brock- way (his son-in-law) studied with him in Berlin, and Huss was his pupil before he left America. Boise has written symphonies, over- 215 2i6 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC tures, concertos, and other large works, but these are better known abroad than in his native land. He has also written an educational work entitled " Harmony made Practical," which is decidedly mod- ern in its tendencies. In 1902 he returned to America and is at present (1904) in Baltimore. Arthur Bird, the second of the American group in Europe, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, July 23, 1856. He went abroad before he was twenty-one, and studied in Berlin for two years under Haupt, Loeschhorn, and Rohde. Returning to America he settled for four years in Halifax (Nova Scotia) as organist and teacher, and founded there the first male chorus in Nova Scotia. In 188 1 he went back to Berlin for more extended study, under Heinrich Urban, at Kullak's school. The attention of Liszt was drawn to his work, and the summer of 1885 was spent with that master at Weimar, as also part of the following year. A con- cert eiven in Berlin in 1S86 served to introduce some of his own works to Germany, and so successfully that his path became easy in that musical centre. Another visit was made to America in 1886, but eventually (about the same time that Boise settled abroad) Bird became a regular teacher and composer of Berlin, He has composed in almost all forms and is an excellent contrapuntist, yet uses his skill in this direction as a means rather than as an end, seldom making a display of his knowledge. His works include a symphony, in A, three orchestral suites, some excellent piano compositions (including two fugues), a ballet, and an opera comique entitled " Daphne." A third American composer abroad is Templeton Strong. He is the son of the late G. T. Strong, once president of the New York Philharmonic Society. Just as Arthur B. Whiting, Henry K. Had- ley, and Horatio W. Parker have dropped part of their names (there are hosts of instances of this in musical biography, outside of William Richard Wagner), so George Templeton Strong has cur- tailed his name to Templeton Strong. Born in New York in 1855, of a distinguished and wealthy family, his musical education was fos- tered from the very beginning, and after some study in his native city he was sent to Leipsic, where, in the great conservatory, he studied composition and piano for some years. In 1891 he came OTHER ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 217 to America to take a position in the New England Conservatory as teacher of harmony and counterpoint. He became very popular with all who came in contact with him, pupils and faculty alike, but was soon obliged to return to Europe on account of his health, which suffered from the rigorous New England climate. He at present makes his home in Vevay, Switzerland, composing amidst the most picturesque surroundings. Strong has written much orchestral and cantata music. He possesses a grace in delicate romance that is altogether charming, and in his control of the modern orchestra he is the equal of any of the American composers. He has written two symphonies, of which one, "Sintram," has been given in the United States, Anton Seidl performing it in Brooklyn, in 1892. This work may be taken as Strong's magnum opus. It is too prolix, but it has much power and is brilliantly scored. More artistic and poetic to our thinking is " The Haunted Mill," a work for chorus, baritone solo, and orchestra, which is as successful a work as anything of its kind in the reper- toire, being full of true inspiration from beginning to end. A symphonic poem, " Undine," has not yet been heard in America. Strong's piano works are full of poetry, and his cantatas (mostly with German text) are all worthy of translation and performance in America. If we have loaned to Germany three good American composers, that country has returned the compliment tenfold, by sending us a host of creative musicians who, having taken up their residence among us, have become part and parcel of the advance move- ment which is now so strongly marked in musical matters on this side of the Atlantic. In such a list as that which is to follow, we shall not include sporadic visitors, who have been sojourning here from the time of JuUien to that of Richard Strauss, but only those who have definitely Americanized themselves and have given their permanent efforts to compositions of an American character. Among these one man stands preeminent for mastery of the most modern orchestra, for originality of thought, as well as for remarkable devices in combinations of instrumentation. This modern Beriioz is Charles Martin Loefifler (Fig. 61). He was born in Muhlhausen, Alsatia, in January, 1861. A few of his early works were published 2i8 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC as by Loeffler-Tornov, the latter being part of his family name, which, however, has been omitted from later works. In his four- teenth year he decided to make music his profession. He then studied violin with Leonard in Paris, with Massart, in the same city, and with Joachim, in Berlin, becoming a violinist of the highest rank. He studied composition with Friedrich Kiel, in Berlin, and orchestration with Guiraud, in Paris. Loeffler himself doubts, how- ever, whether he ought to be called a pupil of Kiel, as his studies with him were interrupted and very brief. His chief studies of orchestration were made from the orchestra itself, or with men who (he says) are quite unknown to fame. His work with the Pasdeloup Orchestra, in Paris, and with other European orchestras, gave him a practical training that has been of the greatest value to him. More than half of Loeffler's life has been passed in America, three years in New York and twenty-one years in Boston.^ In the latter city he has been one of the most prominent violinists of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a teacher of the highest rank. At present he has dissociated himself from the orchestra in order to have more time for composition. Few of Loeffler's works have been published, although about all of them have been performed either in Boston or New York. Most of the published scores have appeared in . Paris, and include a few songs and a berceuse for violin and pianoi Recently he has produced four remarkable songs with French text (the poetry by Gustave Kahn), which have been published in New York. They prove that even without the glow of orchestral color, this composer can present impressive music. In the main, however, Loeffler's work has been largely orchestral. His chamber-music is very effective and practical, as might be expected from so thorough a violinist. In some of it he has devel- oped Russian themes very brilliantly. His tendency toward Russian and French subjects has been marked, as also a decided morbidness that is a characteristic of the ultra-modern school. There is a dis- tinctly Russian flavor in Loeffler's violin concerto, as also (and here it is more attractively employed) in his string sextette. Such a subject as Maeterlinck's " Death of Tintagiles " would ^The portrait of Loeffler which is reproduced herewith is a recent painting by John S. Sargent, presented to Mrs. John L. Gardner of Boston, and is at present in her Italian palace. FIG. 6r. — C. M. LOEFFLER. After the painting by John S. Sargent. (Copyright by Thomas E. Marr.) OTHER ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 22 1 naturally appeal strongly to the morbidezza which we have spoken of as prominent in this composer's work. It is made into a laro-e symphonic poem, and the composer's individuality in scoring is shown by his resuscitating the obsolescent viol d' amore, and em- ploying two of them to picture the pathetic hero and his sister, a thoroughly adequate tone-color which speaks the orchestral mind. The present writer may perhaps be pardoned for introducing here an extract from a review of the work written by him after the first hearing. It will serve to point out Loeffler's merits and defects. " Now followed a very talented, but very radical, composition, by C. M. Loefifler, entitled ' La Mort de Tintagiles.' Mr. Loefifler has already proved that he is thoroughly imbued with ultra-modern pessimism. He has given us a carnaval des morls, and has rev- elled in the verjuice of Verlaine, and now he plunges into the still deeper gloom of Maeterlinck. It is but the tendency of most modern art; music is no longer to be beautiful, but is to become a hopeless wailing, a thrice-intensified Weltschmerz. One may acknowledge that shadows are needed to give the best effect to lights in painting, that evil must contrast against good in literature, that dissonance must enhance consonance in music; but to present shadows only, to portray only crime and misery, to sound only dis- sonances and unrest, is bad art. In the Maeterlinck cult the relisrion is hysteria, the temple a morgue. " Maeterlinck is so steeped, soaked, and sodden in horrors that, to a healthy mind, some of his tricks become comical. His castles and palaces are always in bad repair, built in a malarial district, with bad drainage, and perfumed with blood. Heavy iron doors, dark passages filled with liorror, mysterious presences, melancholy chil- dren abound. Everybody goes about in the deepest gloom and ter- ror ; the characters never speak but always stammer their gruesome tales to each other ; there is murder in the air, there is death at the end of every play. Shakespeare's (if it be Shakespeare's) ' Titus Andronicus ' is sunshine compared to these tragedies ; and what would one have said of Shakespeare had he brought forth one ' Titus Andronicus' after the other? .And now we are to have this perni- cious art, with its only ambition that of the fat boy in ' Pickwick,' — ' I wants to make your flesh creep ! ' — exerting its funereal influence 222 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC in music. Mr. Loeffler does not beat about the bush; he plunges bodily into the brambles of the modern path. He begins with a dis- sonance that makes the first chord of the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony seem sweet by comparison, and, once launched, there are no stopping-places, no cadences of repose — all is restless, agonized, sorrowing. " It was in good taste, however, to use a couple of viols d'amore to represent the two children, Tintagiles and Ygraine, although their wretchedness was pushed to such great length that it became monotonous at last. The two viols d'amore were not the only instrumental novelty of the wonderful score, for a pedal clarinet, the deepest of the single reed instruments, was heard in America, in this work, for the first time. And there were still more striking novelties in the application of older instruments; from harps to cymbals the composer showed himself a master of orchestral com- binations. Setting all the lugubrious ideas aside, Mr. Loeffler has suddenly shown himself as ranking among the most famous masters of the modern orchestra. " The odd effects produced upon the cymbals (not unlike Wag- ner's rattling in the Venus-scene in ' Tannhauser'), the impressive tolling of midnight upon the harps (Berlioz and St. Saens may stand sponsors for this), the bold use of bass drum and of percussion gen- erally, the muted horns, the ' ponticello ' work of the strings, the short trumpet-blasts, the mournful organ-point against the viols d'amore, these, and a host of other striking touches might be men- tioned to prove what a master of scoring we have in Mr. Loeffler." Mr. Loeffler has recently rescored this work and has eliminated one of the viols d' amore, giving the single obbligato instrument more prominence. In its new form the work shows even more mas- terful control of the modern orchestra. If the extremely sombre and radical school be accepted, it may be cordially admitted that Loeffler is a master of it, a rival to any of its modern exponents. Other orchestral works by Loeffler show the same qualities. A divertimento for violin and orchestra presents a charming eclogue, with just the tender pastoral feeling that ought to dominate such a movement. The finale, however, rushes into the extreme of frenzy with a carnaval des marts in which all the diablerie in which the OTHER ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 223 composer revels is introduced. In the eclogue the violins are omitted from the orchestra, a point which gives especial prominence to the solo instrument. Other ingenious touches of orchestration occur, even muted trumpets (a very rare effect in orchestration) being employed. All Loefitler's morbidity bursts forth in his symphonic poem '' La Villanelle du Diable," founded upon an eccentric poem by Rollinat. It is not a Miltonian Lucifer that here appears, but a very restless gentleman with the rickets. Led by the poet, Mr. LoefHer has created a Till-Eulenspiegel kind of a devil, and sent him prancing through a most complicated score. Muted horns give forth their baleful tones, piccolos shriek, the " ^a Ira " and the " Carmagnole," and the blood- stained tunes of the Reign of Terror blend in fierce confusion in this picture of Satan. In exquisite contrast to such orgies is a symphonic poem founded on " La Bonne Chanson," one of the finest works of Ver- laine. It is a tender poem deal- ing with the glory of daybreak and the message of love, a pas- sionate appeal to the morning- star ; and this Loefifler has turned into music in a noble manner, dreamy and yearning. Loefifler has shown himself to be a great tone-colorist — the best in America. A great musician, Louis Maas (Fig. 62), took up his residence in America in 1880, and, but for his early death, would have become a leader in the musical advance. He was born in Wies- baden, Germany, June 21, 1852. Pupil and subsequently teacher at the conservatory in Leipsic, he came to Boston, one of the most learned musicians of the Boston coterie at that time. He conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra ; sought out American sub- FiG. 62. — ^ Louis Maas. 2 24 ^^^ HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC jects in music, and finally wrote a symphony (inspired by his West- ern tours) entitled " On the Prairies." He wrote much orchestral and classical music, was a pianist of foremost rank, a very successful teacher, and stood very high in his work at the New England Conservatory of Music. A most prosperous career seemed opening to him in America, but it was cut short by his death in Boston, September i8, 1889. Richard Burmeister is another of the foreigners who has identi- fied himself with American musical progress. He was born in Hamburg, December 7, i860. He was a teacher in the Hamburg Conservatory and also a pupil of Liszt, in the general sense in which this term is applied. That is, Liszt advised him, heard him play, admitted him to the coterie at Weimar, and guided his performance and his compositions in a large degree. He was also with Liszt in Buda-Pesth and in Rome — an exceptional privilege. He has written a piano concerto, has rescored the Chopin F minor concerto, and has added an orchestral part to Liszt's own "Concerto Pathetique." In 1885 he came to America, and for twelve years was the head of the piano department of the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. After that he settled in New York, where he became head of the Scharwenka Conservatory and whence he made concert tours all over this country and Europe. His present residence is Europe, where he has many American pupils. Asgar Hamerik (born in Copenhagen, April 8, 1843) was director of the same Peabody Institute Conservatory, from 1871. He has composed an enormous list of large works, including five symphonies ; but none of these are especially American, so far as they are generally known. He has written much sacred music, and many of his compositions are Danish in their trend and inspiration. Otto Singer was more thoroughly Americanized than Hamerik. Born at Sora, in Saxony, July 26, 1833, he studied in Dresden, in the Leipsic Conservatory, and with Liszt (the usual reservation is to be made here), and was a teacher in the two cities named above. He came to America in 1867, and taught here for more than a quarter of a century. Such foreigners have had a more important role in American musical history than some of our native-born composers, OTHER ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 225 and it is quite in line with the purpose of this volume to trace their influence. At first Singer was a teacher in New York — until 1873. In that year he was called to Cincinnati to be assistant conductor of the first May Festival in that city. After this musical occasion he accepted the post of teacher of piano and composition in the College of Music in Cincinnati, and remained there for almost the rest of his life. In 1893 he returned to New York, where he died, January 3, 1894. Much of the best chorus singing in Cincinnati is due to Otto Singer. For years he trained the choruses for the May festivals. In 1876 he wrote an American cantata for one of these festivals, " The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers," which had much success. Besides this he has com- posed symphonies, a symphonic fantasia, concertos, and many other works. His "Symphonic Fantasia" was' performed by Gericke with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and with good success. Singer stood on the neutral ground between the conservative and the radical. .Even his "Symphonic Fantasia" followed the outline of the symphonic shape, giving the effect of four distinct but con- tinuous movements. It would scarcely be to our purpose to speak of the many musi- cians, composers of orchestral forms, who have merely had a tem- porary residence in America. Such men as Busoni, Vogrich, Scharwenka, and other birds of passage, have honored our country by remaining in it for a time, but they have not added to its history nor influenced its musical career. On the other hand, such foreign composers as Eichberg, Singer, and Loeiifler, who have lived among us for a generation or longer, who have taught hundreds of Ameri- can pupils, who have written works on American subjects or have had all their works brought out first in America, — these men are part of the warp and woof of the American musical fabric, and their honors belong to this country as Handel's glory belongs to England, the country of his adoption. It is perhaps fitting that this chapter should close with a figure essentially American, and one which is entirely familiar to most of our readers. It is not the figure of a great orchestral conductor, it is not a composer of the classical forms, yet the man whose name is to follow has had more performances of his works in France, Ger- Q 226 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC many, and England than all the names thus far cited put together. One may recall the fable of the bat among the birds and the mice; The birds declined to associate with it because it was too much like a mouse ; the mice declined its companionship because it too closely resembled a bird. Some such dilemma confronts one in the classification of John Philip Sousa (Fig. 63). In Germany they hold his music so typically representative of America that they play his marches on international occasions, as, for example, the festivi- ties connected with the Wagner monument in Berlin. In America his tunes are familiar to all classes, and many a musician who knows that Sousa does not belong among the great masters might be obliged to confess greater familiarity with the melo- dies of the former than with some of the themes of the latter. Sousa was born in Washington, No- vember 6, 1856. His mother was Ger- man, his father a political refugee from Spain, who became a trombone player. Sousa's youth was decidedly variegated. His musical teachers were John Esputa and George Felix Benkert. At eight he was fiddler in a dancing-school, at six- teen he led an orchestra in a variety theatre, at eighteen he was musical director of a travelling theatrical troop, and had composed music for their play. A little later he blacked his face and appeared with a negro minstrel company ; at nineteen he had moved a little higher, and was a member of the orchestra with which Offenbach toured the United States. Then he became director of a " Pinafore " opera company; and finally, in 1880, at twenty-four years of age, was appointed leader of the United States Marine Band. In this position he did some good and some unscientific work. Our meaning may be made clear by examining the " National, Pa- triotic and Typical Airs of all Countries," which he collated with the power of the United States administration back of him. All our consuls abroad were ordered to send to Sousa the chief airs of the Fig. 63. — John P. Sousa. (Copyright by E, Chickering, Boston.) OTHER ORCHESTRAL COMPOSERS OF AMERICA 227 countries in which they resided. One might have expected a work that would have been one of the most valuable in all musical" litera- ture. It might have been so, had not Mr. Sousa, with a deplorable excess of zeal, harmonized most of the tunes in the manner he thought would sound best. As a result one cannot trust any of the barbaric or semi-civilized melodies in the collection. Japan gives us harmonies which might be found in Richter's exercises, and the war-song of the Apaches has an effect as if each of these wild Indians were armed with a grand piano. But in the training of his band Sousa was not so unscientific, and he made the organi- zation fairly famous. August i, 1892, he resigned the leadership, and formed his own band, which has since become celebrated in its peculiar field. Although Sousa has written operas of the lighter kind, waltzes and songs, his chief claim' to fame lies in his marches. It is said that over twenty thousand bands in the United States alone play, or play at, his marches, while in England and Germany, at present, one cannot escape hearing the well-remembered rhythm of the " Washington Post " or the " Liberty Bell " march. The prices received for these two marches varied somewhat. The composer sold the first for ^35, the second has thus far netted him ^35,000. This is far more than any sum received for any composition men- tioned elsewhere in this volume. Sousa's comic operas have won much success from the box- office point of view, and it is pleasant to note that he is essaying more earnest work. Two recent suites of his are quite graceful in form. The marches, however, are the fame of Sousa, exactly as the waltz is the success of Johann or Eduard Strauss. Nor need one disdain such a success. To write stirring rhythms, melodies that one cannot shake out of one's memory, tunes that make the tired soldier walk and the popular concert audience tap their feet, is not given to every one. America may accept Sousa's remark- able capture of Europe with pleasure, without unduly exalting it. People abroad, as a whole, prefer Johann Strauss to Richard, but that does not mean that the former is the greater of the two. Both can be enjoyed in their proper seasons. CHAPTER XI OPERATIC, CANTATA, AND VOCAL COMPOSERS In this chapter may be examined the works of those composers who, whatever other compositions they may have written, have won their chief successes in the vocal field. In the domain of sacred music, America has a writer of much importance in the person of James Cutler Dunn Parker (Fig. 64). Not only are his works of intrinsic worth, but Parker was the earliest of all the native composers to study music thoroughly in Germany. As his era of teaching activity antedates that of John K. Paine, one may call him the father of the American school of musical pedagogues. He was born in Boston, June 2, 1828, and graduated from Harvard in 1848. At that time it was deemed impossible for any American of social prominence and ample means to take up music as a profession. In consequence, Parker studied law for three years. At the end of that time, however, he made up his mind that he would not develop into a great legal luminary, and that there was a career before him in the realm of tones. Three years of study in Leipsic followed, under such teachers as Haupt- mann, Richter, and Rietz, and especially with Moscheles, who took much interest in the young American student in the days when few Americans studied music in Germany. Returning to America in 1854, Mr. Parker entered upon a musical career that is still (1904) continuing. He early organized a vocal club for part-singing, became the organist at Trinity Church, was the organist also of the Handel and Haydn Society, and entered the New England Conservatory as piano and harmony teacher. In this last, capacity Mr. Parker's influence has been extensive. The pupils that he has graduated during his long era of activity would form a good-sized regiment. Among those who studied under him 229 2 3° THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC may be mentioned John A. Preston, Fred. H. Lewis, Alfred D. Turner, Henry M. Dunham (Fig. 65), Allen W. Swan, J. H. Howe, Charles H. Morse, — the list of celebrities might be extended much farther. At present Mr. Parker is examiner at the New England Conservatory, in Boston. Although Parker's teaching in Boston began as early as 1854, it was not until 1877 that he brought out a large composition. In that year the Handel and Haydn Society gave his " Redemption Hymn," a cantata that has held its place in the standard repertoire ever since. Nine years later he wrote a secular cantata, " The Blind King." " St. John " was the next important work, and finally there came a small oratorio, " The Life of Man." Mr. J. C. D. Parker does not attempt the intricate style of Horatio Parker (not a relative), but combines graceful melody with sufificient counterpoint to lend dignity to his work — the juste milieu between the classical and the popular. The last-named work was produced by the Handel and Haydn Society, April 14, 1895. "The Life of Man " may be called Parker's best work. Although quite melodic, fugal work is not wanting in its numbers, the first chorus being a well-developed fugue with a fine stretto as climax. Subsequently fugal expositions and excellent canonic writing occur. In the portrayal of the Resurrection the composer has won a powerful effect by soprano solo against chorus, as Rossini did in his famous " Inflammatus." There is also some masterly canonic writing in the portrayal of the seven churches of Asia, in which seven voices enter in beautiful imitation. A tendency to oversweet- ness, a desire to be melodic and singable at all hazards, is the only weak spot in this composer's work. Just as one feels that J. C. D. Parker should be classed among the great teachers, as well as among the composers of America, so Dudley Buck (Fig. 66) impresses one as a celebrity among organists and a famous instructor. Yet it is by his com- positions, and chiefly by his cantatas, that he is known to Ameri- can readers. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, March 10, 1839, the son of a prominent merchant of that city. He had no musical instruction whatever until his sixteenth year; but when he began, he took up the study with so much ardor that OPERATIC, CANTATA, AND VOCAL COMPOSERS 231 his father was obliged to change his plans regarding his com- mercial career, and, determining to give the young man all possible equipment in his chosen profession, sent him to Leipsic in 1858. There he studied under Plaid3^ Richter, Hauptmann, and Rietz. When the last-named professor went to Dresden, Buck followed him there to continue his work and now added organ study with Friedrich Schneider. A year in Paris followed this, and in 1862 he was a well-trained young musician, engaged as organist at the Park Church, in Hartford. Subsequently Buck became organist at St. James's Church in Chicago, where he had all his early compositions burned in the great fire. In 1872 he came to Boston, where he was organist at St. Paul's, and in 1874 he went to New York, where he became Thomas's assistant conductor and the musical director at St. Ann's. Still later, in 1877, he was appointed organist at Holy Trinity, in Brooklyn, which position he retained until 1902, when he became organist at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. Naturally some of Buck's most important works are organ compositions, and his two sonatas, his " Triumphal March," and his pedal studies are known to most musicians in America, and are sure to remain in the standai-d repertoire. As an organist he wielded much influence through his concert tours, which extended all over America at a time when it was very important to guide the taste of the multitude. His first " Motette Collec- tion " also came at a time when a better influence was required in the vocal music of the church in America. Buck has been sur- passed in this field and in some points of composition by our modern native tone-masters, but he has been a very healthful influence in music in America at just the right time, and it may be borne in mind that if he had been too radical in his forward steps he would have been beyond his public ; he would have had no influence at all. We have said that Buck's most ambitious work was done in the cantata forms. As long ago as 1876 this composer gave a choral contribution to the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, which was sung by one thousand voices under Theodore Thomas's direc- tion. Even before this he had published (in 1874) the " Legend of 232 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Don Munio," a very successful secular cantata. " The Voyage of Columbus," for male voices, deserves mention, and "The Light of Asia " (founded upon Sir Edwin Arnold's poem) is the most elaborate of all Buck's cantatas. All of these works are popular and all are melodious. Among the most effective of his compositions for the church are the series of four short cantatas, "The Coming of the King," "The Story of the Cross," " Christ the Victor," and " The Triumph of David." The first three are historically and thematically connected ; in them the composer has consecu- tively depicted the main events relating to the prophecy, the birth, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of Christ, presenting some- what dramatically, within a suitable time-limit, and with moderate musi- cal difficulty, the chief episodes of the Christian year. " The Triumph of David " treats of a happening dis- tinct and separate from the other three. And in the same class with the cantatas also belongs the "Mid- night Service for New Year's Eve." In the field of male-voice mu- sic Mr. Buck has achieved fame. Many of his compositions, notably " Twilight," " The Nun of Ni- daros," " King Olaf's Christmas," " Chorus of Spirits and Hours " from Shelley's " Prometheus," " On the Sea," and " Paul Revere 's Ride," besides a long list of male quartettes, were written for the Apollo Club (of which he has been for many years director). His songs and ballads number upward of thirty, and among them are such well-known numbers as " Sunset," " The Silent World is Sleeping," "Crossing the Bar," "The Tempest," "The Bedouin Love-song," " The Village Blacksmith," " The Creole Lover's Song." Many of these songs are too saccharine for the purest taste. Frequently Mr. Buck is his own librettist. In " Don Munio," " Columbus " (English and German), " The Festival Fig. 64. — J. C. D. Parker. OPERATIC, CANTATA, AND VOCAL COMPOSERS 233 Hymn," and "On the Sea," the words are original with the composer. Buck's setting of the Forty-sixth Psalm, for soli, chorus, and orchestra, first produced by the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston in 1873, requires mention, as also the symphonic overture to Scott's "Marmion" (1880), a work which Thomas first produced with the Philharmonic Society of Brooklyn. His works have won quite as much success in England as in America, his " Light of Asia" having been given in London with such artists as Nordica, Lloyd, and Santley in the cast. As a teacher he has had such pupils as Harry Rowe Shelley, C. B. Hawley, John Hyatt Brewer, Frederic Grant Gleason, and W. H. Neidlinger. Some reviewers consider Buck too suave and too popular to rank with the best American composers. " Because thou art virtuous shall there be no more cakes and ale ! " Must we be eternally condemned to the dramatic dissonances of Loefifler and Van der Stucken because there is a modern school which countenances them ? In literature one may enjoy Browning and yet not discard Tennyson ; a taste for Wordsworth is not considered incompatible with a delight in Swinburne. Let us have some of this toleration in music too, and enjoy the suave as well as the heroic. In the domain of opera America has as yet done but little. There are hosts of light operas which, combined with a lavish display of the charms of the chorus girls, have won box-office success in the large cities. Of these musical history need take no note. In the more earnest field, which yields the composer no reward except the faint hope that posterity may appreciate him, there have been, as yet, no startling successes. Chad wick has made the experiment of a sacred opera, "Judith," Paine has completed his romantic "Azara," and Coerne has written two operas already spoken of. It fell to the lot of a composer of foreign birth, however, to find a subject well suited to the people of the United States. Walter Damrosch found inspiration in the noble novel of Hawthorne, " The Scarlet Letter." Walter Damrosch, already spoken of in connection with orches- tral and operatic leadership, was born in Breslau, Silesia, January 30, 1862 (Fig. 22). His father was the celebrated Dr. Leopold Dam- rosch. The son studied music first with his father and afterwards 2 34 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC in Dresden with Draeseke. Although born abroad, he has so thor- oughly identified himself with music in America, particularly with the Wagner propaganda here, that it is difficult to think of him other than as an American composer. Coming to New York in his early childhood, conducting German opera at the Metropolitan Opera House, leading symphony orchestras and the Oratorio Society, marrying the daughter of so prominent an American as James G. Blaine, Damrosch has been steeped in American life for so many years that it was natural to find it seeking expression in his music. " The Scarlet Letter " was his first great work. It committed the error of treating a -plot thoroughly American in a manner decidedly German. The libretto was made by George Parsons Lathrop, the son-in-law of Hawthorne. Few liberties were taken with the powerful novel. Little Pearl, however, was very curtly done to death before the rise of the curtain, the Rev. John Wilson finishing her story in these lines — " A child to thee was born, Bringing disgrace and scorn. Heaven's wise decree Hath taken thy daughter away, Wafted on wings of Death " — which makes short work of one of Hawthorne's charming charac- ters. More important than this, Hester finally dies upon the pillory, with Dimmesdale, because ever since " Romeo and Juliet " it has been impossible to kill one lover and save the other; they must go together like a brace of ducks. For all that, however, one may rebel at the idea of finishing off so grand a character as Hester Prynne by suicide, in the conventional manner of operatic heroines. As regards the music of this most important operatic work of its time in America, one cannot grow very enthusiastic. Damrosch has been steeped in the Wagner cauldron, but not to the depth of Achilles, and there is a good deal beyond the heel which remains vulnerable. The Wagnerian idea in "The Scarlet Letter " is car- ried out by leit-niotiven (but not very many of these), by its continu- ous flow of music (a very few exceptions were made to this), by heavy and dramatic scoring, and by the use of dramatic recitative {melos) rather than direct melody. All this is well enough, but OPERATIC, CANTATA, AND VOCAL COMPOSERS 235 Wagner revelled in sharp musical delineation of character, and of this Damrosch scarcely exhibited a trace. A little psalm-singing is introduced, — rather too contrapuntally, — and is a proper touch ; but to have a band of Puritans marching about, in Massachusetts, circa 1650, singing " 'Tis Time we go a-Maying," is stretching prob- ability somewhat. Only Morton's roisterers at Merrymount would have done anything like that. Nevertheless this madrigal, the forest music, and the prayer of Hester are the finest bits of the opera, and deserve to live even though the opera dies a natural death. The contrapuntal chorus of the finale of the opera is most un-Puritan in character, although displaying much skill. The whole opera is soaring, too soaring, and the orchestra is heavy enough to suit the gods in Walhalla rather than a simple pair of Puritans. A further proof of Walter Dam- rosch's Americanism was given when he devoutly wrote a " Manila Te Deum," giving thanks for the beginning of our national worries in the Philippine Islands. At the present time he has turned to a less national topic and one whose intensity may suit him well. He has made an opera out of four acts of Rostand's " Cyrano de Bergerac," the text being by that well-known writer, W. J. Henderson. He has also become conductor of the New York Symphony Society, which his father founded. It is a long step from such a work as " The Scarlet Letter " to the light operas of America. A great number have been written of which a few stand forth as worthy. One of the best composers in the less ambitious school is Edgar Stillman Kelley. His largest work is called " Puritania." Kelley was born in Sparta, Wisconsin, April 14, 1857. He is of old American . stock, both his paternal and maternal ancestors having settled in this country before 1650. Fig. 65. — H. M. Dunham. 236 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC His collegiate education was interrupted by ill health. An acci- dental hearing of Blind Tom, a half-witted negro pianist, turned his attention seriously to music, though he inherited some musical gifts from his mother (Mary C. Bingham-Kelley), who was his earliest teacher. He went abroad and studied in Stuttgart, gradu- ating from the conservatory there in 1880. He had become some- thing of an organist before that, thanks to Clarence Eddy with whom he studied in Chicago; but his chief knowledge of compo- sition came from Max Seifriz, Royal Court Conductor at Stuttgart. On his return from Germany Kelley settled in San Francisco, where he exerted a strong and beneficent influence upon California musical life. He was the first well-equipped musical critic in the far West. His first important work here was a setting of dramatic music to Shakespeare's " Macbeth." Strange, bold, and modern it was, but scarcely of a popular cast. Yet backed financially by John Parrott, and played by McKee Rankin, the tragedy with its inci- dental music ran successfully for three weeks in San Francisco. Local pride may have helped this somewhat, for the same music has never gained a foothold in the East. But this was only the beginning. C. M. S. McLellan offered him a libretto to set to music, and the result was his opera of " Puritania," first produced in Boston in the summer of 1892. One may speak of " Puritania " as a light pendant to " The Scar- let Letter," for it also deals with Puritan life, but in a playful vein. The music may be heartily praised as being as good as anything achieved by an American in comic opera up to its time, but the libretto has an indelible fault; it deals with witch-hunters and the Salem witchcraft craze. A thinking auditor will always regret see- ing so awful a subject used as a comic libretto. The tears of one century can never furnish the laughter of another. To one who reads history, the martyrdom of Giles Corey and Rebecca Nourse would forbid ever jesting about Salem witch-finders. Kelley may be called the most graceful of our musical humorists, and his comical symphony, " Gulliver in Lilliput," his Chinese suite, " Aladdin," which has been played in Germany very successfully, and his Chinese song, " Lady picking Mulberries," indicate a class of work of which he may be recognized as the originator. OPERATIC, CANTATA, AND VOCAL COMPOSERS 237 He makes most ingenious use of the Chinese five-toned scale (our own diatonic scale with the fourth and seventh notes left out), and Oriental critics have admitted the genuineness of his treatment of topics relating to the celestial kingdom. But, although Kelley must be characterized first and foremost by his delicate fun in music (a musical Bret Harte perhaps), his serious works are also musicianly. His " Macbeth " music may be extreme and too radical, but it is apt and sincere; and the incidental music which he added to the dramatization of General Lew Wal- lace's "Ben Hur" is not only most dignified but speaks of much erudition, since the composer has evidently studied the Arabian modes and the commentaries (not always trustworthy) on the ancient Greek music. Mr. Kelley has recently done excellent service to music by his lectures in university extension, and he is at present instructor in composition in the New York College of Music. Much more popular, although also much more conventional in his music, is Reginald de Koven, who has composed several light operas and a host of songs. His works are not those which create a new school or make musical history, yet his melodic charm, his fluency, his tact and grace, may not be doubted. He was born in Middletown, Connecticut, April 3, 1859, of a distinguished family, his father being an eminent divine. He had exceptional advantages in his education, — his final literary and classical studies being made at St. John's College, Oxford, England, where he took his degree in 1879. Before this he had studied music in Stuttgart, afterwards he went to Frankfort, Vienna, Florence, and Paris, for further study. Vanuccini, Genee, and Delibes may be mentioned as among his teachers. On his return to America success soon came to him, and has continued with him ever since. Such operas as " Robin Hood," " Don Quixote," " The Begum," and such tremendously popular songs as " Oh, Promise me," show that this composer is at least in close touch with his public. " Robin Hood " has been sung over three thousand times in the last ten years, and it is said that a full million of copies of "Oh, Promise me" have been sold! De Koven has composed a dozen light operas. All of them are graceful and fluent, and in none of them can one find anything cheap or meretricious. To win such a marked success in a manner which does not depreciate art or public 238 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC taste is worth its meed of praise, even if his works bear a strong family resemblance to each other, and are not epoch-making. We have stated that a quarter-century of active work in America's musical affairs may be considered sufificient naturalization for any composer of foreign birth. Victor Herbert has nearly completed a score of years in America. He is of a famous Irish family, his grandfather being Samuel Lover, the celebrated novelist and poet, and was born in Dublin, February i, 1859. He was sent to Ger- many, at seven years of age, to be educated in music. He became a famous violoncellist, and while a mere youth was the principal player of this instrument in the Court Orchestra at Stuttgart. He came to the United States as solo violoncellist with the Metropolitan Opera Company in 1886. Since that time he has been connected with the Thomas, Seidl, and other orchestras, sometimes as violon- cellist, sometimes as conductor. In 1894 he became bandmaster of the Twenty-second Regiment Band. From 1898 Herbert was the conductor of the Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra, succeeding Archer in that position, and resigning it in 1903. Although Herbert's American reputation rests chiefly upon his light operas, he has done nobler work. He has written a short oratorio, " The Captive," for the Worcester Festival Association, two excellent concertos for violoncello and orchestra,^ and other orchestra] works. Naturally such a man would not descend to the banalities that mark too much of light opera in America. One finds, to be sure, in his light operas the trivial " Topical Song," the conventional waltzes, as set as the stage smiles of a soubrette, and the inevitable marches that parade cohorts of pretty chorus girls, but one also finds clever and musicianly finales and very practical orchestration. Characteristic American topics one does not find in Herbert's music, either orchestral or operatic, yet his fluency and brightness have had their effect upon the American stage, and his orchestral programmes in Pittsburg have worked an advance in the musical taste of that city. It should be mentioned here that a young American musician, Mr. Homer Moore, of St. Louis, is at present writing nothing less than 1 Herbert's Second Concerto for violoncello is probablj' his finest work, and is one of the best existing works of this school. OPERATIC, CANTATA, AND VOCAL COMPOSERS 239 an American trilogy ; three operas founded upon American themes. He says of them : — - " In these works I am trying to so use our national history, tradi- tions, legends, manners, customs, superstitions, and beliefs as to bring out thoroughly their dramatic significance, and to reveal, not so much history and historic characters, as social atmosphere and the forces that prevailed at the time and characterized the minds and opinions of those who did things and were the foundation upon which our national structure, temperament, etc., have been built." The three operas are to be entitled "The New World," "The Pilgrims," and " The Puritans." Of these the present writer has been able to examine a portion of one opera only, but in that both the plot (Mr. Moore's own libretto) and its treatment promised something fairly worth while. Thej scheme is, however, somewhat too Wagnerian. Guiding motives are copiously em- ployed and definite melody is not promi- nent enough. It is doubtful if in a country where single operas by native composers (unless they are "comic") are looked at askance, a native trilogy will have any chance of success. Yet we mention Moore's work as an example of the amount of striving in every part of our country, east and west, to bring forth something " American " in music — and something gigantic! Another operatic composer, who, like Herbert, has won his title of American by years of work in this country, is Bruno Oscar Klein, who was born in Osnabruck, Hanover, June 6, 1858. He has been here since 1878, although occasionally he has made concert tours in Germany, as organist, pianist, and composer. His teaching has been chiefly in New York, where he has been connected with several schools including the National Conservatory of Mrs. Thurber. His single grand opera is not of especial import to American history, being founded on Scott's novel and entitled " Kenilworth." It was Fig. 66. — Dudley Buck. 240 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC performed in Hamburg (in 1895), but has never had an American performance. Klein's shorter compositions are of a high order of merit, and have taken their place in the standard repertoire. Returning to the cantata field and to the strictly American com- poser, we find an excellent example of sturdy musicianship in a city which has only recently begun to take its place in the ranks of musi- cal centres, — Philadelphia. William Wallace Gilchrist was born in Jersey City, January 8, 1846. Both his parents were musical, and Gilchrist heard good music from his earliest childhood. His musical education was gained entirely in America, chiefly at the University of Pennsylvania, under Dr. Hugh A. Clarke. He was gifted with a good baritone voice and sang in public for some years. His setting of the Forty-sixth Psalm won the ;^igoo prize offered by the Cincin- nati Festival Association. In addition to this, he has won prizes from the Abt Male Chorus of Philadelphia, and the Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York. Gilchrist's teacher. Professor Clarke, is a devout formalist in music, and it must be said that his pupil follows in his footsteps with obedience. One constantly sees in Gilchrist's compositions a strong composer fettered by contrapuntal rule and by an evident desire not to stray from the highroad of art. There is never any- thing astonishing, but rather a constant display of skill and ease in the leading of voices. Whenever counterpoint can be used it is present, and always correct, ingenious, and commendable; but one sometimes longs for an outburst of ferocity, for a touch of Loeffler's dissonance and freedom. In songs Mr. Gilchrist has achieved some genuine successes, especially in the gentler moods. He has written some excellent Episcopal music, for in this his dignity and his con- trapuntal interweavings are perfectly in place. He is also one of our orchestral composers, and has written a symphony, an orchestral suite, and much chamber-music. All together, he is a thorough musician, a well-equipped composer, with melodic, contrapuntal, and rather formal tastes. In his school he is the equal of any of our composers, and he is, as already intimated, an unquestionable home product. We now come to an American composer (and not a Catholic) whose chief work is neither a cantata nor an opera, but a mass. Benjamin Cutter is the composer who has won this unique distinc- OPERATIC, CANTATA, AND VOCAL COMPOSERS 241 tion. He was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, September 6, 1857, his father being a physician of high repute with an inclination toward music. He studied violin with Julius Eichberg, in Boston, and harmony with Emery, in the New England Conservatory. Then came further study in Stuttgart, Germany, Seifriz being his teacher of composition. Mr. Cutter became a good violinist, and was for a time a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His musical life has been passed wholly in Boston, where he now teaches harmony and analysis in the New England Conservatory. As a teacher his work averages very high, and he has graduated hundreds of pupils. But his mass in D entitles him to rank with those who have added something permanent to the American repertoire. It is lofty and majestic in thought and sufficiently free to be classed with the modern school. Cutter's setting of " Sir Patrick Spans," for chorus and orchestra, is of sufficient dimensions to be called a cantata. His chamber-music is voluminous. In recent years his pedagogical work has pushed aside the muse. He has written some standard works, notably a text-book on harmonic analysis and a series of exercises in harmony ; also a work on violin playing, " How to Study Kreutzer." And finally we may speak of one of the younger American com- posers of cantata, who, contrary to the usual custom, studied abroad, not in Germany, but in France. Homer Albert Norris was born in Wayne, Kennebec County, Maine, in i860. After a course of musi- cal study at the New England Conservatory in Boston, he went to Paris, where he studied under Dubois, Guilmant, and others for four years. Norris, on returning from Paris, settled as a teacher in Boston, where he published a work on practical harmony based on the French method. He has written some romantic songs, but his chief works are two cantatas. The first, " Nain," would scarcely entitle him to rank with our chief cantata composers, but the second, while it can- not be classed as a masterwork, is at least an effort to contribute something original to the American stock. Norris has turned to Walt Whitman for his inspiration in this latter composition, and surely a more American poet would be hard to find. " The Flight of the Eagle " is the name of the cantata. It is bold, not to say blood-curdling, in some of its progressions, but then Whitman is as unconventional as shirt-sleeves. Much play is 242 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC made with a series of diatonic major seconds rising in a continuous scale. This device is used enough to call it a guiding motive. It is not certain that eagles fly in this manner, but the originality of the device cannot be denied. Of Norris's songs " Protestations," with its well-developed violin obbligato, is perhaps the best, although some of his later songs show so much grace and origi- nality that one is inclined to believe that this composer belongs rather among the song-composers than among the creators of those larger works which require sustained effort. To write songs cleverly, to do good work in the smaller forms, is not to be despised, as all will acknowledge if they study the song-albums of Schumann, Schubert, or Robert Franz. CHAPTER XII AMERICAN SONG-COMPOSERS In 1892, just before his death, Robert Franz, one of the greatest of song-composers, said to the present writer regarding the smaller vocal forms in music: — " In this country they looked quite condescendingly upon these small forms, taking the silly notion that these forms arise only inci- dentally in music. Yet the song-form is really one of the chief foundations of our art; I know that you share this conviction with me." In another letter (dated March 23, 1889) he says: — " Until now they have looked upon this form with a shrug of the shoulders, and yet there rests upon it one of the chief factors of music. As regards myself, I have never regretted for a single moment that I have devoted myself exclusively to this branch of music, and with my predecessors have lifted it into its proper position of honor" (Fig. 67). These words serve as a fitting introduction to those American composers who have won their chief reputation in the domain of songs. What the orchestral and cantata composers have done in this direction we have already seen ; but there have been some com- posers who, attaining only mediocrity in the orchestral field, have reached almost to genius in the production of smaller sketches. Such a composer was Ethelbert Nevin (Fig. 68). His cantata entitled " The Quest " is anything but satisfactory, and yet this same composer has brought forth songs that are as dainty, as inspired, as any that have been composed in this country. Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin was born at Edgeworth, Pennsyl- vania, near Pittsburg, November 25, 1862. His father was a literary man and editor of a newspaper in the last-named city. He inherited 243 244 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC his musical tendencies from his mother, who is said to have owned the first grand piano that ever was seen in that section of the country. The boy showed an inchnation toward music even in his infancy. His father took him abroad in 1877, and he had the benefit r^-V o>tii. sfcc^Out^k Li^^^fdAen ^uJ^ruck <^^f &^^^ i*€ ;^4 ^ ^ ^ *-"■« ^^ ^ ^//» A CL^fi/c f/t-e- - U ffic^sf, ^m.'^ tV ^0 e.xc'c den y V^>* ^e^ Ohi, .. Fig. 67 a. — Letter by Robert Franz. of two years' study in Dresden. Returning to America, there fol- lowed further study under B. J. Lang and Stephen A. Emery, in Boston. After that there were some years of music-teaching on his own account, in Pittsburg, until enough money was saved up to take a thorough musical course in Berlin. Three years, 1884-86, were AMERICAN SONG-COMPOSERS 245 spent In the German capital, during which Nevin studied with Bulow, Bial, and Klindworth. To the last-named pedagogue he ascribed nearly all of his musical abilities. He constantly spoke of Klindworth as a great inspiration to all who came near him. Klind- J Q X 0^. Fig. 67 b. — LETTER by Robert Franz. worth's aim was not only to make good musicians, but cultured men, and he held that one result could not be reached without the other. Bulow seems also to have appreciated the talent possessed by Nevin, and the American student was admitted into that master's " artist's class." 246 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC In 1887 Nevin returned to America again, this time settling in Boston. But his was a restless career, and a few years afterward he went to Paris, achieving good success there as a teacher. A year later he reappeared in Berlin, working so hard that his health broke down, and he was ordered to Algiers. After that came concert tours, piano recitals, in this country. His attack of nervous prostration caused the postponement of some of these concerts, but in 1894 he was able to appear again. Those who heard him play at these concerts realized that while he had not a technique comparable to the Rosenthals, D'Alberts, or Paderewskis of piano work, he had a most poetic conception, free from mawkishness, and was a delightful interpreter. In these concerts both his piano works and his songs made the best possible impression. It is not necessary to give a list of Kevin's songs.^ Suffice it to say that he devoted himself (with the exception above noted) to the smaller forms of music and with the most decided success. His piano works have all the poetry of Schumann ; his songs are like the Lieder of the best German writers. He was a master of his genre. His roving life went on ; Florence, Venice, then Paris again, and finally America once more, followed in quick succession. Some work in New Haven seemed to promise a permanent position in America when suddenly there came — death! The constant study, the fever of composition, the ceaseless travel, had done their work, and in 1901 Nevin's short career ended. One can pay tribute to him as being one of the most poetic of American composers ; and to him might be applied the epitaph which Grillparzer wrote for Schubert : — " Fate buried here a rich possession. But yet greater promise ! " The lesson of Nevin's work might profitably be taken to heart. If only there were less of striving to create symphonies that no one wishes to play or hear, of operas that show straining and labor in every part, and more of genuine unforced music in the smaller forms ! The chief trouble with most of the American composers is an ambition that o'erleaps itself. In justice to the memory of Nevin 1 A good analytical list may be found in Rupert Hughes's "Contemporary American Composers." AMERICAN SONG-COMPOSERS 247 it ought to be added that he felt that his efforts in the larger forms were misplaced. Even the cantata mentioned at the beginning of this sketch was not published or performed during the composer's life. It is a posthumous work. Close to Nevin, perhaps his equal in some ways, is Clayton Johns (Fig. 69), whose smaller works are known not only through America, but are popular in Germany and England as well. He was born in Newcastle, Delaware, November 24, 1857, and as a boy he taught himself to play the piano, with the usual weak result. Study at the Newcastle schools and at Rugby Academy in Wilmington, were preliminary to an intended entrance into Princeton University. The boy wished to study music, the father (James McCallmont Johns) wished him to study law. A compromise was effected by which both plans were given up and architecture substituted, and the young man entered an architect's office in Philadelphia, where he spent three years. He then came to Boston to enter the Institute of Technology, in pursuance of this profession, but the musical influence of Boston awakened all his dormant passion for that art. Architecture has been described as " frozen music," and with Johns it had already begun to thaw. This was in 1879, and being now of age and free to choose, the young man went to William H. Sherwood for piano lessons, and to William F. Apthorp for instruction in harmony. Two months' experience with the new pupil led both these teachers to recommend his devoting himself entirely to music, and (continuing with Sher- wood in piano study) he went to Harvard where he took the musi- cal course under John K. Paine. In 1882 Johns went to Berlin,, where he studied piano under Grabow, Raif, and Rummel, and com- posftion under Kiel. He returned to Boston in the autumn of 1884, and has resided there ever since. At present Mr. Johns busies himself with teaching, composing, and occasionally with a concert tour here and there. He has given recitals of his compositions in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, and many other cities. Although he has written a few choruses and some works for string orchestra, it is not by these that he will be judged. It is true that the Boston Symphony Orchestra once performed two movements for string orchestra (a berceuse 248 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC and a scherzo with trio) by Johns, but these made no very- decided impression. The berceuse had the usual saccharine touches with muted violins, but at least it had direct melody and not too much of complex development. The scherzo with trio was in the accepted song-form, dainty and delicate enough, and a carillon-like returning passage was ingenious. Coming, as it did, after Liszt's discordant " Mephistopheles " movement (" Faust " sym- phony), the work was welcome, but taken by itself it is only a mag- nified song-form. Mr. Johns's piano works are practical, melodic, and interesting, but his songs overtop them, and with few exceptions are grace- ful, elegant, and unforced. He has written over a hundred of these, in English, French, and German. He does not voice intense pas- sion, but 'is something of an American Mendelssohn in this field. He knows how to choose his subjects well, and in setting Dobson, Herford, or Arlo Bates he has reached perfection. It is to be hoped that he will some day try his hand at Herford's " Floriana," for, in spite of Arthur Whiting's excellent treatment of the theme, one feels that it was made for Clayton Johns. Of course he has set Heine's " Du bist wie eine Blume " — who has not? This poem has been far more frequently set to music than any other. There are nearly three hundred settings known, and more are constantly arriving. But Johns's setting has a raison d'etre, for it is very refined and fitting to the poem. It may be mentioned also that Johns's compositions are known in England,. where some of his part-songs and a chorus for female voices and a string orchestra have been sung and played with much success. The reprints of his songs also find a good market in Ger- many. All together, he, like Ethelbert Nevin, has won success by not attempting more than he could easily and artistically accomplish. At times he reminds one of Robert Franz, who is also delicate rather than intense. The accompaniments of Johns's songs are especially praiseworthy, for he does not become trivial in this part of the song, nor, on the other hand, does he ever write piano compositions with vocal attachment, as Jensen and even Richard Strauss have sometimes done. Since we have spoken of the great song-composer Franz, in FIG. 58. — ETHELBERT W. NEVIN. AMERICAN SONG-COMPOSERS 251 this chapter, we may speak of a man who exerted much influence in the days when Boston's classical taste was forming, and who was the strongest representative of Robert Franz in this country. Otto Dresel was a foreigner, for he was born in Andernach, in 1826; but he lived in America nearly forty years, dying at Beverly, Massachusetts, July 26, 1890. He not only taught in Boston, but he upheld the standard of classical music in America, at a time when Dwight, Thayer, and a small band of pioneers were striving to lead New England away from its eternal psalmody. Dresel wrote a book of Lieder that, al- though little known, was one of the most sterling things in vocal work that had, up to its time, been pro- duced in America. He edited Bach's " Well-tempered Clavichord," made a great piano accompani- ment to Handel's " Messiah," and was one of the moving forces in the musical growth that began in America a little over a half-century ago. Although, strictly speaking, George L. Osgood should be classed with the prominent teach- ers of America, yet his song compositions are sufficiently important to be treated of here, particularly as that portion of his work has not been recognized by those who have heretofore written of Ameri- can compositions. Osgood is one of the finest melodists that America has ever possessed, and the accompaniments of his songs and the harmonies of his part-songs, are among the most fluent and singable in our repertory. His part-song, " In Picardie," his " Wake not, but hear me. Love," may be cited as examples of the sweetness which does not cloy, and which is not akin to musical vulgarity. Few composers have so tastefully united the popular and the classi- cal as this excellent musician. George Laturie Osgood was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Fig. 69. — Clayton Johns. 252 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC April 3, 1844 — a lineal descendant of John Osgood, the Puri- tan, who landed at Salem in 1632. He was graduated from Harvard in 1866. In college he was conductor of the Glee Club and of the orchestra, with inclinations and faculties from the start indicating a musical career. In 1867 he went to Berlin for the study of composition under Haupt, and vocal expression under Sie- ber. In Halle he formed an intimate friendship with Robert Franz. He went to Italy in 1869, and for three years studied the art of sing- ing with Lamperti, in Milan. In 1871 he repaired to Germany, and gave a series of concerts in Vienna, Leipsic, Dresden, Berlin, and other cities. Returning to America, he soon made an engage- ment with Theodore Thomas, and traveled through the country in connection with the Thomas orchestra. Finally he settled in Boston, where he has become celebrated as a teacher, composer, and con- ductor. In 1875 he assumed the directorship of the Boylston Club, a promising choral organization then in its third year, and soon refined its singing, aroused its enthusiasm, and gave to Boston one of the most noteworthy clubs in its musical history. Under Mr. Osgood's direction the perfection of its performances became known throughout America. Among his many works are a " Guide in the Art of Singing," a volume of two hundred pages, already passed through eight editions, and numerous choral works for concert and church. Boston has been peculiarly rich in song-composers, among whom Frederic Field Bullard (Fig. 70) is not the least. He was born in Boston, September 21, 1864, and was at first destined for the science of chemistry, studying in this branch at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when twenty-three years of age. But finally he turned to music as his life-work, and, at twenty-four years of age, he began a four-years' course in composition and organ playing, at the Munich Royal School, under Rheinberger. This Ger- man teacher (Fig. 51) almost deserves a chapter to himself in an American history of music, for, since 1878-79, when Charles D. Carter, of Pittsburg, and George W. Chadwick studied with him (they were, we think, the first of the American band), an endless pro- cession, including H. W. Parker, Arthur Whiting, Henry H. Huss, F. F. Bullard, Wallace Goodrich, and others, has passed through AMERICAN SONG-COMPOSERS 253 Munich and come back to the United States perfected in composi- tion through his influence. The recent death of Rheinberger will be felt as a distinct loss, since his influence upon American composition has exceeded that of any other European teacher. To return to BuUard : his public reputation rests chiefly upon his songs and part-songs. He holds well to the laws of form and harmony, which is a marvel in these days when so many compos- ers feel that every emo- tion must break at least six rules of harmony. But BuUard does not become weak through harmony ; indeed, his strongest charm is his virility and straightfor- wardness. His drink- ing-songs suggest wine rather than lemonade, and when he deals with warlike themes he has a viking vigor that has often been felt at the Apollo concerts in Boston. Bullard has also worked in some of the Fig. 70. ■ ■ ^^^■^s, ^^'"^^1^9 ^H ^jjLJ_^^ i^^l W^* i. P^^^^^l iySm \f Jf^^H^^H W" mm ^6 li^^H ^^f*^ ^2^ ^s^M /%sS^Bk ^^ j^^^B^H w^xjf9j -^sh Eh^^^^^^^^^^^^^^b 1 ■^k W\ M ^^1 -Frederic Field Bullard. larger forms. He has written a series of Christmas and Easter cantatas (published by Schirmer, New York), and has edited several collections of songs, particularly a college song-book for his own Alma Mater, the Insti- tute of Technology. There is also a large cantata and even a sym- phony in manuscript, but of these we cannot speak, as they have not yet emerged from the composer's desk. But as it stands, Bullard is a fine type of the American in music, sounding an individual and attractive note. 254 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Frank Lynes is another of the Boston group of song-composers. He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, May 16, 1858, and studied at first at the New England Conservatory. Subsequently there was some study of organ and piano with Mr. B. J. Lang, and harmony with Professor John K. Paine. Then came the Leipsic Conserva- tory with Reinecke, Richter, and Jadassohn as teachers. He has followed the highway of music, not seeking any new and dangerous paths, but his songs, piano works, and choruses are well constructed and very singable. He is a good worker in the small forms, which, as we have already seen, are by no means to be passed over in judg- ing of the music of a country. One of his songs may be objected to upon eesthetic principles. As the words have been set by other American composers in a similar manner, the impeachment here may be considered as against a school rather than an individual. The poem is by Kingsley : — " When all the world is young, lad, And all the trees are green, And every goose a swan, lad, And every lass a queen, — Then hey for boot and horse, lad, And round the world away ! Young blood must have its course, lad, And every dog his day. " When all the world is old, lad, And all the trees are brown, And all the sport is stale, lad, And all the wheels run down, — Creep home, and take your place there, The spent and maimed among ; God grant you find one face there You loved when all was young !" If ever major and minor were represented in poetry, it is in these two stanzas. To set them both to the same music is little short of a crime. Yet just this matter of the proper illustration, the interpre- tation of the verse by the tone, is what song-writers both in America and England have failed to study sufificiently. Balfe set "The Sands o' Dee," four contrasted word-pictures, to the same music; AMERICAN SONG-COMPOSERS 255 Hullah set "The Three Fishers" (security, anxiety, and disaster) to the same melody ; and American composers have given Tenny- son's " Ask me no More," — which pictures first stanza, indiffer- ence ; second stanza, sympathy ; third stanza, the utter yielding of love — to one tune thrice repeated. Germany is beyond us in musical interpretation. England and America must needs study Wagner's theories regarding the wedding of poetry and music. Before leaving the Boston colony of composers we must again speak of a man of foreign birth, whose influence has been far more extensive in his adopted than in his native country. Augusto Rotoli (Fig. 71) was born in Rome, January 7, 1847. His Italian reputation was high enough before he came to America, for he was a choir-boy at St. Peter's, founded a great choral society and directed it, was vocal teacher to the Princess Margherita, and was maestro of the Cappella Reale del Suda- rio. For all this his twenty years of American work represent the maturer portion of his life, and certainly show the more far-reachins: influence. He has composed a Roman festival mass and a host of songs in the passionate Italian school. In 1885 he was one of the faculty of the New England Conserva- tory of Music, and he has continued in that position ever since. Many of his American pupils are prominent on the operatic and concert stage at present. Jules Jordan, living in Providence (Rhode Island), and leading the Arion Club there, has considerable reputation as a composer of songs. He was born in Willimantic (Connecticut), November 10, 1850, and has been the chief vocal conductor of Providence for nearly a quarter of a century. He is a pupil of George L. Osgood, Sbriglia, and Shakespeare. An opera, a large cantata, and some orchestral works stand to his credit, but his songs and his vocal conductorship form his chief services in the cause of American music. ■■^ __^. wmw ^^B- •*! f^ HBn*-^' £'. /■| .^nm ^fi^M l^-: - * .. 1 f / tiG. 71. — Augusto Rotoli. 256 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC A list of Others who have built up the song-form in America, both in its instrumental and vocal application, would include William Harold Neidlinger (born in Brooklyn, July 20, 1863), a pupil of Dudley Buck; Homer Newton Bartlett (born in Olive, New York, December 28, 1845), whose work embraces many sterling compositions ; Harvey W. Loomis (born in Brook- lyn, February 5, 1865), who won Dvorak's hearty commendation when that master was teaching in New York, and who has written many large works, but whose best expression is found in his songs ; James H. Rogers (born in Fair Haven, Connecticut, in 1857), who studied in Berlin and Paris, and whose songs and short piano pieces are of much excellence ; George W. Marston (born in Sand- wich, Massachusetts, in 1840), whose songs deserve more attention than has been paid to them ; Alfred G. Robyn (born in St. Louis, April 29, i860), who has composed in the large forms, but whose best works are his poetic and artistic songs ; William Victor Harris (born in New York, April 27, 1869), whose songs again are better than his cantata and operatic works. All of these men are still living except Marston, who died in 1901, and as most of them are young, much may yet be expected from them. Of this band two are at work in the West, Robyn being in St. Louis, and Rogers in Cleveland. Even in the far West one begins to find earnest composers who are no longer isolated from the musical world. San Francisco, for example, has at present its own orchestral concerts, directed by Fritz Scheel, and musical conservatories of good rank. Most of its musical leaders are, however, of foreign birth. Its chief organist is an Eng- lishman, but his service of nearly a score of years in this country causes his work to be of greater import to America than to England. Humphrey John Stewart was born in London, but came to this country in 1886. Since that time he has been almost constantly in San Francisco, engaged as the organist of leading churches. For one year, 1901-02, he was organist of Trinity Church, Boston. At present he is at St. Dominic's in San Francisco. He was solo organist of the Buffalo Exposition of 1901, and has received the honorary degree of Mus. Doc. In spite of his prominence as per- former, Dr. Stewart is of chief importance to the far West as a AMERICAN SONG-COMPOSERS 257 composer. He has written three operas, which have been per- formed, and has composed an oratorio. Many organ recitals have been given by him. Yet his songs, part-songs, and his church music (vocal) are, to our thinking, the important factors in his work. California has many musicians within its borders, but, as yet, very few worthy composers. PLATE X BENJAMIN JOHNSON LANG CHAPTER XIII ORGANISTS, CHOIR AND CHORUS LEADERS It may be accepted as an axiom that, while vocaHsts are fre- quently not thorough musicians, organists are the- most versatile, the best musically trained of all. Among the leading organists of America, we find many of the men who have made the brief musical history of the country. John K. Paine was an organ virtuoso, and is still a good player; Chadwick, Parker, Dudley Buck, and a host of those whose names have already been passed in review, are organists. In this chapter, therefore, while speaking of celebrated musicians who have won their fame upon the organ or by organ composition, it should be remembered that in almost every case they have won equal fame by chorus direction, by piano playing, or by other achievements in the musical field. No better example of this can be cited than Benjamin J. Lang. He has been a prominent organist of Boston for years, and was the organist of the Handel and Haydn Society for more than a generation ; but he has also been one of the foremost piano teachers of the country, has been conductor of some of the chief musical clubs of America, and has introduced many of the most important musical works of the world into this country. In short, he is so thoroughly interwoven with musical progress of every kind, in the United States, that there is scarcely any classification of musicians in which his name would not fitly find place ; yet, as his work in Boston began as an organist, and as he has published none of his compositions, we may speak of him among those composers whose favorite instrument is the organ. Benjamin Johnson Lang (PL X) is one of the most typically American figures that we can find in our musical history. He is a man of enterprise beyond any European comprehension — a man 259 26o THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC who is a perfect organizer. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, December 28, 1837. He studied music at first with his father, who was a good organist and piano teacher. After this the lad took lessons in Boston, to such good purpose that he became a church organist and choir leader at fifteen. There was some study abroad from 1855 to 1858, and Satter, Jaell, and Liszt himself aided in forming the piano playing of the young musician. Studies in composition were not neglected. On his return to America, Lang became organist of the South Congregational Church, and held that position for twenty years. His service in the same capacity at the Old South and at King's Chapel also extended over many years. He was one of the movers in the matter of bringing the first really great organ to America, and his work with the Handel and Haydn Society was only second in importance to that of Zerrahn in the evolution of that organization. Still more impor- tant than this has been his career as conductor and interpreter of great works. It is not an exaggeration to state that no one man has done more for the educational advance of America in music than B. J. Lang. As a pianist he has won some laurels, although we cannot rank him with the great virtuosi of the instrument. Nevertheless, his certainty in ensemble work is something to grow enthusiastic over, and in chamber-music or in playing an accom- paniment none of our native musicians can hope to excel him. Lang's conducting has been much stronger on the vocal than upon the instrumental side. He cannot play upon an orchestra as Gericke, Paur, Nikisch, or Thomas have done, but he can equal or excel any of these men in conducting or in training a chorus. Fortunately, his chief work led him into that path. The Apollo Club, a male chorus, was formed in 1868. From that time, until 1901, Lang was its director, and he made it for a time the best club of its class in America. In 1874 the Cecilia Club was founded, a mixed chorus, and from its foundation to the present time Lang has been its conductor. Of his year of conductorship of the Handel and Haydn Society, we need say little, for he took the society when it was at a low ebb and torn with dissensions ; but as conductor of the Apollo and the Cecilia clubs it is simply impossible to overrate his labors. Just as Liszt in Weimar did ORGANISTS, CHOIR AND CHORUS LEADERS 26 1 missionary work in teaching, in presenting great works which might otherwise remain unknown, in bringing great artists before the public, so, in a less promising field (and therefore in a less degree), did Mr. Lang work for Boston, and through Boston for the entire East, in developing art. No work was too great or too difficult for him to undertake its rehearsal with the forces under his control. Berlioz's " Damnation de Faust," and his Re- quiem, Bach's B minor mass, Brahms's Requiem, Wagner's " Par- sifal," — the list might be greatly extended beyond this, — were all introduced to our concert audiences by this great worker. As a composer we cannot speak of this remarkable musician, for although he has written much, he has not printed anything, and very seldom allows any of his work to be heard. The present writer has, long since, had a few auditions of some of the smaller compositions of Mr. Lang, and they were fluent, graceful, and mu- sicianly. But it is evident that this veteran conductor does not wish to be considered as a composer. Both he and Mr. Thomas have, in letters, declined the composer's title, yet their work for music in America has gone far beyond the creation of a symphony or an opera, for they have taught the public how to appreciate the best music, and have made it familiar with the modern masterpieces. Mr. Lang's influence as a teacher has been far-reaching. He has gathered around him a circle of distinguished pupils who have become in a degree disciples. Among these one may mention Arthur Foote, Ethelbert Nevin , William F. Apthorp, his own daugh- ter, Margaret R. Lang, and a host of others. It was very fitting that Yale University, in 1903, should have given an honorary degree of M. A. to Mr. Lang. His is a talent of high order, working in a sensible and practical manner. One may recognize limitations while acknowledging all the great results achieved. Had he pub- lished and performed symphonies and oratorios of his own creation (he has some in manuscript), he would never have had the time to achieve all that he has done. The time will come when America will recognize him as among the very foremost of those who created a musical taste among us ; and when one views the many directions in which this beneficent influence has been exerted, one feels tempted to call Mr. Lang a musical " Admirable Crichton." 262 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC In a chapter devoted to organists it may not be amiss to speak of the advent of the first great organ in this country. We have already, in speaking of Pilgrims and Puritans, shown the slowness with which the organ was accepted in New England. There were churches in Boston, in 1810, that still held the organ as a godless instrument. To this same city, however, there came, in 1863, the first thorough concert organ of this country (Fig. 72). The organ was built by E. F. Walcker & Son, of Ludwigsburg, in Germany. The Music Hall corporation, chiefly through the efforts of Dr. George B. Upham, at first appropriated $10,000 toward the organ which (as they stated in their prospectus) would stand in Boston "for centuries of years." When the instrument finally came, afteT some delay because of the troubles of the Civil War, it cost about $70,000. The first to play upon it, when it was erected in Music Hall, were B. J. Lang, John H. Wilcox, John K. Paine, Eugene Thayer, Dr. S. P. Tucker- man, and G. W. Morgan. This was probably the most famous gath- erins: of organists that had ever assembled in America. It occurred November 2, 1863. The history of the great instrument may be very briefly recited. Some of its stops were beautiful beyond compare; its mechanism was less excellent. It spoke rather slowly, and the organist had to keep well ahead of the conductor's beat when accompanying. When the Boston Symphony concerts began to crowd Music Hall, it was found that the organ took up too much room, and it was sold, in 1884, to Hon. William Grover, who presented it to the New England Con- servatory of Music, hoping that that institution could build a hall for it. Before it was taken, down Frederick Archer gave a concert that proved the instrument to be still a marvellous one. It became, how- ever, a white elephant ; the conservatory found it impracticable to build a hall as vast as such an instrument would require, and finally the great organ that was to stand for " centuries " was sold, thirty-four years after it had been set up, for the sum of $1500, as old metal and lumber! Since that time, however, America has built many great organs (Fig. 73) (there is no longer the necessity of going abroad for them), and Cincinnati, New York, Chicago, and other cities now boast of instruments that, if they do not equal every stop of the first- named instrument in tone-quality, greatly surpass it in mechanism. FIG. 72. — MUSIC HALL ORGAN, BOSTON. ORGANISTS, CHOIR AND CHORUS LEADERS 265 The chief names in the older generation of concert organists in America, the men who were pioneers in the modern musical move- ment, are John H. Wilcox, George W. Morgan, and Samuel P. Tuckerman. Dr. Tuckerman was born in Boston, in 1819, and studied here with Carl Zeuner. He became organist of St. Paul's Church, and afterwards went to England, where he carried on exten- sive studies. On his return to America he gave many recitals and lectures, and wrote much good church music. George W. Morgan was born in England (1822), and had an excellent musical training before he came to America. His influence was exerted in New York after 1853. John Henry Wilcox was a Southerner, having been born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1827. His work was chiefly done in Boston, where he gave many popular concerts. Wilcox was fond of sugar-coating the classical pill, and his programmes would scarcely stand severe criticism, but he was full of good taste in registration, and he generally managed to smuggle in a little of Bach among his more "catchy" pieces. Eugene Thayer, born in Mendon, Massachu- setts, in 1838, became another of the early virtuosi upon the organ in this country. He was a good composer of sacred music, and one of his cantatas gained for him the degree of Mus. Doc. from Oxford University. To come to the men of the present, some of our best composers of sacred music are to be found among the organists. One of the most practical writers for the instrument that this country has yet produced is George Elbridge Whiting (Fig. 74). Mr. Whiting was born in Holliston, Massachusetts, September 14, 1842. He played the organ publicly when thirteen years of age, and at sixteen he succeeded Dudley Buck as organist of the North Congregational Church at Hartford. He studied with George W. Morgan in New York, but soon went to England, where he became one of the most talented pupils of the renowned Best, of Liverpool, frequently taking the place of that master. On his return to America Whiting became organist at St. Joseph's, in Albany, where the celebrated Albani (then Emma la Jeunesse) was the soprano of his choir. After this he moved to Boston (where he had been organist for a short time before), becoming leader at King's Chapel and concert organist at Music Hall. Another trip abroad followed, this time to Berlin, 266 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC where Whiting studied harmony with Haupt, and orchestration with Radecke. On his return to America he became teacher of the organ at the New England Conservatory, holding .that position (with the exception of three years spent as a teacher at the Cincinnati College of Music) until 1898. He has been for many years the organist and musical director of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in Fig. 73. — Organ in Jordan Hall, Boston. Boston. As a teacher, he has educated many of the leading young organists of America. But it is as a composer that Mr. Whiting takes rank above the organists thus far mentioned. He is the best organ composer of America. His organ sonata and his pieces and studies for the organ, are well fitted to become a model in the organ music of the world. He has also written much vocal church music which not only is in good form and singable, but gives all necessary dramatic ORGANISTS, CHOIR AND CHORUS LEADERS 267 effect without breaking rules. He is a master of the Gregorian tones, — tones far too Httle used and understood by modern writ- ers ; and he has written four masses, a great Te Deum, and some worthy cantatas, of which " The Tale of the Viking," " Henry of Navarre," and the " March of the Monks of Bangor " are the best. His orchestral works include a symphony, an overture, a piano con- certo. He has also recently completed an Italian opera in one act, entitled " Lenore." Mr. Whiting has a charming gift of melody and is far removed from the, ultra-modern noise-makers. Regarded as an organ virtuoso, as a teacher and as a composer (and particularly as an organ composer), George E. Whiting must be accorded a prominent place among the workers in the field of American music. Probably the most talented pupil of Mr. Whiting is Henry M. Dunham, who, has himself become a prominent virtuoso and com- poser for the instrument. Henry Morton Dunham (Fig. 65) was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, July 27, 1853. He comes of a musical family, many of his relatives being professional musicians of raiik. His chief studies were at the New England Conservatory of Music, under Mr. Whiting, and his contrapuntal training came in large degree from John K. Paine. A short trip abroad followed his strident life and, on his return to this country, he was appointed a member of the faculty of the New. England Conservatory and is still teacher of the organ in that institution. Mr. Dunham has been an organist in .many of the leading churches of New England, his work at the Ruggles Street Church in Boston being very prominent in Boston's recent music. As a composer for the organ he has accomplished not a little. His compositions include an Organ School, two organ sonatas, fantasia and fugue in D minor, a festival march, theme, and variations for piano and organ, and some thirty other works for the latter instrument. One can trace out musical descent as one would follow any other genealogy. Speaking after the Biblical manner, one might say that Best begat Whiting, Whiting begat Dunham, and Dunham begat Goodrich ; for Wallace Goodrich, one of the most promising of all the younger organists and conductors, studied the organ with Dunham and composition with Chadwick. Wallace Goodrich (Fig. 75) was born in Newton, Massachusetts, May 27, 1871. At nine 268 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC years old he began studying piano ; at fourteen he was giving organ recitals and had a public position as organist in a Newton church. He went to Europe when twenty-three years of age (1894) and fol- lowed that great American procession already spoken of, to Munich, where he became a pupil (of course) of Rheinberger, and also of Ludwig Abel. He won a silver medal at this school by his com- position and organ playing. In the fall of 1895 he went to Paris, where he studied with Widor. It may be said in passing, that Charles M. Widor is an organist and composer whose greatness has not as yet been fully recognized. More power- ful and solid than the suave and facile Guilmant, the style of the organist of St. Sulpice does not win so speedy an appreciation as that of his competitor and contemporary, but Widor is build- ing to last, nevertheless. It was of immense benefit for Goodrich to study in Paris, for to the solidity of German attainments he now added Gallic grace ; and the Frenchmen broke the fetters in which the Germans play Bach, for the young organist. Study of operatic conducting followed in Germany and close acquaintance with plain song and ancient church music in Italy; so that when, in 1897, Goodrich came back to this country and began teaching in the New England Conservatory, he was one of the most broadly educated musicians imaginable. Goodrich has not composed or published much as yet. A Latin hymn, an overture for orchestra, an " Ave Maria " for chorus and orchestra, an operetta, and a requiem (in English) are still in manu- script. He has, however, written valuable essays upon organ playing and is exerting a wide influence by his teaching. He has done, and is doing, important work in conducting different societies, the chief of which is the Choral Art Society, an organization composed almost entirely of artists, which gives the rarest of old church works a Fig. 74. — George E. Whiting. ORGANISTS, CHOIR AND CHORUS LEADERS 2.69 capella. As an organ soloist Mr. Goodrich has appeared in the sym- phony concerts of different cities, and is one of the surest ensemble players that we possess. He is at present the organist of Trinity Church, Boston. The work of this man extends in so many direc- tions (we must not forget to add that he has lectured on church music), that we can confidently predict that if the mantle of Mr. Lang is ever to descend to any one, it will fall upon the shoulders of Mr. Goodrich. Everett E. Truette is another of Mr. Dunham's pupils. He has given some four hundred organ recitals throughout the United States, and yet perhaps the best work he has done for organ playing has been his writings upon that theme. These have been many and interesting. Probably one of the chief figures in connection with the music of the Anglican church is Samuel Brenton Whitney. This vet- eran of high-class church music was born in Woodstock, Vermont, June 4, 1842. Although he studied at first with local teachers, and afterward with Charles Wels, of New York, yet his chief musical education came from John K. Paine, whose substitute in organ work he frequently became. Soon after this period of study Mr. Whitney was appointed organist and choir-master at the Church of the Advent, where he soon introduced the beautiful English Cathedral service in all its musical glory. For thirty years Mr. Whitney has been in this post. At the twenty-fifth anniversary of his entrance into it, several of his old choir-boys, now grown to famous men, sang in the service, and Dr. H. H. A. Beach and the celebrated tenor, Charles R. Adams, were in that chorus. Naturally the boy choir is an important factor in such a church. Mr. Whitney stands as the chief conductor in this field in America. His boy choir has been the musical model of many other churches. Phillips Brooks longed for such a choir and hoped to have the director as well, but Mr. Whitney held to his old post, and the famous clergyman was too high-minded to make any efforts (beyond his expressed wish) to draw him away from the Church of the Advent. Mr. Whitney established another valuable English custom in New England ; he brought about parish choir festivals, and 270 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC directed many of them, and at the New England Conservatory of Music he established what was probably the first "Church Music Class " in America. As a performer he is one of the best organists of the country, yet he seldom displays his abilities in this field outside of his church. His Bach playing is remarkably dignified, and with- out that rigidity with which German organists too often invest it. The compositions of this modest musician are of high quality. A piano trio by him has been heard in many American concerts in many American cities. A processional by Mr. Whitney has become as famous in London as in America, and has been republished abroad. It has been rearranged for piano, for orchestra, and there is even an edition, in raised nota- tion, for the use of the blind. A canon in G has become nearly as popular. His hymn, " The Son of God goes forth to War," has be- come world-famous, being even translated into Portuguese. The church services (Anglican) that Mr. Whitney has composed are numer- ous, and even in England, the home of such numbers, the worth of the American master is quite generally recognized. It may be claimed that New York had such church music before Boston, and quite as good ; but the fact is that the chief Episcopal composers in New York have been Englishmen. The most promi- nent American in this field belongs to New England. Yet there is one man whose career in New York may parallel that of Mr. Whitney in Boston, although his musicianship was not upon the same level. Mr. George W. Warren, born in Albany, August 17, 1828, was almost entirely self-taught in music, although he had a broad education in other directions at Racine University. He was for ten years the organist and director of Holy Trinity Church, in Brooklyn, and for thirty years the organist and director Fig. 75- — J. Wallace Goodrich. ORGANISTS, CHOIR AND CHORUS LEADERS 271 at St. Thomas's Church in New York. On his twenty-fifth anni- versary of service a great commemorative festival was held, as for Mr. Whitney in Boston. He has left some effective church music and a son, Richard Henry Warren, who is musical director at St. Bartholomew's Church. But a greater Warren is to be found in New York — a man who may stand with the church organists of any country and not be relegated to an inferior position. And this man, although born in Canada, belongs to the United States, for his father was a Rhode Island organ-builder, who had moved to Montreal to carry on his manufacture in that city. In Montreal, therefore, on February 18, 1 84 1, Samuel Prowse Warren was born (Fig. 76). His childhood was spent amid the surroundings of organ manufacture, and he was familiar with the instrument even before he began its study. While a mere lad, he became the organist at the American Church in Montreal. After finishing his general studies at college, in 1861, he started for Berlin to complete his musical education. In his case it was Haupt for the organ, W^ieprecht in instrumentation, and G. Schumann as piano teacher. In 1864 he. came back to Mon- treal, but soon went to New York, where he has been ever since. All Souls' Church, Trinity Church, and Grace Church have had him at different times as a leader. He is one of the great concert organists of America, and has given many recitals. In New York alone he has played hundreds of times in public. Mr. Warren has added to our store of church music, yet by no means in the degree of Whiting or Whitney. In Edward Morris Bowman we again find an organist whose work in music is not to be bounded by his instrument. Mr. Bowman's influence has been exerted as a teacher and most prominently as an organizer of associations to protect the American composer. He was born in Barnard, Vermont, July 18, 1848. After considerable desultory training in music he came under the influence of Dr. William Mason (whose work we shall describe in the succeeding chapter), and finally went to Berlin, where Bendel, Haupt, and Weitzmann were his instructors. Afterwards Guilmant, Batiste, and Macfarren in Paris and London, helped his miusical studies still further. Mr. Bowman, as the originator and first presi- 272 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC dent of the American College of Musicians, and as a very active president of the Music Teachers' National Association, has done much for the native composer. As the head of the musical depart- ment of Vassar College from 1891 to 1895, he worked faithfully in the cause of college education in music, and as a director he has also done permanent service to American music. He organized the famous " Temple Choir " of Brooklyn, and con- ducts that and many other societies. He has been organist and director in many leading churches. Two other eminent American organists are musical descendants of Samuel P. Warren, and both have claims to be recorded in a historical account of America's mu- sic. Gerrit Smith, born in Hagerstown, Maryland, December 11, 1859, in addition to his important work as church and con- cert organist, holds a con- spicuous position as a composer; William C. Carl, born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, March 2, 1865, is to be ranked as one of the founders of the American Guild of Organists, and a very active concert organist, whose recitals have extended throughout this country. He is also a church organist in New York and a conductor of vocal societies in that city. In addition to their organ study with War- ren, Smith studied with Haupt, in Berlin, and Carl with Guilmant, in Paris. In connection with organ playing it may be mentioned that Haupt and Guilmant have had as direct an influence upon American organ work as Rheinberger upon American composition. Fig. 76. — Samuel P. Warren. ORGANISTS, CHOIR AND CHORUS LEADERS 273 Haupt has taught more than one hundred and fifty American organists, among them being Thayer, Whiting, Warren, Bowman, Morgan, Eddy, Paine, and Arthur Bird. Before leaving the New York colony we must mention Louis Arthur Russell (another Warren pupil), who has written much good music and musical literature ; Charles H. Morse, who, although more constantly engaged in college work, and no longer resident in New York, has done prominent work in Plymouth Church, and has been an indefatigable worker in organizing societies for the benefit of American musicians; John Hyatt Brewer, who has been very active along the same lines, conducting societies, organizing asso- ciations, and composing worthy music; and, finally, Raymond Huntington Woodman, who has the exceptional honor of having been a pupil of Cesar Franck, the French Schumann. Woodman, who was born in Brooklyn, January 18, 1861, has added many composi- tions to the American stock, and has been a teacher of the organ in New York for many years past. Charles H. Morse's influence, apart from his service in Plymouth Church, has been extended over niany parts of the country. He was born in Bradford, Massachusetts, January 5, 1853, and his musi- cal studies were pursued in America, chiefly under John- K.' Paine, J. C. D. Parker, George E. Whiting, and Carl Baermann. For a time he was a teacher at the New England ■ Conservatory, then director of the musical department of Wellesley College, and then director and founder of the Northwestern Conservatory at Minne- apolis. After that came his work at Plymouth Church; and much organizing of musical associations in New York state and New England. In 1901 he was made musical director of Dartmouth College. The West has also begun to advance rapidly in organ music. In San Francisco we find Dr. H. J. Stewart (already spoken of as a composer), and in Chicago a larger number of prominent organists headed by Harrison M. Wild, a good concert organist and a sterling conductor. Every large city of the West now boasts its coterie of educated organists. Probably, however, no city of its size, in America, has been so well provided with organ music of a high class as Pittsburg. Thanks to Mr. Andrew Carnegie, a large hall 2 74 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC and an excellent organ have been provided, and regular organ concerts are given to the public every Sunday afternoon. One can scarcely imagine a better employment of part of the Sabbath than listening to the excellent programmes that have been given in Pittsburg. Frederick Archer (1838-1901), the eminent English organ virtuoso, was the organizer of these educational concerts, and until the year of his death he gave programme after programme of excellent music to audiences which filled every part of the great hall. Never, in America, has there been such an impetus given to public taste in organ music ; the Pittsburg concerts (which still continue) have been one of the most important factors in the history of organ music in the United States. On the occasion of great public festivals in America, the organ has almost always played a prominent part. At the World's Fair in Chicago,, in 1893, for example, there were sixty-two organ recitals given by the following artists : — Clarence Eddy, twenty-one recitals; Guilmant, of Paris, four; R. Huntington Woodman, four; Samuel A. Baldwin (Dudley Buck's successor at Holy Trinity, New York), William C. Carl, Waltef E. Hall, William Middleschulte, Frank Taft, George E. Whiting; and Harrison M. Wild, three each ; J. Fred. Wolle, whose direction of Bach music in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, has already been chron- icled, gave two recitals ; G. Andrews, Louis A. Coerne, N. J. Corey, C. A. Howland, B. J. Lang, Otto Pfefferkorn, W. Radcliffe, W. S. Sterling, Henry G. Thunder,, a talented Irishman, pupil of Thal- berg, who died in New York in 1891, and A. S. Vogt, one recital each. During 1897 and 1898 the Twentieth Century Club of Boston, impelled by the lack of public appreciation of organ recitals charac- teristic of that city, gave a series of free concerts in various churches in Boston. The following were the performers : — -Edgar A. Barrell, two; P. B. Brown, two; G. A. Burdett, five; G. W. Chadwick, two ; E. Cutter, two; Ernest Douglas, one ; Henry M. Dunham, two ; Arthur Foote, one ; Wallace Goodrich, four; Philip Hale, one; Warren A. Locke (the organist of Apple- ton Chapel, Harvard), two ; Hamilton C. MacDougall, three ; Charles H. Morse, one ; Homer A. Norris, one ; John O'Shea, one ; Horatio ORGANISTS, CHOIR AND CHORUS LEADERS 275 W. Parker, two; Charles P. Scott, two; Charles A. Safford, one; Walter R. Spalding (assistant professor of music at Harvard), three ; William Stanfield, one ; Allen W. Swan, two ; Everett E. Truette, five ; Benjamin L. Whelpley, three ; and S. Brenton Whitney, two. The effort was a praiseworthy one, although it did not accomplish as much as the array of organ virtuosi deserved. Regarded from the standpoint of virtuosity, there is one Ameri- can organist, Mr. Eddy, who has won a remarkable reputation both America and France, the m latter country being the' land of great brilliancy in organ playing. Clarence Eddy (Fig. 77) was born June 23, 185 1, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and began his musical education at the age of eleven. In 1867 he studied under Dudley Buck, at Hajrtford, Connecticut, and from 1868 to 1 87 1 was organ- ist of Bethany Church, Mont- pelier, Vermont. Then he went to Berlin, and studied under August Haupt and Albert Loeschhorn. This was followed by a concert tour through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Holland, dur- ing which he played at the Vienna Exposition of 1873. Returning to America in 1874, he became organist of the First Congregational Church in Chicago, and after two years went to the First Presbyterian Church, where he was organist and choir-master for seventeen years. In 1876 he became general director of the Hershey School of Musical Art in Chicago, and gave there his famous series of one hundred organ recitals without a repetition of any composition. Besides the Vienna Exposition, Mr. Eddy has played at the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, in 1876; the International Fig. 77. — Clarence Eddy. 276 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Exposition, Paris, in 1889; the World's Fair, Chicago, in 1893 (twenty-one recitals) ; the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, in 1 901, and has given recitals in all the chief American and European cities. During the season of 1900-01, from October 16 to May i, he made a tour of the United States and Canada, and played over one hundred recitals. Mr. Eddy has lived chiefly in Paris during recent years, and has won many European tributes for American organ works, which he has often brought to foreign notice. Regarding his own perform- ance, Haupt, in Germany, Guilmant, in France, and Sgambati, in Italy, have ranked him with the greatest virtuosi on the instrument. As a composer Mr. Eddy is not regarded as the equal of Whiting or Whitney among our organists, yet he has published a worthy series of fugues, "canons, and other organ works. He has been more of a specialist than the two. composers just named, and it is gratifying to find an American in music so eminentlysuccessful in his speciality. FIG. 78. — DR. WILLIAM MASON. CHAPTER XIV THE AMERICAN COMPOSERS FOR PIANOFORTE Among the composers who have made piano composition their chief work, we find many who are also celebrated as teachers of the instrument, and who have influenced the course of music in America as much by their pupils as by their musical productions. There is probably no country in the world where piano playing is so wide- spread as in the United States. Almost every home, even among the humble, possesses its instrument and some amount of piano music. Although this latter is not always of the quality that one might desire, the universal gift or habit of playing the piano, or playing at piano music, in America, is undeniable. Even the mechanical attachments to the piano, the musical automata, have contributed to further piano music, and most of these appliances are of American origin. Add to this that America is to-day making more and better pianos than any other country, and we can readily see that piano composition must be, for good or for evil, one of the most important factors of our music. The amount of piano teaching that is carried on in the United States is something stupendous, and the leaders in this field have -a most important task in forming a national taste in music, and in checking^ certain pernicious influences that have grown up only too rapidly.. Dr. William Mason (Fig. 78) of New York ought to be given precedence in treating of this topic, for he is the pioneer among our native piano composers and teachers. He was born in Boston, January 24, 1829, the third son of Dr. Lowell Mason, that important figure in American musical history, whose work we have already recorded. Naturally his father was his first teacher. Mason made his first public appearance as a pianist in Boston. As long ago as March 7, 1846, he played at an orchestral concert of the Boston 279 28o THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Academy of Music, in days when Beethoven was a novelty in that city, and Music, heavenly maid, was decidedly young. Mason's life, like that of Moscheles, is a chain leading from the old to the new. In his youth he saw the beginnings of secular music in a country which had been steeped in psalmody and sacred concerts; he has lived to see America give orchestral concerts equal to those of Europe. He has seen a race of native composers in the classical forms grow up ; and his own work has formed an important part in the fabric which he has watched in the weaving. In 1849 Mason went to Europe to complete his musical studies. Leipsic, thanks to Mendelssohn (who had passed away but two years before), was then a musical centre, and this pilgrim from the new world was taken as a pupil by such men as Moscheles, Hauptmann, and Richter. Then there came study at Prague with Dreyschock, and finally the five years of apprenticeship were rounded out with nearly two years of Liszt. It was very different with the American student abroad, in the middle of the nineteenth centur)-, from what it is to-day. There was no great band of cisadantic enthusiasts to be found in the conservatories at that time; J. C. D. Parker, the superficial Richardson (who subsequently wrote a poorly arranged piano method and sold over a million copies of it), and Mason were three of the earliest of the American Jasons. And it was different with Liszt, also, in 1853, from what it became in his later years. There was no cosmopolitan crowd of worshippers at the Weimar shrine, but in its place a small, highly appreciative artistic coterie. The young Mason became the companion and friend, as well as the pupil, of the great pianist. During the European sojourn Mason played in public, twice in London, and several times in \\'eimar, even at the court of the Grand Duke. This was probably the first time that American musical talent had attracted attention in Germany. In 1854 his American career began. It was to be a long and an extremely important one. New York at once had a classical impetus given it by a series of excellent chamber concerts, which were instituted by Mason, with the assistance of a string quartette composed of Theo- dore Thomas, Carl Bergmann, J. Mosenthal, and George Matzka THE AMERICAN COMPOSERS FOR PIANOFORTE 28 1 (Fig. 27). For about thirteen years these classical chamber con- certs were continued, and America first became acquainted with Brahms and many of Schumann's noble inspirations through this medium. There was also a long concert tour through the different states made by Mason, but he did not care much for this arduous and distracting work. In 1872 Yale University conferred the de- gree of Mus. Doc. upon Mason, — a well-deserved tribute. How sincere and intense the love of this American musician for his chosen art has been, may be best understood by that little band of auditors who have been privileged to hear him give daily recitals during his summer vacations at the Isles of Shoals, at the home of Celia Thaxter, the eminent poetess. His geniality and unstrained manner speak in his compositions. These are almost wholly piano- forte works, although a few part-songs and an early serenade for violoncello also exist. There are about fifty works for his favorite instrument, and (with Mr. W. S. B. Mathews) Dr. Mason arranged a piano method that has become famous. In this latter he advocates an especial touch, a drawing of the finger (further used in his later instruction books and essays) in certain passages, which has become known as the " Mason touch." Many of Dr. Mason's compositions have been republished in Germany. His " Silver Spring," " Reverie Poetique," " Improvisa- tion" (Op. 51, composed when Dr. Mason was over seventy-one), and " Danse Rustique " are among his best works. None of his ■compositions attempts the large classical forms. There is no sonata ■or concerto to his credit ; but in the domain of pleasing and instruc- tive drawing-room music he has had great success. Many technical points are introduced in his piano pieces in such a deft manner that the pill of study is sugar-coated. It is, however, rather as teacher, as introducer of Schumann and Brahms music in America, as edu- cator of the public, that Dr. Mason is to be honored. He has had some famous pupils, including William H. Sherwood, E. M. Bow- man, and others. Another American composer, born in the same year with Dr. Mason, seems far more remote from the present epoch, and his foreign descent, his constant European tours, and his French predi- lections, all combine to make us think of him as cosmopolitan rather 282 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC than distinctly American. Louis Moreau Gottschalk (Fig. 79) was born in New Orleans, May 8, 1829, his father being an Englishman, his mother a Creole. He was emphatically an infant prodigy, for he showed his musical taste at the early age of four, and played the organ on one occasion, in church, at six ! Piano, organ, and violin constituted his early musical studies. At thirteen he was sent to Paris to complete his musical education. He became a great favorite in the French metropolis, being idolized by impressible female auditors after the fashion that Liszt had been and Pade- rewski was to be. Chopin heard him play at a concert at the Salle Erard, in 1845, and predicted that he would become the king of pianists. He gave a series of concerts with Hector Berlioz, and that celebrated composer said of him that he had sovereign power, that he was a consummate pianist. Tours were made all over the world and honors were won every- where. In Spain a celebrated bull-fighter presented him with his sword and the Infanta made a cake for him with her own royal hands ; in almost every European country he received orders and decorations from royalty. Occasionally Gottschalk would stoop to meretricious effects, and more than once he arranged a work for a whole battalion of pianos together. Yet, over and beyond this, he was a poet of his instru- ment. His own compositions show this. One can find few works more expressive than the couple of sketches entitled " Ossian," which were among his early works. His tropical dances are full of fervor and passion, and his reveries are filled with the languor of the South.. Among his works are two operas, which never were performed, a couple of symphonies, marches for the orchestra, and a dozen Fig. 79. — Loris M. Gottschalk. THE AMERICAN COMPOSERS FOR PIANOFORTE 283 songs, but his influence as a composer rests with his piano composi- tions. None of these was in the largest forms ; he was satisfied to win his triumphs in salon composition, which was well, since a poetic drawing-room morceau is worth a dozen uninspired sonata forms. Gottschalk was the first American to achieve European fame by performance or composition, for he was playing publicly in Paris while Mason was yet occupied with Boston concerts. But Gotts- chalk was far less distinctively American than Mason, and his work by no means exerted such direct influence upon American musical development. He gave, to be sure, many concerts in the United States, — it is said as many as eighty concerts in a single season in New York, — appearing more than a thousand times in this country; but he came as an exotic and was a foreigner in the land in which he was born. He was French by taste, language, and maternal descent, and his compositions are in no sense American, but lean heavily to the Spanish or French school. He was a great artist, born, by chance, in New Orleans, but in art belonging to other climes. It was a wild, Bohemian life, the typical career of the world artist, that Gottschalk led, yet with all its excitement, the constant tours, and the green-room atmosphere, the earnest side of the composer's nature would often assert itself ; and, amid much that is temporary and some that is unworthy, many of Gottschalk's com- positions are characteristic and powerful enough to hold their own in the standard repertory of to-day. The excited and irregular life of Gottschalk could not last very long. He was an exhausted man at forty. In i86g, he was- giving a musical festival at Rio Janeiro, Brazil. On November 26, of that year, as he was seated at the piano (it is said that he was playing his latest composition, " Morte "), he fell senseless. He had been stricken with yellow fever during the year, and was in an enfeebled condition that precluded recovery. He was taken to the suburb of Tijuca, about three miles away, in the hope that in its higher altitude he might recover; but he died there, December 18, 1869. It is morti- fying to state (yet strictly true) that Gottschalk was far more ap- preciated abroad than in his native land, America. Leaving these two dissimilar exponents of piano music in Amer- ica, we come to the native composers who are at present adding to 284 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC the library of American music. As we have seen the orchestral and operatic composers occasionally composing for the piano, so we shall find our piano composers (those who have won their chief triumphs in this field) sometimes winning successes in song or operatic com- position as well. One of the most versatile of those American composers who have won success in various styles of musical work is Wilson George Smith, who, with Mr. Beck and Mr. Rogers, aids in giving musical importance to Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Smith was born in Elyria, Ohio, August 19, 1855. He was a .pupil of Otto Singer, at Cincinnati, and was so promising in his work that the veteran teacher urged him to go to Germany to complete his musical education. Therefore, in 1880, he set to work in Berlin, under Kiel, Scharwenka, Moszkowski, Raff, and others. In 1882 he came back to Cleveland, and has remained there ever since as a teacher of piano, voice, and composition, and a concert pianist. He has composed a large number of works, among which are about half a hundred songs, but his chief reputation rests upon his piano works. Some of these, entitled " Homages," are in the style of European masters. A " Homage to Schumann " runs along the line of the novelettes of that composer; a "Homage to Grieg," toward whom Smith seems specially attracted, consists of five piano works in the Norwegian vein, and these brought warm commenda- tion from the Northern master. He has written other piano works in the Norwegian and Swedish style, for which he has an evident penchant. In two other piano homages Smith has laid wreaths upon the altar of Schubert and Chopin. His more individual com- positions are not vast but always fluent, attractive, and graceful. He is not an iconoclast by any means (although not afraid of fifths upon occasion), but a very agreeable traveller along the musical highway. His transcriptions of works by Grieg and Raff, for two pianos, are very broad and effective. His pedagogic works are commendable. Every teacher finds Smith's octave studies and the studies for especial finger development useful and practical. His chromatic studies and his set of studies in transposition have won approval from Grieg, Godowsky, Xaver Scharwenka, Mason, and other authorities. THE AMERICAN COMPOSERS FOR PIANOFORTE 285 Less prominent as a composer, but exerting a great influence as a teacher and performer, is William Hall Sherwood (Fig. 80), whose sphere of action, at first in Boston, then in Chicago, has been remarkably wide. He is American by birth, by descent, and by his aggressive labors for the native composer. He was born in Lyons, New York, January 31, 1854. His father, a good musician, was his first teacher ; Dr. William Mason was another of his instructors, and took great interest in him. A very thorough European training followed, during which Sherwood studied with KuUak, Weitzmann, Deppe, Richter, Dappler, Scotson Clark, and Liszt. He gave a series of successful con- certs in Germany, and then, in 1876, returned to his native land, where he at once started upon a large and brilliant concert tour. After this he settled in Boston, and began teaching. Sherwood soon went to Chicago, where he started a conservatory. Since 1889 his chief work has been in the West, where his teaching (with that of Emil Liebling and W. S. B. Mathews) has made Chicago a centre for piano music. Yet his work in Boston also left its mark, as witness such pupils as Arthur Whiting, Clayton Johns, and many others. His published works (all for the piano) contain a couple of suites, a scherzo, and some other compositions. Perhaps the '' Scherzo Caprice " (Op. 9), although one of his early works, is his best, as it certainly is his most difficult composition. But it is as a performer and teacher that Sherwood has won his spurs. His concert tours have extended everywhere, north, south- east, and west. Canada and Mexico have heard him, as well as the United States. Every great symphonic orchestra in the country has ha.d his services in concerts at one time or another. All together, it is not too much to say that the first American piano virtuoso is (and has been for many years) William H. Sherwood. More proHfic than the composers we have mentioned is a Boston Fig. 80. — William H. Sherwood. 286 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC pianist and teacher, Charles Dennee, who was born in Oswego, New York, September i, 1863. He studied music chiefly in Boston, taking his harmony lessons of Stephen A. Emery, and his piano of Alfred D. Turner. It was Turner's guidance and friendship that made Dennee a musician. He has written some successful light operas of the vaudeville type, a large number of songs, and a still greater number of piano works in the small forms. A piano method is also to be placed to his credit. He has toured the United States as a concert pianist. Frank Addison Porter (born at Dixmont, Maine, September 3, 1859) is a pupil of the same teachers, and has also composed some useful pedagogical works, as well as songs and piano morceaux. To such a list of piano composers Albert Ross Parsons also belongs, although of a somewhat more ambitious school. Parsons was born at Sandusky, Ohio, September 16, 1847. He studied at first with F. L. Ritter, the famous litterateur and conductor, and afterwards with Reinecke, Papperitz, and Richter, in Leipsic, with Taussig, Kullak, and Weitzmann, in Berlin. Parsons's translations of important foreign musical works, his careful editing of classical reprints, and his own compositions entitle him to very honorable mention. New York has an American piano composer, who has attempted other flights, in John Nelson Pattison. He has written a " Niagara," a symphony for the orchestra and military band. There are many of his piano works in print, and he has added much to the more agree- able class of drawing-room music. In Philadelphia, Michael Hurley Cross (born there April 13, 1833, died there September 26, 1897) and Charles H. Jarvis (born there December 20, 1837, and died there February 25, 1895) were standard-bearers in the best school of piano work. Of the youngest workers in the field it might be dangerous to predict the full result as yet. Boston has two of these in its musical ranks. Harry N. Redman is writing not only many songs, piano pieces, and studies, but also violin sonatas and larger concerted works. Redman is distinctly modern in his vein, and has studied deeply in the works of the neo-Russians Tschaikowsky, Balakireff, and others. Alvah Glover Salmon has drunk at the same fountain, THE AMERICAN COMPOSERS FOR PIANOFORTE 287 and has even gone to St. Petersburg and Moscow for musical study. He has composed much brilliant and difficult piano music and has appeared in public, both as a pianist and lecturer. His chief teacher in America was John D. Buckingham, of Boston. In speaking of piano composition we must again turn to foreign influences that have had their effect upon American musical edu- cation. In no direction have these influences been more marked than in the development of our piano playing and its repertoire. Attracted to a country where the piano fever was assuming the proportions of an epidemic, some of the best artists and teachers from abroad settled here, and became virtually leaders in the on- ward movement of that kind of music. The mere accident of birth must be ignored in such a case. Such men as Joseffy, Baermann, Hoffmann, Mills, who have spent the riper years of their lives among us, and have trained many of the best of the present generation of our pianists, are certainly not to be ignored in any work that speaks of the development of music in America. The native band of advanced pianists and piano composers, was, as we have seen, a very small one, twenty years ago. The European leaven came, and it stayed in the loaf. Such a man, for example, as Carl Baermann, who was born in Munich, has had far more to do with American music than Gottschalk, who was born in New Orleans. Carl Baermann (Fig. 81) belongs to one of those families where music seems to run in the blood and is transmitted from generation to generation. His grandfather, Heinrich Joseph Baermann, was one of the most brilliant clarinettists of the world, and was a close friend of Weber and Mendelssohn, both of whom wrote com- positions for him. It may be recalled that both of these masters were the earliest in the true usage of the clarinet, and who can say how much they were influenced in their scores by personal contact with the famous clarinettist, Baermann ! A granduncle was a cele- brated bassoon player, and the father, Carl Baermann, Sr., was also celebrated for his clarinet work. Both Heinrich and Carl Baermann, Sr., wrote many works for their instrument. Both were held in high esteem at the court of Bavaria, and the father has left a clarinet method which is still one of the most famous in existence. From such ancestry came Carl Baermann, the pianist, Jn 288 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Munich, among other teachers, he had as instructor the thorough and conservative Franz Lachner. Subsequently he was one of the pupils of Liszt, not merely in name, but in fact, for he possesses the most laudatory letters from that master, and was literally one of his favorites. Soon after his studies were completed Baermann became well known for his concert performances, and was appointed piano teacher at the Royal Music School of Munich, that academy where so many American composers have studied ; and here many Americans came under the influence of the excellent musician. Soon after this, King Ludwig of Bavaria gave to him the title of Royal Professor. In 1 88 1, Professor Baermann re- ceived a furlough of two years, in order that he might visit America. The visit resulted in a permanent resi- dence in this country, and for almost twenty-five years this teacher and pianist has been a leader in classical piano music in the United States. He has given recitals and appeared at the large symphony concerts un- der all the celebrated conductors ; but his influence as teacher has been the most important of all. His pupils represent almost every state in the republic, and many of them have become famous in their own right. Professor Baermann has not written a large list of piano compo- sitions, but his few works are of a high order. A series of twelve studies (Andre, at Offenbach) may be spoken of as belonging to the finest piano literature of the present. They do not pale, as so many similar compositions do, even before the studies of Chopin. A piano suite, also of the highest order, is yet in manuscript, being just completed. We know of but one orchestral work by Professor Baermann, and that has not yet been heard in America. This is a festival march, which was performed recently in Munich on the occasion of the celebration of the centennial of the Bavarian State Fig. 8i. — Carl Baermann. THE AMERICAN COMPOSERS FOR PIANOFORTE 289 Museum. The work won the highest praise, even the Prince Regent growing enthusiastic over it. The march is in a more developed form than the ordinary " Song-form with Trio," and leans somewhat toward a sonata shape with varied recapitulation. It is typical of Professor Baermann, this clinging to the classical style, for he is a musical conservative and has been a barrier against the foolish extravagances of the ultra-modern school in America, — his extreme boundaries being from Bach to Liszt. In speaking of foreign teachers of piano in Boston a prominent place should be given to Ernst Perabo, who, although born abroad (in Wiesbaden, in 1845), came to this country when but seven years old. He returned to Leipsic for his musical education, which was especially thorough, but was again in Boston in 1865, a young man of twenty. Since that time his life has been almost wholly spent in Boston in teaching. As one of his pupils was Mrs. Beach (who also studied with Carl Baermann), one can see the direct result of his teaching. Mr. Perabo's compositions are few and brief, although he has made some remarkable transcriptions of great difficulty. He is not as frequently heard in public as could be wished for. In Rafael Joseffy (Fig. 82) America has won to herself a remark- able genius of the piano. Born in Miskolcz, in Hungary, July 3, 1853, his childish efforts at the piano were so noteworthy, that he was early sent as a pupil to Moscheles, and from him to the greater Tausig. A marked success attended his debut in Vienna, and a series of concert tours around the world followed. He came to America in 1879, and at once made a sensation by his great virtu- osity. It is to Joseffy 's honor that he rose to something higher than this in later years. He lost nothing of his brilliancy but gained decidedly in musicianship in his riper manhood. For over five years he disappeared from the concert platform, studying most zealously during that time; then a new Joseffy came back, — an earnest and powerful musician who strove for the best in art, not for immediate success. He has given his best work to America. As a teacher (in the National Conservatory of New York), Joseffy has done much for piano playing with us. As a composer, one cannot accord him as high a rank as his concert reputation would imply; his works are 290 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC almost entirely drawing-room music, graceful and pleasant, but not important. Much more prominent as a composer, and the most thoroughly Americanized of our foreign contingent, is Richard Hoffman. He was born in Manchester, England, May 24, 1831, and was taught by Rubinstein, Thalberg, Moscheles, and Liszt. He came to America as a mere lad of sixteen, — at a time when such pianists as he were most rare, — and, as he became a resident of New York, his influ- ence was very great with the few musical societies existent there in 1847. He made musical tours through America, first with Burke, the violinist, then with Jenny Lind. He often played duets (on two pianos) with Gottschalk, who had a great predilection for concerted music of this character, when a good orchestra was not ob- tainable. He played duets also with Von Billow, when that pian- ist came to America. For more than fifty years, Richard Hoffman has been a notable figure in American music, as concert performer, as teacher, and as composer. Nor does his work fall wholly in the earlier times of New York's musical activity. Even in the last days of Seidl, this pianist appeared in a concerto directed by the great conductor. As a composer Mr. Hoffman has a list of compositions which extends to more than 125 works. Songs and some excellent Epis- copal church numbers are among these, but his most successful Fig. 82. — Rafael Joseffy. THE AMERICAN COMPOSERS FOR PIANOFORTE 291 pieces are for the piano. Most of these are of the higher order of drawing-room music, and such works as " Le Crepuscule," " Im- promptu " (Op. 6), and " Venice " were much better than the average American piano composition at the time they were pubhshed. In short, in Richard Hoffman we have a modest musical worker whose quiet life has witnessed the growth of our art in New York from Jenny Lind concerts to " Parsifal " performances, and if he has not done the work of a William Mason, he has at least followed bravely that excellent lead. Scarcely less of an American record in length of time, and more brilliant in the matter of public work, is that of Sebastian Bach Mills, another Englishman who certainly belongs to American musical history if nearly forty years of active service in the cause can constitute a claim. Mills was born in Cirencester, England, March i, 1838. His name may indicate that his father was a musi- cian. Cipriani Potter and Sterndale Bennett were his early teachers, and he played before Queen Victoria when he was seven years old. After that came a Leipsic Conservatory education and public per- formances even in Germany, at the celebrated Gewandhaus concerts. Finally, a debut in New York, in 1859, was so successful that Mills settled in that city permanently. A few tours of Germany were made in later years, but most of Mills's concert appearances were in America. He appeared in New York every season from 1859 to 1877. By his teaching, his composing, and his concert playing. Mills greatly assisted the cause of good music in that city. He died in Wiesbaden, Germany, December 21, 1898. His composi- tions, so far as we know them, were all for the piano, and were none of them in large or classical forms, but all graceful and attractive works. Mr. Perry is an American artist who stands in a class by himself — a concert pianist who is totally blind, yet tours the country from one end to the other. Edward Baxter Perry was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, February 14, 1855. He was not born blind, but lost his sight in childhood. Some of his training was given at the Perkins Institution for the Blind, at South Boston. A European education in piano playing began with Kullak in Berlin and was continued under Pruckner in Stuttgart. Then came assistance and 292 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC tuition from Liszt and from Clara Schumann. During his stay in Germany he gave a recital before the Emperor. On his return to America, he began teaching in Boston, but the large number of engagements for recitals and lectures forced him away from musical pedagogics. He has given more recitals than any other American, and, as already stated, enjoys a unique position in American mu- sical art. Hundreds of other musicians who, by teaching or composition, or public performances, have added something to American piano music, might be passed in review, but to do so would turn musical history into a musical directory. Yet some of these have also done yeoman service. Hanchett has lectured and taught in New York and else- where through the country ; Boekelman has done good work at Miss Porter's famous school at Farmington, and has invented a color scheme of analysis of Bach's fugues and inventions that is enor- mously valuable to all musicians ; Constantin von Sternberg, the celebrated Russian, has helped musical education both in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Philadelphia; W. C. Seeboeck and August Hylle- sted have done in the West what Sternberg has achieved South and East. Frederick Brandeis gave the larger part of his life to composition, organ playing, and teaching in New York, bringing forth large and classical works in many branches of music. All of these pianists, and many others, have helped to make us the most piano-playing nation of the world. PLATE XI MRS. H. H. A. BEACH CHAPTER XV AMERICAN WOMEN IN MUSIC Can a woman become a great composer ? Will there ever be a female Beethoven or a Mozart? In Europe most authorities have decided the question quickly and in the negative. Carl Reinecke, long the director of the Leipsic Conservatory, once gave his views on this subject to the present writer. He believed that there was a point where woman stopped in music. His experience was, that, up to a well-advanced point in the interpretation of the ideas of others, the female student often outstripped the male ; but in the highest realms of musical performance, where individuality needed to be blended with the text of the composer, there was a timidity that militated against progress. In the purely creative field he found scarcely any progress comparable to that of the intelligent and poetic male student. Svendsen, in Norway, and Gade, in the Conservatory of Copenhagen, long ago expressed almost identical views to us. But, in Europe, prejudice alone might well hold back many a woman from entering the field. Fanny Mendelssohn composed several of the songs without words, and some of the vocal songs, which went under her brother's name; but that brother firmly repressed any thought of her entering the field upon her own account. Once, when Queen Victoria, at the English court, told him how much she enjoyed singing his song " Italy," he was obliged to reply that this particular song was the composition of his sister Fanny ! Rubinstein warningly said to the sister-in-law of Chaminade : " I hear your relative publishes compositions of her own. She ought not to do that ! " Nevertheless, this is a woman's epoch ; Rosa Bonheur has suc- ceeded in painting, George Eliot in literature, Madame Curie dis- covers radium and sets a new pace in science, and in music, too, a 293 2 94 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Chaminade, a Clara Schumann, an Augusta Holmes, have broken ■down many barriers. We venture to believe that it has been in- sufficient musical education and male prejudice that have prevented female composers from competing with their male brethren in art. In the United States, where this prejudice has not existed, the female composer was in the field contemporaneously with our Chadwicks, Parkers, and Mac Do wells ; and America can boast at least one female composer who can compare favorably with any woman who has yet entered creative musical art. Mrs. H. H. A. Beach (PI. XI) was born (Amy Marcy Cheney) in the town of Henniker, Merrimac County, New Hampshire, on September 5, 1867. She is of American parentage, a descendant of the earliest colonial settlers. From the same ancestry came William Larned Marcy, who was successively governor of New York, United States senator. Secretary of War, and Secretary of State; Randolph Barnes Marcy, the explorer of the Red River; Charlotte Cushraan, the eminent tragedienne ; and Major-General Dearborn of Revolutionary fame. Mrs. Beach's musical inheritance appears to have been a natural sequence of the devotion to music of her mother, and her maternal ancestry ; while her strong taste for the scholastic and mathematical side of her art seems like a reflex of her father's mental qualities. His family had never shown any active interest in music, but had devoted attention to political, collegiate, and other educational affairs. Gifted with absolute pitch and an accurate memoiy, the child constantly surprised her family and their friends with startling feats from the time when she was a year old. It is said that at that period she had unmistakably memorized forty separate tunes which were always accurately sung by her. At times she would insist upon their being sung to her, until her mother was exhausted. One of her favorite anthems was, " The moon shines full at His com- mand and all the stars obey." Of the songs sung to her, she always remembered the way in which they were first rendered, and never permitted any variation from the original version. All substitutions and cadenzas were met with the stern reproof, "Sing it clean." When two years old she was taken to a photographer for a sitting, and when all was ready for the picture she suddenly surprised her AMERICAN WOMEN IN MUSIC 295 audience by singing at the top of her voice, "See, the Conquering Hero Comes." The photographer, who had been practising (as one of the chorus of the first Peace Jubilee) the celebrated chorus of Handel, exclaimed : " Why, that baby is really singing it ! That is more wonderful than anything we shall see at the jubilee." The picture was a success. No other punishment was ever needed than a little minor music for the little hands that occasionally were mischievous, for this would make her disconsolate at once. Violin music gave her great pleasure, and she would sit quietly for hours listening to it with keenest enjoyment. She also exhibited phenomenal literary appre- ciation and memory at a very early age, but the musical side of her nature rather outran the literary. At this time the child was accustomed to show preference for certain pieces of music that her mother played, by designating it as the blue, pink, or purple music. Little attention was at first paid to this manifestation of musical feeling, because it was supposed to be connected with the color of the outside paper, with which musical publications were covered. Afterwards it was clearly demonstrated that the music played was not satisfactory to the child, because it did not correspond with a scheme of color that she had in he^'- mind, and had no correspondence with colored wrappers. When carefully questioned, it was found that she associated colors with certain keys. For instance : — Key of C White Key of F sharp minor ( Key of G sharp minor ) Key of E major Yellow Key of G major Red Key of A major Green Key of A flat major .... Blue Key of D flat major .... Violet Key of E flat major .... Pink This association of keys and colors continues with Mrs. Beach to the present time ; but we must add that, while many composers share this association of tone and color, their color-schemes are by no means unanimous. When four years old this precocious child was allowed, after much begging and to her great joy, to stand on a hassock at the piano and play an improvised secondo to a primo played by her 296 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC aunt. From that time she had daily access to the piano, and played correctly in their original keys, and with full harmony, hymn-tunes that she had heard in church and Sunday-school, improvised melodies and accompaniments to children's poems, and played without fault chorales of " St. Paul," operatic duets, Beetho- ven's " Spirit Waltz," and many of the Strauss waltzes. She also composed a few piano pieces which she named " Golden Robin Waltz," "Marlboro Waltz," " Mama's Waltz," " Snowflake Waltz." The latter was com- posed while on a three months' visit in the country where there was no piano. She played it with great spirit and precision the first time she touched the piano after reaching home. She had no diffi- culty in making transpositions at her pleasure. Even before she had taken any theoretical instruc- tion, her writing was found to be musically correct. It seems as if she must have always understood the relations of intervals, for, before she studied harmony, a glance at the page of music she was playing, enabled her to use four-part harmony and in the correct key. At that time she did not know the names of the notes or keys, but when she was six years old nothing would satisfy her but lessons. These were begun by her mother giving her regular instruction three times a week for the followino- two years. In that time among the large variety of pieces she studied and played were : — Heller's Etudes, Op. 47. Czerny's Etudes de Velocite (Book No. i). Handel's " Harmonious Blacksmith." Mozart's Andante and Variations in G major. Mendelssohn's " Songs," arranged by Dresel. Chopin's Valse, Op. 18, and others in order. Fig. 83. — Miss Margaret Ruthven Lang. AMERICAN WOMEN IN MUSIC 297 Beethoven's Sonatas, Op. 49, Nos. i and 2, Op. 2, No. i ; Op. 14, No. 2 ; with all the slow movements and minuets of the sonatas as far as Op. 49. These were played with accuracy and much feeling. Best of all, the child loved Beethoven's music, which she would play until com- pelled by force to leave the piano. Her greatest sorrow now was that her hand could not reach a full chord, and was occasionally obliged to omit the lower notes that she easily read, but could not touch. When seven years old she made a limited number of public appearances, playing works by Beethoven, Chopin, and others, and introducing a waltz of her own composition. At this time the writings of Bach attracted her warm interest, which later developed into the greatest enthusiasm, especially for fugal compositions. At eight years of age, her parents settled in Boston, and here, while her school studies occupied a large share of her time, the course in pianoforte instruction so well begun by her mother was con- tinued by Mr. Ernst Perabo, and later by Professor Junius W. Hill and Professor Carl Baermann. At the same time she was insen- sibly educating her judgment and feeling for orchestral music by carefully studying the scores of standard works at the many con- certs and rehearsals she was able to attend. Her feeling for the clarinet was, and is, deeper than for all other orchestral instruments. Her reverence and love for its timbre has an interesting connection with the fact that her maternal grandfather was a good performer and great admirer of the instrument. While studying with Professor Hill in the winter of 1881-82, the young lady's instruction included a course in harmony. This course was afterwards supplemented by systematic studies in coun- terpoint, fugue, musical form, and instrumentation pursued alo7ie for several years. She made translations of the treatises by Berlioz and Gevaert to aid her in the last-named study. As an exercise in the study of fugue she was accustomed to committing Bach fugues to memory, and then writing out their voices on separate staves. Her interest in choral works was very strong, and she was a close student of the diversified productions of our many choral societies. 298 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC The present writer recalls a test of the fourteen-year-old prodigy, made with Teresa Liebe, the violinist, wherein the young miss not only played fugues from Bach's "Well-tempered Clavichord," but transposed them into any required key. Her memory, her expres- sion in playing, her enthusiasm, her exhibitions of the sense of absolute pitch, were wonderful. Her teachers considered her, at that time, the greatest musical prodigy of America. Her subsequent marriage to one of Boston's most eminent physicians. Dr. H. H. A. Beach, in December, 1885, eliminated the element of struggle from her art career. There was no German aftermath of study, and Mrs. Beach is a composer whose entire education has been completed in America. She was withdrawn, too, from the professional career — her subsequent appearances as a pianist being almost invariably to aid some charity. Whether this was an unmixed advantage we may not judge. When one considers the more luxurious road of ease that was opened, it is sufficient to be thankful that Mrs. Beach did not become in any degree syba- ritical, but went bravely on, encouraged by her cultured husband, in the work of composition. All of her best works followed her marriage. Her first public appearance in Boston as a pianist was on October 24, 1883, she being then sixteen and still Miss Amy Cheney. On that occasion she played Moscheles's G minor con- certo (Op. 60) with orchestra, and as a solo Chopin's rondo in E flat. During the ensuing winter she gave several recitals. At the age of seventeen she played Chopin's F minor concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Mr. Gericke, and the Mendelssohn D minor concerto with Mr. Theodore Thomas's Orchestra. Since then she has appeared at concerts and given recitals in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn, and various other places almost every season, the programmes of some of her concerts and recitals being made up wholly of her own works. With the Boston Symphony Orchestra she has played concertos by Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, St. Saens, and herself. Her first large work was a grand mass in E flat major, brought out by the Handel and Haydn Society in February, 1892, under the direction of Carl Zerrahn. On the same evening Mrs. Beach FIG. 84. -MRS. JULIA RIVE-KING. AMERICAN WOMEN IN MUSIC 301 afterwards appeared and played with the society and orchestra the piano part of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy. Upon her appearance she received an ovation. Following the mass, she composed a scena and aria for contralto and orchestra, taking for her text the "Eilende Wolken " from Schiller's "Mary Stuart." It was sung for the first time in the same year as the mass, by Mrs. Carl Alves at a concert of the New York Symphony Society, under the direction of Mr. Walter Damrosch, and was the first work written by a woman produced at these concerts. The scene is that of Mary's first release from prison, just before her meeting with Elizabeth. Behind her is the dungeon, about and above her the free open air, the beautiful foliage and the "wandering clouds," to which she intrusts messages of love to her native land. Through the music, to give the scene more local coloring, is heard an old familiar Scotch air. In the following year Mrs. Beach was invited by the Executive Board to write a composition for the dedication of the Woman's Building of the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. As the occa- sion celebrated in the nineteenth century the enterprise in dis- covery of the fifteenth, Mrs. Beach felt that her share of the music should in some way represent the union of the two centuries. She therefore selected themes characteristic of Gregorian writing, augmented, harmonized, and orchestrated in the modern style, and produced the Festival Jubilate, for chorus and orchestra, in exactly six weeks. It was successfully performed under the direction of Mr. Theodore Thomas and again later in New York City. During the Columbian Exposition Mrs. Beach played with Miss Maud Powell her romance for piano and violin, for the first time in public, at one of the concerts of the musical congress. Soon after this Mrs. Beach began the Gaelic symphony — so called from the use of a number of genuine Gaelic themes. It was finished in the spring of 1896 and first performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Emil Paur in Octo- ber. Later performances were given in New York, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Kansas City, San Francisco, and Chicago, the latter under Mr. Theodore Thomas. A sonata in A minor for piano and violin was written in the six weeks following the completion of the sym- 302 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC phony. Mrs. Beach played the work with Mr. Franz Kneisel at one of his quartette concerts in the following January (1897). The same artists played it again in Boston, New York, and in Cambridge at one of the university concerts. Mrs. Beach has performed it on numerous occasions with other violinists. It was given in Berlin by Carreiio and Halir, in Paris by Pugno and Ysaye, and in London by Henry Bird and Sigmund Beel. Regarding these two works, one can say that they are the most important ever written in America by a woman. Yet one would have preferred a less epic form than a symphony for the composer's best expression. Better a fluent suite than a labored symphony. Yet it would be unjust to say that this Gaelic symphony is dull. It is not nearly so Scottish, however, as the symphony in A minor by Mendelssohn ; and the title must of necessity provoke a com- parison. The first movement betrays a lack of ease, although the mastery of the form (at least, of the sonata movement) is pleasingly evident. As in Mendelssohn's " Scotch " symphony, there is much use made of the clarinets in this work, even the unusual bass clarinet being very boldly employed in the lento movement. The scherzo is an orchestral gem, and the slow movement, which here comes third, is also beautiful, although perhaps carried out at too great length. The violin sonata is best in its first and last movements, the largo (the third movement) being less spontaneous. Mrs. Beach in her classical productions holds loyally to the sonata form, and is never vague or meaningless in her development-work. Good counterpoint and thematic treatment are present in both the symphony and the sonata. She seeks the largest forms by choice. The violin sonata has an extra movement in its largo, and the piano concerto, in C sharp minor, has also an interpolation. In this concerto, played by Mrs. Beach with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the first time April 7, 1900, the scherzo is altogether charming, and the finale is powerful enough to make any critic, who does not believe that woman can create music, become rather doubtful about his position. Strangely enough, in a piano concerto written by a pianist, the orchestra dominates matters throughout almost the whole work. The finale presents some excellent figure development. FIG. 85. — MISS LEONORA JACKSON. AMERICAN WOMEN IN MUSIC 305 It must not be imagined that this composer has only aimed at symphony, mass, concerto, and sonata; she has gone beyond the fiftieth opus number, and some of these opera are made up of several numbers each. There are many piano compositions in the small forms, from easy pieces for children to transcriptions of Richard Strauss, and a furiously difficult (yet properly developed) cadenza to the first movement of Beethoven's C minor piano con- certo. In her songs Mrs. Beach shows a tendency to complexity, — the ingenuity that is born of skill in figure development. But in her simplest moods she is very charming. The " Western Wind," " The Blackbird," and " Wilt thou be my Dearie .? " are good examples of direct and unaffected musical utterance. To those who believe that women who achieve greatness in any art or science must be masculine in mind and manner, unsexed phenomena, we may say that Mrs. Beach is most womanly in all her ways. Art does not recognize sex, and, if we have spoken of Mrs. Beach at some length and apart from her brother compos- ers, it has been done to point a moral, which is, that it will be time to express unbelief in woman's musical powers only after equal chances have been given to both sexes and all trace of prejudice has disappeared. Boston presents the name of still another woman among its host of composers. Miss Margaret Ruthven Lang comes by her talent quite legitimately, for she is the daughter of Benjamin J. Lang, the musician, who has won all his great successes in conducting and teaching and has published nothing. His daughter is rapidly restor- ing an average and publishing much. Miss Lang (Fig. 83) was born in Boston, November 27, 1867. There was paternal influence shown in her musical tastes ; but it may be added that something may have been inherited from the maternal side as well, for Mrs. B. J. Lang is of musical predilections and an excellent amateur singer. Miss Lang began her attempts at composition before she was twelve years old. It was at this juvenile period that she wrote one movement of a piano quintette. She studied violin in Boston under Louis Schmidt, but in 1886 went to Munich, studied with Drechsler and Abel in violin and Victor Gluth in composition. Nor were her studies neg- lected on her return, for she became a pupil of George W. Chadwick 3o6 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC in orchestration, E. A. MacDowell in composition, and worked also with other teachers in Boston. Miss Lang has aimed at the large forms ; if not at symphony or concerto, at least at classical overtures for orchestra, of which she has written three, and also an orchestral ballade and songs with orches- tra. Yet we like her work best when it seeks the smaller forms. Some of her songs have a keen poetic instinct and originality as well as grace. Her "Irish Mother's Lullaby," "Lament," and "Ghosts" are instances of masterly efforts in the vocal direction. Her overture, " Witichis," was performed in Chicago by Theodore Thomas and again under Max Bendix. This work we have not heard yet in the East. Her "Dramatic Overture" (Op. 12) has been given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Nikisch. It has some strong contrasts, especially between the chief theme and the subordinate. The first is grim and mediaeval, the second tender and human. To place these two in juxtaposition in itself gives something of dramatic power, and the development of both is singularly unconventional. The concert aria for soprano and orchestra, entitled " Armida," is made from a version that deals rather too freely with Tasso. The setting is by no means as dramatic as its poetic subject, and the composer seems to have missed the majestic power of the great death-scene. But in less intense work, and in the smaller forms especially. Miss Lang has won a leading position among song-writers. From the host of women composers in America who have not gone beyond dilettantism in their numerous works, a few may be singled out as having achieved real success in the smaller forms of vocal or piano music. Miss Helen Hood is the first of these. Born in Chelsea (a suburb of Boston), June 28, 1863, she pursued her piano studies under Benjamin J. Lang, and subsequently under Moszkowski in Berlin. Her teacher of composition was George W. Chadwick. Miss Hood has occasionally composed in the larger forms, and a piano trio, a Te Deum, and a string quartette are to be placed to her credit ; but her fame rests chiefly on her very graceful songs and piano sketches. Her trio for piano, violoncello, and violin is the first that was composed by an American woman. AMERICAN WOMEN IN MUSIC 307 and her sets of violin and piano pieces deserve record. She received a diploma and medal from the Columbian Exposition for her meri- torious work in composition. In a smaller field again, but especially successful in it, is an American lady who was born in St. Louis. Mrs. Jessie L. Gaynor has written piano works and vocal qu9.rtettes, but her metier is the production of songs for children. In this juvenile vein she has no equal among American women. She was a pupil of A. J. Goodrich and Frederic Grant Gleason, and she also studied with the eminent composer. Dr. Louis Maas. Some of her songs are more developed than one would expect to find in juvenile compositions, and may readily be used by children of a larger growth. They are all poetic, so far as we have seen them, and unite words and music closely. Some other American women-composers should be mentioned here. Mrs. Edith Noyes Porter has written orchestral works and chamber-music, and has published some graceful songs and instrumental works. She is a pupil of Chadwick and others, and has had the assistance of Emil Paur, who has spoken of her work as very promising. She is of an old American family, and her mother, Jeannette Noyes (Mrs. George B. Rice), is a prominent alto singer. Miss Mabel Daniels also comes of a musical family, her father, George F. Daniels, being president of the Handel and Haydn Society. Miss Daniels has written a pretty operetta and many shorter compositions. She went to Germany in 1903 to finish her musical studies. Among foreign women-composers who have settled in the United States, Mrs. Clara Kathleen Rogers (" Clara Doria ") holds high rank. She is English by birth, and comes of very musical lineage. She has had the best of training in Germany and Italy in harmony, counterpoint, piano, and voice. She is, therefore, one of those rare people (of whom Sembrich is an excellent type) who are musicians as well as vocalists. Her compositions comprise a string quartette, a violin sonata, a violoncello sonata, a large number of songs, and a few piano works. She has made her home in Bos- ton for the last quarter of a century. Helen Hopek-irk (Wilson) is a Scottish artist who has also resided in Boston for a long time. She is a brilliant concert pianist 3o6 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC in orchestration, E. A. MacDowell in composition, and worked also with other teachers in Boston. Miss Lang has aimed at the large forms ; if not at symphony or concerto, at least at classical overtures for orchestra, of which she has written three, and also an orchestral ballade and songs with orches- tra. Yet we like her work best when it seeks the smaller forms. Some of her songs have a keen poetic instinct and originality as well as grace. Her " Irish Mother's Lullaby," " Lament," and " Ghosts " are instances of masterly efforts in the vocal direction. Her overture, " Witichis," was performed in Chicago by Theodore Thomas and again under Max Bendix. This work we have not heard yet in the East. Her "Dramatic Overture" (Op. 12) has been given by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Nikisch. It has some strong contrasts, especially between the chief theme and the subordinate. The first is grim and mediaeval, the second tender and human. To place these two in juxtaposition in itself gives something of dramatic power, and the development of both is singularly unconventional. The concert aria for soprano and orchestra, entitled " Armida," is made from a version that deals rather too freely with Tasso. The setting is by no means as dramatic as its poetic subject, and the composer seems to have missed the majestic power of the great death-scene. But in less intense work, and in the smaller forms especially, Miss Lang has won a leading position among song-writers. From the host of women composers in America who have not gone beyond dilettantism in their numerous works, a few may be singled out as having achieved real success in the smaller forms of vocal or piano music. Miss Helen Hood is the first of these. Born in Chelsea (a suburb of Boston), June 28, 1863, she pursued her piano studies under Benjamin J. Lang, and subsequently under Moszkowski in Berlin. Her teacher of composition was George W. Chadwick. Miss Hood has occasionally composed in the larger forms, and a piano trio, a Te Deum, and a string quartette are to be placed to her credit; but her fame rests chiefly on her very graceful songs and piano sketches. Her trio for piano, violoncello, and violin is the first that was composed by an American woman. AMERICAN WOMEN IN MUSIC 307 and her sets of violin and piano pieces deserve record. She received a diploma and medal from the Columbian Exposition for her meri- torious work in composition. In a smaller field again, but especially successful in it, is an American lady who was born in St. Louis. Mrs. Jessie L. Gaynor has written piano works and vocal quartettes, but her metier is the production of songs for children. In this juvenile vein she has no equal among American women. She was a pupil of A. J. Goodrich and Frederic Grant Gleason, and she also studied with the eminent composer. Dr. Louis Maas. Some of her songs are more developed than one would expect to find in juvenile compositions, and may readily be used by children of a larger growth. They are all poetic, so far as we have seen them, and unite words and music closely. Some other American women-composers should be mentioned here. Mrs. Edith Noyes Porter has written orchestral works and chamber-music, and has published some graceful songs and instrumental works. She is a pupil of Chadwick and others, and has had the' assistance of Emil Paur, who has spoken of her work as very promising. She is of an old American family, and her mother, Jeannette Noyes (Mrs. George B. Rice), is a prominent alto singer. Miss Mabel Daniels also comes of a musical family, her father, George F. Daniels, being president of the Handel and Haydn Society. Miss Daniels has written a pretty operetta and many shorter compositions. She went to Germany in 1903 to finish her musical studies. Among foreign women-composers who have settled in the United States, Mrs. Clara Kathleen Rogers (" Clara Doria ") holds high rank. She is English by birth, and comes of very musical lineage. She has had the best of training in Germany and Italy in harmony, counterpoint, piano, and voice. She is, therefore, one of those rare people (of whom Sembrich is an excellent type) who are musicians as well as vocalists. Her compositions comprise a string quartette, a violin sonata, a violoncello sonata, a large number of songs, and a few piano works. She has made her home in Bos- ton for the last quarter of a century. Helen Hopekirk (Wilson) is a Scottish artist who has also resided in Boston for a long time. She is a brilliant concert pianist 3o8 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC who has, however, not rested upon her platform fame alone. She has composed many orchestral works, among them a concert-stjick, which was performed in Edinburgh under Henschel, in 1894, and a large number of powerful songs and advanced piano morceaux. One of Mrs. Hopkirk's most valuable works is a volume of Scot- tish folk-songs. Almost every editor in this school of music has Fig. 86. — Mme. Camilla Urso. tampered in some degree with the old Gaelic tonality ; but this com- poser has kept both the spirit and letter of the ancient scales intact. It may be recorded, therefore, that one of the most important contri- butions to the most varied and expressive repertory of foreign folk- music, was made in America, by this talented composer. There is also a purely American pianist who must be mentioned here as a composer. Mrs. Julia Rive-King (Fig. 84) was born in Cincinnati, October 31, 1859. She studied in America with Will- iam Mason and S. B. Mills, finishing in Europe under Reinecke AMERICAN WOMEN IN MUSIC 309 and Liszt, and has played in many concerts with Seidl and Thomas. She has composed several brilliant works for piano, and made some concert transcriptions of Liszt's and Scarlatti's works. The United States has produced or adopted artists in every field of musical execution. It may not be the purpose of a history of American music to speak of them in detail, for, while they have undoubtedly aided the development of musical taste in our country, they can hardly be regarded as leading factors in the devel- opment of American music. They are interpreters rather than creators of music. Yet a list of the chief of these is appended. In piano playing, America has one of the greatest artists of the present in Mrs. Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler, who, although born in Austria (July 16, 1866), has dwelt in Chicago almost continuously since she was two years old, making her extensive American and European tours from that centre. She has composed little, however. In violin playing the American women have been numerous and notable, as, for example, Arma Senkrah-Harkness (New York, 1864), whose career was so sadly terminated a short time ago; Nettie Car- penter (New York, 1865); Maud Powell (Aurora, Illinois, 1868); Leonora Jackson (Boston, 1879) (Fig. 85) ; and Geraldine Morgan, daughter of the New York organist. Possibly the large list of American lady violinists is due in some degree to a lady who was not an American. Camilla Urso (Fig. 86) was born in Nantes, France, in 1842. But she came to America when only ten years of age, and a concert tour as long ago as 1852 made a strong impression on the violin playing of America. Other American tours caused many of our young musicians, particularly of the female sex, to take up the instrument, and it is not too much to ascribe much of the success of our female violinists to the inspira- tion derived from Camilla Urso. She died in New York, January 20, 1902. The name of the great American vocalists, of both sexes, is legion. One can begin the list in the early days of American musical performances, with the great basso, Myron W. Whitney (Ashby, Massachusetts, 1836), and continue with Clara Louise Kellogg (Sumterville, South Carolina, 1842); Charles R. Adams 3IO THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC (Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1845?); Annie Louise Gary, noblest of contraltos (Wayne, Maine, 1846); Emma Abbott (Peoria, Illinois, 1850); Emma Thursby (Brooklyn, 1857); Marie van Zandt (New York, 1861); David Bispham (Fig. 30) (Philadelphia, 1857); the most triumphant of Amencdin prime donne, Lillian Norton — Nordica (Fig. 31) — (Farmington, Maine, 1856); EmmaWixom — Nevada — (Nevada City, i860); Ella Russell (Cleveland, 1862); Emma Eames (Fig. 32), who, although born in Shanghai, China (1867), is to be ranked as an American, being of American parentage; Sybil San- derson (Sacramento, California, 1865); Suzanne Adams (Fig. 35); Louise Homer (Fig. 33). The list could be extended even farther, but as it stands it will show that the preponderance of America's vocal contribution to the world is in great sopranos. Ambroise Thomas once said to us, '' Your country seems to be the natural home of the soprano ! " No scientist has yet in- vestigated the cause of national characteristics of voice. It may be climate, or food, or heredity, that causes north Spain to bring forth tenors; Switzerland, male falsetto singers ("jodlers"); England, contraltos ; Russia, basses ; and America, sopranos. But the fact remains, that as regards great musical executants and interpreters America has given more prominent operatic sopranos to the world than it has of pianists, organists, or violinists. Yet in these fields, too, we have not been without worthy and world-famous represent- atives. CHAPTER XVI MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP We have already outlined the beginnings of musical criticism in America. The earliest musical journals wei'e of a very mild description, combining music and belles-lettres in a rather incongru- ous manner, and worshipping at the shrines of Handel and Haydn, with a very limited knowledge of even these two masters. The reviews were almost entirely rhapsodical. An example of what "criticism" meant in 1820 may be given in the following citations (we include their misprints and grammatical errors), not better or worse than dozens of other essays of the same epoch: — " MR. OSTINELLl's CONCERT " The exertions of this truly scientific and accomplished musician, were never more conspicuously exhibited, than on Thursday evening, at Boylston Hall. The selections for performance, were chaste and well arranged, the applause resounding from every part of the Hall, was reiterated in thundering peals. We have not room, at this late hour, to particularize the several masterly scintillations of genius, fancy, and taste, and can only add, " ' He wak'd the soul by tender strokes of art, He showed his genius, and he's won a heart.'" "MISS DAVIS'S CONCERT " The sudden and unexpected departure of this young lady from our City, and particularly from her numerous pupils, is a source of considerable regret, the more so from the evident and rapid improve- ment they have acquired, during the very, short term of her stay. At the instiga'tion of her most immediate acquaintances. Miss Davis was induced to give a Concert of vocal music, on which occasion the 3" 312 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Government of the Handel and Haydn Society generously tendered the use of Boylston Hall, and Doct. G. K. Jackson, with several ama- teurs volunteered their services. '• It is a circumstance of notoriety, we notice that the Gentleman of St. Paul's Church Choir (who alone volunteered their services on this occasion) have manifested a sensible regret, at the sudden departure of this interesting and truly classic vocalist, who has so essentially contributed -her aid and assistance as first Soprano, in the performance of Handel's Music in a style of superiority, to which we are in a degree unaccustomed, to hear in this country. Nor can we omit to add our reluctance, in the acknowledgement, that a public loss will be incurred by her absence. " Miss Davis made a very happy selection of Songs, which were received by an admiring audience, who were fully persuaded, that, " ' Her last notes were the sweetest.' " At this time the daily press had nothing that could, even by the wildest stretch of the imagination, be called musical criticism. If a great concert was given in Boston or New York, a brief mention of it was sometimes made two or three days after the event, often merely chronicling the fact that the hall was crowded, or stating that the affair was " very successful." The first attempt at anything like critical reviews of music and musical performances was made by D wight's Journal of Music (established in 1852), which became a powerful factor in moulding musical opinion, although it had but a limited circulation. John Sullivan Dwight (Fig. 87), the founder of this periodical, may therefore be justly called the father of American musical criti- cism. He was born in Boston, May 13, 181 3, and graduated at Harvard College in 1832. He studied in the Cambridge Theo- logical School, and then entered the ministry, continuing in that field for six years. He wrote some excellent essays and reviews for literary magazines while in the ministry, but seems always to have had a predilection for music. As he had a refined (although very conservative) taste, his work, intrinsically valuable, was doubly and trebly so at a time when there were no well-equipped guides for public opinion in this art. It is amusing to note that some- MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 313 times his musical essays were held as somewhat more valuable than the works they chronicled. The eminent Theodore Parker once exclaimed, after reading one of Mr. Dwight's eloquent reviews, " Fancy making all that out of a musical work ! " In the begin- ning Dwight worked with great zeal to acquaint the public with the beauties of Handel, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and the accepted classics in music. In his later years he fought against monster musical festivals, and was bitterly opposed to the more radical works of such men as Berlioz and Wagner. In these days of Richard Strauss and Vincent d'Indy, we have gone far be- yond what Dwight would have called musical blasphemy. The rapid ad- vance in music may be illustrated by the statement that Dwight was re- garded in his early years of journalism as too radical, yet long before the end of his days his views were held to be entirely too conservative ! Dwight had the advantage of associating with the brightest Ameri- can men of letters and science, the broadest thinkers of his day. In 1842 he joined the Brook Farm Associa- tion, a gathering of the chief idealists of the time. It would be aside from our purpose herein to speak of this association, but one obtains the clew to some of this early critic's enthusiasm in studying his friends. He had a long and successful career, and Boston honored him in his declining years in many ways. He was for a long time presiding officer of the Harvard Musical Association; Otto Dresel and Hugo Leonhard, and a host of other advanced musicians of that day, became his close friends and advisers ; finally a great bene- fit concert was given him by the leading musicians of the city. But the tide had swept past him, when, for a short time, he reen- tered criticism and became musical reviewer of the Boston Tran- script. Many skilled reviewers had gone beyond him, and his poetic views and conservative standard no longer attracted much atten- Fic. 87. — John S. Dwight. 314 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC tion. He died, full of years, September 5, 1893. His journal had gone out of existence a dozen years before. Dwight was the pioneer of our musical critics. His paper, dur- ing the first fifteen years of its existence, is the history of music in America. Its contributors were in themselves a band of notable reviewers. A. W. Thayer, the famous American biographer of Beethoven, was one of these, Otto Dresel was another, and Leonhard, Mathews, and many other celebrities often contributed to its columns. In the musical literature of America, the name of Alexander Wheelock Thayer must certainly be accorded a foremost place ; yet, by a strange irony of fate, his best work is scarcely known at all to American readers. Thayer was born at South Natick, Mas- sachusetts, October 22, 181 7. He graduated from Harvard Uni- versity in 1843, ^t^d was then appointed assistant librarian at the college. During six years of service in the library Thayer became imbued with a fixed purpose, which was nothing less than to de- vote his life to writing a biography of Beethoven. It was a bold undertaking for a young American and a man none too well off in this world's goods, but he set about his task with grim determina- tion. He went abroad for two years (1849-51) and collected much material in Germany, supporting himself by newspaper correspond- ence. In 1852 he was in New York as one of the editorial staff of the Tribune, but this was only a temporary makeshift, for, two years afterward (1854), he was back in Germany arranging for his monumental work. He was again in Boston in 1856 and found friends who entered into his project with enthusiasm. Among those who assisted him toward achieving results one may mention especially Lowell Mason. Mrs. Mehitable Adams also gave mate- rial aid, and 1859 found Thayer hard at work at his chosen task. The first volume appeared, in German, in 1866. Thayer had de- termined to give the original edition of the life of the great German composer to his own countrymen, and in their vernacular. There- fore the manuscript, written in English, was translated into German by Dr. Herman Deiters, himself a musical biographer of note. By this time, fortunately, Thayer's circumstances had altered somewhat for the better. In 1862 he had been attached to the MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 315 American embassy in Vienna, with every opportunity for prosecut- ing his researches. Three years later President Lincoln (but a short time before his assassination) appointed Thayer United States consul at Trieste, a post which he held until his death. Thayer preceded the first volume of his biography with a thematic and chronological list of Beethoven's works, the most thorough list of the kind in existence. The second and third volumes of the biography appeared in 1872 and 1878, and several contributions to Beethoveniana had been published by the indefatigable researcher in the meantime. English publishing houses offered Mr. Thayer tempting sums for the privilege of translating the volumes of this biography, but, although the consul was quite poor, he could never be induced to accept these offers. His plan was, after the work had been com- pleted in German, to give forth a complete revision of it in English. This was, however, not to be; for, exhausted with his unceasing efforts, his health gave way and he died at Trieste, July 15, 1897, before the fourth and final volume of the German version was finished. Thayer's great work has suffered the fate of many other vast literary enterprises, such as Ambros's great "History of Music" ("Geschichte der Musik"), and Fetis's " Histoire Generale," and remains an unapproachable but unfinished edifice. Nevertheless it is with pride that the bibliographer records that the chief life of the great musician — possibly the greatest musical biography ever written, when one takes minuteness, size, general interest, and reli- ability into account — was achieved by an American author. But in other fields of musical biography Americans have also won laurels. The American works upon the Wagner topic have found for themselves a place beside the German essays upon the same theme. Finck, Kobbe, and Krehbiel have written remarkable books on this subject. Henry Theophilus Finck (Fig. 88) was born September 22, 1854, in Bethel, Missouri, not far from Mark Twain's birthplace, and was brought up in Oregon. In 1872 he entered Harvard College with the intention of becoming a physician ; but he found the study of philosophy, under Professors Bowen and Palmer, so attractive that he changed his mind and decided to become a professor of psy- 3i6 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC chology. In 1876 he graduated with high honors in philosophy, and two years later Harvard gave him the Harris fellowship, which enabled him to continue his studies in psychology and sociology at the universities of Germany for three years. At Harvard he had taken Professor John K. Paine's courses in music, and while in Europe he frequently wrote on musical and other topics for New York periodicals. This led to his receiving an invitation to join the editorial staff of the Nation and also of the Evening Post, at the time when Carl Schurz, Lawrence Godkin, and Horace White ruled their destinies. Mr. Finck began his biography of Wagner soon after the first musical festival at Bayreuth, in 1876. He made the acquaintance of the great composer there and at once began gathering material for his biographical work. The completion of the two volumes occupied many years, and it was not until 1893 that the first edition of " Wagner and his Works " appeared. Since that time it has gone through many editions, and while it is written from the standpoint of a most pronounced admirer, it is one of the most influential books in the field of Wagner literature. Other musical works of Mr. Finck's are a volume of essays on Chopin and other composers, " Paderewski and his Art," and "Songs and Song-writers." The most recent work of Mr. Finck is also his most important. It is a complete American edition of the four operas of the Nibelungen Ring (Cincinnati, 1903). The work is probably the largest single one ever issued from the Ameri- can press as a musical score, and the labor of editing, translating, and correcting it must have been stupendous. It is a great contribution to the Wagner cause in America, bringing the gigantic work within reach of the music student. In all of his books Mr. Finck takes very decided ground, and he is a bold iconoclast in many musical matters, attacking the old forms and fighting valiantly for the newer school. He is, unfortunately, not in sympathy with the sonata and symphony writers. He has been an ardent champion of Liszt and Grieg, and an opponent of Brahms. His writings on other than musical topics are also most poetic and interesting. Although aside from our topic, one cannot refrain from mentioning his " Lotos- time in Japan " and " Romantic Love and Personal Beauty " as 1 t^'^^^l 1 ^^Nv^l 1 1 ^^^BIb.^ Vbu '^■^'wSBB^ FIG. 88. — HENRY T. FINCK. MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 319 books of excellent caliber. But it is in the field of musical biog- raphy and criticism that Mr. Finck has become a power, and his strong likes and dislikes make him one of the most militant war- riors in the cause of progress. The second of the Wagnerian writers above named, Gustav Kobbe, was born in New York, March 4, 1857. His father, the late William A. Kobbe, was for many years in the consular service, being a native of the Duchy of Nassau. His mother was Sarah Lord Sistare, a New England woman of Spanish descent, her first ancestor in this country having been a Spanish sea-captain, who, early in the eighteenth century, was wrecked off New London and afterward settled there. Kobbe studied pianoforte and composition (1867-72) with Adolf Hagen in Wiesbaden ; later with Joseph Mosenthal in New York. He graduated from Columbia College in 1877, and from Columbia Law School in 1879. He is the author of "Wagner's Life and Works," with the leading motives in notation (two volumes), which has passed through several editions, especially that part relating to the " Ring of the Nibelung," which has been printed separately. " Opera Singers," " Signora," " A Child of the Opera House," " My Rosary and other Poems," " Miriam, a Story of the Lightship," are among his works, and he is one of the best- known American magazine writers on musical and dramatic matters as well as on miscellaneous subjects. Kobbe's " Wagner's Life and Works " is valuable to the student for its analytical character, the succinctness and clearness of its statements, and for the care with which the author avoids polemics in his presentation of his subject. Although a great admirer of the composer, Mr. Kobbe writes with a judicial poise that makes him almost neutral in the midst of conflict. No man has better avoided the furor biographicus. His work on musical topics for some of the leading encyclopaedias has been remarkably exact and painstaking. Mr. Henry Edward Krehbiel, the third of the above-mentioned writers (Fig. 89), has for many years been the musical reviewer of the New York Tribune and has won an enviable position among American musical essayists by his works. He was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 10, 1854. He was for a time a journalist 320 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC in Cincinnati, his studies in music beginning after he had attained an excellent reputation as a general writer. He studied law for a time in the West, but became musical critic of the Cincinnati Gazette in 1874 and held that position for nearly six years. He afterwards became musical critic of the Tribune as above stated, and also editor of the New York Musical Review, his New York career beginning in 1880. His contribution to the Wagnerian literature has been a volume entitled "Studies in the Wagnerian Drama." Besides this work he has written many musical year- books, records of the Philharmonic Society, an important book for the laity entitled " How to Listen to Music," an interesting historical work entitled " Music and Manners in the Classical Period," and has translated and edited innumerable other works. Mr. Krehbiel's influence has been widespread and some of his works have become very popular. In 1900 he was a member of the International Jury of Awards in Paris (at the Exposition Uni- verselle), and as a result of his services received the decoration of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. It will readily be seen that the chief musical authors of America have been the principal musical critics as well. In the cities of New York and Boston musical criticism has already reached a higher plane than in some of the European centres of music, only Germany equalling America in this important adjunct of the art. The influence of William H. Fry (already spoken of) was less widespread than that of John S. Dwight, since New York was not as active in musical matters (save in Italian opera) as Boston, in the middle of the nineteenth century. Yet Mr. Frj^'s enthusiasm for Italian music did much for America in the days when musical appreciation was in process of formation. Since that time New York has evolved a number of able reviewers in addition to the three Wagnerian authors already cited. One of the most trenchant and vigorous of these is James Gibbons Huneker, whose work in the columns of the Musical Courier has been valuable in a high degree. Mr. Huneker is very modern in taste, and his writing is perhaps the best example of pungency in musical criticism that we have in America. Musical comment with us has generally fol- lowed the sprightly style of the French /euilleton. This is not to MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 321 be regretted, and has the warrant of such able reviewers as Hector Berlioz and Edward Hanslick, two of the leading critics of the world. The heavy vein of reviewing that obtained in England until recent times has never taken root in America. In accordance with the literary tendency of the average American critic, Mr. Huneker has been active in authorship. His " Mezzotints in Modern Music " and his " Melomaniacs " are somewhat bizarre, and at times morbid, but his life of Chopin is an excellent work. It is less detailed than the life by Niecks, but far in advance of that by Karasowski or the essay by Liszt, — in brief, the best single volume upon this sub- ject that exists. Most of the Ameri- can critics are practical musicians and Mr. Huneker is not an exception to this rule. He was born in Phila- delphia, January 31, i860, and studied mu- sic there with Michael Cross, subsequently continuing his work in Paris. He has been teacher of piano in the New York National Conservatory of Music for many years. At present he is engaged upon a life of Liszt. Another musical critic of New York whose name stands high among the writers of musical literature is William James Henderson (Fig. 90), who was born at Newark, New Jersey, December 4, 1855, and graduated from Princeton College in 1876. His books on music have been chiefly educational in character, but are very bright and Fig. 89. — Henry E. Krehbiel. 322 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC readable as well as reliable. He possesses a style of writing that makes him one of the most popular of art critics. He is able to speak upon musical topics without becoming either technical or dull; and he has the happy faculty of leading his readers into the realms of higher musical appreciation without making them too self-con- scious during the process. His terseness and his dry humor are great factors in achieving this result, and his " Story of Music " can be comprehended and appreciated by all of that legion who " don't understand music." Even in such abstruse topics as his explanation of the orchestra he has managed to convey his message to the public in an easily grasped series of descriptions. " The Story of Music," " What is Good Music," " How Music Developed," and " The Orchestra and Orchestral Music " are some of his best-known publi- cations. He has been connected with both the New York Times and the New York Sun ; and aside from music, he has written books on navigation, yachting, and other themes. All of the writers we have mentioned have written magazine articles, essays, programme annotations, and have given lectures as well. The American musical reviewer is a decidedly active and manifold influence in American musical matters. One prominent New York critic, however, has not entered the field of book-making, — Mr. August Spanuth, who has written criticisms for the German press, and has won rank as composer and pianist as well as journalist. In Boston, during the latter days of Mr. D wight's regime, there suddenly sprang up a number of able musical writers. It is good evidence of the rapidity of musical growth, that during the palmy days of Dwight's Journal of Music, every newspaper in Boston allowed its musical reviews to be written by any reporter, while at present almost every newspaper of the city has its expert to guide musical opinion. Albert Lavignac, of the Paris Conservatoire, has wisely written in his work on " Musical Education": — "A critic is not a reporter; he is an initiator and guide, an edu- cator and a professor ; his pupil is the public." Such guides were soon forthcoming in Boston as they had been in New York. One of the earliest, after Dwight and Thayer, was Benjamin Edward Woolf, an Englishman, born in London, February MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 323 16, 1836. He came from a family of operatic conductors and studied music practically with his father's theatrical orchestra. He conducted theatre orchestras in many American cities, and finally at the Boston Museum. He brought forth many compositions of his own, and his influence in light opera and in drama was fully as important as his contributions to musical criticism. He wrote " Pounce & Co." and "Westward Ho," two works in the "comic opera" vein which does not represent the best taste in American music ; but it is only just to add that these were better than their school. He wrote the libretto for Eichberg's " Doctor of Alcantara," a work of excellent character, and he composed madrigals, overtures, string quartettes, and even symphonies, although the last named were not publicly performed and are yet in manuscript. All together, then, Mr. Woolf was easily the most thorough musician who had, up to 1870, entered American musical journalism. He began in that year on the Boston Globe, but soon attached himself to the staff of the Saturday Evenmg Gazette, a weekly paper of some social influence. In his later years he was musical critic of the Boston Herald. From Mr. Woolf's English and rather conservative training it was but natural that he should be out of sympathy with the radical modern school. He was at one time one of the fiercest opponents of the Wagnerian music, and his bitter sarcasm and invective made him feared by many who held different opinions. He was often sublimely savage in his reviews. But, in spite of these limitations, his great musical ability made him an influence to be reckoned with. He died in Boston in 1901. Almost contemporaneous with Mr. Woolf was William Foster Apthorp, who was thoroughly trained for a musical career, but com- posed little or nothing. Mr. Apthorp was born in Boston, October 24, 1848, and graduated from Harvard in 1869. He studied music with Professor John K. Paine and Mr. B. J. Lang, and was for some time teacher of theory in the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He began his career as a musical critic on the Atlantic Monthly in 1872, after which he occupied the same position on the Sunday Courier, the Boston Traveller, and finally (i 881) he became musical and dramatic editor of the Boston Transcript. The latter position he held until 1903, in which year he departed for Europe, 324 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC where he now resides. Mr. Apthorp's volumes are " Musicians and Music Lovers," " The Opera, Past and Present," and several trans- lations, chiefly from the French. He has done excellent work as the compiler of the analytical programme books of the Boston Symphony Orchestral concerts, and as critical editor of the " Cyclopaedia of Music and Musicians." His influence was chiefly exerted after he became the critic of the Transcript. It was much later than the time of Messrs. Woolf and Apthorp that Mr. Philip Hale began his career in Boston. He was born in Norwich, Vermont, March 5, 1854, and graduated from Yale in 1876. He was early occupied both with music and with literature, for he had played the organ in the Uni- tarian Church at Northampton, Massachusetts, before entering col- lege, and in Yale he edited one of the college papers. His chief studies, however, were in the law,' and he was admitted to the New York bar in 1880. His musical education went on with considerable vigor all through this formative period, and subsequently he went abroad, studying with Rheinberger, Guilmant, and other French and German teachers. He came to Boston in 1889 as organist at Dr. De Normandie's (Unitarian) church in Roxbury. He soon became the critic successively and successfully of the Home Journal of Boston, the Boston Posi, and the Boston Journal, finally joining the Boston Flerald. He has been the editor of the Musical Record and the Musical World, and has written articles in many musical magazines, notably in the Musical Courier, of which periodical he was for a long time the Boston cor- respondent. His musical writings .have always been bright, witty, and readable. His chief work in book form has been the editing, in collaboration with the present writer, of a set of three volumes on " Famous Composers " (new series), which deal largely with the most Fk;. go. — -William J. Henderson. MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP ■325 modern developments in music. This work had been preceded by three volumes upon the older standard composers, edited by John K. Paine and Theodore Thomas, the six books forming one of the largest series in American musical literature. [Louis C. Elson, the author of this " History of American Music," also belongs with those who have worked for the advancement of American music. He was born in Boston, April 17, 1848. August Hamann was his teacher of piano. In voice he received instruction from August Kreissmann, the friend of Franz and one of the best singers of Lieder of his time. Composition was afterward -taken up with Carl Gloggner-Castelli, of Leipsic. In 1880 Mr. Elson entered the New England Conservatory as teacher of voice and lecturer. The department of musical theory was assigned to him, and, after the death of Stephen A. Emery, he became the head of this department in the institution. His lectureship was devoted to explanations of the orchestra and its instruments and to a course upon the history of music. His journalistic work began on the Vox Humana, a paper devoted chiefly to organ music. In 1880 this was merged in the Musical Herald, of which Mr. Elson became editor. At about the same time he was appointed musical editor of the Boston Courier, and when abroad was an occasional correspondent of the New York Tribune, the New York Evening Post, the Boston Transcript, and other papers. In 1888 he became musical editor of the Boston Advertiser, a position which he still holds. Mr. Elson has directed large choruses in Trinity Church, Boston, in the New England Conservatory, and in a musical festival which took place in Boston in 1886, in which music was given representing composers from mediaeval times down to the present epoch. In Composition he has written much in the small forms and has pub- lished a volume of " Songs for Children," three operettas, a number of songs, and a few piano sketches. His books are " The Curiosities of Music " ; a " History of German Song," which was partially trans- lated in the German press; " The Realm of Music," a series of essays; " The Theory of Music," a technical work ; " Great Composers " ; " Our National Music and its Sources " ; " Famous Composers and their Works," new series ; " European Reminiscences," a book of travel; "Shakespeare in Music." As lecturer on music he 326 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC has been twice called to the Lowell Institute Course (the most prominent in America), and has lectured repeatedly at Cornell, Brown, Vassar, University of Pennsylvania, the Brooklyn Institute, the Drexel Institute, and many other educational institutions of the country. — Editor.] In speaking of the growth of musical literature in the Eastern states, the name of Howard Malcom Ticknor must also be men- tioned. A Harvard graduate, assistant editor of the Atlantic Monthly in the days when Lowell brought that magazine to its highest standard. United States consul in Italy for many years, and instructor in Harvard and Brown universities, Mr. Ticknor brought to musical journalism a refinement and suavity which it had noticeably lacked after the influence of Dwight had spent itself. Mr. Ticknor's writings have been chiefly in the Boston Advertiser, the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, and the Boston Journal; he has written no musical works or books. In the Eastern states a supplementary factor in the general advance in orchestral taste has been the writing of analytical pro- gramme books. These musical essays have been found in evidence at almost every great concert. Mr. George H. Wilson was the pioneer in this work in Boston, and Messrs. Apthorp and Hale, in Boston, Mr. Philip H. Goepp, in Philadelphia, Messrs. Krehbiel and Spanuth, in New York, and others, have done great educa- tional service in this direction. Mr. Goepp has, in addition, written a work entitled " Symphonies and their Meaning " (in two volumes), which is worthy of honorable mention among American musical books. Mr. Goepp was born in New York, June 23, 1864, and studied in Germany. He graduated from Harvard in 1884, and received a degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1888. He has been a composer as well as an author, yet his chief influence upon American art has been exerted from the literary side. Philadelphia has been less active in the field of criticism than New York, Chicago, or Boston, yet two names may be mentioned as prominent in her musico-literary annals. Mr. Willard J. Balt- zell has written many excellent educational essays and has made an astonishing success with a semi-pedagogical musical journal, — the Etude. Mr. Baltzell, like many of the American musical MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 327 writers, has composed much music, even in the larger forms with orchestral accompaniment. Mr. Arthur L. Manchester has done similar work on a similar journal, the Musician, and has been closely identified with teachers' associations and musical societies for many years. Among the brightest of the younger writers on musical topics in America, yet not permanently attached to any of the great dailies, is Rupert Hughes. He is a Westerner, having been born in Lan- caster, Missouri, January 31, 1872. He has been somewhat of a rolling stone, yet his gatherings have been many and valuable. Educated in the public schools at Keokuk, Iowa, he afterward graduated from the Western Reserve University. He then became assistant editor of the Criterion, in New York, after which a large publishing house sent him to London to do research work. He has written fiction, verse, essays, and criticisms for such leading magazines as Scribners, the Cosmopolitan, and the Century, but his claim to record here lies in his bright musical reviews in the Criterion, his musical sketches in Godeys, his popular " Musical Guide," his " Love Affairs of the Great Composers," and his " Con- temporary American Composers," which, with the exception of Mathews's " Hundred Years of Music in America," was the first book upon this topic. Mr. Hughes is an indefatigable student of facts, yet one of the liveliest and wittiest of American musical authors. In the Western states musical literature has been a plant of rather slow growth. Even now it is the exception, rather than the rule, to find an intelligent analytical description of musical events in the columns of the press in Western cities. Chicago has made the most progress in this important matter, and has had at least four writers who are comparable to the best of the Eastern musical critics. Mr. George P. Upton (Fig. 91) holds such rank, not because of his being a composer or a profound musician, but because he was a pathfinder in the West, and, like D wight in Boston, upheld a stand- ard of good taste and culture in music at a time when such an influence was peculiarly valuable. He was born in Boston, October 25, 1834, and graduated from Brown University in 1854. He be- came a journalist in Chicago in 1855, and. was on the staff of the 328 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Chicago Journal for six years. At the end of that period he joined the forces of the Chicago Tribune and has been actively engaged there ever since. He wrote the first musical criticisms ever pub- lished in the western metropolis, possibly the first of any importance that were ever written in any part of the West. To illustrate the state of Chicago's music before Mr. Upton's advent, we quote from the Chicago Tribune, which thus sums up the musical progress of that city from its earliest stages : — " Music antedates the drama in this city, for the first concert was given in 1835, in the First Presbyterian Church, the first church built in Chicago. No programme of the concert has been pre- served, and all of the singers are gone. Prior to 1835 the only music in the city was that of the Indian's tom-toms, old Beaubien's fiddle, and the Congregational Church singing in a frame tenement, which was used in common by Presbyterians, Baptists, and Metho- dists, the Rev. Messrs. Porter, Whitehead, and Freeman being the ministers, and Sergeant Burtis, of the fort, leading the singing. "Music was not well grounded in Chicago until 1850. In that year Mr. Dyrenfurth presented an orchestra composed almost exclu- sively of German revolutionists whom he had employed upon his farm, but who proved to be better musicians than farm laborers. This was the first orchestra Chicago ever heard. In that same year Chicago heard its first opera at Rice's Theatre, or a part of its first opera, for the season was only half an hour in length. The opera was ' Sonnambula,' and at the close of the first act the audience was dismissed because the theatre was on fire. There were two or three spasmodic efforts to establish opera, but it was not until 1859 that Maurice Strakosch succeeded. The next three years may be called the concert years of Chicago. Anna Bishop in 185 1, Teresa Parodi, Catherine Hayes, and Anna Thillon in 1852, and Adelina Patti in 1853, were the concert pioneers." One would wish to add to the above condensed account a word about the work of Hans Balatka in Chicago's early days. Born in Moravia, March 5, 1827, he came to America in 1849. He founded the Milwaukee Musikverein in 1851. Chicago had founded a Philharmonic Society in 1852, and in i860 Balatka became its first eminent conductor. In developing chorus music in the West, MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 529 particularly in Chicago and Milwaukee, Balatka was a pioneer of importance. He lived to see Chicago advance far beyond the primitive beginnings described above, for he died there April 17, 1899. At this time Mr. George P. Upton was most active in diffus- ing not only a musical taste in Chicago, but also in inspiring musi- cal practice. He was the first president of the Apollo Musical Club of Chicago, founded as a male chorus directly after the great fire of 1872, and now a flourishing mixed chorus. It may suggest the recent growth of music in the West when it is stated that Mr. Upton, still living, heard the first orchestra that ever played, and the first opera and first oratorio ever given in Chicago. When this fact is remembered, it may show more vividly the herculean task of one man, Theodore Thomas, who, almost alone, has built a firm foundation for the best music in that city, and has led Chicago to a foremost rank among our western centres. Mr. Upton did his work for good music at a time when the poorest was in vogue, and he has lived to see, not a complete triumph as yet, but incredible advances. He has written some small but useful volumes of musical essays under the following titles: '.'Woman in Music" (written in 1880, before America's band of women composers had come into being), " The Standard Oratorios," " The Standard Operas," " The Stand- ard Symphonies," and " The Standard Cantatas." He has trans- lated Nohl's lives of Haydn, Wagner, and Liszt, has published a volume on the light operas, and has added a host of more purely literary essays and criticisms. Another prominent figure in western musical writing is William Smythe Babcock Mathews (Fig. 92), who was born in Loudon, New Hampshire, May 8, 1837. Mr. Mathews studied music at first in his native town, but afterward came to Boston for better educational facilities. He was soon appointed adjunct professor in the Wes- FiG. 91. — George P. Upton. 330 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC leyan Female College at Macon, Georgia, and was one of the regular contributors to Dwight's Journal of Music under the pseudonym of "Der Freischiitz." His most active work in music began after he settled in Chicago, in 1867. Here his influence extended in many directions. He was the organist in one of the leading churches, a pianist and a teacher of high repute, and a writer of both reviews and books of training and knowledge. His writing, although very facile and most rapidly done, is reliable, instructive, and interesting. His musical criticisms are among the best that the West has ever had. They have appeared in the Chicago Hef-dld, Record, and Tribune. Besides this he established a magazine of excellent character, entitled Music, of which he is not only the editor but the most valuable contributor. Mr. Mathews's musical books have been of the most practical character. He has written a '' Popular History of Music," two very bright volumes on " How to Understand Music," a primer of musical forms, and many other volumes. It will be seen that America is well supplied with pedagogical musical books. It has more of this kind of literature than any other nation except Gemiany. Musical readers form a very large class in our country, and some of the American musical journals reach a circulation unknown elsewhere. Mr. Mathews has appealed to vast multitudes through this musical press. He is constantly writing essays and articles in such musical journals as the Etude and the Musician, in addition to the work in his own magazine. He has probably been as great an influence in the moulding of musical taste in the West as Mr. Dwight has been in the East, and he has always been much the better musician. One must add the name of Emil Liebling to the list of formers of American taste by means of essays and musical articles. His name would lead Western musical literature but for the fact that his influence has been chiefly exerted in the class room. He is one of the most prominent teachers in the country, and his application to this work prevents him from being as active in the literary field as his contemporaries. Yet his articles on musical topics are always the well-considered work of a thorough musician, and he has an enviable vein of humor and piquancy as well. He is an Austrian, having been born in Fless, Silesia, April 12, 185 1. He has been MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 331 active in Chicago since 1872, when he first came to the Western metropolis, and he has also composed some brilliant piano and vocal music. The fourth on the list of Chicago critics was Frederic Grant Gleason, whose chief work has been done in composition, and who has been spoken of elsewhere in this volume. Cincinnati has never been as well equipped with musical writers as Chicago, and its musical criticisms have been too largely repor- torial until recent days. It has, however, possessed one notable ex- ception to this in the person of John Smith Van Cleve, who was born in Maysville, Kentucky, October 30, 185 1. Although Mr. Van Cleve is totally blind (having been so from his ninth year), this handicap has not prevented him from being very active in almost every depart- ment of practical music authorship and lectureship. His chief musi- cal studies were made in Boston. For a time he was undecided between music and theology. His work in Cincinnati began in 1879, and he soon became musical critic of the Cincinnati Commer- cial under Murat Halstead. He was subsequently employed upon the News Journal of the same city, and did much work in Cin- cinnati in teaching. His strong literary tendencies made him not only a good writer, but an excellent lecturer on musical topics. The lecture seems to be a peculiarly American institution. While in Europe it is possible, occasionally, to hear a good series of lectures on musical history in some college or conservatory, America has a constant running fire of public lectures and lecturers on musical topics. Possibly this form of teaching owes its vogue, if not its inception, to the great number of women's clubs which are found in the United States. One phase of the emancipation of woman has been the establishment of lecture courses and the read- ing of " papers," and a goodly proportion of these papers or lectures is devoted to music. Mr. Van Cleve left Cincinnati in 1897 and removed to Chicago, where he was as active as in the former city. But, in Cincinnati he was the chief musical writer ; in Chicago he was but one among several.^ He now resides in Troy, Ohio, and is still heard, both as lecturer and writer, in Cincinnati. ^ Mr. Van Cleve is also a composer and a poet, and a volume of his poems and another one of his lectures are soon to appear. 332 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Cleveland, although not exactly a musical centre thirty-five years ago, had a musical journal even then, and its editor was a writer who left his mark on the musical culture of that city. Karl Merz was born at Bensheim, Germany, September lo, 1836. He came to America in 1854, and taught music in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in Oxford, Ohio, and in Wooster, Ohio. In 1873 he was appointed editor of the Musical World of Cleveland. His essays have been collected in a volume entitled " Music and Culture," and show a well-balanced mind and indicate a thoughtful analyst. He died in Wooster, Ohio, January 30, 1890. In California one finds musical critics and authors forming that public taste which culminates in classical concerts and sometimes even in native composers. In Los Angeles there resides a musical reviewer who has also added to American musical books. Mr. W. Francis Gates (born in ^anesville, Ohio, March 18, 1865) has written and compiled several volumes of musical essays, and has also been very active in musical journalism. In San Francisco, from 1893 to 1895, there was an excellent critic upon The Exam- iner, Edgar S. Kelley, of whom we have spoken in a preceding chapter. Many other writers may be named who have added to Ameri- can musical bibliography without having been critics or musical reviewers. Among these is Edward Dickinson, A.M., professor of musical history at the Oberlin (Ohio) Conservatory of Music, whose " History of Music in the Western Church " is a most scholarly con- tribution to the sacred side of musical study, and is probably the chief work on this topic that America has yet produced. Theodore Baker, Ph.D., of New York, was the first musician to thoroughly sift the Indian music of North America, and his work (published in Germany) on this topic has been quoted freely in this volume. He has also compiled a biographical dictionary of musicians, which is the chief work on this subject in America. Arthur Elson, of Boston, has added a history of opera, a guide to the orchestra, and a volume on women composers, to the standard list of American musical books. John Comfort Fillmore, already quoted in connection with Indian music, has published a practical history of pianoforte music and some lessons on general musical history. FIG. 02. — W. S. B. MATHEWS. MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 335 Women have appeared not too frequently among our musical authors, the most popular book by a woman writer on music in this country being Amy Fay's " Music Study in Germany," which has been translated into various tongues and republished in Europe. It is a record of the fetich-worship accorded by the feminine stu- dents to Liszt, not an important historical matter, but so naively and charmingly told that it holds the attention from first to last. Making due allowances for the character of the topic, we do not know of any woman among the musical authors who has won a more popular success than Miss Fay. She has also written a peda- gogic work, an exposition of the Deppe method of piano playing. Miss Helen M. Sparmann has written an essay entitled " An Attempt at an Analysis of Music," — a very commendable, though short, pamphlet, and Mrs. Helen D. Tretbar has given forth some useful analytical works and many musical translations. One of the most promising of the American writers on music, E. Irenaeus Stevenson, was drawn away from his subject by other pursuits. He made an excellent reputation as an essayist on musi- cal topics, by articles in the New York Independent and in Harpers Weekly, and had written some musical novels, and also a collection of musical sketches, when, in 1899, he received an addition to his fortune and his name (becoming Mr. Prime-Stevenson), and went to Vienna to live. His gain was a loss to American musical litera- ture, for he was an intelligent writer upon the modern phases of art, and an influence much needed at the present time. Any sketch of American musical authors would be very faulty if it did not mention the learning and wide influence of Dr. Frederic Louis Ritter. As will be seen directly. Dr. Ritter's influence was exerted in many other fields besides musical authorship. He was born in Strassburg, June 22, 1834, and studied both in France and in Germany. He came to this country in 1856 and settled in Cin- cinnati. That city owes a great debt to him ; for what Mr. George P. Upton was to Chicago in its musical childhood, that Dr. Ritter became to Cincinnati in the early days. The latter city, to be sure, was an older one than Chicago, and had the advantage of a German element in its population which founded the Maennerchor, the embodiment of all that is genial in music, even in the earliest 336 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC days of the settlement ; but Dr. Ritter built a classical edifice upon this foundation, and the Cecilia Society, — choral, — and the Phil- harmonic, — orchestral, — were the result of his labors. He did not, however, stay long enough in the city to develop what he so ably inaugurated. In 1861 he settled in New York, where he con- tinued in the same line of public musical service. The Sacred Harmonic Society made him its conductor, while, as leader of the Arion, he had control of one of the best German male choruses in the world. Both in Cincinnati and in New York he introduced a large number of new and important works to the American public, and his name may be mentioned in the same breath with those of Theodore Thomas and Dr. Leopold Damrosch for the far-reaching pioneer work which he accomplished. He arranged and conducted the first really great musical festival held in New York, in 1867, and at about the same time was appointed pro- fessor of music at Vassar College, a position which he held almost up to his death, which took place in Antwerp, July 22, 1891. The University of New York, in 1874, conferred upon him the degree of Mus. Doc. It is difficult to form a just estimate of a man who achieves so much, and in so many different directions, as did Dr. Ritter. In musical conductorship he had superiors, and, although his peda- gogic influence at Vassar was of the best, other teachers in simi- lar fields deserve equal recognition ; but in the domain of musical literature he was as important a figure as any in America, after Dwight and Thayer. He was constantly writing musical essays, not only in the American journals, but in France and in Ger- many, and was instrumental in causing Europe to become familiar with the musical strivings of this countr}', which before his time had been deemed semi-barbaric. His most important work was a history of music, which was for a long time the best brief book^ on this subject in the English language. He also wrote a volume on music in England, which is still regarded as an authority abroad. Another volume on music in America had less of success, for ^ Or rather two volumes, for at first it was in this shape. It is now published as a student's history of music, in a single volume. It is in English very much what Brendel's " Geschichte der Musik " is in German. MUSICAL CRITICISM AND AUTHORSHIP 337 Dr. Ritter approached his subject with little sympathy. William Billings, the first native composer, shocked this classicist with his false progressions ; our national music did not appeal to him deeply, and of the American composers he had not a word to say. The work is mainly devoted to opera and to orchestral societies in ' New York, but is most thorough in these fields. Dr. Ritter was a profound musician, and composed many works even in the symphonic forms. These were, however, the composi- tions of a German in America, rather than of a native composer or of a man influenced by American surroundings. Massenet, the French composer, once spoke enthusiastically to the present writer regarding the inspiration that ought to come to the American com- poser. " Were I in America," said he, " I should be exalted by the glories of your scenery, your Niagara, your prairies; I should be inspired by the Western and Southern life ; I should be intoxicated by the beauty of your American women ; national surroundings must always inspire national music ! " Dr. Ritter, however much he labored for us, worked from without, not from within ; he was among us, but not of us. He could not realize what a group of good American composers was growing up around him. In spite of these limitations his will always be a respected name in our musical annals. The work of Richard Grant White (born in New York, May 23, 1822, and died there April 8, 1885), in musical criticism, is something of a contrast to that of the writers we have thus far men- tioned. Ritter, Finck, Huneker, Mathews, and many of the others, were musicians who had entered the literary field ; White, like John S. Dwight, was an essayist who had added music to his literary topics. But White had none of the gentleness and suavity of the elder writer ; he was keen and bitter in controversy, pronounced in opinions, relentless in polemics. He wrote some of his diatribes with vitriol. His writhing victims made an epigram out of his name, — turning " Richard Grant White" into " Richard Can't Write," — but he could write far better than he could judge. His was not the judicial mind that saw both sides of any question ; with him there was but a single view upon any topic, musical or otherwise, — his own. 338 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC White's versatility is suggested by the fact that he was a great Shakespearian commentator, a brilliant journalist, one of the lead- ing magazine writers, a learned philologist, a musical critic, and chief clerk in the New York Custom House ! Such versatility is dangerous, for it prevents a man from becoming a leader in any one field. Had White given greater attention to the study of music and of its literature, it is probable that he would have been the chief author in this field. As it is, he may be considered the chief literary light that entered musical criticism in America. That his reviewing moulded any national taste, or influenced our musical progress in any permanent manner, cannot be truthfully said. PLATE XII JOHN K. PAINE CHAPTER XVII THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT While America does not possess, and does not require, an endowed school of music under government protection, such as the Conservatoire at Paris or some of the conservatories in Italy, Bel- gium, or Germany, yet, through the philanthropy and the love of art of private individuals, large schools have been founded that have nobly carried on the movement inaugurated in the Boston Academy of Music and by Lowell Mason over sixty years ago. There is possibly no country on the globe where the rudiments of music are so widely diffused among the masses as in America. Every city gives its public school children some knowledge of part-singing and at least the ability to read notation ; conservatories in each large city offer not only well-equipped courses in every branch of music, but free scholarships to pupils of pronounced talent. With all this musical activity something yet remains to be desired. It is only in recent years that the large conservatories have become more than piano and vocal training-schools, that operatic performances have been established and orchestras founded within their walls. Before the conservatories began, before even the Boston Musical Academy and the Philadelphia Musical Fund Society were dreamed of, there was a thorough education in music dispensed at the Mora- vian settlements in Pennsylvania. In Bethlehem and at Ephrata, even in the eighteenth century, there was constant study, and Phila- delphia was at times glad to borrow musicians from the Moravians for its early festivals. The Moravian music undoubtedly had an effect even beyond the Alleghanies, and it is not impossible that it influenced the first New England composers ; but this Pennsylvania- German school can in itself scarcely be classed as American music. For a record of recent discoveries in this field the reader is referred 339 340 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC to Dr. Julius F. Sachse's " Music of the Ephrata Cloister " (Lancas- ter, 1903). The Moravians undoubtedly had the first i-egular music schools of this country. Three large conservatories exist at present in America, — those at Boston, Cincinnati, and Chicago. Of the three the New England Conservatory of Boston has a curriculum most nearly approaching that of the great European schools, and this broad course has been largely due to the efforts of Mr. George W. Chadwick, its present director. But the founding of this con- servatory was due to Dr. Eben Tourjee (Fig. 93), a man who, without being a great musician himself, wielded a great influence on musical education in America. Dr. Tourjee (the degree of Mus. Doc. came from Wesleyan University) was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, June i, 1834, and died in Boston in 1890. Largely self- taught in music, his first connection with the art was upon the commercial side, for at seventeen he was clerk in a music store at Fall River, Massachusetts ; subsequently he became organist and choir director at Newport, Rhode Island. During the exist- ence of the East Greenwich Musical Institute he visited Europe and studied the conservatory system there. At this time he also took lessons from Haupt, in Berlin, and from other prominent teachers. On his return to America he established a conservatory in Provi- dence, Rhode Island. As early as 1859 he obtained a charter for a musical institute in connection with the academy at East Greenwich, Rhode Island. The Boston Academy of Music, already described, had been too idealistic and had attempted far too much ; Dr. Tourjee was the first to establish the class system of musical training upon a jDractical basis in America. In 1867 he founded the New England Conservatory of Music. He was a superb organizer, and soon saw that America needed some modifications of the European system, especially in the matter of careful protection of female students coming from a distance to a strange city. P'iG. 93. — Dr. Eben Tourjee. THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT 341 He incorporated the New England Conservatory in 1870, and the institution had its quarters in Music Hall Building for about a dozen years. After this, in following out the idea suggested above, he secured the great St. James Hotel Building in Boston, and altered it to suit his needs, making it both a conservatory and a home for students from distant cities. Many persons helped the institution, among whom may be mentioned the Hon. Rufus Frost, long its president, the Hon. Richard H. Dana, also a president and the organizer of a fund for its perpetuation, and Jacob Sleeper, who gave a hall for its recitals and concerts. There were many pecuniary difficulties attending the school in its enlarged quarters, but Dr. Tourjee bravely fought on and steered successfully through troubled waters, until his health began to fail. An attack of nervous prostra- tion incapacitated him, and for a year before his death his keen intellect was clouded. Mr. Carl Faelten, who had been one of the most prominent piano teachers of the institution, now took the helm, but after a few years resigned in favor of George W. Chadwick, who found that the time had come for yet further innovations. He began his regime by separating in some degree the horrie and the con- servatory. A new building (Fig. 53) was erected, probably the most perfect for its purpose of any in America, which is used exclusively for teaching; new dormitories were established, apart from the con- servatory itself, yet under its direction and supervision ; and two halls were built for lectures and concerts. The new conservatory found more powerful protectors than ever before, Mr. Charles P. Gardiner becoming its president. Mr. Eben D. Jordan, a wealthy merchant of Boston, was one of the chief of its benefactors. The great organ of the institution is his gift, and the large hall of the conservatory, one of the finest music halls in Boston, is named in his honor. The curriculum of the conservatory is at present probably the most severe of any musical school in this country. Its faculty contains many distinguished names, which have been spoken of in their various fields of work, yet a few of the teachers of the past may be here mentioned. Mr, Carl Faelten was born in Thuringia, December 21, 1846. He derived the greater part of his musical proficiency from Raff, 342 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC with whom he was intimately associated in the Frankfort Conserva- tory. His earlier studies, however, had been under Montag and Schoch, in Weimar and Frankfort. His work was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War, when military law compelled a term of service, but through the influence of some officers who accidentally became acquainted with his musical abilities, he was spared severe tasks and largely employed in clerical duties. When his term of service had ended, he again began his musical studies, and carried them on so successfully that he was soon able to make several concert appearances in Germany. He was one of the piano teachers in Raff's Conservatory, and from 1882 he was active as a teacher in the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. In 1885 he became one of the faculty of the New England Conservatory. He left that institution in 1897 to found a large piano school of his own, which still flourishes in Boston. Mr. Stephen A. Emery (Fig. 94) was one of the most popular of the harmony teachers in the Conserva- tory. He was born in Paris, Maine, October 4, 1841, his father being a distinguished lawyer and judge of that state. After preliminary musical study in Portland, Mr. Emery went to Leip- sic, where he studied with Richter, Hauptmann, and others. He was a teacher of harmony at the New England Conservatory from its very beginning, 1867, until his death, which took place in Boston, April 15, 1 89 1. Mr. Emery's compositions, almost all of them in the smaller forms, although full of grace and delicacy, are not of great importance in the development of American music, but in his long- continued pedagogic service he did much for the advancement of the art, and hundreds of his pupils are now working successfully in the musical field. Many of the important composers spoken of in this volume derived their early inspiration from the teaching of Stephen Albert Emery. Fig. 94. — Stephen A. Emeky. THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT 343 Another teacher at the Conservatory, whose influence was exerted almost entirely within its walls, was Alfred Dudley Turner, who was born in St. Albans, Vermont, August 24, 1854, and studied with Mr. J. C. D. Parker, and also with Mm.e. Madeleine Schiller. Such musicians as Frank A. Porter and Charles F. Dennee attest the earnestness of Mr. Turner's work. Like Mr. Emery, he wrote chiefly in the smaller forms, and left no very important works even in these. His octave studies, however, are among the most valued contributions made by Americans to musical pedagogy. He died May 7, 1888, when only thirty-three years of age. The names of Emery and Turner, their unostentatious work, their pedagogic success, may serve to point a moral. European teachers of greater celebrity did not always achieve as much practical result in America as these two men. It was simply the comprehension of the American student, the knowledge of how to reach his heart, how to spur on his ambition, that made their work remarkable. The really successful teacher must have, besides the technique of his art, a full comprehension of the character of his pupils; and this gives an obvious advantage to the American teacher in America. There were other important teachers in the Conservatory. Mr. Lyman W. Wheeler and his brother Harry Wheeler were prominent in the vocal work, Mr. John O'Neill graduated Lillian Norton (Mme. Nordica) and other prominent pupils, Mr. Otto Bendix taught piano there before going to San Francisco and establishing another con- servatory, Carlyle Petersilea, recently deceased, was of the piano group, George E. Whiting was for a long time the chief organ teacher, Carl Zerrahn was its teacher of conducting. Martin Roeder came from Italy to join the forces, as did also Signor Augusto Rotoli, and a musical brotherhood, " The Sinfonia," was founded in the con- servatory by Ossian. E. Mills, and now has branches in many cities of the United States. A few additional words regarding Dr. Tourjee may be pertinent before leaving the conservatory which he founded. He was a most active lieutenant in the two peace jubilees given by Gilmore in Boston, and practically constructed the immense choruses of these festivals. He was a strong worker in the cause of music in the 344 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC public schools, and he was the originator of the " Praise Service " in American religious life. He was also a diplomat to the finger- tips and had a manner of getting almost everybody to work out his wishes, to educe the maximum of work with the minimum of friction ; in short, he was the man for his place and time, just as Billings had been for the rudimentary stage of American music and Lowell Mason for its advancing stages. During the early days of the New England Conservatory, while it had no rival in its general curriculum, it had a keen competitor in the domain of violin music. The Boston Conservatory of Music had been founded by Julius Eichberg, and was, for a long time, the chief violin school of America. With the death of Mr. Eichberg, however, much of its glory departed, although the good work of its subsequent director, Herman CheHus, in the piano department, is to be chronicled. The influence of Mr. Julius Eichberg (Fig. 95) upon the violin music of America is incontestable. He was born in Diis- seldorf, June 23, 1824, studied with Rietz, and in his childhood played before Mendelssohn, who put on record his high opinion of the per- formance of the juvenile prodigy. Additional study with Fetis and De Beriot and acquaintance with Schumann made the youth of this violinist a memorable one. Eichberg came to New York, in search of health, in 1857, but soon settled in Boston, where he began his career in 1859. His first work in that city was as conductor of the little orchestra at the Boston Museum. There he contributed somewhat to the American repertoire, for he wrote a charming opera, " The Doctor of Alcantara," Avhich was the best light opera that had up to that time been written in this country. He subsequently composed other operas, all grace- ful and singable, but none of them of the excellence of the first-named work, which was produced in 1862 (Fig. 96). In spite of its charm "' The Doctor of Alcantara " has become obsolete ; nor can it be fairly called an American work, since the libretto was by B. E. Woolf, the English musical critic (resident in Boston), and the music was, of course, by a German. Yet Mr. Eichberg became enthusiastically American, as may be seen by his national hymn, " To Thee, Oh Country ! " of which the words were written by his daughter, a lady of much literary ability. He wrote some chamber-music and THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT 345 became for a time supervisor of music in the public schools of Boston. He died in Boston, January 13, 1898. The West also has had its musical enthusiasts who were ready to play the part of Maecenas in endowing educational institutions for the development of the art. George Ward Nichols and Reuben Springer were the chief founders of the Cincinnati College of Music {Fig. loi), the leading musi- cal institution of the West for many years. The first meeting of the stockholders of this college was held on the 1 6th of August, 1878, and Theodore Thomas was invited to become director of the new enterprise. Mr. Springer gave endowment upon endowment, and the ■erection of the present large buildings of the college was made possible chiefly through his munificence. Mr. Nichols, as the first president, saw the college outgrow building after building until its present large equipment was achieved. After the de- cease of Colonel Nichols, Mr. Peter Rudolph Ne£f became president. Mr. Thomas, great as is his musicianship, and vast as have been his musical services, was not the most effective musical director pos- isible. There is probably no position in music which demands so much of diplomacy as the directorship of a number of prominent musicians w^ho are not definitely graded, as in an orchestra. Mr. Thomas had his high artistic ideal, and " compromise " was a word which did not exist in his vocabulary. The result was a series of complications for which no one person was responsible, and in two years Mr. Thomas left the post and returned to New York. The Fig. 95. — Julius Eichberg. 346 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC college went on under other direction ; Mr. Van der Stucken (Fig. 102) (of whom we have already spoken) was its musical director until 1903, when he resigned the post. It has done great work for Cincinnati and for the entire West. It has been active in the musical festivals of the city, it has patronized opera and assisted the operatic advance, and it has gathered together a band of excel- lent musicians who have been like the leaven in the meal through- ij/ndan '"'1 "y !fc w« /^* 1 ?4s£;# ^ ^ k-:^ ^T=^ del . Si ";^^~^ ^. V~^ rr^ ' . . . f'. ., \ '■\: / ♦ ^;Va:-M^"^' ?|:^ i l.')i'iC><.''it<^«' Pig. 96. — Manuscript by Julius Eichberg. out the musical West. Among its faculty have been such men as Otto Singer, Arnold J. Gantvoort, Albino Gorno, E. W. Glover, John A. Broekhoven, John S. Van Cleve, Dr. Elsenheimer, and many others. Bushrod Washington Foley was one of the most important of its vocal teachers and is at present at the head of a conservatory of his own in the same city. There are other conservatories of later origin than the three THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT 347 already spoken of that have had success. These are such institu- tions as the Chicago Musical College, which Dr. Florence Ziegfeld brought into existence and guided to prosperity, the Cincinnati Con- servatory, which owes its success to Miss Clara Baur, the Oberlin (Ohio) Conservatory, the Chicago Conservatory of Music in which Mr. William H. Sherwood was very active, the Philadelphia Acad- emy of Music (Fig. 99), founded by Richard Zweckwer. These later institutions are, however, less important from the historical stand- point, even when reaching an equally high artistic standard. Yet one conservatory deserves especial mention because of a peculiar influence which it exerted upon composition in America. The National Conservatory of New York, founded by Mrs. Jeanette Thurber, not only brought together a large number of prominent workers in music, such as Joseffy, Finck, and others, but, in 1892, it was under the artistic direction of Antonin Dvorak, the great Bohemian composer, who at once became active in the field of American composition. Although we have spoken separately of those composers from abroad who have paid visits to America, Dvorak's influence was so direct and pedagogic that we may speak of it in connection with conservatory work. Antonin Dvorak (Fig. 97) was born at Nehalozeves, in Bohemia, September 8, 1841. He was thoroughly steeped in the folk-music of his native country, for his principal teacher was Smetana, the chief worker in the cause of the renascence of Bohemian national music. On Dvorak's coming to New York, he began with composition classes in the National Conservatory at once, and many prominent young musicians became his pupils. He desired, however, to evolve something distinctly American on his own account, and at once sought to discover what American folk- song was like. He must have been somewhat disappointed at first, for he found only the Indian music (unfamiliar to almost every American) and the plantation music of the South, the product of an alien race. Yet, as the latter portrayed phases of American exist- ence and was recognized and understood by almost all the people (a prime necessity of folk-song), he proceeded to employ this material in classical composition. Music for a string quartette, a sextette, and a symphony were the results of the search for native material. 348 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC The symphony, " From the New World," has given rise to considerable contention. Some maintain that it is no more Ameri- can than Dvorak's own painful attempts in the native language. One may disagree with such a dictum; the symphonic language is not itself a local dialect, but it may properly be founded upon local themes. It is not a Bohemian masquerading as a plantation darky that we find in this work, but an idealization of the typical music of the South, developed, as this epic form demands, yet entirely recog- nizable. The chamber-music on American figures is still more frankly plantation-like in its vein. But the American symphony (in E minor. Op. 95) will always remain Dvorak's chief achievement in this country. The whole proceeding was a demonstration, on the part of a great composer, that the roots of the music of a nation are to be found in its folk-songs ; should there be no such inspiration to draw from, the result will be more generally eclectic and less typical. For that reason it is still a mooted point as to whether a distinctively American school can ever arise, even amid a host of talented native composers. Although Dvorak was the first to call the attention of Europe to the possibilities of our plantation music, he was not the discoverer of this foundation of classical music. If any musician will examine the scherzo of Mr. G. W. Chadwick's second symphony, they will find that an American composer recognized the adaptability of this material before Dvorak came to these shores. Dvorak's connection with the National Conservatory continued three years; in 1895 he returned to Prague, where he accepted the directorship of the Bohemian Conservatory of Music. Among his pupils while in New York we may mention Harvey Worthington Loomis, WiUiam Arms Fisher, Harry Rowe Shelley, Henry Schoenefeld, and Rubin Goldmark. The conservatories described and alluded to above are bringing into existence a host of trained musicians in America. The public schools are bringing forth an entire race that shall have some practical acquaintance with music. Yet the result has not, thus far, been equal to the efforts put forth. Perhaps the main reason for this is that the public school courses in music have all started with the assumption that the pupil was to be a singer, whereas a very slight THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT 349 proportion of the graduates are ever active in music after leaving school. If only a small part of the vast sums that are expended by municipalities in America in teaching public school students how to read notes and to sing were to be devoted to instructing them in the general comprehension of music, its architecture, its different instruments, the development of figures which plays so important a part in sonata, sym- phony, and fugue, the different scales used by the nations of the earth, the meaning of the folk-songs of various countries, in short, if classes in musical culture were to be established, a much greater general result might be brought about.^ Yet, if the premise be granted that it is only desirable to teach singing to the pupil, the public school system of America has accomplished wonders. Luther Whiting Mason (born in Turner, Maine, April 3, 1828, died at .Buckfield, Maine, July 14, 1896), a man largely self-taught in mu-' sic, reformed the beginnings of music-teaching in the primary schools of America and established a practical course far more carefully graded than anything which had preceded it. His influence spread even as far as Japan, where public school music was for a long time known as " Mason music." The chief aim of the new system was to enlist the services of all the public school teachers in the musical training instead of allowing it to remain guided by the sporadic efforts of the musical supervisor. The work of Mr. John W. Tufts in this direction deserves hearty recognition ; for, while Mason, H. E. Holt, and others in the movement were not of the highest musicianship (however practical their teaching-system might be), John W. Tufts, whose name is not * An article by the present writer on this subject is in the Atlantic Monthly, August, 1903. Fig. 97. — Antonin DvoitAK. 350 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC mentioned in any of the musical dictionaries and encyclopedias, was a finely educated composer, a good contrapuntist, and a thorough musician. He was able to write all necessary examples and exer- cises for a most carefully graded course, and placed the training- system of the public school upon a much firmer foundation than it had ever had before.^ Many experiments were tried, both east and west. Chicago for a time employed the tonic sol-fa system, a simplified method of notation which has opened the doors of choral singing to thou- sands who have not had time or opportunity to master the regular system of notation, yet has numbered very few composers among its followers. We have it upon the authority of Samuel W. Cole, a man who himself has been most active in spreading good music among the people, that in a well-organized system of schools more than 90 per cent of the pupils sing correctly. It has been dis- covered, in this universal application of vocal methods, that heredity plays a less important part than environment, in the production of singers. It has also been discovered that the child's voice is some- what higher in natural compass than is generally imagined, such notes as F and G above the staff being by no means a tax upon the juvenile throat. Among the workers in this field of public school music, in addi- tion to those already mentioned, are : — • William Lawrence Tomlins, who was born in London, Febru- ary 4, 1844. He came to New York in 1870, but after five years went to Chicago. His work in that city was very successful, especially in the training of children's voices. He has followed out the Mason system by training school-teachers in music for some years past. Samuel Winkley Cole, above alluded to, who was born in Meriden, New Hampshire, December 24, 1848. His work in the schools has been so successful that he once produced the entire oratorio of the "Messiah" with the pupils of a high school, prob- ably the first time that this was accomplished with such non-profes- sional forces. His labors in connection with people's chorus training have already been spoken of. Frank Damrosch (Fig. 98) is the son 1 Mr. Tufts modestly writes (from Camden, Maine, August 4, 1903), "It seems to me that what I may have done in music is a matter of small importance to the world." THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT 351 of Dr. Leopold Damrosch. His work in the public schools began in Denver, Colorado, nearly twenty years ago. Coming to New York he was for a time connected with opera, but soon (1892) organized the people's choruses with which his name is identified. In 1897 he became supervisor of music in the public schools of New York, and is also, at present, conductor of many different choral societies. His influence has been very widespread, and his work most musicianly. Besides these names there is a long list that might be added; Hosea E. Holt, Leonard Marshall, Sterrie A. Weaver, and many others are laboring in this peculiarly American field with good results. Much has been accomplished; a better musical taste has been instilled in the growing public ; yet it is to be hoped that the time will come when public school training in music will mean some- thing deeper, broader, and more comprehensive than merely partici- pation in singing or the reading of notation in single parts. The musical education in colleges and universities in America has undergone startling changes since the time when Harvard allowed the Pierian Sodality and its offspring, the Harvard Musi- cal Association, to devote its time to other than the sacred music which colleges of old considered the only branch of the art worth practising. At present many of the large colleges and some of the small ones have added a musical department and a chair of music to their regular curriculum. But even in this field there is as yet no class which, leaving the domain of technical construc- tion or performance, devotes its attention wholly to studying the appreciation of music. One of the earliest establishments of a chair of music at an American college was accomplished at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where, in 1875, Hugh Archibald Clarke was elected Professor of the Science of Music — a position which he still fills. Professor Clarke was born near Toronto, Canada, August 15, 1839. He studied with his father, James Paton Clarke (a Mus. Doc. of Oxford), and played the organ in church at twelve years of age. In Philadelphia he was organist at the Second Presbyterian Church for twenty-two years. He has written much, and among his compositions may be mentioned a setting of Aristophanes's " Acharnians," for which he received the 352 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC degree of Mus. Doc, a setting of " Iphigenia in Tauris," an oratorio, " Jerusalem," much chamber-music and many smaller compositions. He is an excellent contrapuntist. It was in the same year (1875) that Harvard established a pro- fessorship of music. The establishments were so nearly simultane- ous that it may be a disputed point as to which came first. Harvard is, however, generally credited with the earlier beginning, and Professor John K. Paine is usually described as the first pos- sessor of a musical pro- fessorship in America. When Professor Paine was appointed to his chair (which, like Profes- sor Clarke, he still holds), he had been a teacher of music in Harvard for nearly fourteen years, and the department was cer- tainly the first really im- portant one in any American college. The establishment of the chair at Harvard was undoubtedly the incentive which led other colleges to follow in this path, and its origin and beginnings are interesting to trace. In 1862 John K. Paine, who was then organist and musical director at the university, offered to give a series of lectures on the musical forms, without any compensation whatever. There was considerable opposition on the part of the board of direction to this innovation, and when permission was at last granted, the course did not count at all toward a degree. Few attended the lectures, and the outlook was so disheartening that the plan was abandoned. When President Eliot entered upon Fig. 98. — Frank Damrosch. (Copyright by Rockwood.) THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT 35;^ his duties, however, a new attempt was made, and in 1870 the lectures were resumed. During this year a course in harmony was also established and attracted so large a number of students that two years later counterpoint was added to it. All this work was tentative, however, and helped neither toward the student's degree nor the teacher's affluence, for Professor Paine received no salary. But the effect of the work began to spread, and in 1873 Mr. Paine was appointed assistant professor, and now the course was ofificially recognized. In 1875 came the full professorship and complete recognition of music as a part of the regular curriculum, it being one of the elective courses. This Harvard course does not teach piano playing, singing, or any technical musical work whatever. Music i (as the first course is called) gives harmony lessons to the freshmen; Music 2 adds counterpoint during the sophomore year. There is a course in vocal counterpoint which analyzes the old masterpieces and allows some composition on the part of its students ; there is a course on musical history and aesthetics ; there are advanced courses in canon and fugue, sonata and chamber-music composition; and finally there is a course in orchestral composition. A helper in elementary work was found, in 1896, in Walter R. Spalding, who, in 1902, was made assistant professor. In 1902, also, Mr. H. L. Stone was made assistant. New buildings are soon to be erected' especially for the musical department, including lecture rooms, a concert hall, and the like. Other colleges have founded their work largely upon the lines described above. The University of Michigan, an institution with a large number of enrolled students, was one of the earliest to follow the example of Harvard and of the University of Pennsylvania. Yet it was not until 1888 that Albert Augustus Stanley was called there as professor of music. Mr. Stanley was born in Manville, Rhode Island, May 25, 185 1, and studied music in Leipsic both privately and in the conservatory. He has been most active in the organiza- tion of musical enterprises in America ; has been twice president of the Music Teachers' National Association, as well as its secretary and treasurer; is one of the founders of the American College of Musicians and honorary vice-president of the Manuscript Society, 354 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC an organization for the performance of American compositions. Mr. Stanley is a composer as well as a teacher, and the list of his works includes a symphony entitled " The Awakening of the Soul," which has not yet been heard in the East, a symphonic poem, " Altis," a commemoration ode, and a cantata. He is also an organist of pro- nounced ability and has often appeared publicly as a performer on this instrument. Other colleges have not been very far behind in their recogni- FiG. 99. — Philadelphia Academy of Music. tion of the study of music as part of a thorough education. Yale University called Horatio \V. Parker to its chair of music in 1894. Columbia University established a similar chair, with Edward A. MacDowell as its professor, in 1896. The colleges for women have, of course, made more of the study of music and have had professor- ships of the science from their very beginnings. In the past Smith College owed everything to Dr. B. C. Blodgett's conservative and thorough instruction ; at present the eminent composer Louis A. Coerne is instructor there. Vassar is under the leadership of George THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT 355 C. Gow, a sterling musician and composer. Wellesley has had Charles H. Morse, afterward organist of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, and Junius W. Hill, one of the most accomplished of musicians, and has now the enthusiastic and thorough Hamilton Crawford Mac- Dougall as its head in this department. Some of these names are absent from the musical encyclopeedias, yet their work is as far-reaching and as important as any in the history of American music. In the pretty little town of Farmington, in Connecticut, Miss Porter established years ago an academy of great thoroughness, and in this school Karl Klauser was musical director as early as 1856. From this retired spot he edited some of the best editions of classical music published in America in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. After him there followed, in the same post, the brilliant Dutchman, Bernardus Boekelman, whose editions, in colored nota- tion, of Bach's fugues and inventions have an international repu- tation. Even in the more popular courses of education, known under the name of " University Extension," music has received its full meed of attention. Mr. Thomas Whitney Surette has given many lectures upon the art to large classes.- Mr. Surette also deserves mention as a composer, for he has written an operetta, " Priscilla," which has had much popularity, and also many shorter works. He has also done service in the musico-literary field, although not regu- larly attached to any newspaper, his essays appearing in various magazines. He was a pupil of Professor John K. Paine at Har- vard and has also studied with Arthur Foote. Another example of a composer-lecturer is found in Professor Leo Rich Lewis, who now holds the musical chair at Tufts College. He was born February 11, 1865, in South Woodstock, Vermont, but came to Boston at a very early age. He also is a product of Har- vard teaching, graduating from that college in 1889 with highest musical honors. He received the diploma of the Munich Con- servatory in 1892, with honorable mention for his compositions, and was installed in the chair of music at Tufts College in 1895. His work has been that of pedagogue, composer, and writer. He has published operettas, a cantata, — " The Consolation of Music," — a 356 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC sonata for violin and piano, and also a charming restoration of Henry Lawes's old music to Milton's masque of " Comus." The versatility of America's musical workers will be readily perceived. Few musicians have kept to one branch of the art alone, few have been entirely specialists. This may have detracted from the superlative of excellence in a single department, but it has cer- tainly made the rapid advance more stable and reliable. We have not yet spoken of tech- nical books on the science of music which have been created in America, and these works show most clearly the educational worth of what has been accomplished. Some of them are to be com- pared with the works of Richter, Jadassohn, and Cherubini, of Eu- ropean fame. George W. Chadwick, Benja- min Cutter, Percy Goet- schius, Professor Clarke, John A. Broekhoven, A. J. Goodrich, Thomas Tapper, and J. H. Cornell have all written text-books that speak eloquently for the thoroughness of American musical study, the mere fact of there being a market for such literature proving much. Although all of them are composers, some of them have made their most rriarked successes with their text-books, and of these we may speak at once. Mr. A. J. Goodrich was born in Chilo, Ohio, May 8, 1847, and comes of Scottish ancestry, although his father was American. His father taught him the rudiments of music, but Mr. Goodrich, like Fig. 100. — Musical Fund Hall, Philadelphia. THE MUSICAL EDUCATION OF THE PRESENT 357 J. C. Lobe, the great German theorist, was largely self-taught. There is an advantage in self-instruction; it makes one decidedly original and independent, as witness Wagner, Schumann, and many other masters of composition. Although Mr. Goodrich, in his youth, composed much, and in large forms too, in his riper years he has devoted himself entirely to the authorship of technical books with which he has won remarkable success. His chief work, up to the present time, is " Analytical Harmony." He has another work in press on melodic counterpoint, which promises to modernize teaching in this branch. His " Music as a Language " shows great industry and research. Percy Goetschius is one of the most learned contrapuntists in America. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey, August 30, 1853, studied in the Stuttgart Conservatory, and afterwards became a professor in the same institution. While at Stuttgart he was also very active as a journalist, writing many concert reviews for the Ger- man press. Returning to America in 1890, he became a teacher in Syracuse University, New York, and he afterwards taught com- position and gave lectures in' the New England Conservatory of Music. He has composed some intricate works, but it is as a teacher and writer upon educational subjects that he is chiefly known. His principal work is " The Material used in Musical Com- position," which has been printed on both sides of the Atlantic. He has also written some valuable books on musical forms. Like almost all the American writers on harmony and counterpoint, both Goodrich and Goetschius have broken away from the old method of constantly building from a bass part and have given more promi- nence to melodic construction as the prime factor of a musical work. The modern Germans have been disposed to follow in the same path, but Richter's rather too tyrannical rule was overthrown on this side of the ocean. John Henry Cornell, born in New York, May, 1828, and died there March i, 1894, was an excellent and conservative composer and another writer of educational books. His principal work was the " Theory and Practice of Musical Form." Mr. Thomas Tapper may be considered the chief of those who have written for juvenile musical students in America, although he 358 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC has produced excellent works for adults as well. He was born at Canton, Massachusetts, January 28, 1864. He has been a very suc- cessful journalist, and is at present editor of the Musician. By such works as " Chats with Music Students," " Music Talks with Children," " The Child's Music World," he has led young students to a study of musical history, and has made the subject remark- ably attractive without yielding to the temptation to substitute pretty tales for truth. It has been one of the temptations of musical literature, thanks to the Elise Polkos of Germany and the Haweises of England, to rush into sentimentality on the slightest provocation. It is at least to the credit of America that the sentimentalists have never been in the foreground — not even in the juvenile branch of musical literature. S o w o w hJ ►J o o Q <; a < s I o CHAPTER XVIII QUALITIES AND DEFECTS OF AMERICAN MUSIC The mother of American music was New England psalmody — a stern and narrow-minded parent, but certainly characteristic of her age. From this psalmody came the earliest singing-schools, then the conventions, finally the music festivals that, however pronounced their faults have been, have spread some degree of musical appreciation throughout the country. Opera has been an exotic save in two cities. New York and New Orleans, the former having been the musical centre of the country in operatic matters from the very beginning. Opera in English has had many sporadic representations, but only with the advent of the Castle Square Company in Boston at the very end of the nineteenth century did it achieve something like a per- manent basis ; the company finally (and at present), under the management of Henry W. Savage, becoming national rather than local. Boston has been chronologically the first in the field of oratorio and orchestra, and may still be considered the centre of these schools of music in America. But the city is provincial in the matter of grand opera, and has but little public taste in organ music. In piano recital and chamber concerts New York and Boston are about equal. These two cities have also the largest number of influential music societies, but almost every city in the Union is at present provided with these in some degree. Again, almost all American cities at present try to support something classical in orchestral music, while New York, Boston, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Chicago have had excellent programmes given for many years past by their own musicians. Indianapolis, Buffalo, Baltimore, San Francisco, and many other 361 362 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC cities are giving their own symphonic concerts and supporting them reasonably well. Each of the larger cities has at least one good musical conservatory, and many have two or three. In these conservatories one finds some of the best European teachers and a curriculum that should give excellent results in vocal and instru- mental work. There is this limitation, however, to be noted; the vocal work is almost always solo, and the instrumental study is almost entirely piano. It is to the credit of two or three conserv- atories that they lead their vocal instruction up to full operatic performances, and that their instrumental aims are not bounded by the piano, but include orchestral and general ensemble work. Such conservatory training is likely to lead to true musicianship. The musical courses in the universities and colleges of America are beyond anything that is done in similar institutions abroad ; it is a question whether they are not too extensive for schools not exclusively musical. It is desirable, however, that every college in America should have a department devoted to teaching the aes- thetics of music in connection with the other fine arts. As for the public schools, they give more attention to music than similar institutions in any other country in the world. It is a pity that, hitherto, the entire effort seems to have been in the direction of concerted singing ; for here, also, a study of musical form, theory, ?ind general appreciation of music would be in place, since not one pupil in a hundred continues actively engaged with music after graduation. In the matter of musical instruments America again compares favorably with European countries. The best pianos of the world are made in this country, and the Gemiinder violins (made at Astoria, Long Island) are as perfect as any violins of modern make. In cabinet organs, or harmoniums, the American instruments have competed successfully both in price and quality with the European, and in the mechanism of church organs the American leads, although there is a better voicing of stops in some foreign manufactures than one finds with us. We have no libraries of music comparable to those which enrich Oxford, Cambridge, or the British Museum, the Bibliotheque Nation- ale or the Conservatoire of Paris ; but here, too, a great beginning FIG. I02. — FRANK VAN DER STUCKEN. QUALITIES AND DEFECTS OF AMERICAN MUSIC 365 has been made, and the Boston Public Library, the Newberry Library of Chicago, the Drexel Institute of Philadelphia, and many other public institutions, have musical libraries that are easy of access and useful for reference. The music room of the Public Library of Boston (Fig. 52) is perhaps the national model in this field. The chief fault of our musical system may be found in the excess of piano playing. Almost every home possesses a piano and some one to play it. If this latter necessity is absent, recourse is had to the piano playing machines (attachable to the keyboard) in which America has distinguished itself as the manufacturer. But of real music at home such as one finds in Germany, in Bohemia, in Hungary, in all deeply musical countries, — eitsemble music, violin, voice, flute, piano, and other delightful combinations, — one finds, as yet, too little. There is too much of display, or of money- getting, in America's musical strivings; we turn out a hundred executants to one composer. And the composers, as well as the rest of Americans in music, are too often wholesalers. They desire bigness at any cost ; they try too early to bring forth symphony, opera, or oratorio ; and they seek rather to make their orchestras large than to have them excellent. The eminent German critic. Dr. F. Hiller, once expressed himself to us with some critical reserve : — " I fear that you are sometimes too gigantic — in musical festi- vals, for example. It is a natural fault in a young nation that likes to do vast things." It is no longer ago than the time of the great Columbian Exhibi- tion that some of the Chicago papers were boasting that Thomas would have the biggest orchestra, on that occasion, that ever was led in America — not recognizing the fact that Thomas at the head of one hundred excellent musicians could produce better results than if he were given a thousand or ten thousand of any kind whatever. Another demon broods over American music, — Haste! The good old motto about making haste slowly has only recently been learned by our young musicians. They have desired to rush through their musical studies in a way that would be the despair of 366 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC an old world professor. It is to the credit of some teachers and some conservatories that they have pulled resolutely upon the check- rein. The evil influence has by no means been overcome yet, and a slower, longer, more thorough course of musical study is still a crying need in many communities in the United States. In this volume we have endeavored to give a plain statement of what has been accomplished in music in America. Much more has been done than the world at lara;e has been aware of. Much remains, however, to be accomplished, for there are defects as well as excellences in our music and in our musical education. No one can foresee what the future may bring forth, and yet, judging by a retrospect of fifty years of America's musical endeavor, that future may be considered full of promise. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Bay Psalm Book. Boston, 1646. Billings. New England Psalm Singer. Boston, 1770. Baker. Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. New York, 1900. Baker. Ueber die Musik der Nord-Amerikanischen Wilden. Leipsic, 1882. Boise. Harmony made Practical. Brooks. Olden-time Music. Boston, 1888. Boston Almanacs of i8th Century. Boston. Boston Gazette. i8th Century. Boston. CuMMiNGS. " God save the King." London, 1903. Columbian Musical Miscellany. Northampton, 1798. Dwight's Journal of Music. Boston, 1852-1854. Emery. Elements of Harmony. Boston, 1889. Elson, L. C. Curiosities of Music. Boston, 1890. Our National Music and its Sources. Boston, 1900. Elson, Arthur. A Critical History of Opera. Boston, 1901. • -Woman in Music. Boston, 1903. FiNCK. Songs and Song-writers. New York, 1900. The Wagner Trilogy. Cincinnati, 1903. Fillmore. History of Pianoforte Music. New York, 1883. Fletcher. A Study of Omaha Indian Music. Cambridge, 1893. FiSKE. The American Revolution. Boston, 1891. Grove. A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London, 1879-1890. Gould. History of Church Music in America. Boston, 1853. Goodrich. Complete Musical Analysis. Cincinnati, 1889. Goldstein. Die Oeffentliche Musikpflege in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nord- Amerika. Leipsic, 1880. Henderson. The Story of Music. New York, 1889. HoLYOKE. Harmonia Americana. Boston, 1 791. Hughes. Contemporary American Composers. Boston, 1900. The Musical Guide. New York, 1903. Hood. History of Music in New England. Boston, 1846. Herman. Handbook of Music. New York, 1893. Krehbiel. Notes on the Cultivation of Choral Music in New York. New York, 1893. The Philharmonic Society of New York. A Memorial. London, 1892. Review of the New York Musical Season. New York, 1886-1890. Lahee. Great Pianists. Boston, 1901. Great Singers. Boston, 1898. The Organ and its Masters. Boston, 1903. The Musical Times. London, 1902. Madeira. Annals of Music in Philadelphia. Philadelphia, 1896. 367 368 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Mathews. One Hundred Years of Music in America. Chicago, 1889. The Great in Music. Chicago, 1900. Musical Courier. National Edition. New York, 1898. Music Teachers' National Association. Annual Records, 1890-1903. Moore. Encyclopaedia of Music. Boston, 1875. Nason. Our National Song. Albany, 1869. Perkins and Dwight. History of the Handel and Haydn Society. Boston, 1886-1893. Preble. History of the Flag of the United States. Boston, 1880. Post-boy. 1 8th Century Files. Boston. Programmes (analytical) of Philharmonic Society. New York. Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. Philadelphia. Programmes of Cincinnati Orchestra. Cincinnati. Boston Symphony Orchestra. Boston. Ritter. Music in America. New York, 1890. Sachse. The Music of the Epihrata Cloister. Lancaster, 1903. Sewall. Diary of Judge Samuel Sewall. Boston, 1878. Scharff and Westcott's History of Philadelphia. Philadelphia. Stoughton Musical Society's Centennial Collection. Boston, 1878. Seidl, Anton. A Memorial. New York. Upton. Standard Oratorios. Chicago, 1888. Standard Symphonies. Chicago, 1896. Standard Cantatas. Chicago, 1889. Wallatschek. Primitive Music. London, 1893. WiNSOR. Memorial History of Boston. 1880. Wilson. Musical Year-books of America. Boston, 1890-1892. White. National Hymns ; how they are written and how they are not written. New York, 1 86 1. INDEX Abbey, Henry E., 115. Abbott, Emma, 310. Academy of Music, Boston, 52 ; influence in many states, 80 ; founded public school music in United States, 80 ; orchestra, 52. Academy of Music, New York, 109, 115. Academy of Saci ed Music, 74. "Adams and Liberty," 151, 154. Adams, Charles R., 309 ; as Whitney's choir- boy, 269. Adams, Mrs. Mehitable, 314. Adams, Suzanne, 310. Advertisements, of ancient music {see List of Illustrations) ; early music-teacher's, 42. Ainsworth's Psalms, 3. Allen, Charles N. (taught Hadley), 191. Alves, Mrs. Carl, 301. ''America" (new tune to words), 147; first performance, 147. American fingering derived from England, 41. American opera, prize offered for, 109. American symphony ('' From the New World"), 348. American teachers for American pupils, 343. American trilogy, An, 239. "Anacreon in Heaven" ("Star-spangled Banner"), 150. Anacreontics of London, The, 150. Ancient American instrument, like that of Nineveh, 124. Andrews, G., 274. " Angel of Peace," American hymn by Keller, 163. Anschutz, Carl, 1 09-1 10. Anti-Federalists in 1798, 148. Apollo Club, Boston, 81 {see also Lang, B. J.) ; Cincinnati, 82 (j-?« also Foley, B. W.). Apollo Musical Club, Chicago, 329. Apthorp, William F., 323 et seq.; analytical programmes, 326 ; taught Clayton Johns, 247. Archer, Frederick, led Pittsburg Orchestra, 66 ; organist, 92 ; concert in Boston, 262 ; city concerts in Pittsburg, 274. Arditi, Luigi, 115. Arens, F. X., 71. Arion Society, New York, 76 ; made trip to Europe, 192. (5>« also Ritter ; Damrosch.) Arnold, Dr. Samuel, music to " Star-spangled Banner," 150. Associations, musical, see Academy of Music, Boston ; American College of Musicians ; Harvard Musical Association ; Musical Fund Society, Philadelphia; Music Teachers' National Association ; Manu- script Society, New York ; Manuscript Society, Chicago ; also Dwight ; Mason. Astor Place Opera House, 107. Atlantic Monthly, Apthorp, music critic of, 323 ; Ticknor, assistant editor, 326 ; " music in public schools " (footnote), 348. Austrian national hymn, 140. " Azara," opera by Paine, 169. Baermann, Professor Carl, 287 et seq. ; taught Converse, 204; C. H. Morse, 273; Mrs. Beach, 289, 297. Baker, Theodore, Dr. (work on Indian music), 332. Balatka, Hans, 328. Baldwin, Samuel A. (organist at World's Fair), 274. Baltimore American (first prints " Star- spangled Banner"), 154. Baltzell, W. J., 326. Band mobbed for playing classical music, 44. Band music, early New England, 42 ; West Point (footnote), 42. Banjo more advanced than Indian instru- ments, 133. Barnum, P. T., tour with Jenny Lind, lo8. Barren, Edgar A., 274. Bartlett, Homer N., 256. Bates, Arlo, poem set by Johns, 248. Baton, first use in conducting, 51. "Battle-cry of Freedom," 162. Baur, Miss Clara, Cincinnati Conservatory, 347- " Bay Psalm Book," 3-4. Beach, Dr., Whitney's choir-boy, 269 ; marries Amy M. Cheney, 298. 2 B 369 370 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Beach, Mrs. H. H. A., 294 et seq. ; mass in E flat, 298 ; Gaelic symphony, 301 ; vio- lin sonata, 302 ; songs, 305. Beck, Joliann H., 206. Beethoven, biography by Thayer, 314; com- missioned to write for Boston, 32. " Beggar's Opera," first performance in Phila- delphia, 24. Behrent, John, made first American piano, 43- Bendix, Otto, conservatory in San Francisco, 343- Bergmann, Carl, conductor Handel and Haydn Society, Boston, 34; Philharmonic, New York, 55 ; Germania Orchestra, 57. Berlioz, on Gottschalk, 282 ; style of criticisms, 321. Billings, William, first American composer, 12 et seq. ; shocks Ritter, 337. Bird, Arthur, 216. Bispham, David, 310. Blackmar, A. E. (Southern war music), 163. Blodgett, B. C. (Smith College), 354. Bloomneld-Zeisler, Mme. Fannie, 309. Boekelman, Bernardus, 292 ; at Farmington, 354- Boise, O. B., 215 ei seq. ; taught Huss, 198 ; Brockway, 206; his Harmonic method, 2l5. "Bonnie Blue Flag," 155. Boston Advertiser, Elson, music critic, 325 ; Ticknor, 326. Boston Courier, Apthoi'p, music critic, 323 ; Elson, 325. Boston, centre of orchestra and oratorio music, 361. Boston Conservatory of Music, 344. Boston Globe, Woolf, music critic, 323 ; Ticknor, 326. Boston Herald, Woolf, music critic, 323 ; Hale, 324 ; Ticknor, 326. Boston Home Journal, Hale, music critic, 324. Boston Journal, Hale, music critic, 324; Ticknor, 326. Boston Music Hall organ, 262. Boston Post, Hale, music critic, 324. Boston Symphony Orchestra, 60 et seq. ; plays Brockway's " Suite," 206 ; A. Whit- ing's concert overture, 212; Rubin Gold- mark's "Hiawatha" overture, 210 ; Singers symphonic fantasie, 225 ; Johns's berceuse, 247; Mrs. Beach's works, 298, 301, 302; Miss Lang's dramatic overture, 306. Boston Transcript, new verse to '' Star- spangled Banner," 155 ; Dwight, music critic, 313; Apthorp, 323. Boston Traveller, Apthorp, music critic, 323. Bostonians, The (opera troupe), 122. Bottesini, the great contrabass player in America, 69. Bowman, Edward M., 271-272. Boy choirs, 269. Boylston Club, Boston, 252. Braham, in America, 104. Brandeis, Frederick, 292. Brattle, Thomas, 10 ; the Brattle organ, 10. Brewer, John Hyatt, 273. Brigham, William E., 130. Bristow, George F., 113; works played by JuUien, 69. Brockway, Howard, 206. Broekhoven, J. A., 346 ; his technical works, 355- Bromfield, Edward, Jr. (first American organ- builder), 43. Brooks, Phillips, desired boy choir, 269. Brown, Allen A. (donor of largest music library), 91. Brown, John, of war-song, not J. B. of Har- per's Ferry, 157. Brown, J. Appleton, his painting inspires music, 168. Brown, P. B., 274. Buck, Dudley, 230 et seq.; taught Chadwick, 170; Gleason, 195; Neidlinger, 256; Eddy, 275 ; general work, 191 ; organ music, 231 ; "Don Munio," 232; "Light of Asia," 232 ; list of pupils, 233 ; organist, 259. Buckingham, John D. (taught Salmon), 287. Buffalo Liedertafel and Vocal Society (Coerne, conductor), 202. Bullard, Frederic Field, 252-253. Billow, taught Nevin, 245. Burdett, G. A., 274. Burmeister, Richard, 224. Calvd, an earlier, 104. Camp-meeting songs. Southern, like scriptural music, 133. Caradori-Allan, Mme., 103. Carl, William C, 272 ; at World's Fair, Chicago, 274. Carnegie, Andrew, influence in Pittsburg, 209 ; hall and organ concerts, 273. Carpenter, Nettie, 309. Carr, Benjamin, 24 ; in Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, 77 ; early opera, 96. Carreno, Teresa, taught MacDowell, 182; plays MacDowell's second concerto, 183. Carter, Charles D., early American pupil of Rheinberger, 252. Cary, Annie Louise, 310. Castle Square Opera Company, 361. INDEX 371 Cecilia Society, Boston, 82 {see Lang). Chadwicit, George W., 170 et seq.; "Rip Van Winkle" overture, 171; "Thalia," 173; "Melpomene," 173; "Adonais," 173; symphonies, 174; piano quintette, 175; "Tabasco," 175; "Judith," 175 ; organist, 259 ; Boston organ concert, 275 ; influence at New England Conservatory, 340 ; early use of American folk-music, 348 ; technical works, 355 ; taught Hadley, 191 ; A. Whiting, 211; Miss Lang, 306; Helen Hood, 306 ; Mrs. Porter, 307. Chamber-music, first string quartette, 85 ; Mendelssohn Quintette Club, 85 ; Mason- Thomas Quintette, 58, 85 ; Kneisel Quar- tette, 85, 199, 213, 302. Chapman, Wilham R., 91. Cheney, Amy Marcy {see Mrs. Beach). "Chester," by Bilhngs, 14, 15. Chicago, conservatory, 347 ; first music criti- cisms in, 328 ; early music in, 328. Chicago Herald, Mathews,, music critic, 330. Chicago Music College, 347. Chicago operatic festivals, 91. Chicago Orchestra, 62 et seq. Chicago Record, Mathews, music critic, 330. Chicago Tribune, Gleason, music critic, 196; Upton, music critic, 328 ; Mathews, 330 ; sketch of early music, 328. Chicago, Wagner's orchestral works first given there, 62. Chicago World's Fair, Paine's march and hymn, 167; organ music, 274; Mrs. Beach's compositions, 307 ; diploma to Helen HiDod, 307. Chickering, Jonas, 44 et seq. ; president of Handel and Haydn Society, Boston, 34. Child's voice, true compass of, 350. Choir festivals, parish, 269. Choirs in Puritan days, 10. Chopin on Gottschalk, 282 ; best life of, by Huneker, 321. Choral Art Society, Boston, 268. Choral societies, see Academy of Sacred Music, New York ; Apollo Club, Boston ; Apollo Club, Cincinnati ; Apollo Music Club, Chicago ; Arion, New York ; Boylston Club, Boston ; Buffalo Liedertafel ; Buffalo Vocal Society ; Cecilia Society, Boston ; Cecilia Society, Cincinnati ; Church Choral Society, New York ; Church Music Asso- ciation, Choral Art Society, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston; Handel and Haydn Society, New York; Handel So- ciety of Dartmouth; Liederkranz, New York ; Loring Club, San Francisco ; Men- delssohn Glee Club, New York ; Mendels- sohn Union, New York ; Music Institute, New York ; Musikverein, Milwaukee ; New York Musical Art Society ; New York Choral Society ; New York Sacred Music Society ; New York Harmonic Society ; New York Oratorio Society ; Orpheus Musi- cal Society, Boston ; Philharmonic Society, New York; Sacred Harmonic Society; Stoughton Musical Society ; Temple Choir, Brooklyn ; Working Class Cho- ruses ; also Billings ; Coerne ; Damrosch ; Hill; Ritter; Van der Stucken ; Zerrahn. Church Choral Society, New York ("Hora Novissima"), 180. Church Music Association, 75. Cincinnati College of Music, 345 ; Van der Stucken, president, 93 ; Singer, teacher, 225; Whiting, 266; Nichols, founder, 345; Springer, founder, 345. Cincinnati Conservatory, 347. Cincinnati Commercial, Van Cleve, music critic, 331. Cincinnati Gazette, Krehbiel, music critic, 320. Cincinnati musical festivals, 88, 91 ; Paine's " Song of Promise," 167 ; Singer, conduc- tor, 225. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, 66, 68. Clarke, Dr. Hugh A., 351-352; taught Gil- christ, 240; technical works, 355. Clarke, Rev. James Freeman, 160. Class system, introduction into American music, 340. Coerne, Louis Adolphe, 201 et seq. ; " Zeno- bia," 201 ; " Hiawatha,'' 202 ; "Woman of Marblehead," 202. Cole, Samuel W., 350 ; People's choral classes, 87 ; work in public schools, 350. Colleges, music in, 351 et seq. ; limitations of, 362. {See Columbia ; Dartmouth ; Har- vard ; Smith ; Tufts ; University of Mich- igan ; University of Pennsylvania ; Vassar ; Wellesley ; Yale.) Columbian Centinel, 3 1 , 44, 151. Columbia University, 354; MacDowell, pro- fessor, 182. Concerts, early American, 19, 22,23 ! '11 Phil- adelphia, 24 ; first advertisement of, 42. Conducting, early, 51. Conried, H., 120. Conservatories, influence, 348-349 ; now in all cities, 361 ; limitations, 361. See Baur; Springer; Thomas; Thurber; Tourj^e; Ziegfeld. Conservatories, musical, and music schools {see also Colleges), see Academy of Music, Boston ; Philadelphia Academy of Music ; Boston Conservatory ; Chicago 372 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Conservatory ; Chicago College of Music ; Cincinnati College of Music ; Hershey School, Chicago ; National Conservatory of New York ; New England Conservatory, of Boston; New York College of Music; Musical Fund School of Philadelphia. Conventions, musical, 86. Converse, Charles Crozat. 205. Converse, Frederick S., 204-205 ; symphony in D minor, 204 ; " Festival of Pan," 204 ; " Endymion's Narrative," 205 ; inspired by Keats, 208. "Continental Harmony," Billings, 16. Cooper, George, 138. Corey, N. J., 274. Cornell, John H., 357. "Coronation," by Holden, 19. Cotton, Rev. John, tract on singing, 5, 8. "Creation," first full performance, 33. Criticisms, early musical (1820), 311. Cross, M. H.. 286; taught Huneker, 321. Cummings, W. H., on " God save the King," 144. Gushing, Frank H., on Indian music, 123, 130. Cutter, Benjamin, 240, 241 ; technical works, 355- Cutter, E., 274. Damrosch, Frank, 350, 351 ; conductor New York Oratorio Society, 76 ; Musical Art Society, 77 ; people's choruses, 87. Damrosch, Dr. Leopold, 116 ; conductor New York Philharmonic, 55 ; New York Sym- phony Society, 67 ; New York Oratorio Society, 75 ; Arion, 76 ; German opera, 116. Damrosch, Walter, 233 et seg.; conductor Philharmonic Society of New York, 55 ; New York Symphony Society, 67 ; Ora- torio Society, 76; assistant to Seidl, 117; general work, 191 ; plays G. C. Converse's compositions, 205 ; " Scarlet Letter," 234 ; " Manila Te Deum," 235 ; " Cyrano de Bergerac," 235 ; plays Mrs. Beach's com- positions, 301. Dana, Hon. Richard H., 341. Dancing in early Boston days, 8. Daniels, George F., president Handel and Haydn Society, 307. Daniels, Miss Mabel, 307. Da Ponte, Lorenzo, 102. Dartmouth College, 80, 273 ; C. H. Morse, musical director there, 273. Davis, Miss, concert in early Boston, 311. De Koven, Reginald, 237. Denude, Charles, 286; pupil of Turner, 343. Dickinson, Edward, important work on church music, 332. "Dixie," 156. Dorchester choir contest, 28. Doria, Clara {see Mrs. Rogers). Douglas, Ernest, 274. Dresel, Otto, 251 ; chamber concerts in New York, 58; connection with Dwight, 313, 314- "Du bist wie eine Blume," most composed text, 248. Dunham, Henry M., 267 ; pupil of J. C. D. Parker, 230 ; Boston organ concert, 274 ; taught Wallace Goodrich, 267. Dvofdk, Antonin, 347 et seg. ; American vein anticipated by Chadwick, 174 ; by Schoene- feld, 198; taught Schoenefeld, ig8; Shel- ley, 199; Rubin Goldmai-k, 210; Loomis, 256; list of pupils, 348. Dwight, John S., 312 et seq.; in Harvard Musical Association, 81 ; compared with R. G. White, 337. Dm^Vs Journal of Music ; prejudice against modern composition (footnote), 59 ; first real criticisms, 312; contributors, 314; Mathews, " Der Freischutz," 330. Eames, Emma, 310. Eddy, Clarence, 275-276 ; at World's Fair, 274 ; taught E. S. Kelley, 236. Eichberg, Julius, 344 et seg. ; taught B. Cutter, 241. Eisfeld, Theodore, led Philharmonic Orches- tra, New York, 55 ; his chamber concerts, 58. Ehot, John, 3, 8. Eliot, Hon. Samuel A. (Academy of Music, Boston), 78. Ellis, Charles A., 120. Ellsworth, Colonel E. E., 160. Elson, Louis C, 325-326. Elson, Arthur, 332. Emery, Stephen A., 342 ; taught Parker, 177; Foote, 189; Hadley, 191; Nevin, 244; Denude, 286. Emmett, Daniel, composed "Dixie," 156. English horn, first use in America, 50. Errors in vocal settings, 254. Etude, The, 326; Mathews' contributions, 330. European hearings of American compositions : Arens, 71 ; Beach, Mrs., 302; Brockway, 206; Buck, 233; Bird, 216; Boise, 215; Chadwick, 171; Eddy, 276; Foote, 189; Gleason, 196; Hopekirk, Helen, 308; Huss, 198, 199; Johns, 247, 248; Klein, 240; Kelley, 236; MacDowell, 182, 183, 186; Mason, William, 281; Paine, 167; Paris INDEX Z7Z Exposition, American concert,.i92 ; Parlcer, H. W., 1 80; Pratt, 201 ; Schoenefeld, 192, 198 ; Tliayer, 265 ; Van der Stucken, 192, 193; Wliiting, A., 211, 212; Whitney, S. B., 270. Eustaphieve, Alexi, a Russian amateur in Boston, 46. Euterpeiad, an early musical journal, 44. Euterpean Society, New York, 53. Evening Post, New York, Finck, music critic, 316. Faelten, Carl, 341, 342. False settings of poems, 254. Faults of American music, 362. Fay, Amy, 335. Festivals {see Music Festivals). Federalists in 1798, 148. Fewkes, J. Walter, 123. Fillmore, John C, Indian music, 123, 126, 130 ; histories, 332. Finck, Henry T., 315 et seq.; on Philharmonic Orchestra in 1903-1904, 56; opinion of MacDowell, 184; of his songs, 185. Fisher, William Arms, 348. Fletcher, Alice, Indian music, 123, 130. Foerster, Adolph M., 209; his "Thusnelda," 2og. Foley, Bushrod W., as conductor, 82 ; as teacher, 346. Folk-music, American, Dvorak uses, 347; Chadwick uses, 123, 347. Foote, Arthur, 188 et seq. ; suite in D minor, 188; chamber-music, 189; violin sonata 190; organ concert, 274; taught Surette, . ass- Foreign influences in American music, 225. Foreign musicians in old Boston, 52. Foreign orchestras in America, 69. Foreign performances of American composi- tions (see European hearings) . Fort McHenry, bombardment of (" Star-' spangled Banner"), 154. Foster, Stephen C, 134 et seq. ; had no suc- cess in war music, 163. Fox, Gilbert, first sang " Hail Columbia," 148. Franz, Robert, accompaniments for Handel and Haydn Society, 32 ; views on lyric forms, 243 ; friend of G. L. Osgood, 252 ; influence on Foerster, 209. Fries, Wulf, 85. Frost, Hon. Rufus (New England Conserva- tory), 341. Fry, Edward P., 108. Fry, William H., 109 et seq. ; jullien plays his works, 69 ; Fry's influence, 320. Fry, J. R., no. Fugue-tunes in old New England music, 12, 13, 16. Gade, on women in music, 293. Gantvoort, Arnold J., 346. Garcia, Manuel, his troupe in New York, 99. Gardiner, Charles P. (New England Con- servatory), 341. Gates, W. Francis, 332. - Gaynor, Mrs. Jessie L., 307. Geilfert, George, early conductor, 96. Gericke, Wilhelm, first visit to America, 61 ; second, 62 ; as drill-master, 70 ; plays Brockway suite, 206; Singer fantasia, 225. Germania Orchestra, 56. Gilchrist, William W., 240. Gilmore, Patrick S., 87-88 ; at Fort Warren, 157; Keller's hymn introduced by, 163. Gleason, Frederic G., 195 et seq.: "Otho Visconti," 196; "Song of Life," 197; taught Mrs. Gaynor, 307 ; as critic, 331. " Glory Hallelujah " (the John Brown song), 156. Glover, E. W., 346. "God save the King," 140 ; American use of, 144; origin of, 145. Goepp, Philip H., 326. Goetschius, Percy, 357. Goldmark, Rubin, 210. Goodrich, A. J., 356-357; taught Mrs. Gay- nor, 307. Goodrich, Wallace, 267-268 ; Choral Art So- ciety conductor, 82 ; Boston organ concert, 274. Gorno, Albino, 346. Gottschalk, L. M., 282 et seq. ; duets with R. Hoffman, 290. Gould, Nathaniel D., 86. Gow, George C, 354. Grau, Maurice, 120. Graupner, Gottlieb, 46 ; in Handel and Haydn Society, 30 ; his music store, 43, 52. Grieg, Edward, opinion of W. G. Smith, 284; helped Van der Stucken, 195. Guilmant, 268 ; taught Bowman, 271 ; Norris, 241 ; influence on American organ play- ing, 272 ; at World's Fair, Chicago, 274. Gungl, in America, 69. "Hackney" (Puritan hymn), 2. Hadley, Henry K., 191-192 ; symphonies, 192. "Hail Columbia," 147 et seq.; contemporary comment, 150. Hale, Philip, 324 et seq. ; organ concert, 274 ; analytical programmes, 326. Hall, Walter E., 274. 374 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Hallgreen, Captain Henry J. (the John Brown song), 157. Hamerik, Asgar, 224. Hanchett, Dr., 292. Handel Society of Dartmouth College, 80. Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, 28 et seg. ; collection of church music, 39 ; tri- ennial festivals, 91 ; performance, Paine's " St. Peter," 166 ; " Nativity," 167 ; Chad- wick's "Rip van Winkle" overture, 171 ; Buck's Forty-sixth Psalm, 233 ; Lang's work in, 260; an old critique, 312. See also Zerrahn ; Chickering ; Lang. Handel and Haydn Society of New York, 73-74- Hanslick, Edward, his style of review, 321. Harkness, Arma, 309. Harper's Weekly, Stevenson, music critic, 335. Harris, John, first American spinet-maker, 43. Harris, William V., 256. Harvard Musical Association, 81. Harvard University, music course, 352 et seg. Hastings, Thomas, 86. Haupt, taught Bird, 216; G. E. Whiting, 266 ; S. P. Warren, 271 ; E. M. Bowman, 271 ; Eddy, 275 ; Dr. Tourj^e, 340 ; influence on American organ playing, 272 ; list of American pupils, 273. Henderson, William J., 321 et seg.; his Hbretto to "Cyrano," 235. Henschel, Georg, 60. Herbert, Victor, 238 ; director New York Philharmonic, 56; director Pittsburg Or- chestra, 66 ; plays Kroeger's " Thana- topsis," 208. Hershey School, Chicago, 195, 275. Hewitt, James, early conductor, 80, 96. Hiawatha, Indian song, 126, 129. Higginson, Henry L. (founder Boston Symphony Orchestra), 60, 61. Hill, Junius W., taught Mrs. Beach, 297 ; his work at Wellesley, 354. Hill, Uriah C. (founder New York Philhar- monic Society), prchestral work, 54; New York Sacred Music Society, 74; first string quartette, 85. Hoffman, Richard, 290. Holden, Oliver, 19. Holmes, Dr. Oliver Wendell, added verse to " Star-spangled Banner," 155 ; wrote poem to Keller's American hymn, 164. Holt, H. E., 349, 351. Holyoke, Samuel, 13, 22. Homer, Louise, 310. Hone, Philip, on early New York operas, 102. Hood, Helen, 306. Hopekirk, Helen (Wilson), 307. " Hora Novi^sima," by Horatio Parker, 179. Horn, C. E. (early conductor), 34^ loi. Howe, J. H., 230. Howe, Julia Ward, 160. Howland, C. A., 274. Hughes, Rupert, 327; on MacDowell, 184; on Nevin (footnote), 246. "Hull's Victory," 155. Huneker, James G., 320 et seg. Hupfeld, Charles P. (early Philadelphia musician), 77. Huss, Henry Holden, 198-199; Rhapsody, Piano Concerto, "Ave Maria," 199. Hyllested, August, 292. Hymns not in early Puritan music, 4. Independent, The, New York, Stevenson, music critic, 335. Indian music, 130 et seg. ; themes used by MacDowell, 131 ; by Kroeger, 208. "Indian Suite," by MacDowell, 131, 1S5. Instruments in eighteenth century, 41 ; early manufacture, 42. Jackson, Dr. G. K. (early musician), 30, 312. Jackson, Leonora, 309. Jadassohn, taught Chadwick, 171 ; Beck, 207. Japan uses American public school music, 349- Jarvis, Charles H., 286. "Jefferson and Liberty," 154. Johansen, Mme. Bertha, 109. Johns, Clayton, 247-248. Johnstone, Arthur, 147. Johnstone, Thomas, first American organ- builder, 43. Jordan, Eben D., 341. Jordan, Jules, 255. JoselTy, R., 289. "Judith," by Chadwick, 175. Jullien's orchestral concert in New York, 69. Keflfer, Dr. Edward I. (helped Philadelphia Orchestra), 66. Keflfer, Mrs. E. I., established low-priced classical concerts in Philadelphia, 71. Keller, Matthias, 163. Kelley, Edgar Stillman, 235 et seg. Kelley, " Macbeth " music, 236 ; " Puritania," 236; Chinese music, 236 ; critic, 332. Kellogg, Clara L., 309. Key, Francis Scott, 150, 154. Kimball, Jacob, Jr., 21. Klauser, Karl, 354. Klein, Bruno O., 239. Klindworth, taught Nevin, 245. Knabe Hall, New York, 75. INDEX 375 Kneisel Quartette, 85 ; plays Huss pianoforte trio, 199; A. Whiting, violin sonata, 213; Mrs. Beach's violin sonata, 302. KobM, Gustav, 319. Krehbiel, Henry E., 319 et seq.; analytical programme writer, 326 ; " Notes on Choral Music in New York," 73 ; on Indian music, 123, 126. Kreissman, August, 81. Kroeger, Ernest R., 207 ; " Sardanapalus " overture, 207; "Hiawatha" overture on Indian themes, 208. Lachmund, Carl V., 210; Japanese overture, 211. Lamperti, taught Osgood, 252. Lang, B. J., 259 et seq. ; conducted Handel and Haydn Society, 35 ; Apollo Club, 81 ; general influence, 165 ; taught Foote, 189 ; Nevin, 244; Lynes, 254; at Chicago World's Fair, 274 ; general list of pupils, 261 ; played Music Hall organ, Boston, 262 ; taught Helen Hood, 306 ; Apthorp, 322. Lang, Miss Margaret Ruthven, 305 ei seq. Lavignac, defines criticism, 322. Lavigne, great oboist, in America, 69. Law, Andrew, 20. Lectures, first music in America, 99. Legion of Honor. Krehbiel Chevalier of, 320. Lemare, Edwin H., 92. Leonhard, Hugo, 313 ; with DmghVs Journal of Music, 314. Lewis, Leo R., 355. " Liberty Song" (first American composition), 140. Libraries of music, 365. Liebling, Emil, 330-331. Liederkranz, New York, 76. Lind, Jenny, in America, 108. Liszt, taught and assisted MacDowell, 182; Van der Stucken, 192, 195 ; Lachmund, 211; Boise, 215; Bird, 216; Burmeister, 224 ; Singer, 224 ; Lang, 260 ; William Mason, 280 ; Sherwood, 285 ; Baermann, 288 ; Hoffman, 290 ; Perry, 292 ; Rive- King, 309; Huneker's life of, 321. Locke, Warren A., 274. Loeffler, Charles M., 217 et seq.; compared with Van der Stucken, 193; "Death of Tintagiles," 221 ; " Villanelle du Diable," 223 ; " La Bonne Chanson," 223 ; his dissonance and freedom, 240. Longy, Georges, 82. Loomis, Harvey W., 256. Loring Club, San Francisco, 82. Lynes, Frank, 254. Maas, Dr. Louis, 223; taught Mrs. Gaynor, 307' MacDougall, Hamilton C, organ concert, 274; at Wellesley, 354. MacDowell, Edward A., 182 et seq.; "Indian Suite," 185 ; songs, 185 ; pianoforte con- certos, 183, 186; use of English musical terms, 186; "Hamlet" and "Ophelia," 187 ; professor at Columbia, 354. . MacDowell, Jennie, wife of S. C. Foster, 137. Malibran, Mme., in New York, 99, 100. Manchester, A. L., 327. MancineUi, 120. Manufacture of musical instruments in Amer- ica, 361. Manuscript Society, Chicago, Gleason, presi- dent, 196. Manuscript Society, New York, 196. Mapleson, Colonel J. H., 115. "Marching through Georgia," 163. Maretzek, Max, 108, 114. Marshall, Leonard, 351. Marston, George W., 256. Marty opera troupe, 107. "Maryland, my Maryland," 156. Mason, Dr. Lowell, 36 et seq. ; president of Handel and Haydn Society, Boston, 34; in Academy of Music, 78 ; founded public school music, 79; taught Root, 162; father of William Mason, 279 ; assisted Thayer, 314. Mason, Luther W. (public school music), 349. Mason-Thomas chamber concerts, 58. Mason, Dr. William, 279 et seq. ; chamber- music, 58, 280; taught Bowman, 271; Sherwood, 285 ; Rive-King, 308 ; more truly American than Gottschalk, 283. Masonic use of tune of " Star-spangled Ban- ner," 157. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns, student, 247 ; Bullard, 252. Massachusetts Musical Society (footnote), 28. Massachusetts 12th Regiment (John Brown Song), 157, 160. Mather, Cotton, 3, 8, 9. Mathews, W. S. B., 329 et seq.; on early Western concerts, 62 ; with William Mason, 281 ; contributor to Dwight's Journal, 314. Mendelssohn, Fanny, as composer, 293. Mendelssohn Glee Club, New York, 76. Mendelssohn Union, New York, 75. Merz, Karl, 332. " Messiah " The, first partial performance in Philadelphia, 25 ; first complete perform- ance in America, 33 ; Franz added Zl^ THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC accompaniment, 32 ; pianoforte arrange- ment by Dresel, 251. Metropolitan Orchestra, 68. Micmac Indians, 130. Middleschulte, 274. Mills, Ossian E., 343. Mills, Sebastian B., 291 ; taught Rive-King, 308. MoUenhauer, Emil, conductor of Handel and Haydn Society, 35 ; other work, 72 ; conductor of Apollo Club, Boston, 82. Montressor troupe, in New York, 102. Moore, Homer (composing an American trilogy), 238. Moravian music, 88, 339. Morgan, Geraldine, 309. Morgan, G. W., 265 ; played Music Hall organ, Boston, 262. Morse, Charles H., 273; pupil of J. C. D. Parker, 230; organ concert, 274; at Wellesley, 355. Moscheles, Ignaz, taught Boise, 215; J. C. D. Parker, 229 ; William Mason, 280 ; JosefFy, 289 ; R. Hoffman, 290. Mosenthal, Joseph, 77; taught Kobbd, 319. Music festivals, see Cincinnati, Chicago, Choir, Worcester, Peace Jubilee. Music libraries, great, 91, 361. Music stores, early, sell miscellaneous wares, 42 ; first stores, 43. Music Teachers' National Association, 92, 353. Music teachers, early advertisements, 42 {see List of Illustrations) ; terms. 42. Musical Courier, New York, quoted, 53, 69, 96, 10 1, 103, 122; Huneker, contributor, 320 ; Philip Hale, 324. Musical Fund Society, Philadelphia, 53, 77, 339- Musical Fund Society, Boston, 56. Musical culture, classes suggested, 349. Musical Institute, New York, 74. Musical societies in 1821, 80. Musician, The, Mathews, contributor, 330 ; Thomas Tapper, editor, 357. Musikverein, Milwaukee, 82. " My Old Kentucky Home," 136. Nation, The, New York, Finck, critic of, 316. National Conservatory of New York, Parker, teacher, 177; offers prize for American symphony, 198; Klein, teacher, 239; Joseffy, teacher, 289 ; Huneker, piano teacher, 321 ; Mrs. Thurber, founded, 347 ; influence of Dvofdk as teacher there, 347. National Opera Company, 119, 121. Neff, Peter Rudolph (Cincinnati College of Music), 345. Negro music, character of, 133. Neidlinger, William H., 256. Neuendorff, Adolf, 119. Nevada, Emma, 310. Nevin, Ethelbert, 243 et seq. Newberry Library, Chicago, 91. New England Conservatory of Music, 340 et. seq. ; Chadwick director, 171 ; receives great Music Hall organ, 262 ; Parker, teacher, 229 ; Cutter, 241 ; Rotoli, 255 ; Whiting, 266 ; Dunham, 267 ; Goodrich, 268 ; Gardiner, president, 341. New Haven Orchestra, 66. New Orleans, introduced opera in America, 95 ; influence, 107 ; opera houses, 108. New York an operatic centre, 358. New York Choral Society, 74. New York College of Music (Kelley instructs), 237- New York, early music, 25. New York Harmonic Society, 75. New York Music Art Society, 77. New York Oratorio Society, 75. New York Sacred Music Society, 74. JVew York Sim, Henderson, music critic, 322. New York Symphony Society, 67. New York Times, Henderson, music critic, 322. New York Tribune, William H. Fry, early music critic, no; Krehbiel, music critic, 319- Nichols, George Ward (Cincinnati College of Music), 345. Nikisch, Arthur (Boston Symphony Orches- tra), 61. Nordica, Lillian, 310 ; pupil at New England Conservatory, 343. Norris, Homer A., 241, 242 ; organ concert, 274. Oberlin Conserj^atory, 347. Oboe, first use in America, 50. " Observations by the Curious in New Eng- land," 8. " Ode for the Fourth of July," 146. Ofienbach in America, 115. " Old Folks at Home," 136. "Old Hundred," 2, 5. Oldmixon, Mrs., 96. O'Neill, John, 166, 343. Opera troupes, see Bostonians ; Castle Square ; Garcia; Montressor; Marty; National Opera Company ; also Damrosch ; Maple- son ; Maretzek ; Seidl ; Thomas ; UUmann. Opera, earliest performance, 95. Opera in Boston, 107. Operas, important and first performances, " Azara," 169; "The Archers" (early), 96; INDEX 377 an American trilogy, 239 ; "Barber of Se- ville," by Paisiello, 95; "Beggar's Opera" (earliest performance), 94, 105; "Bohe- mian Girl" (in 1846), 107; "Bourville Casde" (1797), 96; "Caliph of Bagdad" (in early New York), 100 ; " Cenerentola " (1832), 102 ; " Clari," the Maid of Milan (with " Home, Sweet Home," in 1823), 99 ; "Der Freischiitz" (early versions), 99; "Die Walkiire," first attempts at, 114; " Doctor of Alcantara," 344 ; " Edwin and Angelina " (earliest ?) 96 ; " Fidelio " (in English, in German), 103, 109; "Gazza Ladra," 103; "I Puritani" (Palmo opens ■with), 104; " Jean de Paris," 100 ; "Judith" (modern sacred opera), 175; "Leonora," first worthy American opera, 109, no; "Notre Dame de Paris" (by Fry), no; "Parsifal" (first American performance), 121 ; "Rip Van Winkle" (Bristow), 113; " Robert the Devil " (arranged and in English), 102 ; " Scarlet Letter" (first per- formance in Boston), 234 ; " Tannhauser," first Wagnerian opera in America, 114, 116; "The Vintage" (supposed first American opera), 96. Operas, modern American, 233. Operatic season, first in America, 100 ; admis- sion prices, 100 ; shortest on record, 328. Oratorio, first performance in America (foot- note), 33. Orchestral music, earliest, 46. Orchestral season, a great New York, 56 ; Germania, ends suddenly, 57. Orchestras, see Boston Symphony; Chicago Symphony; Cincinnati; Foreign, in Amer- ica ; JuUien ; New Haven ; New York Symphony ; Philadelphia ; Permanent Or- chestras ; People's Symphony ; Philhar- monic ; Peabody ; Pittsburg ; Seidl ; Thomas ; Wetzler. {See also under con- ductors' names.) Orchestras, early, see Academy of Music ; Eu- terpean Society ; Germania ; Harvard ; Musical Fund; Philharmonic; also Graup- ner; Hill; Thomas; Zerrahn. Organ, Boston Music Hall, 262. Organ concerts (Boston and Chicago), 274. Organ, the first made in America, 43 ; first one in Boston, 10; Brattle, 10; first in Philadelphia, 25 ; substitutes for, 29. Organ music at St. Louis World's Fair, 208. Orpheus Musical Society, 81. Osgood, George L., 251,252; taught Jules Jordan, 255. O'Shea, John, 274. Ostinelli concert (early Boston), 3n. Paine, Professor John K., 165 et seq.; St. Peter, 166; symphonies, 166; "CEdipus," 167; "Azara," 169; taught Foote, 189; Coerne, 202 ; Johns, 247 ; Lynes, 254 ; Dunham, 267; S. B. Whitney, 269; C. H. Morse, 273; Finck, 316; Apthorp, 322; Surette, 355; organ virtuoso, 259; Music Hall organ, 262 ; course at Harvard, 352- Paine, Robert Treat (originally Thomas), 151. Palmo, early New York opera manager, 104. Pappenheim, Eugenie, Mme., 117. Parepa-Rosa, Mme., 122. Parker, Horatio William, 176 et seq.; " Hora Novissima," 179; "St. Christopher," 180; organ concerto, 181; "Northern Song," 189; Boston organ concert, 274 ; professor at Yale, 354. Parker, J. C. D., 229-230; "Life of Man," 230; taught A. Whiting, 211; C. H. Morse, 273 ; early arrival in Europe, 280. Parodi, Teresa, 109. Parsons, Albert Ross, 286. Patti, Adelina, 114. Pattison, John N., 286. Paur, Emil, conductor of Philharmonic, 55 ; Boston Symphony, 62 ; German opera, 120 ; Gaelic symphony played, 307. Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Brockway and Boise, teachers, 206 ; orchestra, 66. Peace Jubilee, 87, 88. Peck, Dr. James, 75. Pellisier, Victor (early opera), 96. People's choruses, 87. People's Symphony Orchestra, New York, 71. Perabo, Ernst, 289 ; taught Mrs. Beach, 297. Perkins, Charles C, 34, 35. Perkins, Dr. H. S., 93. Permanent orchestras, 68. Perry, Edward B., 291. Petersilea, Carlyle, 343. Pfefferkorn, Otto, 274. Philadelphia, in eighteenth century, 24 ; early music teachers, 25. Philadelphia Academy of Music, 347. Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, 66, 68. Philharmonic Society Orchestra (old), Bos- ton, 49; last concert, 52; (new), Boston, 60 ; New York, 55 ^/ seq. Philips, Henry, 99. Pianos, first uprights, 43 ; Behrent, first piano- forte maker in America, 43; Chickering invents iron frame, 45. Piano playing, excess of, in America, 365. Piano music, widespread in America, 279. Pitch-pipe first used, 16. Pittsburg Choral Society, 209. 378 THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Pittsburg Musical Union, 209. Pittsburg organ concerts, 274. Pittsburg Symphonic Society, 209. Pittsburg Sympliony Orchestra, 66, 68. Plays as "Moral Lectures," 23. Porter, Miss, celebrated school at Farming- ton, 354. Porter, Mrs. Edith Noyes, 307. Porter, Frank A., 286; pupil of Turner, 343. Powell, Maud, 301, 309. Pratt, Silas G.. 201. " President's March," 148. Preston, John A., 230. Prize, offered for American opera, 109; for new national song, 156. Proctor, Edna Dean, 160. Professorships in American colleges (musi- cal), 351 d seq. Psalmody, the mother of American music, 358. Psalms in Puritan music, 2. Psalm-singing, lining-out, 5 ; disasters in, 6, 7, 10, 16; objections to tunes, 8 ; in fam- ily worship, 9. Public musical education, 339. Public rehearsals, established by New York Philharmonic Society, 61. Public schools, music in, 349 et seq. ; Boston Academy of Music begins, 78 ; limitations of system, 348, 349, 351,361. (5«« also Damrosch, F. ; and Mason, Lowell.) Quartettes, string, and quintettes, see Cham- ber-music. Radcliffe, W., 274. Raff, friend of MacDowell, 182, 183. Rag-time, 134. Randall, James R. (words to "Maryland"),. 156. Ravenscroft psalms, 4, 5. Read, Daniel, 22. Redman, Harry N., 286. Reinecke, teaches Chadwick, 171 ; Van der Stucken, 195; Schoenefeld, 197; Beck, 206 ; Parsons, 286 ; Rive-King, 308 ; his views on women in music, 293. Rheinberger, influence, 252, 253 ; teaches Chadwick, 171; Huss, 198; Parker, 177; Coerne, 201; A. Whiting, 212; BuUard, 252 : Wallace Goodrich, 268. Rice, Mrs. George B., 307. Richardson, piano method, 280. Richter, teaches Foerster, 209; Boise, 215 ; J. C. D. Parker, 229 ; D. Buck, 231 ; William Mason, 280; Parsons, 286; Emery, 342. Ritter, F. L., 335 ; taught Parsons, 286. Rive-King, Julia, 308. Robyn, Alfred G., 256. Roeder, Martin, 343. Rogers, Clara K., 307. Rogers, James H ., 256 ; influence in Cleveland, 207. Root, Fred. W., 161. Root, George F., 161. Roth. Johannes, 148. Rotoli, Augusto, 255 ; taught in New England Conservatory, 343. Royal Music School, Munich, 288. Rubinstein, on woman in music, 293. Russell, Ella, 310. Russell, Louis A., 273. Ryan, Thomas, 85, Sachse, Dr. Julius F., on Moravian music, 340. St. Louis exhibition, 1904, 207 ; organ music at, 208. Salmon, Alvah G., 286. Sanderson, Sybil, 310. Sati Francisco Examiner, E. S. Kelley, music critic, 332. Savage, Henry W., 122, 358. " Say, Brothers, will you meet us ? " (John Brown song), 157, 161. Scheel, Fritz, 66 ; Philadelphia and San Fran- cisco, 70, 256. Schoenefeld, Henry, 197 ; " Sunny South " overture, "Rural Symphony," violin so- nata, 198. Schools of music {see Conservatories). Schreiner, H. L., 162, 163. Schuckburgh, Dr. ("Yankee Doodle"), 144. Schumann, Clara, taught Perry, 292. Scott, Charles P., 275. Seeboeck, W. C, 292. Seguin, 103. Seidl, Anton, 117; conductor Philharmonic, New York, 55 ; orchestra work, 68 ; gen- eral influence, 165 ; performs Hadley sym- phony, 192 ; Converse's compositions, 205 ; Kroeger's " Sardanapalus " overture, 207 ; Foerster's festival march, 209 ; R. Gold- mark's theme and variations, 210 ; Lach- mund's Japanese overture, 211; Strong's "Sintram" symphony, 217 ; R. Hoffman, plays with, 290 ; Rive-King, 309. Seidl Orchestral Society, 68. Sewall, Samuel, views on music, 6, 10, 11; mishaps in setting tunes, 16; virginals in his home, 41. Shelley, Harry Rowe, 199 ; pianoforte fantasia, 200. Sherwood, William H., 285 ; taught A. Whit- ing, 211 ; Johns, 247. Sinfonia musical brotherhood, 343. INDEX 379 Singer, Otto, 224; Cincinnati festival, 91; symphonic fantasia, 225 ; tauglit W. G. Smith, 284. Singing contest, first in America, 28. Singing-schools in New England, 9 ; Puritan, 10, II. Sleeper, Jacob, 341. Smith, Gerrit, 272. Smith, John Stafford, "Musica Antiqua," 150. Smith, Dr. Samuel F. (" America," author of), 147. Smith, Wilson G., 207, 284. Sousa, John P., 226 ; marches, 227. Spalding, W. R., organ concert, 275 ; work at Harvard, 353. Spanuth, August, 322 ; analytical programmes, 326. Sparmann, Helen D., 335. Spinet, in New England, 41 ; first American spinet made, 43. Springer, Reuben (Cincinnati college of music), 345. Springfield musical festival, 172. Stanfield, William, 275. Stanley, A. A., 353. " Star-spangled Banner," 150 et seq. ; in South- ern Confederacy, 155. Steffe, William (composer "John Brown Song"), 156. Sternberg, Constantin von, 292. Stevenson, E. Irenaeus (Prime), 335. Stewart, H. J., 256, 257. Stirling, W. S., 274. Stoeckel, Gustav J., 199. Stone, H. L., 353. Stoughton Musical Society (first chorus in America), 27, 28, 29. Strakosch, 109, 115, 328. String quartettes {see Chamber-music). Strong, George T., 75. Strong, Templeton, 216; "Sintram" sym- phony, 217. Surette, Thomas W., 354, 355. Svendsen, on woman in music, 293. Swan, Allen W., 230, 275. Swan, Timothy, 22. Symphonies (see names of composers). Symphony Hall, Boston, 62. Taft, Frank, 274. " Tannhauser " overture (first Wagner music in America), 119. Tapper, Thomas, 357. Taylor, Raynor (early Philadelphia musician), 24 ; with Musical Fund Society, yy. Temple choir, Brooklyn, 272. Thayer, Alexander W. (biographer of Bee- thoven), 314 ^^ seg. Thayer, Eugene, 262, 265. Thomas, Theodoi-e, 58 et seq. ; conducted Philharmonic Orchestra, New York, 55 ; Chicago Orchestra, 62 ; Cincinnati festi- val, 91 ; Chicago festival, 91 ; his large library, 65 ; highest rank as conductor in America, 70; not as great in opera, 120; general influence, 165 ; not a composer, 261 ; work in Chicago, 330 ; director of Cincinnati College, 345 ; performs Paine's first symphony, 166; Gleason's works, 196; Converse's, 205; Kroeger's '-Hia- watha," 208 ; Lachniund's "Japanese Over- ture," 211 ; Buck's Centennial hymn, 231 ; Mrs. Beach's Gaelic symphony, 301 ; Miss Lang's '■ Witichis " overture, 306 ; G. L. Os- good, soloist with, 252 ; Mrs. Beach, 298 ; Rive-King, 309. Thomas's Orchestra in New York, 59. Thunder, H. G., 274. Thurber, Mrs. Jeannette, 347. Thursby, Emma, 310. Ticknor, Howard Malcom, 326. Timm, Henry C, 74. Tomlins, William L., 91, 350. Tomlinson, Ralph, 150. Tonic Sol-fa in Chicago schools, 350. Tourj^e, Dr. Eben, 340 ei seq. ; in Peace Jubilee, 343 ; originated praise service, 344. Trajetta, Signor, in Boston, 46, 52 ; in Phila- delphia, 96. Tretbar, Mrs. Helen D., 335. Trinity Church, Boston, Goodrich, organist, 269. Trinity Church, New York, early influence on music in America, 25, 73, 75. Tripler Hall, New York, 75. Truette, E. E., 269, 275. Tuckerman, Dr. S. P., 262, 265. Tuckey, William, 25. Tufts College Course in Music, 355. Tufts, John W., 350. Turner, Alfred D., 343. UUmann, 109. University extension lectures, 354. University music courses, see Music in Col- leges. University of Michigan, 353. University of New York, confers degree on Ritter, 336. University of Pennsylvania, music course, 351- Upham, Dr. George B. (Music Hall organ), 262. 38o THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC Upton, George P., 327 et seq. Urso, Camilla, 309. Van Cleve, J. S., 331. Van der Stucken, Frank, 192 et seq. ; greatest Western composer, 70 ; American concert, 193 ; director of Cincinnati College of Music, 346; " William Ratcliffe," 193. Van Zandt, Marie, 310. Vassar College, E. M. Bowman, music di- rector, 272 ; George C. Gow, 354. Virginia, early music copied from English, i. Vogt, A. S., 274. Voice, national characteristics, 310. Wagner, Richard, Chicago performance pre- cedes European, 62 ; first American opera performance, 119; trilogy published in America, 316; Finck, biography, 316; Kobbd, 319 ; Krehbiel's essays, 320. Wagner operas begin in New York, 1 14. Walter, Rev. Thomas, 2, 8, 9, 11. Warren, George W., 270, 271. Warren, Mrs. Mercy (writes first American song), 141. Warren, Richard H., 271. Warren, Samuel P., 271 ; taught Gerrit Smith, 272 ; William G. Carl, 272 ; L. A. Russell, 273. Washington, General, attends opera, 24. " Washington's March," 148. Weaver, Sterrie A., 351. Webb, George J., conductor of Handel and Haydn Society, 34 ; conductor of Academy of Music orchestra, 56 ; Boston Musical Fund Society, 56; efforts for spreading musical education, 78. Webb, Thomas Smith, 30, 31, 34. Webster, Colonel Fletcher (John Brown song), 157, 160. Wellesley College, C. H. Morse, 273 ; Hill, J. W., 354; H. C. MacDougall, 355. " Well-tempered Clavichord," Bach's, arrange- ment by Dresel, 251. Western orchestra concerts (early), 62. Wetzler, H. H., 68. Wetzler Orchestra, 68. Wheeler, Harry, 343. Wheeler, Lyman W., 343. Whelpley, B. L., 275. White, Richard G., 337. Whiting, Arthur B., 211 et seq.; "Floriana," 212; pianoforte concerto, 212; piano- forte and orchestral fantasia, 213. Whiting, George E., 265 et seq.; at Chicago World's Fair, 274 ; at New England Con- servatory, 343; taught Chadwick, 170; Dunham, 267 ; C. H. Morse, 273. Whitney, Myron W., 309. Whitney, S. B., 269 et seq. ; Boston organ concert, 275. Widor, C. M., 268. Wilcox, John H., 262, 265. Wild, Harrison M., 273, 274. Wilson, George H., 326. Winchester, Amasa, 31 ; president of Handel and Haydn, 34 ; assists L. Mason, 39 ; in Philharmonic Society, Boston, 49. Winthrop, Hon. R. C, 30. WoUe, J. Fred., 88, 274. Woodbridge, W. C, public school music, 78. Woodman, R. H., 273, 274. Woolf, B. E., 322, 323. Worcester music festivals, 88 ; Chadwick conducts, 172. Work, Henry Clay (songs of Civil War), 161. Working people's choruses, 87. World's Fair, Chicago, organ music, 274; Mrs. Beach's works performed, 301 ; diploma to Helen Hood, 307. Yale University, music course, 178, 354; confers degree on William Mason, 281 ; Philip Hale at, 324. "Yankee Doodle," 143 et seq. Zerrahn, Carl, 35, 36; as flute-player, 58; Harvard Musical Association Orchestra, 58 ; his orchestra influence, 70 ; general influence, 165 ; taught conducting at New England Conservatory, 343. Ziegfeld, Dr. Florence, 347. Zion Church, New York (early music), 74. Zweckwer, Richard, 347. THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN ART Edited by JOHN C. VAN DYKE THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SCULPTURE By LORADO TAFT Member of the National Sculpture Society WITH TWELVE FULL-PAGE PLATES IN PHOTOGRAVURE AND OVER ONE HUNDRED HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT Cloth 8vo $6.00 net " For the fulness of its history, the soundness of its judgments, and the profuseness and excellence of its illustrations, Lorado Taft's ' History of American Sculpture ' is a volume to be prized by all who are in any way interested in American Art." — Plain Dealer, Cleveland. " If the other volumes of the series prove as generally satisfac- tory as Mr. Taft's ' History of American Sculpture,' we shall have a monumental and indispensable survey of the whole achievement of American Art." — New York Evening Post. " Beautiful photographic and photogravure reproductions greatly add to the value of the book. 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