CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1 89 1 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE MML Cornell University Library ML 28.B74H23 V.I History of the Handel and Haydn society, 3 1924 022 387 074 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/cletails/cu31924022387074 HISTORY HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSBTTS. VOL. I. FEOM THE rOUNDATION OP THE SOCIETY THROUGH ITS SEVENTY-PIETH SEASON: 1S15-1890. CHAPTERS I-III By Charles C. Pkekins. CHAPTERS IV-XV By John S. Dwight. BOSTON: ALFRED MUD6E & SON, PRINTERS. 1883-1893. PREFACE, The Handel and Hatdn Society has ever since its foundation been the object of sincere attachment on the part of its members, whose unfailing devotion to its interests has given it cohesion and con- tinued vitality. To those who, having joined it as young men, have grown old in its service, few things in this world seem so important and so worth}' of respect, and the personal interest which they take in its affairs ceases only with life. Like all genuine feeling, their enthusiasm is contagious. It permeates the chorus, and, by stimulating all to exertion in a common cause, gives strength and unity of effect to its performances. That the members of an organization animated with such senti- ments should wish to have its history written is natural, and the desire, long since manifested, would have been gratified ere this had it not been for circumstances over which they had no control. The Society first emploj-ed Dr. Luther Farnham as its historian, and then appointed Mr. Samuel Jennison in his place. This gentleman, who undertook the task as a labor of love, worked at it from 1873 to 1878 in the rare moments of leisure which he could snatch from the duties of his profession, and accumulated a great mass of material, consist- ing of extracts from printed books, letters from earlj' members of the Society, newspaper cuttings, etc. He intended, as he states in a com- menced introductory chapter, to cover the whole field of musical histoiy in Boston, as, for mstance, " the rise and fall of various singing and other musical associations ; the introduction of music into the schools, the erection of the Music Hall and its organ ; the establish- ment of educational institutions and conventions, and musical jour- nals ; the growth of musical criticism, the advent of Italian opera ' troupes ' and of German orchestras, the visits of foreign musicians, the ' debuts ' and careers of our own vocalists who have achieved distinction, the progress of the manufacture of instruments, and in short everything worthy of note connected with the advance of the art among us." With so vast a scheme and very limited time at his disposal, it is 4 PREFACE. not surprising that Mr. Jennison finally decided to abandon his cherished project ; but instead of turning the key on his treasures as one actuated by selfish motives would have done, he, when asking to be relieved from the work which he felt obliged to relinquish, generously offered to place his papers in the hands of whoever might be appointed in his place without any restriction as to their use. All that his successor can do in recording so liberal a proceeding is thus publicly to acknowledge his indebtedness for much valuable matter, which he might, through want of observation, research, or opportunity, have otherwise failed to secure. After spending no little time in examining the materials placed at my disposal, in gleaning where my predecessor had left anything to gather, and in making notes from the Society's records and contem- porary sources, I began to feel that, considering the extent of the ground to be covered, T might pass the remainder Of my life in like preparation, when the plan of publishing the history in numbers as successively completed was suggested, and it has been adopted, in the hope that if once commenced the work would not be abandoned. In this first number I have endeavored so to begin it, that my succes- sors may not find it necessary to pull down what I have been allowed to build up. The history of a society which, after sixty-eight jeaxa of life, is full of vigor, and has, as we may reasonably hope, a long future before it, will, as years of activity succeed each other, call for fresh chroniclers to take up the thread where those who preceded them have dropped it. May it be long before the last appears to write the word Jinis to this record of an institution whose services to the cause of good music have been always so conspicuous and so beneficial ! A history which deals with an annually repeated series of meetings, rehearsals, and concerts, differing in degree of success, but never in kind, must be to some extent monotonous. Small opportunity is offered of varying the narrative of the earlier years of this Society by biographical details concerning individuals who have carried on its work, for the simple reason that, with few exceptions, nothing is known of them, but that they were honest and worthy men, animated with a sincere love of music and a hearty desire to do their duty as officers and members. Such being the case, it is hoped that those readers who find little in the following pages either to interest or amuse will extend some measure of indulgence to the author. C. C. P. July 16, 1883. INTRODUCTION. "Next dnto Theology I give the place and highest honouk to motick, eok THEREBY ALL ANGER IS FORGOTTEN, THE DEVIL IS DRIVEN AWAY, tfNCHASTITY, PRIDE, AND OTHER BLASPHEMIES ARE EXPELLED." — ZwiAcf'S Table Talk. The Handel and Hatdn SociETy was founded nearly two centuries after the Pilgrims, on landing at Plymouth, Sunday, Nov. 9, 1620, had sung the first psalm of praise heard on the shores of New Eng- land. This psalm was a simple choral in unison, one of the plain tunes set down in Ainsworth's version, i framed in harmony with the Puritan's Confession of Faith (1572), which allowed the people to join in singing with one voice, but not of '-tossing the psalms from one side to the other (antiphonal) , with the intermingling of organs."^ Such metrical psalmodj', which had its origin at the time of the Eefor- mation, was first used in public worship by Luther as early as the year 1517. The great Reformer wished, as he said, " to see all arts, and more especially music, in the service of Him who gave and created them," and with this view he prepared the first Protestant hymn, or choral book, which was published at Wittenberg in 1524. ^ Calvin, 1 The Book of Psalmes: Englished bnth in Prose and Metre, by the Rev. Henry Ainsworth (b. 1560, d. 1622), an eminent Non-conformist divine and Hebrew scholar, who about 1590 distinguished himself among the Browuists, a famous Puritan sect, so called from its founder, Robert Brown, who, after settling with his followers at Middleburgh in Zealand, returned to England, gave in his adhesion to the Estab- lished Church, and accepted a rectory at Northampton, where he died about 1630. When Ainsworth was driven from England by the state persecution of the sectaries, he took refuge at Amsterdam, and when the Brownists built a chuxch there they made Francis Johnson their pastor, and Ainsworth their doctor or teacher. The first edition of his psalms, with critical notes, was published in 1612, the second in 1617. The Puritans used it exclusively until 1640, when it was superseded by the Bay Psalm Book, compiled by the colonial clergy. Ainsworth's version kept its place at Salem until 1667, and at Plymouth until 1692. The tunes, in the German choral style, were printed in lozenge or diamond-shaped (called buckwheat) notes over the psalms, without dividing bars. See George Hood's History of ]\Iusic in New England, p. 14. 2 A sarcastic expression used byTh. Cartwright, whose views were controverted by Whitgift and Hooker. See Ecc. Polity, V. 38 ; and History of the Puritans, by David Neale, Vol. I., p. 194. 3 In selecting the best Latin hymns and Gorman songs for this book, Luther was assisted by John Walter (publisher) aud Conrad Rumpf , both musicians in the service b IKTEODUOTION. like Luther, favored congregatioaal singing, and soon after his arrival at Geneva (1519) demanded the restoration of sacred song to a place in divine worship, from which it had been excluded. ^ In order that the people might learn how to sing in a decent and becoming manner, '.he advised that children should be instructed in some sober, ecclesiastical tunes, in which the congregation should be allowed to join after listening until it was able to sing them. For this purpose the Psalms in French and German were at iirst set to popular melodies ("Volkslieder "), but these were soon superseded by German chorals and old church chants, whose superiority was acknowledged even by the unmusical Calvin. The difficulty of finding writers capable of making a rhythmical of Friedrich der Weise, Elector of Saxony. Before the Reformation tlie Eoman ritual prevailed in all the European churches. After it, Luther, formed a ritual, with the assistance of Melancthon. The Psalmodia, " Hoc est Cantica sacra veteris Ecclesise selecta," printed at Nuremberg in 1553, and at Wittenberg in 1561, with a preface by Melancthon, proves that the whole of Luther's liturgy was a musical service. The Psalmodia is divided into four books: 1. Antiphonas, responsoria, hymnos, et sequentise. 2. Cantica veteris ecclesise, etc. 3. Cantiones missse. i. Psalmi cum eorum antiphonis, finalibus, etc. Luther, who was himself a practical musician and composer, gives his opinion of music, and of its lawfulness in divine worship, in his CoUoquiaMensalia. In Sleidan's History of the Reformation of the Church, for which he paraphrased the 46th Psalm, " Ein fester Burg," and set it to a noble tune of his own composition,' Luther speaks of his skill in music " as an acquisition that he would not exchange for a great matter." Probably the sweet motets which he sang at supper with his friends were German. The practice of psalmody had its rise in Germany, in all probability, but during Luther's lifetime it was chiefly confined to family worship. At the time of his death no Vulgate trans- lation of the Psalter had appeared. For this indulgence the Protestant churches were indebted to the college of the Sorbonne, whose doctors, in 1543, allowed Clement Marot to publish a French version of the first thirty psalms, dedicated, says Bayle, to Francis I. To these he added twenty more, and a, version of the remainder was supplied after Marot's death by his friend, Th. Beza. See Sir J. Hawkins's General History, Vol. II., pp. 531 et seq. 1 Calvin, in establishing a church at Geneva, divided the service between prayer, preaching, and- singing. Plain metrical psalmody only was allowed. Antiphon, hymn, and motet were e'imiuated as being Romish. Calvin employed Guillanme Franc to set Marot's version of the Psalms to easy tunes in one part only. In 1583 he (Calvin) divided the Psalms into pauses (small portions), and apportioned them to be sung in churches. Louis Bpurgeois set eighty-three psalms to music, in four, five, and six parts, printed at Lyons in 1561. Claude Goudimel set all the Psalms in four and five parts, printed at Paris in 1565. Fifty of Marot's psalms were published ■with music at Strasburg in 1.545. Claude Le Jeune, of Valenciennes, a Protestant favorite of Henri IV., styled "lePhenixdes musiciens," set the psalms of Marot and Beza. His settings,-like those of Goudimel, were in four parts, — superius, contra^ tenor, tenor, and bassus. The tenor part carried the air or melody, composed by some other person, to which Goudimel and Le Jeune added the harmony in the other parts. The original melodies which constitute the tenor part were probably com posed by Guillaume Franc. Sir J. Hawkins, II., pp. 534, 535. INTEODUCTION. version of the Psalms was not overcome by Calvin until 1542, when the poet Clement Marot,i having been expelled from France, came to Geneva, and composed tunes which were sung in churches together with the compositions of Goudimel and Bourgeois.^ In 1549 fifty-one of the psalms versified by Thomas Sternholds were published without notes, and thirteen years later (1562), after Sternhold's death, these and the remaining psalms making the 'first complete edition of the Psalter, prepared by I. Hopkins and others, " with apt notes to sing them withal," issued from the press, having the music in one part, written continuously without division into bars.^ PSALM III. hi I i i hh=^^^ %cMo^iiftvi^fmmmea,iafixi)yimm 9^9^ ^ -W-lr ^ it woje pf )no?t.t!jep6ttm?l&art,Dt>l)f a0tlb«p fap^fioD r~7 ^^^^^^^^^ c3nI)tmnotteao;e,i)«ti!©ic9tartmpDfftnce,n)lieti3am|jf!rt)beRefll>, mp»)o?(l)tp$tmne|)onoorboflj,«iititlj(w!)o!Dfit)pmpJj«T>. 1 Clement Marot published eighteen psalms and three songs, with melodies at- tached to the first yerses, at Strasburg in 1539. A revised edition, prepared by Calvin and Theodore Beza, was published at Geneva in 1361, oi which upwards of one hundred editions were printed before the end of the sixteenth century. M. Boyet, Hist, du Psautier. 2 Bourgeois's variation and rearrangement of the old German airs became as popular among the Germans as among the French. Challoner's History of the Science and^rt of Music, p. 58. 8 Native of Hampshire, "styled Groom of his Majesty's robes," in his will (1549). He held this office under Henry .VIII. and Edward VI. * In this edition such of the melodies as were not taken from foreign collections were probably composed by English musicians then living, such as Dr. Tye, Mare- beck, Tallis, Bird, Shepherd, Parsons, and Muudy, all reformers. The tunes, about forty in number, are in general suited to the pitch and compass of a tenor voice. The fac-simile inserted iii the text was made from a, copy of the original edition of Sternliold and Hopkins iu the Boston Public Library^ It is an oblong octavo, with 8 INTRODUCTION. Thanks to the liberal views entertained about music by the fathers of the Reformation, it was, as we have shown, made an important and integral part of divine worship ; but although thus retained, it was reduced to the simple form of unaccompanied tunes, whose grave and solemn character was strictly in keeping with a religious service which depended for its effect upon no outward show or complicated ritual. Like all other parts of the Puritan service, it formed a strong contrast with that of the Church of Rome, and its use in England was not brought about without determined effort and a long struggle. Until Henry VIII. quarrelled with the Pope and made himself absolute head of the church, the only music used in English cliurches consisted of Latin masses and services of the Roman ritual, which, after that event, were translated and modified. '^ The reign of Edward VI. y(1546-1553), which was so full of promise to the friends of reform.^ proved too short to allow of radical changes, and such progress as had been made towards them was violently checked by his successor, Mary, surnamed the Bloody, ^ who, instead of destroying their cause, as she fondly hoped, strengthened it, by compelling many earnest and devout men to take refuge from per- secution on the Continent, where they saw their ideas of church govern- ment carried out, and were thus able to work in the light of experience, when, on the accession of Elizabeth (1558-1603), they returned to their own country, hoping to find favor in the eyes of a Protestant seventy-seven leaves, title A 1 wanting. Bach tune lias an initialletter. Title : ' ' The whole book of Psalms collected into EnylUh meter by T. Sternholdt, I. Hopkins, and others, conferred with the Ebrue ; with apt notes to sing them with withal." Colophon: " Imprinted at London ty John Day, dwelling near Aldersgate, heueath St. Martin's, — cum gratia et privilegio majestatis per septenarium. 1562." On the fly-leaf is written, "W. G-. Medlioott, Longmeadow, Mass. The lozenge-shaped notes are very clearly printed. Page 147 has a tail-piece. On page 141 is a prayer hy M. Tallis (organist to Queen Blizaheth). 1 Until 1530 the Liturgy was sung in Latin. In 1536 the Creed, Pater Koster, and the Ten Commandments were by the King's command translated into English, and this, Bays Fuller (Church Hist, in Brittaine, Vol. VII., p. 386), was the farthest pace which the Reformation stepped in the reign of Henry VIII. The retention of the choral service in England is ascribed by Sir John Hawkins to the love of the four last Tudor princes for music. Henry VIII. was skilled in music, as were all his children. Edward VI. played on the lute. Mary and Elizabeth on the virginals and the lute. See Sir J, Hawkins, op. cit., pp. 535, 538. At Geneva, music in parts and instruments were not allowed in religious services for more than a century after the Reformation. 2 The first English liturgy under Edward VI.. composed byCranmer in 1.518, was set to musical notes in the following year. The King had a body of household musicians — of gentlemen and of children— attached to the royal chapel. During his reign. Bishop Miles Coverdale, of Exeter, published his version of certain psalms. 8 The Romish ritual was restored on Mary's accession. INTRODUCTION. » princess. Contrary to their expectations, '' she proved herself to be mi^re the daughter of Henry than the sister of Edward, ^ seeming to dislike nothing of popery but its inconsistency with her title to the throne and its claims against her ecclesiastical supremacy." ^ " The service in her chapel," says Neale,3 "was so splendid and showy, that, barring the English tongue, foreigners could not distinguish it from the Eoman, being sung not only with the sound of organs, but with the 9,rtificial musick of cornets, sackbuts, etc., on solemn festivals."* The forty-ninth of the flfty-three articles called " The Queen's Injunc- tions," by which all matters connected with the discipline and service of the Reformed Church in England were regulated, relates to music in collegiate churches. It directs that singing men shall be continued and maintained, and that there shall be a modest and distinct song so used in all parts of the common prayers that the same ma^' be as plainly understood as if it were read without singing ; and, furthermore, allows that, ' ' for the comforting of such as delight in musick. it may be permitted that in the beginning or end of the common prajer there may be sung an hymn or such like song in the best sort of melody and musick that may be conveniently devised, having respect that the sen- tences of the hymn maybe understood and perceived.'' These are certainly what, as contrasted with Romish practice, would seem tcf be satisfactory provisions for the musical part of the church service ; but they evidently did not satisfy the Separatists or the Non-conformists, for various petitions were presented in the early part of Elizabeth's reign praying for still greater changes, particularly in regard to instrumental accompaniment, which was especially abhorrent to the Reformers. 5 1 The second liturgy of Edward VI. was restored when Elizabeth came to the thr'one. The returned Eeformers from Frankfort and Geneva tried to prevent the use of tlie choral service, and appealed to the authority of Calvin, but the Queen would make no more concessions. Tallis and Bird were organists in the royal chapel. 2 Thirteen historical discourses by the Rev Leonard Bacon, p. 7. 8 Op. cit., I., p. 103. ^ Strype, in his annals, says, in Sept., 1559, began the new morning prayers at St. Antliolin's; bell rang at 5 a. m., when a psalm was sung after the Geneva fashion, all the congregation — men, women, and boys — singing together. 5 The censures on church music in the decrees of the Council of Trent, 1545-1563, were directed against the abuses rather than against the practice of music. The Re- formers wished to bring back the old church rule, " Simplicem, sanctamque melodi- ' am, secundum morem ecclesijE," and the thirty-two commissioners appointed by stat- ute (Jjenry VIII. 27, c. 15) endeavored to remove from the church what they called "curious singing," that is, intricate, elaborate, and unedifying music,— Cautus figuratus, i. e., song abounding in fugues, responsive passages, and a commixture of intricate proportions, termed descant by musicians. Sir J. Hawkins, op. cit., II., p. 537. 10 INTRODUCTION. Thus in 1562 they asked " that the psalms may be sung distinctly by the whole congi-egation, and that organs may he laid aside" ; and in another petition, "that the use of organs maybe removed";^ and in still another, of 1564, mention " musick and organs in divine wor- ship " among the grievances to be redressed or dispensed with. In the Puritans' Confession of Faith (1572), both the use of organs and antiphonal singing are forbidden, and singing in unison is enjoined. Dismal indeed must have been the effect of a service at which no other music was permitted than the intoning of Dowd's version of the Psalms in a monotonous voice, unmelodious and unaccompanied. But music to these stern Reformers was an unchristian recreation, and again and again did they attack it with a vehemence of which the reader may form some idea by the following extract from a pamphlet circulated in 1586, entitled "A Eequest of all true Christians to the Honorable House of Parliament," wherein the petitioners pray that " all cathedral churches may be put down, where the service of God is grievously abused by piping with organs, singing, ringing, and trowl- ing of psalms from one side of the choir to another, with the squeaking of chaunting choristers, disguised, as are all the rest, in white sul-- plices, some in corner caps and filthy capes, imitating the fashion and manner of Antichrist the Pope, that man of sin and child of perdition, with his other rabble of miscreants and shavelings." It is evident that this and other efforts of the same kind on the part of the Puritans had not sufficed at the beginning of the seventeenth century to secure for them what they desired, a service exactly like that of the Reformed Continental churches at Geneva, Amsterdam, and Frankfort,^ for in 1603, when James I. entered London, one of the reforms demanded in the famous " Millenary petition" then pre- sented to his Majesty by the Puritans was that " church songs and ihusick may be moderated to better edification." In this, as in many other ways, the new monarch failed to meet the wishes of his Puritan subjects, as did the royal martyr (1025-1648),^ in the latter part of 1 This, after great debate, owed its rejection to a single vote by proxy oil an absent member. Sir J. Hawkins, If., 54:). 2 Tiie dispute at Franlctort (1554) tictwoen tiiose who de»ir(!cl strict Cdiifdi-mity in public services to tlie order established in England by Edward VI., and those who desired to imitate the simplicity of the Unforraod (Jontinontal church service, marks the beginning of the Puritan party, as the iiiniic of Puritan was then given to tiie latter by their opponents. 8 In lij:a an attempt was made to supersede the old English version of the Psalms used since 15(i4, by that of James I. It was not HiiccesHful, hut nxdical changes were made. Tlie cikl version was used uritil Ill'.Kl, wlion the new was Intro, duoed with the sanction of William III. It was entitled "A now Version ol the Psalms of David, fitted to the Tunes used in Cliurches." INTRODUCTION. 11 whose reign (1641) a memorandum for reformation was submitted to a committee of accommodation, praying " that the music in cathedral and collegiate churches be framed with less curiosity, a'nd that no hymns or anthems be used whose ditties are framed by private men, but such as are contained in the Holy Scriptures, or in our Liturgy or praj-ers, or have public allowance." i In 1644, the year after the beginning of the Commonwealth, the liturgy and the choral sei-vice were abolished, and the Westminster assembly of divines having de- clared it to be a Christian duty to sing psalms both at home and in church, directed ministers to appoint some fit person to read the psalm, line by line, before the singing thereof by the whole congregation. Soon after the enforcement of this regulation for congregational sing- ing, the work of taking down organs ^ and burning choral books began, and was so thoroughly carried out that at the Restoration (1661) it was almost impossible to find organs, organists, notes, or singers. Let us now turn our attention to the historj- of church music under Puritan control in New England, where those who crossed the Atlantic in order to carry out their ideas of church government without hin- drance, evinced the same dread of choral and instrumental services, regarding them as popish devices, as those of their persuasion who remained in the mother country had done and continued to do. We read in the " Pilgrim's Progress," written by John Bunyanin Bed- l ford jail between 1660 and 1672, that after Christian issued from the i Vallej' of the Shadow of Death he saw the eaves where Pope and Pagan had lived in old times. Pagan had died long ago, but Pope was still living, though he had grown so crazy and stiff in his joints that he could do little more than " sit in his cave's mouth, grinning at pilgrims as they went by, and biting his nails because he could not come at them." Our forefathers, although well aware of Pope's decrepiiude, could never rid themselves of the fear that he whom they regarded as the arch fiend in person might some day find means to grow young again, and in the matter of music, as in all else, kept their gates closely barred against him. The New England pastor opened the service with prayer, after which the teacher read and expounded a chapter of the Bible ; then a psalm was sung in unison bj' the congregation. Men and women, ^ rising in 1 Keale, op. cit., p. 701. 2 The organ of Magdalen College, taken down during the Eehelllon, was removed by Cromwell's orders to Hampton Court, where it remained until the Restoration, when it was carried back to Oxford. 8 The Rev. Elias Nason doubts whether women were allowed to sing in Puritan times. See the Ancient Psalmody of America. Disconxse before the Hist. Genea Soc, Nov., 1875. 12 INTRODUCTION. their seats, stood facing the pastor, and sang each line as it was "lined out" or "deaconed off," i that is, distinctly- read by the elder, the time taken in Old Hundredth being regulated by one beat of the pulse. 2 After the psalm thus rendered came the sermon, the prayer, and the benediction. 1 The practice ol lining out the psalm, which originated with Luther, was re- vived in New England, prohably on account of a want of psalm-hooks sufficient for increasing congregations. It does not seem to have been a practice of the first settlers. At Plymouth it was not adopted until 1682. Many ohjected to it as having no Scripture authority, and also because reading of the psalms " doth hinder the melody, the understanding the affection in singing." Hood, p. 13. The practice was protested against by Watts (ed. 1718). In his preface, he advises that all who oaut should bring psalm-books, in order to get the sense completely; and that the clerk, before lining, should read the whole psalm over. The practice gave way in the last quarter of the seventeenth century, when permission was given to the best singers in the choir to sit in the front gallery with the person appointed to set the psalm. In 1785 the church at Eoxbury voted to allow singing once upon each Lord's day, with- out reading by the deacon. Lincoln, in his History of Worcester (1779), tells how the venerable Deacon Chamberlain insisted upon reading the psalm line by line until at last, finding that his voice was drowned by the choir, he seized his hat and retired in a flood of tears. For this he was censured, and for a season not allowed to com- municate. 2 The Old Hundredth was one of the melodies selected by Luther from the people's Songs, popular at the time of the Reformation. The epithet " Old" was added after the publication of the new version, in 1696, to denote that it was a tune taken from the preceding psalter of Sternhold and Hopkins. Challoner (p. 59) says it may have been brought from the Bast by the troubadours, and Nason that it was composed by Gil- laume Franc. Sir J. Hawkins (II., 530, note) says that Handel has been often heard to say that the melody — which, by the way, is identical with that of the 134th Psalm of Goudimel and Le Jeune^ — was composed by Luther. Dr. Oilman (Village Choir, p. 76) speaks of Old Hundredth as a piece of musical antiquity, which had not been sung in any meeting-house for upwards of thirty years. When sung , according to Latrobe, it was so drawled out that a breath was more than expended on each word. Mr. Sharp used to relate an anecdote of a clergyman under whom he sat in England, whose practice it was on each successive Sunday to give out the Old Hundredth, as if to sing it were a perfectly novel idea. " This morning, my brethren, we will sing," etc. One of the choristers at last became so exasperated that one morning, on hearing the first line given out by the deacon, he, to the horror of the congregation, broke out with, " Damn all nations that on earth do dwell." , Gould (Church Music in America, p. 29) says that Old Hundred is the only tune now ased to be found in Sternhold and Hopkins, and prints it thus : — EgE^^^ :^ ^^z=j=d=^^g^ Bavenscroft, 1618, who first gave names of cities and towns, as Canterbury, York etc., to tunes in his choioe collection, styles Old Hundred or Hundredth a French INTEODUCTION. 13 No better description of the Sunday services in a New England meeting-house exists than this, in Taylor's verses : — ^ " Old home of Puritanic wood, Through whose unpainted windows streamed, On seats as primitive and rude As Jacob's pillow, when he dreamed, " The white and undiluted day ! Its naked aisles no roses grace That blossomed at the shuttle's play, No saints distempered " bless the place. " Like feudal castles, front to front. In timbered oak of Saxon Thor, To brave the siege and bear the brunt Of Banyan's endless Holy War, "The pulpit and the gallery stand. Between the twain a peaceful space. The prayer and praise on either hand. And girls and gospel face to face. tune (1621). It probably first bore the name of Savoy. In Theodore Beza's edition of Marot's psalms (1561) It is given thus: — ;&c. 5t "With the words : — Or SUB, eerviteurs du Seigneur VouB, qui de nuit en son houneur T>e dans sa maison la servez, Louez le, et son nom elevez, ORIGINAL FORM. 3^: ^^- IZZl -z^ r— ' T"" J — 1 — 1 1 1 11 A 1 \ - ^ ^ ^ r> '- ■ 1 \' t" (V 1 J <^ ^ i. r f^ fj ^ 1 1 U- _e ^ a '^-~ O 1 i^ II Like other melodies in the German Psalter, it is an adaptation of a secular tune of the time. Bourgeois was editor of the German Psalter from 1543-1557, and to him the tune in its present form may be ascribed. Grove, Diet., II., p. 495. In Kavensoroft it is thus printed: — ^^=a^ -I — I- 1 B. F. Taylor, — from poems entitled The Psalm Book in the Garret, — pub- lished in volume entitled Songs of Yesterday. S. L. Griggs & Co., Chicago. 2 i. e., painted in distemper, frescoed. 14 INTRODUCTION. " I hear the reverend elder say, ' Hymn fifty-five, long metre, sing ! ' I hear the psalm books' fluttered play. Like flocks of sparrows taking v(ring. " The congregation rise and stand, — Old Hundred's rolling thunder comes In heavy surges slow and grand As beats the surf its solemn drums. " And now they sing a star in sight, — The blessed star of Bethlehem ; And now the air is royal bright With Coronation's diadem. " They show me spots of dimpled sod, They say the girls of old are there ; Oh, no ! they swell the choir of God, — The dear old songs are everywhere." / On coming to New England the Puritans brought with them Ains- worth's version of the Psalms, 1612. "Printed in Amsterdam, the words and the music togetlier." Of this version we have already spoken as well as of that of Sternhold and Hopkins, an edition of which was published at Cambridge in 1693, and used inoneortwoof the churches before 1640, when the Bay Psalm Book,i the first book printed on this continent north of Mexico, appeared. To ' Welde, Eliot,^ 1 1st ed. pub. at Cambridge, 1640, —26th ed. pub. at Boston in 1744, — the 27th ed. at Boston between 1746 and 1750. A copy of the Ist ed. (1640) exists in the Boston Public Library, 10. 4. 8. O. S. 132, formerly in the Old South Library. A slip of paper pasted on the front page reads, "belonged to the New England Library, begun to be collected by Thomas Payne, 1703." It is a small 8vo volume without notes. " The whole Book of Psalms faithfully translated," etc. The preface is a plea for the sing- ing of psalms as authorized by Holy Writ. It concludes with these words, — " That we may sing in Sion, the Lord's song of prayse according to his owne will, until he take us from hence and wipe away all tears, and bid us enter into our Master's joye, to sing eternall Hallelujahs." The 2d ed. of the Bay Psalm Book, revised and increased by the Rev. Henry Dunster, president of Harvard College, and Mr. Eichard Lyon, appeared in 1650. It was printed in Pres. Dunster's house by Stephen Day, who came from England in 1639 with printing-press and font of ill-out type. For description of the Bay Psalm Book, see Tyler, Hist, of American Literature • Duyckinck's Cyo'a of Literature; and article by Tarbox in New Englander for March, 1880; also, Mem 1 Hist, of Boston, I., p. 513. 2 The Indian apostle, who in 1660 printed the metrical version of the Psalms, in his translation of the Bible into the Indian (Nipmuck) tongue. In 1689, Dr. INTRODUCTION. 15 Mather, and the other eminent divines who prepared it, as to all sound Puritans, non-conformity to the sacred Hext was, as Hood remarks, " the fault of faults," and they therefore made their transla- tion of the Psalms into metrical verse as literal as possible, i ' At (he close of the -volume the reader is " admonished that the verses of these psalms may be reduced to six kinds, the first whereof may be sung in very neere fourty common tunes, as they are collected out of our chief musicians (English, Scotch, and Welsh composers) by Thomas Ravenscroft." 2 In the course of a century the Bay Psalm Book, which was almost exclusively used in New England churches, passed through nearly thirty editions. Those printed before 1690 con- sisted of text only, for the singing of which five or six tunes, such as York, Hackney, Windsor, St, Mary's, and Martyrs, were written out in copies used by the congregation, but, as the want of a greater variety of tunes was then felt, an edition with text and notes was published in 1698.3 Although sanctioned by the church fn New England, the Bay Psalm Book did not at first meet with universal acceptance, owing to the great variety of opinions prevalent among God-fearing men as to the propriety of singing at all. To some the metrical rendering of the Psalms was a tampering with the Sacred Text, and to sing them was sinful, as Christians ought to praise God with the heart onl3\ Others thought that one of the congregation should sing while the rest listened, joining with him in the final amen ; while still another party held that none but members of the church should be allowed to sing. Further questionings arose on allowing women to sing with men, women being forbidden to speak in church (Cor. xiv. 34) , or to proph- esy (Tim. ii. 11, 12) ; and also on the propriety of singing psalms in metre devised by man to tunes written perhaps by the ungodly, Increase Mather wrote to Dr. John Leusden, Hebrew professor in the university at Utrecht: "The whole congregation of Indians praise God with singing, and some of them are excellent singers." The same assertion is made in a letter written from New England to the Princess of Orange in 1689. Hood, op. cit., p. 56. 1 Free translations or paraphrases, like those of Watts, or of Addison, of which " The spacious firmament on high " may be taken as an example, would have found no favor with our foref jthers. Hood. ' 2 Thomas Eavenscroft, bachelor of music, published in 1628, the whole Book, of Psalms with the hymns, evangelical and spiritual, written in four parts by sundiy authors, such as Tallis, Dr. John Dowland, John Milton, the poet's father, etc. In it the tenor part has the tune,— called the tenor, or plain-song, or Faburden, — False Bordone, — a species of descant. Kavenscrof t's book, republished in 1633, became the manual of psalm singers throughout the Kingdom. 8 Tunes printed in two parts, initial of syllable placed under each note, with directions as to singing. 1 6 INTRODUCTION. which might be looked upon as uninspired tunes in contradistinction to those which, by long usage, had come to be regarded as inspired. ^ All these objections were discussed and met by the Eev. John Cot- ton in his famous tract (1647) entitled " Singing of Psalms a Gospel Ordinance." ^ The four " particulars " treated are : — " I. Touching the duty itself," i. e., of audible singing, respecting which the reverend author concludes " that singing of Psalms with a lively voyce is an holy duty of God's worship now in the dayes of the New Testament," the which he proves by the commandments of the Lord by Paul, " through the examples of Christ himself and of his Saints and Disciples in the New Testament, the prophecies of the Old Testament foretelling and persuading such a duty in the New." II. " Touching the matter to be sung." — On this head the author declares that " not only the Psalms of David, but any other spirituall songs recorded in Scripture may be lawfully sung in Christian churches, as those of Moses, Asaph, etc.," and also "that any private Christian who hath a gift to frame a spirituall song, may both frame it and sing it privately or before the Church ; nor is to be forbidden to make use of an Instrument of music in his own house, so that atten- tion to the Instrument do not divert the heart from attention to the matter of the Song." III. ^^ Touching the singers" the writer argues, that all should sing, women as well as men, sinners as well as saints, for we are told, "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms." (James, v. 13.) IV. " Touching the manner of singing." — Under this head the author discusses whether Psalms in metre of man's device may be sung, "whether in tunes invented, and whether it be lawfuU in order unto singing to reade the Psalme." He argues in favor of the versification of psalms, and the composing of melodies or tunes to which they may be sung, that it is as lawful to translate them into verse as into prose, and that as words invented by Englishmen may be properly usedto convey divine truth, so may tunes composed by the same for a like purpose. Finally, he makes answer to those who think that reading the Psalms is not to be allowed in order to singing by saying, that as all have not books, and all do not know the Psalms by heart, " it will be a necessary helpe that the wor^s be openly read beforehand, line after line, or two lines together, that so they who want either books or skill to reade may know what is to be sung, and joyne with the rest in the dutie of singing." 1 Gould, op. cit., p. 33. 2 Hood, op. oit., 35-48. INTRODUCTION. 17 The strong opposition to the use of instruments in Puritan churches 1 makes it surprising that so early as 1641, Thomas Lech- ford pleaded for it in his so-called '• Plaine Dealing "^ in these words : " If Psalms and H3-mns and spiritual songs are to be sung in the church, and to sing melodiously and in good harmony is the gift of God, and uncomely singing is a kind of sin in the holy assemblies, why should not the chief leaders and rulers of the Church appoint some one in their stead to take charge of the singing in the Church ? and^may not some be better fitted to lead in singing than others? and, lest they may fall out in their tunes to jarring, why may they not use the help of xome musical ins ruments? and, lest they should want able men this way, why should they not take care that some children be trained up in Music ? " The yoice of this man, in advance of his time, was like that of one crying in the wilderness. Do we not read in the Prophet Amos (v. 23), said the Puritans, "Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy viols?" and is not the use of instruments in the house of God like the idolatrous concert of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel iii. 5), who ordered that " at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut. psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image which the king has set up?" Furthermore, is it not a mockery to make wood and strings perform acts of devotion, properly performed by the human spirit only? To such objections it might have been an- swered that the Psalm which saith "■ Let ever^-thing that hath life and breath praise the Lord " also saith, " Praise him with timbrels and dances " Instruments of music were regarded as " of the Devil," be- cause the Romish Church sanctioned their use ; and of all instruments, the organ, as being specially identified with popery, was the most abhorred. "Writing from England, in 1660, Mr. Leverett (agent for the General Court) refers to the use of the organ as one of the most discouraging signs of a return to Romish practices, adding, " the Lord keep and preserve his church, tliat there maj^ not be fainting in the day of ordeal ! " ^ In derision, the organ of that day was called a ^ In early Puritan times not even a pitch pipe was allowed. A law enacted in one of the N. B. States (1675) prescribed that no one should play on any kind of music except the drum, the trumpet, and the jew-sharp. Everything of the kind was con- sidered common and unclean. The fiddle, being associated with theatres, balls, etc., was called the Devil's instrument. 2 Plaine Dealing, or News from New England (among certain questions concern- ing church government). 8 PaUrey's Hist, of N. Eug., II. p. 448. The London Punch of April 3, 1880, points a 18 INTEODUCTION. box of pipes, and such in fact it was, in comparison with the splendid instruments of our own time ; but then, as now, it was an instrument of man's devising. This cause of feeling against it finds expression in the story of the preacher of a later period, when it had somewhat gained a foothold, who, on being asked to lead in prayer, after the organ had been heard with the singers, cried out, " Call on the machine. ^ If it can sing and play to the glory of God, it can piay to the glorj' of God also : call on the machine ! " ^ Colonial records give but little infoi-mation about singing in churches ; but confined as it was to men who sang without accom- paniment some half a dozen tunes in common metre,^ learned by rote, it must have been dreary and monotonous to the last degree. In the early part of the 18th century, when part sinjiing was extremely' rare, the singer's repertory was enlarged by various publications, the first ' of which, an " Introduction to the Singing of Psalm Tunes," by the Rev. E. Tufts, with a collection of thirty-seven tunes in three parts, viz., cantus, medius, and bassus, appeared in 1712 or 1714, and reached its eleventh edition in 1744.^ Next in order of publication oat the existence of this anti-organ prejudice as still to he found in Scotland. The text to the illustration " Avauut " runs thus: Free Kirk divine, of advanced opinions, who has recently introduced an organ into his chapel. "I'm sorry to hear, Mrs. McGrunty, that you are hy no means so regular in your attendance at church as you used to be." Fair Beggite (indignant at the pastor's latest iniquity). ' Kirk, indeed! Wud ye luure me tse Rome wi' therest of them, wi'your orgins, an' anthems, and sich like abominations ? Na, na; until ye gie me the auld Huuder agin without the whustles, I'll tak' ma' speeritual comfort at hame." So, again, in Latrobe's Music in the Church, London, 18.S], p. 316. it is stated that so late as 1807, when an attempt was made to introduce an organ into a church at Glasgow, the presbytery declared their determination to avert so dire a calamity from our church and county ; to crush in the bud so scandalous a prostration of sacred things. The Rev. E. Nason relates that in 1735, when Bishop Berkeley presented an organ to Trinity Church, Newport, the people, in public meeting, voted that '■ an organ is an instru- ment of the Devil, for the entrapping of men's souls," and declined to accept it, though they afterwards would seem to have reconsidered their vote, as the organ is still in the church. "W. B. Fowler, in his Hist, of Durham, Conn., 1866. p. lul, says, "a certain man in my recollection would go to the s. door of the Meeting House and enquire, ' is the great fiddle there ? ' On being told that the Bass Viol was there, he would depart to his home. He was not willing to be present where there was such a ' Dagon.' " 1 Latrobe, op. cit. p. 354. Barrel organs were occasionally admitted into churches in lieu of finger organs. 2 jn Aiiisworth's and N. E. Psalm Book, psalms written in alternate lines of eight and six syllables. Gould, p. 36, mentions Oxford, Litchfield, York, Windsor, St. David's, and Martyrs among tunes used before 16!)0. 8 Instead of notes the initial letters of pitch names were used as F. for fa, S. for sol, etc., time marked by punctuation marks on right side of letters, as, e.g., F : = a breve; F . = semibreve; F simple = a minim. INTRODUCTION. 19 came the Psalterium Americanam (1718) ,i by Dr. Cotton Mather, " fitted unto the tunes commonly used in the church," and after it, a singing-book by the Rev. T. Walter (1721), entitled the '■ Grounds and Eules of Musiek explained ; or, an Introduction to the Art of Singing by Note." containing tunes in three parts, made up of semibreves and minims, and notable as the first music printed in America with a bass part.^ The author states that he was moved to the publication of this book by the deplorable state of singing in New England. The four or five tunes in use, he says, "had become so mutilated, tor- tured, and twisted, that psalm singing had become a mere disorderly noise, left to the mercy of every unskilful throat lo chop and alter, twist and change, according to their own fancy, — sounding like five hundred different tunes roared out *at the same time, and so little in time that they were often one or two words apart ; so hideous as to be bad beyond expression, and so drawling that the singer had some- times to pause twice on one word to take breath. The decline," con- tinues the writer, " had been so gradual that the very confusion and dissonance seemed to have become grateful to their ears, while melody sung in time and tune was offensive ; and when it was heard that tunes were sung by note, they argued that the new way, as it was called, was an unknown tongue, not melodious as the old ; that it made dis- turbance in churches, was a needless contrivance of the designing to get money, required too much time, and made the young disorderly, — old way good enough." Other puevile objections urged against the new wa}' were that the next thing will be to praj' by rule and preach by rule, and then comes popery ; that it savors of witchcraft to sing a tune by following printed characters wiih the eye, without having first learned it by ear; that singing by note will bring about the use of instruments ; that the names of the notes are blasphemous ; that it is foolish to adopt a new way when the old way is good enough etc. , etc.^ As early as 1720, when singing by note was first adopted in Boston, the Eev. Thomas Symmes defended it in an essay entitled " The Rea- 1 The preface to an edition of Watte's Hymns, published in 1718, advises the singer not to dwell too long on one note, but to increase speed in pronunciation, and points out such defects as drawling, flatting, singing some notes too flat and others too sharp, so called embellishments, etc. 2 This book went through several editions, the last of which was published in 1764. In that year Josiah Flagg published n, collection of forty-six tunes, printed by Paul Eevere. The author boasts that the paper is Yankee if the music be, English. See Gould, p. 38. 8 Hood cites ten objections. — pp. 86, 87. 20 INTRODUCTION. sonableness of Eegular Singing, or, Singing bj' Note," maintaining that all could learn to sing, and recommending the opening of singing schools He was followed in 1727 by the Rev. Mr. Chauncey, in a pamphlet entitled " Regular Singing defended, and proved to be the only "Way of singing the Songs of the Lord." D wight, Thacher, Dan- forth, Mather, Stoddard, and others took the saime ground. The contest raged for twenty years (1720-1740), during which the example set bj'' Boston was gradually followed in country towns either wholly or partially. In some places, as at Glastonbury, Conn. (Feb., 1733), a compromise was eifected, by permitting the congrega- tion to sing one half the Lord's day by note, and the other half by rote ;i and at Braintree, after the pastor, the Rev. Samuel Niles, had expelled eight members of the congregation for persisting in note sing- ing, they were restored by the council, and, in order to satisfy both parties, the congregation was directed to sing alternately by note and by rote." In 1742, note singing was formally adopted at Hanover, Mass., and the example was followed in other country towns, where singing schools were of necessity established. The first of these use- ful institutions in Boston was that opened in Brattle Street by Dr. Benjamin Coleman's society, 1720, and the first, or one of the earliest, in a country town was that opened atHadley, Mass., by John Stickney and his wife.^ Before 1800, singing schools could generally be found from Maine to Georgia. Roxbury, Dorchester, Cambridge, Taunton, Bridgewater, Charlestown, Ipswich, Newbury, and Bradford made special and early efforts to reform and improve singing, and, if we may accept the testimony of the Abb6 Robin who visited Boston in 1781, not without success. In speaking of the New-Englanders, this traveller says, " Their psalmody is grave and majestic and the harmony of the , poetry in their national tongue adds a grace to the music and contrib- utes greatly towards keeping up the attention of the worshippers.* 1 This arrangement was to be in force until the next election. In July, it was voted to defer the use of the new way on Sabbath days until the December meeting, it being understood that the townspeople should meet once a week, or fortnight, to learn it. 2 Mr. Niles was so little satisfied with this arrangement that he he(d service in his own hoxxse Dec. 1, 1723, where the sound of the " popish notes" could not be heard, leaving his deacons to manage the " crotchety sticks " as best they could in the meeting-house. Kev. Eliaa Nason's Discourse before the Gen. Hist. Society, Nov., 1875. 3 From 1720 onward, a few singers met occasionally in towns for practice in sing- ing; but meetings for learning the theory and practice of mu>io were scarcely known before 1770. Gould, op. cit., p. 77. 4 Hist, of Mass., by I. S. Barry, 3d Period, p. 201, note 1, relates that the Abb^ Eobin, when in Boston, lodged in the house with a Frenchman who began to play the INTRODUCTION. 21 Brissot de Warville, •who came among us a few years later (1788), also bears witness to the changed state of public feeling, by saying that " music, which their teachers formerl3' proscribed as a diabolic art, begins to make part of their education." i Before speaking of the Billings craze, — which intervened between the general adoption of singing by note and the early part of the 19th century, when what may be properly called the musical reformation began, — a few examples of the grotesque text of some of the hj-mns our forefathers sang with the utmost seriousness may be given. Here is a verse, taken from the Eev. S. W. Christopher's " Poets of Methodism," ^ which could hardly be surpassed in oddity. " Ye monsters of the bubbling deep, Your Maker's praises shout ; Up from the sands, ye codlings, peep, And wag your tails about." The same writer, after quoting from Dr. Watts's 92d Psalm the lines, " Oh, let my heart in tune be found, Like David's harp of solemn sound," relates, that a singer, wishing to improve upon them, gravely proposed to his pastor to substitute these lines : — " Oh may my heart be tuned within Like David's sacred violin ! " to which the reverend gentleman answered by waggishly suggesting as an amendment, " Oh may my heart go diddle-diddle, Like Uncle David's sacred fiddle ! " When Billings got the upper hand with his so-called fugue-ing tunes, 3 heai-ts did indeed go " diddle-diddle," and wild were their dances. The paramount influence obtained by William Billings (b. Oct. 7, 1747, d. A. D. 1800), a tanner, who plied his trade in Eliot flute on Sunday for his amusement. This so enraged the people that they swarmed about the doors, and would have mobbed the musician had not the landlord warned him of his danger and obliged him to desist from his unhallowed occupation. 1 Shurtleff's Topography of Boston (1871), p. 85. 2 Page 14, verse quoted by Dr. Belcher, an American authority in psalmodio literature. The first edition of Dr. Watts's Hymns was published by Dr. Franklin at Philadelphia in 1741. Many of these hymns had found their way into churches before this, through Dr. Cotton Mather, to whom Dr. Watts sent a copy about 1721. Hood, op. cit., p. 156, says Watts did not take the place of the Bay Psalm Book nntil after the American Revolution. ^ Gould, op. cit., p. 42, says fugue-ing music, though called Yankee music, origi nated in England, where it was adopted in many Protestant churches long before it was heard of in this country. 22 INTRODUCXION. Street, Boston, and was the first native self-taught American composer, is partly to be ascribed to ^he political enmities of the- time, to his own zealous patriotism, and to the friendship and support of Samuel Adams. The tune of Chester, called the Battle Hymn of the Revo- lution, composed by Billings, was the only tune which the Continental pipers were allowed to play when on the march, and the words to which it was sung breathe that spirit of defiant trust characteristic of the people and the times. Had the American Cyclops, as he was called from his one eye,i been a Eouget de I'lsle, he would have given them a very dilferent setting, but, however good a patriot he may have been, he was very far from, being an inspired musician.' His tunes and fugue-lings are what might be expected as the work of an uneducated man who knew but little of the laws of harmony, mod- ulation, or the preparation and resolution of discords, and who had had no opportunities of purifying his taste or correcting the false theories, which, as he tells us in the preface to one of his books, led him to believe "that Nature is the best dictator: she must do tlie work ; and so I think it best for every composer to be his own carver." Taking as his model the ' ' Urania," a book published by one James ^The Eev. Dr. Pierce, of Brookline, who knew Billings intimately, says he was somewhat deformed in person, blind of one eye, with one leg shorter than the other, and with a withered arm. His voice was stentorian and his habits repulsive. He used to carry snnff in his waistcoat pocket and take it by the handful. Gould, p. 46. ^ When the British occupied Boston, the American army beiag stationed'at "Watertown, Billings thus paraphrased the I37th Psalm : — By the rivers of Watertown we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Boeton. { *±2i==tBEt±ii±!=t£zt: G i^i ■6>-^ ■i^F-fz-f^ i£i ■«« f2 (S'- ^^^^^m By the rivers ol Watertown we sat down and wept, tt Ef^ Gould, op. cit., p. 48. " If I forget thee, O Boston, Then let ray numbers cease to flow, Then he my muae unkind, Then let ray tongue forget to move, And ever be confined." INTRODUCTION. 23 Lyon, at Philadelphia, in 1761, which contained the first so-called fugue-ing tunes ever published in this country, he prepared himself " to make the sanctuary rewound with fugues within a compass of four short lines, of which the closing one went doubling on its track like a fox pursued by the hunters." i Shade of the great John Sebastian Bach, it was not of such fugues as these that Milton thought when he sang of the organist, " Whose volant touch, Instinct through all proportions, low and high, ried and pursued transverse the resonant fugue," but of such models of organic strength as those with which thou wast to endow the world, — fugues whose first law is order, and whose abid- ing characteristic is inspiration. "What Hillings aimed at, to quote his own words, was "to tickle the ear, to rouse the attention dulled by the drawling tunes of past times"; and to do this, he, in certain instances, directed that those which he substituted for them should be still more ehlivened by the dapping of hands. "My music," he said, "has more than twenty times the power of the old slow tunes ; each part straining for mas- tery- and victory, the audience entertained and delighted, their minds surprisingly agitated and extremely fluctuated, sometimes declaring for one part, 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, nowhere again. Oh, ecstatic! Eush on, ye sons of Harmony ! " And rush on they did with unexampled vehemence. "The chorus," says Channing, "chewed the tune and swallowed the words " ; ® and another writer remarks that " one part raced after another, fearful of not winding up together on the last syllable." 3 A practical illustration of- the effect produced was fur- 1 Billings's first work, the N. E. Psalm Singer or American Chorister, was published in 1770. The author gives a short glossary of musical terms in the preface, and defines "Fuge or fuging (sic) as notes flying/" after each other, altho' not always the same sound. Music is said to be fuging when one part comes in after an- other," etc. There is a copy of this book in the Mass. Hist. Soc. Library. ^ Recollections of Newport, p. 100. ' In some cases each of the four singers sang different words, as in a tune called " Montague," cited by Prof. Hubbard. ■»"=pt ni ^ --r It ■I I I I Tour songs inyite.Those :«=^. 1=^=^=1: -«i— ^- — Let the high heavens m -^— ^ Those spacious fields of ^ Of brilliant light where 24 INTRODUCTIOir. nished one evening by some mischievous boys, -who hung a couple of cats by their hind legs over the shop sign at the composer's door, on which "Billings's music" was conspicuously inscribed. Censured for his misuse of discords, Billings published a tune called " Jargon," set to these words : — . the air, ' Let horrid Jargon split . the my ear, And rive "^ nerves asvmder ; Let hateful discord greet the ear, As terrible as thunder." In his accompanying address to the Goddess of Discord,i which he calls as neat a piece of writing as was ever penned, Billings requires the goddess whom he styles " Dread Sovereign," to sign the following quittance : — 1 See Singing Master's As.«istant, pp. 28, 29, and p. 102. Also Musical Eecollec- tions of the last Half Century, pp. 350 and 377. .-I-U^— j- ^ jSEE ±-i- -(2 — ft — »- -(2- t=t=t=tt :g==r=:f!: -IS'— :l I I . I- \M^ S.-H«- ■•— .S!t ^3 (Z--M—^- :H=t ii ^1 ^ B Let hor-rid jar - gon split the air, And rive the nerves a - sun-der, ^asgfe^^E^^P ^ ?z-=-« t:=t i fortissimo. ^m F=1T# ~"g -" i -(=— p- ■ zj— si - ■^1 ^ ^= F=.^ '^^^^m q ^-h— h zt f2-P-P- 1 ^=F^=n5' I i :t t=:H--t: -^=?^- =t Let hateful discord gi-eet the ear, As tor - ri - ble as thunder. m. m ^ -•— -i:^— pz- p — rzg- I 1^=^ -J-j- ;5=3S J: f^T-^*^''-r-rrT-?-r i I INTRODUCTION. 25 V " Received of the author a piece of Jargon, it being the best piece ever composed, in full of all accounts from the beginning of time and througli the endless ages of eternity. I say, received of me, Goddess of Discord, given from our inharmonious cavern, in the land of chaos, from the year of our existence, which began at Adam's Fall, 5782. " Demon Dread, Speaker. Human Hokroh, Secretary." Further on, the following du-ections are given for its adequate per- formance : " Let an Ass bray the Bass, let the filing of a Saw carry the Tenor, let a Hog who is extremely hungry squeal the Counter, and let a Cartwheel which is heavy loaded, and that has been long without grease, squeak the Treble." Enough has perhaps been said to show the reader what manner of man this was, who, through sheer impudence, kept the New-Englanders under his yoke for more than a quarter of a century, i a period which Gould calls the dark age of music in New England, and with reason, fiir it was a time when men worshipped false gods, the work of their own hands, and despised the solemn and decent strains which had been dear to the ears of their forefathers ' ' Devotion, appalled at the un- hallowed sound of the (so-called) fugue, had fled the sanctuary," saj-s one writer ; and another states that " it was as useless for singers to attempt refined music as for the screech-owl to emulate the song of the nightingale." ^ Another writer, the Eev. Dr. Dana, declares that in the year 1800 "music in New England was still in its infancy. For years the country has been overflowing with musical productions not destitute of sprightliness, nor in anj' instance of gleams of genius, but composed on no plan, conformed to no principles, and communicating no distinct or abiding impression through fugitive and unsubstantial things which fill the ear and starve the mind." ' In the latter part of the last century efforts were made to emancipate music from the thraldom of Billings ; and although some congregations persisted for some time after his death in singing his music on alternate Sundays, the publication of books containing such standard tunes as Old Hundred, Mears, and St. David, which had been laid aside for the past fortj' years, and the earnest efforts of Drs. Chaplin of Groton, Pierce of Brookline, Dana of Newport, Law, Holj'oke, Albee, and others, gradually brought about a 1 Billings published six collections o£ tunes, for the most part of his own making^ of which the Singing Master's Assistant (1778) is the best. He himself thought it much superior to the N. E. Psalm Singer, his earliest work (1770). 2 Treatise ou Musical Taste, by W. Hastings, p. 29 (1822). See also the Musical Gazette, Boston, 1838, and Templi Carmina, article on, in the North American lie- view, 1820, Vol. II., p. 38. 26 INTRODUCTION. better state of things. They were, however, bad enough at the best, during the first twenty years of the present century. Referring to that time in an address delivered in 1851, Dr. Lowell Mason saj's, " Ihave seen eight or ten persons rise when a hymn was given out, and with pitch-pipes or tuning-forks, and singing-books in hand, attempt what might be in truth regarded as the burlesque choral service of a religious meeting." Here and in the mother country, as late as 1817, the music in many churches was " a scandalous mockery of psalmody, led by a barrel organ or an incompetent professor.'' The same defects were rife on both sides of the Atlantic, namely, " singing flat with a nasal twang, straining the voice to an unnatural pitch,, introducing continual drawls and tasteless ornaments, trilling on each syllable, running a third above the written note ; and thus, by a sort of triplet, assimilating the time to a Scotch reel, etc., etc." i So far as the selec- tion of music included in collections published between 1800 and 1815 is concerned, it was very much better than in those which had ap- peared previously ; but in point of correctness there was little gain. Consecutive fifths were not only tolerated, but admired,^ and con- .secutive octaves between the parts attracted no one's attention. Tunes were often introduced from recent English publications having a figured bass, but as no one could read it, or had the least idea what it meant,^ such aid to the right filling up of the parts was of no avail. "With incorrect music, ill-trained singers, and incompetent professors,* the ordinary church-choir singing must have been intolerable to edu- cated ears. The proportion of women to men was about twenty to one 1 These defects are pointed out as characteristic of church music in England, by Latrohe, op. cit., p. 139. ^ e, g.. Ocean (Swan), Father Kemp. ?~g~ P- - S ,J. &C. ^SSE?^ ±i= :l \ L t— 8 Gould, op. cit., p:'72. * Leaders of choirs who followed the directions given for beating time in the Farmers' Evening Entertainment {S. Howe, Northampton, 1804) must have'found it difficult to keep the singers together. " To Beat Crotchets in common Time, let the fingers fall on the table six inches, then bring the heel of the hand down gently, then raising it a little higher, throw open the fingers to begin the next bar." For triple time, let the fingers fall on the table, then the heel of the hand, then raise the whole hand six inches, keeping the fingers straight, which fills the bar. ' INTRODUCTION, 27; hundred and thirteen. The bo^'^s and counter tenors sang the air with the sopranos, and the alto part was generally intrusted to men with falsetto voices. 1 Great opposition was made when it was proposed to have the melody sung by women, on the ground that men had a prescriptive right to lead, and that women were forbidden to take the first part in song or any other religious service. Solo singing by women was unheard of in churches, and did not become common in public until after it had been allowed in the concerts of the Handel and Haydn Society. Church choirs in the early part of this century sang generally to the accompaniment of some one or more wind and stringed instruments, — flute, bassoons, and viols. Organs ^ were, as we have already said, long kept out of churches as papal emissaries ; and, even when the old prejudice had died away, were the exception, on account of the outlay necessary to obtain them. The first organ ever heard in New England was that bequeathed to Brattle Street Church by Thomas Brattle, treasurer of Harvard College, May 23, 1713, with the proviso that if the bequest was accepted, " the elders should within a year procure some sober and discreet person, that can play skilfully thereon, with a loud voice." In case of refusal to accept, the said organ was to be successively oflfered to King's Chapel, Harvard College, and to William Brattle, nephew of the testator. ^ The Brat- tle Street Church authorities having declined to take the organ, it was offered to those of King's Chapel, where it was set up in 1714, and played upon by Mr. Edward Eustace, an Englishman, who was ap- pointed organist, with a salary of £20 a year.* Some sixty years later, an organ was purchased in F^ngland for Brattle Street Church ; but it is evident that the same spirit of opposition which had pre- vented the acceptance of Mr. Brattle's gift at a former time still lingered in the congregation, for we are told that one of its members offered to pay the original cost of the instrument and all expenses 1 The air was generally sung by men, and the part assigned to women was written on the upper staff in the brace. The alto or counter, placed on the third staff, had a peculiar clef, called the C clef, originally designed for boys. As boys sel- dom had skill to lead, and few men could reach the high notes, women with soprano voices were put on this part also, as in Park Street Church, J810. This choir consisted of about forty singers, accompanied by a flute, bassoon, and viol. 2 In the early part of the 18th century, the pipes or sets of pipes were called !>,ji "orgin" or organ, and when collected in a case, the "orgins." "Article by Gen. Oliver, Transcript, Nov. 19, 1874. * Other writers say that the organ set up in King's Chapel in 1714 was a present from Queen Anne, in the latter part of her reign. On its arrival from England, it was left unpacked under the portico for many months, — so strong was the opposition to its admission into the church. 28 INtRODUCTION. incurred by the sooietj' in bringing it across the Atlantic if they would send it back again ; and that a committee of members waited on the Eev. Dr. Thacher, the then incumbent, and made a like offer, if he would arrange with the captain to have the organ thrown over- board. As the reverend gentleman declined to listen to them, it was set up, and used until the church was pulled down, in 1872. Before this imported instrument was set up in Brattle Street Church, two organs had been built in Boston, — one in 1745, for the Old South Church, by Edward Bromfleld, the first ever constructed in America, "^ and the other in 1752, for Christ Church, by Thomas Johnston. The first organ factory in Boston was that of William Goodrich, and the first instrument constructed in it was placed in the Roman Catholic Church on Franklin Street in 1815.2 In 1807, Erastus Walker, of Lebanon, built a hand or barrel organ of unusual size, for New London,, — the largest pipe being twelve feet in length, and the stops ten in number. When it was dedicated, the rector, taking for his text, " In that daj' shall there be upon the bells of the horses, holiness unto the Lord" (Zech. xiv. 20), preached on the design and benefits of instrumental music. "In that day," he said, "even those instruments of music which have long been devoted to other purposes, and considered to be the signals of carnal merriment, shall be enrolled among those articles on which the words ' Holiness to the Lord ' shall be inscribed." "^ ^ It had two mauuals and many hundred 'pipes. ' ^ In 1815 there were four organs in Boston churches, King's Chapel, Christ, Brattle Street, and Cathedral. Two years later four had been added, viz., First Church First TJniversalist, Old South, and Federal Street. — Transcript, Nov. 30, 1874. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. CHAPTER I. It would be an error to suppose that the Handel and Haydn Society sprang suddenly into life, like the mythic olive-tree at the bidding of Athena. Its coming was heralded by many earlier organizations of its kind, formed in Massachusetts towards the close of the last and in the first fifteen j'ears of the present century, whose eff'orts to amelio- rate the ^tyle of performing sacred music, and to raise the standard of taste, deserve recognition and remembrance. Among these were the Stoughton Musical Society, founded Nov. 7, 1786, notable as the first, and so far as we are aware, as the only musical institution which has held uninterrupted meetings from so remote a period down to the present time ; ^ the Independent Musical Society, established at Boston in the same year, which gave concerts at King's Chapel in 17x8, and took part there in commemorating the death of W^g.shington (Dec. 14, 1799) on his first succeeding birthday; th- Franklin (1804), the Salem, the Middlesex, the West Boston (1806-23), the Massachu- setts Musical (1807), the Lock Hospital (1812),^ and the Norfolk Musical Societies.^ The only one of them which has any special con- nection with our subject is the Massachusetts Musical, whose records, presented in 1864 to the Handel and Ha3'dn Society by Henry S. Nolen, a descendant of its first secretary, are inscribed, 1 So spoken of by Dr. Aldea o£ Randolph in a sketch of its history, printed in the Norfolk County Gazette, Aug. 13, 1870. The society celebrated its fiftieth anniversary Jan. 2, 1837, postponed from Nov. 7, 1836. ^ So named from the Look Hospital Collection, published at Boston, Septem- ber, 1809. The society sang at the annual meeting of the Mechanics Charitable Association, Dec. 17, 1812. ^ Other societies which sprang from Boston church choirs were the Brattle Street, Hollis, Bowdoin, and Wiuter Streets, each having its own books, bontainiug tunes for special use. The Park Street choir, 1810-27, and the Essex- Street Musical Society (1814-20) may also he mentioned among Boston organizations of their sort. The Lockhart Singing Society, at Andover, was founded early in this cen- tury, as were the Hubbard at Dartmouth College, and the New Hampshiire. 30 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. CONSTITUTION AND MINUTES OF THE MASSACHUSETTS MUSICAL, SOCIETY, FOUNDED BY CHAE.LES NOLEN, SEN., AND FBOM WHICH SPfiANQ The Boston Handbl and Hatdn Sooirtt. The claim i here made in favor of the older society is untenable, since it ceased to exist five years before the birth of its pretended offspring ; nor can any other connection between the two be allowed than that of a common membership, in cases where individuals who had belonged to the first society joined the second, and as it turned out to better purpose.® A similar claim might for like reason be set up for other musical organizations in Boston, such as the Second Bap- tist Singing Society and the Park Street Choir, which Gould ^ rightly designates as having been " an important nucleus to the Handel and Haydn Societj', and as having taken a prominent part in its perfonn- ances." We have before us two letters, written to Mr. Samuel Jennison by the late Mr. George Gushing,* one of the most prominent original members of the Handel and Haydn Societj^. from which we extract the following passages to show the reader how he regarded the claim set up by Mr. Nolen : — " I know not whether it is important for the public to know what was the immediate origin of the society, but if it is, I submit that facts and not conjecture should be the basis of such knowledge. As to the Massachusetts Musical Society, I can safely say that its name was never mentioned in our discussions ; certainly, I for one did not know that such a society had ever had an existence." The letter containing these words, dated Dec. 1. 1871, was fol- i Dr. J. B. Upham speaks of the Massachusetts Musical, in his semi-centennial address, May 23, 1865, as one of the earliest agencies having a direct bearing upon the foundation of the Handel and Haydn Society. 2 One of these was Charles Nolen himself, who was secretary of the Massachusetts Musical, and afterwards trustee and librarian of the Handel and Haydn. 8 Op. cit., p. 75. * This gentleman, who was for many years cashier at the old Columbia Bank, livf d at Hingham for many years, and died at Watertown in 1880, at the age of ninety- four. He played the flute for a long time in the Handel and Haydn Orchestra, and is spoken of by J. S. Dwight (Mem. History of Boston, I., p. 415) "as always an enthu- siastic admirer of Haydn and Mozart." HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 31 lowed two days later by a second, containing a still stronger repudia- tion of the claim. We give it in extenso : — ■- HnsTGHAM, Dec. 3, 1871. My deae Sik, — I did not mean to trouble you again on the vexed question which has occu- pied your attention so long, nor should I have done so but for the new item of information your last note gave me. I think that said "titlepage" con- tains about the coolest piece of assumption I have met with. I should lilce to ask " the gentleman from Penn," what was his authority for sucli a positive statement. For aught I know, there may have sprung from the M. M. S. a Handel and Hayden Society, but not, as I think I have sufficiently shown, the genuine Handel and Hnydn. If, however, the compilers of the forthcoming history persist in their statement of the origin of our Society, I can onlj^ say that they cannot do so without calling in question the veracity of Yours respectfully, G. CtJSHiNG. - This we certainly have no disposition to do, as we entirely agree with Mr. Gushing about the facts of the case ; but at the same time we think that, zealous partisan as he was, he would have admitted that > the Massachusetts Musical and similar organizations prepared the way for the Handel and Haj-dn Society, and enabled it to start under better auspices than it would have done had they never existed. Its beginnings were, in truth, very much on the same level as theirs, its aims professedly identical, and its resources and attainments for many years equaUy meagre : but it lived, while they died, because it was established at a time when the tide was setting in new directions with sufficient power to carrj' those who trusted themselves to its cur- rant rapidly forward. That the founders of the Massachusetts Musical Society deserve the credit due to those who take a new departure in any art or science on a higher level than any previously taken will, we think, be allowed by all who maj' have the patience to read the following abstract of its brief history given in the already mentioned volume of records. From it we learn that in the month of June, 1807, fifteen gentlemen, including Mr Charles Nolen, having subscribed two dollars apiece for the purchase of Handel's Messiah, Judas Maccabeus, and Acis and Galatea, Prang's twenty Anthems, Stephens's Cathedral Music, and Mozart's six Anthems, as a foundation for a musical library, agreed to meet at the house of Mrs. Marean, for the purpose of organizing a society for the selection, practice, and improvement in the mode of performing sacred music. At the meeting,' which took place on the 1 The persons present at this meeting were ; Ciiarles Nolen, William Bennett, Samuel White, Jr., Elijah Mears, Thomas Burley; James Pierce, Isaac Davis, Asa Peabody, J. P. Chaplin, Elias Mann, and Edward Bowman. 32 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 20th of June, a committee was appointed to draft a constitution, which was reported on the 21st of October, and accepted. It con- sisted of sixteen articles, and the following high-toned preamble : ' ' ' Having observed with regret the limited knowledge of most of the professors of the divine science of music, and deplored the prevalent vitiated stjie of performing that part of sacred worship, the under- signed, believing that musical libraries and associations would greatly tend to remedy those evils do agree to form ourselves into a society for the purposes of forming a musical library, and of occasionallj' meeting to perform and discuss the style of performing sacred music." We shall not weary the reader with administrative details, but con- tent ourselves with saying, that among the duties of the president,' as defined in one of the articles of the constitution, were the naming of tunes to be performed, the assigning a place to each member, and that of " keeping time" (conducting). All questions relative to the style of performing music at meetings and the selection of tunes to be sung were, however, referred to a selecting committee, whose recom- mendation was necessary to ratify the president's action. The tunes appointed to be sung at the first meeting were, Old Hundredth,^ St. Anne, Blendon, Easter, the 97th Psalm, and an anthem — "0 Lord God of Israel" — from the Worcester Collection of Psalmody,^ but as they were found to be too difficult, other pieces were substituted, including Pleyel's Hymn. At subsequent meetings held in 1809-10, Holdea's Dominion, Morgan's Hymn for Easter Day, Handel's " Worthy is the Lamb," a chorus from Saul, Williams's anthems "Lift up j-our Heads," "Arise, shine," and the psalm tunes Cambridge, Hotham, and Worcester, were sung. In February, 1810, the Society voted to sing the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah at the next meeting, — but it is doubtf il whether they ever did so. Few of the members pould read music, and while it was easy for them to learn short psalm tunes by ear, they were incapable of committing to memory a long and intricate chorus like the Hallelujah. Staggered by the difficulties which opened before them, and unwilling to meet the ever-increasing expenses, the members agreed on the 21st of March to sell their small library, valued at about $50, in order to pay out- standing debts, and on July 5, at Vila's Hall, after the sale had been effected, voted " unanimously," says the final record, " that this Society be dissolved." Signed, '-Ch. Nolen, Secretary. Amen." 1 James Pierce filled this office from 1807 to October, 1809. " Called in the Village Choir a " piece of musical antiquity," which had not been sung in any meeting-house for at least thirty years. * The first music printed from type in America, by Isaiah Thomas, January, 1776; HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 33 During its three years' existence the Society held twenty-three meetings; either in Boston at Vila's Hall, in Eoxbury at Sumner's, or in Cambridgpport at Hovey's Hall ; but, though a public exhibition was at one time contemplated, it was never given We have already referred to t'le Park Street Choir as one of the most important aids " to the Handel and Haydn Society at its forma- tion." This organization, which is spoken of by Gould' as "un- doubtedly the best of its kind in Boston," owed its superiority to Elnathan Duren, who, besides being a skilful musician and an excel- lent singer, had that all-important power of "moving a school or a choir at his will," without which no one, however gifted, can make a good conductor. The singing by his choir at the dedication of Park Street Church, in 1812, and on other public occasions for many years, is spoken of in contemporary records "as among the last things to be forgotten by those who were performers or hearers." One of these — the now venerable Gen. H. K. Oliver, of Salem, long an active member of the Handel and Haydn Society, and at all times zealous in the cause of good music — says, in a letter written to the Rev. Luther Farnham, Feb 20, 1869, "I was a member (boy singer) of Park Street Choir from 1810, or thereabouts, aud there knew Elnathan Duren ,2 his brother Abel, Nathaniel Tucker (a Boston wine mer- chant), N. A. Gould (born a Duren and name changed), William T. Eustis, John Brigham, and many others, all of whom, if I do not err, were early promoters of the new (H. and H.) Society. There were also Amasa Winchester, ^ a Mr. Webb,* Samuel Richardson, — with a bass voice of marvellousponderosityj^ — William Rowson, trumpet pla3'er,^~5TGraupner ' (father of Mrs. Ostinelli), music publisher and 1 Op. cit., p 75. 2 Trustee of the H. and H. S. in 1815 and 1816. ' President of the Mass. Musical Society from October, 1809, to its dissolution, in 1810; vice-president of the Handel and Haydn Society in 1815, 1816, and 1818; trustee in 1817 ; president from Sept. 6, 1819, to Sept. 1, 1823, aud again from Sept. 6, 1824, to Sept. 3, 1827 ; trustee in 1827, 1828. ' This person can neither be Col. T. S. Webb, the first president of the Handel and Haydn Society, nor Geo. I. Webb, president in 1837. * One of the most efficient solo singers in the Handel and Haydn concerts. His delivery of the part of Goliath in Neukomm's Oratorio of David (1836) made a great sensation. " Member of the Philharmonic, and constantly employed by the Handel and Haydn Society. 'Gottlieb Graupner, whose shop was in Franklin Street, four doors on the left from Washington Street, is spoken of by Mr. J. S. Dwight (Mem. Hist, of Boston, I., 116) as the pioneer of good instrumental music in our musical wilderness, the first important teacher of " the piano-forte in Boston, a leader in good works, with a 3 34 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. double bass player, Simon Wood, bassoon, and a second Graupner who played the violin. To these I should add Miss Bennett and her sister, Mrs. Martin, remarkable sopranos, from Park Street, and a Miss Holbrook." i Besides the Park Street Choir, other choirs of note furnished con- tingents to the Handel and Haydn Society, such as those of the TJniversalist Church, in School Street (ded. 1817), and the Central Universalist Church (ded. 1823). The singing gallery in the latter edifice, which extended across one of its ends, was large enough to accommodate from one hundred to one hundred and fifty singers,^ and a srnall orchestra. An idea of the quality of the music produced by the choristers may be formed from the following semi-serious description, taken from " Gilman's Village Choir " : '* The taste and knowledge of music performers was far from being uniform. While some sang with great beauty of expression and a nice adjustment io the sentiment of the happy modulations of a flexible voice, others made no more distinction between the different notes than did the printed singing itself, or any lifeless instrument that gives out the tone required with the same strength and the same unvaried uni- formity on all occasions. Nothing, too, could be rougher than the stentorian voice of Mr. Broadbreast, and nothing more piercing than the continued shriek of the pale but enthusiastic Miss Sixfoot. I shall not disclose the name of the man who annoyed us not a little with his ultra-nasal twang ; nor of another who, whenever he took the tone pitch, did so by a happy accident ; nor of another, who had an ungainly trick of catching his breath violently at every third note ; meagre following." After playing the oboe in the band of a Hanoverian regiment before 1788, when he was honorably discharged, he went to London, where he played in Haydn's Orchestra in the twelve Salomon Concerts, 1791-92. He subsequently went to Prince Edward's Island, and thence to Charleston, S. C, 1796-7, where he married, and whence he came to Boston in 1798. Here he kept a music store, en- graved music for his pupils, and with a few associates formed a small orchestra. In 1810 or 1811, he and his musical friends, chiefly amateurs, formed a Philharmonic Society, which met on Saturday evenings in Pythian Hall, and practised symphonies for their enjoyment. This society gave its last concert on Nov. 24, 1824, at the Pan- theon, Boylston Square. The orchestra, of perhaps sixteen musicians, was led by Mr; Graupner with his double bass. The violins were M. Granger, Amasa Warren, Mr. Dixon the English consul, and M. Eustaphi^ve, Eussian cousnl; clarinet. Granger, Sen.; bassoon, Simon Wood; trumpet, William Rovvson; flute, George Gushing; French horn, tympani, and bass-viol (cello)? 1 These ladies sang constantly in the earlier concerts of the Handel and Haydn Society. ^ They were drilled in a singing school maintained at the expense of the Society, which was open two evenings in the week during the autumu and winter months. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 35 nor of several of both sexes, whose pronunciation of jnany words, particularly of • how, now,' etc., was dreadfully rustic, and hardly to be expressed on paper." After the dissolution of the Mass. Musical Society, in 1810, no effort was made to found a new organization of a similar character until the close of the war. The welcome news that a treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent on Christmas day, 1814, reached Boston on the 13th of February, 1815,' and was received with the utmost enthu- siasm. A concert of sacred music at the Rev. Dr. Baldwin's meeting- house had been announced by the Second Baptist Singing Society for Thursday, the 16th, with a "programme made up of selections from "the oratorios of the most favorite authors of Europe," to wit, the first part of the Creation, the Hallelujah Chorus, parts of Judas Mac- cabsus, the Ode to St. Cecilia's Day, and the Dettingen Te Deum.'^ The Advertiser of Feb. 10 invited the public to take advan- tage of the opportunity thus afforded of listening "to the rare and astonishingly sublime and descriptive production of Haydn, which has never been exhibited in New England " ; and the same newspaper of the -15th made an additional appeal for patronage on account of the peculiar adaptation of some of the pieces to the present glorious and happy circumstances of the times." . . . These " perform- ances," sa\s the writer, " seem purposely calculated to celebrate the attainment of that peace which has so long been the object of our solicitude and of our prayers." We are, unfortunately, unable to say how far the concert was treated as a peace jubilee by the audience, for the only notice which we have been able to find of it, signed " Manj-," simply expresses the writer's satisfaction, and says that the ode written by Mr. Lathrop, and sung by Mr. Phipps, " was loudly applauded.'' ^ In musical annals, it is notable on account of the first performance in New England of a considerable portion of Haydn's popular oratorio, and it deserves remembrance and recognition as indirectly connected with, though not given in honor of, the great event of the time. 1 The news reached New York forty-eight days after the signing of the treaty, whence it was transmitted to Boston in thirty-two hours, with what was then " unex- ampled despatch." 2 " Anthems and choruses, with full accompaniment, trios, duets, and songs, with light accompaniment. Accompaniment to most of the above pieces written by Messrs. Granger and Scheffer. Concert to begin at six o'clock, with Overture of Pleyel by the Band. Tickets 50 cents each." — Advertiser, Feb. 10. s Columbia Centinel of Feb. 18. " The 'extracts from the Creation were very happily chosen, and, considering the magnitude of the undertaking, extremely well executed." 36 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. It was followed by a jubilee, expressly planned by the rejoicing inhabitants, on Feb. 22, the birthday of Washington. " Nothing but a Te Daum Laudamus," said the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, in his address at the opening of the First Musical Festival, May 21, 1857,i " could satisfy the emotions of the hour, and the great feature of the occasion was a source of thanksgiving and praise, without orations or sermon, in the Old Stone Chapel." The procession, in which all the State and city dignitaries took part, moved from the State House at ten o'clock on the morning of tjie 22d, to the Stone Chapel, where the exercises were opened by the band with an overture. Then followed Handel's Chorus, " The Lord shall reign," after which Col. Webb and Mrs. Graup- ner^ sang the duet, "O Lovely Peace," from Judas Maccabeus. The remainder of the programme consisted of, " We praise Thee, O God," chorus from theDettingen Te Deum; prayer by the Rev. Dr. Lathrop ; hymn, "Peace, the welcome sound proclaim"; Chorus from the Creation ; an Ode. written by L. M. Sargent, and sung by Mr. Huntington ; passages from Scripture, read by the Rev. Dr. Lathrop; hymn, "Now Peace returns with balmy wing," sung to the tune of Old Hundred ; and, lastly, the Benediction, pronounced by the Rev. Mr. Carey. ^ If we may trust the reporters, " the con. cert, electrified a crowded auditory, and received most unqualified applause from strangers and citizens who have attended the celebrated jubilees in Europe," and we do not doubt what the writer says, " that it was the best music ever performed in Boston within his remembrance." * That the lovers of music should have taken advantage of " the enthusiasm of the hour" to renew their former eflTorts to found a new musical society is so natural a suggestion that we readily accept Mr. Winthrop's surmise, ^ " that the impressive services of the Peace Jubilee gave the primary impulse to the establishment of the Handel and Haydn Society." This is not recognized in the accounts given of the first steps taken by its founders, but their action followed so closely upon the Jubilee that we may accept it as such, though we regard the concert of the Second Baptist Singing Society, which immediately preceded it, as equally entitled to be considered a factor 1 Addresses and speeches, 1852-1867, p. 334. 2 We do not know whether this lady was the wife or sister-in-law of Gottlieb Graupner, the publisher. Her name appears in several of the early programmes of the Handel and Haydn Society. ^Advertiser, Feb. 23. • C. Centinel, Feb. 25. ' See his already quoted address. HISTOET OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETr. 37 in the matter. The ah-eady quoted letter, written to the Eev. Luther Farnham by Mr. George Gushing in December, 1871, gives an interesting account of the origin of the Society : — " I was a member of the Philharmonic Society, which was got up bj' a number of amateurs for the performance of vocal and instrumental music, principally the latter, i In the intervals of the performances, the low state of church music was a frequent subject of conversation. On one of these occasions, a group of four or five happening to meet, the subject was renewed, when j'our humble servant, who was one of them, remarked that it was useless to talk any more about it, but that we had better proceed to action by having a meeting called of such as felt an interest in the subject. This being at once assented to, a meeting was shortly after held in Mr. Graupner's Music Hall, which resulted in the formation of the Handel and Haydn Society. The names of the group of persons just referred to, as far as I can recollect, were as follows : G. Graupner, Augustus Peabody (coun- sellor-at-law), Matthew S. Parker (cashier of the Suffolk Bank), John Dodd, and myself." The meeting referred to by Mr. Gushing probably took place on the 24th of March. It was succeeded by a second, the first on record, held at Mr. Graupner's Hall, on March 30, to consider the prac- ticability of forming a society made up of members from several choirs, and attended bj' sixteen persons.^ At an adjourned meet- ing on Thursday, April 13, the constitution was adopted, and Mr. Matthew S. Parker was appointed secretary. This gentleman was directed to call a meeting on the 20th, as he did by notices, of which the following, addressed to Mr. Amasa Winchester, and dated April 15, is an example : — 1 Mr. Gushing played the flute both in the Philharmonic and Handel and Haydn orchestras. ^We quote from the Advertiser of April 1, 1815, a paragraph entitled Improve- ment of the Taste for Sacred Music : " It is with much pleasure we learn that exertions are making to form a general association, comprising the leaders and most active members of the different singing societies of the several congregations in this metropolis, for the purpose of bringing into general use the compositions of Handel and Haydn. To create a fondness, to correct the ear, and improve the taste by practising the worlis of those justly celebrated men, so universally esteemed in Europe, must be an object worthy the attention of all those who feel a desire to become acquainted with the wonderful conceptions and extraordinary genius of talent displayed in their compositions of sacred music. The association contemplates digesting a plan, embracing all the musical talent in this town, for the purpose of sacred oratorio performances, towards establishing a fund to carry so laudable and praiseworthy an undertalcing into full operation.'' 38 HISTOET OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. " Sir, — Yon are hereby notified that the gentlemen who aj-e to compose the Handel and Haydn Society will meet on Thursday evening, the 20th inst., at 7 o'clock, at Mr. Graupner's Hall, for the purpose of organizing the said so- ciety and electing the officers thereof, at which meeting your attendance is requested. "By order. Matthew S. Parker, Sec'y." It is worthy of remark that the name of the Society is given in this notice, which preceded its organization. Who suggested it we do not know ; but we may safely give the credit to one of the five gentlemen named in Mr. Cushing's letter, and suppose that it was agreed upon at their preliminary meeting. In response to the secretary's circular, sixteen persons i met at Mr. Graupner's Hall at the appointed time, with Mr. Withington in the chair, when the chairman and secretary, with Messrs. Webb, Peabody, Winchester, and Withington, were ap- pointed a committee to draft regulations, and notice was given of a future meeting, at which the regulations would be presented, and to which the same committee was empowered to invite such other persons besides those present as they saw fit to select. When it was held at the house of Elnathan Duren, on the 26th of April, the constitution was adopted and signed by the forty^-four persons present, and the following officers were elected to serve until the annual election in September : Thomas L. Webb,^ president ; Amasa Winchester, vice- president; Nathaniel Tucker, treasurer; M. S. Parker, secretary; Messrs. E. Duren, B. Holt, J. Bailey, Ch. Nolen, Eb. Withington, John Dodd, .laeob Guild, W. K. Phipps, Jon. Huntington, trustees.^ On taking the chair, the newly elected president addressed the mem- bers in "a few but impressive words," after which the members subscribed $53, in sums of about $3 apiece, to meet expenses. This ■ sum was to be repaid when the state of the treasury should allow. We quote the preamble to the constitution, not given in the printed 1 G. Graupner, T. S. Webb, J. Dodd, S. Kichardgon (Brattle Street Choir) ; S. H. and M. S. Parker (Trinity Chnrch Choir); lib. Withington, "whose alto towered aloft in '0-thou that bringest'" (Syphax., 1874); J. Huntington (Old South Choir) ; A. Winchester, Joseph Baldwin (Hanover Street Choir) ; Luke Eastman, Aaron or Asa Peabody, and Dr. J. Miliken. 2 Bom at Boston iii 1771, son of Samuel Webb; he learned the rudiments of music from Billings, and became an active member of the Brattle Street Choir. At Providence he became president of the Psalterian Society. He Composed the music for many odes used by the Freemasons, among whom he held high rank. — Free- mason's Report, p. 57, No. 28. 8 This name was changed to Board of Directors in 1866, when a deed of trust was executed for the creation of a permanent fund, administered by three trustees. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 39 copies of the by-laws, as it sets forth in an impressive manner the objects for which the Society was formed : — " While in our country almost every institution, pohtical, civil, and moral, has advanced with rapid steps, while every other science and art is cultivated with a success flattering to its advocates, the admirers of music find their beloved science far from exciting the feelings or exercising the powers to which it is accustomed in the Old World. Too long have those to whom heaven has given a voice to perform and an ear that can enjoy music neglected a science which has done much towards subduing the ferocious passions of men and giving innocent pleasure to society ; and so absolute has been their neglect, that most of the works of the greatest composers of sacred music have never found those in our land who have even attempted their performance. Impressed with these sentiments, the undersigned do hereby agree to form themselves into a society, by the name of the Handel and Haydn Society, for the purpose of improving the style of performing sacred music, and introducing into more general use the works of Handel and Haydn and other eminent composers ; and we agree to adopt thirteen regulations for the government of the society, and to abide by them." These regulations provide for the dedication of proceeds of the sale of tickets (after payment of expenses) for the purchase of a library and of musical instruments, and fix certain important matters of administration. They provide that the president shaU conduct per- formances and assign to members the part which they are to sing ; that a seven-eighths vote of members shall be required to elect ofBcers ; that the roll shall be called at each meeting, and members not present, unless able to give a valid excuse for their absence, shall pay a fine of fifty cents ; that those guilty of disorderly conduct or non-observ- ance of regulations shall be liable to expulsion by a two-thirds vote ; and that meetings shall be held on Thursday evenings ^ of each week, at which standing rules or by-laws may be adopted as required, etc., etc. An article signed "Public Good" in the Oentinel of April 19 speaks thus favorably of the enterprise : " The Handel and Haydn Society will combine and select members from the choirs of the several congregations gathered in this metropolis,® and will extend to gentlemen properly qualified from the towns in the vicinity. It 1 Changed to Tuesday by new by-law adopted March 19, 1816. ^ Those which furnished members to the Handel and Haydn Society were, — 1, Brattle Street; 2, Old South; 3, Trinity; 4, Hanover Street; 5, Hollis Street 6, Federal Street; 7, West Church; 8, Chauncey Street; 9, Park Street. 40 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. is contemplated to practise the compositions of such European masters as have been most eminently great in their works of sacred music, and it is intended to perform oratorios (i. e., give concerts) for the general improvement of the science. No pains will be spared to carry out this laudable undertaking, and no doubt can be enter- tained that the public will bestow such a degree of patronage as the exertions merit, to insure which the gentlemen will necessarily be obliged to act with caution and circumspection in the admission of members to the Society, as well as in the election of its officers." At the first meeting of the trustees (directors) , held at the house of Elnathan Duren, April 26, Mr. S. Richardson was chosen librarian and purveyor. His duties were to attend all meetings, to see that music and books needed were made ready, and to provide suitable refreshments, attendants, fire, and lights. Shortly after (May 1) a room was engaged at S2 per evening in Mr. Withington's house, Hay- market Place, for trustee meetings, and Pythian Hall, a small wooden building in Bedford (then Pond) Street, next door but one to Kingston Street, near Rowe's pasture, was taken at $3 an evening, for Society meetings, and so used until the middle of February, 1817.1 The account of the early rehearsals of the Handel and Haj'dn Society, given by Mr. James Sharp ^ in an address delivered in 1866, at a meeting held to celebrate Mr. Benjamin B. Davis's fiftieth year of membership, is so interesting that we transcribe it for the benefit of our readers : — "In 1816 I had passed twenty years of my early life in England, — that twenty years which usually determines and fixes a man's tastes and habits. Music, vocal music, was my passion, and I had lived in a community that encouraged it. My musical companions were the choir of Winchester Ca- thedral, under the charge of Dr. , Doctor of Music, and the Southampton Glee Club; and when, on Saturday, April 3, 1816, I went on board (at the London docks) the ship '[Minerva ' for Boston, I gave to my friends my little musical library, supposing, of course, that I should never again, till I returned to England, hear an anthem, much less an oratorio. After a three months' boisterous voyage, I arrived in the town of Boston, and although a stranger anda foreigner, I soon found hospitality and friendship. I resided at South End; had been in Boston perhaps two weeks, when one Sunday evening I took my solitary walk across some fields near Essex Street, which were then called ' Rowe's Pastures.' The day was closing, the shades of evening were falling upon the quiet streets, and, as I passed occasionally a house whei'e I could see the happy family gathered around the evening lamp, I felt my 1 Pythian Hall is said to have been moved to South Boston, corner of C and Fourth Streets, where it was raised up a story and used as a tenement house. 2 An Englishman, vice-president of the Handel and Haydn Society in 1828. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 41 loneliness ; I realized the absence of those friends and those enjoyments from which a wide ocean separated me. Just at this moment, while my feelings were thus subdued, a breath of soft and distant music floated in the air around me, — so peculiar and so unexplained that my fancy almost suggested some supernatural agency. " Listening, I discovered from which quarter the sound came, and, guided in that direction, I ascertained more and more distinctly the theme that had so fascinated me. It was the favorite minor-keyed and well-remembered subject of one of Handel's choruses, 'And He shall purify the sons of Levi.' You may imagine that I, by entreaty, found admittance to the meeting. That evening I witnessed for the first time a rehearsal of the Handel and Haydn Society, — a society in whose ranks and whose engagements I have passed some of the happiest hours of fifty years of my life ; and the most valuable and constant friendships I have known have been friendships commenced by acquaintance on that memorable evening. The place the meeting then occu- pied was one of a class of buildings not uncommon at that time in Boston. It was a ten-foot wooden building ; it stood at the bottom of a street called 'Pond Street,' was probably built for a primary school-house, and was called 'Athenaeum Hall.' In this unpretending place were prepared those perform- ances w^hich, afterwards in the King's Chapel and elsewhere, secured to this rising Society reputation and respect.; and at these primary meetings were found those gifted men whose judicious and untiring eflbrts guided the Society to its present elevated and permanent position. The seats which these men once occupied are now mostly vacant ; but, as long as the records of this institution are preserved, the names of Winchester, Dodd, Par- ker, Chickering, and a long list of others, will be mentioned with grateful affection." Having the fate of the Massachusetts Musical Society before their eyes, the first managers of the Handel and Haydn Society must have felt how important it was to proceed with the utmost circumspection in all things, and we are therefore not surprised to find that as early as the 30th of May they decided to admit such persons only as had received a unanimous vote. The one necessary qualification was the possession of a good voice ; and this, considering that very few readers at sight were available, was all that could be asked. For this reason judgment had to be exercised in the selection of music for performance which could be easily learned by ear, and care had to be taken to announce the list of selected pieces beforehand, so that the singers might have time to prepare them. Thus, for instance, the tunes which were to be sung at the regular meeting on the 1st of August were selected by the president on the 14th of Jul3^ What they were is not mentioned; but the programme given in the records for the 31st of August contains, not only such well-known psalm tunes as Mardeu, Alton, and Harvard College, but something of a more ambitious char- acter, namely, " The Heavens are telling," and the Hallelujah Chorus. 42 HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. The result was so far satisfactory that after the annual election on the 4th of September, when the same chief officers were re-elected for the ensuing year,i a vote was passed " that the government of this Society make preparations for a public exhibition as soon as may be." A committee was soon after appointed " to ascertain what music had best be attempted and whether accompaniments to the same can be procured." As the Society had no music of its own, a subscription was opened (Sept. 4) among the members for the purchase of copies of the Old Colony collection, on condition that the editors agree to print in it from time to time such music as may be selected for pub- lication by the board of trustees, and a conference was held with them concerning this matter, as well as about the price of single copies to members of the Society This plan, under the superintend- ence of Messrs. Holt and Bailey, who were appointed to act for the trustees, led to the publication of " Lift up your heads," " Behold the Lamb of God," and " His Yoke is easy," from the Messiah, of the Hailstone Chorus, and " The Lord is a man of war," from Israel in Egypt, and of a Sacred Glee, by George I. Webb, entitled "When winds breathe soft." A number of copies of Haydn's Creation (single vocal parts on half- sheets) were also purchased (Sept. 22) from Mr. Graupner for five cents a page. Active preparations began on the 4th of September for the first public performance of the Society, which was afterwards appointed to take place at King's Chapel on Christmas night,^ and as the time approached rehearsals were multiplied. ^ The last two were fixed for the Saturday and Sunday nights before Christmas ; but, although the members had been, as a rule, very regular"* and punctual in their 1 A change was made in the board of trustees. Charles Nolen retired from it arid William Rowson and Otis Everett were added to it. 2 The Centinel of Dec. 22 says of the proposed concert, " We are happy to see that this respectable Society has appointed a time to favour the public with an oppor- tunity of listening to its performances. We have been favoured with a copy of the Constitution of this Society, and are pleased to find that their views are liberal and commendable ; they exclude no sect, but cheerfully unite with all in singing the high praises of God. We ardently wish them to persevere in their labours, and most sin- cerely say, ' Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces ! ' " * Sept. 7, 1815. Rehearsal attended by forty-eight members. Oct. 5. Secretary directed to supply each member with a copy of the Creation, parts of which were rehearsed. Oct. 30.' Vocal parts assigned. Time of performance fixed. Eight rehearsals held during the seventeen days before Christmas, one of which (Deo. 16) was attended by the Philharmonic Society. * This is shown by the fact that in the minutes the number of those absent and not of those present is noted. — Sketch of Handei and Haydn Sodetij,. Musical Library, p. 1 1 . HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 43 attendance, it is said that the president felt so little satisfied with the rehearsal of Sunday night that he ordered an extra rehearsal on Monday afternoon, and told the members that unless it proved more satisfactory than the last that even at that late hour the concert would be given up.i This proved to be unnecessary, and in view of the result we may safely attribute a large part of the president's anxiety to the responsibility of his position as conductor. The pro- gi-amme, which we give for its historical interest, is as follows : — SACEED 0RAT0EI0.2 THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY WILL PKUFORM AN ORATORIO Consisting of a Selection of Pieces of Sacred Music, cliiefly from the works of Handel and Haydn, ON MONDAY EVENING, THE 26th INST., IN THE STONE CHAPEL IN SCHOOL STREET, To commence at 6 o'clock. OEDEK OF PERF OEM ANCES. PART I. Airs, Choruses, etc., in tlie first part of tlie Creation, ending with "The Heavens are telling." PART II. Chorus. " Tliey played in air," etc. Air. " I know that my Redeemer liveth." Chorus. " Sing ye unto the Lord our God," etc. Air. " He shall feed his flock," etc. Chorus. " Lift up your heads," etc. Air. " Let the bright seraphim," etc. Duet and Chorus. " By Thee with bliss," etc. PART III. Duet. " The Lord is a man of war." Chorus. " He gave them hailstones for rain." Air. " 'T is Liberty, dear Liberty alone," etc. Duet. " Come, ever smiling Liberty." Chorus. " When winds breathe soft," etc. (JVehh.) Air. " Oh had I Jubal's Lyre ! " CnoKUS. " The Lord shall reign for ever and ever." Chorus. "Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipotent relgneth." 1 This is not mentioned in the records. 2 In those days the word " oratorio " was used to designate a concert of sacred music. The word, derived from orare, to pray, was first applied by San Filippo Neri to hymns and psalms sung by the " Congregazione Dei Padri dell Oratorio " in their oratory. The place name was afterwards given to the exercise. Who first used it as we do, to designate a sacred musical drama, is not known, but the first real oratorios were those composed by Francesco Balducci, who died about 1645. 44 HISTORY OF THE HAIJDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. This programme is noticeable on divers grounds ; and first, as de- noting the high standard of the Society from the beginning. Instead of being made up of such psalm tunes as were generally sung by church choirs, it consists of a number of the finest choruses and airs from Handel's chief oratorios. Great credit is due to Col. Webb and the trustees for having set the ship in the right direction at the outset, and thus determined her future course. Secondly, we may notice the excessive length of the programme, which must have occupied at least three hours in performance. It should, however, be remembered that as concerts were rare events in 1815, the good people of that day were disposed to make the most of their opportunities. On the appointed evening the concert took place, before an audience of nearly 1,000 persons, with a chorus of ninety male and ten female singers, whose treble was strengthened, according to the custom of the time, by a few falsetto voices.' In his interesting account of " the first oratorio of the Handel and Haydn Society," written for the Transcript, Mr. Jennison says : — " At the organ sat Mr. Stockwell. The orchestra was composed of the two Grangers, Bennett, and Warren, violins ; Niebuhr, ' single bass ' ; Graupner, double bass; Alexis Eustaphifive, the Russian consul,'' a noted patron of the art, Mr. Gushing, who played the flute, and Boquet, with per- haps a few others. The opening recitative in the Creation was sung by Mr. Jacob Guild. Mrs. Graupner sang ' With verdure clad.' Mr. John Dodd made his debui in the air, ' Soiling in foaming billows,' in the performance of which he was for many years famous. Other recitatives and airs in the first part were given by Messrs. Huntington, Holt, Singleton, and Steb- bins. In the second part, ' I know that my Redeemer liveth' was sung by Mr. Huntington ; ' He shall feed his flock,' by Mr. Brown. In this part Mrs. Graupner is remembered to have sung in brilliant style ' Let the bright sera- phim.' This was accompanied by Eowson on the trumpet. Other soloists were Mrs. Withington, Messrs. Winchester, Parker, Park, and Phipps. Mr. Webb, the president, took part with Mrs. Withington in a duet." The effect of the performance, if we may judge from the news- papers of the time, was verj- great. " We have no language," says a writer in the Centinel of Dec. 27, " to do justice to the feelings ^ At Ijhis concert the price of tickets was fixed at $1.00. Sixteen hundred tickets were printed, of which ninety-one were given to members, thirty-eight to clergymen, two to each member of the orchestra, two to each lady singer, twenty-eight to ward- ens and vestrymen of church, thirty-one were distributed to press and several given to Dr. Jackson. $496 worth of tickets were sold ; four hundred and twelve tickets were given away. Total proceeds, $533. 2 This " polislied gentleman from a European capital," as he is styled in the record, "was invited by the president (Jan. 18, 1816) to become a member of the Society in acknowledgment of the value of his services." HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 45 experienced in attending to the inimitable execution of a most judicious selection of pieces from the fathers of sacred song. We can say that thoae who are judges of the performance are unanimous in th-ir dec- laration of the svpmorily to any ever before given in this town. Some (f the parts electrified the whole auditory, and, notwithstanding the sanctity (f the place and day, tht excitements to loud applause were fn quently irresistible. The performers amounted to about one hundred, and appeared to embr/ice all the musical excellences of the town and vicinity. We should not parlicutarize, but some of the solos were sub- lime and animating. All the parts of the chapel from which the music gallery could be seen were full to crowding ; but we have learnt that many persons who were desiious of being present were prevented by the engagements of ChriUm'is. For this cauie, as well as to be indulged in a double gratifi- ation, we hope this oratorio will be immediately an- nounced for repetition." There is a ring of heartiness in this writer's words, due in part to his untrained and unsatiated condition, which forcibly contrasts with the often grudgingly given commendations of modern critics. In his day people were quick to express the enjo3"ment which anything above the average gave them, and writers were neither, as now, inclined to non-wonderment {(idavfiaaia) , nor troubled with the fear of committing themselves by praising that which, in the eyes of the better-informed, did not deserve praise. " Such was the (xcitement if the heareis and the enihuninsm of the performers," says an associate member, writing in the light of memory thirty-seven j'ears later, " that there is notning to be cdmpared with it at the prenent day." No wonder that the trustees of the Society soon responded to the widely expressed desire for a repetition of a concert whose unwonted excellence was so generally acknowledged. 1 1816-1817. It took place on the 18th of January with the same singers, and was, we may presume, even better than the first from a musical point 1 On the 4th of January a letter asking for the further use of the King's Chapel was addressed to the wardens and vestry, in which, after expressing the hope tliat the church had received no injury at the first concert, the secretary says, " If this Society had been instituted for private emolument or sinister purposes, they could not hope to obtain the use of a building erected for the worship of God; but the object being rather of a public than of a private nature, and intended to improve and propagate a linowledge of sacred music, they felt persuaded that you would indulge them in granting the use of the house when they made the application ; but it is with great diffidence they now solicit a repetition of the same favour." Records Jan. 4, 1816. 46 HISTOET OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. of view, though pecuniarily it was less successful, as, although more tick- ets had been given away than sold, the number of persons present was less by about two hundred and fifty than on the first occasion, a fall- ing off which can only be accounted for by the proverbial fickleness of, the public, which, then as now, is apt to disappoint those who build their hopes on its passing enthusiasms. ^ The notice that three days before this second concert ^ the Centinel stated that His Excellency the Governor and the Honorable Council would be present, and ventured to express the hope that the membei s . of the Legislature would ^^ avail themseloes of the opportunity of hearing the performance, which, for excellence of style, it is confidently believed has net been equalled in this country." With what indiflFerence would such an appeal for active show of interest in a musical event be received at the State House nowadays, and how surprised the State and city officials would be were they invited to attend a concert of the Handel and Haydn Society ! " Tempora mulantur, et nos mutamur in illis." Shortly after the second concert had taken place, the president made application for an act of incorporation (Feb. 5), which act was duly signed and sealed, on the 9th of February, by the Hon. Caleb Strong, then governor of the Commonwealth. Through it, as, stated in its first section, " Thomas Smith Webb, Amasa Winchester, Na- thaniel Tucker, and Matthew Stanley Parker, with their associates and successors, were made a body politic and corporation, for the purpose of extending the knowledge and improving the style of per- formance of church musiCj by the name of the ' ' Handei. akd Haydn Society." The first meeting of the thus duly legalized Society was held at Pond Street Hall on Feb. 13, and the second at Mr. Withington's house on March 1, at which all the persons named in the act were present A vote was then passed that all who should sign the constitution and ' One thousand six hundred and twenty-six tickets were printed, of which four hundred and thirty-four were given away, — to officers, members, governor and council, wardens and vestry. Whole number of singers, one hundred and sixty -one ; players, seven. Tickets, $1.00; persons buying four tickets became entitled to a fifth gratis ; and those who bought six, to two tickets gratis. ^ Shortly before the concert it was found that the Boston Theatre had advertised a performance for the same evening. As this would have deprived the Society of the orchestra, President Webb requested Manager Dickson to change his night. He, while disavowing any intention of interfering with or attempting to obstruct the plans of the Handel and Haydn Society, said that he could not do so without considerable expense. Ultimately he excused Granger, Warren, and Niebuhr from the theatre. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 47 by-laws within three months from date should be admitted members of the corporation. Thirty-nine persons did so, at a third meeting, on the 3 9th of the same month, when the then officers were reappointed to continue in office until the annual meeting in September, and the president was authorized to purchase one hundred and fifty copies of Handel's Messiah from J. Loring for $2 a copy, half bound, with leather corners. i Some of these copies were doubtless used at the third concert of the Society,^ which was given at King's Chapel on the 30th of May, when Misses Bennett and Holbrook, and Messrs. Munroe and Shaw, aided by several singers who had taken part in the first two concerts, sang selections from the Creation, Messiah, Israel, and Judas, together with Purcell's Anthem, "Oh give thanks." * The expenses incident to the three concerts, the hire of the hall for rehearsals, and the purchase and publication of music, having already created a small debt, an assessment of $6 was laid upon all 'the mem- bers who had not already advanced money to the Society, under the condition that it should be repaid when the state of the treasury might allow. Thus the sum of $181 was raised before the annual meeting on Sept. 2, when the same chief officers were re-elected for the en- suing year.^ The death of Mr. Stock well, who had been the organist of the Society since its foundation, took place in the early winter, and the difficulty of finding a successor was the cause of some embarrassment to the trustees. Boston possessed the very man of men, so far as musical ability was concerned, in Dr. G-. K. Jackson, then organist at ' King's Chapel ; but if we are to trust the Centinel,^ he asked " so enor- mous a sum for his services " when he was asked to assist the Society at a contemplated performance of the Messiah, that the secretarj-, Mr. Parker, was directed to invite Dr. Rayner Taj'lor ^ to come on from Philadelphia for the purpose. This gentleman at first declined to do so 1 Published at 2 CornhiU Street, for voice, organ, and violin, with choruses in score. Price, $3. Under the patronage and inspection of the Handel and Haydn Society. 2 Proceeds of concert, $286 ; six hundred and fifty-three persons present. ' Eleven numbers by Handel, four by Haydn, and several by Purcell, Kent, Nares, Dr. M. Green, Stephens, and Gregory. The concert closed with the Hallelujah Chorus. ^Melyin Lord succeeded S. Richardson as librarian, while Otis Everett and William Rowson replaced Charles Nolen and W. H. Phipps on the board of trustees. * April 16, 1817. The reason alleged by the secretary is, that the Society "being an incorporated body, Doct. Jackson does not associate with it." ^Dr. Taylor came to America in 1792, and in the following year settled at Philadelphia. See notice of Dr. Taylor in J. R. Parker's Musical Biography, p. 179. 48 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. on account of Ms engagements, and urged the Society to come to terms with Dr. Jackson, if possible, but, on hearing that this was out of the question, reconsidered the matter, as we shall see. Dr. Jackjson's action was commented on by the newspapers of the time in a sarcastic spirit, which is not surprising under the circumstances. We trust, says the Centind,^ referring to the fact that the Society had procured an organist from Philadelphia, that the DbCtor of Music (Jackson) is now convinced that his services are not essential to the perfoimances of the Messiah and the Creation. It is evident that the govern- ment of the Handel and Haydn Society showed great courtesy and patience in theii* negotiations with this very intractable per- son, and thereby put him all the more in the wrong. Thus in 1818, forgetting previous rebuffs, the committee appointed to obtain an organist waited on him and received the answer reported May 24, that the doctor refused to haoe anything to do with the Society, unless he could have absolute control of its concerns, or in other vords, be president. This was not to be thought of, but, to show that the board was able to rise above personal feelings, and do honor to remarkable talents, even when coupled with rude manners, we maj' mention that on Oct. 4, 1821, it appointed a committee to wait on Dr. Jackson and ask permission to dedicate to him their col- lection of church music, then about to be published, and confer with him about the same This time their advances met with a better reception, as the report of the committee, Nov. 19, '■'■that l>r. Jackson has complied with their reqtieti," indicates. The following sketch of his career in Boston will show the reader that this remarkable musician, who was conspicuous for his extreme corpulence ^ as well as for his talents and his irritable temper, treated all the world alike when he could not have his own way. After his arrival at Bostqn from Eng- , land, in 1812,3 he officiated as organist at Brattle Street Church for a few months, at the end of which time he was obligad to leave the city > April 16, 1817. " He weighed about three hundred pounds. The only record of his appearance is a poor engraving, after a pencil sketch made by Stuart Newton on the back of the organ at Brattle Street Church. '1745, born at Oxford; 1774, choir boy at King's Cliapel Royal; 1784, sung at Handel commemoration; 1791, received a diploma from St. Andrew's College; 1796, came to America, visited Norfolk, Va., Alexandria, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York; 1812, at Boston appointed organist at Brattle Street Church; 1813, gave series of concerts at Boston and Salem, with Graupner and Mallet; 1815, settled at Boston, successively officiated as organist at King's Chapel, Trinity, and St. Paul's. Musical Biog., J. R. P., 129, 130. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 49 on account of his refusal to take the oath of allegiance to the Ameiicaa government, whicU was required of all persons known or supposed to sympathize with the British, whose ships were hovering about the harbor. His departure must have occurred after the 29th of October, as on the evening of that day he took pait in a concert given at King's Chapel, on which occasion he played the carillon, an instrument con- taining three rows of bells placed side by side, which were made to sound by means of hammers connected with a keyboard.' We next hear of him in 1«13 as associated with Messrs. Graupner and Mallet in a series of concerts given at Salem and at Boston, where he filially established himself (ISlo) in a house near the foot of Middlecote, now Bowdoin Street, and successively officiated as organist at King's Chapel, Trinity', and St. Paul's. Whenever oppo- sition was offered to his will the doctor sent in his resignation, as at Brattle Street Church, when complaint was made that he made too great a display of his accomplishments .^ and at Trinity when Dr, Gardiner requested him to shorten his voluntaries, and he replied by advising the reverend gentleman to curtail his sermons. On the fol- lowing Sundaj- he gave vent to his ill-humor by picking out the psalm tunes with one finger, and on Easter Sundaj'. in assertion of his dignitj- as sufficient to exempt him frc>m mterferenee, appeared in the choir attired in the dress of an English Doctor of Music, with plum-colored coat, yellow breeches, and a square cap. This filled the measure of his offences and brought about the acceptance of his resignation, 1817. As at the beginning of the new year the Societj-, with about one hundred and fifty members, had fairly outgrown its cradle, the little hall in Pond Street, new quarters of more spacious dimensions were 1 When the great Sebastian Bach was organist at Mulhansen (1707-8), he invented and applied a carillon (glockenspiel) pedal of twenty-six bells as an organ attachment. ■^ That is to say, that his accompaninienta were too florid. Ernest David (La vie et lea auvres de J. S. Bach) tells a parallel story of Sebastian Bach at Arnstadt, as follows: "His style of accompaniment being considered too ornate by the church dignitaries, the superintendent, Oleanus, requested Bach to shorten his improvisations and moderate his arabesques. He immediately fell into the opposite extreme so markedly as to give offence. His biographer attributes this conchict to an excess of susceptibility, etc ; but the sub.-.equeiit history of the great musician's troubles at Leipsie with the directors of the Thomas Schule leaves no doubt that his temper was despotic and liis character irritable. 50 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. sought and found for it at Boylston, then South Market, Hall, which, despite the destruction of so many old landmarks, still rears its ungainly front on Washington Street. The price agreed upon, as we learn from the record of a meeting held on the 2d of February, was $3 an evening,' including the use of the organ, a small instrument with one manual which stood at the west end of the hall.^ While it was being prepared for the use of the Society, rehearsals of the Messiah and the Creation were held at Pond Street", where, on the 2d of January the Kev. John Pierpoint recited a poem called " Airs from Palestine," which, as we are told, gave great satisfaction to all present. The last rehearsal in Pond Street took place on the 4th of February, and about the loth^ the Society took possession of Boj-lston Hall, which, small as it now looks to us, must have seemed palatial to the members in comparison with their former quarters. The diagram here given, drawn by Mr. Sharp, shows the arrange- ment of the chorus and orchestra * upon the stage in relation to the organ at the period of which we are speaking.* HALE ALTOS, TWO ROWS. OBOAN BLOWEB. ORCHESTRA. SOPRANOS, ffALE AND FEMALE, * This was at the rate of $350 a year for accommodations which in 1860 were rented for $2,500. ^ The pedal organ represented on the concert tickets is, according to a letter written by Mr. Sharp in 1871, one which was built in London for the Rev. Mr. Frothingham's church. However this may be, we know from the Society's records that a vote was passed on the 28th of October, 1817, to hire an organ, valued at $1,500, of John Mackay, who agreed to keep it in tune for $90 a year, but reserved the right to sell and replace it if sold. 'In the Centinel of Feb. 7 the hall is advertised as "to be let," and in the issue of Feb. 15 adjourned meetings of the Handel and Haydn Society are announced for the 16th and 1 8th, so that the hall must have been engaged for the Society between the 10th and 15th. * Members of the Handel and Haydn Orchestra in 1817, as stated by Mr. Sharp : S. Wood, bassoon; .1. Hart, clarinet; G. Pollock, 1st flute; Filleborn, 2d clarinet or oboe; Niebuhr, 1st horn; S. Wetherbee, 2d horn; T. Granger, 1st violin; L. Ostinelli, 2d violin ; H. P. Heinrich, 2d violin ; A. Warren, 2d violin ; W. Bennett, 2d violin or viola ; A. Passage, 2d violin or viola ; G. Graupner, double bass. 6 At a later period, before 1825, as we learn from a previously quoted letter, written by Gen. Oliver, who then became an honorary member of the Society, the HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 51 The chorus, about one hundred and fifty in number, consisted of one hundred and thirty men and boys, including basses, tenors, and altos, and of twentj' women. What with the want of proper balance between the parts, the absence of contraltos, whose soft rich tones are to the modern chorus what those of the celli are to the orchestra, and the shrill sound of male voices singing in falsetto, the effect of such a body of singers, even if well disciplined, must have been beyond conception extraor- dinary ; but if we consider that the chorus singers, of whom we are speaking, were incapable of doing their work with any measure of what we should consider correctness, or any degree of what we under- stand by style, as denoting a comprehension of the manner in which the compositions of the great masters should be sung, we may sup- pose that their performances would be to us intolerable. As a rule, no confidence is to be placed in the correctness of con- temporary appreciations to be found in the newspapers of the time, -since they were written for the most part by men whose musical education was of the most limited nature ; but when, as in an article signed "O.," printed in the Ceutinel of April 16, 1817, we find a departure from the usually indiscriminate note of praise, we may put some trust in the record as an exponent of the real state of the case. The writer referred to begins by saying that the high gratification which the performances of the Society have afforded him arises not so much from their positive merit as from the promise given him of a more mature and chaste style of execution at some future period, and adds, " defects have been great, and we are surprised that they are not greater. Compare the effect of Hamlefs soliloquy when uttered by a Cooper and when uttered by a school-boy. The parallel will hold in music. The violins apparently played with no confidence (steadiness) in time or tune, the chorus was more than once completely thrown out by them (the violins) , and the efforts of the vocal performers completely paralyzed by their want of spirit. The trumpet seemed to require painful effort to give it utterance, and was frequently behind time. The kettledrums were too loud, and sometimes out of tune; and the per- former on the cymbals should have remembered that he was not in the open air with a military band. In ' Surely He hath borne our griefs ' forces were marshalled on the stage as follows : " The northern end of the hall held the organ ; in front of this was a space for the orchestra and the principal soloists, and on right and left was the chorus ; tenors behind trebles (sopranos), and basses behind altos. These last were, I think, males, and few in number. Second trebles (sopranos) had not come on (i. e., were as yet unknown)." 52 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. the chorus was thrown completely out bii the orchestra. Much confusion entued in thelast chorus of the Crealion, when there was a clcishhig in time for a few bars between the inslrumt-nts and the voices. Seme example^ otcvrred of such exceKsive loudness and stress of voice as to destroy all mutiical tone. The bass was best. The counter tenor was mostly givin in falsetto,^ n. voice of so little powtr ns to be almost lost in tie chorus. More treble was desired " etc. These criticisms are somewhat softened by the acknowledgment of the writer, that many numbers were smig by the chorus in an altogether unexceptionable style; but even with this qualification his account leaves a strong impression of the many gieat imperfections noticeable and presumable from the very nature of the case without the evidence of an eye-witness. An interval of eleven months (May 30, 1816, to April 1, 1817) separates the third from the fourth concert of the Handel and Haydn Society, during which it had, by a change of quarters, increased its importance and fairly donned the " toga virihs." The second period of its history properlj' begins with its establishment at Boylston Hall. On the 27th of January, being still in Pond Street, the trustees decided to give three public performances of the Messiah and the Creation, with a selection of suitable pieces between the parts, and on the ::^7th of March voted that they should take place on April 1 . On the 2d of February the president informed the board that Dr. S P. Taylof had agreed to come to Boston for a fortnight, in order to play the organ at the four last rehearsals and the three concerts for the sum or $200 and the payment of his expenses, which terms were accepted. The Columbia Centinel of March 19 mentions his arrival, and inserts a call for the general and punctual attendance of members at the re- hearsals, ^'' as it is intended to perform the wh'le of those two celebrattd ora'crius, the Mesdah and the Creation, which have never before (in their entirety) been heard in this country." The reason for so doing, given in the same paper of March 26, is in the last degree ingenious and surprising. As. saj's the writer, thtre is a diversity of opinion about their comparatioe mtrits, the uandd and Haydn !^ocitty prop' ses the following plan to gioe an opportunity of judging between them : ' Moscheles, during his visit to London io 1821, expressed his surprise at hearing the alto part suug by elderly men with head voice instead of by boys, as in Germany. In 1839, the late H. F. Chorley attended the Brunswicit Festival, and in writing about it he speaks of the relief that it was to be relieved from male counter tenors, and of how much the quartette gained by the substitution of contraltos. (See German music, cit. p. 26.) He cites as a proof of the want of good contralto voices in Ger- many the almost universal avoidance of the contralto voice as a solo by every com- poser earlier than Mendelssohu, HISTOET OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIEtr. 53 They will perform one of the three sections into which each oratorio is divided upon each evening, whiili will give specimens of both before the other is foigotten. Comment upon such a device is unnecessary, and we pass on to say that in a subsequent paragraph the same writer states that he lately attended one of the rdiearsals, und was plfas&l to find amohg the hwgcrs a greater variety I'f fine-toned, powerful, and wel'-viodidated voices tlian could have been expected. The effect of many of the choruses was, he adds, highly sublime. The four concerts, ' making a sort of a musical festival, were given within a week of each other. Three only had been announced, but owing to their great success a fourth was added, whose programme consisted of solos and choruses selected from the programmes of the previous evenings. Unfortunately we have no record of the decision of the public concerning the relative merits of the two masterpieces then performed with the view of settling the disputed question. The leading lady vocalist was Mrs. Withington,^ of whose singing of "'Tis Liberty, dear Libert}*," the Paladium grandiloquently re- cords tha', never did the mellifluous tones of the human noire more graipf'illi/ salute the ear than in this piece. The honors of the day seem, however, to have been awarded to Oliver Shaw, the blind tenor singer, composer, and music publisher, from Providence, ^ whose plain- tive and expressive voice, as we are told, took such hold of the feel- ings, that, although audible applause was to have been withheld, as vnsuitable to the occasion ahd plaie, the rule was disregarded. I hai e heard from the I'ps of one who listened to him, writes Mr. Samuel Jennison, that by his sweet singing, which was simple and natural, without any pretension to style or ornament, Mr. Shaw often so touched the hearts / the whole. With what admiring satisfacti'm, continued the preacher, have we seen him lead in singing the infinvely sublime gloies uf Creali'/n, Redemption, and the M ssiah ofOod, and almost forgotten that the lays we e m'trtal and the place was not heaven. In less grandiloquent language, but in words which are of far more historical value, as they clearly explain the secret of Col. Webb's influence, his biographer i says, he possessed the faculty of sur- mounting difficulties, removing objections, and allaying jealousies not infrequent among musicians, and at the same time of retai/dng the confidence which he had once inspired. Throngh his urbanity and the persuasive conciliation of his d sposUion, he was peculiarly fitted to discharge the ditties which devolved upon him as president of the Handel and haydn and vice president of the Philliarmonic Societies. Frothingham, one of Gilbert Stuart's pupils, painted a portrait of Col. Webb, from which an artist named Penniman made a drawing of fanciful design, engraved by Annim & Smith, about 1820 ® The print (see p. 68). a framed copy of which was presented to the / Society by Col. Webb's daughter, consists of a bust encircled by a wreath of roses and supported on a pile of music books. An organ, a precipitous and most unnatural mountain, a halo of glory and clouds evolved from "'the inner consciousness" of the artist, form the acces- sories, and the whole is completed by the following dedicatory inscrip- tion : — 1 J. R. Parker, Musical Biography, p. 185. ^ The drawing was burned in Penniman's store, Cornhill, and the plate, with a few impressions, shared the same fate in 1835, when a building occupied by the Bewick Printing Society, corner of Court Square, where they were placed for safe keeping, was burned. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 57 " To the Masonic Fraternity throughout the United States, who were cheered and illumined by the light of his mind, to the Handel and Haydn and Philharmonic Societies, which commenced and flourished under his auspices, to the enlightened and good of all classes of men who reverence genius, and love science, taste, and virtue, this print is respectfully dedicated by their humble servants. " John R. Pennimax. Annem & Smith." HISTORICAL SYNOPSIS. 1815. First meeting of Handel and Haydn Society . . . March 30. Eleventh annual meeting of Handel and Haydn Society, Sept. 4. First concert of Handel and Haydn Society . . . Dec. 25. 1816. Second concert Jan. 18. Act of incorporation signed Feb. 9. Third concert May 30. Second annual meeting Sept. 2. , 1817. Fourth concert April 1, Fifth " "4. Sixth " "6. Seventh " "8. Eighth " July 5. Third annual meeting Sept 1. 58 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. "^^^ Wd^> , MM-^^-^WMMM HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 59 CHAPTER II. "If Anything be overlooked, or not accurately inserted, let no one FIND fault, but TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THAT THIS HISTORY IS COMPILED FROM ALL Quarters." — Evagrius. THIRD SEASON. Sept. 1, 1817, to Sept. 7, 1818. At the third annual meeting of the Society, held on Sept. 1, Colonel Webb's letter, declining a renomination as president, was read by the secretary, and Amasa Winchester was elected to that office. As he refused to accept it, for reasons given though un- recorded, Benjamin Holt, who had served on the board of trustees for the past two years, was nominated and elected. Of this gentleman,^ by profession a school-teacher, we know but little. Preceded, as he was to be followed, by a president of remarkable ability, his peaceful and reasonably prosperous administration was only notable on account of the occupation of Boylston Hall by the Society, and the appear- ance of Thomas Phillips and Charles Incledon at its concerts. Boylston Hall, which was to be the home of the Society for twenty- two years, had been taken about the middle of September, 1817, on a four years' lease, with liberty to give it up at the end of the first twelve months on forfeiture of $60. At the first rehearsal held there on Nov. 4, the members sang Old Hundredth, selections from the Messiah, and several anthems from the Old Colony Collection, to an invited audience ; and, having thus taken possession of their new and yet scantily furnished quarters by the performance of a pro- gramme which was repeated at rehearsals during the remainder of the year, they made preparations for a concert. The secretary was directed to advertise the hall as a suitable place for concerts, lectures, and dancing parties, by the trustees, who in December discussed the advisability of inviting ladies to assist at the rehearsals and concerts during the season, and decided this important question in the affir- mative, though not without considerable opposition. The Misses Singleton, Wiswall, Wellington, Cade, Lynch, and Dixon were the iMr. Holt married a daughter ol the Rev. Thomas Baldwin, pastor of the Sec- ond Baptist Church. He passed the latter part of his life at Lancaster, Mass., and died there when past eighty years of age. 60 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. favored candidates. The addition of female voices to the chorus, thus made, is worthy of notice as denoting the acceptance of an im- portant principle in the constitution of a chorus ; but in point of fact it was at the time harmful, and so continued to be until the then prev- alent practice of assigning the tenor part to the sopranos, and the treble to the male altos and tenor, was abandoned. The confused and often painful effects of inverted harmonies produced by female voices singing in thirds and fifths above the melody were too glaring to be long endured, and the parts were in time properly distributed. But it was not until Lowell Mason's day that " order fair prevailed." In 1821 the old system had its advocates in country towns. This is proved by a letter in the Columbian Centinel, written by a Mrs. Rus- sel, in which, speaking of a concert at Maiden, she says, "The char- acter of some of the finest specimens of psalmody was entirely destroyed by soprano voices singing tenor parts." With such abuses, and the defects incident to the untrained condi- tion of the amateur chorus of the Handel and Haydn Society, drilled and conducted as it was by an inexperienced amateur, whose ideas about time, expression, light and shade, etc., were purely per- sonal, it is wonderful that the Society should have found not only patient but enthusiastic listeners to their performances of such an oratorio as the Messiah during many years of probation. This can only be explained by supposing that Handel's music, and the Scripture texts to which it is set, had become so much a unit in the minds of our forefathers, that, however performed, they accepted it as an integral part of revealed truth. To some extent this is still the case, although, as knowledge of how the music ought to be sung has immeasurably increased, the right and duty of criticism have asserted themselves with regard to the Messiah as with regard to any other musical work, sacred or secular. For the first twenty years of the Society's existence, the Messiah was, what it still is, the oratorio of all oratorios to attract the public. Every great work of art has an aesthetic and a scientific side, both of which are appreciated by the artist, and one only, the first, by all who with ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to feel beauty as revealed in human work, have not knowledge suflacient to analyze structure, and be able not only to admire, but to comprehend why they admire. Thus in painting, while the sensitive though ijntrained nature per- ceives and enjoys beauty of form, expression, and color, the nature which is both sensitive and cultivated has the superadded enjoyment arising from a full comprehension of the painter's mastery over mate- rials, his skill as a draughtsman, his power of grouping and composi- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY, 61 tion, his use of the brush, his management of light and shade, and color. Music being of all the arts that in which the aesthetic and inspired is most clearly separable from the scientific and intellectual, appeals on the one hand most markedly to those whose nature enables them to enjoy it as they enjoy a sunset or a flower, with charmed senses, but without mental action ; and on the other, to those whose knowl- edge of the theory of the art makes them to dissect the complex structure, to foUow the development of the leading ideas, to appre- ciate the balance of parts, and to trace the evolution of the whole work from its parent germs. To these sources of enjoyment a third is added in a great oratorio like the Messiah, built upon and growing out of sacred Writ, — an enjoyment shared by all religious minds, namely, that of finding in it adequate expression given to the spirit and significance of our Lord's life and words. It is not then surprising that, appealing as it does to the lover of beauty, the musician, and the believer, the Messiah, in which the light of Handel's genius shines with incomparable bright- ness, should have kept an unrelaxed hold upon popular affection for wellnigh a century and a half, and that now, in the year of our Lord 1886, it should be as fresh to our ears as it was to the ears of those who heard it on the 13th of April, 1742, when it was first sung under Handel's direction at Dublin. But to return to our history at the beginning of 1818. The records for January offer no items of interest, save the election of Samuel Cooper as organist, and the death, on the 19th, of an excellent tenor, William A. Codman, in memory of whom the members sung some appropriate pieces on the 27th, and the Centinel of Feb. 17 quoted the lines, — " His voice so soft, so clear, That listening angels leaned to hear." Like January, February had its seven rehearsals but no concert. Meantime the work of fitting up Boylston Hall was rapidly pushed forward and completed before the 18th of March, when it is spoken of in the Centinel as " well furnished with settees, brilliantly illumi- nated with gas, and provided with an orchestra (platform), which good judges from every part of the country pronounced superior to anything of the kind in the Union." All this new-found splendor was displayed to an admiring public at the ninth concert of the Society, March 31, i when Miss Bennett and Miss Glynn, with Messrs. 1 Proceeds, $160. 62 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Dodd, Winchester, S. H. Parker, and other members, assisted by the chorus, sang anthems, selections from the Creation, and from the Messiah, in which the principal solos were intrusted to men, Coolidge taking "O thou that fallest!", Phipps, "He shall feed' His flock," and Huntington, " I know that my Redeemer liveth." These airs were originally written in the soprano clef, but it is well known that Handel was not at all particular as to the keys in which his airs were sung. Neither did he think it necessary always to allot them to the same voices. "Thus," says his latest biographer,' "we find ' Comfort ye,' ' Every valley,' ' Rejoice greatly,' and the airs relating to the Passion, assigned to a soprano or a tenor indis- criminately." In anticipation of the tenth concert of the Society, which took place on April 2, with much the same programme as that which pre- ceded it, the Centinel calls attention to " the laudable exertions of the Society,'' and with characteristic Bostonian feeling says, " We attend its performances, not only to be pleased, but to be improved. Here," adds the writer in grandiloquent language, " while the critic in music admires the display of skill, and the mere lover of fine sounds enjoys an exquisite repast, the dead spirit may be awed with admiration, melted into tenderness, and kindled to praise." Among the solo singers whose names constantly appear in the programmes of this period is Miss Bennett (Mrs. Martin) . If the current anecdote be true of the gentleman at Roxbury, who, on hear- ing this lady sing, "Angels ever bright and fair, take, oh ! take me to your care," burst into tears and audibly exclaimed, " He will. He will ! ", this lady must have sung with no little sweetness and pathos ; but my duty as an historian obliges me to say that Mrs. Martin failed to recollect the incident when questioned about it in the year 1878. She had still, however, very clear ideas about the special defect in singing at these early concerts of the Society, for on being asked to name it, she replied, " Out of tune." Of Mr. Amasa Winchester, who was one of the best solo singers, and of Mr. John Dodd, who had a rich baritone voice,^ I shall have occasion to speak elsewhere ; but of Miss Glynn, one of the leading vocalists of the time, I have been unable to obtain any par- ticulars. All the singers who took part in the first ten concerts of the Society, with one exception, were Americans born and bred ; but at the eleventh it had the assistance of an English tenor singer, ' W. S. Bockstro's Life of Handel, p. 258. 2 Letter of Nov. 12, 1874. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 63 Thomas, called Irish Phillips,' who, as actor, singer, and lecturer on the art of singing, attained no small reputation in this country, though in England Ms name is known to few, even of those best acquainted with its musical history. Nothing is known of his career there but that he sung at the English Opera House (the Lyceum) before coming to America ; that he lectured on the art of singing at Dublin between his first and second visits to Boston ; that he was principal tenor in Elliston's troupe at the Surrey Theatre after his jeturn to London in 1823 ; and that he was killed in an accident on the Grand Junction Railway, Oct. 10, 1841. He made his first appearance in Boston, April 10, 1818, as Count Bellino, in the operetta of the " Devil's' Bridge," a character in which lie was painted by Penniman when singing the popular air, " Fancy's Sketch." . In our day the portrait would certainly not be ranked as a masterpiece, as it then was, neither would the singer in all probability escape criticism ; but all agree that he had one excellence which would have entitled him to modern favor, namely, that of distinct articula- tion, — so distinct, we are told, '■'■that the words of his softest passages were audible in every part of the house." Without remarkable compass or specially tuneful quality of voice, he made, by skilful management, the most of what voice he had ; and as his personal appearance was striking, and his ability as an actor above the average, he had many admirers. The Qalaxy of Dec. 26. 1821, says that " he probably did more towards correcting the public ear and refining the public taste, than any other individual " ; and if this be so, his visit may indeed be looked upon as " marking an epoch in our musical annals." Kelly in his reminiscences makes mention of Phillips as a pupil of Dr. Arnold, an accomplished singer and sound musician, and by far the best singing actor on the English stage ; ^ and Ireland declaring that. he sung with more feeling and expression than any other male vocalist we have ever had here, Incledon alone excepted. On the other hand, adverse criticism is not wanting. "His voice." says a contemporary, " has not the slightest natural melody in its tones, and he vainly strives to conceal this radical defect by attempts at scientific ornament. Whoever recollects how Braham sang ' Love's Young Dream,' wUl never sit with patience to listen to Mr. Phillips, whose manner is totally devoid of pathos, taste, and expression. He occasionally tries to imitate Braham in those outpourings of voice which in his case were so grand and overpowering, and gives us little 'To distinguish him from Henry Phillips, the famous English baritone, who came to America in 1844. 'Quoted by Eichter, Music in America, p. 151. 64 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. else than plain, downright bawling." i Finally, we feel bound to mention Wood's '^ statement: "Phillips regarded music as a trade, and pursued it without the slightest enthusiasm for the art." Unable as we are to decide between those who praise and those who decry Phillips's ability as a singer, we can form an estimate of his knowledge of the art of singing from the abstract of his lectures given in the Euterpiad, of which, as well as of President Winchester's estimate of his talents, we shall speak presently. At the regular meeting of the Society on April 18, 1818, the mem- bers voted to engage Phillips to sing at a concert on the 28th, and to pay him S200 for his services. He was present at the rehearsals held on the 25th and 26th of the inonth, and at the coneert,^ which took place on the appointed evenings, sung "Comfort ye," " Lord, remern- ber David," " For the House of Pharaoh," and " Let the Bright Seraphim," so much to the satisfaction of the trustees, that immedi- ately after the conclusion of the concert, they met, and wished to engage him on the same terms for another on May 1, at which he sang, " Now Heaven in all her glory shone," " Lord, what is man?" " In splendor bright," "Total eclipse," and " Gentle airs, melodious shrines." * Well pleased with his reception, and grateful to the Society for the opportunity afforded him of appearing as an oratorio singer, Phillips presented to the library, in June, a duet, " Here shall soft Charity," in September, an air and sacred dirge, and on the 9th of April, 1821, sent from England a manuscript anthem, "O Lord ! our Governor," composed and dedicated to the Society at his request by Sir John Stevenson, ^ which was afterwards printed in the third volume of the Society's collection. In the letter which accom- panied the manuscript, Phillips says : "I send it as the best remem- brance I can offer for those attentions shown me by the Society at large during my visit to Boston." Of his second visit we shall speak in its proper place. Hardly had Phillips completed his first visit, when a greater English tenor singer than himself, Charles Benjamin Incledon, arrived in Boston. A genuine English singer of ballads, " not oFthe modern sentimental cast, but of the original manly and energetic strain." This celebrated artist, son of a medical practitioner at St. Kenan, Cornwall, was born in 1763, and at the age of eight became a choir boy at Exeter. Having studied music under Richard Langton 1 Galaxy, Nov. 9, 1821. sw. B. Wood, Personal Recollections of the Stage (Philadelphia, 1855), p. 276. 8 Proceeds, $606. * Proceeds, 1411. 5 For Sir John's letter to Phillips, see Appendix, letter A. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 65 and Dr. Jackson, of Exeter, he either enlisted on board the " For- midable," 1779, or,i according to another account,^ was carried off to sea against his will, to prevent him from giving evidence in a trial relating to one of his superiors. After he had been transferred to the "Eaisonable" on the West India station, his fine tenor voice attracted the attention of Admiral Pigot, with whom, and with Admiral Hughes, he was wont to sing glees and catches. These officers gave him letters of introduction to Sheridan and Coleman when he was about to return home in 1783. On arriving in London, he joined CoUins's company, and made his debut at South Hampton in 1784, as Alphonso in Dr. Arnold's " Castle of Andalusia." Then followed engagements at Bath ; at Vauxhall ; at Covent Garden, 17th of September, 1790 ; and thirty years of activity, during which he was the prime favorite of the English musical world at theatres, concerts, and oratorios. His natural voice, which extended from A below the line to G- above, was full and open and simply emitted, while his rich and brilliant falsetto, in which he could execute orna- ments of a certain class with volubility and sweetness, ranged from D below, to E and F above the line. His singing was bold and for- cible, with little pretence to delicacy or tenderness ; his trill was even, and his intonation much more correct than is common to singers so imperfectly educated. As we have seen, Phillips sang for the second time at the twelfth concert of the Society, on the 1st of May. At the thu-teenth concert, on the 2d of June, the regular singers sang selections from the Messiah and the Creation, and first performed Handel's Grand Coronation Anthem. ^ On the 21st of the same month, Incledon was present at the rehearsal, and as he was known to be thoroughly trained in Handel's music, his opinion was looked for with no little anxiety. We are indebted to the Rev. Dr. William Staunton, of New York, an early and now honorary member of the Society, for the following interesting account of the characteristic manner in which he gave it: ''When the chorus, 'For unto us a child is born,' was going on, Incledon became impatient, and finally begged the president to stop the performance, for, as he bluntly re- marked, the choir knew nothing about the grand and peculiar charac- teristics of that chorus. He then, by request, told the Society what he knew by tradition, and proceeding to drill the singers, insisted on the unexcited progress of the semi-chorus portions till the climax was reached with the words, ' Wonderful ! ' ' Counsellor,' etc., which should burst upon the ear with the square and solid stroke of a vast 1 Grove, II., p. 2. ' Futerpiad, Vol. I., p. 121. 3 Proceeds, $94. 66 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. explosion. On this point of contrast, Incledon was strenuous, bring- ing down his uplifted arms and open hands with resounding strokes on the top of his desk." That was a valuable lesson, and we have reason to believe that it was taken in the right spirit. Nowhere in the records of the Society is there any sign of that unwillingness on the part of the members to submit to competent criticism, which amateur singers often manifest, and it is to this ex- cellent disposition, in a great measure, that the Society owes its long- continued existence and its present prosperity. At the last rehearsal before the first concert in 1815, the president, as we have already said, declared that it should not take place unless the singers " made better work with the music," and in so saying he struck the common chord of exertion, submission, and patience whose sound is still heard in our midst. But to return to Incledon : the records tell us that on the 27th of June the president was deputed to engage him for the fourteenth concert of the Society, which took place on the 1st of July, and at which he sang, " Great God, what do I see and hear? " " Charity decent, modest, easy, kind," " Comfort ye," "Every val- ley," " The horse and his rider," and "Total Eclipse."' There is little doubt that at this period of his life the great singer's powers were considerably impaired, and it must also be remembered that his forte was ballad, and not sacred, music. When he sang "The Storm," which is described as a unique vocal and histrionic exhibition, Incledon could still electrify his audience, but the very qualities which he then displayed were rather hindrances than helps to him when he appeared in oratorio.^ How could the man who " sang like one grat- ified to excess with his own tones and his own expression," adapt himself to music which for its perfect execution demands an eleva- tion of style born of self-forgetfulness? " Vanity," says an anony- mous writer, quoted in Saroni's Musical Times,^ " was the besetting sin of Incledon, the chief yet amusing abatement to his otherwise just and liberal character. In pronouncing his own name, he believed he described all that was admirable in human nature. Incledon called himself the English ballad singer, par exc-Uence, a distinction he would not have exchanged for the highest in the realm of talent." If his sincerity is to be trusted, he carried back to England a more 1 Proceeds, |T5. ''Mr. Spear tells me (S. J., Oct. 29, '73) that he has played accompaniments for Incledon ; that Incledon would sing wrong notes, and Spear would correct him. Incledon said that he did not know anything about notes. He learned wholly hy ear ; sang C in alt freely and easily. 'May 4, 1850. HISTORY OF THK HANDEL AND HATDN SOCIETT. 67 favorable opinion of tlie condition of music in this country than he had expected to form. " I have been most agreeably surprised," he said, in a letter to the Morning Posi,^ " at finding it in such high cul- tivation. I have never been more agreeably surprised than by my rapid glance at America. I shall always hold in affectionate remem- brance the connti'y which welcomed me as a stranger, and patronized me with as much ardor as it could have showed had I been her son." Under the name of the " Wandering Minstrel," as he called himself in the latter part of his life, Incledon sang in many parts of England up to 1826, when he was attacked with paralysis at "Worcester, and dying, was buried at Hampstead, Middlesex. The report of the condition of the Society, made by the secretary at a meeting held on Aug. 20, is favorable in every respect. Instead of a debt to be paid, there is a small balance of $120 in the treas- urer's hands, 2 patrons have increased, and the performances have improved in quality. "The Society," says Mr. Parker, "by good management and a strict adherence to the motives and objects which lied to its formation, has attained a character which promises dura- bility. Its leading and most important object is, and always should be, the promotion of a uniform, pure, and just style of performing sacred music in our houses of public worship. This requires such a knowledge of its science and practice as shall enable the Society to perform the compositions of the most highly appreciated authors who have written on sacred subjects, that their style may be diffused through the community. To accomplish this desirable object, it is evident that a considerable individual sacrifice of time, as well as of opinion, is indispensably necessary. A punctual attendance is desir- able. Ordinary meetings should be well attended, as we are liable to the company of auditors, including strangers, by whom we shall be well or Ul spoken of abroad as our performances may merit. It is important that each member should be in his place whether he has to perform or not, as otherwise a bad example is set to young members, aud the member appears lukewarm. "We have surmounted many obstacles, and are sure of success if we are true to ourselves. Let each member cherish an affection for the Society, which will produce a corresponding spirit of accommodation and forbearance. When called to order, let every member come forward and appear in his proper place, with a heart duly impressed with the solemnity of the employment in which he is about to engage, that of singing praises ^Republished in the Palladium, Dec 10, 1819. 2 Tickets sold, $2,763.0T. Balance to new account, $120.12. 68 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. to the Most High. While thus conscientiously and faithfully fulfill- ing our duty, may we not humbly hope that the great Fountain of Harmony may be pleased to prosper our sincere attempts to promote His praise ? " POUKTH SEASON. Sept. 7, 1818, To Sept. 6, 1819. At the annual meeting, Sept. 7, three of the four chief oflflcers of the past year were re-elected for another twelvemonth ; the fourth, Joseph Bailey, was succeeded as vice-president by Amasa Winches- ter. On the 17th, Joseph Lewis was appointed librarian ; and on the 4th of October, Jonas Chickering, who was to prove one of the most efficient and faithful members of the Society, was elected to member- ship. The position of organist was offered to Miss Hewitt ; but as she declined to take a place which she subsequently filled with so much credit to herself for several years, Mr. S. P. Taylor, of New York, who had played for the Society at several concerts in 1817,' was appointed in her stead. The season opened on Nov. 24, with a concert of selections from Handel, Mozart, Chappie, Shaw, and Webbe, sung by Miss Bennett (Mrs. Martin) and other leading solo singers, who repeated the pro- gramme on Dec. 3. Thus far the Society had contented itself with singing portions of the Messiah and the Creation, but had not ven- tured on producing either, or any other oratorio as a whole. It took this important step with the Messiah, at Christmas, and followed it up before the close of the season with the Creation and the Dettingen Te Deum. The principal singers at the Christmas concert were Misses Sumner and Bennett, Mr. J. Sharp, and Master White, the infant phenomenon who on another occasion made so strong an im- pression upon "Syphax" by his manner of singing Oliver Shaw's " When the cloud has passed away," that in a letter written in 1874, he says, " The sweet air is as fresh in my memory as though sung but yesterday " At the close of his letter, ' ' Syphax " refers to a custom of these early days which, shocking as it appears to us, was then no stumbling-block of offence. It is difficult to believe, though it is nevertheless true, that decanters of ardent spirits ^ were habitually ' See first number, Chap. I., p. 52, where his name is incorrectly printed. 2 That this was a general habit in church choirs at the time is shown by Gould (Chrirch Music in America, p. 102), who says : " "We have heard with our ears, if not seen with our eyes, that during the recess, ardent spirit was generously handed round HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 69 provided for the use of the male singers, by the superintendent of the hall, in one of its anterooms ; and when these were thought to be too public, in a place under the platform, iitted up for the purpose. " Among my earliest recollections," writes a gentleman who joined the Society in 1851, "nothing impressed me more than seeing members leave their seats at rehearsals in the old Boylstou Hall, and retire down the little narrow and steep stairs, on either side of the organ,' to refresh the inner man. The process was called ' tuning ' ; and the members, while engaged in the laborious effort to master Handel's difficult choruses, found it necessary to ' tune ' quite often during a rehearsal." The agitation of the temperance question, and the formation of the Massachusetts Temperance Society, gave a death-blow to this most objectionable custom, and made it a scandal of the past. The new year brought no other change in the work of the Society than the substitution of the Creation for the Messiah at its rehearsals, which were followed by the production of Haydn's masterpiece entire, at three successive concerts, on Feb. 16 and 21, and March 2.'- The Dettingen Te Deum was then taken up and sung on April 1. Thus within four months the Society had added three works to its repertory, of which the two first have been repeated ad infinitum from that time to this, while the last had up to 1884 been sung but three times, including its first performance in the spring of 1819. Mrs. French, a new singer of high reputation, came to Boston from Philadelphia in May, and gave a concert in aid of the Boston Female Asylum on the 18th of June, with the assistance of the Handel and Haydn Society, for whose benefit she sang in return on the "22d, with great and unequivocal success. This lady is first mentioned by Mr. Dyer,^ an English music teacher at Baltimore and Georgetown, in a letter dated July, 1817, written to Mr. Secretary Parker, as the wife of a dry-goods merchant, and pupil of Mr. B. Carr, of Philadelphia. '' Her compass of voice and exe- cution," he says, " were considerable. She ascends to D in alt with ease, and I have heard her sing up to F. On the whole, I do not doubt that she is the finest female singer on the continent." " She is," he among the singers in the gallery of the church, to cheer them on their course. This was done publicly, the minister, elders, members, and the whole congregation look- ing on with apparent satisfaction to see the young people enjoy themselves. . . . At a certain period, anywhere and everywhere, a glass of licjiior was looked upon to be just as proper and innocent as a cup of cold water^" 1 The receipts were respectively $304, $211, and $89. 2 S. Dyer, editor of New York and Philadelphia (Jbllections Of Ohurch Music, 1827,1828. ' " ■ ■• ■ 70 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. adds, " a more scientific singer than Mrs. Burke, called the 'American Catalani,' of whom you have doubtless heard." ^ With such qualifi- cations as a voice so sweet that the silvery charm of every note was to the eat like polished ivory to the touch, great distinctness of artic- ulation, and an extremely lady-like, graceful, and pleasing presence," Mrs. French had no difficulty in captivating her audiences here and elsewhere. The papers of the time vied with each other in praising her, and many were the verses penned in her honor. One poet, writ- ing in allusion to the fall of a part of the ceiling at Washington Hall in Philadelphia during one of her concerts, expressed his over- wrought feelings in the following lines, which rise somewhat above the average of like tributes : — " 'TIs said that Orpheus played so well, He raised Eurydice from Hell ; And St. Cecilia sang so clear That angels leaned from Heaven to hear. "But our Cecilia far excels These fabled feats. Her trills and swells Enchant the vaulted roofs and walls • Until the azure ceiling falls." ^ Another poet, of a more sentimental order, thus tunes his lyre : — "Lady ! to thee a voice was given The sweetest e'er bestowed by Heaven. Seldom such strains are heard on earth : They are of more than mortal birth. Our passions own the sweet control. To sympathy they wake the soul ; And ! thy soft, melodious art With love and joy can warm the heart. Inspire with hope, relief bestow On the sad child of grief and woe ! " EIETH SEASON. Sept. 6, 1819, to Skpt. 4, 1820. We have already spoken in our first chapter ^ of the memorial ser- vices held by the Society on the 19th of August, with the assistance 1 Previous to Mrs. French's appearance, Incledon and Phillips had both regarded Mrs. Burke as the best singer in America. "Mrs. French," 6ays the Palladium, of May 28, " is her superior in cultivation and taste, while her voice has equal volume and sweetness and greater oomp'ass. " ^Philadelphia Gazette, reprinted in Palladium of June 12. ' See p. 50, first number. HISTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 71 of the Philharmonic Society and the Masonic Fraternity, in honor of its first president, Colonel T. S. Webb. His death, which must have taken place before July 28, — as, according to the records, a committee was then appointed to make the necessary arrangements for the pro- posed services in his honor, — was followed closely by the election of his real successor, Mr. Amasa Winchester. Mr. Holt had on the •20th of July written to decline re-election, on the debatable ground that " the interests of the Society would be promoted by limiting the term of ofHee to two or three successive years " ; and at the annual meeting,' Sept. 6, the members, taking him at his word, nominated and elected Mr. Winchester. Assuredly they could not have done a better thing, for thereby the right man was put into the right place. As the president was ex officio conductor, the election of a profes- sional musician, like Dr. Jackson, for instance, would have been wiser from a musical point of view ; but while he would certainly have drilled the singers more efficiently, his irritable disposition would have kept them in a chronic state of disturbance. With the doctor to con- duct and Winchester to preside, all would have gone well ; but as the idea of thus openly dividing the responsibility never occurred to any one, the election of the latter was for the best. The Rev. Dr. Wil- liam Staunton, of New York,^ one of the early members of the Society, who claims to have a distinct recollection of Mr. Winchester, describes him as " a man of the old school, courteous and affable in manner. ... At the rehearsals and concerts he occupied a box or stand resembling an old-fashioned pulpit, which was placed on the main floor in front of the platform. In this post he stood, like our present conductor, between the audience and the performers, but did not really or visibly act as leader, either by gesture or by use of the baton. I have no recollection at that period of seeing any actual conductor, but (with the exception of an occasional hint from the president) there seemed to be an understanding that Sig. Ostinelli's violin was to be the guiding helm by which all things moved." This shows that, in point of fact, the president's role as conductor was little more thaii nominal ; the burden really rested on the shoul- ders of the leading violinist, Ostinelli. Mr. Winchester was an ama- teur, who, as we are told, had a great love for, and a fair knowledge of music, and was, moreover, a good singer. He came to Boston from Newton, where he had at one time been a school-teacher, and 1 The treasurer's report showed a balance of 8194.51, and stated the amount of debt incurred to be $1,061.56. Half of this sum was owed to Otis Everett for fit- ting up Boylston Hall. On Sept. 2, an assessment of S'lO was laid on the members. 2 Honorary member of the H. and H. Society. Letter of Nov. 1, 1881. 72 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. became a provision dealer in Faueuil Hall Market, and a inember of the Rev. J. Stillman's choir. i A writer in the Euterpiad, who signs himself ' ' Ralph," gives an ac- count of one of the Society's concerts which he attended in 1821, and says : " The president of the Society took his stand among the choir. "With a fine body of voice, much true feeling, much exquisite taste, and a very distinct yet musical pronunciation, he sang ; and I will only say, in the language of Kirke "White, — ' My spirit soared beyond the skies, and left the stars behind.' " Besides his voice, which made him practically useful to the Society, and a fine presence, which made him an agreeable object, Mr. Win- chester had a kindliness of nature, and a tact in dealing with men, which won for him their affection and respect. Of the many anec- dotes which illustrate his character, it will suffice to mention that when an assessment of $10 had been laid on the members, which some of them could ill afford to pa}', he, while insisting upon its being paid, would secretly slip the needed bank-note into the hand of the impecunious. Again, when Tom Granger, the violinist, of whom it was said " that he could play as well asleep as awake," was out of humor, and proposed to throw up his place in the orchestra, the pres- ident said to him, ""We shall miss you greatly" ; and added, "By the by, I have a very superior steak to-day, and I shall send you home a piece." In these ways he left behind him such a reputation for kindly tact that his probable conduct in difficult cases was sometimes cited as a guide to his successors. Thus, during Dr. Lowell Mason's administration, it happened one night that Kendall, the tenor trom- bone, could not reach some high notes in his part ; and Mason, rap- ping sharply on his desk, said, " "We cannot have that trombone." At this the irate musician left the hall. Fearing that he should lose him altogether, Mason said to one of the members, " "What would Win- chester have done?" " He would," answered the person questioned, "have tapped very lightly on his desk, and said, ' That trombone is very beautiful ; but, if you please, we will try the air without it, and see how it sounds.' " During the four years of Mr. Winchester's tenure of office, John Dodd was vice-president, Joseph Lewis, secretary, and Ebenezer Frothingham, treasurer. The first was a baritone singer, who fre- quently appeared at the Society's concerts. "His rich baritone still rings in my ears," says "Syphax" ; and the Rev. Dr. Staunton, ' Letter of B. B. Davis, April 5, 1869. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY 73 in the letter already quoted, speaks of Captain Dodd, as he calls him, as " a conscientious man, always aiming to do his best for the credit of the Society." With this aim, when he was called upon to sing the recitatives in the Creation, " for which he was admirably fitted on account of his distinct utterance," it occurred to him that by committing words and music to memory, he would be able to de- liver his part with greater freedom and effect. " The plan," says Dr. Staunton, " worked well for a while ; but on one occasion the cap- tain's memory failed him, and, becoming confused, he, to the infinite amusement of his hearers, sang, ' And God created great whales, and He said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, — and — sit and sing on every tree.'" "The gravity of the Society," adds the same writer, ' ' was also to my own knowledge severely put to the proof at times, by the vagaries of a trumpet-player named Rowson, who usu- ally sat on the uppermost tier of seats, apart from the orchestra. He had learned in early life to play on an old-fashioned instrument with- out valves, on which, for the production of many notes, the action of the lips and tongue was necessary ; and his attempts to execute, with his thickened and rugged lips, the long runs of semiquavers in the ob- ligato accompaniment to ' Let the bright Seraphim,' were so uncertain in pitch and frolicsome in movement that, with the utmost self-com- mand, it was difficult to control the temptation to laughter." With all these and other drawbacks, the effect of the Society's performances, if we may trust the memory of early members, was often striking, and, as they tell us, all the more so because the hall in which they took place was of small dimensions. " I have," says a gentleman who was a member daring Mr. Winchester's presidency, '• a distinct recollection of the clearness with which the several points of attack in intricate fugues were treated and made conspicuous, notwithstand- ing the mass of sound given out by the choir, the orchestra, and briUiantly voiced organ." Turning to the records of the last months of 1819, we find little of interest to chronicle. A proposal was made in September to restrict public performances to charitable or other special occasions, and rely on the sale of season tickets at $10, admitting a gentleman and two ladies, and at $5, admitting one person, which plan, though not accepted at the time, foreshadowed the later action of the Society. Its twenty-third concert was given on Dec, 23, when a part of the Creation, and selections from the Old Colony and Lock Hospital collec- tions, were performed by the chorus and the usual solo singers, includ- ing Miss Bennett. Mr. Merriam having declined re-election as libra- rian, Mr. S. Clarke was appointed in his stead on Sept. 9. The last 74 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. rehearsal of the year took place on Dec. 26, with singing from the Messiah. With the new year (1820) came the inevitable return to the Creation. As when the sun sets, the moon rises, so in ordered and unvarying sequence the two musical planets which gave light to the Handel and Haydn Society followed each other, giving opportunity for vocal stars to shine when such were available, which, as we have seen, was seldom the case. At the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth concerts, given on the 3d and 22d of February, Miss Bennett and Miss Copeland, with the usual male solo singers, assisted the chorus in singing parts of the Creation and various selections which we shall not enumerate. In this same month, at a meeting held on the 16th, the plan of pub- lishing a Collection of Sacred Music, under the auspices of the Society, was first proposed, and a committee was appointed to draft a sub- scription paper suitable for circulation. The great financial success of this undertaking, to which the Society probably owed its escape from dissolution, gives an interest to the following short announcement addressed to the musical public by the committee on March 5 : — " The Handel and Haydn Society, desirous of extending the knowl- edge of sacred music from works of eminent composers (and to effect such an extension they wish to make it an object to all lovers of melody and scientific harmony), have in contemplation to issue a publication, as soon as sufficient encouragement may be given, styled the Handel and Haydn Collection, containing select pieces from Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and other authors of celebrity, many of which have never before been published in this country." To this end public patronage is confidently solicited, and it is stated that the work is to be printed with pianoforte or organ accompani- ment, in good type, on double paper, in numbers of twenty-four pages, eight of which will make a volume, with all possible despatch. The price to subscribers, who will be allowed to withdraw their names on the completion of the first volume if they be so disposed, is fixed at thirty-four and one fourth cents, and a tenth copy is promised gratis to those who will purchase nine copies. i Early in May the committee on selecting and publishing music, consisting of the presi- dent, vice-president, and secretary, Holt, Huntington, and Parker^ speedily brought out an edition of the first number, consisting of one thousand copies ; and on June 15, the title of the work was deposited at the District Clerk's office by the secretary. The Euterpiad of 1 June 3, the price of the first number was fixed at from thirty-seven and one half cents to forty-four cents at the discretion of the committee. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 75 June 3, in noticing the publication, says : " In style, form, and work- manship, it exceeds anything of the kind hitherto attempted in this country." The writer then goes on to discourse upon religious music in a philosophic strain, and winds up with a reference to the diffusion of taste for it which may be expected from the establishment of the Handel and Haydn Society as a permanent institution of this town. A second notice, in the issue of June 24, contrasts the first number advantageously, both as to selection and arrangement, with many late musical publications, encumbered with false harmony, forbidden progressions and fruitless attempts at counterpoint. Upon such it was certainly a great advance in all respects. It contained " The Lord's Prayer," by Denman, a composer unknown to Hawkins, Fetis, or Grove; "Fallen is thy throne," by Martini (the Padre?) ; "The saffron tints of morn," by Mozart ; "Sound an alarm," and chorus " We hear," from Handel's Judas Maccabseus ; " Total Eclipse," and " Oh ! first created beam," from Samson. A second number was published before July 29, on which day it is reviewed in the EiUerpiad in like terms of commendation with the first. It contained Haydn's beautiful National hymn, "(?o« erhalte Fronz d'-n Kaiser" set to words by Dr. CoUyer ; "Lovely is the face of nature " ; Handel's "0 lovely peace ! " from Judas Maccabaeus ; "Is there a man?" by the same composer; and Kent's i anthem, " Give the Lord the honor due unto his name," — printed, unlike the other numbers, with figured bass. The third number, which was ready for distribution to the members on Aug. 20,2 contained Handel's "How green our fertile pastures," from Solomon ; " O Lord ! whose mercies," from Saul ; " How willing my paternal love," " "With might endued," and " To fame immortal go," from Samson ; Haydn's chorus, " Come, sweet spring," from the Seasons ; " He sees and he believes," Bishop ; and a trio, " The bird let loose," words by Moore, music by Beethoven. Although nothing could be more simple in harmony, more absolutely tonal than this composition, the writer in the Euterpiad^ awed by the great com- poser's name, declares that in it " the author explores many of the inmost recesses of harmony and modulation." Early in October appeared the fourth number of the collection, ^ containing an anthem for four voices by John Mosh,'' " O Lord who • James Kent, born March 13, 1700 ; organist at Trinity College, Cambridge, and of Cathedral and College at Winchester ; died Dec. 10, 1736. 2 Keviewed in Euterpiad, Sept. 9. 3 Noticed in Euterpiad, Oct. 14, 1820. « * English amateur, composer, and performer, 1750-1828. 76 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. has taught us"; "Winter has a charm for me," quartet, by A. Herbury, au English glee writer of the last century ; ^ "Arm. arm ye brave ! " with chorus ; " We come in bright array," from Handel's Judas Maccabseus ; and the anthem for four voices, " They played, in air the trembling music floats," by Sir John Stevenson, which it will be remembered was sung by the Society at its very first concert, Dec. 25, 1815.2 Eing's oratorio, "The Intercession," filled the next two numbers of the volume, of which, and of the remainder of its con- tents, we shall speak further on, when noting its completion early in 1821. The Society gave its twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh concerts on March 31 and May 2, when the Messiah and the Creation were interpreted by the chorus, with solo aid from Misses Sumner and Ben- nett, and Messrs. Coolidge, Baily, and Sharp. On June 30, sixty members took part in the religious services at the consecration of St. Paul's, 3 with Dr. Jackson at the organ, assisted by Messrs. Graupner, Ostinelli, Taylor, and a fall orchestra. SIXTH SEASON. Sept. i, 1820, to Sept. 3, 1821. At the annual meeting on Sept. 4, an encouraging account of the Society's financial condition was presented by the treasurer. The debt had been.reduced within the year from $1,150 to $161, and the secretary felt authorized to state that the institution " has never been in a more conspicuous situation than at present," — the word " con- spicuous," as we presume, being intended to coverall social and finan- cial questions. Well satisfied with the management of its affairs, the members re-elected the same chief officers, appointed the president, vice-president, and secretary, with Messrs. Holt, Huntington, and Parker, to be a committee on selecting and publishing music, and appointed Mr. S. Clark their librarian. So far back as Jan. 10, Mr. S. P. Taylor had resigned his position as organist,^ though he offered to serve in it until his successor should be appointed. In September he intimated that he could no longer continue to do so, and on the 26th, Miss Hewitt accepted the place. This lady (eventu- ' Musician in ordinary to George III., died June 11, 1796. - For programme, see p. 57, end oi Chap. I. 8 Euterpiad, I., p. 55.. *He was tlien elected an honorary member, and Jihanked, in a letter from the president, " lor Ijie faithful and scientific manner in whiph he had presided at the organ." HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 77 ally Mrs. Ostinelli) was the daughter of James H. Hewitt (music dealer and publisher in Boston and afterwards in New York), violin- ist, organist, conductor, and teacher, who brought her before the public at the age of seven. i Until 1816 she occasionally sung in concerts at New York, where she resided, and taught music in Mrs. Brenton's music school. Dr. Jackson gave her lessons on the organ, and Messrs. Ferrand and Moran on the piano and harp. " Her piano playing," says a contemporary, ''is plain, sensible, and that of a gentlewoman ; she neither takes by storm nor by surprise, but she gradually wins upon the understanding, while the ear, though it jiever fills the other senses with ecstasy, drinks in full satisfaction." We give this quotation as a specimen of the fine writing of the period, but we prefer the more sober record of one who still remem- bers her as " the leading professional pianist of Boston, whose per- formances at the Apollo Society were received with as much enthu- siasm as those of Joseflfy and his peers by modern audiences. Her ability as an organist," says the same gentleman, '■ may be estimated from the fact that at the rehearsals and concerts of the Society, she played the most elaborate accompaniments from copies which had been sorely neglected by the proof-reader." That Mrs. Ostinelli's services were appreciated by the Society is evident from the fact that she retained her place as its organist for ten years ; but it is also equally clear, from the circumstances which accompanied the appointment of her successor, Mr. Zeuner, here- after to be related, that she was not fitted for the more advanced demands of a later stage of musical development, which required a more thoroughly edncated musician. Her husband, Sig. Ostinelli, the best violinist in Boston, and leader in the Philharmonic Orchestra, was a conscientious and earnest musician, "who," says the same witness, " never scrambled through his work like a hireling, and was always in full sympathy with the chorus." From May 7, the Society contented itself with rehearsals until Nov. 14, when it gave its twenty-eighth concert, consisting of selec- tions ; and this was followed, on Dec. 19, by the twenty-ninth, which concluded with the final chorus in Beethoven's Mount of Olives. ^ AVe cannot close the record of this year without drawing the reader's attention to the evidence given of the increased reputation of the Handel and Haydn Society, by the following advertisement of a so-called Grammatical Music School, kept by a Mr. Huntington, in ' See I. E, Parker's Musical Biographies, Boston, 1825. 2 The two programmes are given in full on p. 167, Vol. II., of Euterpiad. 78 HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Cornhill : " Young gentlemen taught to sing and play upon the flute, and qualified for performance at church, or at the Handel and Haydn- Society." At the thu-d concert of the season, on the 16th of January, 1821, the selections were, in the opinion of the Euterpiad critic, ^ " uncommonly choice" ; " but," he adds, as he dons the judicial cap, ' ' it would be a dereliction of principle not to declare our unequivocal dissatisfaction with what we heard from all quarters, instrumental and vocal. The apparent want of individual exertion, constituting a pal- pable neglect of duty towards public expectation, showed itself on this occasion. We were reminded by the effect produced" upon our minds of the following effusion of an ancient bard of our metropolis- on jargon : ' Let horrid jargon split the air, etc' " ® In the same strain, a critic writes in ih& New England Galaxy : — "Why we cannot tell, but one thing is certain, the oratorios of the present, season have given less satisfaction to the public than those of past seasons. That of Tuesday evening last could hardly rank above an ordinary rehearsaL The orchestra was lamentably deficient in numbers or power, perhaps in both. The chorus, ' Lord have mercy on us,' was responded to with all the heart by- every- auditor." Such severe strictures show that improvement in style of perform- ance hardly kept pace with improvement in public taste, which it- should always lead, not follow. The time had come when stricter discipline and better training were needed to keep the Society in the van, and it was perhaps owing to the feeling of non-dependence upon public patronage, engendered by the late pecuniary success of the publishing venture, that a more vigorous effort was not made to- obtain it by increased musical excellence. The production of a new work. King's Intercession, ^ at a concert given on the 6th of Feb- ruary, and its repetition on the 15th of March, seem to have some- what stimulated public interest, as might have been expected from the popular character of the music. " It is more modern and more easy of execution than the Messiah and the Creation," says the Euter- piad, ' ' and the music admits of more fashionable embellishments than they do. [ ! ! !] The choruses have rather the simplicity of those at. the opera " ; with more in the same vein, which shows us that while the singers found the Intercession easier to sing, and therefore sang- • Jan. 20, 1821. Evterpiad, Vol. II., p. 171. 2 Billings. See No. 1, p. 24. * Matthew Peter King, pupil of C. F. Horn. The Intercession was brought out at Covent Garden in 1817. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 79 it better, the public found it more suited to their capacity, and there- fore listened with greater complacency. The work is published in "the first volume of the Handel and Haydn Collection, of which it jBUed numbers five and six. The choruses, simply conducted upon tame, not to say trivial, themes, modulate from tonic to dominant, and occasionally to related minor keys, making no attempt at counter- point in vocal or instrumental parts. The music is, in short, a modifi- cation of the psalm tune and the ballad, to which latter class the ■once popular solo, called "Eve's Lament," a melody of a common- place character, belongs. As men's character may be judged of by their associates, so may their level of musical cultivation be tested by the sort of music which they appreciate ; whence one may conclude that as the Intercession was admired by Boston audiences in 1821, their level was not a very high one. We presume that a letter signed "Ealph," reprinted in the Euter- jnad^ from the Galaxy about this time, relates to the concert of March 15, at which the Intercession was performed for the second time, although the writer refers in it to the selections given. " The singer •of the recitative and air from the Creation [probably Capt. Dodd] showed good taste and feeling, but wanted animation. ' Rejoice, . Judah ! ' was given by a distin guished bass voice [ Richardson ?] , under perfectc^aimapd. ' Father, thy work is past,' by the president [Winchester jf with a fine body of voice, much true feeling, exqui- site taste, and a very distinct yet musical pronunciation. A youth with a voice as sweet as a lute sang ' In youth's gay spring.' The choruses were mostly exceedingly well performed, though one, in which the short tenor solo in the word ' Amen ' sounded like the cries of a boy afflicted with the colic, might, in the writer's opinion, as well have been omitted." At its sixth concert,^ on April 5, the Society performed the Mes- siah ; and at its seventh, on May 15, sang selections from Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Boyce, and Bray, for the benefit of the Howard Benevolent Society, " thus making " (to borrow the language of a letter, signed "Edwa,rd Everett and others," in which the Soci- ety's aid is asked for this charity) " the pleasures of harmony a source of happiness and relief to those who are otherwise excluded from their enjoyment." ^ The first number of the second volume of the Society's collection 'March 17, 1821. 2 Programme : " Honor and Arms " ; "To thee, Cherubim," from Dettingen Te Deum; " Glory to God," Mozart ; " The Smile," Shaw, etc. s Proceeds ^150, which siim was paid over to the Howard Benevolent Society. 80 HISTOET OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. of sacred music, whicli was published in August, contains Kent's anthem, "My song shall be of mercy and judgment," Handel'& " Pious Orgies," a quartet by I. S. Smith on Milton's words, " Blest pair of Sirens," and Zerlina's '■'■ Batti! Battil bel Mazetto," from Mozart's Don Giovanni, arranged for solo and chorus on the words^ ' ' Gently Lord, gently lead us ! " It is well, perhaps, ' ' that the devil should not have all the best tunes," but the principle of association is strong in the human mind, and the substitution of "Hallelujah" for "Batti! Batti! bel Mazetto," in the following passage. ^ Hal - le - lu - jah, Hal - le - lu - jah, Bat - ti, Bat - ti, bel ma - zet - to, is as amusing an instance of its violation as could well be cited. The rehearsal of Aug. 12, which was attended by the "West Point Cadets, under Major Worth, had all the "prestige" of a concert. Their leader, Mr. Willis, played the trumpet obligato part to the Judgment Hymn, " The Trumpet shall sound " (sung by S. Eichard- son), and " Let the Bright Seraphim" (sung by Mrs. Martin). SEVENTH SEASON. Sept. 3, 1821, to Sept. 2, 1822. The conclusion of the season brought the usual business meetings in its train, reports for the year showing the Society to be free of debt, with a small balance in the treasurer's hands ; a statement that the sale of the first volume of the Collection had paid all printing expenses; the re-election of the same officers (Sept. 3) for the ensuing year ; and of Miss Hewitt as organist, and T. Bird as librae rian, vice Mr. Clark, resigned. At a meeting held on Sept. 18, Lowell Mason, who was to play an important part in the history of the Society, was elected an honorary member ; but as he preferred to take an active part, he declined to accept, and joined the Society as a regular member in the month of October. The " father of American church music," as he has been called,' was born at Medfield,^ Mass., on the 8th of January, 1792, and died at S. Orange, N. J., Aug. 11, 1872. He went to Savannah,, 'Oration of Rev. Geo. B. Bacon. Vonc/recjational Monthly, January, 1873. 2 Ritter, p. 169, says Mansfield. HISTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 81 Ga., at the age of twenty, and according to the account of Mr. S. Jubal Howe,i who knew him there in 1821, was superintendent of sales in a jeweller's shop, and conductor of a chok, for whose benefit he occupied his leisure moments in harmonizing psalm tunes. ^ He had previously learned something of thorough-bass by correspondence with Mr. S. G-. Taylor, organist of the Handel and Haydn Society, and was then studying with F. L. Abel, a musician who resided at Savan- nah. Thither, as it chanced, came Mr. W. M. Goodrich, a Boston organ-builder, to set up an organ ; and Col. Newhall, a singing-master with a good voice, who had some work to do in connection with a large hotel, then in process of erection. Mason, who became intimate with both these men, was very anxious to find means to publish his collection of chm-ch music, consisting of selections from the works of eminent comiDosers adapted to the use of his choir, believing that it would meet with a ready sale, and they probably encouraged him in the idea that he could not do better than make the attempt in Boston. Having determined to do so, he embarked with Mr. Howe, the narra- tor, on board a sailing. ship, in which they were the only passengers. At then- request they were landed at Falmouth, where they hired a boy with horse and carryall to take them to Plymouth, which they reached on a Saturday night, and where they spent the Sunday in visiting a Mr. Hobart, whose name was known to Mason as publisher of the Old Colony Collection. Finding that he was not a musician, the travellers proceeded to Boston, where Col. Newhall introduced Mason to Dr. Jackson, who examined his manuscript and gave him a first- rate certificate. The certificate, dated Oct. 5, 1821, five days before Mason signed a contract with the Handel and Haydn Society, by which they became joint partners in publishing a book, to be entitled ' ' The Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music, harmonized for three and four voices, with figured bass, for Organ and Pianoforte," runs as follows : — ' ' I have been highly gratifled with the examination of the manuscript of the Handel and Haydn's Society Collection of Music. The selection of tunes is judicious ; it contains all the old approved English melodies that have long been in use in the church, together with many compositions from modern English authors. The whole are harmonized with great accuracy, truth, and 1 T. F. Seward says he was employed at a bank. 2 S. Juhal Howe related these facts to Mr. S. Jennison in 1871. Tliey agree in. the main with those given in a pamphlet, entitled The Educational Work of Dr. Lowell Mason, by Theodore F. Seward, which contains a list of Mason's works, and a sketch of his life by A. W. Thayer, first printed in Dwight's Journal of Music. 82 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. judgment, according to the acknowledged principles of musical science. I consider the book as a valuable acquisition to the church, as well as to every lover of devotional music. It is much the best book I have seen pub- lished in this country, and I do not hesitate to give it my most decided approbation. " Very respectfully yours, " G. H. Jackson." " President Winchester," says Mr. Howe in the letter quoted above, " was also much pleased with Mason's manuscript, and made a bargain with him about its publication by the Society, without any mention of his (Mason's) name." This stipulation was inserted in the contract at Mr. Mason's request for the following reason, thus given by himself : — " 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 profes- sion. The clause in the contract which gave the Society the right to dispose of and sell the property was also inserted at my suggestion, because I had more confidence in Mr. Winchester for this purpose than in myself, and besides my residence in Savannah rendered it proper and even necessary." The contract " to select and publish from the Collection already prepared by Mr. Mason, stipulates that no piece is to be inserted without the consent of both parties ; that the Society is to have the superintendence of the publishing of all editions, and the right to dispose of theiu for such sums as they may think proper, but not to dispose of the copyright without Mason's consent." Before this time, as we learn from a letter written by Mason to Mr. Farnham, March 14, 1869, some musical arrangements of his had been published in the Old Colony Collection. He writes : — ' ' The first music that I ever furnished to the Society will be found at p. 128, in the second volume of that collection. I put the English words to the KjTie of Mozart, and sent them to a poor musical friend in Waltham, advis- ing him to offer them to the Handel and Haydn Society, and perhaps he might obtain some little remuneration. He did so, and I believe was rewarded, etc. The next thing was the very popular Gloria by Mozart, p. 133. Tills was about 1820." But to return to Mr. Howe's reminiscences relating to Mason's visit to Boston in the following year, and his contract of Oct. 10. " Winchester," he says, " sold the copyright, and Mason probably put ^500 into his pocket, and went back to Savannah, where lie was stUl clerk in a bank, feeling rich." The first intimation given him of the success of the publication was in a letter from ]Mr. Howe, who at his request called on Mr. Lord,i and learned that it was selling well, ' Messrs. B,icharclson & Lord took 3,000 copies for $500. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 83 Tery well indeed, and that another edition would soon be needed. On hearing this, Mason busied himself in preparing the materials, it having been agreed in the first contract that he should continue to select and arrange desirable compositions for future editions. These multiplied rapidly, and at the end of five years had yielded the handsome profit of 84,033.32, to be divided between the contracting parties. Mr. Mason then came to Boston in 1821, and entered upon a long and successful career, of which more hereafter. Of the three last concerts before the end of the year, the two fh'st, ^ven on Oct. 30 and Dec. 11, are of no special interest; but the thu'd, on Dec. 2.5, ' for the benefit of the family of Col. Webb, was notable for its object, and for the reappearance of Thomas Phillips, the English tenor, after a three years' absence in England. His sing- ing of the recitative and solo, " The horse and his rider," was, says the Euterpiad, " superior to anything within our recollection." Warm- ing with his subject, the critic goes on to say that the effect produced by Phillips's delivery of " In splendor bright," will not be forgotten ; a,nd then, rising to a pitch of unsurpassable eloquence, he records that on repeating "Lord, remember David," "into whose ad libitum passages he had already introduced some new and extraordinarily •effective modulations, he added scintillations of science both novel and classical " ! ! ! As if one star of the first magnitude was not enough on this memorable evening, whose performance, " taken as a Tvhole," we are told, "has never been equalled," a second of almost •equal brilliancy rose in the sky in the person of Mrs. Holman, who is mentioned in the Gentinel as " a beautiful and interesting woman, with an admirable voice both in tone and compass." She sang "Angels ever bright and fair," and repeated it "in response to torrents of applause from every part of the hall." Sang an anonymous poet in 4he Palladium : — " lady ! wlien the wings of worth To heaven thy ripened virtues bear, Breathe but the tones thou breath'dst on earth, And tliou wilt find a welcome there." ' Another female vocalist of merit, jMiss Davis, a mezzo-soprano, •described as "an interesting and truly classic vocalist," lent her aid • Proceeds |302. ' Mrs. Holman appeared on the stage with Pliilllps, who from sundry anecdotes would seem to have been not a little -jealous of her success. On consulting him as to whether she should sing the favorite song of " TuUy-Ho" at her benefit, he replied, ■" By Gr»-! madam, you had better put on the breeches at once, and play Macheath." (Beggar's Opera.) 84 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Qii this occasiou. She was Phillips's pupil, and a successful teacher of singing and the piano in Boston. The newspaper articles of the time show clearly that Phillips's second visit to Boston was less successful than the first. "And why?" asks a writer in the Galaxy. " Is not his voice as full, as perfect, as forcible, his articulation as dis- tinct? Does not his execution display as much feeling? Are not his musical ornaments as brilliant and sparkling, his cadences as intricate and as wonder- ful as ever? Yes ; but in the first place, his most celebrated songs have been sung or played during his absence by almost every real or pretended amateur in music, by professional men on the stage, by every girl who could finger a. piano, by every boy who could whistle, and by about every flfer who could play a march before a company of militia." As his old songs were worn threadbare, his new ones inferior to the- old, and his voice less powerful than of yore, it is not to be won- dered at that the singer found his hold on public favor diminished ; but he must have been gratified by the general verdict that he had- done much for musical culture in Boston. This feeling is strongly expressed in a letter written to him by Mr. Winchester after his final, leave-taking in 1822. "My regret that the most finished specimens of vocal talent which have ever been exhibited among us should have met with so disproportionate a reception is increased, when I reflect that the improvement of the vocal art resulting from your visit to this place will be a source of delight to the lovers of music for ages ; and this consideration," he adds, "will be your best remuneration. It was but little that the Handel and Haydn Society were able to- contribute to your happiness, but that little flowed from hearts- sensible of the benefits received from your precepts and example." Our account of Phillips would be incomplete were we to omit- reference to his lectures on the art of singing, delivered in Dublin in. 1820, and repeated in Boston, at Boylston Hall, on the 17th and 21st of December, with great eclat. In these he analyzed different styles of singing ; maintained that any one with an average voice, and indus- try to follow a few plain rules, would soon become an agreeable and perhaps an excellent singer ; and illustrated his remarks by singing^ passages from many beautiful songs and anthems, to his own piano- forte accompaniment. His last appearance in Boston was at a meet- ing of the Society on the 15th of December, 1822, when he sang Handel's " Lord, remember David," and Haydn's " In native worth." In June, 1823, he took final leave of an American audience at the Park Theatre, New York, and shortly after sailed for England. We shall conclude our record of the year 1821 with a rhodomon- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL ANU HAYDN SOCIETY. 85 tade entitled the " Genealogy of the Common Fiddle," which appeared in the Galaxy, June 8 : — "I have been unwearied in my efforts and unbounded in my researches, and with an immense deal of trouble have at last discovered that the Great Fiddle which groans so audibly (we presume with old age) in the oratorios of the Handel and Haydn Society, the motlier of all little Fiddles in this quarter of the globe, was left hy Columbus at Hayti, in San Domingo, when he landed on the island ; and that it was presented and forwarded to tbe liter- ary emporium of the New World by Prince Saunders, Esq., as a testimony of love and respect for his native city." Was it in consequence of this humorous diatribe that the Society found it advisable, iu 1822, to purchase a double-bass of Mr. Wood, for the sum of SlOO ? Both Mr. Phillips and Miss Davis sang for the Society on the 8th and 15th of January. At the first of these concerts, as we learn from the Palladium., Phillips sang "Deeper and deeper still" in his best style. In this, and in " Eveleen's Bower," which was rapturously encored, he gave a practical illustration of what may be achieved by following his rules for pronunciation and singing. Miss Davis sang "Farewell, ye limpid streams," and the "Mocking-bird," thus prov- ing that secular music was not excluded from the programmes of the Society when professional singers took part in them. A little more frequent assistance of the sort would have been advisable, for the occasionally severe criticisms which are to be found in newspapers of the time show that the solo singing by members of the Society was by no means of the best. Here are specimens, — the first from the Euterpiad, relating to a con- cert given in February. "We never," says the writer, " experienced so great a disappointment as in listening to the tenor (J. Huntington) who attempted ' I know that my Redeemer liveth.' " Again, a season- ticket holder, writing to the Galaxy at a later date. May 14, 1824,. speaks of the performances of solo singers as ' ' calculated to do little credit to themselves or to the Society. If needed, they should be sought outside of its limits. The solo singers at the rehearsal of the 18th of April were thoroughly inadequate.' On the whole, we think it is the most ridiculous rehearsal we have ever heard." Stric- ' To some of these, the advice given by Haydn, to a minor canon of Gloucester Cathedral about 1753, would have been suitable. This canon, who had sung in the chorus, was violently hissed when he attempted a solo. Haydn said to him, " I am, very sorry, very sorry indeed for you, my dear sir: hut go hack to your cathedral in tbe-eountry. God will forgive you for your had singing, but these wicked people in London, they will not forgive you." «6 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. tures are not confined to the singers, but extend to the orcliestra. "When," says another critic, "professional men are paid for their services, the public is entitled to their best possible exertions ; but the inability of some, the incapacity and indifference of others, com- bined with the absence of those most needed, had a tendency to dete- riorate the performance of many of the most effective pieces.' Two abuses which existed in 1822, and have ever since been annually pointed out as needing correction, are the habit of applauding at oratorios, " a habit," says the Euterpiad, " more worthy the amuse- ments of Thespis than of a place devoted to choral worship " ; and that of leaving the hall during the performance of the final chorus. If people must leave, they should do so before it begins, was said sixty years ago, and is said now, and will, we suppose, have to be said a hu,ndr(!d years hence. I happen to have in my possession a letter written a few years ago by one of the oldest living members of the Society, in which the writer speaks of the very period which we have under consideration, as marked by an " entke absence of applause and of encores during the performance of oratorios and sacred pieces by the Society." The passage just quoted from the Euterpiad shows that such was not the case, and proves that, like Elijah, we are not in this respect better than our fathers. There are occasions when the feelings are so wrought upon that it is well-nigh impossible to resist the impulse to give them outward utterance ; but such occasions are rare, and when they occur, though the offence may be condoned, it still remains an offence against pro- priety. It seems hardly necessary to remark that we are speaking of •applause as ill-timed when bestowed upon such essentially sacred music as that of Handel and Bach. Works like the Stabat Mater of Rossini, written expressly for vocal display, savor of the opera house, and may be fitly met with demonstrations suitable to it ; but these are out of place when made at performances of works like the Messiah or the Passion, whose words and music are alike sacred. The programmes of the concerts given on March 12 and 25, May 31, Nov. 12, and Dec. 1 were made up of the Intercession, the second part of the Creation, and divers selections, of which the solos were sung by Mrs. Stone and Mrs. Martin, Misses Cambridge and Woodward, Messrs. Sharp, Dodd, etc. These call for no special •comment. Phillips, as we have already said, was present at the rehear- ^ Euterpiad, n., 196. HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 87 sal of Dec. 16, and sang for the last time to the members, who doubt- less parted from him with regret. EIGHTH SEASON. Sept. 2, 1822, to Sept. 1, 1823. The annual meeting, at which the same chief officers were re-elected for the ensuing year, was held Sept. 2. The treasurer reported a. balance of over 8400 in hand, although a new organ worth $1,200 had been purchased of Mr. Mackay in the early part of the year. This, with eight hundred copies of the Society's publications, worth at least $2 per Yolume, placed it on a sound financial basis. On the 6th of September, Mr. Bird was elected librarian and Miss Hewitt organist, and on the 24th of December the publishing committee was directed to superintend a second edition of the collection of sacred music. The most interesting matter connected with the history of the Society iu the year 1823, to which its progress has brought us, is the fact that Beethoven was commissioned to write an oratorio for it. That the commission was given is certain, but as it is not mentioned in the records, Mr. A. W. Thayer is probably right in thinking that it was given unofficially by Eichardson and two or three other mem- bers. In October, 1854, Mr. Thayer wrote a letter to Mr. J. S. Dwight, the well-known editor of the Musical Journal^ to say that he had questioned Schindler, Beethoven's biographer, on the subject, and had learned from him that in 1823, a Boston banker, whose name was unknown to him, having occasion to write to GeymuUer, a Viennese banker, had sent an order to the great musician to compose an oratorio for somebody or some society in Boston, and that it was forwarded to its destination. At the time, Beethoven was about to begin a work for a Viennese society, to be called the Victory of the Cross (Der Sieg des Kreuzes) , the text of which had been furnished by his friend Bernard. Pleased with the order sent him for Boston, he determined at once to fill it with this oratorio. Wishing to know the truth about the matter, I wrote to Mr. Thayer, then, as now, U. S. consul at Trieste, for information, and in reply learned that in one of Beethoven's note-books at Berlin, he had found this passage : — ' ' 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 wite only for money. When this period is past, I hope to write what for me and for art is above all, Faust." 88 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Mr. Thayer also found an article on Beethoven in the Morgen- blatt fur gebildete Leser, Nov. o, 1828, which closes with a notice of three projected works, one of which is the oratorio, with English test, for Boston. 1 Neither at Vienna, nor in the Beethoven papers preserved by Schindler, could Mr. Thayer find any further mention of this matter, and we must conclude that it was never anything more than a project with Beethoven. We return now to the affairs of the Society during the remainder of the season. Between the 1st of January, 1823, and the annual meeting on Sept. 1, four concerts were given, — on the evenings of Jan. 28, when the whole Creation was sung, and on Feb. 11, March 25, and May 27, when the programmes were made up of selections, and the solo singers were there with whose names we are familiar. " The chorus of this time," says one of its still living members, " could hardly have numbered more than one hundred and fifty voices , and the orchestra from twenty to twenty-five players, among whom were several vigorous trombones." The instrumental strength is here probably soiuewhat ■exaggerated ; at least, we know that but thirteen players took part in the concert of March 25, and that the whole amount paid for orches- tral assistance during the season amounted only to S382. The purchase of an organ, a double-bass, and a pair of drums left the Society 1353 in debt at the close of the season, despite the largest sale of season tickets ever known. Nevertheless, the condition of affairs might be considered satisfactory, as the treasurer had received $711 from the sale of the Society's publications, of which about nine hundred copies remained on hand, valued at two dollars a volume, and its property was valued at $5,346. NINTH SEASON. Sept. 1, 1823, to Sept. 6, 1824. At the annual meeting on the 1st of September, the chief officers elected were all new, with the exception of the secretary, Joseph Lewis. The successful candidates were Kobert Roge'rson, president ; Joseph Bailey, vice-president ; and William Coffin, Jr., treasurer. As the gentlemen who had fiUed these offices during the present season 1 " Bine Symphonie, quartetten, ein Bibli8ches oratorium ihm durch den Ameri- kanischen Consul, in Enp;liscliei- sprache, aus dem Vereinigten Staaten iiberschickt nnd vielleichteine der Dichtungen von Grillparzer steht zu erwarten." This poem of Grillparzer's was the libretto of a German opera called Melusina, accepted and then abandoned. HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 89 ■were now appointed members of the board of trustees, it is evident that then- cordial relations with the Society had suffered no change. The new president, Mr. Rogerson, had been a member of the board during the past four seasons, but his name is not mentioned in con- nection with the Society after a close of his single j)residential year, which was singulai-ly uneventful. A concert of selections was given on Nov. 11, but otherwise the Society remained inactive until the opening of the new year, during which no new singers appeared, and no new works were offered to the public. This total want of euter- jDrise did not pass unnoticed. Severe comments upon the inadequacy of the solo singers, and the shortcomings of the orchestra at the Society's concerts, appeared in the newspapers, and judgiijig by the lame attempts to controvert them, which only succeeded in proving the weakness of the writers' cause, there can be no doubt that the criticisms made were fully justified. Three concerts of selections, on Jan. 20, March 16 and 23, and two, on Feb. 24 and March 16, at which the Creation was sung, represent the Society's work during the five months of 1824 which preceded the annual meeting, and closed the weak administration of Mr. Rogerson. TEXTH SEASON. Sept. 6, 1824, to Sept. 5, 1825. It will be remembered that after filling the ofHce of president for four successive years with singular success, Mr. Amasa Winchester bad declined a renomination, and was succeeded by Mr. Rogerson. The change of pilot had not proved satisfactory, and an effort was made to induce Mr. Winchester to accept a renomination. Whether be had declined to do so before his election, which took place at the annual meeting on Sept. 5, 182o, we do not know; but on being informed of it, he refused to accept, and the Society was informed on legal authority, that as the existing laws contained no provision for filling the vacancy thus caused, it must pass a special act. A meeting was accordingly called for Oct. 5, at which a motion was made to suspend " any by-law or lawS which prevent, or may be considered to prevent, the members from electing a president for the remainder of the present year" ; but after considerable debate it was voted down by a large majority, probably because its opponents entertained the hope that Mr. Winchester would cut the Gordian knot by reconsidering his refusal. This we may presume he did, as no ' further mention is made of the matter in the Societj^'s records, and his name appears as 90 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. president in the list of officers for 1824, with the names of Joshua Stone as vice-president, Joseph Lewis as secretary, and William Coffin, Jr., as treasurer. Mr. Chas. Nolen was re-elected librarian, and Mrs. Ostinelli, organist. The financial report for the year showed a balance in hand of $1,281.71, leaving about $100 in the treasury when outstanding bills should have been paid. In November, Messrs. Richardson & Lord were appointed to superintend the publication of 5,000 copies of the Society's collection of sacred music, at a cost of $833. .33 ; and at the same meeting a proposition was made to purchase a piece of land, on which a hall might be erected for the Society's- use ; but unfortunately, as we cannot but think when we consider the relative value of real estate at that and at the present time, it was- not seconded. Had land been then purchased in the heart of the city,, at a moderate price, even if no building had been erected, it might have been afterwards sold with sufficient profit to buy and build elsewhere. In such case the Society, instead of being a homeless- wanderer, would now perhaps occupy a building of ample proportions, of a simple and somewhat severe exterior, containing a noble concert, hall, adorned with statues of the two great titular composers, and with portraits of all the great writers of sacred music hanging upon its walls ; having a fine organ, an ample stage, with permanent seats- for the chorus singers ; rooms for the meetings of the board of government and for the examination of candidates : and a library, where scores, musical histories and treatises, manuscripts, etc., could be consulted at ease. There can be little doubt that sooner or later this '' castle in Spain" will become a reality in Boston, but it will b& when those who are now living have long since passed away. May those who are to realize the long-contemplated project, and. enjoy what their predecessors would fain have enjoyed, remember that " Hoc erat in votis " during many generations. Whether because a dearth of good singers prevailed in the land, or- that funds were wanting to engage such as might have been found, certain it is that none appeared during the tenth season, which we have now under consideration. Its programmes are somewhat more- varied than those of the previous year, but they contain the names of no new works, nor, judging by the remarks of the critics, was any improvement in the manner of performing old established favorites, perceptible. Selections were sung on Dec. 21, and on Jan. 25, 1825, King's Intercession was revived, as was the Dettingen Te Deum on Feb. 27. A part of the Messiah was given on March 22, and the whole of the Creation on May 3. Such is the record of a year which may fairly HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 91 be regarded as one which added little or nothing to the reputation of the Society, whose activities seem to have been specially devoted to the publication of a third edition of its Collection, and to the preparation of a thu-d volume of its Sacred Music series. The purchase of Dr. Jackson's copy of Dr. Samuel Arnold's edition of Handel's works in fifty-eight volumes folio, effected in the latter part of the season, made an important addition to the library, which, remained under the care of Mr. Charles Nolen. ELEVENTH SEASON. Sept. 5, 1825, to Sept. i, 1826. * At the annual meeting on Sept. 5, the same chief oflBcers were re-elected. In October, the board of trustees, moved by the late severe comments of the press upon the public performances of the Society, which had been but poorly attended, and confident that it could support itself on the sale of its publications, voted that its concerts " be and are intended for the improvement of its members and the amusement of their friends, and that no season tickets shall be issued." The concert given on Nov. 13 was consequently attended exclusively by the friends of the members, who, as we are told, "were highly gratified by the singing of selections from the Messiah and the thiixl volume of the Society's Collection." With Mrs. Ostinelli at the organ, and an orchestra of eleven musicians, engaged for the season at $347,i the year passed economically and quietly, if not brilliantly ; but as the policy of excluding the public was not adhered to, it is clear that the members felt the want of that stimulus to exertion which can only be supplied from without, and thought it better to reopen the doors and let in fresh air, than to die for want of it. Criticism is often disagreeable to societies as to individuals, but it is healthful, if for no other reason than that it draws attention to the little done in comparison with the much that remains to be done. " Das wenige verschwindet leicht clemfBlicke Der vorwarts sieht, wie viel nocli ubrig blelbt." Semi-public rehearsals, to which the members were allowed to invite their friends, were held by the Society in the three first months of 1826, and concerts were given on Jan. 31, April 23, and June 4. ' Marcus Colburn, bass, one of the most noted singers of the day, joined the Society in 1825. 92 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. In March, an assessment of six dollars was laid on each member, with the proviso that those who paid the first instalment before April 21, should receive three tickets gratis for a concert to be given on the 23d. One might suppose that the funds in the treasury were at low- water mark, did not the report of the auditing committee in Sep- tember mention a balance to credit of $787.32. "This," says the record, "proves that the Society can exist without extensive public- patronage," apparently forgetting that an assessment (always most unpalatable to members) had just been found necessary, and that the Society was kept alive by the sale of its publications. Under the first contract with Lowell Mason, which expired in this year, the Society cleared $2,516.66, a sum which uuder the second contract rose to $5,058.84. A committee was appointed in August to consider the agreement entered into by the Society with this gentleman, in regard to the publication of church music, and it very justly reported a supplementary agreement making provision for Mr. Mason's heirs in case of his death, considering that should it occur, "it would be contrary to every principle of honor and justice to allow that the Society could claim and hold all the property." The subject was probably brought up in consequence of Mr. Mason's arrival in Boston, at the solicitation of Mr. Winchester and other friends who had agreed to guarantee him an income of $2,000 a year, for two years, if he would make the change. Through thek influence he was appointed to take change of the music in the Hanover Street, Green Street, and Park Street Churches alternately, for sis months each ; and when he became dissatisfied with this plan, and by making a perma- nent arrangement with the Bowdoin Street Church, made it necessary to give up the proposed guarantee, they procured him a position as teller in the American Bank.' At the church or the bank Mr. Mason was near at hand to prepare new works for the Society, or revise those already published, and this was eminently convenient for aU parties concerned. The most notable event in the history of the Society during the season of 1826 was its participation in the commemoration services held at Faneuil Hall on Aug. 2, in honor of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. These eminent patriots died on July 4, a day whose return this year completed the first half-century of our National Independence, the day of all others with which their names are most closely linked. The exercises, held in the "Cradle of Liberty," opened with a 'Theodore F. Seward, op. (.■it. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 93 so-called funeral symphony by Mozart. After a prayer by the Rev. Dr. Lowell, the Handel and Haydn Society sang selections from Handel's *' Anthem for the Queen Caroline's Funeral," i at the conclusion of -which Daniel Webster delivered an oration on the lives and services of the illustrious dead in language equal to the occasion. "A superior and commanding human intellect," said the orator, ■" a ti-uly great man, when heaven vouchsafes such a gift, is not a temporary flame burning brightly for a while, and then giving place ■to returning darkness. It is rather a spark of fervent heat, as well as radiant light, with power to enkindle the common mass of human mind, so that when it glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in death, no night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire from the potent contact of its own spirit." After Mr. Webster had ceased to speak, the Society sang a dirge, set to the following text : — Hark ! attendant spirits say, Patient spirits come away ; Ye on eartli wliose work is done, Ye wliose glorious race is won ; Ye among tlie faithful found Witli your country's blessing crowned ; Ye to whom free'd millions raise Hymns of gTatitude and praise ; Summoned from this house of clay, Called in their full hour away. Longing for their native skies, Lo ! together they arise. Grieve not for the hallowed dead. Mourn not worth and wisdom fled. Filled with years, with honors blest. They alike in glory rest. TWELFTH SEASON. Sept. 4, 1826, to Sept. 3, 1827. At the annual election on Sept. 4, Mr. Winchester was re-elected president for the seventh and last time. Mr. John Dodd was appointed vice-president in place of Mr. Joshua Stone, and Messrs. ' Original score, dated Dec. 12, 1737. 94 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Lewis and William Coffin were respectively re-elected secretary and treasurer. Concerts with miscellaneous programmes were given on Nov. 12 and Dec. 16, and after the new year other concerts of the same sort followed. At those on Jan. 2 and May 13 selections were sung, and at that of March 25 the Creation was performed entire. This meagre musical record of Mr. Winchester's last season as president is a fair sample of the records of previous seasons under his direction. It is true that under " selections " we are to understand an infinite number of solos, duos, trios, and choruses, many of which were sung in Boston for the first time at some one of the forty con- certs given during his septennate, but the complete list of programmes shows that the only new work produced in its entirety on any occa- sion was a work of the third or fourth rank. King's Intercession, on Feb. 6, 1820. Parts of the Messiah and the Creation were often sung, but the first was given completely, or nearly' so, but twice in the seven years, and the second but six times, while the Dettingen Te Deum was sung but once, Feb. 27, 1825. The secret of this lack of enterprise, this apparent indifference to any widening of the field of observation in music by the production of new and great compo- sitions, of which we cannot but accuse Mr. Winchester and his col- leagues, is that they allowed themselves to become so complete!}' absorbed in the endeavor to prepare and publish as many volumes of sacred music as possible, that any other work for the Society seemed of little comparative importance. It is true that in this way they did a great deal towards spreading a knowledge of good music through- out the community ; and it is also true that their course probably saved the Society from ruinous embarrassment and possible dissolu- tion ; but while for these signal services they deserve commendation and gratitude, they cannot on the other hand be altogether excused for overlooking the no less incumbent duty of studying and bringing for- ward from time to time previously unheard works of the composers whose names the Society bears, as well as compositions of high merit by other great musical writers. It is, however, certain that those who have had much to do with the management of such a Society as the Handel and Haydn, knowing how difl3cult it often is to conciliate the material interests upon which continued existence depends with the artistic aims which only a richly endowed institution can exclusively pursue, will be disposed to take a comparatively lenient view of Mr. Winchester's musical shortcom- ings, especially as he was in every other respect one of the best pres- idents that the Society has ever had. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 95 THIRTEENTH SEASON. Sept. 3, 1827, to Sbjpt. 1, 1828. "When Mr. Winchester declined a renomination, there can have been little dpabt .in anybody's mind a,^ to the choice of his suc- cessor. The nian whom he h?/d brought to Boston to be the Society's musical editor, the able, and enterprising Mr. Mason, was at hand, and upon him all votes naturally united at the annual meeting on Sept. 3, 1827. On being informed of his election, he was introduced by the presiding officer, and after addressing the members " very pertinently," to quote the records, " accepted the trust." A vote of thanks was then passed to the retiring president, " for the zeal and interest which he has always manifested for the welfare and prosperity of the Society, and especially for the talent, independence, and impar- tiality which have uniforrnly marked his conduct as presiding officer. " That thanks were never better deserved than in Mr. Winchester's case goes without saying, nor were expressions of regret ever more genuine than those caused by the retirement of one who had endeared himself to all his associates by countless acts of kindness and fore- thought. In his successor the Society found other qualities, less engaging but more important to its welfare, — the qualities which belong to a very able teacher and a strict disciplinarian. It had, as we have seen, lost much of its hold upon public favor, and stood in need of thorough reform in its methods of study and style of per- formance. Impressed with the necessity of providing more competent solo singers as a matter of the first importance, Mr. Mason, within three weeks after his election, persuaded the board of trustees to hire a room fm-nished with a pianoforte, where he could meet and instruct such members as in his judgment were likely to become proficient in the art of singing. The organization of a solo class, and the appointment of the president as its instructor, which could hardly have been avoided under the circumstances, were wise steps ; for the first was a crying necessity, and although more learned musicians might have been found than Mr. Mason to direct it, he was even at this period of his career exceptionally fit for the post. "He was not a genius," says Dr. Ritter, " perhaps only an average talent, but a clear- sighted, practical man, fit leader of the American people as they were," and we may add, in many respects, of the Handel and Haydn Society as it was. First and foremost, he was not so very much superior to the members as to be unreasonably impatient at their short- 96 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. comings. Second, he was a born teacher, who by hard work had fitted himself to give instruction in singing. Third, he was one of them- selves, a plain, self-made man, who could understand them and be understood of them. At a later stage, a leader with a higher ideal than the [psalm tune was desirable, but some preliminary drilling in reading at sight, keeping time, light and shade, enunciation, etc., was needed, and Jin these things Mason was fitted to do good service. Some details of '^his career beyond those already given ■ naturally find place here. From 1826, when he came to reside in Boston, until 1851, when he removed to]^New York, and there, until within four years of his death, which took place in 1873, he exercised great influence, through his compilations, his lectures at teachers' institutes, and his musical text- books. i While in Boston, he lived two and one half years in Essex Street, Hanover and Park Streets, fourteen years in Bowdoin Street, and seven and one half in Central Street. " His long life of more than eighty years," said the Eev. Geo. B. Bacon in a funeral oration deliv- ered in 1873, " spans almost the whole history of sacred music in this country," and by its fruits entitled him to be called the father of American church music. He left behind him no less than fifty vol- umes bf musical compositions and compilations.^ The first al-e gen- erally correctly harmonized psalm tunes, of simple structure and little inspiration. The harmonies shift from tonic to dominant and back again, with an occasional modulation into the relative minor or some closely related major key. For these he will not be remembered, but rather for the real service which he rendered to the cause of music bj' the introduction of vocal instruction into school education on a. practical and sensible plan. Initiated about 1831 , by Mr. Woodbridge, after his return from Europe, into the Pestalozzian system as taught by Nageli and Pf eiffer. Mason adopted it as the basis of his ' ' Boston Acad- emy Manual," and it is to this little book 3 that we owe the teaching of singing as a branch of common-school education on sound principles. With some modifications it might be adopted as a text-book to-day, and 'Lowell Mason had the degree of Musical Doctor conferred upon him by the University of ISew York in 1855. ' " Psalm tunes, short anthems, and songs for children's classes, simple treatment, melodic and harmonic ; in many, evident endeavor to imitate German chorales ; tunes smooth, simple, rhythmical constitution, rather prosaic expression, alternat- ing with commonplace sentimentality, little originality in them. Harmonic treat- ment confined to closely related chords, generally correct. Four-part, arrangement has little individual life. Alto and tenor have a predilection for stationary existence. Mason was not much of a contrapuntist."— Rltter. 3 Second edition published in 1836. -HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 97 ■do excellent service. This is no slight praise, considering the many laborers who have followed him in the field dnring the last half-cen- tury. • As showing the appreciation in which Mason's services were held here in 1851, we may mention that on his leaving Boston in July of that year, he was presented by his adniirers with a silver vase thirteen and one half inches high, nine and one half wide, designed by Charles E. Parker,^ and executed by Henry Haddock, silversmith, which bore this inscription : " Presented to Lowell Mason by the past and pres ent members of his choirs, July, 1851." The vase was decorated with an elaborately engraved church orga,n, and with shields supported bj' musical instruments, on one of which'was inscribed " Omnis spiritu.t laudet Dominum." Elsewhere appeared the words '■'■ Laus Deo"; ••'■Handel and Haydn Society Collection, 1822" (the first book pub- lished by Lowell Mason) ; " Cantica Laudis, 1850" (the last).^ As at the annual meeting which resulted in Mr. Mason's election as president, the members re-elected Messrs. Dodd, Lewis, and Coffin to the oflSces of vice-president, secretary, and treasurer, he had experi enced advisers to assist him in conducting the affairs of the So- ciety'. The financial report for the past season stated its expenses at $2,141.19, the receipts at $1,502.35, and the profits on sales of copies of the .Society's edition of the Creation, $1,000. This left a balance of Sl,<'50 in hand for use as requu-ed. In September, Charles Nolen was re-elected librarian, and Mrs. Ostinelli, organist. Boylston Hall was hired for another year at a rental of $5U0, and there the Society sang the Creation on the 23d of December. The only new name mentioned among the solo singers on this occasion is that of Miss Eock. At the first concert given in 1828, on Feb. 1^, selections from the Messiah were sung — " Comfort ye," and " He shall feed his flock" — by Mr. Sharp. Among the selections given at the second concert on March 9 were the Sanclus and Benedictus from Mozart's Requiem ; and at the third, on April 13, the Dies Irie and the Benedic- tus from the same. Mrs. Holden, Miss Pease, Lowell Mason, and S. Richardson were among the singers at this concert, and at the fourth and last for the season, given on Aug. 24, when selections from the Creation were sung. Besides singing at its own concerts in 1828, the Society took part in a concert given on Jan. 6 by Mr. Charles Edward ' Lowell Mason went to Europe in 1837, and a?ain in 1852, when he bought the Kink Library at Darmstadt, which he bequeatlied to Tale College. See Ritter, op. cU. p. 171, and Musical Letters from Abroad. - Firm of Bond & Parker, architects. 3 Saronl's Musical TimeK, III., 180. 98 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Horn, who, at a later period, as we shall see, became its conductor. This distinguished English singer and composer, who was born in London in 1786, first studied music under his Saxon father, Karl Friedrich, and afterwards under Incledon's master, Vincenzo Rauzzini. Before his first visit to America,' he had sung with success at the Lyceum and Drury Lane Theatres, and had officiated as director of music at the Olympic. His voice was poor in quality, but so exten- sive in compass that he was able to take tenor as well as baritone parts in opera. The secretary's record of Mr. Horn's concert, "as perhaps the greatest and the best musical entertainment ever given in this city, if not in this country," makes us regret that he did not enter into particulars about it. All we know is that Mrs. Knight, Mrs. Blake, Miss Gillingham, Messrs. Paddon and Knight were the solo singers, that the chorus was that of the Handel and Haydn Society, and the orchestra that of the Tremont Theatre. Of Mrs. Ostinelli's benefit concert on April 20, at which the Society also assisted, we are told that the audience was large and the performance of the first order. Other items of importance connected with this year's history are the agreement between the Society and its president that he should edit a collection of church harmony to be published by Messrs. Richardson & Lord : the hiring of Boylston Hall for a further period of three years, at a rental of 1400 ; the printing of three hundred to five hundred copies of Haydn's Mass in B flat ; and the revision of the by-laws, which, as then revised, and with later revisions, are printed in the edition of 1867. FOURTEENTH SEASON. Sept. 1, 1828, to Sept. 7, 1829. At the annual meeting on Sept. 1, the same officers were elected, with the exception of Mr. Dodd, who was succeeded as vice-president by Mr. J. Sharp. ^ At this meeting, the small sale of season tickets, the high rent of Boylston Hall, which had been leased for religious ser- vices on Sundays during a portion of the year only, were mentioned by the treasurer as sufficiently explaining a balance of $1,220 against ' The notice of Horn in Grote's Dictionary says he went to America about 1833, the date of his second visit. His first, as proved by the Handel and Haydn records, took place in 1828. He was appointed conductor to the Society on July 23, 1847. 2 On Sept. 2, Mr. Sumner Hill was appointed librarian, and Mrs. Ostinelli re- appointed organist. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 99 the general account ; and the acknowledgment was made by the secre- tary that the performances of the Society have not been as highly -appreciated in Boston as might have been wished. ■ " Its publications," however, he added, by way of' consolation, " have found favor in the ■eyes of the most eminent musicians in every part of the country." During the season which followed, the publishing interests seem «till to have been in the ascendant. The seventh and eighth editions ■of the Handel and Haydn Church Music book were published, and the receipts derived from it and other Society publications amounted to $2,213.96. Some evidence of musical enterprise was shown by the production of Haydn's Mass in B flat at a concert given on the 28th of February, and of Mozart's Mass in C at another given on April 12, but the programmes of the other two performances given during the season, on Jan. 18 and March 1, were made up of selections, sung by members of the Society, probably belonging to the president's solo ■class. ' FIFTEENTH SEASON. Sept. 8, 1829,. to Aug. 2, 1830. The annual election on Sept. 8 resulted in the re-appointment of Messrs. Mason, Lewis, and Coflfin to their respective offices, and the ■election of Samuel Richardson, a book-keeper by profession, as Tice-president. 1 He had served on the board of trustees in 1826, was elected president in 1832, and at a later period, as we shall see, sang the part of Goliath in Neukomm's oratorio of David. A -contemporary describes him " as a man of large frame, noisy, jovial, jolly, generous, obtrusive, free and easy, not too refined, and as given to doing the Mwnecessary talking business at the Society's meet- ings." "We are told that when he thought the chorus was singing out of tune, he would stamp loudly with his foot ; but this is hardly credi- ble, for no musical society could long hold together under a conduc- tor weak enough to tolerate such a breach of propriety. Contrary to their usual habit, the trustees decided in November to announce a series of six concerts to be given during the season, with season tickets, at $16, admitting a gentleman and two ladies, or two gentlemen, and ■appointed a committee of twenty-six members to solicit subscriptions. At the first concert of the series, given on Dec. 13, amass by BiJhler, "who is spoken of in the records " as one of the most eminent com- 'Mr. Calvin Bullard was appointed librarian, and Mrs. Ostinelli, organist, on Sept. 18. 100 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. posers of the present day," was sung. We must frankly confess that^ though tolerably familiar with at least the names of the great musi- cians of this century^ we knew nothing of Biihler, and found it neces- sary to have recourse to the dictionaries for infoi'mation about him. Grove ' gave us no help, and this was consolatory to our pride, as show- ing that he could hardly have been so eminent as the secretary had been led to believe. This suspicion was confirmed by reading Fetis's notice of FrangOis-Gregoire Bijhler, chapel-master of the cathedral of Augs- burg, who died it that city Feb. 4, 1824, after having written many compositions characterized by his biographer as "weak in style,, abounding in ideas unsuited to sacred music" ; a composer, in short, " whose natural and facile melodies obtained favour in small towns, where they can be adequately executed with but little trouble." Was it because Boston was then, comparatively at least with what it is at present, considered a small town, and because the mass in question cost the Society but little trouble to prepare it, that it was the one novelty of the season selected for performance ? Four of the five other concerts- of the series given after the new year, namely, on Jan. 24, Feb. 21, 3Iarch 21, and June 20, had miscellaneous programmes. The fifth, on. April 4, gave the public another opportunity of listening to the- familiar strains of the Creation. For the programmes of all these concerts save the first. President Mason was directly responsible^ as on the 26th of January the board had empowered him to select the music to be performed during the remainder of the season. While- we know what he selected, we should be glad to know how what he selected was sung, so as in some measure to be able to judge what progress had been made since he began to drill the chorus and teach the solo singers immediately after his first election. This we cannot do with the imperfect data which have come down to us. We notice, among the curiosities of the season, a letter addressed to the board by the committee of the Central Universalist Singing Society, in which complaint is made that its performances and rehear- sals are seriously interfered with by the Handel and Haydn's occupa- tion of every Sabbath evening for " performances in sacred music." The object of this address is, says the letter, ' ' to request you to omit your meetings on the first and third, or second and fourth. Sab- bath evenings in every month, for the purpose of giving us and other societies who' are Complaining of the same disadvantages an opportu- nity for lectures, rehearsals, etc. Evidently the world was not " wide enough for you and me," in the opinion of these gentlemen. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 101 CHAPTER III. " No MAN CARRIES HIS BED INTO HIS FIELD TO, WATCH HOW HIS CORN GROWS, BUT BELIEVES UPON THE GENERAL ORDER OF PROVIDENCE AND NATURE; AND AT HARVEST HE FINDS HIMSELF NOT DECEIVED." —Jeremy Taijlor (of Faith). SIXTEENTH SEASON. Aug. 2, 1830, TO Aug. 1, 1831. By a vote passed on the 9th of February, 1830, the time for holding the annual meeting was changed from September to August. It accordingly took place on the 2d of the latter month, when the same chief officers were chosen for the ensuing year. As, on the 30th, .the treasurer was empowered to invest $800 in the Massachu- setts Life Instirance Company as the nucleus of a permanent fund,i we may conclude that the Society felt itself financially prosperous, perhaps because the ninth edition of it^i Church Music book had been contracted for, and a good revenue continued to be derived from the other publications, previously prepared by, its indefatigable president, whose editorial activity was unceasing. Not that he was otherwise neglectful of the Society!s interests, as he proved at this time by using his influence to insure the election of- Mr. Charles Zeuner ^s organist, in place of Mrs. Ostinelli. This took place on the 24th of September, to the great indignation of the friends of the late incum- bent, who, in a letter signed by thirty-eight members,^ remonstrated against it on the ground that as Mrs. Ostinelli had flUed the situation " with ability and success for eleven years," she ought not to be dispossessed by " a German professor of music, a foreigner to whom many of us are strangers, and whose qualifications for the situation, however scientific may be his acquirements, cannot, we presume, be placed in competition with one who has presided so long and faith- fully, and with so much satisfaction to a majority of the Society," etc. "We, therefore," say the remonstrants, "request that the president and trustees will, at their next meeting, reconsider their vote, and prevent the existence of discord and schism among the members of an iThis is not to te confourided with the existing permanent fund which was established on May 25, 1866, during Dr. Upham's presidency. ' See Appendix. 102 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. institution whose real object is the creation of harmony in word and deed." This the board declined to do, by a vote of seven yeas to five nays,i "moved," as they said in their answer, by "a sense of duty to the Society, whose performances must improve under a professional musician, conversant not only with the organ, but with orchestral effects, and generally skilled in the theory and practice of instrumental and vocal music." This answer admitted no reply. Zeuner, as every one knew, was a trained musician and a man of talent, and so far super;ior to any person then connected with the Handel and Haydn Society, in knowledge of choral requirements and effects, that his appointment was a step in the right direction. Had his temper been under better control and his temperament less hasty, he would, however, have been of far greater use to the Society than he was, during the nine years of his connection with it. Born, like Luther, at Eisleben, in Saxony, Sept. 20, 1795, he was baptized Heinrich Christophe, a name which, for some unknown reason, he exchanged for that of Charles, after he had established himself in Boston. Moore ^ says that he came to America about 1824, though as we have no certain information concerning him until 1830, when he became organist of the Handel and Haydn Society, for whose concert of Nov. 20, 1830, he wrote an organ concerto with full orchestral accompaniment, and composed a march, the "Grand Masonic," performed at the laying of the corner-stone of the Masonic Temple we should be inclined to place the date of his arrival several years later. 3 In 1832 he published an oratorio, called the Feast of the Tabernacles, which was performed at a concert of the Boston Academv of Music in 1836.* 1 As some compensation to Mrs. Ostinelli tor her ejectment, the board presented her with a double ticlcet to the Society's oratorios and rehearsals, and offered her the free use of Boylston Hall for a concert at the end of the season. 2 Appendix to Moore's Encyclopsedia of Music. 8 Transcript, Oct. 5, 1830. ^Hitter, Music in America, p. 250, quotes from Academy Report, as to this performance in 1836. According to an account published in the Metronome, Octo- Ijer, 1873, Zeuner wrote tlie oratorio in 1838 or 1839, and offered it to the Handel and Haydn Society for l$3,000. This they refused, and as a counter proposal offered to produce the work at their own risk. Zeuner then offered the manuscript to the Boston Academy of Music, and it was accepted, the oratorio to be performed eight times and the profits to be divided. The rehearsals began with Zeuner as con- ductor, and George J. "Webb as organist, but they soon exchanged roles, as Zeuner's irritability and impatience With the chorus made it impossible to get on with him. After the eight performances at the Odeon, moreover, Zeuner demanded his share of the profi,ts, and finding that not only were there no profits, but a considerable loss (which the Academy took upon itself), he went to the Odeon, got possession of liis manuscript and printed parts, and in his anger destroyed them. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 103 The " American Harp," a thick volume containing all save five of his compositions, appeared in 1839, and this was followed in 1848 by the "Ancient Lyre." Many tunes in the Psaltery and new Car- mina Sacra, published by Lowell Mason, were written by Zeuner, who, while in Boston, officiated as organist at Park Street Church, as president of the Musical Professional Society, as organist of the Handel and Haydn Society from 1830 to 1838, and as its president from May of that year to the following February. ' He then left Boston for Philadelphia, where he became organist of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, and afterwards of the Arch Street Presb3'terian Church. Towards 1857 he showed signs of aberration of mind ; but as he had always been noted for his eccentricities, they passed more or less unobserved. They were, however, caUed to mind on the 7th of November, when his dead body was found lying in Smith's woods, near the Schuylkill, where the unhappy man had shot himself through the head with a gun. Zeuner must have taken his place for the first time as the Society's organist at a concert of selections on Nov. 21. Selections were also sung at the second and third concerts of the season, on Dec. 26 and March 16. In April, the BiJhler Mass was repeated for the second time, as were the Agnu'< Dei from the Haydn Mass on June 5, and the Creation later in the month- In this same month the Mechanic Charitable Association invited the Handel and Haydn Society to subscribe towards the erection of a building containing a hall suitable for their purposes. On this condition, the trustees replied on the 29th that they would recommend the members to become subscribers, and would gladly engage to hire the hall when finished. They did not, however, offer to subscribe for the Society ; and perhaps on this account the project remained in nuhibus. On the 10th of June, the trustees accepted Messrs. Appleton & Co.'s estimate for building a new organ. The price named was $4,000, and the old organ was ordered to be sold for $1,000. SEVENTEENTH SEASON. Aug. 1, 1831, TO Aug. 6, 1832. At the annual meeting on Aug. 1, Lowell Mason was elected presi- dent for the fifth and last time, with J. S. Withington as vice-presi- Hack's Musical Magazine foi; 1840, p. 197, regrets his departure, but says that his loss will be comparatively little felt, "as he has of late lived in retirement, hiding his talent and wasting it on trifles." 104 HISTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. •dent ; Messrs. Lewis and Coffin were re-elected to their respectiye offices ; and the Society, thus fully equipped, entered upon its seven- teenth season, which, sooth to say, offered little of novelty, either in the way of music or solo singers. Selections were sung with the Haydn Mass on Oct. 2, Dec. 11, and Jan. 15. Washington's Birthday was celebrated by a concert on the 26th of February, when Horn's Ode to the Pater Patrim, an ele- gantly bound copy of which had been presented by the composer to the Society on Jan. 19, 1829, was sung, together with appropriate choruses and anthems. The final performance of the season, when selections were again sung, ■took place on the 20th of May, in Boylston Hall, which was taken on a fresh lease of five years, at $400 per annum. In the early autumn the stage was re-arranged, the seats in the auditorium raised, so that it became as well suited to its uses, as a hall of its capacity could be. EIGHTEENTH SEASON. Aug. G, 1832, TO Aug. 5, 1833. The treasurer's account presented at the annual meeting of Aug. ■6, 1832, stated the receipts of the past season to have been Bl,146.15, and the expenses $1,959.29, leaving a debt of $813.14, whch the mem- bers voted to pay off from the publication fund. After the usual business had been transacted, they elected Samuel Richardson as president, with the same vice-president, secretary, and treasurer as before. The retiring president, to whom a vote of thanks was passed for "his promptitude, zeal, and fidelity, and his untiring and well- directed efforts to promote the great objects of the institution," was chosen into the board of trustees. On Oct 23, his new collection of sacred music, "The Choir," was commended by vote.i On Sept. 18, Chas. Zeuner was re-elected organist, and B. S. Hill, librarian. Musically speaking, the season now under consideration was unus- ually active. No less than thirteen concerts were given ; but as no new works were produced and no new singers appeared, they are conspic- -uous rather for number than quality. Selections were given at the four first of the season, which took place on Nov. 4, Nov. 18, Dec. 2, and Dec. 9. The first of them inaugurated the new organ, built by Messrs. Appleton & Co., which had 1,688 pipes, three banks of keys, and pedals comprising two octaves, and a plain case in what the ' The tenth edition of his Church Music, 14,000 copies, had been published in 1831. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 105 newspapers call the Grecian style, flanked by square towers ; ^ on the whole, a more modest-looking instrument than the great Music Hall organ, that Jumbo among instrumental elephants, and in comparison a pygmy indeed, being but twenty-one feet high and fourteen broad. At Christmas, or, to be particular, two days eai'lier, and in celebra- tion of Christmas, the Messiah, which had not been given at this festi- val since its first complete performance on Dec. 25, 1819, was sung by the Society. Then necessarily followed the Creation, twice given, on Jan. 27 and Feb. 3, and this in turn was succeeded by the Messiah in March. Oh the 24th and 31st of the same month, selections from the Mount of Olives and the Creation, with the Haydn Mass in the second part, were sung, as were other selections on April 29, and on May 12, at Mrs. Ostinelli's benefit concert, and on June 23, in aid of the completion of Bunker Hill Monument. Whether President Andrew Jackson was or was not present on this occasion is uncertain ; probably not, as he was indisposed, and went to Cambridge after the morning service on Sunday, and as the reporter of his progress. Major Jack Downing, does not refer to the oratorio. NINETEENTH SEASON. Aug. S, 1833, to Aug. 4, 1834. The purchase of a new organ, and the fitting up of Boylston Hall, at an aggregate cost of $5,000, were unusual items of expense, which told heavily against the Society in the treasurer's account, presented at the annual meeting on Aug. 5. The receipts had been unusually large, 13,482.29 ; but so had the expenses, which amounted to $6,971.21, leaving a balance against the general account of $3,518.92. Still, as the property of the Society was valued at $8,433.05, and its many publications still continued to sell,^ the new board of chief ofiicers, or rather the old board re-elected, saw no reason for down-hearted- ness, so far as we are aware. As Ex-President Lowell Mason found himself much pressed with outside work, he declined to serve again as trustee, and Geo. W. Edmunds was chosen in his place. On the 13th -of August, Mr. Zeuner was again elected organist, with a salary of 8200, increased on Nov. 1 to $300, and Mr. B. S. Hill was re-appointed librarian. ' Transcript, March 18, 1833. 2 On Nov. 26, the Society extended its contract for the publication ol its Church Music collection four years, in the agreement that it should be stereotyped at the expense of the firm, and that tlie new book ol Psalmody should be printed in new -type like the last edition of The Choir. 106 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Four concerts were given before the new year, namely, on Oct. 27, selections ; Dec. 1 and 8, the Creation ; and Dec. 22, paTts of the Mount of Olives and the Haydn Mass. We spare the reader the dates of the eleven concerts given between Jan. 1, 1834, and the close of the season, referring him, if he be curious, to the classified list given, at the end of this chapter. Nor shall we trespass on his patience- otherwise than by repeating, once for all, that the programmes were made up of selections from the Messiah, the Creation, the Mount of Olives, and the Haydn Mass, with Miss Belcher, Miss Adams, and Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Washburn, Mrs. Cuddy, Mrs. Adams, and Mrs. Long as female vocalists. As it seems desirable to illustrate the character of the music included under the oft-repeated word " selec- tions," we shall here reprint the programme of one of the above concerts • from a time-worn copy which we happen to have in our possession. OKATORIO TO BE GIVEN BY THE '^Handel and Haydn Society ^^^ AT THEIR HAIiL, ON SUNDAY EVENING, MAY 18, 1834, PART I. GRAND ORGAN CONCERTO. [Composed and dedicated to the H. & H. Soc'y. Toy tbeir Organist, Charles Zeuner.] CHORUS. The great Jehovah is our awful theme, sublime in majesty, in power supreme — Hallelujah. O. C. C. Vol. 2. p 81. Hakdbl. DUET, Ch. Zeuner. There is an hour of peaceful rest, To mourning wand'rers given, There is a joy for souls distrest, A balm for every wounded breast, Tis found above in heaven. There is a soft, a downy bed, Tis fair as breath of even, A couch for weary mortals spread, Where they may rest their aching head, And find repose in heaven. CHORUS. Pharaoh's chosen Captains hath he drowned in the Red Bea. Thou in mercy Lord hast led thy people forth, hast led them forth like sheep. „ See. Coll. Vol. 2. p 160. Haydn. RECITATIVE AND ARIA. [Composed expressly for the H. & H. Society by T. Comer.] [Words from Thompson's Hymn to Nature.] ACCOMPANIED RECITATIVE. Great source of day ! best image here below Of thy creator, ever pouring wide, From world to world, the vital Ocean round. On nature write with every beam His praise. The thunder rolls; be hushed the prostrate world ; While cloud to cloud returns the solemn Hymn. ARIA. Bleat out afresh, ye hills, ye mossy rocks. Retain the sound ; the broad responsive low. Ye vallies, raise; for the Great Shepherd^ reigns ; And his unsuff'ring Kingdom yet will come — There with new powers will rising wonders sing. CHORUS. How Excellent thy name O Lord, in all the world is known, above all heavens O King ador'd, how hast thou set thy glorious throne. Soc. Coll. Vol. 2. p 143. Handel. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 107 PART II. CHORUS. [From the Oratorio of Israel in Egypt.] He gave them hailstones for rain, Fire mingled with the hail, ran along open [aicl the ground. O. C. Coll. Vol. 1. p 65. Handel. SACRED CAVATINA, BY CH. ZEU- Oh! cease my wand'ring soul On restless wing to roam, All this wide world, to either pole Has not for thee a home. Behold the ark of God ! Behold the open door ; Oh ! haete to gain that dear abode, And rove, my soul, no more There, safe thou shalt abide, There, sweet shall be thy rest, And every longing satisfied With full salvation blest. RECITATIVE & CHORUS. And Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done, to bring his people to their inheritance. Arise O Judah, arise in the song of glad- ness, for the Lord hath chosen his people to their inheritance, hear it O Judah, the Lord in ever gracious to his people. O praise him for evermore. Amen. S. C. Vol. 2. p 180. Haydn. [Recitative "and Aria, from the Oratorio of the " Creation."] RECITATIVE. And Grod said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding frnit, after its kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth; and it was so. ARIA. "With verdure clad the iields appear, delight- ful to the ravish'd sense; by flowers sweet and gay, enhanced is the charming sight. Here vent their fumes, the fragrant herbs; here shoots, the healing plant, by load of fruits th' expanded boughs are press'd; to shady vaults are bent the tufty groves; the mountains brow is crowned with closed wood. Recitative and Aria^ from the Oratorio "THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES" — (manuscript ) Poetry by Rev. Professor Henry Ware, Jb. of Cambridge, (piece No. 10 1st part.) — Music by Charles Zeuner. High Priest. RECITATIVE. Now let the morning sacrifice begin ! Fire the rich censer ! Let the incense rise In rolling clouds of fragrance, till it fill The Holy Place, and with the clouds of heaven Mingle its perfume. — Bring the victims forth ! Bid the high Altar blaze ! And while its fires Flash upward brightening all the morning sky. Ye tuneful Levites, at your sacred post. Exalt ZTas name, for whom these honors rise. ARIA. Strike all your strings! Breath forth your loudest voice ! Wake timbrel, harp and lute — wake psaltry, pipe And sackbut cymbal, drum and trumpet, wake ! Let Zion hear and Israel's utmost shore, Let furthest G-entile catch the sound and know That Israel's G-od, is G-od of earth and heaven. Grand Hallelujah ! Chorus from the Orato- rio of the Messiah. Condon, Printer, 32 Congreia Street, BobUiii. As after a dead calm at sea a little breeze is refreshing, so is it in the voyage of life. We may therefore imagine that the board of trustees felt a little pleasurable excitement necessary one evening in the month of April, as they listened to a letter fi*om President Richardson complaining of Mr. Zeuner's irritable and jealous disposition, and threatening to resign unless the offender was immediately dismissed. Wisely reflecting that they might find it more difficult to fill the place of organist than that of president, and at the same time desirous of actihg courteously towards then- chief officer, they directed the sec- retary to inform him in a respectful manner that the feelings of the board were such as to prevent them from proceeding in any other 108 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. way than that of indefinite postponement of the subject of his com- munication, and before separating, passed a vote requesting him to continue in office. When he carried out his threat on the 27th, they accepted his resignation, and the Society would have been left without a head had not Mr. Richardson finally consented to keep his place until the end of the season. We notice that on June 30 a committee was appointed to examine into the articles of copartner- ship between Mr. Lowell Mason and the Society, and to obtain a legal opinion as to whether, in case the said bond is dissolved by common consent, the Society will be prevented from printing or pub- lishing new editions of its collections of sacred music. This action seems to have given rise to rumors unfavorable to Mr. Mason, for on the 13th of August he addressed a letter to the board, asking tha the joint contracts and accounts may be properly looked into so as to put an end to false reports in circulation. This request was complied with by the appointment of an investigating committee, which in due time reported that the Society had every reason to be satisfied. As concerns its gains in the matter, it certainly had, for on Oct. 31 of this year they had amounted to $10,621.32. For the rest, we shall have occasion to explain more fully, when we reach the period at which a peaceable separation between the parties concerned was effected. TWENTIETH SEASON. Aug. 4, 1834, TO Aug. 3, 1835. With the close of the season Mr. Richardson retired from office, and the members elected as his successoT Mr. Charles W. Lovett, who in 1832 and 1833 had filled the office of vice-president, to whicli Mr. Jonas Chickering was now appointed. The same secretary and treasurer were re-elected at the annual meeting, as were the same librarian and organist a fortnight later. In September an orchestra of fifteen musicians was engaged, and Mr. Thomas Comer was ap- pointed conductor. The new president, Mr. Lovett, who was born in Boston in 1802 and died there in 1873, held a position in the State department for fifty years, for the last seventeen of which he was chief clerk to the Secretary of the Commonwealth. His fine tenor voice made him a valuable member of the West Church choir and of the Handel and Haydn Society, which he joined in 1828. Braham, after hearing him sing a certain song, paid him the high compliment of saying, " I know of but one person who can sing it better, and that is myself." HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 109 His swan song was "The Heavens are Telling" (from the Creation), uttered so faintly that his son, sitting by his bedside, had to lean over him to catch the broken accents of a chorus in which lie had so often joined. Thus died " this worthy gentleman of the old school and faithful public officer, whose death," says an obituary notice published at the time, " will be lamented, and whose memory will be cherished as such by all who knew him." During the autumn and early winter after his election, the Snciety gave six concerts, at three of which, on Oct. 5, 12, and 26, Mr. Lovett's favorite oratorio, the Creation, was sung. At the fourth, on Nov. 2, Handel's overture to the Occasional Oratorio, with additional accompaniments by Mr. Comer, was performed. At the fifth, selections from the Mount of Olives and the Haydn Mass were repeated, and at the sixth, on Dec. 28, the Messiah. Between New Year's day, 1835, and the close of the season, uine more concerts were given, at which the Creation and the Messiah, selections, including Zeuner's "Ode to Washington " on Feb 22, were sung. The programme of the ninth concert included selections from the Chevalier Neukomm's oratorio of David, which was brought out in the following year with the most unexampled success. In January the board had voted to print Haydn's Seasons, with a view to its speedy production, but a month later it decided to substitute David, as "having higher claims on its immediate notice," and requested Mr. Mason to superintend the printing of a sufficient number of copies for its use. TWENTY-PIRST SEASON. ArG. 3, 1835, TO Aug. 1, 1836. But oue new name appears in the list of chief officers elected at the annual meeting on Aug. 3, namely, that of Mr. Allen Whitman, as successor, in the important place of secretary, to Mr. Joseph Lewis, who, on retiring after sixteen years of faithful service, received a vote of thanks, and a silver pitcher appropriately inscribed. "^ As librarian, Mr. William Bennett succeeded Mr. Hill, but the conductor and the organist were unchanged. Thirty-eight ladies were engaged for the chorus, and fifteen musicians for the orchestra, with Mr. Warren as leader of the violins. Thus equipped, the Society, after singing the Creation and the Messiah each twice, and the Haydn Mass with selections from the Mount of Olives once, between 1 This pitcher, which cost $75, was presented to Mr. Lewis on Sept. 29. 110 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. October, 1835, and the end of January, 1836, brought out David on the 28th of February, and performed it at seven concerts, the last of which took place on the 10th of April. The extraordinary vogue of this oratorio in Boston was in a great degree due to the dramatic interest of the libretto, and the popiilar character of its music. Hack says truly' it stands nearer to the stage than to the church, and Ritter^ characterizes it as "shallow and empty." Its author, the Chevalier Sigismund Neukomm,^ Haydn's favorite pupil, was a man of talent and facile invention, but he was not a man of genius i and although for a time he enjoyed great popularity,^ his name is now forgotten save by the few who knew him personally, and esteemed him for his charming and lovable qualities. These made him welcome everywhere, as, for instance, in Moscheles's household at Leipsic, where he went by the name of the Encyclopaedia ; for whoever wanted information on any subject, says Madame Moscheles, in the life of her husband, ^ was sure to obtain it of him. "Sorry," she adds, "that he writes such an inordinate quantity of music, and carries out the principle he advocates, that one must be writing daily." Mendelssohn's " Letters " and Chorley's "Musical Recollections " give the same impression, making us feel that the Chevalier wrote music as Trollope wrote books, by a daily grind : " No matter what the grist-mill might turn out, it had to be put in operation every twenty-four hours." Is it, then, surprising that his numerous compositions for the church, his five oratorios, and his innumerable songs, have alike been shelved for all time ? Even at its first performance at the Birmingham festival of 1834, for which it was written, Neukomm's David was characterized by a leading Eng- lish periodical as "theatrical and noisy" ; as occasionally possessing the grace of Haydn, but never approaching the majesty of Handel ; as a structure whose parts are consummately put together, rich in embellishment, but wanting in majesty ; having melodies frequently graceful but never original, and choruses which, in accordance with the whole style and character of the piece, belong to the theatre rather than to the church.^ Now that we have seen what the critics thought of David as an 1 1., 125. 2 History of Music- in America, p. 235. 3 Bom in Salzburg, July 10, 1778 ; died in Paris, April 13, 1858. * Chiefly gained by bis two songs, " The Sea " and " Napoleon's Midnight Review." At Birmingham he was familiarly known as the King of Brummagem. — Grate's Dictionary. 5 Life .of Moscheles, I., 248. 6 Quoted by Hack, Vol. I., p. 157. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Ill oratorio, let us see what they had to say about the way in. which it was presented by the Handel and Haydn Society. Speaking of the performances in the season of 1839 to 1840, a writer in the Musical Magazine,^ whose words are quite as applicable and even more so to those of 1836, which we have now under consideration, says that with the limited resources of the Society in regard to place, choir, and orchestra, the oratorio here labored from the first under a triple dis- advantage as compared with those afforded it by the Birmingham Society. Owing to the smallness of the Boston hall, the want of balance between the choir, in which the male voices predominate over the female, and the orchestra, in which the wind smother the stringed instruments (fourteen of the first, half of brass, and only eleven of the last) , the oratorio never received its proper effect. Still an- other cause of failure was the want of ensemble in both choir and orchestra, due to the fact that each performer sang or played as an individual, without any reference to the body of performers or to the unity of the whole work. The critic illustrates this remark by an ingenious and apt comparison between ancient battles, in which each warrior attacked an individual enemy to conquer or be conquered, and modern battles, where the various '• corps" act in concert with the main body, and never lose sight of its operations. How the solo singers acquitted themselves the deponent sayeth not. As the parts were at first distributed, Colburn sang IMvid ; Dodd, Saul; Taylor, Jonathan; Withington, Goliath; Lothrop, The High Priest; Sharp, The Messenger ; Mrs. Strong, Michael; and Mrs. Baker, David's Sister. As for the success, it was prodigious. On the opening night, Feb. 28, " the large audience was most enthusiastic." At the fifth performance, March 27," Boylston Hall was again filled to suffocation, and many who were unable to procure seats, went away disappointed." And so it went on until the end of the chapter. Verily, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." TWENTY-SECOND SEASON. Aug. 1, 1836, to Aug. 7, 1837. At the annual meeting, held on the 1st of August, Bartholomew Brown was elected president, George J. Webb, vice-president, J. Hill Belcher, secretary, and Abner Bourne, treasurer. The new president,- ■ I., pp. 125 to 128. ''Bom in Danvers, JIass., Sept. 8, 1772; died In Boston of paralysis, April 14, 1854, aged eighty-one years and six months ; joined the Handel and Haydn Society, Nov. 5, 1815. 112 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. one of the original members of the Society, who proved to be its Jeffer- son Davis within a year, is thus credited with every virtue by his biog- rapher, Ebenezer Alden.i "Eminently popular on account of his goodness of heart, loving and beloved, he was a lawyer of standing, given to literary and musical pursuits, a fiiend of temperance, and foremost in every good work." Many of his compositions, glees, " anthems, and choruses are printed in the 'Bridgewater Collection of Music,' which he edited jointly with Judge Mitchell, of Bridgewater." How far this excellent record is reconcilable with the two facts that Mr. Brown was the first president who accepted a salary for his ser- vices as such, and that, failing to obtain a re-election, he left the Society, and devoted his energies to the formation of a rival institu- tion, we must leave the reader to determine for himself. Of the new vice-president, Mr. George J. "Webb, who was to render valuable aid to the Society in many ways during his long connection with it, we shall speak as occasion offers. The report of the treasurer for the season just concluded, stated the gross receipts to have been $5,335.44, of which sum $1,904.50 came from public performances. As the expenses amounted to $4,760.86, a balance of $574.58 remained in the Society's favor. On the 12th of August the board voted the president a salary of $300 per annum. This grave innovation, which was soon abandoned, would hardly have been justifiable, had Mr. Brown come to Boston to conduct the concerts of the Society, as it has been said that he did.^ This we doubt altogether. That he came to Boston six years before the Society was founded, we know from Mr. Alden, and that he joined it in 1815, the year of its foundation, is certain ; but neither in Mr. Alden's memoir, nor in the records, is he otherwise mentioned than as a member of the chorus. On tlie 1st of October, according to an agreement entered into with Mr. Lowell Mason on the 20th of May, the new contract governing their publishing interests went into operation. By it Mr. Mason, after paying $2,000 to the Society, was entitled to sale profits for two years, at the end of which, and for a like term, the Society was to take two thirds and Mason one, he being at liberty, during the whole four years, to publish on his own account whatever he pleased. Subse- quently, during a further period of ten years, at the expiration of which the book property became vested in the Society, it was to 'See Memoir ol Bartholomew Brown, read at a meeting of tlie New England Historic Genealogical Society, Feb. 5, 1862. 2 Mr. James Sharp made this statement to Mr. Jennison. HISTORY OF THE HAXDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 113 receive ninet}' per cent of the profits, and Dr. Mason the remaining ten. In a letter to Mr. Luther Farnham which lies before us, dated March 14, 1869, Dr. Mason says : — "I was looking over oldpapers lately, and happened to come across the enclosed agreement between the Handel and Haydn Society and myself. It is our final agreement to dissolve the copartnersliip in tlie book matter ; I send it to you merely for the purpose of showing you that it was all a quiet, peaceable doing on both parts, notwithstanding much talk came out of it, and attempts were made by a few individuals to make it out that our separa- tion was caused by a quarrel, or something worse, on my part. Those, how- ever, who were the most forward to make difficulty, afterwards became my warm friends, though perhaps some, or one at least, may have always sup- posed that 1 wronged or took some undue advantage of the Society. I do not write this, dear sir, with any thought that the subject will be alluded to in your history, but merely for your own information, and thinking that the old paper may have some interest to you." On Oct. 2 the Society brought out a new oratorio by Mr. Charles E. Horn, entitled the "Remission of Sin," with text taken from Milton. 1 Composed for the New York Sacred Music Society^ in 1835, it was first performed at their hall in Chatham Street on the 7th of May, with the son of the composer, Charles Horn, Jr., his wife, Miss Julia Wheatley, and Mr. Sheppard as the principal vocalists. Partly because the receipts did not cover the expenses, and partly on account of the lateness of the season, it was not repeated in New York at the time, and Mr. Horn accepted the offer of the Handel and Haydn Society to produce it in Boston, if he would furnish the solo singers. Here, too, it was sung but once in 1836, though it had a second hearing in February of the following year.^ Ten of the other seventeen concerts of the season were devoted to Neukomm's David, four to selections, one to the Creation, one, that of Jan. 1, 1837, to the Messiah, and one to the Haydn Mass and Horn's " Remission of Sin." 1 Hack, II., p. 87. ^American Mvsical Jovrnal, p. 96. 3 The original score and parts of another oratorio by Horn, called "Daniel's Prediction," are said in the Metronome, October, 1873, to be in the possession of Mr. W. M. Byrnes, president of the Franklin Insurance Company, an old member of the Handel and Haydn Society (joined in 1839), and one of the principal amateurs of his day. 114 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. TWENTY-THIRD SEASON. Aug. 7, 1837, TO May 28, 1838. The annual election, held on the 7th of August, resulted in the election of Mr. George J. Webb as president, Mr. Jonas Chickering as vice-president, Mr. William Learnard as secretary, and Mr. Abner Bourne as treasurer. The election of Mr. Webb seems to have been a surprise to Mr. Bartholomew Brown, who on its announcement addressed the members on the subject of his non-election to a second term of office, and left the hall. Shortly after, he joined a new musical organization called the Boston Oratorio Society, taking with him several other disaffected members ; and when the trustees of the Handel and Haydn Society learned that Neukomm's " Hymn of the Night," which they had printed for their own use, and announced for performance on Oct. 1, had been sung on the same evening by the rival association, they appointed a committee to consider what action ought to be taken in the case. On the 13th it reported, that as Bartholomew Brown, Thomas Comer, Marcus Colburn, Allen Whit- man, J. C. Brown, Anselm Lathrop, and W. H. Henderson had violated their obligations as members, they were by the fourteenth article of the by-laws deserving of expulsion. A vote to expel in case of non-repentance was taken on the 20th ; and on the 25th the same committee reported that, despite all arguments to the contrary, the delinquents persisted in their right to do as they pleased in the matter, stating that they had promised to assist the new society at ten more concerts, and intended to do so, whatever the consequences might be. On hearing this, the trustees voted to expel Messrs. Brown, Lathrop, and Whitman. Mr. Henderson afterwards tendered his resignation to the board, and it was accepted. What, if any, action was taken in regard to Messrs. Comer and Colburn, we do not know.i In the month of August, Mr. Zeuner was re-elected organist, and Mr. Sumner Hill librarian ; but as he had not returned to the city in September, Mr. Edward Haskell was chosen in his place. The new president, Mr. Webb, made a brief address to the Society on Sept. 3, and thus inaugurated an administration which proved beneficial in everv respect ; for besides being an accomplished musician, com- poser, and singer, he was a kindly and efficient officer. The follow- ing letter, written forty-six years after his first election, in reply to one iln January, 1838, the trustees received a letter from Mr. Brown, complaining of his expulsion, to which they returned no answer. HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 115 asking him for some remiuiseences of liis connection witli the Society, to be used in this History, shows that his affection for it had not cooled with the lapse of time. New York City, 125 E. 2-tTH St., July 17, 1883. Chakles C. Perkins, Esq. My Dear Sir ; — Owing to the iniscUrectlon of your letter of the 2cl lust. , it did not reach me till within a day or two since. I was happy to hear from you, as it recalled to my recollection some pleasing memories of the long past. My age now is just eighty years ; and having kept no written record of the events which transpired during my membership of the Handel and Haydn Society, I am unable to recall any incidents that might serve you in your History of that Society. The more prominent members during my official position were Jonas Chickering, Richardson, Chas. Lovett, James Sharp, and Capt. John Dodd. The solos were chiefly sustained by the four latter names. At that time it was an exceptional thing to engage outside professional singers, though at about this time we employed Caradori, Madam Bishop, and the English tenor, John Braham. I am really sorry not to have it in my power to aid you in you" purpose, and- 1 must beg you to take the "will for the deed." With sincere regards, believe me, Yours very sincerely, George James Webij. In this letter Mr. Webb alludes to three distinguished artists who sang for the Society presumably while he was president. Madam Bishop did not, however, appear in Boston until 1859, when he had long since ceased to take an active part in Handel and Haydn affairs. Braham, however, came in 1840, during Mr. Webb's second term of office, and Caradori Allan in 1837, during his first. This great singer, then in her thirtj'-eighth year, and the fourteenth of her professional career, after singing in opera with great success on the Continent and in England, abandoned the stage, and made her first appearance in oratorio at Westminster Abbey in 1834. Subsequently she assisted at many festivals and concerts in English cities, and after her return from America sung at Birmingham in the Elijah, at its first perform- ance on Aug. 26, 1846. Her high brilliant soprano voice had lost none of its beauty when she crossed the Atlantic, and gave to crowded audiences in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, new ideas of the enchanting power of the human voice. The critics thought her style somewhat too florid for oratorio, and such perhaps it was ; but with this admission enough remained to make her singing a thousand times welcome to the thousands who were privileged to listen to it. She sang twice in Boston for the Handel and Haydn Society in the 116 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Messiah, on New Year's eve and on the 7th of January. At the first of these concerts, says the secretary, her delivery of " I know that my Redeemer liveth " will long '"be remembered as a masterly per- formance, just in intonation and exquisite in taste." At the second, he records that ' ' she acquitted herself with the same distinguished ability as on the former occasion."' About seven hundred and fifty persons, including chorus and orchestra, were present at the first concert, but at the second the audience was somewhat smaller. The orchestra of twenty-three musicians, eight of whom were volunteers, was dis- tributed as follows : — Three first violins (one volunteer) , six second violins (five volun- teers), two flutes (one volunteer), two clarinets, two altos, one double bass, two trumpets, two horns (one volunteer), one trombone, one bassoon, one kettle-drum. The records from which these details are taken mention that a number of Indian chiefs. Sacs and Foxes, were present at a rehearsal of the Society on Oct. 29, 1837, and that they were especially delighted with the organ, which they conceived to be the abode of the Great Spirit. Between Jan. 7 and the close of the season, the Society sang the Creation twice, Neukomm's "Hymn of the Night," with selections, once, and once selections only. In April, Mr. Webb, whose salary we notice had been fixed by a vote of the board at $150, wrote to decline a renomination, and a committee was appointed to urge -him to reconsider his action, as his withdrawal after a single term would be highly prejudicial to the interests of the Society. As he refused to do so, although his return to office two years later shows that this was not on account of any want of cordial feeling between him and the trustees, they passed a vote thanking him for the dignity and impartiality with which he had dis- charged his duties as presiding officer, and expressing their high respect for his talents and character. TWENTY-FOURTH SEASON. May 28, 1838, to May 27, 1839. At the annual meeting on May 28, Mr. Charles Zeuner, whose appointment as organist eight years before had, as the reader may ' Mme. Allan had agreed to sing in the Messiah on the following terms : After deducting $60 for expenses, she was to have three fourths of the receipts. These amounted to $569 at the first of the two concerts ; at the second, $480 were taken at the door. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 117 remember, met with violent opposition, was elected president. Cer- tainly no better proof that he had in the mean time gained the respect and confidence of the members could have been given than this ; but, as the sequel showed, it would have been wiser to ha^e taken some other mode of recognizing his signal services than this. The only good result which followed was that the place of organist, left vacant by Mr. Zeuner, was filled by Mr. A. U. Hayter, an English musician and composer, who was destined to play a most important part in the annals of the Society. Born at Gillingham, England, on the 16th of December, 1799, at the age of six^ he was sent by his father, Sam- uel Hayter, an eminent organist, to. the collegiate school connected with Salisbury Cathedral. Here he received instruction from Mr. Corfe, organist of the cathedral, whose place he eventually occupied for several years. Called to a like post at Hereford, he remained there until 1835, when he came to New York, and took the place of organist at Grace Church, of which his friend, the Rev. Dr. Wain- wright, was rector. Shortly after, Dr. Wainwright, who had accepted a call to Trinity Church, Boston, went to England to purchase an organ ; and in 1837, when it had been received and set up, he sent for Mr. Hayter, who came and took the place of organist, which he was to fill for more than twenty-five years. One who knew him well ^ says that he was " an English churchman and organist of the strictest sort in his creed and playing, so strict in the first" that thousands of dollars would not have tempted him to play at any other than the Episcopal service, and in the last "severely proper." In the records of the Handel and Haydn Society, Mr. Hayter is first mentioned as having taken Zeuner's place at the organ on Feb. H, 1838, at a rehearsal. In May, as we have seen, he was called to fill it for a season. This proved to be a prelude to many other seasons, during which he not only played the organ, but also advised the trustees in all musical matters ; instructed those members who had been selected to sing solos, how they should be sung ; and virtually conducted the performances, although the office of conductor was, more or less nominally, vested in the president. When, as in the case of Mr. Webb, he happened to be a trained musician, Mr. Hayter's role was that of a wise coun- sellor in time of need ; but there can be little doubt that non-profes- sional presidents, like Mr. Clark and Mr. Chickering, were only too glad to give the baton into the hands of an organist whose knowledge 1 These biographical details are taken from a notice of Mr. Hayter which appeared in the Poi^l, 1873. 2 Mr. J.ames Sharp, vice-president of the Handel and Haydn Society in 1828, and for several seasons member of the board of trustees. 118 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. and experience so far surpassed their own, and thus to make him con- ductor de facto if not 6 e jure. Proof that they often did so is furnished by the statement of an old member 1 that, he " distinctly remembers attending rehearsals night after night conducted by Mr. Hayter, through whose untiring patience and energy the Society was enabled to give some of the finest per- formances ever given in this country, and without the aid of outside talent." After the annual meeting which made Mr. Zeuner president, he officiated as the Society's organist for the last time, on June 4, when services incident to the two hundredth anniversary of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company were held in Chauncy Place Church, and "Old Hundred," the "Hallelujah Chorus,'' and ' ' Awake the Trumpet's Lofty Sound " were sung by the Society. After this, until October, public performances were suspended. The trus- tees had indeed discussed the advisability of giving them up altogether, as they had become a source of expense instead of profit, and con- fining the work of the members to rehearsals, to which they would be allowed to invite their friends. That those who advocated this course had some show of reason on their side, is evident from the small receipts taken not only at ordinary concerts, but also at those given with the aid of distinguished singers. Thus, for example, at the three last given in the early winter and spring of 1838, with Mrs. Franklin's aid, the receipts were respectively $30, $38, and $27.50 ; while at the two preceding, when Caradori Allan sang, they amounted only to $361 and ^264. Now as Mrs. Franklin's salary was $200 for the sea- son, and Madam Caradori was paid three fourths of the receipts, minus $80 taken by the Society for expenses, it is evident that with the ordinary or the extraordinary prima donna, the giving of concerts was a losing game. The Musical Magazine ^ finds reasons for this state of things in the want of a proper building ^ and the want of sufllcient rehearsals. " If the Handel and Haydn Society would every year give us only one new and sterling oratorio, thoroughly rehearsed, and repeat that often enough to make the audience familiar with it, we think it would do much good to the cause of music. It has the means to do it, so far as the director, chorus, and orchestra are con- cerned ; and with careful practice the same would be true also of its ' Transcript, August, 1873. 2 //uefc, Vol. I.,p. 15. s The subject of obtaining one was again brought up In June, 1838. On the 18th, a committee was appointed to confer with Mr. Pilse about a new hall, to ascertain terms for the purchase of an estate, make a survey of it, and obtain a general plan for the building to be erected on it. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 119 solo singers, for it has good tenor, bass, and soprano voices at' com- mand." The proposal to give up public concerts, and the above advice given by the editor of the Musical Magazine, were alike disre- garded, and matters were allowed to take their usual course. In October, Madam Caradori sang in the Creation twice to tolerable houses. November had its two concerts of selections, with but a beg- garly sale of tickets ; and December, one on the last day of the year, when the Messiah was sung to an audience which brought 827.50 into the treasury. It was evidently high time to " sound an alarm." Called together, the trustees determined to summon David to their aid, trusting that, armed with the sling and the stone of Neukomm's music, he might avail to slay the Goliath of public apathy. In this they were not disappointed. Eleven times before the close of the season did he give proof of his power, bringing $l,142_into the treasury, and giv- ing the Society about $500 profit. ^ Instead of Colburn and Withing- ton, who had sung the parts of the Philistine giant and the Israelite shepherd boy when the oratorio was first brought out, Messrs. Jonas Chickering and Samuel Richardson were substituted. "This selec- tion," says the Rev. William Staunton, in an already quoted letter of personal recollections, " was obviously made in view of their vocal ability, and of the spirit in which they would be sure to perform the duty allotted to them ; but over and above this, it happened that there was a very marked correspondence between the physique and general bearing of these gentlemen and the current ideas which we have of the ancient coinbatants whom they were called upon to represent. Richardson was a tall, bulky, and muscular man, of jovial aspect, with a radiant countenance and powerful lungs. Added to this, one of his eyes was in true position, while the other sensibly verged toward a squint. I honestly think that a better Goliath could hardly have been found either in or out of the Society's ranks. And when in the course of the oratorio he came forward as the champion of the Phil- istines, the dismay and uproar of the Israelites, expressed in the chorus 'Behold the Giant!', seemed fully justified. On the other hand, Chickering was a man somewhat delicately made, rather below the average stature, and with a face expressive of all that was gentle, winning, and benignant. And when he modestly stepped to the fronj/ in a line with the towering giant, who glanced at him with a droU > At the fourth performance, March 17, the aisles, galleries, and every seat and every foot of flooring were occupied. Hundreds were turned away, imahle to find their way within the doors of the hall. — Transcript, March 19, 1839 . 120 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. contempt, exclaiming, ' Give me a man, that we may fight together ! ', the only cheek to the expression of sympathethic feeling on the part of the audience, was the secret assurance that Chickering would speedily give the braggart heathen his due with a sling and a stone." An article on Hayter, in the Metronome for September, 1873, says that Eichardson, who had previously sung the part of Goliath in a very crude manner, was correctly retaught it by Hayter. It sa3's nothing of Mr. Chickering's David, but mentions Colburn in the part as " a shouter rather than a singer, relying rather on coarse, violent effects than on the skilful management of his voice." Marshall Johnson, who, as we learn from the same source, was selected from the chorus and trained in the part by Hayter, sang it " in far better style than Colburn, doing great credit to himself and to the Society." As a fitting con- clusion to the history of the Handel and Haydn Society's performances of David, we give the Chev. Neukomm's answer to a letter written by the secretary, at the board's request, to inform him of his election as an honorary member, and of the great success of his oratorio in Boston.' Paris, Dec. 21, 1839. (rfutlemen, — I have just received the letter which you did me the honor to address to me on the 27th of May last. Not finding me in Paris, It was forwarded to London, which I had just left, and then sent back to Paris, where I have just received it. All these circumstances will serve as an excuse for my tardy answer. Accept, gentlemen, my best thanks for the kind reception which you have given to my works. Permit me also to express my grateful sense of the honor which you have done me, by inscribing my name on the list of members of the Handel and Haydn Society. May the New World, under the protection of these two sublime men of genius, preserve the sound doc- trines of our art, and with them the purity of musical principles. May it forever repudiate all those extravagant productions of the present day engendered by the mania for novelties, which tend to destroy even the tra- ditions in our old and decrepit Europe, together with the masterpieces which a better age had left us. Accept, gentlemen, all the wishes which I shaU not cease to form, for the prosperity of your Society. I, am, with the highest consideration, gentlemen, your devoted servant, SiGISMUSD NeUKOMM. Address : Care of M. A. Leo, banker, 11 Hue Louis le Grand. Reference has been made to the salary first attached to the presi- dential oflflce during Bartholomew Brown's administration, and accepted by him and his successor, Mr. Webb. On Jan. 9, 1839, it was fixed at $300, but President Zeuner refused to accept it. Whether I Records of Handel and Haydn Society, Vol. IV., and letter on file. mSTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 121 he would have had the same conscientious scruples if he had felt himself at ease in his new position, and working in harmony with the board, is questionable. Certain it is that within a month of the time when the salary was voted, remarks were made (Feb- 3) in the board upon his continual absence from its meetings and those of the Society, and a committee was appointed to inform him ''that the interests of the Society and his own reputation seem to require him to resign," and to request him to do so. This he did on the 7th ; and the board replied by passing a vote of regret and of high esteem for his talents as a composer and executant of sacred music. Thanking him for his long continued services as organist, they express the hope that he and the Society may soon again co-operate in the promotion of the art divine. This co-operation they endeavored to bring about on June 11, lay electing him organist for the season ; but as he declined the i^osition, Mr. Hayter was re-appointed, and authorized by vote to spend $100, during his proposed visit to Eui'ope, in the purchase of the scores of the Messiah with JNIozart's additional accompaniments, St. Paul, Mt. Sinai, and sets of parts for the Creation and the Mount of Olives, and one new oratorio not specified. Mr. Zeuner shortly after left Boston for Philadelphia, where, after a residence of some eighteen j-ears, he, as has been already recorded, put an end to his life during a fit of insanity in 1857. Hack, in a review of the winter season of 1839-4U,' speaks of Zeuner as one whose name stands identified with the history of music in Boston, "for he has contributed towards elevating our style of church music by his publications." 2 " His loss is comparatively little felt at the present time," adds the writer, " as he had lately kept much retired, hiding his talent, and wasting it on trifles." "We hope," he concludes, "that his new career [as organist in Philadeli)hia] will excite him to new exertions, and will again place him in that station in regard to the art which he is qualified and ought to fill. Otherwise we would remind him of the man in the parable who hid his Lord's talent in a napkin." 1 Musical Magazine, Vol. II., p. 197. 2 So also Hack, I., p. 80, refers to David, given on 24tli ol Pebruaiy, and adds, " "We are sorry to see Mr. Zeuner no longer at the head of this [Handel and Haydnj Society. We regret the necessity which led to his resignation, will not examine into who is to blame, hut will say that, if there had heen on all sides a genuine love for the art, miitual good-will and forbearance, Mr. Zeuner would, by his talents and knowledge, have been capable of bringing the Society forward very much." 122 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. TWENTY-FIFTH SEASON. Mat 27, 1839, to May 27, 1840. Mr. Increase S. Withington, who had been a member of the board of trustees in 1828 and 1829, and who had sung the part of Goliath in the oratorio of David as originally cast, was elected president at the annual meeting on May 27, with Mr. George Hews as vice-president, and Messrs. Learnard and Parker as secretary and treasurer. As the new president had had experience in the conduct of affairs, and as he was a good amateur musician, we may believe that Hack was justified in saying that it would have been difficult to make a better choice among the members of the Society. The report of the treasurer showeda balance of $1,436.44 to the Society's credit, and the secretary stated that with but two exceptions during the last twelve years, there had not been, as now, money enough on hand at the end of the season to meet all demands. Between Sept. 29 and Nov. 3, five performances were given, — two of selections and three of David. They were the last concerts of the Society in Boylston Hall, which it had occupied for so many years. The first steps towards a change of quarters were taken in October, when negotiations were opened with Mr. Redman, proprietor of the Lion Theatre, to hire the building for five years at |1,700 per annum. The bargain was concluded late in the month, and a com- mittee was appointed to fit up the hall, which finally received the name of the Melodeon.* Additional regulations for the government of the Society in its new home were thought necessary, and the secretary being requested to report them, wrote a circular, which was printed for the convenience of the members, and written out at length in the fifth volume of the records. Beginning with a short statement of the reasons which made a change of quarters desirable, Mr. Learnard reminds the members, that to secure all the advantages incident to the occvTpation of larger and more suitable accommodations, it will be necessary for them to be faithful in their attendance, zealousi to improve the character of performances, and active in exerting influ- ence with their friends to attend the concerts of the Society, so that it may have funds to enlarge the scale of its operations, and be able to add to its library. More than all, they must attract the public by increased excellence in choral singing. Among existing evils he points out too much nominal membership ; too loose an observance of the 1 It was at first proposed to call It the Adelphi. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 123 by-laws, which ought to be more energetically enforced than they have been. It is only by " individual exertion, and steady devotion to the interests of the Society," he adds, that it can be raised to a higher place than it has hitherto occupied. In conclusion he points out that the Handel and Haydn Society ought to be regarded as a school of instruction, and expresses a hope that professors of music will generally take an interest in the rehearsals, and, when not othei-wise engaged, will, whether members or not, attend them. "When, on Saturday, Dec. 8, the members met for the last time in Boylston Hall, which they had occupied for twenty-three years, the president pro- posed that they should take leave of a place which had been the scene of so many pleasant meetings, by singing the Hallelujah Chorus at the close of the rehearsal. This they did, as the record saysf, " with full organ accompaniment and in excellent style." On Dec. 22 they met again for the first time at the JMelodeon, seventy-one in number, to rehearse the Messiah for performance on the 26th, when it was sung before an audience of nearly one thousand persons, by a chorus and orchestra of about one hundred and seveuty- five persons, with Mrs. Franklin, the Misses Wakefield and Fuller, and Messrs. Eichardson, Baker, Taylor, and Johnson as soloists. The new hall is spoken of in the Musical Magazine i as elegant and commodious. " The stage part of the house," says the editor, "is fitted up with seats rising in a semicircular form for the choir and orchestra, in the midst of which, at the end, the Society's large and excellent organ is to be placed. We congratulate the Society on their new and superior accommodations." TWENTY-SIXTH SEASON. May 27, 1840, to May 31, 1841. On May 25, Mr. Withington informed the trustees of his resolution not to accept a renomination as president. They received it with expressions of regret, followed by a vote of thanks, which he acknowl- edged " in a few brief but pertinent remarks." Two days later, at the annual meeting, Mr. George J. Webb was elected as his successor, with the same vice-president, secretary, and treasurer ^ as before, and Mr. Withington was appointed to the board of trustees. ' Vol. I., p. 407, 2 Mr. Abner Bourne, who had been treasurer for the past four years, died on the 10th of July, 1840. On the 21st, Mr, Matthew S, Parker was elected in his place, and Mr. I. F. Payson to that of Mr, Parker in tlie board of trustees. 124 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. The report of tlie secretar}' made at this meeting speaks of the financial condition of the Society as unexpectedly favorable, consid- ering the heavy expenses incident to its removal to the Melodeon. These, including the sum expended on necessary alterations and the rent, will, he thinks, be covered by the sum derived from the lease of the building, wlien not needed by the Society, to outside parties. He acknowledges that good results have followed upon the issue of the circular a twelvemonth previous, in which members were admon- ished of their shortcomings in regard to attendance at rehearsals and concerts, but at the same time he seizes the opportunity to remind them that the existence and prosperity of the Society depend more than ever upon their hearty and constant co-operation, now that other societies are laboring in the same field, and that the diminished sale of the Society's publications betokens the speedy termination of further profit from that hitherto fruitful source of support. After alluding to the fact that at the close of twenty-five years since the foundation of the Society, but three of its original members, Messrs. Dodd, Parker, and I ^ichardson , still take an active part in its affairs, he mentions that others are still living, who, though seldom present at its meetings, have lost nothing of their old interest in its prosperity. Of these, three, Messrs. John Mackay, Otis Everett, and Winches- ter, the ex-president, " to whom perhaps more than to any other per- son the Society owes its present high and honorable popularity," have within the year given substantial proof of their good-will by gifts, the first and last named of $100 each, .and the second of 850. The twenty-sixth season was opened on the 4th of October, with a new oratorio, Neukomm's Mt. Sinai, sung on that evening and on four subsequent occasions, the last on Nov. 1, by Mrs. Franklin, Miss Stone, Messrs. Withington, Wetherbee, Johnson, and Welling- ton. Lacking the dramatic and sensational elements of David, which it preceded in the order of composition, though superior to it as an oratorio, it met with a rather cold reception in Boston, and was soon laid on the shelf. The Musicol Magazine ' praises Mrs. Franklin's tuneful and expressive singmg in Mt. Sinai, but it takes exception to meretricious cadences and embellishments which she saw fit to intro- duce. It also commends the solo bass singers for their unassuming good taste in delivery, but it more than hints that they had but little command over their voices ; and while mentioning that the tenor had a powerful voice, of good compass, expresses the regret that he had done so little to improve the capital which God had given him ; the ' For an analysis of Mt. Sinai, see Vol. II., p. 374 et seq. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 125 chorus has improved in light and shade during the past year, and had the brass insti-uments in the orchestra been less blatant, the gen- eral effect would have been satisfactory. Though by no means the first critic of the Society's performances, the editor of the Musical Magazine brought more ability and experience to bear in the execu- tion of his task than any of his predecessors ; and as he took care to make allowance for existing conditions, and tempered censure with praise when it was deserved, he secured for himself a hearing, and did good service to the cause. In the first number of his periodical, after arguing in favor of the Society's practice of giving concerts on Sunday evenings, he reminds the members that they thereby declare them to be not social, but religious, exercises ; which they only can be, if care is exercised in selecting such works for performance as breathe a duly religious spirit, like the compositions of Haydn, Handel, ]Mozart,and Bach, and when much attention is given to the manner of performing them. The first condition he says is easy ; but the second, as depending upon steadiness of purpose and an entire absence of selfishness, is more difficult. " For it is not only the spirit in which music is conceived and composed, but also that in which it is performed, which gives it its sacred character." This position lie illustrates in another place by commenting on the way in which a bass singer in the Creation came leisurely down from his seat, and carelessly sang the recitative '-And God said ; " and by pointing out as disrespectful the habit of many people in the audience of putting on their overcoats and crowding to the door as soon as the signal for the final chorus in an oratorio is given. Hack had furthermore the sense to see that the shortcomings of the chorus were due not only to insufficient rehearsals, but also to the incompetency of their amateur conductors ; and in the Musical Magazine of Jan. 4 he pointed out the remedy ; namely, the separa- tion of the office of president from that of conductor, who, as he says, ought to be " one of the most talented professional men in the city." This needed reform was virtually effected by the election of Mr. George James Webb, whose competency no one could dispute. He had shortly before resigned his connection with the Boston Academy of I\Iusic owing to some not fully explained dissension between him- self and its conductor, Mr. Lowell Mason, and was therefore able to accept the position again offered him by the Handel and Haydn Society. The greatest musical event of his administration was the appearance of the great English tenor, John Braham, then in the sixty-seventh 126 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. year of his age,i at the Society's concerts. After filling Europe with his fame, and amassing a large fortune, which was swallowed up in theatrical speculations undertaken in 1831, Braham determined to cross the ocean, believing that the strength of his reputation, and the voice which yet remained to him, would suffice to attract the public, and enable him to replenish his purse. In his best time his voice had a compass of nineteen notes, and his falsetto from D to A was so entirely under control, that the point of transition between it and his natural voice was hardly recognizable,^ but in 1840 it had lost a great deal in power and tone.^ Still, his noble style of delivery, which time could not affect, remained to charm Ms hearers. If I may judge from my own experience, the impression made by this truly great singer is ineffaceable ; for though forty-six years have elapsed since I, a lad of seventeen, heard him sing " Total eclipse" at the Melodeon, it is still clear and strong. This must have been at one of the four concerts given by the Society with his assistance in November, 1840, On turning to the records after writing the above, to consult the pro- grammes of these concerts, I found that on Friday evening, Nov. 1, the concert began with the overture to Samson, and that immediately after it Braham made his debut by singing the famous aria in question. As he did not, so far as subsequent programmes show, repeat it, I must have heard him at this concert, when, accord- ing to the record, the veteran tenor " fully sustained his pre-eminence " as the first living vocalist, and completely answered the high expecta- tions which had been raised in the public mind. While it is interest- ing to know what the Handel and Haydn Society thought of Braham, it is interesting to hear what so good a judge of chorus singing as he said of the Society. In a letter to President "Webb, dated Baltimore, March 15, 1841, he writes : — "I never heard choruses more beautifully given than by the Society. The different lights and shades, so difficult to be attained, the delicacy of delivery by abody of choristers as if performed by a single voice, do the utmost credit to the conductor, Mr. Webb, the organist, Mr. Hayter, as well as to the ladies and gentlemen of the Society." The announcement of Braham's first appearance on Friday evening, Nov. 1 , excited great interest. One thousand four hundred and twenty- 1 Born in London in 1774 ; died there Feb. 17, 1856. 2Grote's Dictionary, Vol. I., p. 269. 8 His skilful performances gained him as many friends and partisans, as the want of youthful buoyancy in his voice, which no skill could completely disguise, and his style of singing (sometimes so exaggerated and affected as to border on the absurd ) made him bitter antagonists. —Hack, Vol. I., pp. 173 and 419. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 127 five tickets were sold at the door before the concert began, and the audience numbered about sixteen hundred persons, who enthusiasti- cally applauded the great tenor's singing of " Total eclipse," " Waft her, angels," "Sound au alarm," and " In native worth." He again appeared on the 20th and 22d, with undiminished success, and then left Boston to sing elsewhere, promising to return shortly. After two other concerts of selections in November, the Society sang the Messiah at Christmas, and repeated it on the 3d of January. i This last was the better performance of the two, says Hack.® " Comfort ye " was beautifully given, but in " Thou shalt break them " the tenor broke down, a catastrophe "which he would have avoided had he not tried to imitate Braham." So much for high-vaulting ambition. The great original re-appeared on the 17th and 24th, in Neukomm's David. Hack, who speaks of the first performance as one of the best of this oratorio which he has ever heard, ^ takes Braham to task for loading the first recitative with embellishments, and for sighing and dragging his voice from one note to another in the air. " I wiU lay me down in peace," on the 24th, he sung more " simply and in a nobler style ; " but on the 31st, he closed Luther's Judgment Hymn'' with "a prolonged figurative cadenza," which raised the critic's ire. This was appeased at a subsequent concert, the second of two given with Braham in February, when he sang in Mt. Sinai, and abstained from all extemporaneous embellishments, and " delighting us." says Hack, by the expression which he gave to every word of his text, "which is the principal excellence of his style. "^ "Again the mighty grandeur of the Commandments, and the beautiful accompaniment of the very melodious solo songs throughout, struck us as the principal excellences of the work, which is of far greater excellence than the same composer's David ; though for want of a tale to tell, and lack of action, it failed to excite any great interest in the audience."^ After Braham's departure, David was repeated, on May 2, for the benefit of eight musicians, who, having been dismissed from the orchestra of the Tremont Theatre for having assisted the Society in six concerts during 1 Receipts, 9,59.50. 2 Vol. II., p. 15. s Vol. II., p. 48. *The last lines are said to have been delivered by Braham, in the declamatory style of which he was master, with thrilling impressiveness. Fairbanks's letter to S. J., Oct. 24, 1871. 5 Hack, Vol. II., p. 64 ; and on p. 172, he says, " How many have learned from Braham to use judgment in giving effect to every note of the song, to every tone of the voice." 8 April 20, funeral obsequies of President Harrison. Society assisted, and secretary acted as marshal ; no singing mentioned ; Rufus Choate, orator. 128 HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. the engagement of Mr. Brahani, had, as they stated, suffered a loss of $240. On this occasion the members of the orchestra volunteered to play without remuneration, and the Society purchased tickets liberally. The concert yielded $223, which sum was paid over to the beneficiaries. In this same month of May (28th), the board decided to establish a class for musical instruction, under the direction of President Webb, and to grant the gratuitous use of the Melodeon for that purpose. The prospectus, printed by Hack,' calls it an annual class to be held during the sessions of the National Musical Convention, and from the first meeting on Aug. 18, choral, glee, and solo singing are included in the course, together with lectures on thorough-bass. Evidently this class was started in emulation of one of the same description previously established by the Boston Academy of Music, under Lowell Mason's direction. Hack ^ very justly observes that instruction limited to so short a period as the meeting of the Convention, ten days, can be of little use, especially in the theory of music ; and says that if the So- ciety really means to do good, it should make the class permanent. Other editorials and communicated letters published in the Musical Magazine show that the Academy and the Society were pitted against each other in this matter of teachers' classes, and that the rival leaders, Mason and Webb, had their hot partisans. "The Conven- tion met," says Hack,^ " and we are sorry to say our fears [of the result of rivalry] are fully realized ; for it has ceased to exist. Two new Conventions have grown out of it, — the American Musical Con- vention, organized at the Odeon, and the National Musical Convention, re-organized at the Melodeon. . . . We fear that this separation will not end the war," etc. According to the record, the Convention was dissolved on the 26th of August, " owing to the discussion of a question intended to injure the Handel and Haydn Society." This question, as Hack tells us,'* was, " ' Do oratorios, as they are generally conducted, exert a salutary influence in the cause of church music ? ' This was taken by the one party as a direct attack ; and in their defence they took the broader ground of defending the salutary influence of oratorios in the abstract, in which the other party met them ; and poor Handel had much to suffer for his wickedness and want of religion in composing the Messiah for the amusement of the people. 5 Thus our confused ideas of sacred music, not music 'Vol. II., p. 208. 2/6. p. 204. 'Vol. II., p. 328 4Page328. 5 An Orthodox clergyman was represented in the newspaper report as having said that Handel knew nothing of sacred music, and that there was nothing which partook of the nature of sacred music in the Messiah. — S. J., ma. note. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 129 sacred to US, but music contained in the psalm books, (rem acu tetigit) again worked mischief," etc. Ritter, in his Music in America,^ referring to the short duration of the first National Musical Conven- tion, says : " It owed its independence to a quarrel which in 1839 arose between Mason and Webb. The importance which it seemed to acquire was detrimental to the interests of the class conducted by Mason. Means were therefore found by the Mason party to destroy the independence of the Convention, in order to protect their private interests." A dissolution, as we have seen, followed ; and of the two new associations then formed, only one lived for a few years, namely, the American, under the control of Mason and the Academy. ^ From it issued the so-called convention music teacher, who composed psalm tunes, compiled old collections "with new and starthng titles," and evolved new singing methods out of stale material or musical manu- als, in order to diffuse musical knowledge, according to the eclectic system or no system. 3 The Handel and Haydn Society made no further attempt at giving instruction, and in October the board indefinitely postponed all consideration of a scheme for founding a conservatory of music, proposed by President Webb on Sept. 8, and reported on favorably on the loth. , TWENTY-SEVENTH SEASON. May 31, 1841, to May 30, 1842. At the annual meeting on May 31 , it appeared from the treasurer's report, that owing partly to the cost of publishing Neukomm's ora- torio of .Mt. Sinai, and of making certain indispensable alterations in the Melodeon, calculated to increase its usefulness as a lecture- room, etc. , the expenses for the season had exceeded the receipts by about one thousand dollars. The secretary, in view of the deficit, recommended fewer concerts during the ensuing year, gi^Ting more time for study and consequent improvement. He stated that the Society's performances had never been more highly commended than during the past season, referred to Braham's warm praise of "their manner and style," ended his report with an exhortation to the mem- 1 Page 259. 2 Saroni, Musical Times, Teachers' Institute, Webb and Mason Lectures, p. 27, 1849; pp. 580, 90, and 603, 1850. Persons attending musical conventions in New York can hardly form an idea ol what a Boston convention is. Teachers and pupils here mingle together to wcirk for the common good. Mr. Mason is their god, and Mr. Webb is his prophet. — 5ept 2, 1850. SKitter, p. 261. 130 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. bers to do all in their power to secure the permanency of an institu- tion which has thus far " happily withstood the open assaults of its adversaries and the cunning artifices of its secret foes." On this same evening, Messrs. Webb, Hews, and Learnard were respectively re-elected to the offices of president, vice-president, and secretary, and Matthew S. Parker was chosen treasurer. On June 22, the president's salary was fixed at $300, and in view of the neces- sity of economy, that of Mrs. Franklin was cut down to 8150. This she at first refused to accept, and when in July she reconsidered the matter, it was too late, as other arrangements had been made with Mrs. Turner, Miss Wakefield, and Miss Stone, who in the mean time had volunteered to take solo parts when required, and " thus save the Society from the expense of hiring any female singer permanently." ' At the first concert of the season, given in November, the Society sang Spohr's cantata, " God, Thou art great," and Romberg's " Tran- sient and Eternal." These works had been so insufficiently rehearsed that the performance is noted in the records as ' ' the most inferior given for many years." Instead of repeating them after more careful prep- aration, the trustees engaged Braham to sing in the Creation on Dec. 12, and in the Messiah on the 19th. The receipts were, respectively, $320 and $260 ; but at a repetition of the latter oratorio with local singers on the 26th, they fell to $95. In February, 1842 , Brah am returned to Boston forthe last time. At a concert of selections given on the 6th, he sang " The Better Land " with much feeling and fine taste ; and at his farewell performance on the 13th, " All is Well," with his son Charles, " a youth not yet out of his teens, with a voice of great compass, of exceedingly pleas- ant and melodious quality."^ " To hear this duet," said Miss Stone, " was alone worth the price of a ticket." The rehearsals of Spohr's Last Judgment,^ which had been con- tinued through January, were resumed after Braham's departure, and the oratorio, brought out on the 20th of March, was repeated on the 27th, and on the 3d, 10th, and 17th of April. At three of these performances the principal soprano part was sung by the daughter of • Aug. 16, excursion to Naliant, complimentary to lady singers engaged for season ; about one hundred and twenty present ; dinner, dancing, and singing oi songs and glees. Expenses defrayed by a voluntary contribution. President Webb in attendance. 2 Transcript, Feb. 26. 8 Die Letxlen Viniie, first produced at Dusseldorf in 1826, is not to be con- founded with Spohr's earlier work, Das Jurigste Gericht, written in 1811. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 131 the composer, Madam Spohr Zahn, whose great artistic merits were not at all appreciated. Hack' says, "that while Braham, whose performances, by their exaggeration and affectation, sometimes border on the absurd, was cheered and flattered, Madam Zahn, with her powerful and touching presentation of German song, was entirely neglected." The contrast to the ear between the ornate manner of the English tenor, and the severely classic style of the German soprano, must have been as great as that to the eye between a flamboyant Gothic cathedral and a Greek temple. Braham gave all the world something to admire, purists as well as sensationalists, but Madam Zahn addressed herself only to the educated, who form the minority in every audience. Again, in singing her father's really great orato- rio, she stood at a disadvantage with a public, whose taste for the sensational in music had long been assiduously cultivated by listening to Neukomm's David. Meditative, suggestive, and undramatic save in the highest seuse, Spohr's Last Judgment seemed tame to ears attuned to cheap effects, and it was withdrawn after a few perform- ances. Again the Society had recourse to David ; but whether, as the secretary opines, the public had become satiated with concerts for- eign and native during the season, or because it had had enough even of its long-established favorite, it was sung to small audiences both on April 24 and May 1, The part of Micah was taken by Miss Anna Stone (now Mrs. Ellsworth Eliot), who for many years ren- dered signal service to the Society. Her name first appears on its records as one of the three ladies, already mentioned, who, when Mrs. Franklin declined to sing during the season ou the terms offered her by the trustees, enabled them to dispense with her assistance by volunteering to take solo parts when required. This she did in Eomberg's " Transient and Eternal," and in the Messiah in the latter part of 1K41 . It is evident that she was at once regarded as the best solo singer in the Society, for in February of the following year she was called upon to sing Handel's duet, "0 Lovely Peace!" with Braham. " Possibl3s"we should say certainly from our own recollec- tions, '' Miss Stone was one of the most effective singers that Bos- ton has produced."^ She began as an alto; but Paddon, the great teacher of those days, decided that her voice had the treble ring to it, and in the course of a season or two brought her out in soprano solos. She was never refined or delicate in her vocal efforts, but she pos- sessed a voice of phenomenal force aud compass, and in such selec- tions as " Let the bright seraphim," and " Rejoice greatly '' she was without a rival. ■ Op. cit. III., p. 44. 2 Boston Budget, March 2, 1884. 132 HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. TWENTY-EIGHTH SEASON. May 30, 1842, to May 29, 1843. As Mr. Webb had declined a renomination to the presidency, Mr. James Clark, a builder by trade, and one of the original members of the Society, was nominated, and elected at the annual meeting, with the same vice-president, secretary, and treasurer as before. On the special qualifications he may have had for the office, history is silent ; but his short administration, which bridged a gap between two remarkable presidents, Messrs. Webb and Chickering, is notable' for the production of two new works of great importance, Mendelssohn's St. Paul and Rossini's Stabat Mater. Before either was brought out, the members, having refreshed their spirits by an excursion to Horn Pond in July, where, with their invited guests, they greatly enjoyed an entertainment conducted on strictly temperance principles, once more endeavored to attract the public by putting the once magic name of David on their programmes ; but the four performances in October and November were, thinly attended, and the last, on the 13th, brought only $32.50 into the treasury. On the 11th of December they sang selections and Romberg's " Transient and Eternal," and at Christmas the Messiah, but with no better results. The Society had entered upon one of its periodical fits of depression, which the two new works, brought out soon after New Year's day, failed to relieve. St. Paul, first given on Jan. 22, with Misses Stone, Garcia, and Emmons, and Messrs. Taylor, Kimberly, Baker, Byram, and Wetherbee, as soloists, was twice repeated within a month to audiences which grew small by degrees and beautifully less. This was j^artly owing to the want of special vocal attraction, and partly to the inability of the , public to appreciate music so lofty in its strain of inspiration and so scientific in its character. Greatest of modern oratorios in the opinion of many musicians, St. Paul never has been and never can be a popular favorite like the Stabat Mater, which succeeded it on the Society's programmes, but the latter work needs great singers to give its operatic arias and concerted pieces due effect, and these were not obtainable when it was brought out in the English text,i on the 26th of February, before a somewhat larger audience than any which had attended the performances of St. •■ Mr. George Parker translated the Latin text, and Mr. Hayter adapted it to the music. He also taught the singers liow it was to he sung, and arranged the orches- tral parts in an effective munnerl — Metronome, September, 1873 ; Transcript, Dec. 5, 1846. HISTORY OF THE HAJiTDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 133 Paul. At the second and third repetitions the attendance steadily diminished, and at the fourth, was so small that the receipts amounted to 162.50 only. "This," says the secretary, " was not an adequate return for the expense and labor of preparing new and beautiful music, which the public is not inclined to encourage and patronize." After this double failure, the Society returned to Neukomm's "Hj'mn of the Night," Romberg's "Transient and Eternal," and selections, which were given at three concerts, whose receipts amounted, respectively, to 816, $29, and $19.50. No wonder that at the close of such a season the affairs of the Society were found to be anything but prosperous. With a debt of $1,798, the cessation of all income from the sale of its publications, and perplexity as to what could be done to win back public favor, the situation was not a little depressing. Feeling himself unable to cope with it, or influenced b}' some other unknown reason, Mr. Clark declined a renomination, and retired, with a suitable vote of thanks for his services. TWENTY-NINTH SEASON. May 29, 1843, to May 27, 1844. The same page of the records which contains the vote of thanks to the retiring president, contains a second vote, thanking Mr. Jonas Chickering " for his generous loan of a pianoforte during the past season, and for his many acts of liberality to the institution." If the gratitude thus expressed was founded on a lively sense of favors to come from the same quarter, no feeling of the sort was ever more fully justified by the result, for the vote of 1843 has been substan- tially passed, with a change of Christian name, at every subsequent annual meeting up to the last held in May, 1886. The subject of the original vote has long ago gone to his honored rest, but his exam- ple has been followed by his sons, to one of whom, Mr. George Chickering, its present vice-president, the Society continues to be indebted for the annual loan of a grand piano at its weekly rehearsals. Standing so high in the esteem of the members of the Society as Mr. Jonas Chickering did, it is not surprising that they chose him for their president at the annual meeting held on the 29th of May.i He had been a member of the board of trustees in 1831, ' The other chief officers elected were : J. Q. "Wetherhee, vice-president, replaced in October by B. F. Baker; A. O. Bigelow, secretary; M. S. Parker, treasurer ; J. F. Payson and S. Moody, librarians. 134 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1832, 1833, and vice-president in 1835 and 1837, so that he was thoroughly conversant with the affairs of the Society, which was now, as we know, in special need of such wise guidance and counsel as it had every reason to expect from him as chief oflScer.i The secre- tary's report, which was read on the evening of his election, suggests several extreme measures calculated to free the Society from debt, such as dropping the orchestra altogether, or reducing it to a string quartette, limiting the performance " of gems like the Messiah and the Creation " to extraordinary occasions, inasmuch as in his opinion "the community has a positive disrelish for orchestral sounds when administered in large doses,'' and giving only miscellaneous pro- grammes, " which," he sarcastically suggests, " approach nearer to the understanding of those who are paying auditors." None of these propositions was adopted. On Nov. 16, the trustees, at the suggestion of the president, discussed the bold policy of giving a series of oratorios on a much more magnificent scale than hitherto, " for the purpose of re-establishing the reputation of the Society, it being very evident that its performances have during the last two or three years been of a less high order than before." With this intent, the president and orchestral committee were empowered to engage the orchestra of the Academy of Music for twelve successive Sunday evenings, if it can be done for 850 per night ; and when, on the 24th, the committee reported that this was impossible, they were autliorized to engage as good an orchestra as could be obtained for the sum specified, with Leopold Hering, a remarkable violinist who had lately taken up his residence in Boston. Admitting that he had little knowledge of oratorio music at the time of his appointment, as has been said,^ and that Hayter had considerable trouble in teaching him how to play Handel's music, he was from the first a valuable ' The following biogi'aphical details are taken from the Metronome, for April, 1873, p. 4. Jonas Chickering, son of a blacksmith at New Ipswich, N. H., was To/otn in April, 1797. At the age of seventeen, he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker for three years. The next year he showed his ingenuity by skilfully repairing the one pianoforte in the town belonging to Mr. S. Batchelder. His love of music induced him to learn to play on the clarinet. In 1818, Feb. 15, he came to Boston, worked for some time at his trade, and then found employment in Mr. Osborne's pianoforte factory, the only one in Boston, until Feb. 15, 1823, when he and a Mr. Stewart, en- tered into partnership as pianoforte manufacturers under the firm name of Stewart & Chickering. On its dissolution in 1826, Mr. Chickering carried on the business single-handed, and gained no little reputation as a maker of pianos. On Feb. 13, 1830, he formed a partnership with Mr. Maokay, which lasted for ten years, and carried on business at No. 334 Washington Street, afterwards on Franklin Square. Mr. Chickering occupied the Music Temple, where he fitted up a room for chamber concerts. Died Dec. 8, 1853. 2 Metronome, October, 1873. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 135 addition to the orchestra, which he strengthened and steadied with his violin. We can well believe that the president, when conducting the intricate passages of an oratorio, found it convenient to lean upon so skilful a leader as the new incumbent. The first concert of the season on June 18, when selections were sung by members of the Society, was made socially notable by the presence of the President of the United States ; while the second, on Sept. 24, had a musical importance, as the Stabat Mater was then sung by the Seguin troupe, which had lately arrived from England to begin a long and successful series of operas and concerts in the prin- cipal cities of the Union. Though not vocalists of the first class, Mr. and Mrs. Seguin were conscientious and pleasing singers. The lady had a soprano voice of considerable compass, with some previ- ous training as an oratorio singer ; her husband, a deep bass, which so fascinated the ears of a tribe of Indians, to whom he sang in Canada, that they made him a chief, and gave him a name in their language signifying '-the man with the deep mellow voice. "^ During the remainder of the season, the Society contented itself with its own solo singers, giving three performances of the Creation on Oct. 29, Dec. 3 and 10, and two of the Messiah, on the 27th and 31st. David was once more revived on Jan. 21, and repeated on the 27th, and on Feb. 4 and 11. Then followed Spohr's Last Judgment, on the 3d, the 10th, and the 17th of March, and the season closed with three performances of the Stabat Mater, on the 7th, 14th, and 21st of April. THIRTIETH SEASON. May 27, 18-t4, to May 26, 1845. The secretary's report at the annual meeting, which took place on the 27th of May, and at which the same chief officers were re-elected, is written in a gloomy tone, fully justified by circumstances. The debt of the Society amounted to $2,018.13. The Melodeon had not been let for some time, and of the one hundred and seventy-eight members, not more than half had attended at rehearsals or concerts during the past season. To meet the debt, the secretary proposed a quarterly assessment of fifty cents, or an indirect assessment by the compul- sory sale of a copy of Neukomm's Mt. Sinai to each member. Fortunately better days were at hand, and the necessity of resort- 1 He died in 1852, in New York, where his wife, who retired from the stage, taught music for many years . 136 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. iag to either measure was avoided by an unexpected turn of for- tune's wheel. Meanwhile the members cheered their spirits by organ- izing an excursion to Horn Pond, where a complimentary dinner, attended by one hundred and six persons, was given to the ladies of the chorus on the 5th of August. They met again to sing the Crea- tion on the 30th of September, at a concert which may be talten as marking the nadir of the Society's fortunes. These began to rise towards the zenith on the 20th of October, when the eminent English baritone siuger, Henry Phillips, i the original Saul to Braham's David, made his first appearance in this country at a concert whose pro- gramme was made up of selections. In England he had made a great reputation for himself, both in opera and oratorio, and since 1825 had filled the position of first bass singer at the concerts of ancient music. His voice can have lost but little when he visited America,® as on his return home, after a year's absence, he with little diffi- culty regained his place as the leading English basso over such rivals as had meanwhile disputed it. During his first visit to Boston, he sang four times with the Society after his first appearance, namely, on Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 in the Creation, on Nov. 10 in the Messiah, and on the 17th in a miscellaneous programme. Two other concerts of the same kind were given in December, the first on the 8th and the second on the loth, with the assistance of Mme. Arnault, about whose powers as a singer I can find no record. "We now come to the happy moment when the mighty Samson did by his strength partiaUj' pull the Handel and Haydn Society out of the pit. of debt into which it had fallen. The great success of the oratorio was mainly due to Mr. Hayter, who suggested it to the Society, and did everything in his power to perfect its performance. This is duly acknowledged in the following inscription, engraved upon a silver pitcher and a pair of goblets, which were given to him after the thirteenth performance: "Pre- sented by the Handel and Haydn Society, of Boston, to A. U. Hayter, in token of their estimation of his services as organist, and his assiduous exertions in bringing so successfully before the public ' Bom in Bristol, Aug. 13, 1801 ; retired in 1863. Phillips sang for the last time in puhlic, in May, 1871, at St. James's Hall. His name, associated imperishahly with the classic days of ballad singing, was known only by report to many of the audience. (Metronome, p. 5.) He died in Dalston, Nov. 8, 1876. 2 A musical critic of the time says : ' ' We are among those who think that Phillips excels Braham in sweetness and purity of tone, in flexibility of voice, and in that power which gives true expression to the more tender emotions of the human heart." — S. J., note ; extract from Mr. Stone's scrap-book. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 137 Handel's oratorio of Samson, May 20, 1845."' After a few rehears- als of the oratorio late in 1844, it was laid aside until the new year, when it was again taken up, and finally brought out on the 26th of January, with Miss Stone, Miss Garcia, and Messrs. Baker, Marshall, Aikin, and Taj'lor as chief vocalists. A writer in the Metrohome for September, 1873, states that Hayter taught the solo singers their respective parts. This arduous task, together with his professional engagements, occupied Ms whole time, and robbed him of needed rest and recreation. He also drilled the chorus until they covild sing their parts almost faultlessly, supplied additional orchesti'al parts to Handel's meagre score, and on the evenings of the public concerts " played the organ in such a marked manner that it held the whole mass of singers and players together. The presi- dent did, indeed, stand up and wave his baton, but in point of fact everything depended upon Hayter, who conducted the oratorio from his organ bench." i In contemporary comments upon the performance of Samson, we find complaints of the accompaniments as " altogether too loud and boisterous for the solo parts," but the piercing tones of Bartlett's trumpet in the accompaniment to ' ' Let the bright seraphim " are spoken of as more than rivalled by the magnificent voice of Miss Stone, elsewhere compared to " the shower of meteors which illumine our November nights." Much delay is said to have occurred between the recitatives, airs, and choruses, i^erhaps to afford the conductor an opportunity of changing his place from the piano to the organ, and also in the rising of the chorus. The most important error in the cast of Samson was the assignment of the part of his father ManOah, and announced by Micah as "the reverend sire, old Manoah," coming '' with careful steps and locks as white as snow," to a hand- some 3'oung man of eighteen or twenty, whose juvenile appearance destroyed all dramatic effect. The effect was almost ludicrous, when, at another moment, the youth sang, " Where is my son, Samson, proud Israel's boast? Infirm my age ! " Despite all these drawbacks, the success of the oratorio was unequivocal. It was given thirteen times, for which the receipts were about three thousand dollars ; and the season, in consequence of this unexpected turn in affau-s, is spoken of by the secretary in his annual report as " the most successful ever known." At the ninth performance, on March 23, the part of ' A writer in the Transcript for 1842 speaks of the peculiar and admiratle style in which Hayter played accompaniments, adapting himself to the singer without display, accompanying and not presiding at the piano and at the organ without a rival. 138 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Samson was sung by Mr. Jones, an English vocalist of some celeb- rity, before " a house crowded to its utmost capacity;" and at the twelfth, on April 20, by Henry Phillips, under equally successful cir- cumstances. The same distinguished singer took the part of fSaul in Neukomm's David on the 13th and 19th of April. One more piece of good fortune occurred in this season, namely, the renting of the Melodeon, on Feb. 13, to the Rev. Mr. Parks's society, for Sunday services, at $1,200 a year. THIRTY-FIRST SEASON. JLiY 26, 1845, TO May 26, 1846. We may believe that members present at the annual meeting held on May 26, who listened to the report of a season spoken of by the secretary as "the most successful ever known," were cheerful and hopeful in spirit. With a profit of fully $2,000 on the thirteen per- formances of Samson and a decidedly increased average of attendance at rehearsals and performances, there was ground for confidence in the future. It is true that the financial condition was not yet as sound as might have been desired, but it was sounder than it had been three months before, when, as stated at a meeting held on Feb. 11, the liabilities of the Society amounted to about $5,500. As the treasurer had but $1,518 on hand to meet them, a quarterly assessment of two dollars was voted, to be continued until the debt should be extinguished. On May 24, although the Melodeon had been refitted at an expense of $4,000, the debt stood at $3,500, and with the hope of reducing it still further by Samson's aid before the end of the year, the annual meeting broke up, after the same chief officers had been re-elected. The autumn campaign opened with Samson, which was sung three times in October, on the 10th, 19th, and 26th, and it would have been repeated on the 2d of November, had not the sudden death of Leo- pold Hering, of disease of the heart, on the day previous, caused a postponement. This event caused great regret, expressed iu the resolutions adopted by the Society, commending this accomplished violinist as man and musician. At a general meeting held on Dec. 8, a motion to discontinue the assessment laid in February, prevailed, partly, perhaps, because it had been found difficult to collect it, and partly because it was thought possible to get along without it, in view of the approaching production of Moses in Egypt, which the Society counted on, and, as the event proved, justly, for a success second only to that of Samson. It was brought out in the English text on the HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 131) 21st of December,' and after the Messiah had been sung on Christmas evening, was repeated on the 29th, by Miss Stone, Mrs. Franldin, and the English tenor, Mr. Jones, aided by solo singers from the ranks of the Society. " Miss S.," says a contemporary critic, "sang with great spirit." For good reading, time, intonation, and steadiness, she particularly commended herself to all good musicians. The presence of Sanguiso with Signora Basili, his prima donna, and tlie other mem- bers of his Italian troupe, is said to have given " fresh impulse and animation to the singers," who, at this and at the seven subsequent repetitions of the oratorio during the next three months, were greatly applauded for their efforts. These repetitions took place on Jan. 18 and 25, Feb. 1, 8, and ii^ and on March 1 and 8. After Samson had been twice performed on the 22d and 29th of the same month, Moses again continued his triumphant progress on the 4th, oth, and 12th of April. The receipts for the fourteen performances given during the season are stated in the treasurer's report, presented on May 22, to have been $2,700 ; the balance against the Society, $1,938.27. On April 14, Miss Stone was paid $142. .50 for her services, which, considering how great they had been during the season, seems but a meagre recompense. THIRTY-SECOND SEASON. : May 2(5, 1S4G, to May 31, 1S47. The annual meeting held IMay 2G resulted in the re-election of the same chief ofBcers,^ and the musical season opened on Oct. 11 with the Creation, which was repeated on the 18th. The subsequent per- formances of David on Nov. 8 and 15, and of Moses on Dec. 6, 13, 20, and 27, were attended by small audiences, and severely criticised in the newspapers as inferior to the general standard. The chorus had grown careless, and the public tired of hearing these familiar works interpreted by the same singers, while the orchestra no longer had the help of Hering, whose place was inadequately supplied by Herr Miiller, the new leader. The appointment of a professional ihusician as conductor was suggested in the board as most desirable, but this needed step was not taken until the following j'ear, as the ' " Its production in English not attempted in any other part of America, nor even in England." — S. J. ^ The treasurer reported the debt of the Society to he $1,938.27. Tlie receipts from ten performances of Moses during the season, amounted to about $2,70(1. 140 HISTOUY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN* SOCIETY. president considered it inexpedient. Between New Year's day and the close of the season ten concerts were given, at which Moses was performed six times and Samson four, with but mediocre results. THIRTY-THIRD SEASON. May 31, 1847, TO May 29, 1848. With the exception of the secretary, Mr. A. O. Bigelow^, who was succeeded by Mr. Joseph G. Oakes, the same chief officers were re-elected at the annual meeting on May 31. The report of the secretary speaks of the large number of members who had absented themselves altogether from rehearsals during the past season ; of the want of proper rehearsals, wliich had caused the poorness of several performances to be severely commented upon by the press ; and of a falling off of $1,500 in the receipts of the season, as compared with those of that which preceded it. All these things gave the new board of trustees matter for reflection, and it resulted in the taking of two important steps, namely, the bringing out of a new oratorio, Judas Maccabseus ; and the appointment of a conductor, with a salary of $300. The gentleman selected for this important office, never before formally filled, was Mr. Charles E. Horn, an English musician and composer long known to the Society, which had assisted him at his first concert in Boston in January, 1828, and had sung his orato- rio, "The Kemission of Sin," in 1837 and 1838. With such a musician at the conductor's desk, and Mr. Hayter at the organ, great progress was to be looked for in the style of performance, and we are not surprised to be told that when, after twelve careful rehearsals, Judas Maccabseus was brought out on Dec. 5, the chorus showed the effect of " careful training in promptitude and decision of attack, and solid, unwavering execution." At the third performance on the 19th, the tenors were found fault with for want of precision in attack, and Mrs. Fi-anklin for continually singing below pitch. " See, the conquering hero," says a critic, " suggested Bombastes Furioso, for the drum came- in with such force as to bear down chorus and orchestra, both of which were out of tune." At the fourth performance on Dec. 26, Mrs. Franklin contrasted unfavorably with Miss Stone ; Mr. Jones, the English tenor, sang flat ; Mr. Thomas Ball,i bass, here first mentioned, lacked spirit and flexibility ; and in the final chorus the orchestra fnade a bad slip, which passed unperceived, " thanks to the homeward ' Admitted to membership on March 3, 1847. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 141 rush of the audience." " Despite these drawbacks," says the critic, by way of making up for his previous strictures, " the concert gave great satisfaction." However this may be, the oratorio did not attract sufficiently to pay its expenses ; and after one more perform- ance, on Jan. 2, it was laid aside for Elijah, which fortunately met ■with the heartiest approval and support. The first rehearsal of this great work,i second only to the Messiah in favor with the Boston public, took place on Jan. 16 ; and the first performance, after only six rehearsals, on Feb. 13, with a chorus and orchestra of nearly two hundred performers. The solo singers were : Thomas Ball, Elijah; Jones, ObadiaJi; E. Taylor, AJiab; Miss Stone, the Queen; Miss , tJie Wi'hw; Miss Emmons, the Angel. According to the newspapers, the hall was crowded, and the applause, not customary on Sunday night, was hardly restrainable. Such success, says the Chromatype, was never before known to attend a first performance. In the trio " Lift thine eyes," Miss Stone's voice was too prominent, but in the declamatory airs, " Hear ye, Israel," "Thus saith the Lord," "its unequalled brilliancy told with wonderful power." Mr. Ball, who made his debut, sang with feeling, power, and dignity ; but in " Is not His word " he wanted fire ; " in a word, his musical boots were a httle tight." After this brilliant beginning, Elijah continued its triumphant course until April 9, when it was sung for the ninth and last time during the season. Within the following week the Society took part in the funeral services held (April 15) in honor of John Quincy Adams at Faneuil Hall, by sing- ing a chant, "Blessed is the man," a hymn to the tune Savannah, " ®h, what Is man, great maker of mankind, That thou to him so great respect dost bear ! " and an air and chorus from the Messiah. Prayer was offered by the Rev. C. A. Bartol, and a eulogy delivered by the Hon. Edward Everett. At the two last concerts of the season, on May 6 and 14, the Stabat Mater was sung by Misses Stone and Emmons, Sig. Perelli, Sig. Novello, and Signora Biscaccianti, daughter of the well-known violinist, Louis Ostinelli, whose name, with that of his wife, who was for ten years organist to the Society, has been so often mentioned in these pages. Miss Eliza Ostinelli, born in Boston in 1827, went abroad in 1843 to perfect her musical education, under Madame Pasta, Vaccai, Nani, and Lamberti.® In 1847 she married Signor Biscaccianti at "Originally sung at Birmingham, under Mendelssohn's direction, on Aug. 16, 1846. 'Moore. 142 HISTOKY OF THE HAKDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. ISIilan: made her debut in Verdi's Ernani, and soon after returned to America, with the reputation of an accomplished singer. With her fine soprano voice, which had a compass of two octaves and a half, and effective presence, she became an established favorite from the date of her first appearance in Boston at the concerts of the Handel and Haydn Society in May, 1848.1 THIRTY-FOURTH SEASON. May 29, 1848, to Mat 28, 1849. No change was made in the list of chief officers nominated for elec- tion at the annual meeting on May 29, at which time the whole num- ber of members was two hundred and thirty-three. The secretary complained in his report of the scant attendance at the Society's monthly meetings, three of which had adjourned for want of a quorum during the past season. He reported the death of the Ex- President Samuel Richardson, and spoke with great satisfaction of Mr. Horn, who, on June 10, was re-elected conductor, with a salary of S400. On July 25, by order of the trustees, members who had not paid assessment dues, were notified that, unless they did so on or before Sept. 1, they would forfeit their membership. The concert programmes, from October to January, present three new names of solo singers, with which all are familiar ; namely, those of August Kreissmann, tenor, who sang with Mr. Ball and Miss Stone, in Moses, on Oct. 29 ; John Liphet Hatton, tenor ; and Mme. Anna Bishop, soprano, who appeared with Miss Stone, Messrs. Ball, Provost, and Millard, in the two performances of the Messiah given on Dec. 24 and 31. Mr. Kreissmann, president of the Orpheus Society, and long a successful singing teacher in Boston, was a familiar figure in its musical circles, until illness, of which he died in Germany, obliged him to retire from active life. His pleasing voice, excellent style, and sympathetic delivery made his singing of German lieder\ of Beethoven's Adelaide^ and songs of its class, most acceptable ; his kind and gentle disposition endeared him to his friends ; and his 'After separating from her liusband in California, Biscaccianti returned to Europe, and established herself as a music teacher in Florence. Several years ago her friends in America, hearing that she was in need of pecuniary help, raised a subscription for her, and seven or eight hundred dollars were contributed towards it in Boston. HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 143 excellent musical training enabled him to do verj' excellent and effi- cient work in his profession. Mr. Hatton,i an accomplished English musician, bred in the traditions of the old school, was a facile com- poser of ballads, glees, and part songs, and is remembered as such rather than as a vocalist, though his fine style and good voice management enabled him to produce an excellent effect in the concert-room. Of Mme. Anna Bishop, the third new singer who assisted the Society in December, 1848, we have been able to obtain but scant information. In England, her highly cultivated soprano voice gained her a position second only to that of Clara Novello as a concert singer, and as, unlike that celebrated artist, she travelled extensivelj', not only in the United States, but in Mexico and Australia, her name became far more widely known. Notices of her visit to Boston eleven j-ears after her first appearance speak of " her classic features, her bewitching eyes and mouth, of her voice, which still retained its peculiar purity,^ and of that clear, crisp enunciation and breadth of style characteristic of the best English vocalists, which marked her delivery of recitative." ^ This is referred to by another critic,* who says " her correct English stvle of delivery in recitative is highly to be commended. Her voice is a full-toned soprano, of a rich, melodious quality, and under the best possible control of a mind that understands and is capable of appreciating the great works of the immortal Handel." Madame Bishop sang again for the Society with Mr. Hattonon Jan. 7 in a miscellaneous concert, and then probably left Boston, for at the next, on the 28th, the Stabat 3Iater was sung by Biseaccianti, PereUi, and Eosi. INlr. Hatton re-appeared in Elijah on the 11th and 18th of February, and perhaps sang in the final concert of the season on the 18th of March. THIETY-FIFTH SEASON. May 28, 1H49, to May 27, 1850. At the annual meeting on the 28th of May, the same chief officers were re-elected, two of them, the president and vice-president, for the last time The season had not been remunerative, partly, in the opinion of the secretary, on account of bad weather on many concert ' Born in 1809 ; chiefly self-taught ; wrote several operas and musical entr'actes for tragedians, wliicli were brought out at the Princess's Theatre, when he was music director under Cliarles Kean. His sacred drama of Hezekiah was brought out at the Ciystal Palace in 1877. 2 Boston Journal, 1859. " Boston Post, 1859. < Daily Evening Traveller. 144 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. nights, and partly because an unusual number of concerts had been given during the winter. On the 21st of October the Society met with a serious loss, by the death of its conductor, Mr. Charles E. Horn, whose place was not professionally filled until 1851, when Mr. J. E. Goodson received the appointment. The death of Mr. Horn was particularly unfortunate at the time, as the Society was about to bring out Donizetti's Martyrs, originally sung in Paris as an opera in 1840. It was performed in Boston for the fu-st time on Dec. 16, with the following cast: Miss Fanny Frazer, Paulina; Mr. F. Howard, Polyeucte; Mr. J. L. Hatton, Severus; Mr. Thomas Ball, Felix; Mr. D. A. Granger, Calixtus. Despite the musical weakness of the work, which even as an opera occupies an inferior place in the list of its author's compositions for the stage, the Martyrs achieved a success so decided on the first night of performance that it was repeated six times before the end of January to full houses. Saroni,' who attended the fourth perform- ance, speaks of Miss Frazer as a great acquisition. He commends her pleasing voice and her decidedly impressive manner of singing, sentimental passages. He has also a good word for Mr. Ball, "who sings with taste and discretion,'' and for Mr. Granger, the basso ; but about Mr. Howard and Mr. Hatton he is silent. The choruses, he says, were for the most part well sung, though not exempt from deficiencies and inaccuracies in time, and the orchestra pretty good, when not so overpoweringly loud as to mar the effect of solo passages. Samson was to have followed the Martyrs, but, after several rehears- als, it was laid aside, on account of the lateness of the season, which closed with two performances of the Stabat Mater, on April 7 and 21, by Max Maretzek's Italian troupe, under his direction. As the singers were Bertucca, Patti, Perrini, Guidi, and Novelli, it goes without saying that the audiences were large and enthusiastic. THIRTY-SIXTH SEASON. May 27, 1850, to May 26, I85I. Before the annual meeting, Mr. Chickering had written to decline a renomination, on account of his increased business occupations. His decision, which caused much regret, gave the board an opportunity of expressing their " deep sense of obligation to him for the zeal and intelligence with which he has discharged the very responsible duties 1 Musical Time.1, Vol. I., p. 181. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 145 of his office." These words were a preamble to the following resolu- tion, passed at the annual meeting : — " Sesolved, That the thanks of this board be presented to Jonas CMcker- ing, Esq., for the able and hnpartial manner in which he has presided over the meetings of the Society and of the board of trustees ; also for his liber- ality in permitting the Society and the board to hold their numerous meetings at his extensive warerooms during the past seven years of his administration." The election which followed resulted in the choice of Charles C. Perkins as president, and Abraham O. Bigelow as vice-president, with Messrs. Oakes and Parker as secretary and treasurer. Never having belonged to the Society, I was elected a member before my election as its chief officer, and on June 4 took the chair at a meeting of the trustees, with what the secretary was pleased to record as " very appropriate remarks, and thanks for the honor bestowed." At this meeting a committee was appointed to consider and report upon a plan of proceeding calculated to advance the interests of the Society, including the selection of oratorios to be performed ; an arrangement for the sale of tickets which would, as far as possible, preclude loss ; rules for securing regular attendance at rehearsals, and the engage- ment of competent solo singers. The report of the committee on Aug. 4, advised that two oratorios should be given at six concerts ; that one thousand tickets should be sold by subscription through the efforts of the members ; that free passes should be dispensed with ; and that any member who had failed to attend the three rehearsals held before each concert should not be allowed to sing or enter the hall without having pm-chased a ticket. These recommendations were adopted, and two oratorios, the Crea- tion and the Elijah, were selected for performance. But to give them, it was absolutely necessary to find that rara avis, a competent tenor singer, and this proved to be a matter of no small difficulty. The first selected was a Scotch ballad singer, Mr. Dempster, who proved himself so incompetent at a rehearsal of the Ci'eation on Dec. 1, that the president was requested to advise him to withdraw, rather than run the risk of injuring his reputation by attempting to sing music completely foreign to his stj'le. This delicate mission having been performed with the desired result, Sig. Guidi, an Italian tenor belong- ing to Max Maretzek's troupe, was tried with success on Dec. 13, and he was engaged for three performances of the Creation, which took place on Dec. 22, 29, and Jan. 3, Misses Stone and Garcia, and Mr. Ball, singing the other solo parts. Eehearsals of Elijah began on Nov. 10, and it was sung in public on March 2, 9, and 16, by the 146 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Misses Stone, Emmons, and Lothrop, Mrs. Fowle, Mrs. Hill) and Messrs Thomas Ball, Guidi, "Webb, Clark, and Bothamly. The season closed with two performances of the Creation on April 6, with Sig G-iiidi, and April 27, with Mr. Arthurson, an English tenor who took his place. All these concerts were well attended, and warmly praised by the newspaper critics. The success of the Elijah was due in so great measure to Mr. Ball, that the Society moved to give him a solid proof of their appreciation of his services. Accordingly, on April 28, the secretary sent him a letter saying that — " As for the first time In many years the concerts have been sustained by the public, the government wishes to express its feelings of gratitude to those who have assisted gratuitously at them ; and ' in view of Mr. Ball's past services, and the able ^vay in which he has simg Elijah, beg to offer him a testimonial of a purse containing one hundred dollars in gold,' and a watch inscribed ' A tribute to the vocal merits of Thomas Ball, from the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston, .Vpril, 1851.' With best wishes for your health and prosperity, and our hopes that your purse, like the widow's cruse of oil, may fail not till Time in his course around the dial of your watch shall fliid you, like the Elijah of old, ready to die, we remain," etc. To this letter Mr. Ball replied on the 30th, saying that he shall always look upon the watch with pride and pleasure, — " pride that I have been called upon to take so conspicuous a part in the coucerts of so great a Society, and pleasure in possessing such a proof that my efforts, however unsuccessful, have been approved." At the close of this successful season i I addressed a letter to the board, declining the honor of a renomination on account of my inten- tion to pass several years in Europe, and a few days later received a highly gratifying answer, containing a copy of resolutions passed by the government, and signed by the vice-president and secretary. These expressed "regret for my departure, thanks for untiring efforts, close attention to the interests of the Society, and uniform courtesy," and tendered "warm wishes for my welfare and success." Thus terminated my first short connection with the Society, which, after the lapse of twenty-five years, was destined to be more enduringly renewed. I shall conclude this chapter with a letter addressed to " ^Messrs. Handell and Hayden, Musicians, Boston, Mass.," which I received during my year of office, and have carefully preserved as a literary curios jty. ' Receipts, $(i,359.43 ; expenses, $5,218.49. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 147 Clarksburg, Va., July 27, 1850. Messrs. Haxdeli, and Haydex Gentletnen. Hearing from a gentleman lately from Boston, that you were the instructors of a musical society in that place, I take the liberty of addressing you a few lines for the purpose of obtaining some information regarding your Society, and you will please excuse the liberty I have taken, as I am an entire stranger to you. I wish to know the terms upon which you take scholars for instruction, and whether you take any for their services, who have not the means to pay for their tuition. I have thought lately of cultivating my taste for music, which I think is very good, or at least tolera bly good. The first time I attempted, I could plaj' a time on the violin, and in three or four days I could play most any tune I knew except some difficult waltzes or reels. I can play on the flute as well, or very nearly as well, as our best performers, and some of them have been to our fashionable watering- places playing. Besides playing on several bass instruments, on the accor- dion and the piano, but I never tried the piano but once, and I played a tune on it then. I can play some ten or twelve Instruments all together. Please let me hear from yovi soon, and if your terms suit, I can give you most any number of certificates of my musical talents. Awaiting your answer, I remain yours faithfully. Then follows the signature, here suppressed for obvious reasons. PEEMCE TO YOL. I. -NO. 3. So far had this History of the Handel and Hajdn Society progressed, under the able hands of its late lamented president, Charles Calla- han Perkins, when, through a fatal accident,' he was so suddenly summoned from a useful, beautiful, and happy life to, doubtless, higher fields of usefulness, for which his cheerful, unremitting, and unselfish labors here had been a constant education. As one of his friends and fellow-laborers for many years in the musical vineyard of our dear native Boston, and as one who, unpro- fessionally, has had a pretty intimate acquaintance with our musical development for half a century, especially during the period of the Journal of Music, which bore my name for nearly thirty years (April, 1852, to September, 1881), 1 am requested by the Society to con- tinue these annals from the point where he left off. With no great assurance of my own worthiness to follow in his footsteps, I fear it would trouble my conscience were I to decline the task. So, trusting to indulgence, I will do what in me lies to carrj' on the record a few stages further. JOHN S. DWIGHT. Boston, April, 1887. i 1 From the very interesting memoir of Mr. Perkins by his friend and kinsman, Samuel Eliot, LL. D. (reprinted from the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Histor- ical Society), I take the following paragraph: — " In the latter part of August, 1886, he went to Windsor, Vt., to make a visit at his son's summer home. Two grandchildren were there to welcome him, and with them and their parents a few serene and happy days sped hy. On the afternoon of Aug. 26, he went to drive with two companions, one of them a young lady, who afterwards spoke of his enthusiasm at the beauty of the country and of his conver- sation on many lovely things. Something about the harness gave way, control of the horses was lost, and the carriage was swept on as to destruction. The young lady relates that the last thing she remembers of him was the smile he gave her, as if to save her from alarm . Then the crash came ; he was thrown and instantly killed." HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 151 CHAPTER IV. THIRTY-SEVENTH SEASON. May 26, 1851, to May 31, 1852. We resume the history at a comparatively feeble, uneventful period, just upon the eve of the completion of the Boston Music Hall, through which and other stimulating influences the old Society was soon to feel new life, and gain expansion. Its members and supporters re- gretted the absence, in Europe, of its late president, Mr. Perkins, from whose zealous devotion, sincere, enlightened, practical, so much was to be hoped . But they knew that even from the Old World his eye was on them, and he watched their progress, looking about him for what good means might fall in his way for furthering it. Mean- while, the Society did not despair, but looked around among its fore- most for the man to take his place. The annual meeting (May 26) resulted in the election of Abraham O. Bigelow for president, with J. S Farlow for vice-president ; and for treasurer and secretary, Messrs. M. S. Parker and J. G. Oakes, as before. Mr. Bigelow, long known as the senior member of the prominent firm of Bigelow Brothers & Kennard, jewellers, was born at Westmin- ster, Aug. 2, 1812, and died (as it were, but yesterday) on the 29th of April, 1887, at the ripe age of seventy-five, at Jamaica Plain, where he had long resided with his familj*. He was well known and held in high esteem. He had served the city for two years as alder- man a quarter of a century ago, and was sent to the State Legislature for two successive years. Like his brothers, he had a real love for music, and from the time of his short presidency to his death was always interested in the work and success of the Handel and Haydn Society. For several years he had been president of the Massachu- setts National Bank. He is truly described as "a man of warm affections and deep sympathy, and any work tending to the benefit of the city or the people of Boston always had his cordial support and co-operation."" ' On June 24, a letter, accompanying a service of plate, was sent to the secretary, J. G-. Oakes, in thankful recognition of his services for four years past, to which Mr. Oakes replied with "deep gratitude'' a few days later. 152 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. President Bigelow did not essay to wield the baton in propHd per- sond; bat, Aug. 15, Mr. J. E. Goodson, an accomplished English musician and organist, — one of the first, within our recollection, who pla3'ed fugues of Bach here, in Tremont Temple, —a thinking man, too, with mind much occupied in philosophical and social questions,^ was appointed conductor. We have the impression that he stayed not longer than a year or two in Boston, and then sought his fortune in the West ; but we have quite lost sight of him. At the same time, Mr. George F. Hayter, son of A.-U. Hayter, was appointed organist. Early in October, five hundred and ninety-five subscribers were reported for a series of six concerts, at the good, old, popular price, be it remembered, of fifty cents per concert ! But it was a period of depression and of small things for the remainder of the 3-ear. After a noble beginning with the Elijah, in March, the too sleepy public required more " realistic " stimulus, and the old year went out with a return to Neukomm's David, which was given Dee. 14, 21, and 28. The heavy giant's forehead was still impressible to the sharp stone from the young shepherd's sling. Saroni {Musical Times, Jan. 3, 18n2) thinks "they might have spent their time on something wor- thier than this threadbare product of the Chevalier N., which, for the most part, possesses little intrinsic merit." He hails good promise in the directorship of Goodson, though " he allows himself to be carried away by the powerful choruses, he following them, rather than they him." " He has one requisite, i. e., spirit and enthusiasm." Accord- ing to this writer, some of the choruses were sung very well ; some, very badly ; the principal fault being want of attention on the part of the singers. " In the final chorus it appeared to us that choir and orchestra vied with each other to see which could produce the greatest discord." For the three remaining concerts of the subscription series (Feb. 8, 15, and 22, 1852), isamsun was selected, and vigorously rehearsed thirteen times, partly, we can imagine, as being in its subject some- what kindred in dramatic interest to David, and popular on that ground, while in the higher musical sense contrasting with it as a work of pure Handelian gold. Counting from its performances by the Society in 1845, when it ran through sixteen Sunday evenings in suc- cession, with a single interruption (and that David !) , these were to be the twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth renderings of Samson. Evidently, it was not a success financially, however it may have been from an artistic point of view, for, at a meeting held Feb. 24, it was decided not to repeat it, on account of the expense. So the season was allowed to close with two presentations (March HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 153 25 and April 4) of a miscellaneous programme, more economical, inasmuch as the solos were gratuitously sung b}' members. On the first evening the audience numbered about twelve hundred, at the Melo- ■deon. The first part consisted of selections from the Creation; the second was more miscellaneous. In that very month of April it was — if mention of the coincidence be pardonable — that the first at- tempt, both serious and persistent, at instructive musical journalism in Boston, Dwight's Journal of Music, alwaj's an ally of the Handel and Haydn Society, and at least an honest and a friendly commentator on its work, during the nearly thirty years of its continued publication, first made its modest bow to the friends of music in this country. In its second issue (April 17), the editor, who had not heard the Creation extracts, wrote : " But the second part displayed much laudable and not ineffectual ambition on the part of a number of our native ama- teurs and choristers. Miss Bothamly is a new germ of rare promise. . . . To a voice of liquid purity, large, penetrating, and of good soprano compass, she unites unmistakable assurances of soul and real talent. Her sister, Mrs. Emmons, too, possesses a large and gen- erous contralto, which she blended with the more trained voice of the other, with true musical feeling and perception, in Eossini's ' Quis est homo.' Only bj- the best Italians have we heard their rendering of that duet surpassed." Praise is also given to " a very precise and delicately balanced piece of male quartet singing " of The Chapel, by Kreutzer. ' About this time, in the illness of Mr. Cakes, Mr. J. L. Fairbanks was made secretary pi-o tern. THIRTY-EIGHTH SEASON. M.\Y 31, 1852, TO May 30, 1853. At the annual meeting. May 31, Messrs. Bigelow and Oakes having declined a re-election, the following choice of officers was made : — Silas P. Mekriam . . . President. John Dodd ..... Vice-President . John L. Fairbanks . . Secretary. Matthew S. Parker . . . Treasurer. The reports of treasurer and secretary were not altogether encour- aging. The receipts of the past year were $2,275.98 ; the expenses, S2,930;32. The secretary reported nominally 200 members, of whom 80 had not appeared during the season. The average attendance at 154 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. rehearsals and concerts was only 68. "A faithful nucleus keeps the Society alive." But we may hope that better days are coming. Are we not soon to have a grand new music hall, with a Beethoven statue in it, and a great organ at a vast expense, to be the pride of all the land? And are we not to have a permanent conduetorship, in a man of tact and presence and authority, wielding the baton tn this clay (1887), and who knows how much longer? And shall not the old Society expand and strengthen under new quickening influences and in a broader field, not limited to three oratorios of " Mr. Handell " and the one by "Mr. Hayden " ? The summer and autumn records offer only the following items : Aug. 19, resolutions were passed in honor of the late seci-etary, J. G. Oakes, who died July 2. Aug. 31, Mr. George James Webb was appointed conductor. Sept. 7, of three candidates for the place of organist (A. U. Hayter, G. F. Hayter, and F. F. Mueller), Mr. Mueller was elected. On the question of orchestra, it was proposed to engage the "Musical Fund" for three concerts, and the "Ger- mania" for three. But the former would have " all, or none" ; and it was voted to take the Germania ; in which case Mr. Webb declines to conduct. The Germania, on being asked, refuse to retire from the field ; and Mr. Webb's resignation is accepted (Nov. 10), after a few rehearsals of Judas Maccabceus. In October, proposals were issued for six oratorio performances : three of Handel's Judas,'and three of Engeddi, the Anglicized re- christened (or un-christened) version of Beethoven's Christ (it the Mount of Olives; all the music was retained, but transferred to an older subject, with other characters and words, except in such choruses and airs as might fit anj- sacred subject. But meanwhile, in anticipation of the season's programme, an episode occurred which may in some sense be regarded as the start- ing-point of a new period in the Society's development. In Novem- ber of this j-ear the long-expected Boston Music Hall stood complete in all its grandeur and its beauty. Here was a hall, larger and finer than any in this country, or hardly any in the Old World, destined thenceforth to be the theatre of oratorio, as well as other noble music. Its architecture, internally, was noble and attractive, although exter- nally the building stood far back of the two streets, Winter and Tremont, nearly concealed from view, while sheltered from street noises, and required no architectural adornment, — only plain, solid, fire-proof, well-proportioned walls. Its height from floor to ceiling was 60 feet, length 1 20 feet, and width 60 feet ; in shape, a regular parallelogram, having on three sides two shallow balconies, though the HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 155 lower balcony opposite the stage was wide and capacious. It was beautifullj' lighted by jets of gas running round the cornice on all four sides far above the audience. It had seats for 2,700 people. It was owned in joint stock, largely held by a few munificent subscribers, among whom occur the well-known names of Upham, Apthorp, Perkins, Curtis, Chicliering, and others, but also as widely as possible distributed in small shares among actual musicians and music-lovers of humbler means. This arrangement gave excellent assurance for some time tljat the costly structure would be kept sacred to its proper end and use, to art, and not become the foot-ball of stock-jobbing interests. Unfortunately for the future, in the rules of the corporation it was forgotten to require the general sanction for the transfer of individual shares ; and cunning speculators, unobserved, soon began to pick them up, in the hope of acquiring, collectively or singly, a controlling in- terest, with power to divert the property from its original uses, which they had not much at heart. Only by the zealous intervention, more than once, of some wealthy and right-minded individual has the Music Hall thus far (1887) been saved. The new hall was inaugurated on the evening of Saturday, Nov. 20, by a brilliant concert, in which all the leading musical societies of Boston eagerly took part, to wit : besides the Handel and flaydn, the Musical Education Society i the Musical Fund Orchestra, the Germa- nia Serenade Band, and Kreissmann's Liedertafel, of German part- song singers. And, by a lucky chance, just then two of the world's famous queens of song, each with her concert troupe, were singing to delighted crowds here in our city. Not Jenny Lind ; that queen of all, with her commanding power, her genius and her magnetism, had taken her farewell, after being married to Otto Goldschmidt, in the house of Boston friends ; and though the first thought of the hew hall really sprang from a feeling of the lack here of any sufficient place for such a singer, her voice was never heard in it, nor with the old Society at all in oratorio. But, next to the Lind, we probably were never favored by two finer singing birds of passage than Mmes Son- tag and Alboni. The latter was engaged at great expense to add spe- cial lustre to the inaugural concert. '1 he great contralto sang on this occasion, strange to say, only soprano or mezzo-soprano arias, the same as in her own opening concert a few nights before, — such as "Casta Diva," a canzone from La Fille du Regiment, " Non piu mesta," from Cenerentola, and in a trio from II Barbiere, with Sig. Sangiovanni and Sig. Rovere. But her voice had great compass, as well as that rich, warm, generous, unctuous quality, which corre- sponded with her person ; and her execution had such perfect ease and 156 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. finish, that in spite of characteristic nonchalance, she always roused enthusiasm. The two oratorio societies, united, sang "The Heavens are Telling" and the "Hallelujah Chorus" from The Mef-siah; the Handel and Haydn sang the " Hallelujah" from Beethoven's Mount of Olives; and the Musical Education Society the chorus, "Happy and Blest," from St. Paul; and the latter was the more fortunate effort of the two ; for the younger chorus was ambitious, and took pains ; while the parent society, so to speak, was not just then in per- fect health and discipline. Its " Hallelujah " in the new hall was heard confusedly, imperfectly, while the delicate and lovely iSt. Paul chorus told with perfect distinctness in every corner of the hall, even its softest passages. The overtures to Die Zimberflote and Oberon, ■which opened the two parts, were neither heard nor plaj-ed well ; the Andante of the Fifth Symphony was better. But miscellaneous occa- sional programmes, combination concerts of societies and artists co-operating only for the nonce, are seldom satisfactory. And then it was the first test of a great, brand-new hall. And the walls of a hall, like those of a violin, must ripen and grow musical by frequent and continuous response to musical vibrations ; they must outgrow their crude condition, and become gradually attuned, acclimated to harmony. Besides, there were all manner of theoretic speculations and opinions., some d priori, some only .of the moment, about the acoustics of the hall, to distract the ear and mind from listening to the music musically. The truest tones were heard the best. Every note of the Alboni (who had her own conductor) "found all that space obedient and responsive to its true vibrations." Mr. G. J. "Webb was the conductor-in-chief. This dedication of the hall was supplemented the next evening (Sunday) by a concert given jointly by the Handel and Haydn Society and the other bright star, named above, the ladylike, refined, accomplished Henrietta Sontag, one of the purest and most finished of soprano singers, no longer in her prime, but one in whom a rare perfection of art and faultless taste went far to make up for the loss of virgin freshness in a voice once so exquisite. Rossini's Stabat Mater was never before heard to such advantage in our city. The solos were sung by Mme. Sontag, Mile. Caroline Lehmann, and Sigs. Badiali, Pozzolini, and Rocco ; our own Society supplied the chorus ; the Grermania, largely augmented, the orchestra ; Carl Eckert (of the Sontag troupe) conducted admirably; and Carl Bergmann led the violins. Mme. Sontag was at her l)est; her finest fioriture and her pianissimo were heard distinctly in the farthest parts of the hall. She also sang "I know that my Redeemer liveth," so the record HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 157 saith, " as so consummate an artist could not help singing it, but with no peculiar loftiness or genuine fervor of expression ; that song was not inspired with her." The choruses were "unimpeachable," and though there were fewer instruments than on the night before, this time there was no complaint of their not sounding well. This episode well past, with the new Music Hall completed, tested, and approved, and with its ample theatre secured as field for oratorio practice and performance, the old Society resumed its steady course with a fresh, buoj'ant spirit and hopeful signs of progress. The next step was to appoint Carl Bergmann conductor pro tern. Mr. Bergmann, who first joined the Germanians as a trombone player, was also a violoncellist of rare skill and taste, at home in all the finest classical chamber music. He was a sterling musician, in the best sense, and was soon called to the headship of that choice little orchestra, where he proved himself " a conductor of the true stamp ; one who not only feels and understands the music, but who, by a sort of natural eloquence of look and gesture, expresses the force of each musical idea as it is coming, keeps before the music, visibly anticipat- ing each effect, possessing all his men with the same feeling in safe season for the attack." Such a conductor, with his model orchestra, which, though small, could be filled out according to requu-ement, was a real gain, as the rehearsals of 'the winter's programme showed. Leaving the Christmas performance of The Messiah to another society, this time, as for one or two years before, the Handel and Haydn proceeded to give the three promised performances of Judas Maccabceus, on Dec. 19 and 26 and Jan. 2. The chorus was larger than ever before, — two hundred and Mty voices. The solos were b}' Anna Stone, brilliant in "From mighty Kings"; Mrs. Kmma A. Wentworth, whose sweet, petite, fine, clean birdlike notes pene- trated every hearer" in "Pious Orgies''; Mrs. T. H. Emmons, and Messrs. Frost, tenor, Hamilton, Low, etc. Mueller was organist ; but through most of this period the organ was so out of order that the pianoforte did duty for it. The spacious auditorium was completely filled. The three performances were, on tlie whole, thought unsur- passed by anj' former triumph of the old Society, — especially the chorus singing and the orchestral accompaniment. On Feb. 5, 1853, the Germania Society, under Bergmann's direc- tion, gave to Boston its first hearing of the great Ninth or Choral Symphony of Beethoven. The Handel and Ha^-dn Societ}- sang in the last or choral portion of the work, to words from Schiller's " Hjmn to Joy," a most arduous undertaking, in which no singers can succeed except by sheer enthusiasm, which lifts them, for the 158 HISTORY or THE HAXDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. time, above themselves. The quartet of soli, commonly deemed impossible by any but the most exceptional voices, was fairly repre- sented by Miss Stone, Miss Humphrey, Mr. Low, and Mr. Thomas Ball. The assembly was immense, — larger than could find seats ; and though there was a very great variety of opinions regarding the charm and value of a work so diflScnlt to understand without repeated hearings, yet bj- the more appreciative it was heard with wonder and delight ; and the performance, even on so small a scale orchestrallj', was pronounced a great success, — so great that it had to be repeated April 2. The concert had a frontispiece consisting of the Zauberfloie overture, a concerto of Viotti, by the " little Camilla Urso," and the second piano concerto of Mendelssohn, played by Alfred Jaell. On the next evening, Feb. 6, came the first performance of Emgedi, with Bergmann for conductor, and the Germanians for orchestra ; for soloists, Miss Stone, Mrs. Wentworth, Mr. S. B. Ball, and Mr. B. F. Baker. The oratorio was preceded by a short first part, which in- cluded Mehul's overture to Joseph^ and selections from Elijah. The choruses exhibited the fruits of thorough drill under Herr Bergmann, one editor exclaiming, "What a godsend to us is this man ! " The solo singers received favorable mention, the ladies high praise. The distant chorus of approaching soldiers (not Romans!), and that ex- pressing the fear of the surrounded party (not Christians!), were made graphic and impressive, and the closing Hallelujah was sublime. It was a night of drenching rain, and the receipts were only $125.50 at the old fifty-cent price, remember. Besides, how could David in the Wilderness be half as interesting and impressive, or how could Beethoven's music, in such forced connection, sound as well as it would wedded to his own chosen subject, Christ at the Mount of Olives? Verily, the Anglican ecclesiasticism is not so human, not so large and catholic as music! Etigedi — if we must take it in that form — was repeated Feb. 13, with selections from Judas and the Creation; and F'eb. 20, with some from the Messiah; and again in an extra concert on the 27th. On March 6, Judas was given once more to the delight of a great audience ; the organ, now rehabilitated, con- tributed not a little to the effect, under the skilful hands (and feet) of Mr. Mueller. On the 17th " a social levee" was held at Union Hall, to " cele- brate the victory" of an uncommonly successful season. April 3, the Creation was given, with Anna Stone, Mrs. Wentworth, and Messrs. S. B. Ball, J. H. Low, and Thomas Ball. Audience immense. April 24 and May 1, the Sontag company gave the Stabat Mater again, preceded by miscellaneous selections. The Sontag orchestra HISTORY OF THE HANDE]L AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 159 ■was " not so congenial " to the chorus singers as their now accus- tomed Germania ; and all agreed that these renderings were not very felicitous. THIRTY-NINTH SKASON. May 30, 1853, to May 29, 1854. At the annual meeting, May 30, the principal oflScers were re-elected. In a long report the secretary tells of the lease of the Music Hall for five j'ears, for such evenings as the Society might require during its active season, at a rent of $50 for each Sunday-evening concert, and 115 for each use of the lower, or Bumstead Hall, for rehearsal, ile spoke highly of the services of F. F. Mueller as organist. Twenty- nine meetings of the Board of Trustees had been held. The season was financially and otherwise successful. Income exceeded outlay by §1,448.58; deducting rent of halls (I^TSO), there was a net cash balance of $668.58. The summer passed with nothing to record except the presentation, July 5, of a silver service to the indefatigable secretary, J. L. Fair- banks, and a merry excursion down the harbor to Hingham, — indica- tions that the happy, social spirit, resulting from a successful concert season, had not yet wholly effervesced, — until Nov. 19, when six sub- scription concerts were announced, at popular prices : for the series, S2.00, for the single evening, fifty cents. Samson and Moses in Egypt were to divide the com'se equally. The Germania to be the orchestra ; with Bergmann for conductor, and Mueller at the organ. On the 27th, /Samson was performed with, for solo artists. Miss Stone, Mrs. Wentworth. and Messrs. Low, H. M. Aiken, T. Ball, and B, Wheat. Again the Handel and Haydn waived the performance of the Messiah at Christrnastide. But it was given twice : on Christmas eve, by the Musical Education Society, with Bergmann for conductor, and with Anna Stone and Miss Doane, soprani, Miss Agnes Stone, contralto, Mr. Arthurson, tenor, and Mr. Aiken, bass ; and on the even- ing of Christmas, by the newly formed Mendelssohn Choral Society, for its debut, also under the baton of Carl Bergmann, aud also with Anna Stone, besides Mrs. Wentworth, Miss Humphrey, Mr. S. B. Ball, and for a powerful basso, Herr F. Meyer. We mention these particu- lars to show how dependent on the same solo talent and the same con- ductorship the three choral societies of that day were. On Dec. 4, Mme. Sontag having been persuaded to give the first of her farewell series of concerts with the Handel and Haydn Society, selections were sung from the Messiah,. Samson, Judas, and Eossini's Stabat, with a. 160 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. brilliant success. Furthermore, Dec. 11, the same factors were com- bined in a performance of the Creation. But meanwhile a shadow of great mourning came over our old Society, — as Lq fact over the whole community. On the 9th of December was announced the death of Jonas Chickering ! ' No personal loss could have been more deeply felt. An ardent and most useful member of the Society almost from its beginning, and at one time its president, he was endeared to all its members by his gener- ous and gentle traits of character ; his practical good judgment, energy, and uprightness ; ^ his proverbial charity and kindliness, and his unceasing benefactions, not only toward the choral society which he loved, but to all deserving musical enterprises and musicians. Prosperity only set in a clearer light that native simplicity and mod- esty, which went with real dignity in him. It was truly said of him, " He was a representative man; the words friend, neighbor, fellow- citizen, meant more to us when we met his face and took his hand." ^ The old Society was prompt to meet and pass resolutions expressive of the general feeling, one of which " requests the privilege of paying some tribute to his memory at his funeral." We read : — ' The funeral cortege was very large, consisting, besides tlie Immediate family and friends of the deceased, of the members of the Haurtel and Haydn and Musical Education Societies, the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, several Masonic bodies, the workmen of his factory to the number of some two hundred, and other bodies of pianoforte manufacturers and their employes. These, with nearly all the resident musical professors 1 See pages 68, 133-4 of this vol. 2 "Which suggested the playful toast once offered to his health : " Jonas Chioker- ing, like his own pianos, grand, upright, and square! " 8 In the preceding September, at a dinner of the Massachusetts Charitable Me- chanic Association, of which Mr. Chickering was then the president (shortly after the destruction of his pianoforte warerooms by fire), the following tribute was received from the Hon. Robert C. "Winthrop: — " I had intended to avail myself of the opportunity to propose the health of my valued friend, your president. May I ask you to do this in my name, if it has not previously been done by somebody else ? " I have met Mr. Chickering m more than one association, civil, political, and religious. I may almost say, in the well-remembered words of Shakespeare, " I have sounded him from the lowest note to the very top of his compass " ; and I can truly add, that I have always found him in perfect chord, and tuned to concert pitch. He makes perfect harmony wherever he goes. " The sympathies of the whole commimity were with him, when the devouiing element arrested his business for a moment, and we all rejoice that he has re-estab- lished himself so speedily and so successfully. " I would offer as a sennment — " ' JoifAS CHiCKERilfO, who fulfils the whole idea of a President of a Mechanic Charitable Association. He has been tried in the fire, and has come out pure metal.' " HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 161 and principal amateurs, and many of our most distinguished citizens, occu- pied the body of the church. There were crowds who could not find entrance. The solemnities consisted of the Episcopal service read by Bishop Eastburn and assistant, and of solemn music by the organist and choir of the church. The societies above named escorted the procession to Cambridge bridge, where carriages were provided for the many who wished to follow his remains to their last resting-place at Mount Auburn." — Journal of Music, Dec. 17. Handel's very dramatic oratorio, Samson, — full of deep and ten- der, as of grand and stirring numbers, yet apt to weary by its over- proportion of recitative and aria to great choruses, which should preponderate in oratorio proper, — was repeated with the same singers on the evenings of Jan. 1 and 8, 1854. Then a retirement for a few weeks, until Jan. 29, for a new run of the popular opera done over into gvMsi oratorio shape, Kossini's florid, sensuous, en- chanting strains of Moses in Egypt, — always a good charm to con- jure by when the public appetite seemed dull to food more strength- ening. With the same conductor, orchestra, and organist, and with the usual soloists of that time (Miss Stone, Mrs. Wentworth, Miss S. E. Brown, and Messrs. Arthurson, T. Ball, Aiken, and Wheat), it was repeated Feb. 5 and 12, to complete the series of six, to over- flowing crowds on pleasant nights ; but, on the plea that several of the nights, were stormy, an imperative demand was raised for extra performances of Moses, which were given on March 5, 12, and 19, and April 6. Whereat one " discomfortable cousin" of a critic remarked : " We cannot blame the Society for harping upon any string that vibrates to the chink of dollars ; but it would be good to hear some solid choruses of Handel once more ! " Nay, once again, on April 18, were the mellifluous strains set playing, like an exhaust- less artificial fountain. Verily the "Swan of Pesaro"was in the ascendant ! Vox populi, vox Dei ! And so ends the thirty-ninth season. And with it the long connec- tion with its brilliant soprano, Anna Stone, who soon after became the wife of Dr. Eliot, and removed to New York. Can we do less than reproduce our own words at the time ? " Boston can hardly realize the loss it will sustain in the departure of Miss Stone. Every oratorio known to the present generation of music lovers hereabouts is associated with her voice in the principal soprano part. To the Messiah, Samson, Judas Jfocca&ce«s, etc., of Handel ; to the St. Paul and Elijah, of Mendelssohn ; to the Stabat Mater and Moses in Egypt, of Rossini, and to many others she has been indispensable : not to speak of the choir singing and the mis- 162 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. cellaneous or classical concerts in which she has so frequently borne distinguished part. Her clarion-like soprano, in some of Handel's most soul-stirring songs, and especially on the top waves of a sublime surging chorus with solo, can hardly be replaced. Her great facility in reading music, too, however difficult ;Jher quick comprehension and mastery of complicated musical relations, have made her services invaluable in the first study and first bringing out of the great master- pieces of oratorio." — Journal of Music, April 22. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 163 CHAPTER V, FORTIETH SEASON. May 29, 1854, to May 28, 1855. At the annual meeting, May 29, the secretary paid a feeling trib- ute to Jonas Chickering, by whose death the Society had lost' a great benefactor and an ever-thoughtful friend. He also suggested a meas- ure Calculated to benefit the Society, both economically and otherwise, namely, the formation of a solo class, composed of a few singers on each part, to be taught at the general expense during the summer months. The idea was received with favor, and on the 30th of June a plan of organization was considered and adopted. When it came to the annual election, Mr. Merriam having declined further service, after a presidency of two years, the following officers were chosen : — J. L. Fairbanks Gp-orge Hkws . H. L. Hazelton M. S. Parker . O. J. Faxon President. Vice-President. Secretary. Treasurer. Librarian. Mere properly begins a new chapter of our history, for this year solved the problem of a permanent conductorship. In September, to the general regret, the Germania Musical Society disbanded. Youth and single-blessedness were essential to its fraternal tie. Some of its members had yielded to the dual destiny, and they scattered, set- tling singly or in groups in various cities. Boston retained a goodly share of them ; but theirexcellent leader, Carl B.ergmann, could not be induced to stay among us ; Chicago, and afterwards New York won him, for he felt more at home in a community of Germans. Upon his recommendation, Mr. Carl Zerrahn, the first flute player of the Germanians, a good musician, a gentleman of refined tastes, full of zeal, and of commanding presence, as well as of persuasive man- ner, was o n Sept. 5 made condu ctor of the H aadel— and Haydn. With a few of his old comrades and some of the best resident musi- cians, he soon began to organize and train a small local orchestra. 164 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. According to a recent biographical notice, Carl Zerrahn was born at Malchow, in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, July 28, 1826. He began to study music in his twelfth year, at Rostock, with Friedrich Weber, and continued his musical education at Hanover and Berlin. How long, we are not informed ; but not many years after he had entered upon his professional work, he found himself obliged, like many other young musicians in Germany, to look abroad for those means of support which, owing to the grave political dis- turbances of the year, 1848, had been greatly imperilled at home. He accepted the position of flutist in the '' Germanian Orchestra," newly formed by young men in the spirit of Liberie, Egalite et Frater- nite, full of enthusiasm, to give concerts in the United States. On their way hither, by the advice of the distinguished musical amateur. Lord Westmoreland, then British ambassador at Berlin, they gave several concerts in England with more honor than profit; and then, Aug. 2, 1848, embarked for New York, where their performances, begun in October, excited the greatest enthusiasm. Their progress in the principal cities of the Union was triumphal ; and no wonder, considering their very great superiority (in all but nurnbers) as an orchestral organization to any previously heard in America. "VVhen it broke up, its members scattered to sow good seed single-handed, and among them no one more abundantly than Carl Zerrahn, who imme- diately entered upon his new duties as conductor to the Handel and Haydn Society. Each was eminently suited to the other, as the event, now for three-and-thirty years, has proved.. The members needed for their leader just what they found in Zerrahn. A well- trained musician, quick to recognize shortcomings, but at the same time full}' conscious that some of these must be overlooked in order to gain the maximum of attainment possible from a body of amateur singers, brought together at weekly intervals during a portion of the year ; with eminently good judgment as to what he could command ; with unfailing patience and good-humor, and many popular qualities, Zerrahn soon won and has always kept the esteem and confidence of the chorus, whose members will bear from him a sudden and sometimes sharp rebuke, or a playful bit of sarcastic comment, which from any one else would rouse their opposition and generate ill-feeling. By the terms agreed upon with the Society, Mr. Zerrahn was to be paid 125 for each public performance during the season. The first rehearsal under him was held at Bumstead Hall, Sept. 24, when the members sang " The horse and his rider," from Israel, and the 'Hal- lelujah," from the Mount of Olives. In October, a programme of eight subscription concerts was issued, which included three perform- HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 165 ances ot Elijah, the Messiah at Christmas, and selections from Israel in Egypt, Neukomm's Mt. Sinai, etc., while for more popular bait, the same old clusters from the Rossini vine still dangled in near prospect. Elijah opened the! season on Dec. 3, with Mr. Aiken as the Prophet, and Mr.'Arthurson, the English tenor, a conscientious, refined singer, with a sweet voice and good style, and a fine model for our singers at that period in the art of recitative. For female solo talent, reliance was mainly placed on young debutantes from the new Handel and Haydn Solo School. Credit was won by Miss Twichell. contralto. Miss Hazeltine, soprano, and Miss Hill, in the part of the Widow. It was repeated on the 10th and 17th. By these performances the new conductor made his mark. The new orchestra was fairly good ; the chief drawhack was in the solo singers, and some thought it a pity that, instead of economic fledglings from their own solo school, the Society could not have secured, for one, the English prima donna Miss Louisa Pyne. then giving English opera at the Boston Theatre. On Christmas eve another tenor, Mr. Harrison Millard, an American, proved himself an acquisition in the Messiah; besides whom, Miss Anna Stone was induced to come on from New York, and Mr. Aiken sang with good eflfect, supported in "The trumpet shall sound" by the excellent trumpet playing of Mr. Heinicke. Some of the most important alto and soprano arias were intrusted to the pupils of the :solo school. The sixth concert, Jan. 7, 1855, consisted of selections from Sam- son, Jephtha, and Neukomm's Mt. Sinai, — the last commonly voted dull. Millard's two tenor solos, "Total eclipse" and "Waft her angels," gave great satisfaction ; his voice, even in its lower tones filling the ear in all parts of the great hall, and with no loss of its native sweetness. The air, with florid accompaniments, from Mt. Sinai was well sung by Mrs. Hill. The quaint overture of Samson pleased; and the great choruses, " Great Dagon," "O first created beam," and " Let their celestial concerts all unite," were made effec- tive. Here, too, the solo requirements were eked out by pupils of the solo school ; and here, too, we take leave regretfully and finally of this school, finding no further mention of its doings. It does not seem to have proved so fruitful a nursery as had been expected. Why, we are at a loss to say, for certainly the idea was good. These selections were repeated on the following Sunday, with the wise substitution of some things from Elijah for some from Mt. Sinai. The seventh concert of the season, Feb. 11, was a star occasion. A double star, of rarest lustre and of world-wide fame, shone over Boston, — Grisi and Mario were singing here in opera. Of course. 166 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. they must illuminate one of the Handel and Haydn nights, at least ; and, of course, Stabat Mater — what we may call the pvrple cluster from the Rossini vines — must be hung out in front again'; for what else is there at all available for a sacred concert with Italian opera song-birds? These great artists came not in their prime. The "Diva" was at least forty-four years old, and had been singing in public for a quarter of a century without interruption when she came to America. The magnificent voice, which for sixteen consecutive seasons had enchanted Frenchmen, Englishmen, and Russians, was so far in its decline that those who heard her in this country for the first time could form but little idea of what she had been in her prime. " My own recollections of them," says the beginner of this history, in a note, " go back to the year 1843, when they sang together, ^Aux Italiens,' with Tamburini and Lablache, in Don Pasquale (composed for them by Donizetti) ; when as Norma, Anna Bolena, Semiramide, and Donna Anna, Grisi seemed the very queen of song ; when she and Mario were the rose and the nightingale of Heine's Parisian letters — ' the rose, the nightingale among flowers ; the nightingale, the rose among birds.' "What mattered it that those who were behind the scenes said that Giulia Grisi was no musician ; that she learned her parts by rote and with great difficulty ? With her superb voice, her noble beauty and her dramatic power she filled the stage, and left an ineffaceable impression. Mario, handsome as a picture, showing the gentleman in every movement, with a real tenor voice, whose quality lapped the senses in delight, was then the ideal Almaviva and the Don Ottavio par excellence, from whose lips pearls and diamonds fell as from the lips of the princess in the fairy tale. When, twelve years later, he came to America, the voice was less rich than of yore, the falsetto less easily reached and more frequently resorted to ; but it was still lovely at times, and with him what had been was more evident to them who heard him for the first time than with Grisi." With them came to the Stabat Mater Signorina Donovani and Signor Cesare Badiali, the ripe and noble basso who had sung before with the Society in the inaugural concerts of the Music Hall, Novem- ber, 1852. As he made his first appearance on the Italian operktic stage at Trieste in 18^7, he had seen nearly thirty years of profes- sional life when he came to America ; but as his method was sin- gularly good, his execution facile, and his voice of fine quality, he was still able to astonish and delight an audience. Both chorus ranks and auditorium were remarkably full that night ; the Orchestral Union had been " strengthened in its strings, not to say fearfully in its brass, by spare hands from the Italians " ; and after a fugue voluntary HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 167 on the organ, Sig. Ardlti waved his baton and the orchestra gave what is called Mereadante's Overture to the Stabat Maler, of which, of course, there followed a notable performance, which need not be described. For the eighth and last subscription concert, Feb. 18, the other, shall we say the golden cluster from the old Rossini vines, Moses in Egypt, was brought out once more, with Miss Stone, Mrs. Hill, Arthurson, Aiken, and J. W. Adams, to such overflowing audience that it was waved before them twice more, on the evenings of Feb. '25 and March 4. So closed the season. The promised selections from Israel in Egypt, if they were rehearsed at all, were prudently reserved for a future season. ^ FORTY-FIRST SEASON. May 28, 1855, to May 26, 1856. At the annual meeting. May 25, Mr. J. S. Farlow was elected president, and all the other otHcers were re-elected. The event of the season was the production, for the first time in this country, of Handel's Solomon, of which the work of rehearsal, under Carl Zcr- rahn, began in September, and the public performances followed on Nov. 18 and 25, and Dec. 2 and 9. This last but three of Handel's twenty-six oratorios, composed in 1749, contained much to interest and charm even a popular audience, both bj- its picturesque dramatic char- acters and situations, and by its wealth of noble music full of variety and contrast. The proportion of recitative, aria, and duet to chorus is, perhaps, too great, and added so much to the length of the first performance that it had afterwards to be abridged The subject is treated in three parts (reduced here to two). Part I. celebrates the wisdom, piety, wedded love happiness, and splendor of King Solomon. It is a sort of royal, religious idyl. Part II. is dramatic ; its theme is justice, and it recites or sings in aria, duet, and trio the judgment of the wise king in the case of the two mothers claiming the same infant. Part III. introduces the Queen of Sheba, and is mainly lyrical, being largely occupied with a series of contrasted choruses, somewhat in the manner of Dryden's "Ode to St. Cecilia," illustrat- ing the power of music in describing various passions. The audience nearly filled the hall ; the chorus numbered over two hundred singers ; the orchestra was on the scale of four flrst and four second violins, — effective as it well could be without " added parts " to the thin and incomplete instrumentation. The choruses, so far as we remember, were sung with precision, fair balance of parts, rich and full ensemble 1^8 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. of tone, and plenty of spirit, especially the grand and splendid ones ; in the lovelier and softer ones — some of those passion choruses, for instance — there was room for more light and shade, and the ex- quisite "Nightingale" chorus had not the pianissimo suggested by its words. The parts of both queens were rendered in a sweet, silvery, flexible voice of large compass, and well trained to such florid music, by an English lady, Mrs. Leach, a favorite soprano in the concerts of New York. The two women were represented by Mrs. Reed and Mrs. Hill, fairly, considering the ungracious character of some of the music. Mr. George W. Pratt,' a young Bostonian fresh from Leipsic studies, sang the part of Solomon in a strong baritone, rich and telling in the upper notes, with clear, correct, sustained delivery, distinct articula- tion and good recitative. He could have learned a grace or two from the two Englishmen, Mr. Leach, who sang the two bass airs of the Levite, and Mr. Arthurson, our model Handelian tenor of that time, who took the character of Zadoc. At the second performance of Solomon a severe storm thinned both audience and chorus ; but it went off with spirit, being reduced to more reasonable length, and several of the solos were sung better than before. It was much improved the third and fourth time, Dee. 2 and 9. Mr. Hayter had heightened the expression of that tender song of Solomon, " What though I trace," by tasteful additional accompani- ments. But there was still reason to think that the dramatic scene of the two women added more to the tedium than to the edification of the evening ; the music rewards study, but must be ineffective without more accompaniment and very superior singers : it could be spared. Mr. Millard took Mr. Arthurson's place the last time. Solomon was at all events a solid, rich addition to the Handel and Haydn reper- toire ; yet it was laid upon the shelf, not to be taken down again for a quarter of a century, namely, at the Festival of 1880. The Christmas season was at hand ; and so was our Boston favorite of the dramatic stage and concert room, our rich contralto, Adelaide Phillipps, who, after long and earnest Kuropean studies, particularly under Manuel Garcia in London, to whom she had been strongly com- mended, with substantial gift of means, by Jenny Lind, had returned to America in the spring of this year, the result justifying every promise. She was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birth- place. Her father brought her to this country, at the age of seven. Her mother was of Welsh extraction, and from her she inherited ' Died in March following. HISTORT OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 169 many noble and tender ti-aits of character. In Boston at a very early age she began to be known and admired upon the dramatic stage at the Museum, where she was the favorite for.years. Her first lessons in the art of singing were with Mme Arnoult, who took great in- terest in her voice and talent. She returned from Europe an accom- plished artist.' She had already earlier in the month been singing to enthusiastic acceptance in the Messiah and St. Paul, as given by the Mendelssohn Choral Society. Now she was to be heard with the Handel and Haydn, who gave the Messiah on the Sunday evening before Christmas, Dec. 23. The hall was packed in every corner a good half -hour before the beginning, for there was a feeling that the old Society was about to do its best. We read, too, that after a suc- cession of stormy, dismal Sundays, " the day itself had been beauti- ful beyond any of the rare and rosy winter days in one's remembrance ; the earth smelt sweet of spring ; it seemed a day borrowed from some better, purer planet ; you met cheerful faces everywhere." All the more so after that notable performance. Miss Phillipps made a very deep inlpression by her rendering of the great contralto arias, espe- cially " He was despised," and even in "I know that my Eedeemer liveth," which was transposed half a tone to accommodate her voice. "He shall feed his flock" and "Come unto Him" were divided between her and Mrs. Wentworth. Mr. Millard surprised all by his pure and simple style in " Comfort ye " ; and though he had not all the depth of sentiment for "Thy rebuke," or all the strength for " Thou shalt dash them," yet he acquitted himself artistically in both. Mr. Leach, for a bass voice not ponderous, did excellent service. The Messiah, with the same singers, was repeated on the Si'th. For the second, or new year half of the season, the record is as follows : Feb. 10, 1856, the Creation, with Mrs. J. H. Long, Mrs. Wentworth, Mr. C. R. Adams, and Mr. J. Q. Wetherbee. Feb. 17, selections from Moses in Egypt and Stabat Mater, with artists from Maretzek's Italian opera : Mme. Lagrange, Mile. Nantier-Didiee, Miss Elise Hensler, and Signori Brignoli, Salviani, Morelli, and Amodio. March 30, April 6 and 10, Moses thrice again, with Mrs. Harwood, Mrs. Wentworth, Mrs. F. A. Hill, and Messrs. Arthurson, J. W. Adams, Wetherbee, and S. B. Ball. 'For a lull account of her life and character, and her distinguished career, see the ' Record " by her devoted friend, Mrs. R. C. Waterston. — Boston, 1883. 170 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. rORTY-SECOND SEASON. May 26,. 1856, to June 3, 1857. At the annual meeting, May 26, Charles Francis Chickering, second son of the late Jonas Chickering, was elected president ; Geo. Hews, vice-president ; Loring B. Barnes, secretary ; M.S. Parker, treasurer ; and O. J. Faxon, librarian. In July, Mr. Zerrahn was reappointed conductor, with a salary of $250 ; and Mr. F. F. Mueller, organist. The first suggestion of the new president was to produce the new English oratorio, Lli, by Costa, the famous conductor of opeia and oratorio in London, where the new work had excited so much atten- tion during the year. Rehearsals began Sept. 21. There was also talk of giving Mehul's Joseph, one of Mendelssohn's two oratorios, besides his Christus fragment, and one or two of his Psalms, chorals of Bach, etc. Vain hopes were entertained of the great English soprano, Clara Novello. The mood was enterprising. There was no public performance, however, until Dec. 23, when the Messiah was given with a chorus of two hundred and fifty voices, brought well up to " concert pitch" by their months of work upon the fresh material of Eli, and with Mrs. Long, Mrs. Wentworth, Mrs. I. I. Ilarwood, and Messrs. C. R. Adams, J. P. Draper, and Thomas Ball for solo singers. The hall was crowded. The newspapers pronounced the chorus singing the finest yet heard in Boston, — prompt, distinct, expressive. Orchestra unusually good ; in it were such men as Suck, Eckhardt Fries, Gaertner, Schulze, and Riha. The solos were thought less commendable, though high praise was awarded to Mrs. Long in the great soprano arias ; and Mrs. Harwood's fresh, rich mezzo-soprano, of a peculiarly sympathetic quality, was much relished in the contralto songs. Mr. Draper pleased by the good tenor quality of his voice and his good style, but wanted power. Mr. Adams to a delightful voice added tasteful delivery and good conception of the music. Mr. Ball sang as of old, with lack of life' and elasticity, and a tendency of the ponderous voice to droop away from pitch ; " evi- dently he had been moulding beauty out of marble more than out of tones those two years past in Florence." Now for the first time in eight or ten years was the old Society without rivals in the oratorio field. Both the Musical Education and the younger Mendelssohn Choral Societies,' weary of courting fickle " The Musical Education Society, under the direction o( Mr. George J. Webb, dated bacls to about the year 1847. The Mendelssohn Choral Society was formed in October, 1853, under the presidency of ' ' that vigorous organizer in choral as in mili- tary matters, the late Gen. B. F. Edmands." HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 171 public favor, had retii-ed into private sessions for their own improve- ment and enjoyment. They had done good work, both of them, and must have the credit of devoting their time to worthy tasks, such as St. Paul, Alexmider's Feast, parts of Jephtha and of Israel in Egypt, etc. ; but they had not succeeded in proving any actual necessitj^ for their existence, while it was so hard to find support for even one great choral organization. The study of Eli still went on industriously. Meanwhile Thalberg, the first of the "new school" pianists, was in town; and with him the renowned contralto Mme. D'Angri and the baritone Morelli ; and it was thought advisable to enlist these artists in a Sunday-evening concert. Accordingly, the Handel and Haydn, with very short time for rehearsal, gave, on January 18, the Requiem of Mozart, a truly great work, of which few of the Boston audience had ever heard more than a few extracts. Mrs. Long and Mr. Arthurson also sang in it. In spite of not a few shortcomings, the work made a great impression upon manv, although one writer notes it down as a dis- creditable fact that the Requiem was received with chilling indiffer- ence. That for the first part. The second part included the Rossini Stabat Mater, which seemed secular and showy after Mozart, and the aria ' ' Ah ! men fils " from the Frophete, sung with great sweetness and expression by Mme. D'Angri. And what was there for the great pianist? Why, he played two of his operatic fantasias, — two "sacred" ones, -—namely : on his own Erard instrument, tliat on the Choral, etc., from Les Huguenots, and on a Chiekering grand, his broad transcription of the Prayer from Moses in Egypt, followed by his Andante for an encore. Costa's Eli reached performance Feb. 15. The chorus exceeded three hundred voices, and the orchestra (Mr. Zerrahn's "Philhar- monic," with which he had been for some time giving symphony and miscellaneous concerts with good success) numbered thirty-six instru- ments. The new oratorio (composed for the Birmingham festival of 1855) surpassed the expectations of the severely classical, and proved to be a noble and impressive composition, learned and musician-like, tasteful, dignified, often beautiful and occasionally grand, — not a work of genius, but of high musical culture. Never did a first per- formance of an oratorio here pass off more successfully. The solos "were by Thomas Ball, as Eli ; Miss Mary E. Hawley, a refined and musical contralto from New York, as Samuel ; Mrs. J. H. Long, with her clear and fiexible soprano, as Hannah ; Mr. C. R. Adams, tenor, as Elkanah ; Mr. Wilde, whose fresh and resonant baritone told to advantage in the denunciations of theMan of God ; and Mr. S. B. Ball, 172 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. tenor, who struggled manfully with the ungracious war-song of Saph. Uli was repeated Feb. 22, improving on acquaintance ; yet the mod- erate attendance was so discouraging that it was then laid aside until a better time, and Elijah was taken up for rehearsal, mainly with reference to a new plan, — what might be called an ■" epoch-making" movement in the old routine of the Society. This was nothing less than a great three-days' musical festival, after the model of those at Birmingham, Cologne, and elsewhere, for which singers and musicians should be drawn together from all quarters, and three oratorios be given, with perhaps miscellaneous or orchestral concerts between, — all on a large scale for these parts. But in the mean time, Thalberg, with Mme. D'Angri and company, had returned to Boston, and on the 29th of March the Mozart Requiem was again performed by the Han- del and Haydn, with a quartet of solo artists : Mme. D'Angri, Mrs. Long, Mr. Arthurson, and a new basso, Herr Weinlich, who seems to- have made sad work with the Tuba mirum, though his voice told in concerted pieces. For second part, a " sacred concert" followed, in which Thalberg played mainly the same things as before; Mme. Johannsen sang the old church air by Stradella, Pietd, Signore, admi- rably ; D'Angri again. Ah! monfils; and the Hallelujah Chorus closed the whole. The Festival was the suggestion of Mr. Chickering, March 15. It was warmly seconded, and a special committee appointed to mature the plan. On the next day -the members, were asked to sign a book, promising to attend all rehearsals and concerts during the Festival, which was to take place on the 21st, 22d, and 23d of May. A sub- scription guaranty f u^^d was raised to the amount of $8,000, — twice the amount asked for. The Society's debt, April 21, was represented to be $1,905.46, which was paid off by subscriptions among members and friends. The terms for the Music Hall were $300. Mr. Zerrahn, the indefatigable conductor, had $300 for his services. He went to New York and engaged musicians enough to swell the number of the orchestra to seventy-eight instruments ; namely : twelve first violins,, twelve second violins, nine violas, ten violoncellos, eight double- basses, three flutes, three oboes, four clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, fpur trombones, one tymp. and triangle, one bass drum and cymbals, one side drum. The chorus, at its fullest, as in the Messiah^ numbered six hundred. The solo singers engaged were: Mrs. Eliot (Anna Stone) for two oratorios, at $325; Mrs Long, at concerts, $100 ; Miss Adelaide Phillipps, $800 ; Mr. Simp- son, tenor, from New York, $175 ; Mr. S. W. Leach, $150. Also Mrs. Mozart, Mrs. Hill, Miss Twiehell, Mr. C. E. Adams, and Dr. Guilmette, of New York. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 173 The Society was modest enough in its ideas. It did not pretend to rival the long-established European festivals, but only at an humble distance to follow their example, and hoped to realize a feast of noble music on a scale then unexampled in America, and give a quicken- ' ing impulse to the choral societies and orchestras of our comparatively young and untaught country. Wisely the oratorios selected for the three days were the three with which the singers were the most familiar ; three which they felt themselves at home and sure in, while they all ranked and must ever rank among the noblest works in oratorio form, — Haydn's Creation, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Handel's Messiah. — all three great, and sure of a great audience. The first and the last were rendered obbligato by the very name of the Society, while the work of Mendelssohn, next to those of Handel, had made the greatest im- pression here, at least, among all oratorios. The time for Bach was yet to come. To give more significance and dignity to the open- ing, one of our most distinguished citizens, who had few peers as sta,tesman, orator, and scholar, one who from his college days had loved the noblest music, who followed every earnest effort in its behalf with an intelligent interest, always a strong friend and supporter of this old Society, the Hon. Eobert C. Winthrop, was invited, and con- sented to deliver an inaugural address before the first day's oratorio. The miscellaneous and orchestral programmes had in the nature/ of the case to be made up somewhat tentatively at first, and liable to changes as the time approached. One great feature which had been seriously contemplated, Beethoven's Choral Symphonj-, was given up ; the task looked too formidable, at least to solo singers. The n^imber of Dwight's Journal of Music for that week, issued on Thursday in advance, was made a festival number, and contained Mr. Winthrop's address entire, from copy furnished bj^ the author, together with de- scriptive analyses of the three oratorios, briefer notices of the instru- mental music, and an outline of the history of musical festivals abroad. And so, by the unstinted labor of president and secretary, and com- mittees, especially of the strong and ever-vigilant conductor, and of all concerned, the scheme was ready for the trial. First Day. Thursday , May 21 . Rain, rain, rain ! Three days of it, after ten days of a chilling, pertinacious easterly storm, — fit type of the old Puritan spirit, foe to all things genial. But then it was just on the verge of "ministers' week," the anniversarj' May meetings of the religious societies, which had come to be proverbially rainy. It was somewhat discouraging to the public ; not so to the givers of the feast, the managers, and those who took part in it At the appointed hour of ten in the morning, while the rain still fell in tor- 174 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. rents, — yet a milder kind of rain, not out of harmony with the young buds and springing grass and Haydn's music, which we were to hear, — there were about one thousand persons in the audience, leaving some fifteen hundred seats unoccupied. Yet a brilliant and imposing spectacle presented itself. The well-filled chorus seats, rising terrace- wise back to the organ screen, and into the first balcony upon each side ; the orchestra, filling the main space in the middle, with singers crowding round it ; the dais for the principal singers and part of the female choir built out in front ; the noble statue of Beethoven over- looking all. — there was a sight to shame, not indeed the present, but the indifferent, utilitarian absent public. In a few moments the government of the Handel and Haydn Society took their seats in the semicircle in front of the- stage, and the president, Charles Francis Chickering, introduced the orator of the day, who was received with due applause. Mr. Winthrop's truly eloquent address was in every way worthy of him and of the occasion. It struclt the moral key-note of the Festival, and was exceedingly happy in conception, execution, and delivery. It recognized how feeble is poor human speech com- pared with music's own transcendent heavenly expression ; it contained enough of history, musical reminiscence, and appreciation, survejdng the whole field in a rapid glance from a commanding point of view, not overloaded with superfluous learning, not technical, but leading the mind up by easy, sure ascent to a just sense of the value of the art, and of festivals held in' its honor, like the present. All heard delighted, and were the better prepared to listen to the great music with an underst9,nding spirit. (The address will be found in full in the Appendix.) The orator threw in some extempore allusions, which were very timely ; one especially, to the presence of the vener- able Josiah Quincy, which' of course waked a warm and audible response. After some delay, at a few minutes past eleven, the principal singers were conducted to their chairs in front, amid loud applause, particularly Boston's old favorite, Mrs. Anna Stone Eliot (then of New York) , whom the members of the choir seemed to take great delight in welcoming. Several hearty rounds, too, announced the advance of tall and stately Carl Zerrahn to his conductor's stand. In the chorus I had counted four hundred singers during the address ; there were probably, by this time, at least four hundred and fifty in the seats. Then from the seventy-eight instruments began the orches- tral introduction, representing Chaos, to Haydn's Creation. A very graphic and impressive rendering. And it may as well be said here once for all, that all the rich and exquisite instrumentation, which HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 175 forms SO essential a feature in this oratorio, and is so characteristic of Haydn's genius, both in the accompaniments and in the interludes and the descriptive fragments, was brought out with more vividness and beautj' than we had ever heard it here before. If any of us had grown weary of the tone-pictures, which seemed like ingenious child's play in music, now we were once more surprised and pleased ; it was all fresh again, like the green fields after a purifying shower. Every instrument, except the flutes occasionally flatting, did its part per- fectly ; the fine body of violins, and indeed all the strings, told with "beautiful effect in such passages as the Sunrise symphony, and the tassoon was admirable. The chorus singing surpassed what we had heard before, sublimely thrilling in the great moments, such as the ■outburst upon "And there was light!" "The Heavens are telling," etc. ; boldly pronounced, and with infallible precision in the frag- mentary, responsive parts, where phrases are tossed from one mass of voices to another in complicated fugue or pauon, as in " Despair- ing, cursing rage attends their rapid fall" ; while very smooth and clear and even in such flowing passages as "Anew created world." There was a balanced fulness of parts, and such ensemble as we had not often heard. Mrs. Eliot was yet suffering the effects of recent illness, which Tather impaired the old clarion ring and splendor of that voice. But in the choruses with solo it touched the edges of the waves with brilliant light ; and there was a refined and thoughtful tone and spirit in her arias, especially "On mighty pens," where her fine execution and experience atoned for all shortcoming of the vocal organ. The other great song, " With verdure clad," was rendered tastefully and smoothly in the rich and mellow voice of Mrs. Mozart. Mr. Leach bad had a thorough English schooling in the oratorio music of Handel and of Haydn, and was master of those styles. His bass voice was not ponderous, but his expressive shading more than made up for the want of power. In those graphic images of " foaming billows," the " purling brook," the "roaring lion," the "flexible tiger's spring," etc., he was always happy. There were two tenors. Mr. George Simpson, a very young singer from New York, won favor more by a very sweet, pure, easy flowing voice, — so far vox, et prcBterea nihil, — than by any considerable claims to style or cultui-e, or by any show of fire or passion. Nor had he got beyond " a certain level sentimen- tal ballad sweetness, which smacked more of the popular serenaders and minstrels than of the oratorio school." The other tenor, Mr. Charles R. Adams, already regarded as the most promising of our young native tenors, — a promise brilliantly fulfilled since in Vienna, 176 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. where he held the first place in the opera for nine years, — was ill and not in his best voice, — ah, those east winds and rain ! Yet he acquitted himself very acceptably in several recitatives, in the air, " Now vanish before the holy beams," and in the beautiful trios with Mrs. Eliot and Mr. Leach. The parts of Adam and Eve were sus- tained by Dr. Guilmette and Mrs. J. H. Long. The latter fell easily and gracefully into the quiet rapture of Eve's liquid melody. The bass was strong and telling, and showed thoughtful study, but seemed better fitted for a more declamatory kind of music. Many who, aftjer long enjoyment of the naive, happy, childlike, sunny melody and harmony of good father Haydn, had gi'own dull to its mellifluous sameness, this time found the familiar oratorio brightened into fresh life and charm. It rose, indeed, " a new created world." In the afternoon at half past three, with no increase of audience, and no surcease of rain, began the first miscellaneous concert. Very miscellaneous : from Beethoven to De Ribas, from the mighty Corio-r lanus overture to a Scotch ballad ! The orchestra was admirable ; the vocal selections hackneyed, left as they were to the singers' own convenience, almost at the hist moment. Here is the programme : — Overture — " Tannhauser " .... . M. Wagner. Air — D'Alamiro, from " Belisario " .... Donizetti. Mb. Adams. Violin Solo — ■" La Sylphide," Fantasia . . . . - Mollenhauer. Herr Edward Mollenhaxjbr. Aria: Che faro — "Orfeo" Gluck. Miss Adelaidk Phillipps. Scherzo - from the Scotch Symphony . . . Mendelssohn. P.iET II. Overture — " Coriolanus " . Beethoven. Scotch Ballad — " Bonnie Wee Wife." Mb. George Simpson. Fantasia — On theme from " Gustavus " for Oboe . . De Ribas. De Ribas. Ah, non giunge — "Sonnambula" Bellini. Miss Adelaidk Phillipps. Overture — " William Tell " Mossini. Of course, the Mendelssohn scherzo and the Tell overture are always interesting. So is the aria from Gluck's Orfeo, when sung in the large voice and style of Adelaide l^hillipps. The violin and oboe solos were well-executed show pieces, and nothing more. Second Day. Friday, May 22. A bright sun shone at last, and there was a much larger audience, with plenty of room for more. Mendelssohn's Elijah, not yet an old story among the oratorios, was the one for which many busy people had reserved their one spare fore- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 177 noou. This fact, with the more modern and dramatic nature of the work, and the rich modern instrumentation, gave a zest and fervor to its getting up ; so that its performance, critically weighed, was the best work of the three days. It was given entire without omission of a single bar. The chorus was larger than on the day before, and sang with a will, leaving little to be desired in power and volume, in euphony and balance of parts, or in precision, animation, light and shade. The rich and noble instrumentation came out bravely. In the part of the Prophet, Dr. Guilmette sang with a strong and telling voice, with animation, and good understnnding of the music. In that profoundly tender aria with violoncello, "It is enough," he showed not a little pathos ; but he was not always true in pitch, and sometimes careless in the cautabile recitative. His delivery was too unequal ; and sometimes he prolonged a note beyond sense or reason, as if coolly illustrating a method. Mr. Simpson sang sweetly, but impas- sively, with good carriage of the voice, the tenor air, " If with all your hearts " Mr. Adams was ill, and had to retire after a single reci- tative. Miss Phillipps in the contralto airs, Mrs. Long in "Hear ye. Israel," and the part of the queen, and Mrs. Mozart in the scene of the widow, gave good satisfaction. The duet, " Zion spreadeth her bands," was agreeably sung by Mrs. Mozart and Miss Twichell ; so was the part of the boy, in the duet preceding the Rain Chorus, by Mrs. Hill. Three choir boys from the Church of the Advent, Masters White, Loring, and Chase, gave pure delight in the unaccompanied Angel Trio. The oratorio made a great impression ; there would have been few empty seats, could it have been sung again. The afternoon concert was some improvement in respect of pro- gramme upon that of the da}' before ; yet even that would shine in comparison with some miscellaneous programmes in the English fes- tivals. It was as follows ; certainly nothing could have been much better than the opening numbers of the two parts : — Symphony, No. 5 — (C minor) ... . Beethoven. Concertstueck , .... . Weber. William M.isoN. Overture — "Euryanthe" . Weher. Cavatina — O Mio Fernando, from " La Favorite " . . Donizetti. Mrs. Mozakt. Grand Concerto — for the violin (F major) . . . Vieuxtemps. Hekk Edwakd Mollbnhauer. Cavatina — from " Torquato Tasso " .... Donizetti. Miss Twichell. Grand March — from " Lohengrin " . . . R. Wagner. •• Reception at the Emperor's," with Eight Trumpets Obbligato. 178 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. A perfect summer morning smiled on the thii-d day of the Festival. The order of things was reversed this time, — ■ tlie miscellaneous concert given in the morning for the few not swallowed up in Ijusi- ness, and the Messiah in the evening for the many. If the concert programme was not wholly free from trivial^ features, it was rich in matter of the sterling sort : — Symphony, No. 7 — (A major) Beethoven. Rondo — Prendi per me De Beriot Miss Adelabdb Phillipps. Overture — " Pingal's Cave " ... . . Mendelssohn. Scena ed Aria — " I Briganti " Mercadante. Dk. Guilmktte. Allegretto Scherzando — from the Eighth Symphony . Beethoven. Duet — The Thirteenth Psalm, with French Horn and Vio- loncello Ohbligato by Messrs. Hamann and W. Fries. Composed expressly for this occasion, and dedicated to the Handel and Haj'dn Society, by the President of the New York American Music AsBOciation. Miss Phillipps and De Guixjmbtte. Overture — ''Leonora" . Beethoven. Evening. Handel's Messiah. If the reader will fancy himself seated in the Boston Music Hall on that last night of the Festival, he will probably regard the scene much as a certain writer did, who said of it sincerely at the time : " The Festival has at length wrought con- viction in men's minds, that it is something honest, as it is rare and good. It is now clear to all that this is no musical ' Convention ' for the sale of psalm-books, no Julien-Barnum Crystal Palace humbug, but a sincere Festival of Art, a presentation of grand music on a suf- ficiently grand scale. The public is awakened at the eleventh hour to a sense of the great opportunity, which it will seize by the sfeirts ere it quite vanish. The Music Hall is crammed with listeners in every seat, and standing place, and doorway, from floor to upper gallery. Many have paid extra prices for their seats. There is the utmost eagerness to hear the Handel Hallelujahs from that mighty chorus. And it is mightier than ever ; the stage is packed as closely as the auditorium." Newspapers report the number of singers at about 540 ; say 175 sopranos, 150 altos, 130 tenors, and 85 basses; but it was. said, on good authority, that the choir fell not much short of seven hundred. Yet it is not strange that, of the three oratorios, the Messiah was the least perfect in the presentation. It was too familiar, and conse- quently had been carelessly rehearsed. The orchestra was frequently at fault. All which did not prevent the work from being the most HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 179 impressive of the three. Handel is always Handel ; and in any decent rendering his Hallelujahs do their perfect work. The several solo singers entered well into the spirit of the music : Mr. Simpson, sweet and true in " Comfort ye," etc. ; Mr. Leach, with his not heavy bass voice, more than feebly indicating the recitative and aria of "Darkness," " Why do the heathens rage," etc. ; Adelaide Phillipps, if not at her best, yet rendering feelingly and beautifully the con- tralto strains ; Mrs. Eliot, Mrs. Long, and Mrs. Mozart, all good in the soprano arias. Mr. Charles R. Adams sang with much expres- sion, " Thy rebuke," and in the duet, " O death," with Miss Phillipps. Mr. Simpson's light and innocent voice and manner, in "Thou shalt dash them." was likened by one listener to " a child's head in a heavy iron helmet." Dr. Guilmette sang, '' Thou art gone up," and "Be- hold, I tell you a mystery," in which the "last trumpet" (finely played by Heinicke) was senselessly encored. This was the end. Enthusiasm was unbounded ; long and loud plaudits shook the hall ; three rounds of cheers for the Society ; calls for Carl Zerrahn, amid deafening shouts and clapping of hands, who came forward to receive a wreath in token of the general gratitude for his unceasing and efficient services in conducting the enterprise thi'ough such a series of artistic triumphs. Now for a calm survey of the results. I quote from my own record, as it was jotted down a few days after the feast ; some, per- haps, will think it over-sanguine : — "In a word, the result has heen: artistically, morally, a great success; financially, a failure ; but in the circumstances, such a failure as amounts, in all minds, to a virtual triumph. In spite of the overwhelming audience of Saturday night, the guarantors will have to pay, how much we know not. Yet no one is discouraged; all are in the best spirits possible. They have shown what can be done; the public will believe hereafter, and will look out in season when another Festival approaches. We have left ourselves no room to more than hint some of the animating reflections with which the iresti\-al has filled our mind. We announced it, saying that we could not overestimate Its importance. We find we did not say too much. For these reasons, among others : — "1. For the first time almost in our country has an artistic demonstration here been made, and caiTied through, upon a grand scale, without false pre- tence, vain show, or humbug. The best thing, the most hopeful thing about it is, that it has all been honest. Nothing of artistic integrity and value has been sacrificed to mere money-making views. They who undertook it of pourse hoped to succeed ; but they were more anxious to do a good thing. They were not so eager to advertise it. to excite great expectations of what should be done, as they were to do it, and to do the best that could be done. Every promise has been kept, to the letter and in the spirit. Three of the 180 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. greatest oratorios were to be brought out on a grand scale, worthy of com- parison with English festivals, and it has been done. The choir was to reach six hundred voices, so announced on the strength of seven hundred accepted invitations ; it has averaged that, as nearly as accident and business allowed, and there were no dummies in the choir. The orchestra was to be seventy-five, and it was seventy-eight. The best available solo talent was to be engaged, and so it was ; it was no one's fault that there could notbe had better. The music was to be thoroughly rehearsed, and nothing slighted ; and it was so, and most eftectively, thanks in great part, to the unwearied energy and skill and patience of Mr. Conductor Zerrahn. In spite of a cold and unresponsive public, and in the face of certain loss, they did all this, and did it in a manner that eclipsed all our former musical performances, electrified all who heard from the very first, and finally stirred up that slow and sceptical public to a loud and anxious call for more, for a repetition on Sunday evening, — an effort to recall what by their own fault they had let go by and lost. The which call, to the honor of the Society, was not complied with. They would do what they had undertaken, no more, no less. They would not, even for the sake of certain gain so easily secured, suffer this Festival to contract any taint of association with the too usual management of public exhibitions, in which the 'last time' is followed by the 'positively last,' till words have lost their meaning. Eager as any one to listen to another such performance, we appre- ciate and respect the motive of this refusal. The managers have done them- selves all honor in the premises. They have their reward, in the wholesome feeling which attaches to this Festival, in the conviction now created of its genuineness, and in the certainty that such sound seed so planted shall surely spring up to an abundant harvest in the future. There wiU be more festivals. They will become an institution in the land. This Festival might have been managed with more stir, and have reaped more money; but would it have contained so fair a future? "2. It has revived people's faith in great music. Music has been under a cloud with us for two or three years. Humbug and showy, dazzling things have been so much more successful than good things, that the good things have lost prestige. It needed an occasion like this to brighten out the neglected beauties of immortal works and make them live again, and lift us up again. There is a new sense now in many minds of the importance, the indispen- sableness to our best life, of the great works of musical art and genius. " 3. Listening to the grand orchestra and chorus has taught not a few, for the first time, the right relation between solo and ensemble. They have learned to enjoy a great musical performance as a whole, and not regard a few solo singers, prime donne and tenori, as the all in all. It is seen that these may be of moderate excellence, — may be in some parts quite feeble, — and yet the grandeur and beauty of the whole be felt. It were better, of course, to have Jenny Linds, Novellos, and Lablaches, — and some day we shall have them; but we have found how well we can get along without them, so long as we have Handel, Mendelssohn, or Beethoven speaking through impersonal but adequate masses of voices and of instruments. " 4. We have been pleased to notice the improved tone of newspaper criti- cism which this Festival seems to have created. Almost for the first time we have had really criticism ; we have seen articles not limited to petty details, HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 181 to mere talk about iucUvidual performers, but entering into some instructive notice and analysis of compositions and of authors, and, seizing the spirit of the whole, discussing the right points. It is a good sign, and may it go on. "5. It has created a. popular interest in great works. Symphonies, played on so grand a scale, have made their mark on all who listened. That Beethoven's statue now has a significance to many who thought but little of the man, ' tire idol of tlie classicists,' before ; and so of Handel, so of Men- delssohn, and others." This estimate of the results of the Festival, of course, is not com- plete without the following compte rendu, which could only be pre- sented a weelt or two later : — "The total receipts of the Festival were .$.">, 336, and the expenditures are estimated at .S7,l'09, leaving a deficiency of .$1,963 to be assessed upon the guarantors at the rate of thirty per cent upon their several subscriptions. The guaranty was subscribed by quite a large number of persons, in sums ranging from $500 to iji'Jo, and less. We have not heard of one who does not bear the tax quite cheerfully ; for all regard the Festival as a complete success, full of encouragement for like attempts hereafter. Perhaps the uninitiated would like to know how much it costs to get up such an affair. Here are the principal items : — For orchestra, extra music, loan of libraries, copying music, etc. . §2,917 45 " vocal and insti'umental soloists 1,337 00- " printing, advertising, posting, etc. 1,269 73- " rent of hall, and alterations, together witli door-keepers, ticket-sellers and ushers ... . . . 995 20i " conductor, organist, librarians, etc. ... . . 498 73 " It strikes us this is very modest pay for the conductor and the organist, considering their indefatigable labors throughout all the numerous rehearsals and in private, — labors that would seem to outweigh what is done by all the solo singers. But Carl Zerrahn has found further reward, not alone In glory, but in a very pleasant occasion which we were too late to chronicle last week : to wit, a meeting of ladles and gentlemen of the Society in Chickering's rooms, when the president, in a neat speech, presented the conductor with a purse of $200 in gold, subscribed by members as a hearty testimonial of their sense of his great services in conducting them so safely and so gloriously through. Mr. Zerrahn and wife are already on their way to Europe for a, summer visit to the fatherland." 182 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. CHAPTER VI. FORTY-THIRD SEASON. June 3, 1857, to Mat 31, 1858. The Handel and Haydn Society may well be imagined to have come out of its first three-days' Festival in jubilant and hopeful spirits. If it was not a matter of financial rejoicing, it was essentially a great success. So near did it come to making both ends meet, and so cheerfully was the small loss borne by guarantors, that in itself how could it fail to give new impulse, and inspire a new ambition to achieve yet worthier and nobler things? The victory must be fol- lowed up. Now can we seek the best ; now can we emulate the high- est ; now can we afford, in this our new access of faith and strength, now on the full tide of enthusiasm, to throw away weak fears, and resolutely disdain cheap bids for popularity ? Alas ! so it seemed ; but it was reckoning without our host, — the times ! The times were sick, past all remedial virtue of Ars Musica. We could not sing them into health. The very atmosphere was close, and full of doubt and ominous suspicion and mistrust, which more and more from day to day seemed to settle down like a black and fatal pall, and overshadow our fair national existence. A great, absorbing conflict, a terrible rebellion, and a war, one of the greatest in all history, between two sections of our glorious Union of free States, was steadily and rapidly — yet to most minds so slowly as to seem incredible — approaching. Few saw it clearly, but it was written in the stars. A vast and seemingly insoluble problem, in- volving a conflict of material interests, divided South from North. Slavery weighed like an incubus upon the national consciousness and conscience. The whole temper of society, of business, of politics, was growing more and more uneasy. Some, while they felt it, won- dered what it meant ; others knew too well. The dark local institu- tion to which one section of our people blindly, madly clung — the national crime and curse of slavery — had reached a climax when, by all the laws of nature and of God, it must be strangled, flung away forever, or the dear light of liberty, the life of our Republic, must utterly go down, and with it the world's best hope. The cloud had not yet burst, by many it was scarcely heeded, at HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 183 the beginning of the period upon which we are now entering in our Handel and Haydn history. But the crash was near enough to trouble the tides of consciousness in all the public and the private life. There was a strange anxiety that paralyzed business, made men feel their fortunes insecure, and inclined them to an indefinite postpone- ment of the delights and graces of all music, arts, and finer culture. Even before the end of this Festival year 1857, the times were "blue" ; , •we hear of " money panic " ; the air was full of suspicions of each merchant's credit. Four years of this dubious, anxious twilight fol- lowed ; then four years of war ! This chapter must include these •eight years of terrible depression and transition between our first bright Festival and the next, which only came with victory, coincid- ing fortunately with the fiftieth birthday anniversary of our Society. With this forewarning bird's-eye glimpse of the near future, we resume our steady chronicle of the Societj''s transitional and half-suspended consciousness and effort for the next eight years. It will not be a brilliant chapter. At the adjourned annual meeting, June 3, 1857, the principal oflScers were re-elected. Of course, President C. F. Chiclcering, to whose impulse the Festival was so largely due, with his energetic adjutant, Secretary Barnes, must be allowed an opportunity to carry on a work so well begun, if it were only within their or any human power. A vote of thanks to the Festival orator, Hon. R. C. Win- throp, was passed. An invitation was accepted to sing, at Charles- town (Bunker Hill), on the 17th of June, an original ode by the Hon. Oeorge Lunt. The secretary reported thirty-four new members added during the past year. Sept. 4, Conductor Zerrahn was reappointed ; salary, $250. Sept. 25, Mr. James C. D. Parker was appointed organist in the place of Mr. Mueller, who had accepted a call to Albany. Mr. Parker was a young Bostonian of high connections and of liberal culture, a Harvard graduate of 1848, in whom the love of music prevailed over professional tastes and interests (he studied law awhile), and drew him to Leipsic, where he availed himself of every means to make himself a sound musician, .both in theory and practice, as interpreting performer and composer ; always a very quiet, modest gentleman, full of zeal for art, and constantly improving. Thus equipped, the chorus set themselves about the study of Israel in Egypt once more, the generous president having imported score and parts of that and of the Hymn of Praise. At least fom- con- certs were contemplated : Messiah (Christmas) ; Mozart's Requiem 184 HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. and Hymn of Praise; Elijah; and then Israel, which was rehearsed throughout November, but then dropped until " the times " should be- less " blue." Indeed, it was even urged, " Why not accept the measure of the times, and have cheap concerts, at twenty-five cents admis- sion?" — on the principle that half a loaf is better than no bread. The Christmas performance of the Messiah, Saturday, Dec. 26, .was for the charitable fund of the Boston Provident Association, and the tickets were put at one dollar. The soloists were Mrs. Long, Mrs. "Wentworth, Mrs. T. H. Emmons (sister of Mrs. Mozart), Mr. C. E. Adams, and Mr. J. Q Wetherbee. It was a "raw night" for music or for charity, therefore the more need of both ; and both were realized in fair, if not full, measure. A journal says : " There were for audience, say more than half the Music Hall f uU of people, and most of these were such as came in earnest, paid their way and listened well." * Nothing more was heard this season of two features of the con- templated programme ; to wit, the Requiem and Israel in Egypt. The presence here of operatic stars was availed of, as so many times before, to lend attraction and eclat to the performances, and their convenience was consulted in the choice of oratorios. This time it was Carl Formes, the great basso, alike renowned in oratorio and opera, the chief star then of Ullman's operatic troupe. He was of Spanish origin. His father fought under the banner of Napoleon, The young Carl, born at Miihlheim, on the Rhine, in August, 1818, was himself a soldier. He was taught music at an early age, and showed a great love for the art. But his father urged some other occupation, 3 which he found distasteful, and to avoid it he enlisted in the Austrian service. This took him to Vienna, where he found good musical instruction. In January, 18'i2, he made his debut in Cologne, in the part of Sarastro in the Zauberfliite, with unequivocal success, and was admitted into the company of artists from that night. In 1843 he was chosen a member of the Court Opera at Mannheim, and in 1844 became a primo basso assoltito at the Imperial Opera in Vienna, with the largest salary ever before given to a German artist, and secured to him for life. In the Revolution of 1848, he took up arms in the cause of the people, and was among the first in the barri- cades. After other vain attempts in other cities, shut out from Vienna, he became a member of a German opera company, which 1 For several years before and after this, each memher was allowed to bring two friends to the performances. This practice helped to fill the hall, but not the treasury. ^ He was, for a while, shoemaker, beer brewer, and sexton. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 185 "went to London and gave performances at Drury Lane, in 1849. With him were Mmes. liudersdorff and Caradori, Reichardt, the tenor, and Carl Anschiitz as director. The affairs going badly, Formes took the burden on himself, producing the operas and singing day by day, refusing all remuneration, that the poorer ones might live. This gave him solid fame and friendship among artists. Then he went to the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden, and created a perfect enthu- siasm in Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable and Les Hugueyiots. But what most endeared him to the London public was his grand performance, in the Kngiish language, in the oratorios of Handel, Haydn, and Mendelssohn. Surely it was something for us to get a taste of that here in our Boston Music Hall! Nature had showered her gifts on Formes, which, with his strong intellect and earnestness, he had im- proved, so as to make him the greatest basso artist of his day. He was received with great distinction by Queen Victoria, who selected him as the musical tutor of her children. Mendelssohn honored him. The operas of Martha, Stradela, and the Merry Wives of Windsor were composed for him ; and so was Costa's Eli. His form was full, manly, and commanding ; his face and eyes were dark, with an expres- sion at once severe and genial. He looked the scholar and the soldier. With Formes came Mme. Caradori and Mr. Perring of the Ullman troupe ; and these, with Miss Milner, Mrs. Harwood, Miss Hawiey, contralto, and Mr. C. R. Adams, and with a well-balanced chorus of over three hundred voices, who caught the spirit of the noble basso, and were moved to do their best, sang EUjali on Saturday evening, Jan. 23, followed on the next evening by the Creation, in which Mr. Wetherbee took the part of Adam, holding his own well even so nearly side by side with Formes. Caradori was the Eve, and she, too, in Elijah, sang " Hear ye, Israel," with a large and powerful, but hard kind of German voice, with energetic delivery and considerable execution. The freshness, vitality, and sweetness of Mrs. Harwood's voice in the quartets, the recitatives of the youth, etc., bore the palm among the sopranos. Both p^-formances were completelj' successful. There were two thousand listeners the first night, and many more the second Music Hall was again in its glory. Formes is reported to have said that he had never sung Elijah in London with a better chorus. The voice of Formes was a genuine basso prof ondo, from low C to G, — two octaves and a fifth ; of equal quality throughout, all smooth and very powerful. In February, Manager Ullman proposed an oratorio with the Society, to be given in New York ; but this was found impracticable. He agreed, instead, to come on here with his singers and give four per- 186 HISTORY OF THE HANDEI. AND HAYDN SOCIETY. formances : Elijah, April 3 ; Messiah, April 4 ; the Hymn of Praisey preceded by a miscellaneous selection, April 10 ; and the Creation, April 11. Elijah suffered from the fact that Formes was partially disabled by a cold and the fatigue of recent labors, and from a -want of the usual spirit in some of the choruses. But Mme. D'Angri was much admired in the contralto arias, and in the Angel Trio, in which Mrs. Long and Mrs. Harwood co-operated finely. In the Messiah, Formes made a grand impression, in spite of the drawback (so- common with ponderous bass voices) that his intonation was not always true, and of the worst fault of his, a tendency to too much portamento, to which add some remaining signs of hoarseness. Mr. Perring's sweet,, pure tenor tones were much admired ; a voice not robust, not great, but his execution was piiaised as being smooth, artistic, chaste, expressive throughout. Mme D'Angri, Mrs. Long,, and Mrs. Wentworth won sincere applause, though the large contralto- was by some thought too dramatic, — too much as if acting out her sorrows on the stage, in " He was despised." On April 10, Mendelssohn's Symphony-Cantata, Lobgesang, or Hymn of Praise, — one of his greatest works, both as orchestral symphony and oratorio, — was given for the first time in Boston. The symphony, in three long and beautifully contrasted movements, was finely played by Mr. Zerrahn's orchestra ; and with his thorough drill and skilful handling of the choruses, the old German choral, etc., the success of the work was complete. Mrs. Harwood and Miss Adams- sang the duet for two sopranos very finely. The intensely dramatic and exciting passage, ''"Watchman, will the night soon pass?" which leads into the uncontainable rapture of the chorus, "The night is departing,'' needed a tenor more robust than Mr. Perring could command. Of the Creation, the next evening, it is hardly necessary to say more than that Herr Formes was unusually false in intonation in the descriptive arias of Raphael, but that he sang the part of Adam in a much truer, smoother, and more satisfactory man- ner ; that Mrs. Long surpassed herself .in the two airs, '■ "With verdure clad," and " On mighty pens," while Mrs. Harwood, as Eve, and Mr. Perring were equal to the melodious requirements of the music. For such a season of depression, not a bad record, both as to quan- tity of programme and of work ! Although Handel's Israel must wait another year. But it is not a bad policy — in fact, it is wise economy — for the old Society to keep certain great and difficult works in store for several years, taking them down for study now and then, await- ing the fulness of time for bringing them out in public. They will keep ! HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 187 On the 12th of April, resolutions of sincere regret were passed on occasion of the removal of President C. F. Chickering to New York, the great piano-making business of Chickering & Sons requiring that a member of the firm should represent it there. FORTY-FOURTH SEASON. May 31, 1858, to May 30, 1859. Thomas E. Chickering, the oldest of the three sons of Jonas Chick- ering, was elected to succeed his brother in the presidency. The other oflBces were filled as before. The treasurer reported : Receipts for the past year, $4,595.20; expenditure, $5,239.07; leaving a balance due to the treasurer of $543.87, all bills having been paid, and no claim existing against the Society. The secretary's report touched on the organization of the Society, gave an interesting account of some of its first concerts, and reviewed the season in a hopeful spirit. The regular business of the annual meeting over, Mr. Alexander W. Thayer (biographer of Beethoven) suggested and urged the propriety and expediency of a F"estival in April, 1859, in commemoration of the Centennial Anniversary of Handel's death. But this was no time for festivals on this side of the Atlantic. After four quiet summer months, rehearsals began at Chickering's rooms in the Masonic Temple, Oct. 3. A concert followed on the 10th, by an arrangement with Mr. Strakosch and his opera troupe, which included Mme. Pauline Colson, for some time the favorite prima donna of the New Orleans Opera ; Sig. Junca, the great basso profondo of the same ; also Teresa Parodi, Mme. Patti-Strakosch, Sig. Brignoli, who for many years since was a favorite tenor in Bos- ton ; Sig. Labocetta, tenor ; Amodio, baritone ; and Barili, tenor. The first part was miscellaneous, opening with the Mercadante overture to Rossini's Stabat. For a first '• sacred " piece, Sig. Labocetta sang the romanza from Jl Cfiuramento with considerable expression. Mme. Strakosch gave a chaste, musical rendering of " Ah ! mon fils." The charming Colson's voice was hardly suited to Schubert's Ave Maria; it was too tremulous, though there were beauty and fervor in her sing- ing. Junca, in " Qui sdegno " (" In diesen heil' gen Hallen"), the great bass aria from Mozart's Zauberflote, was firm, correct, but hard and lifeless after Formes. Parodi did her best in a very bold and impressive rendering of Mendelssohn's "Jerusalem, thou that killest." Of courne, Part Second was the Stabat Mater, which seems to have been providentially written for Italian opera singers, when 188 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. engaged to lend eclat to oratorio performances. Colson sang splen- didly, " Et inflammatus"; Brignoli unequally, but for the most part expressively, in " Cujus animam"; Amodio, effectively and well in " Pro peccatis." Mmes. Parodi and Strakosch, too, were good ; and the unaccompanied quartet, " Quando Corpus," was rarely heard in better tune, or sung more sympathetically than that time. The audi- ence nearly filled the Music Hall. Rehearsals of Israel in Egypt filled the interim until Dec. 19, when advantage was taken of the presence here of Ullman's opera troupe — this time a famous one — to give a miscellaneous concert with his principal artists. These were the bewitching little Countess Piccolo- mini ; Mile. Poinsot, a fine high soprano ; Mme. Laborde, the exquis- itely finished florid French soprano (what the Germans call a coloratur singer) ; with them Carl Formes, Mr. Perring and Mrs. Harwood. The selections were from Israel, the Creation, Solomon, and Elijah. The audience was about twelve hundred. On Dec. 26, the Music Hall being pi-eoccupied by a Fair in aid of the Young Men's Christian Association, the Christmas performance of the Messiah was given in the elegant and spacious Boston Theatre, to the delight of some and the regret of others. Grreat was the crowd, and great the joy of the Society at putting money in its purse after such frequent losses. Here was a temptation which it requii'ed some courage to resist, a new attraction for the multitude. For many went to see the theatre, under cover of a somewhat unworldly occasion ; and many went to enjoy an anti-puritanical triumph in this new recog- nition of a place too long eschewed as secular and unclean. Many were the arguments, in newspapers and in conversation, to show what an advantage it would be to oratorio to quit the sober Music Hall and bring itself nearer to the people in the free-and-easy gilded temple of the drama, which with a little carpentering might be so easily adapted to the purpose. But the unsatisfactory acoustic experience of that one trial, and a loyal feeling for the noble Hall which had been built for Music at such great expense, prevailed against the flattering sug- gestion. The effect of the chorus, ranged in rows upon the stage, was very much impaired. If the sopranos, well exposed in front, were sharply heard, the other parts behind them were smothered, swallowed up by the side spaces and the hanging drapery above. Yet the choruses had been studied with extra care under Mr. Zerrahn. Some restorations were to be commended : such as the too often omitted chorus, " And with his stripes," and the short series of con- trasted pieces, " For as by man came death," etc., all of which are of the finest music in the work. The tempi were well taken, and it was HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 189 a good average performance. A particular attraction was Mme. Eliza Biscaccianti 1 {nee Ostinelli), a native prima donna, of whom our Boston could be proud. She had been in town some weeks re- cruiting from the wear and tear of her seven years' triumphant oper- atic career in Italy and elsewhere, and more recently in the inclement climate of St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, she was too ill to sing, so much so, that her name was withdrawn. But rather than disappoint an audience of old friends, she did appear, and sang between the parts, "With verdure clad" in pure Italian style, with rare delicacy and sweetness. She also essayed "I know that my Redeemer," in spite of too evident physical exhaustion ; nor did that great aria lie within the peculiar province of the artist. There was not much to admire in the voice or style of the English contralto from the opera. Miss Hey wood. Mrs. Harwood won the heartiest responses of the evening. Mr. Perring had approval for the simplicity as well as the chaste, expressive style with which he rendered ' ' Comfort ye my people." Simplicity was not among the virtues of Dr. Guilmette's delivery of the bass arias. February 13, 1859. Israel at last! The great task, occasionally nibbled at, attacked in fragments, in fits of resolution few and far between, was finally essayed in earnest : and after eight more re- hearsals, the giant Handel's greatest work, with the sole exception of the Messiah, — commonly ranking as the equal of that, — was offered to the public, and the public would not have it. Of course, it had a public here, as wherever an appreciative interest in music exists ; but the great public which decides the fate of such enter- prises, at least for the time being, the public which pays, testified its indifference or its positive dislike by staying away, or by finding the whole thing dull and wearisome, and by voicing itself in newspaper criticisms, full of rebuke, contempt, and ridicule. The hall was only two thirds full. Handel in this form did not pay. The loss of money sapped the courage needed to repeat a great work which, perhaps more than any other, requires several hearings to make its grandeur and its beauty understood and felt. Something, to be sure, must be allowed for imperfections in a first attempt. Some of those colossal choruses, which Handel's genius upheaved like a long mountain chain, are exceedingly diflScult ; some very intricate and subtle in the fugued interweaving of theii- eight parts. And then there are so many choruses, — twenty -eight of the thirty-nine numbers being choral, •eleven in uninterrupted (unrelieved, the critics would say) sequence. ' See earlier notice of her, on pages 141-2. 190 HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. The arias, duets, melodies — the verdant vales and flowery streams between the mountains — are comparatively few, although some have been added, i. e., adapted out of Handel's other works, which are usually incorporated in the presentation of Israel in Egypt. These arias and duets were commonly found too quaint and antiquated ; they seemed dry and tedious after the intoxicating melodies of the Italian opera. Yet there was no denying a certain charm and piquancy in the airs, finely sung by Mrs. Harwood and by Mr. Adams, or the duet between Mrs. Long and Mrs. Harwood ; while the sonorous, martial duet, " The Lord is a man of war," in which Mr. Powers and Mr. Wetherbee so manfully bore equal part, even startled into something like enthusiasm those who called the oratorio dull. Many of the grand choral masses moved superbly, and by not a few listeners they were enjoyed intensely. What uplifting, edify- ing, glorious music ! was no uncommon exclamation. The orchestra, for that day at least, was, on the whole, efficient ; and the important organ accompaniments, which Mendelssohn, with reverent and skilful hand, in Handel's spirit, had written for this oratorio, which he " had always viewed as one of the greatest and most lasting musical works," were carefully played by Mr. J. C. D. Parker. Still the Boston public and the Boston critics, with hardly an exception, set them- selves obstinately or facetiously against the opinion of Mendelssohn and Macfarren, of Mozart and Beethoven, of all musical Germany and England, and the verdict was : a failure ! And there was no appeal in those years, any more than there was rain in those years of Elijah ; none until another Festival after the coming four-years' war. Some of those precious specimens of newspaper musical " criticism" were, fortunately, pilloried at the time and saved up for the curiosity of future antiquarians of the art.i ' Culled from fuller extracts in Dwiyht's Journal of Music, Fel). 19, 1859 : — {From the Boston CouKrER.) "... The undivided performance of even the best of Handel's oratorios is an in- fliction too severe for an audience of modern tastes to endure. As Israel in Kgypt is not the best of Handel's oratorios, it follows, etc. . . . The music does not fulfil the musical want of the public. ... It has neither sentiment, grace, nor vitality. Of course, there are certain noble exceptions among Handel's works, such as a few airs in ■'•amson and the Messiah, some choruses in Solomon, etc. ; but it unfortunately happens that Israel is unusually deficient in those qualities which charm or rouse the multitude. It contains no memorable airs, the few that relieve the ponderous masses of choruses being all in the meaningless style of rough roulade which com- posers in Handel's time uniformly followed. . . . The performance of such works, entire, adds nothing to the development of artistic feeling in the community ; the labor and expense bestowed upon their preparation are a waste of means, which ought t be lamented rather than encouraged." HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 191 Thus was a noble aspiration balked. The reaction was to the opposite extreme, from the sublime song of Miriam to Neukomm's David with his sling ! It was a shifting of the venue, and taking the ease into a lower court. If the friends of the higher Art will not or cannot sustain us, let us appeal to those who love the circus better, and post up a bill for them. So the more earnest part of the Society, (From a facetious grumbler in the Transcript. ) ' ' What could possitly induce the Handel and Haydn Society to turn hody-catchers and snatch this decently interred thing from its well-secured repose ? . . . Why not let these poor old Egyptians and Israelites rest quiet in their sarcophagi, Instead of exhuming their musty remains and forcing us to hark from their tombs a doleful cry of their plagues and sorrows ? Why force them all to become wandering Jews, to be marched out and handled in such away? . . . We certainly sympathize in one thing, for we are glad when the Israelites had departed. They go through 'the deej) and the wilderness ' ; and a deep wilderness it is, a howling wilderness, into which the poor people get, for the travellers run about every way but the right one. " Among the most oppressive influences is that produced by the unfortunate vic- tims who are thrust forward singly to bewail their fate. One youthful Jewess arises, and in a dreary strain as soggy as their own swamps, tells of certain frogs, etc. . . . Two Israelitish matrons sally forth and insist that the ' Lord is their strength ' ; and a garrulous pair they are, for neither will let the other make the assertion without instant interruption ; and judging from the amount of breath ex- pended on the same remark, the Lord must certainly have endowed them with strength of lungs, at least. Whether their endurance would outlive that of their hearers, we cannot say. " Then two stalwart fellows arise to endeavor to prove that ' the Lord is a man of war,' etc., etc. ... A little Rabbi starts up to state that ' the enemy said he would pursue,' etc. . . . When this little Rabbi disappears on the run, there comes forth a lovely Jewess, who affirms that ' the Lord did blow with the wind,' and a pretty long blow it was, and a strong one, too. What else but the wind the Lord could blow with, she could not suggest, etc. . . . " One grand announcement made by the whole tribe is that ' the people shall hear and be afraid.' Here is a certain fact! For those who hear these lugubrious sor- rows of fly-bitten Egyptians and itinerant Israelites will surely be mortally afraid to hear them repeated. . . . Seek not to inoculate the life of 1859 with the blotches and blains which bother the whole medical faculty of Egypt," — and so on, and so on. C-PVom the Atlas and Bee.) "... Several of the choruses are extremely grand and majestic; . . . but we doubt very much if the oratorio will be considered of sufficient interest to be again performed. It has been shelved long since (!)by the sacred musical societies of Europe, and now only a chorus or two is ever introduced into the oratorio perform- ances." (! ?) (From, the Boston JOUKNAI,.) " We must confess that the early hearers of this work formed a correct opinion of its merits : nor do we wonder that they were so readily cloyed with its monotonous series of choruses. . . . The Society were wise in announcing but one performance of this work. Where an audience with patience to sit through so much blatant vocal music, or lungs for the performance of it can be obtained, we are ignorant." 192 HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. in their chagrin, with half-conscious sarcasm, were prompted to re- solve, sure, of course, of support from the class found everywhere, who go for popular applause rather than for the reward of the artistic conscience. On Feb. 22, a concert was given with the Mercantile Library Asso- ciation in honor of Washington's birthday, when an address was made by Governor Banks. Four days later, David was taken from the shelf for rehearsal. To many it was like good old times ; to others, mortifying and unappetizing. But why mortifying ? There is good music in David, of a commonplace and taking sort. It has brilliant instrumentation, and enough of the dramatic, rather say melodramatic, operatic character to make it by no means '■^caviare to the general." But it was " a worn-out local fancy of the greener days of musical taste in Boston." It was truly said of it and of its author : ' ■ Neukomm's greatness is exclusively a musical fancy confined to this locality. We do not read in any of the musical reports of Germany, France, England, of any work of his having been for years taken from the shelf. He belongs as a composer to the uninspired, respect- able no-geniuses, the ' gottliche Philister,' whom the Germans are most willing to let sleep. Here in Boston an accidental popularity" (it was at least more juicy than New England psalmody) " attached fif- teen years before to David. Some still remembered it with pride, and thought to recover what was sunk in Israel's Red Sea, by setting up this golden calf one more." So David was announced for April 3, "in conformity to the de- mands of their patrons and the popular taste of the community." The soloists were Mrs. Long, Miss Louisa Adams, and Messrs. C. R. Adams, J. P. Draper, P. H. Powers, Geo. Wright, Jr., and Edward Hamilton. The performance was a good one, but an easterly rain- storm thinned the audience. April 10 it was repeated to an audience still smaller. It was then decided to give a benefit concert for the Society, in the hope of making up the losses of the season. The hall and orchestra were offered gratis ; and the Hymn of Fraise was given May 14, when an inspiring performance of that noble work was followed by a miscellaneous selection : 1. Weber's FreyschiUz overture; 2. Scena and duet from II Trovatore ("Qual voce"), by Mrs. Long and Mr. Draper; 3. Cavatina from II Qiuramento, by Mrs. Harwood ; 4. Scena, " Fall of Zion," Paesiello, sang by Mr. Powers; 5. Coronation March from Meyerbeer's Prophete. These, with Mr. Adams, were the solo singers in the first part. There was a slim attendance, the receipts amounting to only about two hundred dollars. Shortly before this, April 2, the Handel and Haydn chorus HISTORY or THE HAXDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 193 had lent its voice to the sublime "Joy" hymn, which concludes Beethoven's Ninth, or Choral, Symphony. This was, on' the whole, a brilliantly successful performance for the benefit of Carl Zerrahn, after his heroic perseverance through another season of his " Phil- harmonic " (Symphony) concerts. Here was more game for the Handel "critics," — for the small newspaper criticism which carps at what is great and above the level of its comprehension. Yet the occasion was a grand one ; there was real enthusiasm and delight beneath the surface in the moderately large audience ; and the singers, who had been warmed up to their high tasli in the rehearsals, seemed to sing " better than they knew " And so closed another season ; in the words of Secretary Barnes, " a toilsome season of unremunera- tive labor " We seem to have touched low-water mark, if not the bottom. The next reaction must be upward. And we must remem- ber that "the times" were s-ick. True musical enthusiasm, in the sense of art, had but an exhausted, heavy, and depressing atmos- phere to breathe. We were two years nearer to the outbreak in the shape of war. Being at that time engaged in journalism, I ventured to make a note of one fact, which should have encouraged the Society to aim high, and persevere with faith another season. It was this : — " The singers in the Handel and Haydn chorus probably represent, as well as any two or three hundred persons whom you could select, the averaac taste and likings of the musical audiences of Boston. What would carry the vote in the chorus ranks to-day, would be sure to be ratified by a general Music Hall audience to-morrow, if not instantly. Now, we found the great majority of the singers getting more and more deeply interested and enthusiastic about Israel in Egypt, with each successive evening spent in its rehearsal; while the same majority went mechanically and wearily through their parts in David. It was their corporate duty to their brethren in the minority, alone, that nerved them to the work." If it was not the proudest, this was not the least instructive, period of the Handel and Haydn Society experience. FORTY-FIFTH SEASON. Mat 30, 1859, TO May 28, 1860. At the annual meeting, May 30, the officers were re-elected, and a deficit on tiie past year of about eight hundred dollars was reported. An assessment of $5.00 was laid on the members, payable on or before Oct. 1. A donation of $100 was received from Oliver Ditson. The secretary's report was largely historical, deriving from the past 194 HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. a lesson of high faith and perseverance. There had been thirty-four rehearsals since the beginning of October, with an average attendance of less than two hundred ; and there had been seven concerts, in which from two hundred and fifty to three hundred and twenty-five were found occupying chorus seats ; whereupon the worthy secretary read a lecture to delinquents. He recommended a fund for ordinary expenses, and eventually the building of a hall to seat a thousand or twelve hundred persons, to be used for ordinary occasions without an orchestra. Here let me mention an event which could not be without influence on the future development of our choral societies ; namely, the begin- ning, during that summer, of the public school musical festivals, which gave a new impulse to the teaching and practice of vocal music in all the schools, and thus tended to raise up singers, fresh, trained voices, to replenish and rejuvenate the choral ranks of Handel and Haydn societies in future. This movement in the schools sprang mainly from the enthusiasm and the organizing energy of Dr. J. B. Upham, the gentleman who was soon to become president of the old Society, and lead it through a series of festivals, which fairly entitle him, in this history, to the degree of Festival President. Nor was it all feasting ; it was solid work. October 1. Mr. J. C. D. Parker being obliged by pressure of mani- fold professional duties to resign the place of organist, which he had acceptably filled for several years, Mr. B. J. Lang was chosen his successor. On the 22d, work began with the rehearsing of Handel's Samson once more. — a giant of another kind from the one slain in David. Now there is hope. It is like a reviving, downright rain after a midsummer drought. "Let their celestial concerts all unite ! " Two performances of this intrinsically worthy popular favorite were given; the first on Nov. 27. The leading soprano was that brilliant and experienced singer, Mme. Anna Bishop, who was once more in this country, with her voice and style wonderfully well preserved. With her sang Mrs. Long, Messrs. G. R, Adams and P. H. Powers, and Dr. C. A. Guilme'tte. The orchestra was excellent, the chorus carefully trained, and such was the satisfaction with which it was received by an audience that filled the Music Hall, that a repetition was announced for Dec. 4 ; but a violent snow-storm compelled a postponement to Dec. 11, when it was given with a result equally encouraging. The Handel and Haydn was itself again, and there were new hopes of Israel, of Hymn of Praise, of St. Paul, even of Handel's JephtJia, ami all noble things. Mme. Bishop, with her full- toned soprano voice, rich and melodious in quality, created a furore HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 195 in " Let the bright Seraphim," with Heinicke's trumpet. Her delivery of Delilah's recitative was artistic, and her singing of " With plain- tive notes " was very fine. Mr. Powers, to whom belonged the part of Manoah, could not sing on account of Ulness, and his place was creditably filled by Mr. Aiken. The year closed with the annual Christmas performance of the Messiah, Dee. 25. It was one of more than average excellence, and drew a good house The two choruses, " Surely" and " And with his stripes," were not among the omitted numbers this time, and served to prepare by contrast the reckless, careless sounding "All we like sheep have gone astray." Mrs. Harwood and Mrs. Long distinguished themselves in their arias, although the latter's bright soprano voice was hardly suited to ' ' He was despised." Mr. Adams and Mr. Aiken were both good. The organ voluntaries of the j'oung new incumbent, Mr. Lang, were well chosen and effective. And this nearly makes up the account of the whole season. After New Year, Jan. 17, the Society assists at a meeting of the Franklin Typographical Society, when an oration is pronounced by Edward Everett. Feb. 11, it assists in Mr. Zerrahn's third Symphony Concert, singing in Beethoven's Choral Fantasia, of which Mr. Lang plajs the pianoforte part. The rest of February, March, and April were given to rehearsals of St. Paul. That exhausts the record of the season. FORTY-SIXTH SEASON. May 28, 18G0, to May 27, 1861. At the annual meeting. Col. Thomas E Chickering was re-elected president, with the other principal officers of the last year. The secretar}' reported twenty-five admissions and twenty-nine discharges during the j-ear ; and that not one of the three oratorio performances had paid expenses. From the treasurer's report it appears that the season had cost $4,476.60, while the receipts were $4,189.10, leaving a deficit of 8287.50. There was also a note against the Society, due in August, for 81,200, making the total indebtedness $1,487.50, and showing a financial condition not so good as that of the year before. Among the additions to the library were the scores and full vocal and instrumental parts of Handel's Jephtha and Mendelssohn's St. Paul, the gift of Mr. Theron J. Dale. September 30. Rehearsals began in the beautiful hall of the new and spacious warerooms of Messrs. Chickering & Sons, on the cor- ner of Avon Place and "Washington Street, made free to the Society 196 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. with the characteristic liberality of the proprietors. "What did they rehearse ? The times were bad for any serious new enterprise in art. Both oratorio and symphony were prudently awaiting the subsiding- of the tumultuous waves of the political campaign which ended in the election of Lincoln and the first overt measures of secession. This absorbed the thoughts' and time of the whole nation. Yet the Society was neither dead nor sleeping. The music of the day was mainly in the streets. In November, a guaranty subscription was solicited. This, like the prospectus of Mr. Zerrahn's Philharmonic concerts, met with no response ; so that an utter dearth of these things, threatened. Nevertheless the Messiah, after Christmas, Dec. 30, was not allowed to fail. The audience was immense, but the discour- agements for going on were greater. Adelaide Phillipps sang, in her large, artistic style, of course. A young debutante, Miss Grilson, with a high and pure soprano, reaped the most applause. Mrs. Har- wood sang " I know that my Redeemer " nobly. Mr. C. E. Adams, not then the tenore robusto that he now is, sang expressively and sweetly ; and a new bass, Mr. J. E. Thomas, showed a correct method, with a light and flexible voice. Queer criticisms, of the facetious kind that followed Israel in Egypt, shrunk not from the Messiah this time. The next public efforts were: Feb. 10, 1861, a miscellaneous con- cert, with Mile. Carlotta Patti and Herr Stigelli. Selections from St. Paul, Elijah, Solomon, and the Messiah. It opened with bad omen, an apology for Stigelli on account of indisposition, which caused great deviation from the programme in the solo numbers. He sang, however, better than the audience expected. Mile. Patti displayed her florid vocalization in Schubert's Ave Maria, as well as in Mozart's Queen of the Night. March 17. — A miscellaneous concert at the Boston Theatre (then called Academy of Music) , with Grau's opera troupe. Bad management and poor performance. Great con- fusion about seats. Rossini's titabat Mater a foregone conclusion. March 31. — The Messiah, given with the Italian opera troupe, filled the hall completely. Yet the gross receipts were $97.50. The solos were by Miss Adelaide Phillipps, who sang the contralto airs " with inmost feeling " ; Miss Clara Louise Kellogg and Miss Isabelle Hinck- ley, fresh and immature in the Handelian music ; Signor (Herr) Sti- gelli, the fine tenor, who sang with dignity and true expression ; and Dr. Guilmette, whose voice was " wavering." We have reached the eventful month of April, 1861. Now the word is War ! Civil, domestic war, between the northern and south- ern sections of our hitherto united great and free Bepublic. The HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 197 secession of the latter had already been five months in formal prog- ress. Now, April 14, Fort Sumter was evacuated, after a vigorous resistance to the bombardment of the rebels. The call for arms in defence of the Union went forth at once from Washington ; and on the 17th a Massachusetts regiment, the first in answer to the call, was mobbed and fired upon in Baltimore upon its loyal march over the national highway to the capital. Inter a ■ma silent leges. And music, too, appalled, — music as Art, — must needs be silent. What is there now for oratorio, or symphony, or opera to do ? Only the drum and flife, the bugle and the trumpet, the cannons and alarm-bells, now can claim attention. A Handel and Hadyn Society, appealing to a serious love of music, finds things more serious in possession of all earnest minds ; all hearts beating to the rhythm of the love of freedom and of country. The lighter and more superficial, even frivolous forms of melody, which answer the momentary ends of mere amusement, will naturally be most in vogue at such a time ; the opera, perhaps, will have some chance. But if there be any way in which Music may lend support to the nation's cause, whether by indirectly raising money, or by uplifting, stirring, cheering, strengthening (as great music sometimes does) the spirit of a people, is not our old Society ready and eager to do its best? One opportunity soon came. The following announcement was issued : "The Handel and Haydn Societ}', desirous of contribut- ing something toward the preservation of our common country, in this, its day of trial, will, with the co-operation of the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Germania Band, and Mrs. Long, Mrs. Harwood, Mrs. Kempton, and Mr. Powers, give a grand concert of miscellaneous patriotic and national music at the Boston Music Hall on Saturday evening, April 27. The entire proceeds will be handed over to the Governor of the Commonwealth for the purpose of arming and equip- ping troops in the service of the country." The entire proceeds were $378.50. which very modest sum was gratefully received in the name of Massachusetts by his Excellency Gov. John A. Andrew. The concert went off with much spirit. The patriotic airs were brUliantly- given and applauded with enthusiasm. Some stirring Handel choruses were sung, and the audience joined in the noble strains of what ia falsely called " America," being in fact " God save the King." 198 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. FORTY-SEVENTH SEASON. May 27, 1861, to May 26, 1862. The annual meeting was held May 27, at Chickering Hall, the vice- president in the chair. The treasurer reported the financial condition to be about the same as at the last annual meeting ; the profit on the Christmas performance of the Messiah, together with some two hun- dred dollars contributed by members, about squared the expenditures of the season, leaving the Society in debt $1,362.58, secured by rail- road bonds, exclusive of the valuable library and other property. The secretary's report was long, and contained much important matter. Thirtj'-three regular weekly reiiearsals had been held, besides four business meetings of the Society and nineteen of the Board of Trust- ees. Nine members had been admitted, and three discharged. He dwelt on the fact that, in the then present state of things, no society could rely on public patronage for support ; that similar organizations elsewhere, and for similar purposes, like the Sacred Harmonic Society of New York, exacted a yearly price of membership ; that a moderate annual assessment on each member would not only meet the current expenses of conductor, organist, rent of library room, etc., but would stimulate esprit de corps, and enlist the hearty co-operation of each and every member, since men value most the privileges they have to pay for, and membership in such a Society is certainly a privilege ; it is the one way of becoming familiar with the great sacred creations of Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, and others. He therefore advised an amendment of the By-Laws such as to admit of an annual assess- ment of five dollars. He also alluded to the great advantage which the Society would gain from such a measure, in finding itself free from all " entangling alliances," however temporary, whereby it has been often forced to appear before the public wholly unprepared, in company with artists "who care nothing for us or the audience to which we introduce them, and are as unprepared as ourselves for ren- dering satisfactorily the music assigned them." The report strongly urged the importance of another addition to the By-Laws, whereby the attendance of members at rehearsals might be secured, on penalty of forfeiture of membership in certain cases, with- out the tedious process of advertising a roll-call in "three pr more daily papers." This, even if it reduced the members of the chorus, would lead to better discipline and improve the quality of the public performances. After these and other suggestions (not all so sound as these) , the report wound up with a glance at the disturbed condi- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 199 tion of the country : "In times like these we can do nothing. Did I say we could do nothing? Have we not already commanded the Muse, and brought her into the service of our country's cause ? We have just given a concert for the benefit of the troops. . . . May we not hope that our trouble will soon cease, and that peace may be pro- claimed throughout the length and breadth of our land ? Then wiU we again unite in a grand triumphal jubilee of welcome to those who have fought our battles, and contributed of their might to the uphold- ing of the majesty of the laws." It was a hope long deferred, but the jubilee came none the less, and all the more glorious, in the ful- ness of time. After the unanimous nomination of Dr. J. Baxter Upham for the ofHce of president, the meeting was adjourned to June 4, when Dr. Upham — a gentleman of dulture and large public spirit, a graduate of Dartmouth College in 1842, and of the Harvard Medical School in 1847, a gentleman to whom Boston was indebted more than to any other for the enterprise which built the Music Hall, and secured the noble organ which was soon to adorn it and complete it, and from whose enthusiasm the cause of music in our public schools was still receiving such an impulse — was elected president, with no change of other officers. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to the retiring president. Col. T. E. Chickering. The secretary, in the report above quoted, had made various strin- gent recommendations and warnings on the score of economy in those dark times. He even went so far as to suggest a return to the ancient practice of having the rehearsals conducted by the president of the Society, instead of by a hired conductor ( !). This, of course, caused a smile, as possibly the wily officer intended that it should ; for, rather than beat such an ignominious retreat, what sacrifice within their means were not the members ready enough to make? It does not appear that the five-dollar assessment project met with a very warm response ; had it passed, there probably would have been no further need of guaranty subscriptions to this day. But one effect of the discussion may be found in the generous attitude taken by Mr. Zer- rahn and Mr Lang, the conductor and organist, who readily agreed to retain office without fixed salary, and be content with whatever small balance might remain in the treasury after the expenses were paid. (At the end of the year, .July 1, 1862, they got $41.69 each !) The work of rehearsal, we may be sure, was busily resumed, as usual, in October ; for therein lay the real life of the Society. By this means it could at least keep itself in running order. Better than gold was it to know good music, and be able to sing it well together. 200 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. That good seed planted, the harvest would be sure to follow in due season. No public performance was attempted until after Christmas, Dec. 29, when the Messiah was given, after unusually careful preparation in the matter of the choruses. Not a chorus was omitted nor a con- certed number ; nothing but a piece or two of solo. The chorus seats were not quite so full as on some earlier occasions, but this was one of the good results of the new rule excluding " dummies," and made up in quality more than was lost in quantity. The orchestra was larger and better than could have been expected in those times, when the war was making such draughts on our musicians. We were re- duced to one bassoon, and that of a somewhat uncertain sound ; which could not be said of the trumpet, which rang out splendidly in " The trumpet shall sound." There was room for improvement in the chorus singing, om' singers being still impatient of that ' ' Old World " drill, which cultivates a sensitive ear to what at first seem inconsiderable blemishes. Few of them had yet learned not to con- found familiarity with mastery or knowledge. In the soprano arias Mrs. Long was uncommonly happy, whether in voice, or style, or feeling ; and she was heard with peculiar interest, having announced her resolution of retiring from the stage and devoting herself exclu- sively to teaching. The airs " Come unto him," " But thou didst not leave," etc., and " How beautiful " were sung by Miss Gilson. a fresh, young voice of silvery purity and sweetness, yet a little cold. Mrs. Kempton's deep contralto was as rich and warm as ever, but her upper notes, owing to a cold, were tremulous and husky. There was a new soloist, announced as " the celebrated English tenor," Mr. Gustavus Geary, whose voice was robust, rich, and resonant, but whose struggles for pathos and expression seemed affected and un- natural. Mr. Thomas, of New York, rendered the bass solos well, albeit with a voice hard and dry in quality. Great was the crowd of attentive listeners, and the receipts were $763. Great applause greeted the announcement by President Upham that, at the suggestion of Hon. E. C. Winthrop, the Messiah would be repeated on New- Year's afternoon, for the benefit of the United States Sanitary Commission Fund Conductor, organist, and all the assisting artists, vocal and instrumental, volunteered their services for this most worthy object ; and the friends of the soldier were exhorted to see that the funds of the Commission were increased thereby. The receipts were $385.75, as stated in a letter of acknowl- edgment from Huntington Wolcott, Esq., treasurer of the Sanitary Fund. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 201 Early in February, 1862, we find the Society engaged in the rehear- sal of Mendelssohn's Lobgesang, and Handel's Dettingen Te Deum. Both works have victory in them, — the thing chiefly wanted in those times. Before the end of the month there were Union victories to talk about and celebrate with song. It was too late to secure the Music Hall for the 2 2d, Washington's birthday ; so the concert was announced for Saturday evening, March 1, Mr. Zerrahn having waived the right of the hall that evening for his fourth Philharmouic concert, and lending the whole force of his orchestra to this patriotic musical rejoicing. There was fine field for it in the symphonic prel- ude of the Hymn of Praise, as well as in the accompaniments of that work and the Dettingen Te Deum. It was a grand solemnity, this commemoration of victory. Every seat was filled ; every face glowed with sympathetic fervor ; every singer and player looked as if his heart was in liis work. The simple decorations, too, were tasteful and suggestive. Flags culminating in a wreath encircled the motto, " Te Deum," the whole forming a fine background to the noble statue of Beethoven, " who is certainly in place where Victory means Freedom." To make all perfect, and to bring the theme directly home to all, it chanced that Col William Raymond Lee, and other brave officers of the Twentieth, had arrived home only the evening before from their captivity in Richmond since the affair of Ball's Bluff. Their entrance with Governor Andrew and his staff, amid patriotic strains from the orchestra, and the repeated cheers of the whole house, made an enlivening episode to begin with ; which the singing of the "Star-Spangled Banner" — the solo of each stanza given out with fervor by Miss Washburn, and the whole choir joining in the refrain with orchestra — carried up to a thrilling climax. Then was sung (for the first time as a whole in Boston) Handel's Dettingen Te Deum, which he composed in 1743, to commemorate a victory gained by the English and Austrian arms over the French, and which has ever since voiced the national thanksgiving of the English after victory. If not to be counted among Handel's greatest works, it is massive and grand in its choruses, and not wanting in solos and trios of considerable interest. By its solemn, stirring texts it harmonized with the occasion. The trumpet call which introduces and is worked into the whole accompaniment of the first five-part chorus, "We praise thee, Lord, we acknowledge Thee"; the semi-chorus, "To Thee all angels cry aloud," which secures by con- trast the full splendor of that most inspiring chorus, " To Thee Cher- ubim and Seraphim continually do cry," with its perpetual reiteration of the phrase "continually"; the great Sanctus, "Holy, holy"; in 202 HISTORr OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. short, all the choruses bore the great seal of Handel. And they were in the main sung correctly and with spirit. The solos were accepta- bly rendered by fresh and satisfactory voices, all taken from the ranks and new to the audience, with the exception of Mr. Simpson, the tenor from New York. Mr. Myron W. Whitney made an impres- sion by his remarkably round, sonorous, musical bass voice. Miss Granger's fresh and clear soprano, limited to bits of solo in a quartet and choruses, told with good effect. And Miss Fitch sang the alto part in the trio with tenor and bass tastefully, in warm, sweet tones. The Hymn of Praise, besides giving more scope to the orchestra, " touches every key of praise and thankfulness, from the most trumpet- tongued to the most tender, sweet, and trustful " ; and the whole per- formance was inspiring. Miss Granger and Miss Washburn blended to a charm in the duet, " I waited for the Lord," the choral waves rolling in richly and smoothly, so that the piece was encored. Mr. Simpson had cultivated his sweet, sympathetic tenor to a really artistic style since the first Handel and Haydn Festival, and rendered the dramatic scene of the " Watchman " with a good deal of expression. Chorus and orchestra were so good, worked with such a will, that the interest waxed more and more exciting to the end. This joint demonstration of music and of patriotism, one of the most memorable events, so far, of our Music Hall, hardly admitted, in the nature of things, of repetition, with all the circumstances which combined to render it complete. Of the result financially we find no statement. The season ended with a performance, April 20, of the Creation. Miss Chapman sang the largest part of the soprano arias after but six days' study of the music, not of the kind she learned in Italy ; and by her fine, clear, powerful voice, as well as by the style, the character and spirit in her singing, she bore away the first honors. Miss Gilson, Mr. Hazelwood, a new and pleasing tenor, and Mr. M. W. Whitney acquitted themselves with credit. The receipts fell short of the expenses. FORTY-EIGHTH SEASON. May 26, 1862, to May 25, 1863. At the annual meeting the officers were re-elected. The receipts for the past year were reported at $4,623.20 ; the expenses, $5,102.40. The secretary in his long report drew from treasures old and new in the annals of the Society, showing how much had been done through its concerts in the cause of charity, the Messiah having proved a fruitful source of income for that purpose here, as it had done in HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 203 England and Ireland in Handel's oyra day. He dwelt again on the need of stricter discipline and more punctual and constant attendance at rehearsals. A committee had been charged with the careful con- sideration of his suggestions, in the last year's report, both on this subject and on that of an annual assessment, which resulted in a strong recommendation of both measures. But at a meeting of the Society, called expressly for the purpose, it was decided, in view of the critical state of the times, to let the proposed changes lie over for a season. ' Five gentlemen had been admitted to membership, and four had received an honorable discharge. A tribute of respect was paid to one of the highly esteemed members of the Society, for many years its secretary, William Learnard, who died on the evening of the last annual meeting. Some of the most active members had gone to the front, and were fighting the battles of the country. " Our pres- ident, too (Dr. Upham) , has voluntarially gone forth in the noble work of alleviating the sufferings of the sick and wounded." This natu- rally has reduced the chorus, yet the oratorios have been given in a creditable manner. The report closed with a reference to the success of the Musical Festival of 1857, the first of the kind ever attempted in this country, and proposed in glowing terms triennial festivals thereafter, of " majes- tic proportions," alluding in this connection to the great Handel Fes- tival at the Crystal Palace in London, and to the enormous success of Israel in Egypt, as there given in 1859. This portion of the report sheds such a flood of light upon the question of that (here) much- maligned oratorio, that I am tempted to reproduce it in full. The secretary says : — " In a pamphlet prospectus of the coming (London) Festival, issued by Mr. Manager Bowley, we find the following in reference to the great festival of 1859, when twelve hundred were gathered to- gether, independent of the band, in the performance of Handel's oratorios. He says : ' For the last day's perfovmance in 1859 the sum of sixteen thousand pounds was received for tickets' (!), and he adds : ' With what additional satisfaction must this be regarded, when it is borne in mind that this unparalleled amount was obtained by the representation of that stupendous masterpiece of musical art, Israel in Egypt, the oratorio of oratorios ! It has taken one hundred and twenty years to arrive at a full appreciation of its merits ! ' "As to the excellence of the performance of Israel in Egypt, and the effect thereof, M. Meyerbeer is quoted as having declared that, ' with all his life-long varied experiences of the greatest musical solemnities in all countries, Israel in Egypt, at the Handel Festival, had far sur- 204 HISTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. passed them all.' And yet when this same great work was performed here, by the Handel and Haydn Society, some two or three years since, — and well performed, too, considering the inadequacy of the choir, as to numbers, to give the massive composition its full effect, — the carping critics brought all their mighty batteries to bear in a flood of ridicule not only upon the oratorio, but on the Society for resusci- tating a work that had long been shelved, as they said, in England, and should be buried so low here as never to reach the daylight again ! " But, leaving Israel to viudicate itself here, as elsewhere, as it will surely do when peace returns, our thoughts must now revert to the War, which is still making larger draughts upon the young manhood of the country, and even claiming recruits within the ranks of harmony. • Col. Thomas E. Chickering, late president of the Handel and Ilaydn Society, has assumed command of a fine regiment (the 41st), which he is soon to lead out in defence of country and free institutions This regiment has not, like others, received help from private sources. Therefore, the old Society is moved to give it and its chief a godsend in the shape of a grand patriotic concert in aid of the regimental fund. It took place Oct. 25, with the co-operation of Miss Julia Houston, Mr. R. Hall, the Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orpheus Musical Society, and the principal military bands of the city. — the Brigade, Hall's, Gilmore's, and the G-ermania. The receipts were about $650, of which $500 were given to the fund. The Messiah, as usual, came round in Christmas week, Dec. 28. Mrs. Long had been drawn from her retirement, to sing once more, and at her best, "There were shepherds," "Rejoice greatly," and the great song of faith. Miss Gilson's sweet, clear voice betrayed " stage fright." Miss Annie Louise Cary, a healthy, natural, and hearty singer, fresh from her native Maine, till then a stranger to so large a stage, but destined to achieve great popularity and a distin- guished rank among the world's contraltos, sang creditably, but with a certain lifelessness of style. Her day will come. Mr. William Cas- tle, a fresh young tenor from New York, whose chief musical expe- rience had been among the " minstrels," and who sang this music for the first time, made an excellent impression. His pure, sweet voice had enough of power and endurance for this important task, and he managed it with such skill and judgment as to give fair expression and effect to "Comfort ye" and "Every valley," and even the pathetic ' ' Thy rebuke " ; but he was not equal — scarcely any singer was, except Sims Reeves — to " Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron." For him, too, there were laurels in reserve. Mr. Rudolphsen HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 205 delivered the bass arias with dignity and power. Some of the choruses never went better. But the chorus, very large, was not well balanced ; tenors and basses too preponderating ; contraltos few and feeble ; sopranos feeble, too, though many. The orchestra was excel- lent. There was a splendid audience. Rehearsals of Eljdh followed with the new year, 1863 ; and this unfailing favorite, well selected to revive the flagging interest in oratorios, was performed on March 15. The Music Hall was crowded. The solo singing was all good. The "title part " was intrusted to Mr. Eudolphsen, who, although not up to Mendelssohn's ideal of the prophet, — nor was Formes, nor even Mr. Weiss, in England, for whom the part was written, — yet had his rich, solid tones well under control, while his delivery was conscientious and appropriate, never feeble nor offensive. The principal soprano arias and recitatives were worthily presented by Mme. Guerrabella (wee Ward), — an American lady who had married a Russian Count Guerbel, in Rome, and being deserted by him, began a successful career as a singer. She had been very highly cultivated in the Italian style, and may be supposed to have been more at home in the music of Bellini and Donizetti than in that of Mendelssohn. But her interpretation was all good ; her rendering always dignified ; her feeling of the music unaffected. There was a chaste abstinence from ornament : at the most, a few final trills finely executed.' Her manner and presence were in keeping with the noble music, which she seemed to approach with an unfeigned respect. Miss Houston and Mrs. J. S. Gary did justice, respectiveh\ to the parts of the queen and the contralto arias. Mr. Castle fully confirmed the good impression he had made in the Messiah. All the principal artists took part in the double quartet, and several of them in the quartets, which compared remarkably well with any previous renderings. March 22. Elijah was repeated with diminished audience and a loss of $250 ! FORTY-NINTH SEASON. May 25, 1863, to May 30, 1864. Again we look to the secretary's report made at the annual meeting, May 25, to learn the animus and temper of the Society for twelve months past, together with its hopes and purposes. The doings we have already sketched. After a brief recital of these, the secretary reminds us of the difficulty and the cost, in money and in labor, of preparing such a work as Elijah for public performance, and points 206 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOClilTY. out a reciprocal duty between ihe Society and the public. Without local rivals, and by far the largest and most efHcient choral organiza- tion in the country, the Handel and Haydn Society is still defective in many important requisites for a perfect rendering of the great oratorios. It still needs better balance of the four parts, and a more constant attendance at rehearsals on the part of each and every member. On this last point, Mr. Barnes is more stringent than ever, and shows up, in a withering light, the poor ■ excuse of those who think that there is no particular need for their rehearsing, since they have sung the work for years, and know their parts by heart j yet when a part goes wrong, it is commonly traceable to some of these ! He mentions the attempt made to secure better attendance by a frequent calling of the roll, " which resulted in the discharge from the Society of seven members, who had proverbially been absent from rehearsals, the receipt of a large mail of excuses from the sick and disabled, and a much fuller attendance on each evening of the roll-call." The report thfen proceeds to the gratifying announcement that the G-reat Organ, oriie of the largest and most perfect in the world, which will soon furnish new and grander background of accompaniment to their chorus singing, has arrived, and is to be erected in the Music Hall during the summer. Regarding the pecuniary embarrassments of the Society, he relates that the Board of Trustees, at a recent meet- ing, had voted to make an appeal to friends, and the public at large^ for aid in establishing a fund of $20,000 to be permanently, invested, the income to be expended in bringing out important works, institut- ing a series of festivals, and combining all the choral force of the immediate neighborhood of Boston in one great choir, after the manner of London, Birmingham, and other English cities. He closes with suggesting the spring of 1865, at which time the Society will have completed the first half-century of its existence, as a fit time (onfe might say imperatively fit) for another musical festival, which shall be greater than the first (in 1857) . Before this, he would increase the membership to four hundred. And coinciding With this sentiment of fifty j'ears to be remembered and rejoiced in, we shall find, when we reach the time, another mighty stimulus and inspira- tion, — the thrill of a new national assurance, enough to dispose the general heart and mind to everything exultant and sublime in praise and thanksgiving and great festival of song. But many a dark and trying chapter of our war has to come home to us before that ! President Upham had returned and occupied the chair. The oflQcers were re-elected. The treasurer, M. S. Parker, showed the receipts of HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 207 the year to be 84,787.79, and the expenditures 94,937.79, leaving a balance of $150 against the Society, which, with a note of $700 due, made its liabilities $850 ; to meet which, the Society held an Ogdensburg bond worth $1,040, thus leaving an actual balance of $190 on hand. "We are now, it must be remembered, at the turning period and near the crisis of the War of the Rebellion. This was the summer, 1863, of the momentous battle of Gettysburg. There could not be much room for music in men's minds, at least not much for public musical performances, for musical enterprises requiring money, time, and thought. The fate of the nation trembled in the balance. It was a moment of absorbing hope and fear. The storm had lasted longer, had raged and was stiU raging far more furiously than our san- guine secretary in his report two years before so confidently trusted. Gettysburg was in July. But six months earlier, on the 1st of January that year, a new element of strength, a new great hope and inspiration, was added to the Union cause. President Lincoln's immortal Proc- lamation of Emancipation to the slave had been that day promulgated ; and liberty-loving, loyal citizens of Boston, on the afternoon of that day, had taken worthy recognition of the great event by a memo- rable concert in the Music Hall, — a " Grand Jubilee Concert," — a concert as remarkable for the artistic composition of its programme, musically considered, as for the occasion that inspired it. Mr. Zer- rahn and his orchestra were there ; Mr. B. J. Lang threw himself into it with fervor, raising, drilling, and leading the vcJcal forces ; Mr. Otto Dresel stepped from his habitual retirement to interpret the greatest of the Beethoven Concertos ; Miss Houston and Mr. August Kreissmann sang. And, to crown all, Ralph Waldo Emerson was there to read his "Boston Hymn," which he had written for the occa- sion, having completed it that verj- morning. Ex-Mayor Josiah Quincy introduced the poet. Although the Handel and Haydn Society, owing to political division (or at least lack of unanimity) within its ranks, could not lend its aid officially, by name, yet it willbe worth remember- ing with some satisfaction that, without a Handel and Haydn Society, the important choral features of that concert would have been imprac- ticable. Elijah, and the Messiah, and the Hymn of Praise looked to that quarter for a large proportion of the voices. To those of its members who did take part, feeling that the war question had now passed the stage of politics, and that Providence had taken it out of that sphere altogether, it must always be a pleasure to remember that they were part and parcel of the heartfelt and enthusiastic rendering of that memorable programme. The choral history of this period is not complete without it. Here it is in brief : — 208 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. PROLOGUE BY R. W. EMERSON. PART I. 1. Overture to " Bginont " Beethoven. 2. Solo and chorus from " Hymn of Praise " . . . Mendelssohn. Air (Mr. Kreiesmann) : "The sorrowa of death." ..." Watchraau, will the Djght aooD pass? " Soprano (Miss Houston) : " The night is departing ! " Chorus: "The night is departing." . . , "Gird on the armor of Light." 3. Concerto in E flat, for piano and orchestra . . Beethoven. Pianoforte by Mr. Debsel. 4. Dr. 0. W. Holmes's Army Hymn, Solo (Kreissmann) and Chorus 0. Dresel. 5. Pifth Symphony . . Beethoven. 6. (a.) Chorus from "Elijah"- "He watching over Israel" . Mendelssohn. (6.) Hallelujah from " Messiah " .... Sandel. 7. Overture to " William Tell" Rossini. 1'here was an utter dearth of music all that summer, and until November. But all that summer, at the same time, during six long months, one of thebuilders of the long-waited-for Great Organ (Messrs. Walcker & Son of Ludwigsburg) , with his men. were busily putting together the great instrument, with its army pf pipes great and small, and its im.posing front or housing, at the stage end of the Music Hall. Its capacity and qualities had been tested in various ways, private and public. And now came the opportunity for the Handel and Haydn Society to combine its voices with it in a "Grand Choral Inauguration." This took place Nov. 28 ; and proved so impressive, so inspiriting, that the concert had to be repeated on Dec. 6. The two performances may be spoken of as one, since they presented the same matter, with the same interpreters, the only difference being in the seating of the singers and arrangement of the stage. We find the following description of the scene : — " The orchestra of forty instruments (Wm. Schultze at their head) occu- pied the middle of the platform before the organ, at which sat Mr. Lang behind Crawford's statue of Beethoven. The sopranos and altos were grouped in curved lines on either side : and rising behind them, tier on tier, upon a temporary staging, the tenors and basses into the side balconies, mak- ing a flue show, with the majestic organ in the background, its lower coi-ners only being obscured. On the second occasion the chorus occupied a still loftier and wider amphitheatre, built for the concert of the ts^elve hundred school children, and the platform came much farther forward into the hall, HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 209 whereby tlie sound, especially of the orchestra, told more effectively. The organ, too, shone out for the first time in all the glory of its great front pipes, some missing ones having at last arrived ; five of these filled the central field behind the carved head of Bach, where had been fiags ; these, with a large pipe in each of the square end towers, made the front, hitherto abridged of part of its effective width, shine all along the line." This may serve for a general type of the spectacle presented by the stage and organ end of the hall at many festivals and concerts in the following years. Now for the music. The old practice of "playing in" the chorus singers with an organ " voluntary " was wisely discontinued. The first sounds of the pro- gramme fell fresh upon ears not already dulled by music heard, but never listened to as music. The first burst was overwhelming : full chorus of near four hundred voices, full organ and full orchestra, all blending /ortissimo in Luther's choral, '■' Ein' feste Burg,'' developed into a "Religious Festival Overture" by Otto Nicolai. The volume of tone was immense, and the sonorous ensemble was as round and musical and fresh as it was startlingly grand and powerful. Then fol- lowed the ingenious and somewhat fanciful symphonic working up by the clever young Berlin composer of the Merry Wives of Windsor, on the rendering of which we find this comment in our journal at the time : ' ' Oh that Boston had an orchestra half as good for an orchestra, as the organ is for an organ ! " Under the circumstances we would have been content with Luther's choral pure et simple. Then came Han- del's Hallelujah chorus, with an effect that can be easily imagined. But the great feature of the first part was Handel's music to Dry- den's "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day," composed in 1736, never before heard in this country. Although not to be counted among Handel's great works, it is full of genial and delightful music, and is moderate in length, — one hour at the most. It was peculiarly appropriate for the opening of the organ, both by its allusions to the characteristics of the various instruments embodied in an organ, and by its cheerful, solemn, noble air, with prelude. '■ But oh ! what art can teach the sacred organ's praise?" Moreover, it has stirring and heroic pas- sages, which chimed well with the temper of the times after Gettys- burg. There was one serious difficulty. Handel's score, as he has left it, offers but a thin sketch or outline of accompaniment ; no Mozart, Mendelssohn, or Robert Franz had taken it in hand. Some of the arias had nothing but a bass with a high flute, or violin ; Handel was in the habit of filling out the harmony upon his organ. But this deficiency was turned to good account for this occasion. The accompaniment was confined exclusively to the organ, Mr. Lang 210 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. having transcribed for it whatever hints there were of Handel's instrumentation. Thus the new instrument won an opportunity to show the quality of all its various imitative stops, oboe, flute, trum- pet, violin, etc. , which he contrasted charmingly. The grand choruses, "From heavenly harmony this universal frame began," "The trum- pet's loud clangor," with the "Hark! hark!" and the "Charge! charge ! " of the tenor solo (Mr. L. W. Wheeler) , followed by the chorus charging all (along the line, with quick reiteration of "the double, double, double beat of the thund'ring drum " ; the sublime finale (solo and chorus), ending with — " The trumpet shall be heard on high, The dead shall live, the living die. And music shall untune the sky," were sung with spirit and precision. Of the solos, the nobler soprano strains in praise of Cecilia, of Music, and '• the great Creator," which continually lead the- movement in all the latter portion of the work, were powerfully delivered by Miss Houston, her best voice seconding the spirit in which she sang. In the earlier aria, "What passion cannot music raise 'and quell?" slow, sweet, fiill of quiet rapture, she sang in a pure' tone, with truth and delicacy of feeling; and in that quaint melody, with its antique cut and ornate figures, " The soft, complaining flute," and " Woes of hapless lovers," her render- ing was tasteful and as effective as could reasonably be expected. The succeeding tenor aria, "The sharp violins," which the poet couples herewith "jealous pangs and desperation, fury," etc., is a curious piece, with, wide, impassioned intervals, and quaint figures also ; but Mr. Wheeler acquitted himself in it as only a well-taught singer could. The interest of the ode went on crescendo from the beginning to the great finale, of which the effect was wonderful. We have gone into so much detail of the work, because that was its last (to this day) as well as first production here in Boston. The reason is obvious : it lies in the matter of accompaniment. Some Robert Tranz must help us, if we are to hear it again. The second part of the concert consisted of the Hymn of Praise, of which the grandeurs and the beauties came out clear and unmis- takable. The solos were finely sung by Miss Houston and Mr. Wheeler, Mrs. Fiske seconding the former well in the d^et, " I waited for the Lord." In the thrilling notes, " The night is departing," Miss Houston's voice electrified the audience, as it had done notably before in that Emancipation Jubilee. We have only to add that the first performance added from four to HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 211 five hundred dollars to a fund for the extinction of the debt on the organ. The repetition was by invitation of the Music Hall directors, who paid aU expenses, dividing the proceeds with the Society. The Messiah, after Christmas, Dec. 27, drew an immense audience, at double thepld price. The receipts were $1,934. The organ both helped and marred the performance, if we may trust the following record : — ' ' It made the choruses more ponderous and grand, and withal more brilliant ; its hundreds of blended voices in each chord, with all its finely attempered ' mixtures ' and harmonics, being clearer, truer, and more penetrating than the indifferent average of liuman organs. Some of the choruses, the great, broad, popular ones, like the Hallelujah, went splendidly Others, more fugued and fragmentary (imitative), full of points to be snatched up quickly, now by this and now by that set of voices, went badly (such as ' He shall break their bonds asunder'). This was, in a great measure, owing to the uuaccus- tomedness in singing with the organ, as weU as to the new location of the dift'erent bodies of singers, which the organ has made necessary. The conductor stands far out in front ; the tone reaches liis ear an instant after the key is pressed down, so that the organist has to anticipate by just that instant. The pipes, according to the quarter where they are housed, arouse and bear off the nearest singers, in spite of the conductor's wand. The tenors, for instance, sit (sat then) right against that side of the organ where all the strong pipes of the ' great ' organ, trumpets, cornet mixtures, and all, leap out aloud. There is general bewilderment. Conductor wonders that the Messrs. Tenors will still keep in advance; all but the most resolute, sure singers drop away for fear of doing mischief, leaving the burthen of the work in a great measure to the organ." But these were difficulties which time and familiarity were sure to remedy. The orchestra, too, often began out of tune : no fault of the musicians, since it was an awkward thing for them at once to adapt their instruments to the low French normal pitch to which the organ had been tuned. Time brought the remedy for that, too. Of the solo singers. Miss Maria Brainerd, of New York, made a good impression in the principal soprano airs. She had some sterling qualifications for an oratorio singer ; a pure, sweet, powerful voice, flexible and evenly developed, sustaining itself well in " I know that my Kedeemer." She seemed an earnest, conscientious artist. Her chief fault was too much of the false kind ot portamento. Mrs. J. S. Gary's contralto was more rich and musical than ever ; there were feeling, style, fine shading in her rendering. So good were the qual- ity of tone, the method, style, and spirit of the tenor, Mr. Wheeler, that it was said of him, "He really deserves to have more power of voice " ; yet it was by no means painfully inadequate even for the 212 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. great Music Hall. Mr. J. R Thomas, of New York, sang the bass songs very evenly and clearly. On Feb. 21, 1864, for the first time since 1857, Costa's Eli was brought out again, with Miss Houston in the part of Hannah, Mrs. J. S. Gary as Samuel, Mr. Wheeler as Elkanah, Mr. Kimball as the Man of God, and Mr. Rudolphsen as Eli. The solo singing was of more than average excellence, the balance of parts unusually good, the chorus well trained, and the audience large. The season reached its penultimate task in a second (Easter) performance, before a very large audience, of the Messiah, in which the Great Organ swelled the volume of the chorus very palpably, and with all the more effect that it was sparingly used in gentler passages ; while the solos were remarkably well presented by Miss Houston (who took all the soprano pieces) , Mrs. Gary, Mr. Wheeler, and Mr. Rudolphsen ; and completed itself. May 8, with a creditable rendering of the E ij h, which 'the singers, then, as now, were sure to attack with zest and con amore. Besides Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Rudolphsen, were Adelaide Phillipps, always impressive in the contralto arias, with her rich, large, cultivated voice and style ; Miss Houston, at her best and always earnest in some of the soprano arias, albeit sometimes ner- vous in her anxious effort to do justice to such music ; and another soprano, Mrs. H. M. Smith, whose purity of voice and honest style commended her. And these three ladies sang the "Angel Trio,"' which rarely had been heard to such advantage. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 213 CHAPTER Vll. FIFTIETH SEASON. May 30, 1864, to June 16, 1865. At the annual meeting, May 30, the old board of officers were re elected. The treasurer reported the receipts of the year to Maj' 27, at $2,254 32 ; expenses, >1,53!S.97, — leaving the Society out of debt, with a balance in the treasury of over $700. The librarian's report showed an addition to the library of eight hundred and sixty-nine vocal parts and seven scores. Secretary Barnes congratulated the members on a successful year at last, in those hard times. Of the six concerts of the season, five had been in the joint interest of the Society and the Music Hall Association, — the first, as we have seen, a voluntary offering to the organ fund. There had been thu-ty rehears- als, with a fair attendance, averaging, on pleasant evenings, one hundred and ninety-seven members ; the highest number present at any rehearsal was two hundred and ninety-one. There had been thirty admissions of new members, and two expulsions. The secre- tarj- did not discuss the condition and prospects of the Society in his usual exhaustive manner, but gave place to the thoughtful, excellent address of Dr. Upham, the president. After a complimentary allu- sion to "the instructive reports of our worthy secretary" on past occasions, followed by pleasant recognition of the presence on the active roll of members (now in the forty-ninth year of ihe Society) of "an honored few," who took part in its earliest public perform- ances ; and after briefly summing up the work and the successes of the season (already recorded in these pages) , with fit tribute to the noble organ, the address becomes didactic, and discourses at length, with wise and practical suggestions, upon what we maj- call the morale of a choral society. This is too much to the purpose not to be given here in full : — ' ' Tliere have been shortcomings enough ; and glaring faults, — faults which have reference to tlie Society as a body, — faults (the more frequent and inex- cusable) which are referable to a few, who by their inattention and careless- ness have sadly marred the well-directed efforts of all the rest, — and faults,, too, of that still more limited class, who are yet to be found in aU associa- tions of this nature, — termed not inappropriately the individual vociferators. 214 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. — whose zeal, out of all proportion to their knowledge, spoils both the temper and the tone of their immediate neighbors, and is, at the same time, sadly damaging to the general effect. "And here let me caution the Society against the idea, too often indulged in by associations of amateurs, who have acquired a standing and reputation for the good things they have achieved, that perfection in their performances has already been attained. This, if cherished, will prove a fatal mistake. Non progredi est regredi (not to progress is to retrograde) should be the motto of us all. Nor should we be disappointed and restive under the more stringent animadversions upon our best efforts, to which the Society has in later years been subjected. Bear in mind, what has been well said, that just in propor- tion as an association for the promotion of art — a musical association in particular — has been successful in advancing the taste and judgment of the public who make up its audiences, in the same proportion it must expect less indulgence in its dtfects, and a severer criticism of its most faithful per- formances. And this, indeed, it can well afford to bear, for the strictest criti- cism presupposes an acknowledged capacity for excellence. " Now for a few plain facts and hints of a practical cast. "The first and most important in the category of complaints, which my two or three years' observation with you leads me to make, has reference to the ordinary operations of the Society. It is the want of regularity and punctuality, on the part of the members, in their attendance upon the stated meetings for practice and rehearsal. This is an evil which has long been felt, and oftentimes brought to your notice. From the abstract of the records for the past year, just given, we learn that it is stiU in full force. Indeed, absenteeism seems almost to be the rule rather than the rare exception. Now, it needs no argument to prove that, without an honest and conscientious observance, on the part of all, of their duties in this respect, the Society, constituted as it is, can never hope for progress and improvement, much less to arrive at anywhere near the confines of perfection. But, perhaps, there may be some to whom the requirement of a weekly rehearsal, during the seven or eight months that make up the season, appears inordinate and unrea- sonable. To such we would refer the rules and regulations of similar asso- ciations in London and elsewhere, where, not unfrequently, in addition to the meetings for weekly practice throughout the whole year, as many as fifteen or twenty special occasions are made, at all of which the members are bound, under penalty of forfeiture of membership, except for the most ample and sufficient reasons, to be present. In the London Sacred Harmonic Society, the candidates for admission are now pledged beforehand to a rigid observ- ance of its rules and regulations, among the most stringent of which are those requiring punctual and regular attendance on all meetings for practice . It would be well if a similar rule were adopted and enforced in our own Society. " Another practice of a portion of our members, which grows out of the laxity of rules, and which deserves to be strongly reprehended, is that of frequenting only those rehearsals which immediately precede a public per- formance, and with such superficial preparation, occupying their accustomed seats on the evening of the concert. In this way, as has been intimated, many an otherwise creditable performance, for which careful rehearsal by a consci- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 215 entious few has been made, is marred and ruined. As a remedy for this evil, I would respectfully suggest that some means be adopted, by registration or otherwise, to mark the attendance of individuals at such rehearsals as may be given in preparation for a public performance, the presence and participation In three or more of which should be required of all who take part in the con- cert. If such system of elimination should result in reducing the chorus on these public occasions to one half its usual numerical force, the accuracy and efficiency of the residue would be the better appreciated and felt. "Among the radical faults of singers, in our own country especially, to which this Society forms no exception, is the almost universal inattention that prevails as to the proper position of the body, whether standing or sit- ting. I deem this subject of sufBcient importance to dwell upon it emphat- ically, and urge it upon your careful consideration. I believe that if every association of this nature had its competent instructor in physical training, as it is understood at the present day, especially if to this were added some knowledge of the art of correct vocalization and the proper management of the voice, the effect of the chorus, in respect of volume and power of tone alone, could be at least doubled. But without such special instruction, a sim- ple observance of an erect position of the body, and a proper disposition of the organs immediately concerned in vocalization, would do much towards the production of a purer intonation, greater ease, precision, and fluency of delivery ; everything, indeed, that is improving to the singing voice. " Again, a positive element of loss which too often prevails in an extensive choral organization is the neglect or refusal of a considerable percentage of those.who are abundantly competent to sustain themselves creditably, to join in all their allotted parts ^t a concert. Some of the finest effects of the ' Mes- siah,' as given by this Society at the last Christmas season, were, as I believe, inadequately produced from this cause alone. It may be by reason of physi- cal fatigue, on the part of some, but it is more frequently from indifference, or the feeling, perhaps, that, among the great mass, these single efforts may not be missed. To this argument, however specious it may appear in a single Individual case, it is only necessary to apply the reductio ad absurdum; for what would become of a great chorus if all should be possessed with the impulse to remain silent at one and the same moment? It is only necessary to allude to this point, and I leave it to the reflection and good sense of those who may have been accustomed so to transgress. " As an aid in bringing about and maintaining an improvement in some of the points to which I have alluded, as well as otherwise to increase the effi- ciency of the Society, and assist its practical operations, I would recommend the establishment of a Staff of Superintendents, — as they might be called, — to consist of, at least, eight persons, one half to be taken from the Board of Trustees, the others to be chosen 'annually from the Society at large. They should be selected for their intelligence and ability, and for their devotion to tTie interests of the Society, and conscientiousness in the discharge of its required duties. It should consequently be regarded as a post of honor, as it would be one of responsibility and labor. They could, with advantage, be apportioned equally among the several departments of the chorus, — thus giving two to each part, — the librarian to retain as now his general super- vision of the orchestra, and be included among the staff. It would be the 216 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. duty of these gentlemen to attend to the proper seating and arrangement of their respective departments, both at rehearsals and concerts, — to see that all are properly suppljed with music, — to take note of the attendance of members, and report the same regularly at each meeting to the secretary or the president of the Board, and generally to provide for everything that per- tains to the comfort and adds to the efficiency of' the corps under their imme- diate charge, — to do this with firmness and energy, and at the same time with discretion and courtesy. This, of course, would take the place of the present Seating Committee, whose duties are merged in those of the Staff of Superintendents. The number could, if required, be enlarged on occasions of extra duty and emergency. The four thus chosen from the Society at large, together with the librarian, might, with propriety, be ex officio members of the Board of Trustees, but without the privilege of a vote at Its meetings. I am certain that, if such organization be established, it would do much to. regulate and systematize the Society's operations, and bring about that unity of purpose and action so much needed In every association of this kind. "A word here as to the proper numerical force of our chorus department, and the better balancing of the parts. Taking into account the accommoda- tions and acoustic capacity of the building we are likely to occupy for public entertainments for some time to come, there is demanded, to give proper effect to such works as we are accustomed to undertake on our ordinary occa- sions, a chorus of full four hundred vocalists. By this, I mean that number of really competent, co-operating, and well-trained voices. This, with the unrivalled organ we have at our command, and an orchestra of sixty instru- ments (the command of which, I am sorry to say, at present we have not), would leave little to be desired. " If the plan now before the School Board of this city should become a law, viz., the introduction of a system of thorough instruction In vocal music into the primary schools, under the supervision of an able teacher, '^ — as it is already taught by a special corps of teachers in the higher classes of the grammar schools, — we shall not be at a loss for material wherewith to recruit, our ranks, or to raise our complement of active members to any number at which we may deem it expedient to limit ourselves ; for the result of such plan must be, in a few years, to increase immeasurably a knowledge of the principles and practice of choral music throughout the whole community. Indeed, we ought even now, under the partial operation of the present system of musical education In our public schools, to find among those who annually graduate from the grammar department an abundant supply of material for this purpose; and It only needs, as I believe, some systematic mode of regis- tering the best pupils in the advanced classes in music, to render the scheme a practical one." The address concludes with a reminder of the interesting fact, that the year upon which the Society was just entering would terminate 1 Since the above was written, this important step towards the establishment of a more complete system of musical education in our public schools has been taken, the Board having, by a nearly unanimous vote, adopted the order recommended by the Standing Committee on Music, for the appointment of a special instructor in music in the primary schools of Boston. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 217 -with the completion of the first half century of its life, and with the following cheerful and appropriate suggestion : — " It is fitting that so memorable an epocli in our history should be celebrated •with more than usual circumstance and ceremony ^ and, while I would not counsel a departure from the ordinary rehearsals, and a rigid preparation for the approaching concert season, I would propose that a proper time be set apart as a festival week, in which this Society, with picked orchestra and •chorus, enlarged to the utmost limits the capacity of our hall will allow, and aided by the most renowned virtuoso talent this continent, if not the world, can supply, shall interpret in succession the sublime works of the great mas- ters of symphony and oratorio. "It would be out of place, perhaps, for me to indicate, now and here, the details of a gi'and programme for such occasion. This will require inuch thought and consideration on the part of many, and the careful exercise of ■discretion and good judgment. But it should be early marked out and deter- mined upon in all its features, and the preparation for it set about in earnest by all who are to take part. A year is none too much time wherein to make ready for the work. I would advise, therefore, that this matter be committed into the proper hands at once, with instructions to spare no pains nor expense, within reasonable bounds, to make the occasion significant of the grand epoch it is to mark in our annals, and worthy the great names, the per- formance of whose noblest works will be linked with its observance." It was voted that such a Semi-Centennial Festival be held in April or May, 1865. The temper of the times disposed to festival. The Union cause had very largely gained ; rebellion had shrunk into narrow limits, though the serpent was not yet quite strangled. But there were signs of light ; we began to see the end, with peace, and liberty, and har- monj' restored. Yet much laj' still in doubt. The darkest hour, they say, is that before the dawn. And the two months of July and August of this very summer, 1864, have been called the darkest and most anxious period of the war. If no brilliant efforts in the field of music were to be immediately •expected, preparation for the FestivEtl would soon bring earnest work. Some of the noblest, most important and befitting tasks for such a Society had been too long held in abeyance. Israel in Egypt still remained a terror ; and there was no thought yet of old Sebastian . Bach, his Christmas Oratorio, his Passion Music and Cantatas, — ■'• a richer than Californian field for exploration even in the Old World, now and for many years to come." Nay, Jephtha, Judas Maccabceus, ■many more works of Handel, had either faded out of recollection, or had never yet been heard among us. Tjie Festival, however, will advance us somewhat ; future festivals still more. The weekly rehearsals oegan earlier than usual, — in the middle of 218 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. September. It^ was reaolved to double the number of the chorus. Israel was taken up again in earnest ; the Messiah, Elijah, perhaps the Creation, and the Hymn of Praise, were to figure in the five days' programme ; and there should be an orchestra of from eighty to. one hundred instruments for alternate concerts between the oratorios. So things began to look alive. But, apart from Festival, the work of the season proper must not be neglected. It began Nov. 27, with a performance of Costa's Eli, with the same solo artists as in its last performance, Feb. 21 : Miss Houston, Mrs. Gary, Mr. Wheeler, and Nir. Eudolphsen. There was but a moderate audience. True to the good, old custom. Handel's Messiah was restudied and refurbished up for Christmas, the choruses again undergoing critical rehearsal under Carl Zerrahn, for whom, and also for Mr. Lang, the organist, the heaviness of labor must have been lifted into joy by the success which crowned it. The oratorio was given both on Saturday and Sunday evenings, Dec. 24 and 25, changing the group of solo singers, with the exception of the tenor, Mr. L. W. Wheeler. For the first evening there were : Mrs. Anna Stone Kliot, of New York, returning to the scene of her old triumphs ; Mrs. Smith, who sang "Eejoice" and "How beautiful" with charming purity, sweetness, and evenness of voice, and with simplicity and truth of feeling ; Miss Addie Ryan, whose chief drawback in the contralto airs was the very natural one, of magnifying to herself the terrors of singing for the first time in so large a hall, and consequent over-exertion of her voice ; and Mr. M. W. Whitney, whose bass tones and whose manner were both musical and manly. The hall was quite well filled. Sun- day evening's performance was the best of the two, and had by far the greatest audience. The special feature of interest was the re- appearance, after several years' retirement from the concert room, of Mrs. J. H. Long, "who took upon her the entire soprano part with even more acceptance, more sustained ease, power, eloquence of deliv- ery, more sweetness, evenness and reach of voice, more finish and maturity of style, than in tl^e days when these great songs were thought to be hers by right among all our native singers." Mrs. J. S. Cary's warm and sympathetic contralto made itself and made the music felt. The bass arias fell to the share of Mr. Eudolphsen, who had acquired more mastery of our English accent, and whose substan- tial bass voice sustained itself through the Handelian roulades grace- fully and well. Mr: Wheeler had scarcely risen from an illness of some weeks, so that his tenor voice, never very powerful, was weaker than usual ; yet he exerted himself with a becoming loyalty to art. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 219 Nothing more until April, — the eventful, joyful, suddenly sad- dened, yet triumphal month of April, 1865 ! The long period of depression is past. Those eight long years of a whole nation's travail, of coming and of actual war, are accomplished, giving birth to a new world, as it were, of real Liberty and Union, with no canker at the core. Eichmond has fallen ; the heart of the rebellion has been reached. Peace is proclaimed. Magnanimity goes hand in hand with victory. Arms are laid down ; there shall be no further calls for drafting and recruiting ; the peaceful occupations and society of daily life shall be no more disturbed. We are one people in a fuller sense than ever before. The air is full of rejoicing. Music and our old Society must not be behindhand in all this. We were just on the point of assembling in the Music Hall to find voice for our joy and gratitude in the great anthems of victory, and hear the Handel and Haydn chorus, with new inspiration, sing the Hymn of PraUe and Handel Hallelujahs, when suddenly came flashed over the land the appalling news : Lincoln is dead ! This second Father of his Country has fallen by the hand of the assassin. Music held her breath and listened to the very voice of God in the great national bereavement. These two opposite experiences, which made one little week so long, flashing the clearest light across the whole dark struggle, fusing all hearts in one great solemn joy, — and then. •' in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," in one great grief, which puts the seal of certainty upon the victory of Eight, — have made a Nation of us. For so grand a victory a typical and crowning sacrifice was needed ; and he, who had so wisely, firmly, reverently, humanely, guided us through the long struggle, — he who had " borne his faculties so meek" and been " so clear in his great office," — he who could say such touching words without any rhetoric, — he, who by manifest simplicity and goodness, by plain, unpretending, solid virtues, by absolute integrity and a patriotism that knew not self, by sineerest sympathy with the people, the whole people, nearer to all because, not being brilliant, he was so full of the true life and purpose, had won the heart of all this people to a degree scarcely suspected by itself, — he, our good, great Presi- dent, became the nation's martyr in its highest place. Now is our cause consecrated, our joy solemnized, our victory which God hath given us, complete. P.very concert was of course suspended, — nay, forgotten ; every theatre was closed. Silence was the only music great enough to satisfy. But this mood, so deep, so wholesome, could not long re- main. The grief, the gloom, had a new hope, new life in it. Art soon finds her voice again. The sacrifice has only made the meaning 220 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. of the victory more clear. Now are the times ripe for a festival of music. All good signs concur. Not only is the public ready to siipport it, eager to enjoy it, but all these glad and grave experiences prepare the heart to feel the dignity, the holiness of great and real music. And this great moment, by a fortunate coincidence, arrives just on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the Handel and Haydn Society. The Festival may now go on. "Far off its coming shines " ; say, rather, it is close at hand. The main features of the plan, after much consultation, correspond- ence, modification, much reluctant sacrifice of fond ideals, were now essentially complete and definite. The Festival was to occupy the five days beginning on Tuesday morning, May 23, and ending on Sunday evening, the 28th. A chorus of six hundred voices was an- nounced, — a promise more than kept. For the orchestra one hun- dred instruments were engaged, including nearly all the old " Ger- manians," with the leading members of the New York Philharmonic Society, and others from Philadelphia, besides our local orchestra. And the accompaniments were'to be enriched and strengthened by the massive harmonies of the Great Organ, played by B. J. Lang. The weak point, comparatively, was in the array of solo singers, which, of course, could not vie with those of Birmingham and Lon- don. Large pecuniary inducements had been offered to Sims Reeves and other famous English artists, but in such hopes the managers were disappointed. They could, however, offer a respectable show of many of the best concert and oratorio singers at that time in the country, namely: — Soprani : Mme. Frederici, of Grover's German opera; Mme. Van Zandt aad Miss Maria Brainerd, of New York ; Miss J. E. Houston, Mrs. H. M. Smith, and Miss Matilda Pliillipps (younger sister of Adelaide), of Boston; and Mas- ter Richard Coker, tlie " boy prima donna" (as he was sometimes called), of Trinity Church, New York. Contralti : Mrs. Jenny Kempton, of New York ; and Mrs J. S. Gary, of Boston. Tenon: Franz Himmer, of the German Opera; J. E. Perring and John Farley, of New York ; G. "W. Hazelwood, of Bos.ton. Bassi: Carl Formes and Josef Hermanns, of the German opera; F. Kudolphsen, of Boston. These were the interpreters. For subject-matter the nine concerts of the five days and evenings offered : Otto Nicolai's Religious Festi- val Overture, an address by the president of the Society, and Mendels- sohn's Hymn of Praise, for the inauguration of the Festival on Tuesday morning ; four evening oratorios : the Creation, Israel in HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 221 Egypt (selections) , Elijah, and the Messiah. The four afternoon pro- grammes of classical and miscellaneous music contained the Eroica and Seventh Symphonies of Beethoven, the great C major Symphony of Schubert, and the Scotch Symphony (A minor) of Mendelssohn ; Overtures : to Leonore, No. 3, and Ooriolanus, Beethoven ; to Eiiry- anthe, Weber ; to Midsummer Night's Dream and Huy Bias, Mendels- sohn ; to William Tell, Rossini ; The Naiads, S^erndale Bennett ; to Rienzi and Tannhduser, Richard Wagner ; also Les Preludes, by Liszt, the FacJceltanz (torchlight dance) by Meyerbeer, and a variety of songs and arias, and vocal show-pieces, which will be mentioned as they come along. To the nine must be added a Great Organ con- cert given by Mr. Lang at noon on Saturday. The hum of preparation is continually heard about the Music Hall. For many weeks the rehearsals of the choral forces, under the ener- getic baton of Zerrahn, have been going on with iutenser fervor and increasing frequency, — for some time three rehearsals every week, until orchestra and solo artists are brought in to make up a complete whole. An ample guaranty fund against pecuniary loss has been readily subscribed to, and now all is ready for the opening. It came with the usual May baptism, the old rainy habit of the weather, which had prevailed for weeks before the Festival, and did not abate until the first day was over ! Tuesday Morning, May 23. The hour for the opening, eleven o'clock, had arrived. The first sight of the imposing scene insured success. There at a glance were all the elements, in orderly array, of such a realization of great song and symphony as had been so long, in hope and fear alternately, looked forward to. When all were ready, and all waiting for the signal from Conductor Zerrahn's baton to burst forth into song, suddenly that gentleman stood with fixed look toward the audience, with the governmeiit of the Society grouped around him, and gradually all the faces and the forms of the whole mass of singers and musicians became likewise fixed, as in that famous banquet scene in the palace of the " Sleeping Beauty." It was soon seen that the photographer in the gallery was holding back the flood of harmony e'en then about to burst on the impatient ear. And what a scene it was there at the stage end of the Music Hall ! I have not the photograph at hand, which was only partially successful ; but from notes taken at the time can (also but imper- fectly) recall the scene : — " The seating of the chorus and the orchestra was in itself a work of art. A more admirable economy of room, combined with acoustic adaptation and spectacular effect, could hardly have been contrived. The platform had Seen 222 HISTORY OF' THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. brought forward into the hall ; rows of seats rose amphitheatrically on either hand into the side balconies, completely filled with choristers; tenors and basses, crowding that section of the balconies, overflowed down several steps of either staging, and the stream, still broadening forward and downward, grew gay with the many-colored dresses of alU and soprani. To one looking up at either wing of the chorus from below, the mass of heads seemed poured out from above in just the form (a frigid simile indeed) in which the glaciers spread down through the mountains; — we, the audience, may pass for the moraine. Clearly the promised six hundred voices were not merely nominal ; there were actually at least seven hundred. The level space at the feet of the two great choral slopes was filled with the orchestra of about one hundred instruments. These, too, were ingeniously and well arranged. In the fore- ground, facing inwardly from each side, sat rows of violins, twenty-two first and twenty-one second ; behind them, a row of ten violas (tenors) faced the audience ; a solid square of wind instruments sat behind these (three flutes, four oboes, four clarinets, four bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, one tuba, one serpent), flanked on each side by a double row of violoncellos and double-basses, ten of each; and behind them tympani, drums, triangles, etc., abutted on the front of the Great Organ, which in the background looked superbly. Medallion portraits of Handel and Haydn were suspended, amid evergreen and fiowery wreaths, with golden- chorded lyres, vases, national fiags, etc., in front of the two central towers, just hiding the two carved giants ; and between them, the bronze Beethoven, somewhat overweighted with garlands, stood the august genius of the hour. In that orchestra it was pleasant to recognize the faces of many of the old ' Germania,' though we missed Carl Bergmann. William Schultze led the violins." The nervously protracted moment of suspended vitality, under the spell of the photographer, found relief at last in insuppressible laughter. Then up went the conductor's baton, up rose all the ranks of chorus singers on their feet, and the flood-gates of harmony broke loose. The first burst was overwhelming, chorus, orchestra, and organ uniting their full volume in one massive rendering of Luther's choral, Ein' feste Burg, upon which rugged but sublime foundation Otto Nicolai has built up his Religious Festival Overture. This, followed by the overture proper, a strong fugue movement, Handelian in style, and, after contrapuntal working up of fragments of this theme, the entrance of a second, livelier theme, both finally supplying quaint accompaniment to the choral, formed a significant, grand opening of the Festival Then came an appropriate address by the president of the Society, Dr. J. B. Upham, who related some amusing details of the history of a choral society which preceded the Handel and Haydn in Boston ; spoke of the origin of the latter, of its achievements, and its influ- ence on musical taste in the whole country ; drew hopeful anticipa- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 223 tions for us from ,t]ie musical history of the Old World ; and briefly but suggestively characterized the great works which composed the programme of the week. The address was heard with interest, and frequently applauded. It will be found in full in the Appendix. So much for introduction of the great symphonic, choral feature, of the opening, The Hymn of Praise. It was to have been sung in celebration of the final Union victory, when music's voice was hushed by the appalling news of President Lincoln's death. It was equally appropriate for the thankful, solemn, patriotic mood of the whole public mind in this week of festival. It was composed, remember, to celebrate the invention of the art of printing, and for the inaugura- tion of the statue of Gutenberg, at Leipsic, on the 25th of June, 1840. Praise and gratitude to God for Light, — light spiritual and intellect- ual ; the waiting and longing for it through all the weary night of the dark ages ; the break of day, the free career and joy of a redeemed humanity ; and first, and last, and throughout everywhere, in every chorus, song, and interlude, the praise of God : tliese were the the)nes and promptings of Mendelssohn's heart and genius when he conceived the Lobgesdvg, in some respects tlie most felicitous and most inspiring of his larger works. It sounded well that morning, — better, even, than it had ever sounded to us before. It expressed for us the spirit of the hour, — for those of us there gathered in the Boston Music Hall, and, so it seemed, for this whole people. There is no need to eater into the details of the really glorious per- formance, or attempt to describe the splendor, the mighty volume, the resistless power and grandeur of its choruses, with the effect so enhanced by seven hundred voices and so complete an orchestra. It was a new experience to hear such an orchestra. ' ' How searching, pungent, tingling with nervous vigor and vitality, the collective tone of all those violins, moving with sympathetic unity, and how inevita- bly master of the situation, in spite of all the brass ! How boldly, unmistakably outlined every passage ! How rich, warm, round, and satisfj'ing the tone of the middle strings, tenors and 'cellos, those heart-tones of the orchestra, which we had always missed in our small bands ! How grand the dozen double-basses ! Another delightful sensation, for years only remembered, but denied the ear in Boston, was the honest sound of two real, good bassoons (we had had to make shift with a 'cello for one of the pair) ! All the wood and brass were excellent. Verily, twenty violins upon a part sound more than twenty times as well as one ; and those . seventy odd strings all together, in wide harmony, realize a tone such as no great organ can give more than a windy, dry suggestion of." Perhaps this enthusi- 224 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. asm may cause a smile to-day, when we have half the year for daily food an orchestra far superior to that just now described, and kept in continual training. But it was an event for musical Bostonians in 186). In view of the time and the circumstances, which gave that Festi- val a twofold significance, it will be well, perhaps, to recall the thrill- ing impressiveness of the great dramatic middle point and climax of the work. "The anxious tenor recitative, 'Watchman, will the night soon pass ? ' with the fitful, wild accompaniment ; the clear soprano answer, 'The night is departing ! ' high and biight, flooding all with instant light, like the first ray of the morning sun shot sud- denly athwart a world of darkness ; then the blazing outburst of the chorus, taking up the words, waxing more and more excited with the fugued rendering of ' Let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us gird on the armor of light ' ; and finally the massing together of all the male voices in one more utterance of ' The night is departing,' echoed by all the female voices, ' The day is approaching ! ' both masses joining in long notes for a close : all this set every chord vibrating in the inmost American and human heart of every one of us ; for it told the very story, all the suffering, the hope and fear, the waiting, the joy, the miracle of those four great yeai s in the history of the cause of Freedom." " How prophetic," indeed (to quote from Dr. Upham's address), '"would that performance have proved, had it come earlier ! " But it did come earlier, if in an humbler way. Many among us do not forget that the prophetic significance and up- lift of this solo and chorus were felt, in the same hall, as much earlier as the 1st of January, 1863. when it was sung in honor of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, not, to be sure, with the full force and will of the Handel and Haydn Society, but with stirring effect by a hastily improvised much smaller chorus, which included many of its members. This time we had the musical aspiration of that day realized upon a grander scale, just as the dawning hope of that day had now become the fully risen sun of victory, with liberty for all men. The three solo singers were found equal to their parts : notably Miss Houston, whose clear soprano rang out splendidly in ' ' The night is departing," as it had done on that truly " prophetic " earlier occa- sion ; Miss Laura Goodnow sustained the second part in the duet, "I waited for the Lord" ; and Mr. George W. Hazelwood. with a sympathetic tenor, which he used with taste and judgment, took, at short notice, the place of Mr. Pening. who was ill in New York. The audience, though large, hardly filled the hall that day. Two HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 225 listeners for eacli of the eight hundred sound-producers on the plat- form were about its measure. This shortcoming was owing to three drawbacks : partly the rain ; then the difficulty of procuring famous solo singers, and mortifying disappointments in the case of some who were engaged ; but, most serious of all perhaps, the high price of admission, so foreign to our democratic habits then, and necessarily excluding many of the best- music-lovers, too unworldly to be wealthy. Some thought that lower prices would have paid better ; but there was hope that the audiences would go on increasing with the momentum of the Festival. The old familiar oratorio of the Creation, given in the evening, also lit up strongly certain texts in keeping with the time: "And there was light," "A new created world," "Achieved is the glorious work," and more that do not need enumeration. With that fine orchestra, one felt a new justification for the name ' ' Ilandel and Haydn," which the Society had taken at the outset, instead of per- haps Bach and Handel : namely, in the fact that Haydn in those days was the great type of instrumental, as Handel was of choral, music. The Messiah of the one, the Creation of the other : on those two corn^-stones the old Society was built. The audience was larger than in the morning, for there was natu- rally a desire to hear the old work " re-created for us" (as the Tran- script had it) , by such a choir and orchestra and organ. Here was music in which the seven hundred felt at home, — choruses which almost sang themselves, — and they were all eager for the fray ; "there was an exhilaration about it, as of a crowd of lusty bathers plunging into the surf." The choral effects surpassed all that had been imagined, reaching the climax, of course, in "The heavens are telling," which had to be repeated. But the chief, the characteristic charm of the Creation resides in the orchestra ; and with such an orchestra for the interpreter, all the luxuriance of delicate, melodic figures which entwine and overgrow the whole, tlie billowy rhythm of bold, massive string accompaniments in the strong passages, the blend- ing and contrasting of rich colors everj'where, were as enjoyable as so much fresh and variegated landscape. The array of solo singers was hardly equal to that of 1857. Mrs. Van Zandt and Miss Brain- erd, both of New York, divided the soprano arias between them. The former, having the younger, fresher, more powerful and more sympathetic voice, sang "With verdure clad," gracefully and sweetly, albeit with some questionable Italian opera ornament, superfluous in phrases which Haydn has already turned so perfectly. The latter, with much more culture and more oratorio experience, sang " On 226 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. mighty pens " and the melodies of Eve acceptably. Mr. Farley, new to the task of oratorio, with a clear, rich tenor in the upper tones, — less satisfactory in the lower, — did all carefully, some things effec- tively, but had not Arthurson's mastery of recitative. There was disappointment in the case of Formes, who was ill, and Mr. Rudolph- sen, a still improving artist, sang all the bass solos in a large and manly style. Second Day. Wednesday, 3 P. M. The only public performance that day was the first of the four instrumental and vocal concerts. Some time must be left for rehearsal ; if not of chorus, at least of orchestra and solo singers — birds not to be caught too often. Pro- . gramme : — PART I. 1. Overture to " Eienzi " Wagner. 2. Quartet (Canon) from " Pidelio " .... Beethoven. Mme. Fhedkrici, Mrs. Kempton, Franz Himmer, Jos. Hermanns. 3. Symphony No. 7, in A major Beethoven. 1. Overture to " Midsummer Night's Dream " . . Mendelssohn. 2. Lied: " An den Sturmwind " (To the Storm) . . Carl Evers. Joseph Hermanns. 3. Prayer from " Der Freyschutz " Weber. Mme. Frederici. 4. Reiselied Mendelssohn. Franz Himmer. 5. Fackeltanz Meyerbeer. The Seventh Symphony had been for years a prime favorite among symphonies in Boston, next, if not equal in interest, to the one in C minor. To hear it brought out by such an orchestra was an event for those days. It was grand, uplifting, glorious indeed ; yet critical listeners missed the fineness, the nice gradation of light and shade, which might have been expected from so rich and rare a combination of means. Want of sufficient rehearsal was the trouble. The hurried conditions of the Festival only admitted of one rehearsal for each concert, which had to be held in the forenoon of the same day, be- tween the exhausting labors of oratorio and concert. Could that orchestra have been kept together for months, instead of a single week ! Yet the chance of hearing four symphonic masterpieces in four days was too rare to forego for the sake of more refining upon one or two. The " Midsummer Night's Dream" overture was more delicately rendered ; the fairy flutter of the many violins subdued to HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 227 something like a real ^Jiamssmo. The opening and closing numbers of the programme had plentj^ of smart, brilliant, loud effect, the early overture of Wagner beginning well, but running into brass- band commonplace, and Meyerbeer's Torchlight being better suited for the streets than for an oratorio festival. But these selections gave the blowers of brass instruments a chance to show their mettle (metal) . The vocal pieces were sung by three favorite artists of Grover's German opera : Mme. Frederici Himmer, the Herren Him- mer and Hermanns, and Mrs. Kempton, who gave the famous quartet from Fidelia so well that they had to repeat it. But the effect was weakened by the want of orchestral accompaniment ; Mr Lang sketched this skilfully upon the organ, but such a canon needs the marked individuality of separate instruments. The same want of orchestra destroyed the effect of Frederici's exquisite singing of the prayer from Freyschiltz. The prayer alone, without the recitative and the whole scena, seemed a small thing to come all the way from New York for. The bass and tenor Lieder were given with good effect It was one of the penalties of crowding so much into a week, and one of the misfortunes of engaging solo talent at a late hour, after many disappointments, that all orchestral accompaniment to the singing in these concerts had to be dispensed with. Third Day. Thursday, 3 P. M. Second afternoon concert. Programme : — PART I. 1. Symphony in C major Schubert. PAET n. 1. Overture to " Leonora " (No. 3) .... Beethoven. 2. Aria from " La Traviata " Verdi. Mrs. Jennie Van Zandt. 3. Cantata: "Adelaide" Beethoven. Mk. John Farley. 4. Concert Waltz Venzano. Mrs Van Zandt. 5. Overture to " Taunhauser " Wagner. The glorious Symphony by Schubert had been looked forward to as one of the rare attractions of the Festival. It had been presented here half a dozen times before, from as early as 1852, but never fairly, only outlined as it were with insufficient means, and sneered at by newspaper critics as "tedious," "prolix," "music of the future," " broken crockery music," lacking "symphonic form" (!), etc. But these musicians, who were now to play it, Tcnew how good 228 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. it was. They sprang to their task with a will ; they enjoyed all their labor that week, but this they enjoyed most of all. And truly it was given with great verve; the players forgot themselves in the music ; and each successive movement wrought up the great audience to a higher pitch of inspiration. Doubtless most listeners were ready to subscribe to Schumann's satisfaction with its " heavenly length." The great Leonora Overture (commonly called the third which Beethoven wrote in C, but properly the second) had also passed through its humiliations of inadequate performance and of withering newspaper criticism. Will it stand the fiery trial this time ? Yes, for it has at last become somewhat familiar with us, and has for the most part outlived criticism . Here were now violins and other strings enough to build up the great crescendo near the end ; here was Mr. Arbuckle for the fine trumpet flourish from without ; and here was all the orchestra required to bring out all its dignity, dramatic fire, and depth of sentiment. But with not a few hearers, it is quite supposa- ble that the Taunhauser Overture bore off the palm among the orchestral productions. The vocal miscellany, with the exception of the " Adelaide," which Mr. Farley sang with taste and feeling, was not worthy of companionship with such great music. Tliursday Evening. Selections from Israel in Egypt, followed by a second performance of the Hymn of Praise. Handel's Titanic ora- torio, piling Ossa upon Pelion with its great mountain range of choruses, after so many baffled efforts to set it before the world here in its glory and its grandeur, should have been the great event, the crowning triumph of this Festival. "The stone which the builders had rejected" should have "become the head of the corner" in this temple. But, in the first place, there were only selections, — fifteen out of the twenty-five choruses. Then the recitatives and arias, considering their ([uaintness and their difficulty, required great singers, or singers trained to the style and loving it, and had only good ones at the best. Then the omissions not only broke the con- nection, disturbing the unity of the whole, and setting several pieces in a feeble or a false, uncertain light ; but they included some of the most remarkable choruses in the whole work, such as, " The people shall hear and be afraid," " They loathed to drink," etc. It is a case where the whole is better than a part ; specimens could do no justice. That the singers must have been equal to the task is proved by the . fact that they were successful in the most difficult and complicated of all the choruses, "He led them through the deep, as through a. wilderness." The momentum of such more familiar double chorusea as " He gave them hailstones," and " The horse and his rider,"^ HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 229 carried all before it, and the former had to be repeated. But there had not been yet quite pains and drill enough to secure the needed military energy and promptness of such an army of voices in choruses so trying. Light and shade, too, had been comparatively overlooked, or postponed ; it was all one uniform fortissimo ; passages like " Darkness which might be felt" which would have gained unspeak- ably by being hushed to a pianissimo, were loud like the rest. It was but another earnest aspiration, after all ; faith in themselves and in the public, courage, labor, will, were still insufficient, — the con- summation waits for another Festival. Most of the solos were given, and given creditably (bating some superfluous trills), by Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Gary, and Mr. Farley. The contralto air, "Thou shalt bring them in," suited the warm, tender, natural cantabile of Mrs. Gary ; and Mrs. Smith achieved something very near a positive success in the Sublime Miriam passage which heralds in the final chorus. The crowd was great,- the room warm, the delay long, so that the Hymn of Praise, though admirably executed, found hardly such fresh listeners as before. And it was a sad curtailment, that of the first orchestral movement. Fourth Day. Friday, 3 P. M. Third afternoon concert. Pro- gramme : — PART I. 1. Overture to " Euryanthe " Weber. 2. Aria, " Robert, toi que j'aime " Meyerbeer. Master Richard CoitER. 3. Symphony Eroica (No. 3) . . . . . Beethoven. PART n. 1. Overture to " William Tell " Sossini. 2. Cavatina from " II Giuramento" .... Mercadante. Mrs. J. S. Gary. 3. Cradle Song Gottschalk. Master Coker. 4. Aria, " mio Fernando " Donizetti. Miss Matilda Phillipps. 5. Symphonic Poem, " Les Preludes " .... Liszt. Another Beethoven Symphony, the earliest one of the four greatest of the immortal nine ! The Eroica, next to the Ninth, was the one least familiar here, and the interpretation it received this time did not a little to bring its wonderful movements home to us. The over- tures by Weber and Rossini are of the most brilliant and imaginative order, without a particle of clap-trai), and it is always good to hear them. The Preludes is commonly regarded as the best, the most 230 HISTORr OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. musician-like and interesting among the rather anomalous "Sym- phonic Poems " of the Abb6 Liszt. It is certainly a masterpiece of instrumentation, if its themes, ideas, are sentimenal, and pall upon the ear by repetition rather than development. It has passages of great power and others of great delicacy, in which the genius of each instrument is tenderly coaxed out. The rendering was splendid. The vocal selections again seemed out of place. The " bright, par- ticular star " was Master Coker, the Trinity choir boy of New York ; but the hackneyed " Robert, Robert," was neither suited to a boy nor to the place. His delicious voice lent charm to Gottschalk's little Cradle Song. Fourth Day. Saturday Noon, May 27. Naturally the lovers of organ music, especially- those who had made a pilgrimage to the Festival from other places, were curious to hear all they could from the Great Organ, to appreciate its various registers, and realize its power and volume. And so, a pleasant little noonday episode, an after-thought, in fact, was provided for them, — a programme of organ music by itself, played by a master of the stops like Mr. B. J. Lang. 1. Prelude and Fugue in C Bach. 2. Transcription of the Overture to "A Midsummer Night's Dream " Mendelssohn. 3. Pastorale in F Bach. 4 Flute Concerto, Allegro Bink. 5. Quartet from "Fidelio" (played upon the Vox Humana stop) Beethoven. 6. Improvisation. Saturday Afternoon. The last orchestral and vocal concert had, on the whole, the most satisfactory programme of the four. Beet- hoven's fiery, compressed Goriolanus Overture ; Mendelssohn's *' Scotch" Symphony ; Sterndale Bennett's graceful concert overture, *' The Naiads," and Mendelssohn's dramatic overture to Buy Bias, all received excellent treatment. The musicians had grown more in love with their work and more en rapport with one another day by day, so that these last renderings left little if anything to be desired. The quartet from Fidelio was demanded from the same four artists, who were in fine voice and "form," particularly Frederici. She also revealed a remarkable compass of voice — beautiful and telling always, singularly musical and strong in the deep contralto tones — in "Ah mon fils ! " from Meyerbeer's Prophete. Mrs. Kempton sang Schubert's " Wanderer" with power and fervor ; Herr Hermanns sang a little German song in English, " The Mill Wheel" ; HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 231 and HeiT Himmer, the tenor, gave great pleasure with an Ave Maria, by Marschner. Looking back over these four concert programmes, one can hardly help remarking the conspicuous absence in these, as well as in the oratorio nights, of the great name of Mozart ! Surely his perfect G-minor Symphony, if nothing more, might have replaced a hackneyed Italian aria, or vocal waltz variation piece, to good advantage. Saturday Evening, May 27. The rush for tickets (again we repro- duce our own notes from the time) exceeded all before. Extra seats had been placed in the hall, and every place and corner had its occu- pant. There had been a presentiment, which was fully verified, that Elijah would be the great event of the Festival. It was the great success, indeed, in point of grandeur, spirit, light and shade, and general unity of performance. The singers were well trained in the work, and they all loved to sing it. All the choruses went admirably. Master Coker's clear voice was in place here, and told finely in the Boy's part before the Rain choius. Miss Houston sang the soprano solos in her best style. Mrs. Gary distinguished herself by her truly beautiful, chaste, warm rendering of the contralto airs ; some thought there had been nothing better in the week. Herr Hermanns, to heal in some degree the disappointment about Formes, had been induced to study and deliver two of the airs of Elijah ; but the gain was onlv nominal ; he was too much lied to his notes and English words to sing with freedom. But Mr. Rudolphsen, who took up the burden of the grand old prophet, covered himself with honor. His declamation was admirable, his musical conceptions good, and he entered fully into the spirit of the part, making it dignified and grand. A few faults of English accent, and the somewhat unpleasing quality of a few lower notes, were about the only drawbacks. Mr. Farley marred the conclusion of two perfect tenor arias by his eagerness to advertise his high B flat. But as a whole, this performance of Elijah was a triumph, and sent thousands away happier, if not better, stronger, and believing more than ever in great music, that it is divine. Fifth Day. Sunday Evening, May 28. The Fiftieth Anniversary Musical Festival ended worthily with what may be counted as the Society's fiftieth performance of Handel's Messiah.^ The crowd of listeners was again immense, for many come to the Messiah as to a religious service, who are indifferent to other oratorios. There is no need to dwell for the fiftieth time upon its beauty, power, and grandeur. 1 Counting several performances of portions of tlie oratorio in the early flays as one. 232 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. It may be taken for granted that it acquired new interest, new inspira- tion and new depth of meaning from the time and the occasion, and from the great mass of voices and of instruments combined in the performance. If the voices showed some signs of fatigne after an exhausting whole week's work, the performance equalled expectation in the main. Many of the choruses, especially the "Wonderful" chorus and the "Hallelujah," carried all before them, the latter drawing most of the listeners upon their feet, spontaneously, rather than by constraint of custom. The chorus, " All we like sheep," was too hurried for the indolent and careless image it suggests ; nor was the deep and tender feeling and beauty of " Surely " and " With his stripes all we are healed " expressed so palpably and clearly as it might have been. It is not worth while to mention one or two other slightly blurred passages ; they were not enough to seriously mar or weaken the general effect of a truly noble choral rendering. The reci- tatives and arias were undertaken by Miss Brainerd, Mrs. Kempton (Miss Twichell) , Mr. Farley, and Mr. Eudolphsen, all doing their best in music that demands the best. The tenor only, whose pleasing voice had learned its clever ways from the Italian opei-a singers, showed that he had never yet been fairly naturalized in the serene, high element of Handelian oratorio. But he was more careful than in Elijah, complied with the conductor's hints, and did not take liberties with his text to show off his high notes. Mr. Itudolphsen had ac- quired rare evenness and aplomb in rolling out the long roulades of Handel's bass songs. All he did was unexceptionable. Miss Brain- erd made her best impression of the week in these soprano solos ; they were at least carefully studied, fluent, finished renderings. Mrs. Kempton won plentiful applause in the contralto arias ; her tones were rich, her execution good, and she sang with a certain air of fervor, although her "pathos" in " He was despised" was too much after the unquiet Italian stage manner ; the expression was too lachry- mose, — a common fault with singers in that music ; you feel the melody of Handel most in the most chaste and simple rendering. Such was the Messiah, at its best as we had known it here, in 1865. But we are writing in 1887 ; and the intervening years have shed a new light back upon all past renderings of the work, revealing and explaining serious imperfections which were perhaps unnoticed, but must have existed in them all. These relate chiefly to the very incom- plete extent to which Handel's evident intentions in the matter of the instrumental accompaniment had been carried out. Mozart, whose arrangement was the one always used, had filled out the instru- mental score for many of the numbers, but by no means for all. It HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 233 was only some years later, when Robert Franz, at the request of our Society, addressed himself to this important task, that it became possible to present this most familiar of oratorios in its completeness, and with all its beauty, power, and meaning. This will appear later in this history. So ended the second Festival. It was a gratifying and inspiring success, artistically and socially, and even financially, for, while it cost more than S17,000, it left a balance of 84,000, which went to the benefit of the two great war charities of Boston and the Society's own fund. One half of this profit was divided equally between the Sanitary Commission and the Christian Commission. The other half, about $2,000, was the foundation of the Society's Permanent Fund, which was put in trust by an instrument dated May 28, 1866, and which, at the date of this writing (1887), amounts to nearly $30,000. That this Festival was on the whole a just theme of pride for Boston, and very creditable to the old Society (which seemed to rejuvenate itself in that effort) , creditable to its devoted officers, to the enthusiastic, able, indefatigable conductor, the skilful organist, the well-selected ample orchestra, and to the seven hundred volunteers and regulars who went so heartily into the chorus work ; that it gave a new impulse to the cause of noble music in the land, and new assurance of more and better Festivals to follow, was thought to be the least that could be said of it. That was the common feeling, with whatever consciousness and frank admission of short- comings. It did not reach the ideal ; and if in certain happy moments it did seem to approach it, probably no member of the Society, with good right to feel elated, lost his head so far as to imagine that the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston had placed itself in the front rank of all the world of music by this brave effort, or that it Vas now able to compete, save at an humble distance, with the great fes- tivals of Germany and England. A great success it was, but what success? Let me dovetail to- gether a few sentences from my own comments in the "Journal of Music " at the time : — 1. It seems to have been agreed that the success was more one of quantity than of quality in execution, much as there was to praise in that respect. The effects were those of mass and grandeur, rather than of fineness, delicate and subtle distribution of light and shade. There was more of spirit and momentum, military energy and unanim- ity in great mass movements and manoeuvres, than of poetic fusion and subdued blending of all the individualities in one exquisite, expressive whole. Almost never a pianissimo, to vary and relieve 234 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. the sweeping and triumphant charges of the seven hundred ; and what effect so beautiful, so wonde):'ful, and so refreshing as the pia nissimo of a great host of voices ! The conductor knew this ; but it was not easy, in those new conditions, before each singer felt himself entirely at home, and felt the others with him in those strange seats, so many and so far apart, to persuade each that his or her single voice could be audible, or sound like any voice at all. unless delivered with full force. Singers have to learn to trust themselves on such occasions. The same, too, with the orchestral performances. There were many good musicians there, but they were brought together for the nonce, and not accustomed to each other. Rehearsals necessarily were few and hurried, crowded into weary hours between the concerts. There was little chance for an exacting, critical, refining study upon the master-works performed. 2. As we have already seen, the solo singing, while much of it was satisfactory, was the weak feature of the Festival. The manage- ment did all that could be done, but the time was unfavorable for the collecting of great vocal talent. Here, again, hurry, want of time for consultation and rehearsal, allowed tares to creep in with the wheat in the selections of vocal miscellany for the afternoon concerts. And what real gems there were suffered for want of proper setting, — that is to say, of orchestral accompaniment. 3. The programmes certainly contained enough pure gold, without too much alloy, to warrant calling the Festival a grand one. It was mainly made up of compositions of the highest order. Four great oratorios, the Hymn of Praise, four of the noblest symphonies, eight or nine of the most sterling overtures, to say nothing of the other selections, were enough of a good thing for one week. The only dis- tur1:)ing elements were the hackneyed Italian opera show-pieces, the " Venzano Waltz," and one or two noisy orchestral effect pieces, full of brass, and only edifying when beard out of doors. The experi- ence of such a Festival ought at least to teach one lesson : that in dealing with solo singers, in the making up of programmes, the choice of pieces must not be left to the singer's own vanity or indolence, or ignorant unconcern whether his or her pet piece and patent reaper of applause will make or mar the harmony of the whole programme ; but it must be controlled by the conductor or by the management ; at all events, by the one mind and purpose that should shine throughout the whole. Some great names were conspicuous by their absence, — enough to mention Mozart. Nor is it enough to have only matter of unquestionable merit. The programme, to have piquancy and to mark progress, should offer points of rarity and novelty. Such HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 235 points in our Festival were Israel in Egypt and the Schubert Sym- phony. But Bach was still a region wholly unexplored by us. And much more might be named, without acquaintance with which a Handel and Haydn Society must not be content. These, of course, are only questions of time. 4. It may be a question whether our programme was not too ambitious, — in the amount of matter, not in height of aspiration; whether it was not too much to undertake at once. " Enough is as good as a feast." The G-ermans have learned this ; their festivals seldom last more than three days, and they seldom load those days with such a mountainous outlay of work. Would not three days be better than a week, and much more sure to pay? HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 237 CHAPTER VIII. FIFTY-FIRST SEASON. June 16, 1865, to May 2S, 1866. Having chronicled the doings of the Handel and Haydn Society from its birth to its fiftieth anniversary, and having duly celebrated that occasion (which so happily coincided with the return of peace and with reunion, without slavery, after the War of the Rebellion) by a grand five-days' Festival, which showed the height of our musical attainment so far, let us now pause a moment to look back over the laborious ascent, and make a brief summary of progress and accom- plishment. What great and noble works, what masters has the Society intro- duced to the musically inclined people of Boston and Its neighbors, during these fifty years? lu other words, what has been its musical repertoire, in its chosen department, so far? 1. Of standard oratorios proper, the list has surely been more than respectable, alike in length and quality. Under this head, we count five oratorios by Handel : T!ie Messiah, given almost annually. Samson, many times. Judas Maccabxus, several times. Solomon, several times. Israel in Egypt. To which add, as compositions not so large, but worthy of the same noble company : — Dettingen Te Deum, three times. Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, twice in 1863. Haydn: TTie Creation (twin comer-stone with the Messiah, on which the foundations of the Society were laid) , also almost yearly. Beethoven : Mount of Olives, twelve times (although four times under the English bastard form of EngedH). Mendelssohn : St. Paul, four or five times. Elijah, about twenty times Hymn of Praise, eight or ten times. Spohr : Last Judgment, eight times. Costa : Eli, four times. 238 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 2. Then of church compositions in other large forms, — Te Deums, masses, requiems, etc., — there were performed the following : — Haydn: Mass in Bflat, eleven times between 1829 and 1837. Te Deum in C, once only, in 1831. The Storm, a descriptive cantata, usually called " The Tempest," seven times. Mozart : Mass in O, in 1829. Sequiem Mass, twice in 1857. KossiNi : Stabat Mater, fifteen to twenty times. 3. To these add a miscellaneous assortment of once popular but inferior oratorios, like NeuUomm's David and Mt. Sinai; others by composers now unknown (Buhler, King) ; operas turned bodily into oratorios, as Rossini's Moses in Egypt, given about forty times, and Donizetti's Martyrs (seven times in 1849, 1850) ; occasional odes; "Romberg's Power of Hong and Tra-sient and Eternal; and (not classed here as being trivial or of no value) Nicolai's overture with chorus, " Ein' feste Burg." These mostly, however much in fashion some of them were once, had lived out their little day before the fiftieth anniversary ; and while they lived, they figured, let us say. as pastime and occasional letting down from the more serious tasks, both for the singers and for the crude tastes of the miscellaneous public. Such was the material which the Society had liad to work upon in fifty years ; such the music, and so noble most of it, with which this community had, through its zeal and labor, become more or less acquainted, and really familiar with the best of it, thousands having learned to love it. As to the progressive quality of the performances ; as to the num- ber of singers growing on from year to year, from the small handful in 1815 to the seven hundred voices at the fiftieth anniversary ; as to the advancing standard of choral discipline, of style and taste in the delivery ; as to the wavering steps of piogre>^s in the means of orchestral accompaniment, beginning with mere skeleton orchestras, enlarging and improving very slowly, never realizing what would be called an orchestra in these present days, until the exceptional get- ting together of a great body of musicians for a festival occasion ; and as to the number of distinguished vocal artists (" solo talent") who had been introduced upon our oratorio platform, we will attempt no summary, simply referring to the foregoing chapters of this history. We now resume the record. The Festival was followed on Wednesday evening, June 14, 1865, by a pleasant social reunion in the Music Hall. The ladies and gen- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND H^TDN SOCIETY. 239 tlemen composing the Festival chorus felt they had a right to rejoice together and exchai ge congratulations while the spirit was upon them. It was partly, perhaps maiijly, designed as a complimentary acknowledgment to the ladies who had taken so zealous and so cred- itable a part in the oratorios. (For it must be, remembered that only men are members of the Society, while the ladies are their help- ers and their guests.) It was also made the occasion of several well- merited presentations. To Mr. Loring B. Barnes, the indefatigable secretary of the Society, who had been as it were the chief engineer of the gieat enterprise, was presented a silver tea-set of five pieces ; to Conductor Carl Zerrahn a silver ice-pitcher and salver, and also on behalf of the ladies of the chorus a pair of gold-lmed goblets ; Mr. B. J. Lang, the organist, was the recipient of a gold guard chain. Apt and interesting speeches, by Gen. Henry K. Oliver, Judge John P. Putnam, and Mr. Francis H. Underwood, formed the medium of presentation in each instance ; Dr. J. B. Upham, the president of the Society, occupying the post of chairman. Dancing and supper followed, and the festivities were kept up with groat zest tUl after midnight. The spirit that pervaded this reunion was a good earnest of the next year's work. Two evenings later, June 16, came the adjourned annual business meeting. OfBeers were chosen for the ensuing year as follows : — President. — Dr. J. Baxter Upham. Vice-President. — Oren J. Faxon. Secretary. — Loring B. Barnes. Treasurer. — Matthew S. Parker. Librarian. — George H. Chickering. Trustees. — Edward Faxon, George Fisher, George W. Palmer, J. S. Sawyer, Charles H. Johnson, Frank N. Scott, O. Frank Clakk, George Hews. Of these trustees the first four were from the old board. A vote of thanks was passed to the retiring trustees, Messrs. Isaac Wood- ward, S. L. Thorndike, George P. Carter, and W. O. Perkins. The treasurer's report, in the absence of the venerable incumbent, Mr. M. S. Parker (then in his eighty-sixth year), was read by the secretary, showing that the total receipts, added to the balance in hand at the beginning of the year, amounted to >?1,332.01 ; and that the expenditures of the year were $989.31, leaving a balance in. the treasurer's hands of $342.70, with the Society wlioUy free from debt. The librarian, G. H . Chickering, reported incieased duties owing to the Festival, which he performed with characteristic willingness, the burden having been greatly lightened by Mr. Bedlington, the 240 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. assistant librarian. Of the music added to the library during the Year, he mentioned the orchestral parts of Mendelssohn's P'orty-seconcl p. aim; 105 vocal parts and two scores of Costa's Eli; 300 copies of Israel in Egypt, — all these mostly procured from England. The next addition purchased was a portion of the music formerly belong- ing to the Mendelssohn Choral Society, consisting of 118 chorus scores of the Messiah, 144 of Elijah, and many orchestral parts. The additions during the year summed up as follows : 2,133 separate vocal parts, 473 vocal scores, 649 pianoforte vocal scores, one or- chestral score, and 193 separate orchestral parts. The music bought for the Festival cost about 81,050 ; and that bought before the Festi- val, not for it, cost 8215.26. These additions, with what the Society possessed before, properly arranged on shelves and complett-ly filling them, formed, in the opinion of the librarian, the most valuable library of its kind in the country. There had also been purchased, jointly with- the Music HaU Association, a set of wood-wind instru- ments (six clarinets, two flutes, two oboes, and two bassoons) . made in New York, to overcome the diflflculty, or impossibility, of tuning the instruments owned by the members of the orchestra to so low a pitch as that of the organ. The Society's share of this expense was 8300. The instruments failed to. answer the purpose for which they were intended ; they were put into the hands of the orchestral players, aud all trace of them is lost. From the report of the secretary, Mr. Barnes, much of interest might be extracted, were there room. The Festival, of course, had dwarfed the every-day work of the Society. Previous to that it had appeared but three times before the public during the entire season : first in Eli in November, which resulted in a small loss, and twice in the Messiah at Christmas to full houses. A concert commemorative of our great national victories was in preparation for Easter, but was suddenly suspended by the assassination of President Lincoln. Then came the Festival with its nine oratorios and concerts, with all its rehearsals and laborious work for all. That excitement passed, " there still remained one more duty for that great Festival chorus to perform, and that was, in answer to an invitation of the city of Bos- ton, to perform suitable music on the occasion of the eulogy by the Hon. Charles Sumner on the late President Lincoln." That occurred June 1, and the pieces simg were: the chorals "Cast thy burden upon the Lord" and Luther's Judgment Hymn, and the chorus '•Mourn, ye afflicted people," from Judas Maccdbaius, Twenty four persons had been admitted to membership during the year ; and five or six more, who had passed examination and been HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 241 admitted bj- ballot, had declined to qualify and were not enrolled. One member only had resigned, and there were no expulsions, a thing unprecedented for several years before. The leport made mention of the death of two of the nldest and most honored members, both of whom had joined the Society during its first year, namely, John F. Payson (lune 8) and John H. Pray (July 6) ; also a third, a younger member, counting from 1838, James Dj'er, — all three being of the most active and efficient members. The first two passed away within a few hours of each other, at about the date of the annual meeting in' 1864. Mr. G. W. Palmer, one of the trustees and treasurer of the Fes- tival Fund, then presented a brief but very satisfactory statement, from which it appeared that the whole amount, received from the P'es- tival was $21,180, and the total expenses a little upwards of 817,000, leaving a balance of very nearly |4,000, of wliich one half was divided equally between the two great war chaiities of Boston, while the other $2,000 went to form the foundation of the Society's Permanent Fund. The pre-ident, Dr. Upham, then read his annual report, an inter- esting paper, beginning with congratulations on the success of the Festival, and the marks of progress and improvement in the general condition of the Society. lie alluded to the correction of some prom- inent faults pertaining to this and otlier associations of a kindred nature, intimating that more could be done to advantajie in tlie same direction. ' ' Indeed, the more the discipline of the Society can approiich to militarv system and exactness, the belter it will be ultimately relished by the members themselves, and the easier and pleasanter will their ordinary duties at our meetings appear.'' Other standing faults were pointed out, among which absnvteeism at rehears- als was counted as first and foremost and dwelt upon with emphasis. The habits of an impropei; position of the body while singing, of an inadequate utterance, and of imperfection in the quaiitit}' and qualitj' of the voice, were recommended to the careful and conscientious attention of the singeis; and tlie employment of a competent in- structor in the elements of vocal drill, as then practised in the several de|iartments of the public schools, was advised as the best possible inv> stment of u portion of the time and monej- of the Society. (Whether the members, to any considerable extent, ever availed themselves of this excellent advice, the writer of this history is unin- formed ; it can hardly be said that subsequent performances made any such fact palpable to sense.) The importance of an equal dis- tribution of voices among the four parts, and the policy of increasing the standard number of the chorus to six hundred, and of keeping it 242 HISTORY or the HANDEL and HAYDN SOCIETY. for some time within that limit, was urged, while the examining com- mittee were asked to be more strict and careful in canvassing the actual apportionment of voices and ascertaining with exactness the number of active and efficient members. The report closed with an interesting and instructive historical sketch of the great musical festivals of the world, from the Handel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey in 1 784 down to the greater examples of our own da}- in England, Germany, Switzerland, and now in our own land. Letters of sympathy and cordial greeting and congratulation from the New York Harmonic Society and the Handel and Haydn Society of Philadelphia were then read. Here ends the record of the Festival of sixty-five. Now we take up the line of march and trace the mark it left upon the life and work of the Society (say) for the next twelve years, a stadium ending with another Festival, the fourth Triennial, in ls77. A perio.i of well- earned rest must intervene before the autumn calls to new rehearsals. The first sj'inptoms of fre-h enterprise appear in an unoflScial announcement, perhaps hardly more than rumor, early in September, that the Society has a plan, a good one. It proposes to give four oratorio performances, on a grand scale, with a chorus of six hun- dred voices, and an orchestra of double the usual strengih, the price of tickets to be one dollar. In this series it would make a point of bringing out Israel in Egypt for once in its completeness ; and besides the Messiah and Elijah, to revive perhaps the Jephtha, per- haps the Judas Maccabceus of Handel, taking more time for the study of St. Paul. Worthy aspirations ! We shall see. The time for the beginning of the series was fixed for Nov. 16. Meanwhile the Society, always ready to give one of its most familiar oratorios whenever a great singer came along to help them, took advantage of a short stay in Boston of Mile. Parepa, and with her valuable assistance gave the Creation on the 15lh of October. She infused life into the beautiful but somewhat hackneyed oratorio, even into the often tedious dialogue of Adam and Eve. Mr. Rudolphsen sustained the bass part, and Mr. Hazlewood the tenor. A more than passable orchestra was mustered in spite of distracting claims on the musicians, and it was pleasant to see Carl Rosa and Theodore Thomas working in the ranks with the first violins ; it is so artist-like to love to help out the whole ! The scheme of oratorios for the season proper opened Nov. 1 8, with Judas Maccabceus, once before quite popular here, and more often HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 243 sung in Germany and England than anj' work of Handel after Israel and the Messiah. How it escaped performance during our foui' years of war, we have always wondered ; for it was the very music which we wanted to " fire the Northern heart." In the earlier phases of the great life sti'uggle of the nation, we could all have sung quite earnestly that chorus : — " And grant* a leader bold and brave, If not to conquer, born to save ! " But the memories of the war were still fresh. No texts to which great music could be set could more insure its appeal to all our hearts than these, to which Handel wrote his patriotic, his heroic oratorio par excellence. But it is always interesting and inspiring, seldom out of season ; if it was not heard in those dark days, it was well to hear it now. The rendering was on the whole successful, considering the short preparation, and that this harp had been hung upon the willow for twelve years. There was room for improvement, but it was sung with a will, some of the choruses very effectively, as " Tune your harps," the " Conquering Hero," etc. The numbers of chorus singers were not up to the fond ideal of 600 ; there may have been 400, and the contralti comparatively weak. As for the orcliestra, "it had bassoons" for once ! So necessary was it thought to hail the presence of an instrument so essential, and which Handel used by the dozen in his day. The great organ, played by Mr. Lang, made some of the great choruses loom like distant mountains in rare states of atmosphere. The weak side of the performance lay in the solo parts, although it was not all weak. The most important part, that of the hero Judas, demands a great tenor, one who can ring out '• Sound an alarm " with the vigor of Sims Reeves. Mr. Farley was inadequate ; his recitative was stilted, dragging, and monotonous. Nor could he " call .forth powers" to cope with such a task as the air, full of roulades, which has those words for its theme. Mr. Rudolphsen, the basso, was the most satisfying of the soloists. Miss Houston, iilways earnest, having her inspirations, which now and then would set a passage in a fine bright light, and with a voice clear, musi- cal, and flexible, yet lacked that reassuring firmness which the hearer would fain feel at every point. The rich contralto of Miss Annie Gary,, blending with Miss Houston's, left the lovely duets about ' Liberty" and " Peace" among the pleasantest memories of the evening. The same oratorio was repeated on Christmas eve before a large, * The petitiiin echoed itself in Grant ! 244 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. not crowded house, but with a larger chorus, better balanced, better drilled, and with a great accession to the solo force ; for it was just the music for Parepa, and Mr. Castle was a decided improvement upon the last tenor ; especially in his voice, which, while of a rather light, elastic quality, had strength and reach, and was musical and sympathetic. There was plenty of "silver trumpet" in the manly vigor with which he surprised the audience in '• Sound an a'arm." But in his general style he was far from showing a true oratorio cul- ture ; the habits of English opera and ballad singing, and the applause of unmusical publics, were too manifest in bad accentuation and pronunciatioju, and in unrefined cadenzas. In point of s'yle, of well-conceived, consistent rendering of his music, Mr. Soiiies, in the small parts allotted to him, pleased more than Mr. Castle. On the next (Christmas) evening the Messiah drew an enormous audience, as it well might do at any time, but the more so this time -with such solo artists as Parepa and Adelaide Phillipps, besides Mr. Castle and Mr. M. W. "Whitney. On Saturday, the last night of the year, the hall was packed even fuller. This was for Elijah, the unfailing favorite. With the crowd, or in spite of the crowd, it is reported as the greatest performance of that oratorio yet heard in America. Enough to say that the solo- ists were 'Parepa, Phillipps, Mr. Castle, and Mr. Campbell, in voice and presence more commanding than Rudolphsen, but much inferior in style, betraying the same kind of musical schooling and associa- tions which have been remarked in Mr. Castle. That week's experi- ence certainly developed a great deal of true musical enthusiasm. Before crossing the line between the old year and the new (1P65 and 1866) to record the work of the Society during the latter half- year of its fifty-first season, we must pause a moment over the new- made graves of two of its oldest and most honored members. John DoDD died in November, 1865. Matthevt S. Parkek, the venerable treasurer for many years, followed at the age of eighty-six years, on the 9th of January, 1866. At a special meeting of the board of trustees, held Nov. 26, the following resolutions, offered by the president, were passed unanimously' : — Whereas, The trustees of the Handel and Ha.ydn Society have learned of the decease of their esteemed friend and brother, Mr. John Dodd, whose •long life of activity and usefulness is now, at the ripe age of eighty-flve years, brought to its close : Therefore Besolved, That while we recognize in this event the dealings of an all-wise and merciful God, we cannot but mourn with unfeigned sorrow the loss of one who has been always identified with the interests of this Soci- ,ety, whose name is upon the honored roll of its original founders, and after- HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 245 "wards and for many years prominently connected with its government ; an earnest, zealous, and faithful worlier in the ranks; a pattern of punctu- ality and promptness ; a worthy example to the young and old ; and also for half a century has never ceased to feel and to manifest a deep Interest in the Society's welfare and success. Sesolved, That we cherish with gratitude the thought of the many virtues, the kindly sympathies, the honor, honesty, and integrity of life which show forth so conspicuously in the character of our beloved associate ; and while we sympathize most earnestly with the bereaved family in their great loss, at the same time we rejoice with them in the possession of that unspeakable ;gift. the memory of a just and good man, which is blessed. Besolved, That as a tribute of our esteem, and a lasting memorial of our love and affection for our associate, these resolutions be placed upon our records, and a copy of them be presented to the family of the deceased LORING B. BARNES, Secretary Handel and Haydn Society. Again, not two mouths later, Jan. 14, 1866, at a meeting of the Society, the president, having been requested by a vote of the board ■of trustees, submitted, with a few feeling remarks, the following resolutions, which were seconded with appropriate words by others and unanimously passed : — Wheueas, Since the last meeting of this Society it has pleased Almighty God to remove from the scene of his earthly labors our friend and brother, Matthew S. Pahkkr; therefore Sesolved, That we avail ourselves of the earliest opportunity individually and personally to record our sense of the great loss we have sustained in the death of our esteemed and venerable associate, whose many estimable qualities of mind and of character had so endeared him to all our hearts. Besolved, That, while with a deep and earnest sorrow we deplore our loss, we also thank God for the long life of usefulness and h&nor which has just closed; a life fragrant with the memories of good deeds, beautiful in its unpretending piety, full of Christian benevolence, abounding in charity and kindliness and good-will towards all, a model of gentleness and purity, and, outreaching almost the utmost limit of the years that are allotted to man, patient and resigned unto the end. Resolved, That as members of the Handel and Haydn Society, of which our honored brother was the last surviving original associate, and has con- tinued now more than fifty years its firmest and most steadfast friend, — holding all this while, with an interval of but two or three years, some post of honor and trust in the administration of the Society's affairs, its first secretary, and for the last twenty-five years, and until his death, its trusty anjH devoted treasurer, — we desire to express and put on record our high sens& of his invaluable services in the sacred cause to whose interests we stand pledged; of the faithfulness and assiduity with which he has always dis- charged the oflicial duties we have committed to his care ; of the praise- worthy example he has given us in his conscientious attendance upon the oft-recurring and sometimes tedious requirements of the Society's ordinary 246 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. work, ilo less than his punctuality and constancy at its public performancesv. and the rich legacy he has left us in the memory of his unsullied honor and* integrity and consistency of character in all the relations of life. Sesolved, That the secretary of the Society he requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased, expressing to them, at the same time, our earnest sympathy with them in their affliction, and our firm assurance that the soul of our friend and brother has :^ound, in heaven^ the reward of his Christian faith and faithfulness upon the earth , With the beginning of the new year, 1866, and steadily for three- months, we find the members of the chorus faithfully employed ini the study and rehearsal of St. Paul, one of the two great oratorios- of Mendelssohn, which had by no means yet received its fair share of attention here, in contrast with Elijah. The old Society was at last resolutely facing one of its serious problems of many years. X-rae? in Egypt was another, and had been in contemplation for this season, but it was perhaps wisely enough reserved for later opportunities. St. Paul, it was settled, was to close the announced programme of: the season. It came to performance on the 1st of April, which was Easter.- The audience was so large, so deeply interested, that there could be no- excuse for letting it go unperformed so long again. (In fact it had only once been attempted by the Society, in 1843.) Its music in its- prevailing tone of color is more sombre than that of Elijah, yet it is. fully as exciting to the deeper feelings, and strengthening and uplift- ing to the soul. If it is less brilliant, and- presents no such variety of vividly conceived and wonderfully painted scenes, yet the one theme is taken so to heart, and musically developed with such con- sistency and such completeness, that as a whole it is equally and even more absorbing — at least after one has listened to it carefully sev- eral times and studied it. Elijah may always be more popular, but pause before you call it greater than St. Paul. The music of the- latter is singularly one in spirit with the subject and the text. The composer is so true to that, has so filled himself with its import, that, he seems hardly to have aimed at mere musical effect as such, but only at a noble, sincere, full, and never overwrought expression of characters, events, and sentences all full of meaning and most sacred ; the expression thereof by those means and forms of musical art which had become to him an ever-ready, all-sufHcient mother tongue. "While, therefore, on the spiritual, the poetic, the dramatic side, the work is so true, so earnest, and so real (not "realistic"), it is no less beautiful, original, and whole as a work of art, a composition. With all its contrasts, — songs, chorals (for like Bach in his Passion music, Mendelssohn builds here on the choral, the sweet, deep^. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 247 heartfelt plain-song of the Eeformation) , and choruses , of serene, high Christian faith, turbulent outbursts of Jewish prejudice and vengeance, or light-hearted, sensuous heathen worship, — it still pre- serves a unity of musical style which nialtes the beauty of all parts felt and implied more or less in each part. And here we may ven- ture to suggest, that possibly the Handel and Haydn Society, in mastering the St. Paul problem, were already unconsciously prepar- ing for the yet greatef problem, with which they were morally bound within a few years to wrestle, — the Passion music and the Christmas oratorio of John Sebastian Bach. They are already on the stepping- stones to that. For Mendelssohn in St. Paul not only makes use of the choral, but, like Bach, too, he intrusts the narrative, very con- densed and plain, to a single reciting voice (soprano or tenor), which introduces the dramatis personce and then lets them sing in person ; now the two false witnesses, now Stephen, now Paul ; now the voice from heaven, " Saul, why persetutest thou me?" which he gives to a soprano choir to make it as little earthly and (humanly speak- ing) as impersonal as possible. There is something quite dramatic in this arrangement, and Mendels-ohn had the resources of the mod- ern orchestra and his master}' thereof to make it more dramatic still. The oratorio appears to have been quite as well rendered as could reasonably be expected on a first attempt ; indeed, considering the ever new difficulties which a work so long, so taxing to physical and mental powers, presented in rehearsal, the effort exceeded expecta- tion. The well-known aria, "Jerusalem! thou that killest," was sung with fervor, sweetness, and sustained nobiliy of style by Miss Houston, who was in remarkably good voice that season and less unsure of herself than sometimes. She was no less successful in the almost equally beautiful soprano arioso, •'! will sing of, thy great mircies." In the trying recitatives she was ofien, but not always, happy. The one air for cont'slto (also well known in concert rooms), " But the Lord is mindful of his own," — that warm, rich strain of sincere melody, — told to good advantage in the large, rich voice and unaffected style of Mis^ Annie Gary, not yet developed into the world-renowned singer that she afterwards tiecame after more study and with more earnestness and animation. The only tenor aria, " Be thou faithful unto death," received an eloquent rendering- from Mr. Castle, who had rid himself of some bad habits, and whose voice had even gained in reach and volume since he had sung here before. He sung it as if he felt that it meant something. His reci- tatives in the First Part, especially that in which Stephen relmkea 248 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. the council, " Ye har.l of heart," demand the highest powers. He grappled with the task manfully and thoughtfully, rising in one place to great energy of declamation, although the contrasts of loud and soft were somewhat too spasmodic. Mr. "Whitney deliveied the two strongly contrasted bass arias in the character of Paul, " Consume them all," and " O God. have mercy," in a serious, manly style, and in a voice at most times musical as well as ponderous and tellinji, though somewhat dry and hollow in the upper tones. His solo with chorus, '■ I praise thee, O God," was one of the satisfying pieces in the oratorio; and his duet. with tenor (Paul and Barnabas), "For so hath the Lord himself commanded," was received with open applause. Paul also has a noble piece of recitative, where he expos- tulates with the Gentiles who would worship them as Mercurius and Jupiter, " O wherefore do ye these things ? ", in which the singer might find matter for long study. Of the work of the chorus, and tlie performance generally, we will brieflj' quote from our own record at the time : • ' The plainer cho- ruses, especially the chorals, went admirably, — a full, smooth, euphonious, well-balanced, and well-blended stream of tone, refresh- ing and edifying even in that ho' and crowded hall. Most of the choruses, even the more complex and contrapuntal, were carried through well ; s;ive that it still threatens to take years to cure com- pletelj' that chronic fault of all our large choruses, the timidity and noii-appearance of scores ol' voices in certain difficult and critical pas- sages ; the responsibility of carrying them thiough. still more of tak- ing them up, is commonly left to the few who are more sure and confident. We think, howiver, that we notice a constant irhprove- ment in this particular ,; the only thorough remedy will be found in the same full attendance upon, each and every rehearsal that is shown with such alacrity when it CQmes to a public performance. The joy of joining in the festival must first be earned by study in rehearsal and at home, The heavier choral passages were grandly held up by Mr. Lang's sparing and judicious use of the great organ ; and the extremely interesling orcliestral accompaniments (a study by them- selves) were made effective by a fuller band than usual, after good rehearsal . Mr. Zerrahn conducted with his usual unflagging vigil- ance and energy, and has reason to congratulate himself on the Jesuit of his long and faithlul training of his lorces for so great a task. "We certainly think it a mistake of the Handel and Haydn Society not to repeat St. Paul at the earliest convenience ; it has made a good impression once, and many hundreds of delighted iearers only wish to know it better that they may enjoy it and HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AXD HAYDN SOCIETY. 249 admire it more.'' That opportunity we were not to have until another winter ! Meanwhile it was thought best to spend the remainder of the season in the preparation of a concert for the express purpose of increasing the Festival Fund. This was given May 13, formally closing the real mu-ical season. And a noble close it was. It was in some sense a revival, or a reflection, of the splendors of the Fes- tival of twelve months before. Between five and six hundred voices were assembled, and the orchestra increased to sixty instruments, so that the performance was nearly on the same grand scale. Tlie drill of chorus and of orchestra had been very careful. The selections (Part I., Nicolai's Religious Festival Overture, and Mendelssohn's Forty-seconrl Psalm, " As the hart pants" ; Part II., Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise) were of an interesting and inspiring character. All went heartily and full of life. Yet the Music Hall, strange to say, was not crowded. May, with its apple blossoms, was a strong competitor ! The chorus singing was uncommonly good ; and so was the orchestra (for those days), bringing out the contrapuntal interludes and variations of the Nicolai Overture with strong and unmistaliable outline, while the choral unison on Luther's hymn, '■ Ein' festc Burg," approached the sublime. The Mendelssohn Cantata (Forty-second Psalm) was new to the public. Not so grand, so varied, or elaborate as his larger works, it is purely beautiful and full of tender feeling from beginning to end ; indeed, a lovely composition, in which the inmost yearning and deep trials of the soul, as well as the sweetest comfort, alike find expression. Seldom before had the Society been so happy in the rendering of a whole work as they were with this. It is comparatively easy, lo be sure; and yet it was no child's play. The soprano solos were divided between Miss Houston, who sang admirably, with all her feeling, and Miss Sarah VV. Barton, who made her first appearance then in oratorio, and whose clear, rich, true voice, and effective execution, not without fervor, although of too birdlike and bright a quaii y for the mournful sentiment of the strain, made a highly favorable impression, and gave much to liope from her. The Hymn of Praise, then grown familiar, was nearly as great a success as at the Festival. In the nature of the case, one hardly expects to hear a perfect rendering of the middle portions of the chorus, "The night is departing"; with the best training, that needs the inspiration of some good genius of the moment, lifting the singers above themselves for once. For the rest, the choruses went capitally. Miss Houston sang the soprano solos ; and neither the splendor of her voice nor the right inspirations failed her. Miss 250 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Barton sang with her the duet, " I waited for the Lord," which was so good as a whole that the call for a repetition was irresistible. Mr. Hazlewood was the tenor. These selections, added to the Creation, Judas Maccabcetts, the Mesniah, and St. Paul, certainly made out a rich season as to quantity and quality of matter studied and produced, even though Israel in Egiipt was pushed forward, and Bach's day, for our western hemisphere (we living on the green side of the apple) , was not yet to come for several years. FIFTY-SECOND SEASON. May 28, 1866, to May 27, 1867. At the annual meeting, held in Bumstead Hall, May 28, the fol- lowing oflBcers were elected for the ensuing year : — Frenihnt. — J. Baxter Upham. Vice-President. — 0. J. Faxon. Secretary. — Loring B. Baknes. Treasurer. — George W. Palmer. Librarian. — George H. Chickering. Trustees. — J. S. Sawyer, Chakles H. Johnson, O. F. Clark, Levi W. Johnson, George Hews, F. N. Scott, S. L. Thobndike, John A. Nowell. Mr. L. B. Barms, as treasurer pro tern., presented the following statement : — RECEIPTS. Treasurer's balance from last year $342 70 Amount received from Mr. Bateman (Parepa's manager) for our performance of tlie Creation, Ofct. 15 1865 . . 200 00 Gross receipts for performance of Judas Maccabaeus, Nov. 19, 1865 . . 779 00 Gross receipts of performance of Judas Maccabceus, Messiah, and Elijah, Dec. 23, 24, and 31, in connection with Mr. Bateman, as agent of Mile. Parepa 9,410 00 Gross receipts for performance of St. Paul at Easter, April I, 1866 1,395 00 Gross receipts for benefit concert {Hymn of Praise, etc.). May 13, 1866 926 00 Admission fees of 65 members at $5.00 each .... 325 00 Prom treasurer Festival Fund, interest on $2,000, 7^^ bonds due June 15, anticipated 73 CO and balance of Fund in his hands of 34 86 Received of J. B. Smith in settlement 50 00 Subscriptions in the board of trustees to cover deficit . . 80 06 $13,615 62 200 00 28 75 35 00 $13,615 62 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 251 EXPENDITURES. - Tor advertising, printing, and incidentals .... $1,808 12 For soloists, exclusive of Mile. Parepa .... 1,61055 Taid H. L. Bateman for his share of receipts on the perform- ance of the three oratorios named 4,705 00 "For orchestra the entire season . . . . . . 1,819 00 I'or rent of Music Hall and Bumstead Hall, including erection of stage for each performance, and other expenses . 1,592 00 For purchase of new music, binding, etc. . . 7i;4 45 Tor salaries of conductor and organist 600 00 For doorkeepers, ticket sellers, ushers, etc. . . . 242 75 For rent of library room 100 00 Taid Mr. Williams to relinquish the Music Hall for oratorio Elijah, Dec. 31 . 100 00 Paid S. M. Bedlington for attendance, and for preparing new catalogue of library . . . ... Paid for carriages for soloists . . . . . Paid for insurance on library . . ... From the reports of the president and librarian, it appeared that ■the sources of the loss (made up by members of the board of trus- tees) were "to be found mainly in connection with the praiseworthy •efforts of the Society to increase their Festival Fund by an extra ■concert, given at the close of the season (May 13), and with unusual -tittrnctions for public patronage. Hereafter, it would seem that such plans, if resorted to at all, must be carried out with greater regard to economy, and with less confidence of a support from without, in ratio with the enlarged forces and increased attractions that may be ■offered." Material additions to the library, however, reckoned at the cost of $600. made the financial result of the year's operations Teally a gnin. Sixty-five gentlemen had been admitted to membership, — the largest number ever before added in a single year ; and there had been no resignations, no expulsions, though very serious losses, as has been already shown, by death. The seven public performances, "with the exception of the hastily improvised one of the Creation, "in "whicli the Society held the secondary, and somewhat questionable- position of accompanists to Parepa," were given after much thorough- ness of preparation, with increased orchestra, and the best available «olo vocalists in the country, the large organ, and a chorus of be- tween four and five hundred voices. The rehearsals, which began -early in October, had continued weekly, sometimes oftener, without intermission, and more than usual interest in them was manifested 252 HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. by a larger and more constant nttendance of the members ; yet the president wished " it were possible to add, that absenteeism, that bane of every amateur musical society, had been altogether re- formed." Other faults were named in the report : too great haste on the part of many to leave the room before the exercises of the even- ing have fairly closed, — nothing so disheartening to the conductor, or so dampening to the interest and enthusiasm of those who remain ; loud talking and whispering on the part of auditors present by invi- tation or by sufferance at rehearsals ; and the custom of some mem- bers of transforming themselves into auditors, instead of taking their proper places in the choir. The actual numeriqal force of the chorus, as determined by their attendance at rehearsals and concerts, was 568, apportioned nearly as follows: sopranos, 176 ; altos, 128; tenors, 109; bassos, loo. This was exclusive of about 160, whose names were upon the rolls of mem- bership, but who, from their distant residence, or from disability of various kinds, rarely met with tlie Society. From this it appeared that the proper balancing of the chorus was not yet accomplished, the sopranos being largely in excess, the tenors lamentably deficient in numbers. Hence the examination of candidates for admission should, for the present, be restricted to jiood tenor and alto voices. And of the duties of the examining committee, a word was added : — " Theirs is a delicate and difHcult task. It often happens that those who have excellent voices, tmd can sing readily, with good meihod and with effect, any piece they have learned, present them- selves before the committee for examination ; but, when required ta read at sight, even the simpler forms of psalmody, they find them- selves at fault. " The superficiality of many who set themselves up for teachers in singing, in this particular, is notorious. The committee are perfectly right in rejecting all such candidates. This Society is in no sense a school for beginners in the art of reading, but rather for improve- ment, advancement, and progress in the appreciation and practice of music in its highest development." After some practical suggestions on this point, the report spoke of sixteen meetings for business which had been held by the board of trustees during the year. At one of the last of these they unani- mously adopted a vote creating a special beard of trustees for the management of the fund which had its origin in the great Festival of 1865. The report recites the instrument of trust in full, whereby the Handel and Haydn Society, desirous of creating, for its benefit, a '• Permanent Fund," the foundation of which shall be the net pro- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 253 ceeds from the great Festival of May, 1865, to be increased from the profits of future concerts and festivals, and from the donations and legacies of their friends and patrons, or otherwise, give and transfer to three trustees, J. Baxter Upham, John P. Putnam, and Nathaniel Harris, the sum of two thousand dollars, and its increase up to that present time, to be held by them and their successors in trust for certain uses and purposes very carefully defined at length, — in form too technical for reproduction in these pages. " This instrument," the report continues, " I deem to be of the utmost interest to the Society. It sets forth the fact that we have at last the nucleus of a Permanent Fund, which, it is hoped, from this small beginning may grow to such proportions as will place us at length in a position to be no longer dependent upon the assessment of our members, or the fickleness of public patronage for a support." The president's report alluded, in conclusion, to the entire unanim- ity of action which had characterized all the meetings of the board, and to the alacrity and good feeling with which its recommendations had been seconded and carried out by the Society ; adverting also, in terms of highest admiration and praise, to the zeal and unwearied efforts of the able and efficient conductor, Mr. Zerrahn, aided by his accomplished assistant, Mr. Lang. And now for the usual summer rest, with hope of earnest prepara- tion and performance to begin again in the autumn, aud result in a rich season, richer perhaps than ever, of great music by gieat masters. Plans were rather slow in shaping themselves. By the middle of September none had been announced. There was a certainty, of course, of the Messiah at Christmas. But from grand performances, as last year, with the splendid aid of Mme. Parepa, ihere was natu- rally a shrinking, seeing that that involved sharing the gross proceeds with her manager, as if the lady's single services were a fair offset to chorus, orchestra, organ, conductor, and all the other stars, however differing in glory ! But there were many good and uoble oratorios , within their reach, even should it be without g'reaf and famous singers. For the first coming together for autumnal practice it was not amiss to recommend the chorus, '' Be not afraid ! " A good beginning was made in the choice of St. Paul for the first oratorio of the season. That one performance of the work entire in the spring was certainly too impressive to justify any unnecessary delay before its repetition. After faithful rehearsal, it came to per- formance on Sunday evening, Nov. 25. The Music Hall was com- 254 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. pletely full, :ind there was no flagging of interest from the brginning to tlie end. The performance as a' whole was one of the best yet recorded in these annals. The choruses were all well sung, both the grand ones and the sweet and graceful ones, both the plain chorals and the fugued and intricate pieces of polyphonic writing. A marked improvement both in the balance of the parts and in the average qual- ity of voices in all parts, particularly iu the tenors, became a common theme of conversation and of public critical recognition. Then, loo, the rich and graphic instrumentation, than which none more masterly and splendid can be found In oratorio, was brightened up and strengthened by the full orchestra of the Symphony concerts. — not such an orchestra as we can boast in lb88, but the best available at that day. Mr. Zeriahn was fully master of the situation, and all told of the vigilance and patience with which he had watched the whole thing through the labors of rehearsal. The solo work was creditable, without resorting to great notabilities. The singers, witli the excep- tion of Mr. George Simpson (suddenly called in to supply the place of Mr. James Whitney, confined by severe illness), were all of our own " domestic talent " Miss Houston was equal to her reputation in the soprano recit;itives and arias ; Miss Kate Rametti, a debutante, daughter of the well-known flutist, sang the one contralto aria, " But the Lord is mindful," and made an excellent impression by the power and richness of her voice, her simple, tasteful rendering of the music, and her modest manner. Mr. M. W. Whitney had to sustain the chief weight of the solo music in the character of Paul, and he achieved the task with dignity and effect. The tenor was at fault sometimes in reading, as well as weak and superficial in style ; but the manner in which he sang "Be thou faithful unto death" proved that he had it in him, with due study, to do justice to such music. And was St. Paul to relapse into silence for the winter here ? So indeed it proved. December 23. Annual Christmas performance of the Messiah, .Sun- day evening. Rain fell in torrents, but the Music Hall was crammed ; for this with many had become an annual religious festival ; many must hear this oratorio at Christmas, who seldom care for any other. The choruses went on thL' whole as well as usual. In point of musical sonoi-ity, balance of parts, etc., the e was improvement manifest ; but there were tares still to be weeded out, and there were timid, tardy motions to be strengthened in more than one of the fugued pieces, which might have been clearer. The airs and recitatives were mostly in new haiids. Their efforts were all creditable ; but only in Miss Houston, who sang "I know that my Redeemer," was there anything HISTORY OF THE HANDEIi AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 255 like fresh inspiration. Mrs. H. M. Smith vocalized " Rejoice greatly " and other airs with good voice skilfully but coldly. There- was charm and pathos in Miss Rametti's rich but immature contralto. The younger Mr. Winch (William J.) had a beautiful, clear tenor voice, of good power, hardly yet developed, and sang witli so good a method, in so chaste a style, and with so much intelligence, that he was heard with ■ greater pleasure than many more experienced and would-be impassioned tenors. The new basso, also, Mr. J. F. Winch, had a capital deep voice, and sang as if more study and experience would make him a superior oratorio singer. With the new year (1867) the Society took up an oratorio of Han- del which h:id never before engaged its attention as a whole. This was Jcphtha, the last of his eighteen English oratorios, of which the composition was begun On the 21st of January and finished on the 30th (a-Rosa (fortunately recovered from illness). Miss Edith Abell, .Mr. George Simpson (from New York), the Messrs. Winch, and Mr. M. W. Whitney. There was a 264 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. fitness in the choice of date for these delicious melodies and con- certed pieces, since Rossini wrote them, and he was born on leap- year day. Many undoubtedly enjoyed the thing, and were to be con- gratulated upon having had their way. Probably no harm resulted in the long run ; the appetite once appeased was not likely to grow ravenous again very soon, and the Society could pursue its upward way serene and undisturbed. Its programmes did not show a down- ward tendency from that day onward, as the Festival would soon make evident. At all events, Elijah, which drew a crowd on the next evening, March I , both in matter and in manner made amends. Chorus and orchestra (in which it was pleasant to see Carl Rosa take his place among the first violins) were prompt, sure, and effective. The solos, were all good, with the exception of the new contralto, Mme. Eliza Lumley, from London, whose rich voice was painfully tremulous.. Mme. Rosa, taking all of the soprano solos, including the Youth, sang superbly, and at the same time simply, indulging in no super- fluous cadenzas. Miss Houston, limited to duet, trio, etc. ; Mr. Rudolphsen, as Elijah ; and Mr. Simpson, were all up to expectation. The receipts that evening were very large. There is no more of that season left to chronicle until we reach the third, or First Triennial, Festival, for which the guaranty fund sought. (825, OOC) was easily doubled, and no subscriber had to be assessed. This it comes now in order to describe. THE FIRST TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL. During the week from Tuesday, May 5, to Sunday, May 10, inclu- sive, musical interest on this side of the Atlantic had its centre in ■Boston. Five great oratorios, grandly given by a well balanced, well- trained force of seven hundred and fifty voices, with an orchestra of more than a hundred instruments, the best solo singers in the coun- try, with one of the grandest organs in the world too, as well as in the noblest Music Hall upon this continent, — besides four Symphonj' concerts, with splendid programmes and with such an orchestra, — this could indeed be called a Festival. There might have been more smoke than fire in all this ; for the American people had sometimes erred in the ambition to do things on a bigger scale than others, to compel cheap wonfactory, self-glorifying enterprise, a massing together of imposing " monster " concerts, having a doubtful influence on musical taste. HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 265 and culture, compared with the usual more quiet, steady agencies. But the whole spirit and the matter and the manner of it forbade that supposition. The musical matter chosen was all of high intrinsic worth, deserving large interpretation, and to be received with ears and souls quicljened by a general sympathy ; the means of execution were adequate ; the labor of arrangement, organization, and rehearsal had been earnest and continuous, prompted by an artistic desire to malie all these means cooperate witli ease and certainty in perform- ance as nearly perfect as possible in this busy and distracting world, and in an inclement season particularly trying to singers' throats, as well as to the whole musical and moral temper of any but an utterly unsensitive '' harp of a thousand strings." Our old Society made a first brave experiment of musical festivals in May, 1857. That was not a bad one, in spite of many discourage- ments. The second, in May, 1865, on occasion of its fiftieth anni- versary, was a more matured attempt, and on a larger scale. This "third one, inaugurating the custom of Triennial Festivals, went as far beyond that of 1865, as that went beyond the one of 1867. The ■chorus, never averaging so well before in numbers, or in quality of voices, or in the right sort of musical spirit, had been kept in re- hearsal nearly all winter on the oratorios, and on the exacting choral portions of the Ninth Symphony ; and Mr. Zerrahn's drill had been more critical and searching, as well as more inspiring, even than before. The four parts were uncommonly well balanced. Accord- ing to the handsomely printed and convenient booli programme of the Festival, the soprano singers numbered 230 ; the alto, 171 ; the tenor, 142,- and the bass, 204, — total, 747 voices. For a month or more there had been four j-ehearsals in a week. For solo singers, although the hopes which had for some time rested upon one or two of the famous English singers, and upon the great ■German baritone Stockhausen, had been disappointed, the govern- zaent were able to present a goodly list, headed by Mme. Parepa- Rosa and Miss Adelaide Phillipps, each a host, and continuing with such names of good assurance as Miss Julia E. Houston, Mrs. J. S. •Cary, Mr. Geoige Simpson, of New York ; and Messrs. James Whit- ney, John F. Winch, H. Wilde, J. F Rudolphsen, and M. W. Whit- ney. Two distingiiisherl instrumental artists were engaged : Miss Alide Toi)p, an interesting young German pianist, pupil of Von Biilow, strongly recommended by Liszt, and Mr. Carl Rosa, the ex- •cellent violinist. The orchestra was larger and better than that of 1865, and num- bered 115 musicians. To the sixty or more of our own, who had 266 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. been moulded together and refined by three years' good practice of the best classical music in the Symphony concerts of the Harvard Musical Association, there were added about forty of the best mem- bers of the New York Philharmonic Society and several from Phila- delphia, — among them many welcome faces of Mr. Zerrahn's old " Germania " associates. The proportions were excellent: 22 first violins, headed by our own William Schultze, with Julius Eiehberg as lieutenant; 20 second violins, 12 violas, 10 violoncellos, 13 double basses, 4 fiutes, besides piccolo, 4 oboes, 4 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 1 cornet, 3 trombones, 2 ophicleides, 1 serpent, 4 instruments of percussion. Sunday morning and evening were devoted to rehearsals ; that of the evening being public, each of the seven hundred and fiftj' singers being allowed to bring a friend, while all the remaining space of the great auditorium was filled by those who paid a dollar for the privilege of an advanced hearing of the opening concert. So that the Festival excitement really covered more than a week. Then, for the first time, the full force, vocal and instrumental, was brought together ; when lo ! a curious difficulty : there was too much of a good thing ! As the sopranos on the one side, and the conti altos on the other, filed in upon the platform, the human tide kept rising rank upon rank up either slope, until it even trenched upon the side balconies ; where were the gentlemen tenors and basses to find room? They bestowed themselves in the corneis around the organ, in the balconies, and finally away up in the second balcony above, and still more remained outside, to wander about the hall finding no place or ■' coigne of van- tage" whence to join their voices with their brethren, while the great choir and orchestra and organ rolled out their mighty floods of har- mony. But this was an evil not irremediable ; better err on the safe side and have loo many rather than too few ; a natural shrinkage has to be allowed for, and the experience of great choral bodies shows that to make sure of six hundred singers, at least eight hundred must be invited. (Modern discipline is better.) What should they' all accept, all come? Well, many evils cure themselves, as Tuesday morning showed. The day of the opening, Tuesday, May 5, was bright and auspi- cious. 1 hat spring, until then black and wintry, for once wore a sun- shiny and delightful aspect. By the appointed hour of 11 a. m., the large and eager audience were in their places ; presently the tide of orchestra and singers — the latter reduced to a convenient seven hun- dred — flooded all the stage again, and only the adjoining lower bal- conies ; and at that moment the Music Hall presented a beautiful and HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 2(l7 brilliant scene, yet with wise abstinence from extra ornament. In the luU that ensued after the principals and the conductor had been wel- comed to their places, Dr. Upham, president of the Society, stepped- forward and made a brief address of welcome to the feast, which he explained to be "a series of musical performances which the Society hope may prove to be the first of a long and unbrolcen succession of Triennial Festivals, similar in their nature to, and on a scale commen- surate with, those great musical gatherings which, for more than half a century, have been kept up triennially at Birmingham, and at brief intervals at Liverpool, at Worcester, at Gloucester, at York,, and elsewhere in Great Britain, and more recently in the l.irger cities along the valley of the Rhine in Germany.'' He added that it had seemed to the directors of the Music Hall Association an appropriate occasion on which to plnce against those walls the rare and beautiful sculptures which had recently been pre- sented by Miss Charlotte Cushman, then for the first time to be publicly seen. " These are the busts of Beethoven, of Palestrina, and of Mozart, designed by Wilhelm Matthieu, a Danish sculptor living at Rome, V7ho was a companion and co-worker with Thorwald- sen, and whose works, I venture to say, can claim fellowship and equality with those of the great master I have named, with those of Canova and of Dannecker. It is a beautiful custom in the cities of the Old World, to connect the first exhibition of a rare work of art with imposing pageant and ceremony. " ' As of yore the swart Egyptians rent the air witii chor.il song, When Osiris' golden statue triumphing they bore along; As along the streets of Florence, borne in glad procession, went Cimabue's famed Madonna, praised by voice and instrument,' so it has seemed most fortunate and opportune now and here to associate the unveiling of these creations of a kindred art — the almost living and breathing portraiture of this great trio of musical kings •— with their own solemn revelations in symphony and in song." Then the curtains ag.-iinst the rear wall of the Music Hall were let fall, and there were disclosed the busts of Palestrina and of Mozart, poised upon their symbolical brackets, on each side of the Apollo Belvidere. Many of the audience rose eagerlj', the chorus waved their handkerchiefs, and Charlotte Cushman's gift was acknowledged with many a token of appreciiition and of pleasure. The Beethoven bust and bracket were set up temporarily in the lower vestibule. Conductor Zerrahn waved his baton, and all the voices and all the instruments, and the great organ, at which sat Mr. B. J. Lang, burst 268 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. at once upon the ear, fortissimo, in all their weight and splendor, in Luther's choral, " Ein' festS Burg," with which Nicolai begins his " Festival Overture " This is a massive, brilliant, and effective work for an opening ; but it had been given here twice before on such occasions, and was not made for immortality. Not a few would have preferred one of the cantatas of Bach (a purpose which we have seen the directors did for a time entertain). How fitting would have been Bach's cantata on that very choral ! Mendelssohn's 95th Psalm, " Come, let us sing," was the one new vocal selection of the Festival, — short, sweet, full of fervor, mas- terly in style, and not without variety or powerful contrasts. The opening tenor solo, "O come, let us worship," a warm, melodious, cheerful invitation, was sung in good voice and style by Mr. Simp- son, who, as precentor, ushers in the chorus with the same strain. To its composed and peaceful rhythm succeeds the excited 6-4 of the more stirring, jubilant, tumultuously tuneful chorus, " Come, let us sing to the Lord with gladness," taking pattern from a half- sentence of bright soprano solo (Mme. Parepa-Eosa) , which soars to a sustained high G. and drops an octave, — very animating in her large, clear tones. This splendid, overwhelming chorus, which is in C major, ends in a canon in the minor ; beginning with tenors and basses in unison, strong and stern, " For the Lord is a mighty God, and a mighty ruler over a'll false idols," in which Truth's terrible and warning aspect for a moment is disclosed with a right Old Testament Hebrew relish ; of course the final chord is major — "a mighty God " — and triumphantly held out. Next comes one of Mendelssohn's most characteristic and beautiful duets, for two sopranos, with a lovely undu- lating figure in the accompaniment, '• In his hands are all the corners of the earth," which was finely sung by Mme. Eosa and Miss Phil- lipps From its gentle and beguiling stream, we are summoned by the bold fugued chorus, " For His is the sea," to a religious sense of what is grand in nature. It is the most eloquent chorus in the Psalm, and with the rich and lovely orchestration almost graphic. It ends, how- ever, in a gentler and familiar strain, a return of the opening theme, "O come, let us worship." One felt the significmce and grandeur- of this chorus brought out in the rendering. The fifth and final number, in G minor, opens with a sweet, sad, pleasing andantino for the tenor solo, ' ' Henceforth, when ye hear His voice entreating, turn not deaf ears," etc. This touching strain is akin to that of " Hear ye, Israel," in Elijah, but more deeply shaded. The rhythmical flow is rufHed at the thought of Israel's rebellious hearts, and the instruments whisper with short breath, growing more and more excited, and swelling to HISTORY OP THE HANDKL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 269 a startling climax, as the voice tells of the divine wrath ; but the music means it more in sorrow " than in anger. Then the pleading theme is sweetly taken up in chorus by the female voices only, with intermittent tenor solo, till it takes possession of the whole chorus, and is worked up with increasing power and volume, and more and more florid and highly colored instrumentation, until it reaches a pitch of agonizing'earnestness, almost unendurable, in that reiterated diminished seventh chord, "Turn not deaf ears " ; but instantly out of this stern rock is struck as it were a sweet spring of tears, a lovely instrumental figure leading us back to the meadows, and rippling around the remainder of the chorus, which is in the tender strain of the beginning, and thus brings the composition to a close, only with a whispered last reminder, loving and gentle (yet again with diminished seventh, this time pianissimo), "Turn not deaf ears and hard hearts ! " But the grand feature of that morning's programme was the Hymn of Praise. Suffice it to say, that that Sinfunie-C'intata, after re- peated hearings here, seemed greater than ever, perhaps the greatest sacred work of Mendelssohn ; in no other surely was he more supremely Felix. The three symphonic movements, with such an orchestra, went to a charm. Then the whole multitude of voices burst forth on the first chorus, "All men, all things," as if by an innate irresistible necessity, as if their song had been all the while potentially contained, and thus far detained, in the long symphony. The effect was stu- pendous, a glorious sun-burst of light and life and praise, dazzling and flooding all. The solo parts were all good. Mme. Parepa- Rosa's voice seemed never more bright and birdlike, soaring with perfect ease. The duet with Miss Phillipps, "We waited for the Lord," with chorus rising full and tranquil like a tide of sweet, exhaustless harmony, was admirably sung, and the inevitable encore was insisted on with more than usual fervor. Mr. Simpson sang the Watchman recitative, and other solo portions, in good taste, as well as with good voice. Upon the whole, this noble work had never before received here a more inspiring interpretation. Of the evening's performance of Samsoti, we reproduce our own record (Dwight's Journal of Music, May 23, 1868) : — " "We have ever found this more tedious than any of Handel's oratorios. And for the reason that it is not an oratorio in the distinctive sense, of which the Messiah, Israel in Egypt, Bach's Passions, and Mendelssohn's St. Paul are the best examples, although it is nearer to the dramatic origin of oratorio before it had developed into an independent character of its own. Samson is a nondescript, mainly dramatic and personal, crowded with characters, who have great lengths of recitative, almost always given without life or 270 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. point, and with arias, cliaracteristic, to be sure, and sometimes beautiful, very various, uow quaintly florid like those of Delilah, now serious and noble lilce ' Return, O God of hosts,' now of this individuality, now that; but broken up into so many kinds and personalities, that all seems longer than it is ; and even with the omission of a third part of the work, as on this occa- sion, it taxes patience to sit through it all. Scattered among these are splendid choruses, whose refreshment ever comes most timely; they sink into the mind like rain into the thirsty desert. ' O first created beam,* ' Then round about the starry throne,' 'Fixed in His everlasting seat,' etc., are splendid pieces, and superbly were they sung. "We do not say that there is not in nearly all these arias something to re- ward study; but, crowded into one work, they are as confusing and sit as heavily upon the spirits (grown so nimble through the choruses) as a miscel- laneous promenade concert. Generally they fell to good interpreters, — excellent, in Mme. Eosa and Miss Phillipps. The former sang in several characters, warbling ' the merry, merry pipe ' of the Philistine woman, and cooing Delilah's ' plaintive turtle notes,' with thorough comprehension and mastery of all the piquant accent and quaint, ingenious turns of phrase and ornament through which Handel makes this character so unmistakable. Of course ' Let the bright seraphim ' lost none of its refulgent splendor. Miss Phillipps produced a deep impression in the contralto air, ' Return,' and her whole part of Micah was indeed admirable. Mr. Wilde, in the part of Manoah, showed himself possessor, hardly master, of a rich and telling bass voice, which he used manfully, with fair execution and expression. Mr. Whitney had the declamatory part of Harapha, and did it ample justice. We wonder that such musical rodomontade as the air ' Honor and arms,' by whomsoever sung, can still find admirers ; it is as uninteresting as so pompous, commonplace a hero himself would be. Simson is German for Samson, but Mr. Simpson's voice hardly suggests the strong man. He sang the sweeter portions well ; best of all ' Total eclipse,' an air which has a certain beauty of its own, but which to us is chiefly interesting as prologue to the sublime chorus, ' O first created beam.' " Second Day. Wednesday Afternoon, May 6. First miscellaneous concert, with the following choice programme : — 1. Overture to " Euryanthe " C. M. von Weber. 2. Song from Einaldo, " Lascia ch'io pianga " . .Handel. Miss Adelaide Phillipps. 3. Symphony, in G minor Mozart. i. Concerto for the Pianoforte, in A minor . . Schumann. Miss Alide Topp (first appearance in Boston). 5. Overture to Leonora (No. 3) Beethoven. The symphony and overtures were the same which had figured in the first concertj of the Harvard Musical Association three years earlier. The home nucleus of the orchestra had become so much better blended and assimilated by three years of artistic concerts, that when the best players from New York and Philadelphia came to supplement them, they played together as if they had long been accus- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 271 tomed to it. Miss Phillipps sang that very simple but very noble and pathetic air from one of Handel's Italian operas in her best voice and manner. She was partial to the song which suited her so well. The first sight of Miss Alide Topp, the young German pianist, was the signal for spontaneous and lively greeting ; youth and grace and beauty, the glow of artistic enthusiasm, blended with the blush of modesty, won quick sympathy. Her performance of Schumann's extremely difficult, as well as finely poetic and original concerto was wonderful, — at least to a Boston audience at that day. The touch was crisp and clear ; the full chords rang out instantaneous in aU their breadth and fulness ; the distribution of accent, the phrasing, the light and shade, seemed all that could be desired ; there was del- icacy where that was needed, there was force to a wonderful degree for those slender arms, — force which the strongest passages could not exhaust. There was the charm of abandon too ; she lost herself com- pletely in her music. Any suspicion of affectation was at once dis- armed. All the best qualities of the modern technique were there in a degree we had hardl3' seen surpassed. The interpretation of the work was intelligent and highly satisfactory ; Schumann seemed speaking for himself. The public were electrified. After no end of fine piano playing, here was still a fresh " sensation." Persistently recalled, the young artist appeared at the side door repeatedly, in trembling acknowledgment ; but there was no help for it, play again she must ; four giants were already covering the Chickering grand with coarse cerements, to huddle it away, when this bright creature stood among them, and it had to come to life again and give out music. She played, from memory, the first of Liszt's " Hungarian Rhapso- dies," displaying every phase of Lisztian virtuosity. Third Day. Thursday Afternoon, M.iy 7. Second miscella- neous concert, with another noble programme : — 1. Overture, " Meeresstille und gltickliche Fahrt" (Be- calmed at Sea; a breeze; happy voyage; coming into port) Mendelssohn. 2. Scena ed Aria, " Ah, perfldo!"' Beethoven. Mme. Pauepa-Rosa. 3. Concerto for the violin, in G Spohr. Carl Rosa. i. Symphony, in C Schubert. Schubert's gloriously great symphony, of the " heavenly length," was magnificently played. How warmly, with sweet, rich, manly heart tones, the 'cellos pleaded in the andante ! How the great bassos thundered in the rush and whirl of the finale ! Mendelssohn's graphic concert overture, — a " tone-painting " in the true subjective 272 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. and suggestive sense, — an illustration of a fine poem of G-oethe, came home to the imagination in the rendering by that grand orches- tra. Beethoven's highly dramatic and impassioned scena, quite Italian for him, was a good 'selection for Mme. Bosa ; the best resources of her voice and art were brought in play to good advantage, and made a great impression. Mr. Carl Bosa played like an artist ; he held his audience in close attention, and was heartily applauded. EvfTiing of Thursday. For the first time the Music Hall was crowded. Strange that so grand a Festival must reach the middle of its period before most people, music lovers too, begin to realize their opportunities ! It is not owing to indifference so much. Think how readily and solidly this Festival was guaranteed! But from this point of the Festival it was full tide to the end. Mendelssohn's St. Paul was the one important gain to the reper- toire of the Society since the preceding Festival (I860). It was timidly approached at first ; many times it was talked of, looked at, tried a little, and then put back on the shelf. But once taken up in earnest, it got a great hold on the singers, and in each successive per- formance it made a deep impression on the public. This time deeper still ; for it was in truth a magnificent presentment of an essentially great, artistic, and profoundly religious oratorio ; and some of us in- dulged the hope that it would prove a stepping-stone to Bach himself. The solo parts were all creditably given by Miss Houston, Mrs. J. S. Gary, Mr. Simpson, and Mr. Eudolphsen. For the rest, we copy a few sentences from one of our New York visitors, the editor of Watson's Art Journal, which chimed with our own impression at the time : — ". . . Admitted that St. Paul is a great work, we must as candidly admit, that on this occasion its choral interpretation was in every respect worthy of its greatness. The masses of voices were well balanced ; they had studied the work thoroughly ; and there was a heartiness in their delivery which proved that they sang for the love of singing, and with the desire to sustain the reputation of the old and honored Hand»l and Haydn Society, — a reputation which overshadows that of any other vocal organization in the country. Thus animated, the eflfectiveness of the singing may be imagined. Accus- tomed as we have become to hearing this splendid body of singers, the mighty volume of tone which . burst forth at the words ' Lord ! thou alone art God!' completely overwhelmed us. . . . "The superb performance of this opening chorus was but the initial num- ber of a series of grand vocal efforts, which seemed to increase in intensity with the development of the work. In those strongly marked and emphatic choruses, 'Take him away,' ' Stone him to death,' etc., the spirit and the promptness of the singers were manifest; every point was taken up with decision, and the emphatic enunciation of the words gave ii feeling of reality HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 273 which is not often achieved by a chorus, however well it may be trained. It needs, besides training, an ambition to excel, and a love for the work being done. "In the gentler choruses, such as 'Happy and blest,' 'How lovely are the messengers,' etc. , other fine traits were displayed. The pianos were full, rich, and soft; the great volume of sound was toned down to a gigantic whisper, and the current went as smoothly as though the multitude of voices were one voice, cultivated and directed by art. lu the grander choruses, all these qualities were combined ; and where all was so completely admirable, it Is difficult to select one for special comment. The chorus, ' great is the depth,' which is unsurpassed in the majesty and grandeur of its movement, was sung with a power and weight which could hardly be surpassed : the same may be said of the first and last choruses of the second part ; but probably the most impressive of all is that brilliant aspiration, 'Rise up, arise ! ' which, after a movement of unspeakable majesty, culminates in that wonderful choral, ' Sleepers, wake ! a voice is calling ! ' In this the highest excellence of choral singing was attained, and as the last notes of the warn- ing trumpets died away, and the voices sank into a whisper, the whole audi- ence burst out into a shout of applause, which made the building ring, and still but faintly expressed the enthusiasm of the people. Mendelssohn never had better justice done to him in any part of the world ; no finer voices ever joined to interpret his inspirations, and never did a more willing, earnest, and conscientious body of singers meet together to perform a musical work. Heartily did we wish that New York could, for once, hear what we heard that night, and at each oratorio during the Festival ; for we are certain that it would awake it to a sense of its utter inferiority, and would shame it into the endeavor to achieve a similar result." Fourth Day. Friday Afternoon, May 8. Third concert, vocal and instrumental. The hall was crowded, for expectation was on tiptoe for Beethoven's Choral Symphony. This was preceded, for a first part, by Wagner's Tannhduser Overture, brought out with superb power and breadth by that orchestra of one hundred and fifteen in- struments ; Weber's grand scena from Oberon, " Ocean, thou mighty monster ! " to which Parepa was entirely equal ; and the two move- ments from the unfinished Symphonj' in B minor, of Schubert, which by their sweet, sad melody and occasional climaxes of grand symphonic power had grown in favor with successive hearings ; and the rendering this time was one of the best orchestral interpretations of the week. Then came the great event of the Festival, the first really satisfac- tory performance in this country of the Ninth or " Choral" Sym- phony. There had been on the whole a good performance of it in the Harvard Symphony concerts of the year before ; but then Mr. Zer- rahn had only half so many violins and basses under his baton ; vol- ume and breadth were wanting ; then, too, as in all earlier attempts, the quartet of solo singers were not equal to the frightful difficulties 274 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. of their parts, although the chorus of some three hundred select voices had studied it in earnest until the music really inspired them, and the result was that the audience got a never to be forgotten glimpse of the meaning and the grandeur of that highest reach of the deaf mas- ter's creative genius. What we had in outline and in spirit then, we were now to have in spirit and in palpable embodiment. The " Ninth" was at last to be realized. To show how it was done, the historian will take the liberty to bring in evidence a nearly verbatim reproduction of his own contemporary record : — Thanks to the fervent co-operation of that noble orchestra, — of that chorus of seven hundred voices, who had become so well einstu- dirt (as the Germans say) into the music that it lifted them above themselves, so that they sustained themselves at giddy heights of song where mortal singers ordinarily are soon made breathless, — of that quartet of soli (Mme. Rosa, Miss Adelaide Phillipps, Mr. Simp- son, and Mr. Rudolphsen), the first competent one it ever had in this country, — and, above all, of Carl Zerrahn's all-animating earnest- ness and calm control as master spirit of the whole preparation and achievement, — this vast, perplexing, much-disputed, and in truth exceptional creation, about which not only musical publics, but even musicians of high standing, have been sceptical, was felt, confessed, almost ununimously, at its full worth. The three instrumental movements were wonderfully well brought out. No weakness this time in the first violins, no poverty of tone in the middle strings, no mere faint outlining of the 'cello part so all- important, no lack of mass and weight in double basses ; so that the hollow void of rustling empty fif tlis iu the beginning, and the blinding force of the stern Fate theme that cleaves through it, and the stormy working out of this relentless theme, with such commotion of the nether elements, towards the end of the Allegro, were palpable in general bearings and details ; while the doubling of the usual- pairs of reeds, flutes, horns, etc., made it easy to show all the warmth and beauty of those pleading human strains, in which a sweeter solution of the now dark life struggle is promised, and a hint, a germ of the final ' ' Joy " tune is thrown out, if we did but know it. The uncontainable merriment of the Scherzo, the shaking off of the shadow for a time (vainly, yet it is wonderful how long and how ex- quisitely the humor and the strength hold out), simply forgetting it in pastoral gayety and healthy tingling life in all the senses, with the delightful toying of bassoon and oboe in the trio, was all clear, elas- tic, lifesome, fine. And then the heavenly Adagio, where the tones of the first chord drop in one by one like musical rain from heaven, HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY; 275 and where the choral theme, with the alternating three-four strain, so rich and deep in feeling, is varied with such subtle, fine divisions, — the whole air electric with those pizzicato sparks emitted by now one and now another set of strings, as if possessed, enchanted by the theme, until the slow, good-natured horn itself becomes inspired and soars into a florid, eloquent cadenza, — did it not hold the souls of all that listened poised in upper air, a blissful, serene, spiritual ele- ment, a moment of eternity ! But neither the struggle of the strong will, nor child-like abandon- ment to the simple joy of living, nor spiritual revery, however high and holy, avails to solve the problem. Hence the second part of the Symphony. The wild, fierce agitato of the orchestra cries out in anguish for the solution, and the dozen double basses with the 'cellos (this time in perfect unison) almost talk in their recitative. The motives of the Allegro and the Scherzo are recalled in turn ; but the basses grimly, impatiently refuse comfort. The heavenly Adagio is touched; the answer is more gentle. But more yet is needed. The reeds sweetly hint the "Joy" tune; consentingly the basses take it up and hum it through in half -hushed unison ; other instruments steal in with graceful phrases of accompaniment ; the tune takes possession of the whole orchestra and rings out in full harmony tutti fortissimo, subsiding to a sweet meditative cadence, before the theme, now found, is taken up by voices and instruments, as has been all along intended. The agitato prelude is renewed, and this time the bass solo voice exhorts to cheerful song, to words of love and universal brother- hood, to Schiller's " Hymn to Joy." How it is sung, by alternate soli and full chorus ; with what won- drous changes and surprises of rhythm and of modulation, and to what a sublime height all the voices soar and hold out on the long religious notes, where the thought of the " embrace of all the millions " leads to the felt presence of the Creator and the Father, while the whole air thrills with the vibration of the instruments, throbs with the sparkle of the myriads on myriads of stars, why need we tell ? Suf- fice it to say, those seven hundred voices did do all that, did clearly, musically, brilliantly give out those arduous tones and firmly hold them out, did render all those trying passages and figures without blur or indecision; and that I he clear, powerful soprano of Mme. Eosa, so all-sufficient and enduring, the strongly pronounced bass of Mr. Rudolphsen, mastering the difficulties of a part of such wide compass, and (though with less certainty) the two middle voices, less important, did achieve those solo passages, in which every quartet before had nearly broken down, even to that elaborate four-part 276 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HATDN SOCIETY. cadenza, — all so palpably and clearly that all felt the greatness of the music and were transported, filled with a glorious realizing sense of the sublime ideas of Schiller's Ode interpreted, illumed with all the heart and soul and genius of the great musician, whose life-long high- est aspiration (in his soul's secrecy and in his art) found there the very text it wanted. Fifth Day. Saturday Afternoon, May 9. Fourth miscellaneous concert, opening with Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphoriy . This was its first performance in this country. Neither in imaginative invention, nor in unity, nor in efifectiveness, did it seem at all equal to his other symphonies, still less to his overtures, which are so origi- nal and individual. And it is known to have been Mendelssohn's express desire that it should not be published ; but the great talk made about it among his English admirers, together with the specu- lative instinct of publishers, finally badgered his executors into giving it to the world among the " posthumous works." It was composed for an occasion, the tercentenary festival of the Augsburg Confession, June 25, 1830 ; and having a historical significance, as well as points of musical interest, it is entitled, like any elaborate work of a master, to an occasional hearing in all musical communities. Its significance and chief power are found in the last movement, which is based on Luther's choral, " Ein'feste Burg." This, taken as the type of Prot- estantism, is worked up with a wealth of counterpoint and of acces- sory thoughts, and with a charm of instrumentation, far more edifying than the attempt of Nicolai, with which the Festival began. The first movement {Anda>ite and Allegro confuoco), though full of rush and brilliancy, — a struggle of the old and new religions, they call it, — did not give us a feeling as if it were kindled from a fire within ; nor did it, for several pages, sound quite Meudelssohnian. But there is one gem in the symphony, one charming bit of sunshine, the Scherzo ; healthy, bright, and happy enough for Father Haydn ; of exquisite art and grace in the trio with its antiphonal trills ; but what it may have to do with the Reformation is not clear. The An- dante, sweet and serious, is only one of the composer's commonplaces, saying more feebly what he has said better elsewhere. The audience on the whole were interested, for the work was well interpreted. This concert offered one other novelty (for that day) in the E-flat Concerto by Liszt, which served for a second display of Miss Alide Topp's brilliant, exquisite piano playing. She played it with an enthu- siasm worthy of better music ; " for anything more wilful, whimsical, outree, far-fetched than this composition is, anything more incoherent, uninspiring, frosty to the finer instincts, we have hardly known under HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 277 the name of music." All were again in raptures with the young pianist, who did well, on being recalled, to lay Liszt by for the unpretending, more poetic Bergeuse of Chopin. ' Miss Phillipps sang Mozart's "Voi che sapete" charmingly. For overtures by the great orchestra there were Spohr's to Jessonda, and Rossini's to William Tell, — the latter given with great fire and spirit. That Saturday offered two more performances. At noon an organ concert, with an excellent programme, Mr. B. J. Lang being the competent interpreter on the great organ of the Music Hall. 1. Organ Prelude and Fugue in C . . . . Bach. 2. Sonata in B flat, Op. 65, No. 4 . . . . Mendelssohn. 3. Pastorale in F Bach. i. Fugue on the letters B-A-C-H .... Schumann. 5. Improvisation. 6. Fantaisie in G, Grave (full power of the organ;, Bach. What can we say of the Oreation in the evening, more than that the hall was overcrowded, and that the rendering was of the very best in quality, as it was in means the most amply furnished of any ever before known in Boston? The solos were sustained by Mme. Rosa, Mr. James Whitney (tenor), and Messrs. J. F. Winch and M. W. Whitney (basses). Sixth and Last Dat. Sunday Evening, May 10. Handel's Mes-^ siali makes the climax in all Festivals, the Christmas Festival in- cluded, of the Handel and Haydn Society. Of a work so oft return- ing, we need not speak in detail. Many of the choruses, especially the "Wonderful " and " Hallelujah," we thought we had never heard so grandly given, not forgetting Birmingham. We only regretted the omission (there have to be omissions) of one of the most beau- tiful and most pathetic of all the choruses, "And with his stripes," without which the contrast of " All we like sheep "loses much of its vividness and force. This time the solos were in good hands : Mme. Parepa-Rosa, Miss Adelaide Phillipps, Mr. Simpson, and Mr. Whitney. The Festival was followed by a social reunion, with dancing and congratulations, on the evening of May 14, in the Music Hall. At a meeting of the board (May 18) the sense of obligation to Carl Zer- rahn for his great services as conductor was expressed by voting him a yearly salary of $300, besides $500 for his share in the success of the Festival. On May 25, he was also offered a gratuity of $200. And a few days later he was on his way to Europe for needed rest and fresh musical experience. 278 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. CHAPTER IX. FIFTY-FOURTH SEASON. JtMb 3, 1808, TO May 31, 1869. The annual meeting was held on the evening of June 3. The report of the treasurer, Geo. W. Palmer, showed the receipts for the year, including cash on hand, to have been $12,639.87 ; expenditures, $11,510.16; ba;lance in treasury, $1,129.71. The receipts at the first Triennial Festival were $23,620 ; expenses, $20,283.06 ; net proceeds, $3,336.94, which, added to the Permanent Fund, made the whole amount of that fund $7,576.05. The president, Dr. Upham, in his report, paid a special compliment to Mme. Parepa-Rosa, and alluded to the Festival as an achieve- ment worthy of pride and congratulation. Never since his connection with the Society had there been a greater interest among the members or so high a degree of attention and of discipline,' as during the past year. The death, during the year, of Mr. Stephen Somes, a member of the board of trustees, was afterwards brought to the attention of the Society in a few words of appropriate eulogy by the president. ■OflScers for the ensuing year were then elected as follows : — President. — J. Baxter Upham. Vice-President. — J. F. Faxon. Secretary. — L. B. Barnes. Tieasurer. — George W. Palmer. Librarian. — George H. Chickering. Directors. — Theophilus Stover, E. C. Daniells, Oliver B. LoTHROP, Samuel Jennison, D. L. Laws, R. M. Lowell, George Fisher, Levi W. Johnson. Now follows a suspension of .ill concert life throughout a summer of great heat and drought. The only music was that of the brass bands in the streets, which only aggravated the feeling of extreme heat ; so that one was reminded of the answer of the boy sent out by Elijah in the oratorio, to look for signs of rain : " The heavens are as brass above us!" "Brass! all, all is brass," might have formed the hotly whirling motive of a choral fugue. By the middle of September the Society had not fully shaped its plans for the oratorio season, beyond HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 279 •deciding on a performance in Thanksgiving week. JephiJia was talked of, and of course the Messiah for Christmas. There was also some thought of taking up, for a novelty, Sterndale Bennett's Woman of Samaria, after its recent success at Birmingham. Nor did it look by any means impossible that the old Society wpuld brace itself up to the work of making a strong beginning upon Bach, and devoting some of its time all winter to the study of the Passion Music, so as to bring it out, in whole or part, during the next spring. That indeed would be a new era in its history ! At any rate such aspira- tions, destined sooner or later to be realized, deserve to count in the record of a society's true inward life and progress. In October the Sundaj'-evening rehearsals were resumed, with Mr. Lang conducting during the absence of Mr. Zerrahn, and at the same time accompanying at the pianoforte. Judas Maccahmxi^ and Elijah were the works in hand. There was some thought of taking up the Mass by John K. Paine (since made musical professor at Harvard) , a work entitled to a hearing after the praises it had won in Berlin. As for Bach's St. Matthew Passion Music, the government had already taken measures to procure the most approved edition of the orchestral and vocal parts, and to have the text done into English in as close and singable a version as possible, so that both might be published here, and the study of the great work begin with energy, in the hope of bringing out a goodly portion of it during Passion Week. Mr. Zerrahn was welcomed home again, full of fresh musical im- pressions gathered in his Fatherland, in season to conduct the two oratorios immediately after Thanksgiving, on Saturday and Sunday evenings, Nov. 28 and 29. The first was Handel's heroic oratorio par excellence, the ever- welcome Judas Maccabmus. The performance seems to have been of hardly average excellence. Some of the ringing easier choruses went evenly and grandly ; but in others voices hesi- tated or went astray ; while a stridulons quality in high soprano passages, and a coarseness in the tenors, were noticeable in contrast with the Festival chorus. The solos were more fortunate. Miss Houston sang " From mighty kings " with great effect. Mrs. Barry (late Mrs. Gary) had not changed her warm coutralto voice, nor her artistic style, with^ change of name. Miss Anna Granger had a fresh, bright, out-leaping voice, suited more to gay and brilliant things than to the melodies of deep interior life. A good singer in her way, phrasing the music well and losing not a note, nor slighting one, though indistinct in verbal utterance, she had in Judas a couple of pieces suited to her ; in " So shall the lute " she executed the rou- 280 HlfeTOBr OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETT. lades with clean-cut evenness and freedom; her "sprightly voice sweet descant ran " indeed. Mr. James Whitney was the tenor, and Ml-. Wilde, the bass. Elijah fared much better in the choruses, but the orchestra was rough and careless. Miss L. M. Gates shared the soprano solos with Miss Houston, and in "Hear ye, Israel," gave proof of a fine, flexi- ble voice of large range, sweetness, and of easy, free delivery. Miss Houston and Mrs. Barry both sang with characteristic care and fervor. Mr. J. F. Winch took, for the first time, the part of Elijah, much of it successfully. Mr. Wm. J. Winch, with large tones, not without sweetness, made a conscientious, earnest effort, with no air of pretence ; but voice and manner were not then ripe for the tenor solos in Elijah. Then came two performances just after Christmas. On Saturday evening, Dec. 26, the hall was crowded to its utmost capacity by loyal listeners to the Messiah. The chorus seats were not so full as usual ; and the orchestra, owing to theatre engagements on that night of the week, was somewhat shrunken from its fair proportions. The instruments were sometimes out of tune ; but that might have been largely due to the low pitch of the organ. Most of the choruses went well ; and the beautiful one, " And with his stripes," was restored. The performance gained peculiar interest from the two principal lady singers. Miss Adelaide Phillipps in the contralto airs surpassed her- self, showing herself in all the sincere, ripe artist. Very interesting, too, was the first appearance in oratorio of Miss Anna S. Whitten ; and most sincere and genuine and sympathetic was the use she made • of her beautiful soprano voice. It was not without some slight fal- tering of timidity in the beginning ; but as she went on, she won upon her audience. The spirituality and beauty of the music suffered little in her rendering, which confirmed the promise of her first public effort in a Symphony concert a short time before. Mr. James Whitney and Mr. John F. Winch sustained the other principal parts acceptably. Sunday evening brought a smaller crowd of hearers, while the chorus seats were full, and the orchestra was raised to the full com- plement of the Symphony concerts. It was one of the grandest presentations of Elijah we had had here until then. Miss Phillipps again lent her noble voice and art. Miss Houston was at her best in the principal soprano parts. It was understood that she was about to retire into domestic life ; so that the beauty, brilliancy, and fervor of this supposed last public effort enhanced the feeling of the loss. She sang as if she loved it, and fain would not leave' it. The HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 281 smaller soprano parts — the boy looking out for rain, and in the con- certed pieces — were taken by Mrs. D. C. Hall, who proved her- self the possessor of a voice so true and beautiful, so telling, and who delivered it so well, that one wondered why she never had been called upon before in this way. Mr. Rudolphsen came back to his old part, the Prophet, which he always made eflFective, more so than ever this time. Mr. Whitney made his best mark so far in the tenor arias. For the Easter season, it being too late to undertake the Passion Music that year, two oratorios were rehearsed, one of them new, the other great. Costa's Naaman (which probably would have been called Elisha but for Mendelssohn's Elijah) drew a large audience on Saturday evening, March 27, but not so large as St. Paul the next night. It was creditably performed, considering its novelty and strahgeness, but not nearly so well, so heartily as St. Paul, which took possession of the singers. Naaman, as a composition, was all one might expect of the author of Eli, the London conductor, an Italian, graceful and thoroughbred musician as he was. It is a clever work, but not a work of genius. It is pleasing, — at least where the author is content to be himself and not too ambitious to keep step with the mightier ones, — but it is not great. It is frequently pathetic, some- times imposing, oftener brilliant, but does not seem to have sprung from any deep religious sentiment, from any hond-fide inspiration, so much as from the pardonable promptings of outward position, emula- tion, and example. It cannot be called original, unless certain ingen- ious contrivances of orchestral illustration or intensification, dramatic surprises, etc , merit that distinction; for either the composer flows on easily in the manner native and habitual to him, which is the Italian operatic manner, good of its kind but commonplace, or he labors after models like Elijah in too obvious imitation. It is, however, quite dramatic (sometimes melodramatic), and herein lies, perhaps, its best distinction. The characterization of persons is well considered and in the main felicitous. Certainly the part of the captive Jewess, Adah, " the little maid," is musically in- dividual and charming ; and it was well suited to the pure, sweet soprano and the fervent, chaste, devout expression of Miss Whitten, who sang it beautifully. The part of the distressed widow a;nd the miracle of the oil are plainly modelled after the Widow in Elijah, and come in at the same early stage in the proceedings. Miss Phillipps evidently had her own distress, that of a severe cold, so that she even sang out of tune for once, and with . less force than usual, but artist- like, with true expression. She also sang the music of Timna, wife 282 HISTOKT OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. of Naaman, mostly recitative, except a solo with choms, " Be com- forted," and the second voice in a trio, — these more successfully, and very touehingly and simply the Dream of the Child, the melody of which is rather in the commonplace and sentimental modern Eng- lish vein, somewhat ennobled by superior musicianship. The scenes with the Shunamite woman contain some of the freshest music ; for instance the trio in the first part, which is in a nobler and less Italian-stage style than most of the concerted pieces. There is. real pathos, almost Handelian, in the air addressed to her dead son ; and in all the part the clear, true, brilliant voice and good delivery of Miss Gates showed to advantage. Costa treats the part of the prophet Elisha, both in the cut of its recitative and melody and in- strumental illustration, much after the manner of Mendelssohn's. Elijah. Like that, it is the central figure of the oratorio, dignified and grand, but far less interesting. Mr. Rudolphsen sang it all intelligently and carefully, with artistic style, but in a somewhat dry, hard quality of tone,^ which had been growing upon him. Mr. James Whitney lacked only strength for the unhealthy hero, Naaman, whose appioach is always heralded by a sensational and pompous march, in which form of writing Costa liked to indulge a turn for ingeniously eccentric instrumentation. His distressful utterances, with their fever- ish agitato accompaniment, are perhaps worthy of the subject, an ill- chosen one ; but the music, with some fine passages, is wearisome. The second tenor part, Gehazi, was fairly rendered by Mr. W. J. Winch. The most popular pieces were the two trios and the quartet, " Honor- and glory," — pleasing and graceful in theii- way, although, with one exception named above, they sound as if right out of the modern Italian opera. The trio, " Haste ! to Samaria," is bright, but trivial. The choruses, various in character, musician-like, interesting, seldom rise to grandeur, nor are the most elaborate ones the best. In these the parts flow less naturally and blend less genially ; the intervals ar& difficult ; and from the very fact that they were not sung with any- thing like the confidence and the effect to which we were accustomed in the choruses of Mendelssohn and Handel, voices faltering and some parts faintly audible, one could infer that the music did not take hold of the singers very strongly, though many of them may have liked some of its details. There was a simple grandeur in the choral, " When famine over Israel prevailed," which is plainly har- monized, with organ, all the orchestral voices silent except the huge bass tuba. And " The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked " has a fine motive beautifully wrought out. The finale of the- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND 'HAYDN SOCIETY. 283 first part, like that in Elijah, is a chorus of praise and thanks for water after drought, — a palpable imitation, as in the rush of the violins, the strange atmospheric modulations which convey the sense of moisture, etc. ; it is graphic and exciting, but'foUows longo inter- vallo after " Thanks be to God, wholaveth the thirsty land." As the most important work of an accomplished musician, Naaman was not unworthy to be brought out, once or twice at least, by our Society, considering that it could not get ready early enough in the season to take up Bach's Passion or the Israel of Handel, and that, short of these great things, it had but little new and easily practicable to choose from. St. Paul, on Sunday evening, was superbly rendered ; the music seemed to carry all along with it. The choruses were sung with a will, and came out full and round and strong. The solos, by Miss Hous- ton, Miss Phillipps, Mr. J. F. Winch, and Mr. James Whitney, were highly satisfactory. During the month of May, there was much thought and discussion in oyr city, as well as in musical circles everywhere, on the important question of a reform of the concert pitch, which had become too high for the convenience and best effect of singing voices. It was agreed on all hands that the pitch had risen about a whole tone since the time of Bach and Handel, else where did the former find the human voices for his sustained high parts? Here in Boston we had already a certain foothold gained in favor of conformity with the new " French pitch" ; the great organ of our Music Hall was tuned to it. One more step had been taken by our public-school com- mittee, who had introduced the new pitch, or normal diapason, into all the schools. What more could be done to bring us wholly into line with the new movement? The orchestral wind instruments, the reeds especially, could not be lengthened out to suit the organ witl^- out deranging their scale, altering their intervals unequally ; hence a chronic diflflculty of pitch in all the oratorios. To procure new in- struments, properly made for the purpose, would involve an expense beyond the means of most of the musicians. It was therefore agreed between the thre? committees of the Handel and Haydn Society, the Harvard Musical Association, and the Boston Music Hall Associa- tion, to have another set of instruments (those from New York in 1865 having proved unsatisfactory) ordered from Europe ; and, to meet the expense, a concert was organized and given on Thursday afternoon. May 20, 1869, in aid of the efforts of the joint committee " to establish here the normal diapason, or French pitch, for all orchestral or choral performances." The concert was an encouraging success. The first 284 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. part took the form of a symphony concert, consisting of a Beethoven symphony (No. 8), an aria of Mozart ("Non piu di fieri"), by Miss Adelaide Phillipps, and an overture (to Tlie Water Carrier) by Cher- nbini. The Handel and Haydn chorus furnished the second part, in an excellent performance of the Hymn of Praise, the solos by Miss Houston, Miss Phillipps, and Mr. W. J. Winch. Mr. Zerrahn of course conducted, and Mr. Lang was in his place at the great organ. The symphony was played through by the orchestra at the usual high concert pitch ; but before the voices, with the organ, came in, the instruments had to be tuned down (by such imperfect means as were available) to the organ or French pitch ; nor was there much attempt to hide the awkward process either from sight or hearing. Such a tuning (down) as there was, prolonged and mystifying ! Some one, plainly from the " rural districts," asked his companion, " What is all this?" " Oh," replied he, " this is where the normal diapason comes in." The little episode was a good practical demonstration of the need of the reform. The receipts of the concert were nearly 8600, and in due time the new instruments arrived ; but some fatality has always beset the best attempts to use them ; and, like the earlier ones, they have vanished out of sight and knowledge. On the next evening (May 21), the Society joined in a very hearty and enthusiastic testimonial, a farewell concert to Miss Adelaide Phillipps, who was soon to leave us to fulfil a long engagement at the Italian opera in Paris. The work selected was Rossini's Stabat Mater, with Miss Whitten, Miss. Phillipps herself, and Messrs. James and M. W. Whitney. ' There was Mr. Zerrahn with his orchestra, who played the overture to Egmont, and accompanied Miss Alide Topp in the Concert-stiick of Weber. Miss Phillipps sang Rossini's florid aria " Una voce" with the most brilliant exuberance of orna- ment; and Miss Granger sang "Come per me sereno" from the Sonnambula. So ended another season, richer in promise, to be sure, than in fulfilment. Glowing aspirations, hopes and plans almost heroic fol- lowed the great Festival. But during a summer's rest enthusiasm is on the ebb. As winter's work approaches, it becomes not so easy to do all that had seemed so attractive, so inspiring in the hour of tri- umph. The working motive comes not from the past, but from a new great object looming before us in the immediate future. Life runs in waves, and ever between two heights must lie a valley of depression. After each Triennial Festival, look for one year of shrinkage. Still the year's work, unless measured by the hopes and plans at the outset, was by no means below the average, and on the HISTORY OF THE HANUEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 285 whole more than creditable. For the programme (as achieved, and well achieved) reads : Handel's Judas Maccdbceus and Messiah; Mendelssohn's Elijah (twice), Ht. Paul, and fiymw of Praise; and, for a novelty, Costa's Naaman, — not an inconsiderable list. If we had reached the bottom of .our valley, we were still far above the level of the sea. Many a choral society would be proud to climb as high as that. FIFTY-FIFTH SEASON. May 31, 1869, to May 30, 1870. At the annual meeting (May 31) the report of the treasurer showed that the receipts from concerts, etc., together with a balance on hand of 81,129.71 at the beginning of the year, were $9,723 12. The whole of this had been expended, leaving the treasury without funds ; but as the Society was out of debt, no assessment was required. The permanent fund was valued at $8,195. The report of the libra- rian showed the libiary in good condition. A beautiful fac-sirnile of Handel's autograph score of the Messiah, in chromo-lithograph, had been presented by Carl Zerrahn, and a fine engraving, representing the " Apotheosis of Handel," by Dr. Upham. The officers were all re-elected, with the exception of one director, Mr. "Wm. H. Wadleigh, in the place of Theophilus Stover. The president's report was, as usual, interesting and instructive, but too long to give here in full. After some introductory details and comparisons of three of the great •choral societies of the world (the Sing-Akademie of Berlin, the Sacred Harmonic Society of London, and our own Handel and Haydn Society), Dr. Upham stated that there had been fourteen meetings of the government to attend to the musical and business interests of the corporation, and three business meetings of the Society. Thirty- nine gentlemen had been admitted to membership, sixteen had been discharged, five had resigned, and no one had died. Much was said in praise of the unusual number of rehearsals ; much of the perform- ances, especially of Elijah and St. Paul, while that of Jadas Macca- bcBUS feU below the mark. From the closing paragraphs we quote : — " With this anniversary closes the eighth year of my offlcial connection with our venerable association. In this term of eight years, the Society has gone through some of its most trying experiences, and It has known some of the most joyous and triumphant eras of its history. It has seen the last of its original members, the remnant of that heroic band who upheld the honor and bore the burden of its struggling infancjs drop into the tomb. It has passed into' and out of the cloud of rebellious war, the lilte of which the 286 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. world had never known before, and in which it bore its share of the general doubt and uncertainty and gloom. " On the other hand, it has seen the creation of a fund upon a secure and substantial basis, with encouraging prospects of its continued increase. It has established a series of triennial festivals, with a success so signal and unqualified as to give assurance of their permanency as an institution." (Alas! 1888.) "It has but recently joined with our sister associations in art to arrest and bring back to a safe anchorage the musical pitch, which in these latter years of storm and excitement had drifted so wide of its moor- ings. It has crossed the boundary line of its first half -century of life, and is now in the maturity of its strength, never before so conscious of its own power, never so honored and so loved, never so ready and so able to do battle for the noble cause to whose interests it stands pledged." What then for another year? With a glance forward over its record we find no concert until Christmas, when was given of course the Messiah, and Naaman for the second time ; then, for Easter ora- torios, the Creation and Elijah, — that is all. On the other hand a, beginning was at last actually made (Jan. 2, 1870) on the study and rehearsal of Bach's St. Multheiu Passion Music, though it came not to performance that year. The reason of all this? " Peace Jubilee," which so disturbed the peace of music, during, before, and after that midsummer of 1869. Into the current of that great wave of popular excitement, into that broad sea of many thousand voices and many hundred instruments, gathered by the enthusiasm and ambition of one man, by all the arts of advertising, popular appeal, and influential indorsement quietly and skilfully secured, the Handel and Haydn of course, some reluctantly, some willingly, nay ardently, were swept as by the resistless power of fate.* It swallowed up their summer and in fact their year. To climb out of the valley (if we may return to our figure), they had first to cross a vast and surging sea. They formed of course the nucleus, the sure and solid heart and centre of the great chorus of ten thousand voices (instead of twenty thou- sand, as at first announced), and they did their work as well as practicable under the strange conditions, the vast hall for sound, the multitudinous companionship, the audience too multitudinous for musical appreciation. In the five days, June 15 to 19 inclusive, which made the author of the plan a popular hero in his way, — days in which fixed stars like Mendelssohn or Mozart, had they lived among us, must have " paled their ineffectual fires" before such cal- cine effulgence, — the Handel and Haydn chorus swelled the volume of Luther's choral, Ein' feste. Barg ; " G-od save the King" (nick- * The invitation to join in the Jubilee, after long discussion in the board of directors, was accepted by a vote of nine to two, the president voting nay. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 287 named America); Rossini's Infiammatus ; " Star-spangled Banner " (with artillery and bells) ; great choruses of Haudel, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and more which need not be mentioned. It shared the abundant popular applause ; it had ranged itself on the side of the many, of the idol of the day, but largely to the sacrifice of its own proper work. Could it be helped ? Its fifty-fifth season tells a short and comparatively meagre story. The Jubilee excitement once over, the old Society may vibrate back into its "normal diapason." Here is a good sign, which we read in Dwight's Journal of Music of Aug. 28, that year : — " The government of the Handel and Haydn Society were never more In earnest. We do not know that they have decided on the list of oratorios to be brought out. But there is one important piece of news which we are quite safe in telling. This time, it appears tp be really a settled thing that Bach's great Passion Music (after the gospel of St. Matthew) will be taken up and studied with the design of producing it in Passion Week. The full score (as edited by Robert Franz) and the orchestral parts were procured from Ger- many last winter, but too late to enter upon so formidable a task at that time. The voice parts for the double chorus will soon be in readiness. Messrs. Ditson & Co. already have them in the engraver's hands, and are preparing to publish an octa\o edition (like their Jlendelssohn and Handel oratorios after the Xovello pattern) of the entire work for voices and pianoforte, with bgth German and English words, — the latter translated * here expressly with the utmost care to keep them as close as possible in spirit, sense, and form to the original text, antiquated and quaintly pietistic as it is, while scrupulously studying in every syllable and vowel sound Bach's never careless marriage of the woixl and tone. Thus there will be plenty of copies of the full vocal score, at a moderate price, both for the singers to slug from, and for the in- quiring listener to look over while he listens, or to study at his leisure. For an American publisher this is a bold venture aud an honorable one. But we believe it will repay in the long run. Bach's 3Iatthew Passion is bound to take its place in the repertoire of the great choral societies in this country, as it has long since done all over Germany, where it is performed in a dozen places every year ; as it has done too in London, where it is to be revived next winter, and even in Paris, witness the interest it excited at the Pantheon a year ago. Withiis it is a question of time only ; it may never be popular, but it will be, it is already, in such demand, that it cannot be kept out of the market or the concert room much longer. For our old Oratorio Society, too, it is a brave, bold undertaking; perhaps the boldest step they could take; with due faith and persistency it will not prove a rash one. Why should they not essay the boldest, the most difficult of tasks? They have for years been taking all the arduous steps that lead right up to it ; they have mastered Han- del's oratorios, except the Israel, which yet waits for adequate performance; they have had great success with St. Paul, which is a stepping stone to Bach; they have even triumphed signally in the whilome discouraging choruses of * By John S. Dwight, adopting Franz's piano accompaniment for many of the arias. 288 HISTOEY OF THE HANIjEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. the Ninth Symphony. What task remains, what further height to gain, if they would still make progress; but to grapple manfully with and solve the long-postponed problem of the great religious mu(-ic of Sebastian Bach? Even if they do not succeed in doing it perfectly, or more than passably at first, for want especially of great solo singers, masters of the (here at least) rare art of recitative, still the effort will reward with a sweet sense of progress ; it will inspire and charm with a new knowledge, a new love, with the beginning of a new possession that shall grow sweeter and richer the more deeply they enter into it and realize it." On the 16tli of September, the Society chose ten delegates to represent it at a so-called " National Musical Convention," summoned by Mr. E. Tourjee. the enterprising head of the New England Con- servatory and organizer of the "Peace Jubilee" chorus. This was one of the feeble offshoots, or say echoes, of the Jubilee. It held two sessions in the Music Hall, Sept. 22 and 23 ; adopted a " perma- nent organization " (which proved very short-lived) ; whereupon papers were read, discussions held, with agreeable interludes of organ playing and vocal music. The plan seemed vague, and so seemed much of the talking, — some of it having more sound than sense. But some of the papers which were read contained sound and valuable ideas. In March following, a proposition that the Society should join the " National Musical Congress "in a " Jubilee" in June was unanimously negatived ; and that is the last we hear of the "Con- gress." There were many Bach " straws in the wind" that autumn ; symp- toms of expectation, showing how much the long talked of Pngsion Munic occupied men's minds. In the organ concerts at the Music Hall arrangements of several choruses from the Passion figured in the programmes ; while organ fugues, toccatas, etc., of the old mas- ter, and other things suggestive of his name, were being made famil- iar. Communications by way of advice or suggestion to the singers cropped out in the newspapers. The time for study and rehearsal will soon come, — with what immediate result ? Early in December, Mr. Lang, the much-esteemed organist of the oratorios, after a long illness, sailed for P^urope with his family and several of his pupils, intending to spend about a year principally in Dresden. Mr. J. C. D. Parker" was the one preferred to occupy his place as organist during his absence. Meanwhile rehearsals went on, with an attendance ranging from 200 and 250 on stormy evenings to 525, averaging 390 singers. The works in hand were Naaman and the Messiah. Forty new members were admitted in November ; 165 had been absent from all meetings and rehearsals for eight weeks, 91 of whom were "suspended." HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 289 On the evening of Christmas (Saturday) the Music Hall was com- pletely filled with the usual devoutly attentive audience. The chorus numbered about six hundred singers, and the performance was, per- haps, the best ever heard here until then. The solo principals were Miss Houston, Miss Adelaide Phillipps, Mr. W. J. Winch, and Mr. Myron W. Whitnej', — all highly satisfactory, particularly the con- tralto. The orchestra was hardly strong enough, and in some of the wind passages the chronic incongruity of old and new pitch marred the euphony. Mr. J. C. D. Parker presided ably at the organ. Sunday evening (Dec. 26) the rain thinned both chorus ranks and audience ; yet the second performance of Naaman was more spirited and telling than the first. The solos were sustained by Miss Hous- ton, Miss Phillipps, Miss Lizzie M. Gates, and Messrs. W. J. Winch, Eldward Prescott, and J. F. Rudolphsen. With the new year, 1870, the study of Bach's Passion Music was begun in earnest. In January it was rehearsed five times with attendance varying from three hundred to three hundred and fifiy singers. At first it interested but comparatively few, who came to it more or less prepared whether by inward affinity or private study ; but gradually and steadily it gained ground in the sympathies of many. It was most instructive study, whether it came to public per- formance or not, and it sowed seeds in many hearts of a deeper, sweeter musical sense than they, perhaps, had known before. On Feb. 4 (the vice-dresident, O. J. Faxon, being present for a short time and warmly welcomed, after nearly a year's absence through severe and dangerous illness) , it was voted to give selections from the Passion on the Saturday before Easter (reckoning without the host !). together with a Mendelssohn cantata ; and Elijah for Easter. The Bach rehearsals, with the same average attendance, went on into March, when it was decided to substitute the Creation for the Passion in the concert of April 16, by reason of inability to produce it adequately for lack of a sufficient orchestra. Time will cure that. The performance of the Creation (disappointing all our hopes of Bach) was an indifferent one for this Society, the weather stormy, orchestra to some extent a makeshift one, audience small, and altogether not a fortunate revival. The chief singers were Miss Houston, Mr. Prescott,' and Mr. M. J. Whitney. The next evening (Easter, April 17) brought a fine performance of Elijah. It had the accustomed orchestra ; it had been rehearsed with zeal ; the chorus seats were fuller ; the audience larger and more eager. The central figure of the Prophet stood forth very nobly in the recitative and the cantabile of Mr. Whitney, who took this all-important part 290 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. for the first time. Much had been expected, but not more than was realized, from the new contralto, Miss Antoinette Sterlir^, from New York. Tliis young lady, who two or three years before had created a sensation in a miscellaneous concert here by the richness and the volume of her voice, had since enjoyed the best opportuni- ties of instruction abroad, especially with Mme. Viardot Garcia, of whom she was a favorite pupil ; and she had sung with marked favor in concerts at Cologne and London. She delivered her sentences of recitative with fine inteUigence and with great power and f ervoi; ; and in her two arias all was simple, earnest, and expressive, her tones singularly rich and telling. Her manner was easy, self-possessed, and quiet. Miss Houston's clear and powerful soprano more than held its own. Mrs. J. W. Weston sang the smaller soprano parts, that of the youth, etc., very acceptably ; and Mr. W. J. "Winch in the tenor solos showed ho slight improvement both in voice and style. That this much-broken season, with such good intentions post- poned, was not pecuniarily profitable, appears from a vote of the board (May 11) notifying the trustees of the permanent fund that all the interest thereof for the past year was needed to meet the bills of the Society. And again (May 23) the treasurer was authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars. FIFTY-SIXTH SEASON. May 30, 1870, to May 29, 1871. At the annual meeting (May 30), the president presented his annual report, which was accepted and approved. In opening he referred to the deficiency in funds, and said that the treasurer had been authorized to negotiate a temporary loan. Thirty-five new mem- bers had been admitted during the year ; four had resigned, and four had been honorably discharged. In the same time ninety-one had been suspended under a new article of the by-laws, of which number seven had been reinstated. Two members had died in the course of the year. The number of rehearsals was twenty-nine, with an aver- age attendance of three hundred and six, the gentlemen averaging better than the lady members. The public performances had been fewer than usual, only four, besides the assistance rendered at the Peace Jubilee, and once at a celebration of the Mercantile Library Association. The annals of the Society would probably be ready for publication during the coming year. The president alluded to the attention given to Bach's Passion HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 291 Music, and said that the reasons for its non-performance were many and suflflcient ; an orchestra adequate to the double functions de- manded could not be obtained ; but the hope of yet producing it was not abandoned. He suggested a higher standard of requirement in the examination of candidates for admission ; complimented the Salem Oratorio Association, and closed with eulogistic reference to the invaluable aid of their excellent conductor, Carl Zerrahn, to their accomplished organist, Mr. Parker, and to Mr. O. J. Faxon, then retiring from the vice-presidency, after filling that office for eleven years, to whom a complimentary resolution was presently passed. The librarian reported six hundred and fifty copies of Bach' s Pas- sion Music added to the library. The treasurer's report showed the receipts of the year (including one year's income of the fund, $438.62) to be $5,493.37 ; expenditures (with balance of $395.25 due to the treasurer) the same. There were' outstanding bills leaving the Society in debt about two thousand dollars. The permanent fund amounted to $7,400. The election of officers resulted as follows : — President. — De. J. Baxter Upham. Vice-President. — S. Lothrop Thorndike. Secretary. — Loring B. Barnes. Treasurer. — George W. Palmer. Librarian. — George H. Chickering. Directors. — George Fisher, Samuel Jennison, Levi W. John- son, A. Parker Browne, Edward Faxon, T. Frank Eeed, Charles H. Johnson, W. O. Perkins. It will be remembered that this was ' ' Jubilee " season ; Jubilee was in the air. Music having run her quiet, modest course until mid- summer in her wonted way of Art, then all seemed given over to the noisy echoes, here and there, of the last year's Peace Jubilee in Boston, to Monster Concerts, Choral Festivals, and at the acme, " out ■of all whooping wonderful," a Beethoven Centennial Celebration in New York (with Gilmore guns and anvils, and all the modern im- provements which may have been supposed to interest the great com- poser deaf to his own music, — of which, however, one whole sym- phony and extracts from others were included in the programme, to make it clear that this great splurge had sometJiing to do with Beet- hoven). Indeed that programme was astounding. Nothing more ingeniously grandiloquent and swelling could have entered into the imagination of the inventor of the Jubilee himself. Were the words "Grand," -'Complete Combined Grand," " Graud-Popular-Clas- sical-Patriotic-National," etc., ever reiterated so many times in one bill of fare? The explanation of it was plain enough. The same 292 HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. restless, enterprising class of spirits who got up the Boston Jubilee, existed also in New York and in all our great commercial cities, always eager to be doing something on a "stupendous scale"; could they be quiet until they had imitated, possibly surpassed, the great exam- ple of the year before ? The centennial year of Beethoven (born in December) was only seized upon to give the project color. Now, our old Handel and Haydn Society, festively inclined no less than musically, were not slow to accept an invitation to that New York celebration, all their expenses of journey and hotel being paid by the management. On Monday evening, June 13, five hundred and forty-six members of its chorus (S. 160, A. 133, T. 113, B. 140) left by the three boat lines and reached New York the next morning. During the first two days they attended rehearsals very constantly. On Thursday evening they were allowed to sing the first part of Elijah (the managers lacking courage to risk the whole work). The solos were by Parepa, Antoinette Sterling, Mr. Castle, and Mr. M. W. Whitney. It was pronounced the best performance of the cele- bration, and the one most enjoyed. With that exception the whole huge affair was " nothing more nor less than a series of cheap vocal and instrumental concerts." On the fourth day, for lack of public support, the great bright bubble broke, leaving three concerts, includ- ing Handel's Messiah, to exist on paper ; and our friends came home, " disgusted with the management, delighted with the trip." It was on this occasion, during one of the rehearsals under a pretentious but incompetent conductor, that a severe thunder-storm came on, causing some flutter in the female portion of the chorus, when an officer of the Society called out, " Ladies, there is no occasion for alarm. Dr. is a perfect non-conductor." At a special meeting of the Society, a few days later, a warm vote of thanks, with renewed pledge of confidence, was passed to Carl Zerrahn ; also a vote of thanks to Secretary Barnes. Sept. 0, at a meeting of the board, a committee was empowered to treat with Mile. Christine Nilsson's agent for four or more appearances in oratorio in November or later. It was voted to hold a second Triennial Festival in May. Messrs. Zerrahn and Lang were reappointed at salaries of $500 and 8300. Rehearsals began Oct. 2, with Judas Maccabceus, four hundred singers present. Then for four Sunday evenings the choral portions of the Ninth Symphony were rehearsed, attendance from four hundred and seventy-five to five hundred and ten (S. 168, A. 138, T. 92, B. 112). Nov. 20, Symphony and JfessioA rehearsed, with Mile. Nilsson for a listener, and much pleased she was with the chorus. Nov. 27, rehearsed Israel in Egypt, five hundred voices. HISTORY OF THE HANDICL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 293^ On Monday afternoon, Dec. 19, after a week of various musical performances in Boston commemorative of the centennial anniver- sary of the birthday of Beethoven (Dec. 17, 1770), the Society, jointly with the Harvard Musical Association, gave a performance of the Ninth (or Choral) Symphony, after long and vigorous rehearsal of the choruses. This was preceded in the programme by the over- ture to Egmont; the quartet (in canon) from Fidelio ; an andante and adagio from the Prometheus ballet ; and the Hallelujah chorus from the Mount of Olives. In this memorable concert the rich week of the Beethoven Centennial reached its climax and its close. It was a remarkable success, although the audience fell short of expec- tation ; there was a loss of over $500, which was shared equally between the two societies. The chorus was five hundred and fifty strong, and did its work nobly ; the orchestra of sixty-four instru- ments was never more responsive to jMr. Zerrahn's control. Even the almost impossible quartet of solo singers was well represented by Mrs. H. M. Smith, Mrs. C. A. Barry, Mr. W. J. Winch, and Mr. Rudolphsen. Next in order, fitly crowning that Beethoven year (for there is always kinship among greatest things) , came the annual performance of the Messiah, both on Christmas eve and on the evening of Christ- mas. The fatigue of the hard week was felt, and so was the benumbing spell of sudden winter ; so that the chorus seats were not at their fullest, and the orchestra was small. But with Zerrahn at the helm, and Lang at the great organ, with a chorus well trained, and with good principal singers, the oratorio went grandly as a whole. On Sunday evening the house was full, and so was the orchestra, and there was more life and spirit pervading the whole effort. Mrs. Weston, bating excessive nervousness (it was almost her debut), sang the soprano solos on the first evening with refinement ; a sincere musical quality and feeling making themselves felt in her pure, fresh,, liquid tones. On Sunday evening Mrs. Julia Houston West, with all her wonted fervor, and with more than wonted power, sang the great arias and recitatives. Miss Sterling took the contralto solos. The tenor on the first night was Mr. Winch ; on the second, Mr.. F. C. Packard, who, for a first appearance in so formidable a task, made a remarkably good impression. The bass solos were intrusted, to Mr. M. W. Whitney. 1871. The new year opened with six or eight consecutive rehear- sals upon Israel in Egypt. A stormy season thinned the average attendance, which ranged from 250 to 400. Early in Februarj', the Society and the community were called to- 294 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. mourn the loss of G-en. Thomas E. Cliickering, the oldest of three brothers who so successfully continued the noble business built up by their father. His winning, amiable disposition from his childhood made him many friends. He had served a thorough practical appren- ticeship in his business, having, first and last, with his own hands made every part of a piano. His sympathies were large, so that he found time for zealous participation in musical, military, charitable, and social enterprises. He had been president of the Handel and Haydn Society, Commander of the "Ancient and Honorable," and ■during the war did honorable service at the head of a regiment, for which he was brevetted general. He was modest, manly, kindly, gentlemanly, and true. To all, in all conditions, his words and man- ner were those of a friend. At a special meeting of the board of •directors (Feb. 17) the following resolutions were presented by Mr. Samuel Jennison : — Whereas, the recent and sudden death of Gen. Thomas E. Chickering has removed from among us a gentleman widely and honorably known in this •community, and one who has alwaj's manifested a warm interest In the Han- del and Haydn Society : Besolved, That the sad occasion presents fitting opportunity for the board of directors of this Society, which once enjoyed a prosperous season of several years under his presidency, and which never failed to receive favor at his hands, to express their appreciation of the liberality with which he, together with the firm of which he was the head, ever Tesponded to the call for aid in all musical and charitable enterprises ; and especially is it to be remembered that with him the offer of aid sprang from "the generosity of his nature rather than from the desire to advance private interest, or from the love of popular applause. Besolved, That to him as the head of a partnership of brothers, succeed- ing to the career of an honored father, himself once president of this Soci- ety, this community is indebted, to an extent that cannot be estimated, for the means of promoting the cultivation of the art in whose service this Society had its origin, which has shed grace and refinement upon thousands of New England homes, and has lent its invaluable influence in embellishing "the social life and manners, and in elevating this city to its proud and emi- nent position of Patron of Music and of Choral Song. Besolved, .That this Society desires to pay tribute to his memory by taking part in the musical exercises at his funeral, and thereby to testify its sympa- thy with his family and friends in their sudden bereavement. Besolved, That these resolutions be entered upon the records of the ;Society, and a copy be sent to the family of the deceased. He was buried with distinguished honors. The funeral service was at Trinity Church in Summer Street, Bishop Eastburn and the Rev. Phillips Brooks officiating. Large delegations from the various mili- tary bodies with which Gen. Chickering had been associated were HISTOKT OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 295 present ; and tlie workmen in the employ of the Messrs. Chickering, to the number of three hundred and ninety, filled the entire left of the bodj- of the church. There was an impressive musical service under the direction of Mr. J. C. D. Parker, the organist of the church; and the Handel and Haydn Society, under their conductor, Carl Zerrahn, sang the choral from Elijah^ "Cast thy burden on the Lord." The funeral cortege then moved to Mt. Auburn, where the remains were deposited in the family tomb. The work of rehearsal now went on, mainly with reference to the ■coming Festival, until April, and with an average attendance of 411, the highest number at one time being 550. On March 3, it was voted to return to the old "concert pitch," for the reason that, although new instruments at normal diapason pitch had been provided, still the movement in that direction had proved a failure for want of sym- pathy on the part of the musicians of the orchestra. What became of those new instruments (bassoons, clarinets, oboes, flutes) remains a riddle to this day, 1889. On the first and second days of April was realized at last a long- cherislied desire of the Society to give some oratorios with the dis- tinguished aid of the young Swedish singer, Christine Nilsson. On Saturday evening, preceded by a semi-public noonday rehearsal, the Messiah was given with a chorus of nearly seven hundred voices. Our notes at the time say : " There is something individual, original, and charmingly sincere in what the young Swede does ; something genuine from within, which is even better than the purity and sweet- ness of her voice and her artistic modulation of it ; and we were not surprised to hear from her a somewhat different rendering of the great songs in the Messiah from the examples set to us by great sing- ers heretofore. The distinguishing quality of .Christine Nilsson's singing of them was its beautiful simplicity, much of the time almost •childlike, and a pervading gentleness, the expression as of a deep, interior, meditative rapture (even in ' Eejoice greatly'), rather than the perpetual giving out of the full power of voice to triumph by main force. Hence, when the strong, emphatic points did come out, they told with ^ peculiar power, because the feeling was so genuine, so uncontainable. There was a virginal purity and sweetness, and a clear power, in her delivery of ' There were shepherds ' ; it was indeed an imaginative realization of the scene, the holy peace and beauty of the starry night, with its miraculous new hope ! ' Eejoice greatly,' given with exquisite grace and evenness, was not less truh' the expression of true joy because it did not leap out into loud, bold revelry of song ; it was the heart full of happiness communing with 296 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETV. itself ; something too much, perhaps, of the sotto voce, so that some- of the more shaded tones may not have fully reached the ear in all parts of the hall ; but still one knew how true and good it all was ;. and how feelingly the words ' He is the righteous Saviour,' etc., were expressed in the tearful voice ! ... In the great song of faith, ' I know that my Redeemer liveth,' it is not too much to say that she actually made it new to us, imparting such freshness to it, such origi- nality (not sought for as such) , that, for the first time since we heard Jenny Lind, her countrywoman, sing it, we were not bored, but happy to hear the song repealed. It was characterized, as we have said, by quiet fervor and assurance ; a heart's confession to itself, rather than a bold proclamation and profession ; touchingly shaded as the various reflections came up. And when the words ' I know ' returned again, it was not with strong, bold emphasis, but with a ' still voice,' far inward, as in rapt revery and ecstasy of faith." It seemed to infuse a new spirit into the whole. Seldom did the choruses all go so well, and well were they accompanied. The other leading singers, also, did tlieir best: Miss Annie Gary, Mrs. Houston West, and the Messrs. "Winch. The Greation had a no less uncom- monly good performance. Nothing could be more evenly and exqui- sitely melodious than Nilsson's singing of " With verdure clad " ; though "On mighty pens " was better suited to the grander, soaring st3'le of Jenny Lind, whose voice went up there like a rocket. Mr. Whitney's grand, deep bass was never so telling as in those descrip- tive pieces ; Mr. Simpson was happy in the tenor airs ; and Mrs. West, in the trying predicament of inheriting the soprano role fromi Nilsson (in the Adiim and Eve scene), acquitted herself in a most praiseworthy manner. E'rora that time forward the second Triennial Festival in May was the one objective point of the whole work of the Society, with a clear field before it. Rehearsals came thick and fast; no less than twelve in April, with attendance varying from 200 to 536 ; in May, five more. SECOND TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL. May 9-14, 1871. The scheme was an immense one, perhaps almost too ambitious- Think of Handel's Israel in Egypt, copious selections from Bach's- Passion Music, Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise and Elijah, Beetho- ven's Choral Symphony, and Bennett's Woman of Samaria, together with much more, in one week's programme ! Well might the worthy HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 297 :secretary, elated with the result, exclaim, " Probably the most stu- ;penclous progi'amme ever presented at any Festival, either at home or abroad, was here presented, and the performances, of the oratorios in particular, elicited from the most critical the most unbounded praise." It included nine great concerts, five of oratorio and four ■of symphony, etc., ending on Sunday with the never-failing Messiah. The chorus numbered over seven hundred voices, properly balanced and of better average quality than ever before. The orchestra, with that of our own symphony concerts for a nucleus, included many of the best musicians of the Philharmonic and Thomas orchestras of New York, others from Philadelphia and other places, to the number •of one hundred in all. The principal vocalists were : — Soprani: Mme. Erminia Rudersdorff, for the first time', than whom no soprano for a dozen years had shown herself more thoroughly qual- ified for the oratorio tasks of the Birmingham and London festivals ; besides Mrs. Juliu Houston West and Mrs. H. M. Smith. Contralti: Miss Adelaide Phillipps, Miss Annie Louise Gary, and Miss Antoinette Sterling. Tenon': Mr. William H. Cummings, expressly from London, and Mr. William J. Winch. Bassi: Mr. Myron W. Whitney, Mr. J. F. Rudolphsen, and Mr. John F. Winch, — all residents of Boston. For solo pianists, two distinguised German artists, Miss Anna Mehlig, of Stuttgart, and Miss Marie Kretis, of Dresden, were engaged. Of course Carl Zerrahn conducted, and Mr. B. J. Lang presided over the 5,700 pipes of the great organ, which had been tuned up to the reigning concert pitch (at a cost to the Society of $1,000). FiEST Day. Tuesday Afternom, Mai/ 9. Nicolai's Religious Fes- tival Overture, founded on Luther's choral, " Ein' /este Burg," for orchestra, chorus, and organ, again, for the fourth time, did dutj' at the opening of a Handel and Haydn Festival. It has hardly the intrinsic worth to warrant that distinction ; but it served to impress the audience at once with the full weight and breadth of the great gathering of forces, vocal and instrumental. Next came the rousing aria, "Sound an alarm," from Handel's Judas Maccabmus, which introduced the young English tenor, Mr. Cummings, who was more than a good singer, really a good musician, having had an organist's education, which is an excellent foundation. A pupil of Dr. Hop- kins, of the Temple Church, he was known also, unprofessionally, to sing well. Accident first brought him out in that capacity. Only .seven years before, Sims Reeves had called on him to take his place 298 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. in Judas Maccabceus, and after much hesitation he consented ; his success was marked; he was encored in "Sound an alarm," and from that time, after some period of study in Italy, he had been a public singei-T mostly in the field of oratorio. A musician in his instincts and his culture, we found him also a refined, intelligent, well-educated gentleman. We never heard this battle song so pow- erfully given by any one, with the exception of Sims Beeves, who evidently furnished him the model. In an able review of this Festi- val by the late Mr. F. C. Bowman, of New York, we find the follow- ing just estimate of Mr. Ciimmings : — " There was no passionate earnestness in his singing, but an even excel- lence. Whatever he did was characterized by discretion, good judgment, and a broad intelligence. He was a singer of such refinement and delicate sensibility that at the close of whatever he sang one could not but commend the tact with which the salient points had been brought out, the admirable wisdom with which every musical phrase had been balanced, and the exact measure of expression accorded to it. Mr. Cummings's voice was by no means a marvel of beauty, whether as regards quality or quantity. Many men have finer voices, and even more have larger ones; but in the well- trained sliill, the discipline of years, the discretion and the wisdom that guided Mr. Cummings in the use of his powers to their best advantage, and enabled him to convey to his hearers the exact meaning of the composer, he has no equal among us." Third on the programme came Mendelssohn's four-part song, " Farewell to the Forest," sung by the entire chorus unaccompanied. It was an absorbing, rich, cool, broad mass of euphonious harmony, each of the four parts being palpably felt, and all, in time and tune, in light and shade, in clear, precise enunciation, as perfect as one could wish. In the third stanza it went without the conductor's wand, steady as clock work, with no shade of drooping from the pitch. It had to be repeated. Yet the unpretending part-song was never written to be sung in that way ; it was subjecting it to too strong a magnifying lens. After a graceful rendering of Rossini's ' ' Non piu mesta " by Miss Gary, Mme. Rudei'sdorff made her first appearance here in a scena in the classical character of Medea, composed for her by Randegger, then the foremost Italian teacher of singing in London. Rndersdorfl was her maiden name. She was born in December, 1822, at Ivan- owsky in Russia ; but at the age of three years she was taken to Hamburg, where her father was engaged as concert master. Her beautiful voice was formed at an early age through Marianne Sessi ; afterwards Banderali and Bordogni became her teachers. After appearing in England and Germany as a concert siuger, she made her HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 299 debut in opera at Carlsruhe in 1841, and was then engaged at Franb- fort-on-the-Main, where she was married in 1844 to Dr. Kiichen- meister, a professor of mathematics. In the prime of her youth and beauty, both of voice and person, she made a notable career in Ger- man opera. After renouncing the stage for a time, she accepted an engagement at Breslau in 1846 ; afterwards in Berlin from 1852 to 1854, when she removed to London, where she resided until her coming here. Her first role in London was Mozart's Donna Anna ; but she soon gave herself to oratorio and concert singing. In the Birmingham Festival of 1861, where the present writer first heard her, she shared the leading soprano honors with such artists as Tiet- jens and Mme. Lemmens-Sherrington, and her voice at that time seemed more worn than it did here. It must have been glorious once. Her strong side, next to her complete musicianship (rare among singers), was her dramatic fire and the intensity with which she threw herself into the passion and expression of her song. There was a marvellous vitality about her ; her earnest, sympathetic pres- ence seemed to quicken chorus, orchestra, and all around her ; it was even said that orchestras in London stood in fear of her, she lvofit of $1,000. This left a clear field for work. .^^ jijp the Festival ; no more con- certs until then, with the exception of Elijah at Easter, which needed little study. This, coming to the front after so long a period of retired and as it were underground work, was a sort of I'envoi to the great feast in preparation. It was an excellent performance, the new point of interest being the rendering of the prophet's part by Mr. J. F. Winch, whose rich, elastic quality of voice gave peculiar life to all the music. Mr. George L. Osgood sang the first tenor aria very beautifully, but he was evidently laboring under great depression, being obliged to face an audience, as singers and actors often are, when he should have been in his bed. Mrs. West showed signs of great fatigue, after protracted Easter services in church choirs, but sang with her usual fervor and success. Mrs. Sawyer, the contralto, and Mrs. Weston, as "the Youth," and in the trio and quartets made a very favorable impression. THIRD TRIENNI.\L FESTIVAL. 1874. Tuesday Eveotxg, May 5, to Sunday Evening, May 10. All the auspices were favorable for a rich, choice feast of oratorio and symphony and song. It was a singularly quiet Festival (exter- nally), which to a refined, artistic feeling is refreshing. This is said in view of the dignified and simple style of its announcements, of the absence of all "splurge" such as was wont to accompany all "big things" in this country, and of the general quiet of the city as if there was nothing remarkable going on. And yet in no previous Festival had there been so deep and true an interest, and none had yielded so much real satisfaction. It seemed a wholesome natural reaction to the monster " Jubilee " excitements, disposing everyone to greater love of what is modest, moderate, sincere, and solid. Even the elements conspired to bless the undertaking ; for the first time in a long wintry spring, the blustering winds for a week sang truce, and there was continual sunshine, cheering, though not very warming. In one respect a little less of quiet would have been more welcome ; the visitors from other cities did not seem so numerous as usual. Of the intrinsic elements of strength in such a Festival, — the chorus, orchestra, and solo artists, — the first two were stronger than ever before, while the average excellence in the list of principal sing- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYPV SOCIETY. 335 ei-s compared well with the pr^^- If the great chorus had before been greater, it was in ^tlow an' i numbers only: this time the 600 voices were more select, more- . il^'balanced in the four parts, more carefully trained and more effective than the 700 or 800 of some earlier occasions. The 600 were divided about as follows: 170 sopranos, 150 altos, 130 tenors, and 160 basses. A great advantage was secured in the engagement of the permanent and admirable orchestra of Theodore Thomas (one of the fruits, perhaps, of that memorable New York excursion). To the 60 musicians of Thomas were added 25 of the best of our own city. Other important ele- ments of strength were, of course, the indefatigable and efficient conductorship of Carl Zerrahn, the veteran leader of such hosts ; the noble organ, under the judicious hands of B. J. Lang ; then the great privilege which Boston enjoyed in the possession of a Music Sail so nobly fitted for these great occasions. To which add the public spirit of so many of our citizens, who, as usual, made up the guaranty of nearly $50,000, without which no society could risk so great an under- taking ; and, above all, the zeal, the fertility of resources, the judg- ment and unwearied industry of the president (Barnes) and secre- tary (Browne) , and indeed of the whole board of management of the brave old Society. The fine audiences added their important sympa- thetic element of strength, contributing much to the artistic side of the affair, to its morale, if not enough to the financial side. We have not yet even hinted of the most essential feature in the whole design, inasmuch as matter is of more consequence than man- ner, — the programmes. Of these as they occur in the order of the feast. The Festival anticipated its own opening, practically, by a public rehearsal on Sunday evening (May 3) of Bach's Passion Music. That was in some respects a mistake. Such confidence was rash ; for it was bringing together for the first and only time, before the regular performance, of all the elements of this immense, unwonted, and most diflScult combination ; the first and only trial of a vast, most complex organization ; orchestra with chorus, until then trained separately ; orchestra with solo voices, not yet brought into full understanding with each other. The consequence was a great deal of friction and imperfect flttmg. The choral effect was grand ; but the solo singers, having parts most difficult and of an unfamiliar style, and furthermore unsettled in their sense of time and rhythm by the ceaseless flow and the peculiar phrasing of the instrumental parts, were exposed to the awkwardness and nervousness of frequent stopping and repeating. And this before an audience quite numer- 336 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. ous (perhaps critical, as people are apt to be of a new thing which they do not understand), an audience composed of over 400 season- ticket holders, and 200 who had bought the privilege, besides a still larger array of the freely admitted. Puzzled and fatigued, many of the audience left the hall before the rehearsal was half over, so that an impression may have gone abroad by no means favorable to the great work itself. But fortunately the fear was not confirmed by the attendance upon Friday evening, which proved to be the largest of the week till then. Many had listened, felt, and begun to love that music and desire more acquaintance with it. First Day. Tuesday Evening, May 3. A large, appreciative audi- ence listened to such a performance of Handel's Judas Maccabceus as had not been heard here before. They say it all went to a charm, what with the large and well-trained chorus, Thomas orchestra, and a very competent quartet of solo singers. A satisfactory produc- tion of the fine work, with two deductions : first, the want of some pious labor of completion to the accompaniments in many pieces, as we have intimated before, some work of a man like Robert Franz ; secondly, a sin of omission, the cutting out of some of the finest numbers of the work, for instance, the chorus, " For Sion lamenta- tion make," and the abridgment of the superb chorus, " Tune your harps." Among the solo singers, Miss Edith "Wynne held the place of honor. She had recrossed the stormy ocean slightly hoarse, but with all the purity and sweetness of tone, the artistic fineness, the simple beauty of expression, and the chaste religious fervor, which w6n all hearts when she was here before, and also with more volume and intensity of voice. Miss Annie Gary's rendering of the little that she had to do, the serious air, " Father of Heaven," and in the duets with soprano, was entirely satisfactory. Mr. Nelson Varley was in good voice for the heroic tenor parts, and gave out all he had with a \»nole-souled resolve to do his best. Mr. Whitney's ponderous bass tones told majestically in "Arm, arm, ye brave," "Rejoice, O Judah," and particularly in " The Lord worketh wonders," giving its sustained roulades with remarkable evenness and symmetry of phrasing. It was a common remark that this was the " most per- fect rendering of an oratorio yet heard in Boston." The hall was two thirds full. Second Day. Wednesday, May 6. The afternoon concert had the following programme : — 1. Overture to JSuryanthe Weber. 2. Aria: " Ah! quel giorno," from /S'emiraniWe . . Bossini. Miss Annie Louise Gary. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 337 *3. Concerto for String Orchestra. Allegro — Adagio — Allegro J. s. Bach. Violin obbligato by Mk. Bernhard Listemajstn. i. Unflnished Symphony, in B minor ... . . Schubert. 5. Overture to Midsummer Night's Dream . . . Mendelssohn. 6. Recit. edAria: "Ah! Parlate," from ^ftramo . Cimarosa. Miss Edith Wynxe. *7. Variations on a theme by 1 laydn .... Brahms. *8. Aria :" Qui s'degno," from II Flauto Magico ' . Mozart. Mr. Myeon W. Whitney. *9. Vorspiel : Die Jleistersinger von Niirnherg . . Wagner. The numbers which are starred were conducted by Mr. Thomas ; all tlie rest by Mr. Zerrahn. In the evening the audience was very large, attracted chiefly by the chance of hearing Beethoven's Choral Symplwny under such rare advantages, as well as the first part of Haydn's Seasons, — the fresh, melodious, cheerful music of the Spring, in which the old man seems to have renewed his youth. But the concert opened with the over- ture to Spohr's Jessonda, finely played, followed by the tenor air, "Be thou faithful unto death," from St. Paul, sung in good voice and with considerable fervor by Mr. W. J. Winch. The gem of the "Spring" music was the chorus, " Come, gentle Spring," which is simplj' perfect in itself, and in which all the voices blended to a charm. All the chorus work was nearly faultless, and so was all the graceful, flowery accompaniment.. The songs, duets, and trios were most acceptably rendered by Mrs. H. M. Smith, soprano, Mr. George L. Osgood, tenor, and Mr. John F. Winch, bass. Part II. was filled by the great Choral Symphony. A writer, whom we perhaps too often quote, said of the performance : — " It seemed as good, upon the whole, as any we have ever heard ; and yet, though thei-e was everything to be hoped from such an admirable orchestra, we cannot say that every part seemed quite so clear or so impressive in the first of the purely instrumental movements, or that the Scherzo made the blood tingle with quite so tine a life, as in some former renderings, although the reeds and horns sounded exquisitely in the playful pastoral trio. But the heavenly Adagio, alternating with Andante, was all that sense or soul could crave. The excited opening of the second part, the frantic outcry for the solution of the problem of true joy and peace, was made still more exciting by Richard Wagners modification of the trumpet parts. The double basses spoke out grandly and distinctly in their recitative, and hummed the "Joy" tune through in light expressive unison The entrance of the human bass voice with the exhortation, ' Brothers, no more,' etc., a most eloquent but trying piece of recitative, was well achieved by Mr. Rudolphsen. The great chorus, and the quartet of soli (Mrs. Smith, Miss Gary, Mr. Varley, and Mr. Rudolphsen) 338 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. rose to the height of the occasion, with what seemed a genuine crescendo of enthusiasm, so that even the long-sustained high notes at the sublime reli- gious climax, where aU the human 'millions,' in a general embrace, find joy in universal brotherhood and so rise to the conception of the Father, sounded musical and true. Always excepting the lamented Parepa-Rosa, who seemed made for such a part, no soprano has been found here more competent to the extremely trying soaring passages than Mrs. Smith ; and indeed the whole quartet were repiarkaby successful, even in that fourfold, flowery, long cadenza near the end. It was a triumphant feat of chorus singing, — rather say choral service, — for the singers threw themselves into it with some devo- tion, in a whole-souled way ; and so, with such an orchestra besides, the audi- ence could not but be greatly stirred and lifted up." Third Day. Thursday, May 7. The afternoon concert was of great interest. It began with a fine performance under Mr. Thomas of Gluck's Iphigenia overture, with Wagner's ending. Then Haydn's tenor song, "In native worth," from the Creaion, well sung bj' Mr. Varley, preceded the first of three short choral works, which formed the chief attraction of the programme. This was the beautiful motet by Mendelssohn, "Hear my prayer," for soprano solo and chorus, accompanied only by the organ as the composer wrote ; the orches- tral accompaniment, which some one else has put to it, is sometimes rather a disturbance than a help to the pure, delicate impression of the work. The motet was first introduced in Boston in some concerts of a private club by Mr. Otto Dresel ; a few years later it was given by the Parker Club. The solo part was admirably suited to Miss Wynne ; in nothing all the week, with the exception of some things in Judas, did she produce a more delightful impression. The agon- ized petition, "The enemy shouteth," and the cry of distress, "My heart is sorely pained," were given with a thrilling pathos ; and the sweet, soaring melody, " Oh for the wings of a dove," was heavenly. The choral answers and accompaniment were nicely sung. After the scena, "Che faro," from Gluck's Orfeo, finely sung by Miss Cary, came the second choral work, heard here for the first time in full, with orchestra and grand chorus, Mendelssohn's unfinished oratorio, Christus. These fragments indicate a grand design, — a work, perhaps, which would have surpassed Elijah or St. Paul. They were composed in Switzerland in the summer of 1847, only a few months before his death, when he had not recovered from the fatal shock of his beloved sister's death. The plan of the oratorio was laid out on a grand scale ; it was to be in three parts, " The Career on Earth, the Descent into Hell, the Ascent to Heaven." In the thematic catalogue these fragments, all relating to the earthly career, are divided into first and second part. To Part I., which has the HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 339 glow of hope and prophecy, belong, first, the trio for tenor and two basses, of the wise men from the East, "Say, where is he born? We have seen his star,'' which is strikingly beautiful, and was finely sung by Messrs. W. J. and J. F. Winch and Mr. Whitney ; then a noble chorus, " There shall a star from Jacob come forth," endinj)- with the old German choral, " How sweetly shines the morning star !" in plain note-for-note harmony. These " star " fragments shone in sweet, pure radiance in the excellent performance. The pieces of Part II. are Passion music. They consist of a few sentences of nar- rative recitative for a tenor voice, and a number of accusing, angry choruses of Jews {turbce), " He saith he is Jesus," " He stirreth up the Jews," " Away with him and give Barabbas to us ! " — all very vivid and exciting, reaching their climax in " Crucify him," which is a chorus of appalling power. Very strong, too, is the short inexora- ble one, "We have a sacred law," etc. These harsh pictures are at length relieved by a sweet, tender lamentation, the chorus, "Daughters of Zion, weep," in which simple passages for the sopra- nos and altos in thirds alternate with full chorus, — a very lovely composition, sure of sympathetic audience when so well sung as it was then. The last of the fragments is a choral harmonized in four parts for the male voices, " He leaves his heavenl}' portals." The Christus made a deep impression. A new work by one of our own composers, Mr. Dudley Buck, tlxe Forty-sixth Psalm, closed the concert. The same psalm inspired the famous hymn and melody by Luther, '■'■ Ein' feste Burg." But Mr. Buck has treated all the eleven verses of the psalm in the extended and broad form of composition with which we have become familiar mostly through the psalms by Mendelssohn, though earlier examples, under the titles of cantatas, anthems, etc., abound in the works of Bach and Handel. He employs full chorus, solo voices, and orches- tra. In portioning out the different sentences, with their contrasts of sentiment, among the various vocal forms of air, quartet, chorus, etc., he has shown tact and judgment. Mr. Buck's work was some- what light and popular in style, but nearly always pleasing, musical, felicitous, if not very original in thoughts or very skilful in the treat- ment. It made a good impression, and confirmed the good opinion of his talent which prevailed before. The fourth verse, " There is a river," consists of a soprano solo, which was sung with fervor and with good expression by Mrs. Julia Houston West, followed first by a quartet of sopranos and altos, then (to a new verse), " God is in the midst of her," by a quartet of tenors and basses, and then by both parties combined in a double quartet recalling the words, " There 340 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. is a river." ^he quartet seemed cleverly wrought, the solo melodi- ous, not particularly imaginative or deep in feeling, a little operatic like the modern Italian sacred music. A strong declamatory recita- tive, "The heathen raged," was grandly delivered by Mr. J. F. Winch. Mr. Nelson Varley made the best of an elaborate tenor solo, " O come hither." And a quartet, " Be still then," made an agreeable impression as sung by Mrs. West, Miss Gary, Mr. Varley, and Mr. Whitney. The evening of that day was devoted to a full rehearsal of Prof. Paine's St. Peter. Fourth Day. Friday, May 8. The third of the afternoon concerts attracted a goodly aurlienee, but not a paying one. This, unfortu- nately, was the case with all the afternoon concerts, with the excep- tion of the one occasion on which choral works were given. The programme this time offered some of the best classical works for orchestra, offset in very sharp contrast by some of the characteristic and (to many) questionable things by Liszt and Wagner, the whole agreeably relieved by songs. 1. Overture to Coriolanus . ... Beethoven. 2. Aria: " My heart, ever faithful " . . . J. S. Bach. Miss Edith Wynne. 3. Symphony, No. 1, in B flat .... . Schumann. *4. A Faust overture Wagner. 5. Eomanza, " I greet thee now," from Eiickert, Op. 20, No. 1 Schubert. Mk. George L. Osgood. 6. Adagio, from The Men of Prometheus . . . Beethoven. 7. Welsh Songs, a, "The Missing Boat"; &," A gentle maid in secret sighed." Miss Edith Wynne. *8. Symphonic Poem, Tasso Liszt. Mr. Theodore Thomas conducted in the Wagner and Liszt pieces, which could not suffer in performance by this splendid orchestra. Mr. Zerrahn conducted the rest of the concert. Bach's gladsome aria, that rapturous bird song of a heart full of faith, was sung with real feeling and expression by Miss Wynne ; and her native Welsh songs had the charm of quaint simplicity and freshness, especially a third one, which she sang for an encore, to Mr. Lockwood's harp accompaniment. Schubert's beautiful and serious romanza, " Sei mir gegriisst," was so finely sung by Mr. Osgood that he was obliged to repeat it. HISTOiSY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. ' 341 The evening brought the great experience of the week, — the first performance in this country of the larger portion — twice as much as we were allowed to have three years before — of Bach's Passion Music according to the Gospel of St. Matthew. To give the whole work in a single performance would be neither practicable nor wise. If it is to be produced entire, it should be divided into two concerts on the same day, as it was originally sung in church, Part I. in the morning, and Part II. in the evening service. It called out by far the largest audience, until then, of the Festival, an audience the like of which, considering both character and numbers, and the profound attention paid, had not for many a day been seen in that great Music Hall. To the effect produced by the elaborate, strange music, now vast and overwhelming, now tender, dreamy, mj'stical and subtle, now full of deep peace, soothing and refreshing, the newspaper reports of the day bore witness. Their testimony, as well as the deeply inter- ested aspect of the whole audience, of whom not a dozen persons left their seats before they had drunk in the last note of the final chorus, and the expressions of delight and wonder heard on all sides as the crowd poured out, were conclusive as to the decided triumph of the difficult and doubtful undertaking. Of course there were exceptions ; there were some who did not get beyond the state of reverent and patient curiosity, of conscientious listening, like a jurj' on a case which on the whole was but a bore to them ; some felt the beauty and the grand repose of the chorals, were startled by the "Lightning" chorus, but found the solos tedious and untuneful, and would have liked them left out like the part of Hamlet. But the general ex- perience was one of unexpected gratification, of a new sense of beauty and of power in music, and of a serene and hoi}' influence, such as, perhaps, no music had ever exercised upon their souls to quite the same degree before. And this was the intrinsic potency of Bach's music. The miracle was wrought by its mere presence, in spite of manifold and serious imperfections in the actual performance. It ' was not Boston's first experience of the kind. It was through years and years of rude and crude attempts at true interpretation, during our days of small things in the way of instrumental means, that the love of the Beethoven symphonies at last became so rooted in this community. The weak and tentative beginning had first to be made, and even that raised up the nucleus of the larger audience. It wa& well, therefore, to have made a beginning with the Passion Music; the effort was rewarding both to those who sang and those who lis- tened. In that imperfect undertaking a new love was planted, and 342 HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. it will grow and be abiding. Tlie imperfections, in spite of which the Passion Music took at once so strong a hold upon so many hearing it for the first time, were chiefly these : — 1. Those due to the want of full rehearsal. There had been frequent and careful rehearsals of the chorus by itself; doubtless, too, the several solo singers had spent earnest private study upon their unwonted tasks ; there had been at the most one or two trials of the solos with tlie orchestra. But the bringing together of all the elements of so immense and difficult a work had been risked upon a single chance, and that in the presence of a large audience paying for admission, a nervous and unenviable predicament for the soloists? who, either on their own account or that of the orchestra, had fre- quently to be stopped and made to repeat passages or entire arias. The defect from this cause was most apparent in the orchestra, which, had it even been a perfect one, could not be at home in music of so unusual a character, requiring to be fitted with such nice and delicate discrimination, in all details of rhythm, phrasing, accent, light and shade and color, to the vocal melody, particularly to the melodic fragments of the accompanied recitative. 2. The inadequacy of solo singers ; not to be wondered at, con- sidering the difficulty and the unwonted character of all the melody. Even Miss Wynne, with her sweet voice, her exquisite delivery, and deep, pure feeling, was not always equal to this music. More than once, in the accompanied recitative, which requires to be given in strict time, she was out of time, partly through the fault of the orchestra (in regard to accent, phrasing, over-loudness, etc.). But the aria, " Never will my heart refuse thee," was beautifully sung. And in the latter part, that divinely lovely aria, "From love unbounded," with its delicate accompaniment of merely a flute obbligato and two clarinets, was given with the truest feeling. It was in the preceding recitative, " He hath done only good to all," that voice and instruments failed to agree ; and yet the singer put "dramatic fire into it. Miss Phillipps was least of all herself in the contralto airs. She evidently approached the task with much mis- giving ; and though she doubtless felt the beauty, depth, and tender- ness of the music, she would not of her own choice have sung it publicly before she could wear its forms as easily as she did those of music she had sung for j-ears. In the great aria, '• O pardon me " {Erbarme dicli) , she was out of tune, and the whole rendering was lifeless. Mr. Listemann's playing of the violin obbligato, however, lent considerable interest to it. In her first aria, " Grief and pain," she was much more successful. In that aria we have an instance of HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 343 Bach's tendency to '' picture music," wtiich with most composers is mechanical and false. But here, when the violin staccato phrases imitate the dropping of tears ; again in the tearful appoggiaturas in " pardon me,' and in the duet, " Alas ! mj- Jesus now is taken," it is all unconscious on Bach's part, and only shows the vividness of his imagination all alive through his intensity of feeling. This duet before the thunder and lightning chorus was touching and beautifuUj- rendered. The largest measure of success among the solo singers was achieved by Mr. Wm. J. Winch, whose task was the most arduous of all, both in its amount and its peculiar difficulty. All the tenor recitatives, both of the narrative portion (recitativo seccn) and the accompanied and more melodic, like " O Grief ! " (with chorus), called for all the voice (mostly in the higher range) and all the understanding, feeling, carefully studied method, which the most experienced tenor could bring to their interpretation. He had the voice, and he had faith- fully learned his part so as to give all at least correctly, oftentimes with much expression and dramatic power. As a vocalist he had been studying to some purpose. The beautiful, but very trying aria, " I '11 watch with my dear Jesu alway," where the oboe exquisitely leads off with the melody, and where the soothing and refreshing chorus, " So slumber," keeps stealing back under continually new forms of polyphonic harmony, made really a deep impression. In the narrative recitative the crisp, dry chords were struck by Mr. Dresel on an upright piano, which was far more reassuring to the singer than to have them, as in the rehearsal, tardily reach him from the distant organ ; moreover every such contrast in the character of tone relieves the ear in such a work. There were dignity and gran- deur, as well as good and even execution, albeit too much inert weight, in Mr. Whitney's rendering of the bass arias, "Gladly will I, all resigning," and that with the violin solo, 'after Judas has cast down the silver pieces, "Give me back my dearest master." The latter he had made in some degree his own by singing it in concerts. His delivery also of the recitatives, the Master's words, was impressive, and yet needed much of tenderness and delicacy, as in the scene of the supper. Mr. Eudolphsen gave an intelligent, artistic rendering of the air, " Come, blessed cross ! " in the last part, with the florid violoncello obbligato, as well as some fragments of the recitative in the part of Judas. The wonder, on the whole, was that the solos went so well, and that so many strange long arias, in a style so remote from all the habits formed by singers of our day, — a style for which even Han- 344 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. del is no preparation, — he so classic, Bach so Gothic, — should after all have interested so manj' of the audience so deeply as they did. Enough was learned by that experience to show that this is music well worth all the study it may cost. 3. In the matter of selection and abridgment perhaps better judgment might have been used. The problem was a difficult one (how best to compress three hours into two hours), and the best solu- tion was only to be found out by. experience. Looking back after the performance, it became clear enough that the long series of solos in Part II. would have been much relieved by the interspersing of a few more chorals (always so refreshing), and by some of those short, quick, stirring, and exciting '■^turbce," angry choruses of Jews, which would have enlivened the whole thing. The great figured choral at the end of Part I., too, was a serious loss, musically, although dramatically the first part ends well with the taking of Jesus and the imprecaltion of heaven's " lightnings and thunders "■ by the outraged disciples. The opening alto aria with chorus in Part II., "Ah! now is my Jesu gone," and "Whither has thy friend departed?" so romantic in its tone, as if from the Song of Solomon, would have supplied another element of fresh variety and contrast. Again, instead of Mr. Whitney's first bass aria, the last one in the work, preceded by the recitative, " At eventide, cool hour of rest,'' a great favorite in G-ermany, would have made more impression. So, too, it was a pity to lose the first of the soprano arias, "Only bleed," and the alto air with chorus, "Look where Jesus beck'ning stands." But in a year or two should we not hear it all, given in two performances, say on the morning and evening of Good Friday ? The great impression was made by the choruses. Their sublimity and beauty, their great variety, now of dramatic vividness and now of sweetest tenderness and tranquillizing rest, were felt by all. The rendering, even of the most difficult, was indeed a triumph of hard, patient study ; bating now and then a fault of tempo or of shading, it was all reasonably good. The colossal opening double chorus, " Come, ye daughters, weep for anguish," was overwhelming, although the movement was a bit too fast. As the broad rhythm, begun by the double orchestra, streamed onward, choir answering choir, and finally the soprano ripieno (clearly given out in unison from the upper balcony by about sixty boys from the Rice School) came in with the intermittent lines of the choral, "O Lamb of God," which seemed to bind the whole vast fabric together, there was a sense of sublimity and awe experienced, such as the audience had hardly HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 345 dreamed of. What much contributed to this success was the advan- tage offered by our noble Music Hall, for the effective placing and displaying of aU these forces, over nearly every hall, and surely every church in Europe. The two or three short colloquial choruses of disciples, which soon followed, quaint, complex in the interweav- ing of the parts, but graphic, full of life, were clearly and success- fully achieved. Nothing more beautiful, more tenderly affecting, is there in the whole work than the repeated intervention of the chorus in the tenor solo, "O Grief," and the following aria, "I'll watch," etc. ; there the voices blended exquisitely, and the consoling, heav- enly, ever- varied harmony, swelling and dying into pianissimo, held every heart entranced. Then, of course, "Ye lightnings, ye thun- ders," was as startling and stupendous as before, and had to be repeated ; unfortunately the effect is weakened by breaking the 'dra- matic connection, by not repeating also the whole scene from the beginning of the preceding duet, with the little spasmodic bursts of chorus, " Leave Him," "Bind Him not," etc. Here, too, the Franz instrumentation, and the great organ, played by Mr. Lang, lent new intensity and overwhelming grandeur. With the exception of the chorals, of which it onl3' need be said that every one of the too few that were sung was a pure moment of the most solemn, sweet refreshment, and that the harmony with which Bach has clothed them has in it a certain hallowed, self-renew- ing charm, of which no other composer, not even Mendelssohn, seems to have fully caught the secret, — the chorus did not have to come in again until they were called upon to sing those wonderful two meas- ures, " Truly this was the Son of God," after that thrilling piece of scenic recitative, "Behold! the veil of the temple was rent," for his grand declamation of which Mr. Winch won signal credit, for it is a passage of tremendous difficulty. Then came the tender and unspeakably beautiful responses, " My Jesu, good night," to the alternate sentences of solo by each of the four voices, beginning with the bass, " The Lord has lain him down to rest" ; and then the incomparable, the holy final double chorus, the farewell of the disci- ples at the tomb of Jesus, full of sadness and yet fuller of deep peace and rest for weary souls. The time was taken slower, prop- erly so, than in former renderings ; but there was still room for improvement in the alternation ofi moderately loud and soft; to the "Best thee softly" of the first chorus the second should have answered _pm»!SSimo with " Softly rest." Fifth Day. Saturday, May 9. A day well filled up with music, — three performances. At noon an organ concert, by the organist of 346 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. the Society and of the Festival, Mr. B. J. Lang, who interpreted the following programme : — 1. Fantaisie in G .... Bach. 2. Organ Sonata, No. i, in B flat, Op. 66 ... . Mendelssohn. 3. Improvisation. 4. Transcription for organ of Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise Symphony, three movements. The audience was small, as all organ audiences are apt to be, at least in Boston; but for those present it was an hour of tranquil, soulful, rich enjoyment. Bach and Mendelssohn had been heard through the medium of that great organ much too seldom for some time before. The Fantaisie by Bach was always one of Mr. Lang's happiest selections, and he knew how to make its beauty, depth, and grandeur felt. His combinations and contrasts of registers in the Mendelssohn Sonata, and in the three symphonic movements of the Hymn nf Praise were excellent, and the whole treatment gave a clear and just conception of both compositions, — although no organ and no organ playing can replace an orchestra. The fourth afternoon concert was listened to by an immense crowd (largely composed of members of the chorus and their guests) . We are only able to record the programme, of which the numbers bearing stars were conducted by Mr. Thomas : — 1. Overture to the Magic Flute Mozart. 2. " Shadow Song," from. Dinorah Meyerbeer. Mks. H. M. Smith. *3. Symphony, Lenore .... ... Baff. 4. Overture to Genoveva Schumann. *5. Aria, " In questa tomba oscura " Beethoven. Mb. Myron W. Whitney. *6. Scherze, La Beine Mah, ou La Fee des Songes . . . Berlioz. 7. Scena, " Softly sighs," from JDer i^Vet/scMte . . . Weber. Miss Edith Wynne. *8. Kaiser Marsch Wagner. In the evening the oratorio, St. Peter, by John Knowles Paine, was presented for the first time in Boston, after having been given only once before, namely, in the composer's native city, Portland, Maine. The old Society had taken up this serious and formidable effort of a young American composer in good earnest and with a strong desire to find the promise of its most partial eulogists fulfilled. Nearly as much time was given to the rehearsal of its choruses as to that of all HISTORY OF THE HA^'DEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 347 the other choral pieces of the Festival together ; and it was serious up-hill work, — more work than recreation. Indeed it was a common complaint among the singers that, in many of the choruses, the music did not help them, did not inspire them, take them up and carry them along with it, by that sort of charm which made the diffi- culties of Bach, for instance, or of Mendelssohn, or Handel, or even the Ninth Symphony, melt away before them to their own surprise. But finally the task was mastered, and depression gave way to a glad and buoyant sense of power. It was a trying position for Mr. Paine's work to be placed thus immediately between the master works of Bach and Handel ; held up in so strong a light, any new work might well have shrunk and shrivelled into nothingness ; that it sur- vived the ex[josure was evidence of power and merit in it. The same juxtaposition also might account for the audience not being so large as was hoped ; three elaborate oratorios in three successive evenings could not but suggest fatigue to many, aud few were willing to forego Bach or Handel. Mr. Paine's subject was not altogether an inspiring one ; for leter is the central figure only in that which constitutes the outward, formal, and exclusive phase of Christianity, — church Chris- tianity (" Upon this rock," etc.), — whereas Bach and Handel go to the heart of the matter and bring out its human, universal import. Yet he had no lack of interesting themes for illustration. P'our prin- cipal scenes out of the life of the apostle find a certain unity, although not dramatic, in their connection with the beginning of the Christian " movement" in history. The oratorio is in two parts, of which the first includes "The Divine Call," ending with the chorus, "The Church is built," and " The Denial and Eepentance." Part Second treats of the " Ascension " (Christ's reappearance to the disciples), and the thrilling scene of the " Pentecost." Without attempting to describe or criticise the work itself, the com- position, which had many musician-like, impressive numbers in it, was ■wholly free from slavish imitation, thoroughly in earnest, sometimes quite dramatic, sometimes showing depth of feeling, and which as a whole won respect if not admiration, we must confine ourselves to its relations with the Society that sang it. The choruses, very various in form and character, had been well studied and were mostly well sung. There is a large share of solo music, both aria and recitative. Each of the four voices has at least two arias ; the bass, in the char acter of St. Peter, more ; these, being naturally the most important, were given with good effective style and just expression by Mr. Rudolphsen. First, a song of gladness, after the divine call ; then an air of deep remorse and supplication, " My God, forsake me not," 348 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. after the denial. Again, after the gift of tongues, the solemn ex- hortation, " Ye men of Judea," to which the emphatic iteration of three notes in the accompaniment seems to enforce attention before he proceeds to recite at length the wonders foretold by the prophet Joel, all in a highly dramatic and excited strain, with splendor of elaborate instrumentation. Some of Peter's recitative, as rendered by the singer, was highly characteristic, as where he reproduces the phrase of the first chorus, " Repent," and in the scene of the Denial, and in the answers to the Saviour's question, ' ' Lovest thou me ? " The words of Jesus are given to the tenor, and one of the sweetest and purest of all the arias is, " Let not your heart be troubled." Mr. Varley, although suffering from fatigue, sang it with fine expression ; and he was very happy in the dialogue, " Feed my lambs." The soprano and contralto arias suffered somewhat for the want of more rehearsals with the orchestra ; but both Mrs. West and Miss Phillipps acquitted themselves conscientiously and sang with feeling. The first soprano air, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me," is melodious, and rises to brilliant energy at the words " Proclaim liberty to the cap- tives." The other aria, sung by Mrs. "West, "0 man of God, be strong, . . . put on the whole armor of God," etc., is a swift, bold, declamatory strain, giving plenty of opportunity for sustained high tones, and made a quickening effect. Of the contralto airs, there was much unaffected, -sweet and quiet pathos in the last one, *' As for man his days are as grass," which was touchingly rendered by Miss Phillipps. The chorus singers and the audience, when they came to sing in St. Peter, and to hear it as a whole, liked it much better than they were prepared to. At all events respect is due to the fii-st earnest effort on so great a scale, and giving such proofs of ability, by an American composer who was then a young man. Sixth Day. Sunday Evening, May 10. Like all the Festivals and all the years of the Society, this third Triennial had • its proper close with the Messiah and a most crowded audience. The receipts were nearly $4,000. There was the same excellent quartet of solo artists as on the opening night. Artistically, musically, the Festival was a great success ; but not pecuniarily. A loss of $4,400 (about ten per cent) had to be assessed upon the guarantors. This result, however, was better than that of the preceding Festival. The loss was chiefly in the afternoon concerts. But probably the real reason was that the Festival was so long and the performances so frequent, that the strain upon attention, and the continuous excitement, were more than most people, were HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 349 they ever so musical, could well endure. Why should we, in this busy country, attempt to go beyond the musical festivals abroad, which seldom, if ever, last more than three days? The common mistake of not letting well enough alone was unfortu- nately exemplified in an extra performance given on Monday evening, when the popular Elijah disappointed expectation in regard to audi- ence. The soloists, Mr. John F. Winch, as Elijah, Miss Wynne, Miss Phillipps, and Mr. Varley, were equal to their parts. But this is not to be counted as part of the Festival. 350 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY, CHAPTER XI. SIXTIETH SEASON. May 25, 1874, to May 31, 1875, A FEW days before the annual meeting of the Society, the board of directors met and voted to pay Carl Zerrahn $1,000 for his services as conductor, and B. J. Lang, $400 as organist, of the Festival. The loss was reported at $4,238, and it was voted to levy ten per cent upon the guaranty of $44,000 ; also to call on the trustees of the permanent fund for one year's income. Thanks were voted to ftJr. Theodore Thomas, to the Harvard Musical Association for the gratuitous loan of music; to John Amory Lowell, Esq., for the gra- tuitous use of the Lowell Institute hall for the convenience of the chorus ; to Mr. J. B. Sharland for gratuitous services in training the boy chorus for the Passion Music; and to the Apollo Club for the gratuitous use of a room for meetings of the board. The annual meeting was held May 25, when the following officers were elected for the ensuing year : — President. — Loring B. Barnes. Vice-President. — George H. Cbickering. Secretary. — A. Parker Browne. Treasuier. — Gkorge W. Palmer. Librarian — W. F. Bradbury. Directors. — J. H. Stickney, D. L. Laws, W. 0. Perkins, G. W. Warren, M. G. Daniell, E. Beeching, J. S. Saw^yer, F. H. Jesks. We find no treasurer's report. The president, L. B. Barnes, pre- sented an extended report covering the whole progress and condition of the Society for the year then past, and dwelling with pardonable pride upon the great achievement of the third Triennial Festival. He said that weekly meetings for rehearsal had been held from the first Sunday of October until the Festival, with the exception of the two evenings on which the only public performances of the season were given. Later in the season there were many extra rehearsals, in some instances every erening in the week. The average attend- ance for the twenty-eight regular weekly i-ehearsals had been nearly HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 351 four hundred ; the average for all the forty-six evenings had been one- hundred less. The president here emphasized the importance of a more punctual and uniform attendance of rehearsals, and spoke of several points of discipline and of performance in which the habits of the chorus were still too lax. hixty-seven members (gentlemen) had been suspended, only eleven of whom had been reinstated. The remaining fifty-six were liable to discharge at any time, and while- they stood suspended were debarred from all participation in the business or rehearsals of the Society. Fifty-one had been discharged for non-attendance, and seven had voluntarily withdrawn from mem- bership. Many ladies, too, had been suspended under a special rule- of the board. Mr. Barnes next enumerated a list of valuable members who had died since the last annual meeting : " George Hews, who joined the society in 1830, and who served it faithfully, whether in or out of office, hs.ving occupied many positions iu its government, and whose name may be found in the list of vice-presidents from 1854 to 1858 ; James Sharp, who was enrolled as a member but a short time after the organization of the Society, the record showing Oct. 15. 1816, as the date of his admission, and who also filled most honorably many positions of responsibility in the board of government, who never allowed any meeting of the Society, called for business purposes, to pass without being present if it vvms possible for him, and- whose words of wisdom on such occasions will long be remembered by his associates; Dexter Bowker, a member from 1846; Jarvis Lothrop, who joined in 1837; Charles W. Lovett, whose name first appears in 1825, and who was a prominent vocalist in the Society for many years thereafter, and was subsequently honored with the votes of the- Society, which placed him at its head for the years 1834 and 1835;.^ Jubal Howe, admitted to membership in 1822, and Lewis Pierce, in 1820. All good and true men, and who ever regarded the interests- of the Society of paramount importance to that of any individual." The report proceeds : " Candidates for admission to the chorus are requested to go before a committee on examination of voices, which committee is appointed by the president from among the members composing the board of government. Such candidates are expected to read ordinarily difficult music at sight, besides showing the posses- sion of good voices and general familiarity with the requirements of choir or chorus singing. " The number, of both sexes, who have passed such examination' and who have been admitted during the past year is seventy. Of thia- number twenty-five were gentlemen and furty-fivu were ladies." S52 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. After further remarks in praise of the last Festival and its remark- able programme, with especial congratulation on the great step gained in bringing out at last so large a portion of Bach's Passion Music, and after warmly thanking the Thomas orchestra, the solo singers, the conductor, and the organist, for their invaluable services, the president spoke of several practical matters, such as the mani- festly great improvement in the manner of seating the singers on the stage, the fixtures for which were stored away for future use ; the financial result, from which he argued no discouragement ; and the suggestion of a scheme of '• associate membership," in view of the need of a larger and more expensive hall for rehearsals, where those who might desire to attend them as listeners might do so on payment of an annual sum. This project was further discussed at meetings of the board in June and July, and it was finally recommended that the new Beethoven Hall in Washington Street should be engaged for the purpose if a sufficient number of paj-ing associates could be secured. A circular of invitation was sent out, stating the need of 500 associates at SIO each per annum, which sum should entitle them to two admissions each to all rehearsals besides one public oratorio. But as it appeared in the beginning of September that only 105 such subscribers had .been obtained, the proprietor of Beethoven Hall offered to grant a discount on the rent, and it was voted to engage the hall for one year at $2,500. On the 17th of September it was voted by the Society to cfiange the title " Board of Directors" to " Board of Government." The rehearsals were resumed Oct 4, with St. /'aid, which was con- tinued nearly until December, when that and the Mei-siah were rehearsed until Christmas. Oct. 21, the board of government com- bined business and social pleasure at Taft's famous hotel at Point Shirley, when a poem was read by W. O. Perkins, celebrating the eminent virtues of individual members of the board. The rehearsals were transferred to the new Beethoven Hall on Sunday evening, Nov. 1, and there had their home throughout the following year. The hall was 95 feet long, 65 feet wide, and 41 feet high. The stage, which was partly in an arched recess, had a front of 40 feet, and was 20 feet deep. There were roomy balconies on tlie sides and rear, almost doubling the seating capacity. The associate members sat in the balconies. For some time the chorus singers could not feel at home there; they '-had n't got the hang of the school-house." But they soon became accustomed to the place. The Christmas oratorios were given Dec. 26 and 27. On Saturday evening the Messiah, with a chorus of 400 and an orchestra of 44. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETif. 353 Seldom were the choruses more satisfactorily delivered. The soprano recitatives and arias were intrusted to Mrs. H. M. Smith, whose pure and brilliant voice and fine execution only needed something more of sympathetic fervor. Miss Drasdil, whose very rich and powerful tones possessed a certain dramatic and magnetic quality, felt in her whole style of song and declamation, produced a deep impression in the contralto airs. Mr. W. J. Winch in the tenor, and Mr. J. F. Winch in the bass solos, did their best. In St. Paul, on Sunday even- ing, Mr. J. F. Winch (whose voice had grown husky during the Mes- siah) was wholly unable to appear, and his place was supplied at a few hours' notice by Dr. E. C. BuUard,* who, in the trying circumstances, did himself great credit, by the refinement of his style, his musical, expressive voice, and the quick intelligence with which he read and rendered so much music which was comparatively new to him. His chief lack of resources was in the deep bass tones. Miss Abbie Whinery sang the soprano air, ''Jerusalem," with great benuty of voice and style, and with true, unaffected feeling. All her singing had that sympathetic and appreciative quality, though the middle portion of her voice was sometimes weak and tremulous, while in the highest tones it was clear and strong as well as sweet. Mr.<. Sawyer, in the contralto pieces, was effective, and showed thoughtful study, but somewhat at the expense of that simplicity which had won her audience before. Mr. W. J. Winch again took the tenor solos, and with eminent success. The choruses had justice done them. 1875. The year began with rehearsal of choruses from Handel's Joshua, followed by Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise and " Hear my Prayer," and Dudlej' Buck's Forty-sixth Psalm,. All these were sung in a concert given Feb. 6 to the associate members. In the psalm, " G-od is our refuge," Miss Whinery sang with her usual refinement and truth of feeling ; and Mr. George Simpson was the same sweet- toned, true, Hud even tenor singer as of old. Mr. J. F. Winch mnde the most of the strong and telling bass solo, " The heathen raged," etc., which, and the double quartet, were the chief triumphs in the performance. Next came the motet, " Hear my prayer," in which Mrs. Houston West surprised all by the rejuvenated freshness of her soprano tones. " O for the wings of a dove," both solo and sub- dued chorus, went beautifully. The one novelty of the programme was the fine florid soprano aria from Joshua., " Oh, had I Jubal's lyre, or Miriam's tuneful voice," which Miss Whinery executed to a charm. She was obliged to repeat it, and no one felt disposed to quarrel with • Died Apiil 13, 1889. 354 HISTORY OF the handel and haydm society. the encore. Gounod's "Nazareth" was superbly sung by J. F. Winch with chorus ; indeed he rivalled Santley in his broad, even, and sustained delivery of that simple but majestic Christmas ballad. With the swelling choral harmonies, together with oi-chestra and organ, the climax at the end was really almost sublime. The Hymn of Praise formed the second part of the concert. The three symphonic movements were fairly rendei-ed, and the choruses -were given, almost without exception, with precision, light and shade, and grand effect. Mrs. West seldom appeared to more advan- tage ; her delivery of the prophetic announcement, "The night is departing, departing ! " i-evived the old thrill of the first time when she gave it with such startling splendor at that memorable concert in honor of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (Jan. 1, 1863). She and Miss,Whinery entered fully into the spirit of the duet, " I waited for the Lord." Mr. Simpson's voice, style, and in- telligence did very nearly full justice to the dramatic tenor solos in the "Watchman" scene, etc. ; Mr. Zerrahn conducted with his usual firm control ; and Mr. Lang drew from the great reservoir of organ tones, where needed, with judicious hand. This concert resulted in a loss of about $800. At the regular rehearsal, Feb. 28, the president announced the ■death, in London, of a member of the Society, rapidly acquiring emi- nence as a basso singer, Mr. Julius E. Perkins, a younger brother of Mr. W. O. Perkins. The sad news came by cable despatch from Mr. Myron W. Whitney, then in London. Mr. Perkins had, for sev- eral years before leaving for his studies abroad, been a member of the Society, and his name was still retained on its rolls. He left this country at about the age of twenty-two, studied first at the Conserv- atoire in Paris, thence went to Milan, where he placed himself under the best masters for a term of years, and then to Florence, where he studied with the celebrated Vannuccini. When he returned to London the operatic impresario, Mv. Mapleson, was not slow in discovering (his worth, and at the time of liis death he was fulfilling an engage- ment of six years, only two of which had expired. His age was then l)ut little short of thirty, and even with his short musical career he had few rivals. The members of the Society had pleasant recollec- tions of him in the chorus. For an Easter oratorio (March 28), Haydn's Creation, which had slept for four years, was once more revived with its unbroken flow of melody, its contrapuntally woven choruses, and its graphic instrumen- tation. Welcome Father Haydn! Welcome Music! many felt who were tired of seeking it in the Wagnerian extracts with which concert HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 355 rooms were at that time so rife. The choruses were well sung. The principal soprano was Mme. Jennie Van Zandt, whose pure, strong, evenly developed voice, and fluent, facile execution were well suited to the melodious strains. She sang them charmingly, although now and then she did not seem to be entirely at home in the oratorio ; and in the great aria, " On mighty pens," she indulged in such operatic prima donna tricks of effect as pitching the note up an octave and holding it out, or protracting the tone on the word " coo-ing,'' through many measures longer than the music or the sense required. For- tunately these stereotyped effects fell dead upon the audience. Mr. W. J. Winch and Mr. J. F. Winch sang the tenor and bass solos very acceptably. That concert yielded a profit of about seven hundred and fifty dollars. Haydn's other vocal masterpiece, the Seasons, was next placed iu rehearsal, for seven evenings, until Wednesday evening, April 28, when it was given for the first time here entire. An eager audience nearly filled the Music Hall, yet it resulted in a loss of $400. The chorus numbered four hundred and fifty, the orchestra thirty-seven. Though not so great a work, the Seasons had the charm of greater novelty compared with the Creation. The orchestral preludes and accompaniment are exquisite, but suffered somewhat in performance, sounding thin and coarse, and showing need of more rehearsal ; yet portions enough were so fairly rendered that it did not spoil the gen- eral impression of the work. The choruses were for the most part finely sung, surprising many of the listeners by their great variety of power and beauty, their poetic suggestiveness, their vivid imaginative characterization. The familiar " Come, gentle Spring," with its fine contrast of female and male voices, was charmingly sung. Few things could be more impressive than the " deep, tremendous voice " of the thunder-storm chorus, prepared as it was by music most expres- sive of the heat and languor of the summer, especially the recitative immediately preceding, through which "a boding silence reigns," with the more bodeful rumble of the deep sub-bass of the organ, until the voices burst forth and ' ' to its foundations the solid globe is shook." If this chorus fell short of the expectation raised in the beginning, it was partly owing to the cutting out of much of the mid- dle portion ; the storm was incomplete. In the "Autumn" we had the strong chorus in praise of industry ; the ringing, echoing hunting chorus, full of vigor, likewise suggestively introduced by fragments of recitative and snatches of figurative instrumentation, which almost make one see the pack of hounds on scent. Then, best of all, the 1' Wine Chorus," with its episodical bagpipe and dance movement 356 HISTORY or the HANDEL and HAYDN SOCIETY. (exquisite dance melodj' for an old man of seventy) . But this, too, was weakened by the omission of some of the finest music in the middle, whereby the piece lost its symmetry, and the gi-eat climax at the end its justification. In the fourth part, ," Winter," there was the fascinating minor chorus of the " Spinning Wheel." alter- nating with soprano solo, full of serious suggestion. The final chorus, "The everlasting gates of life," has grandeur, but it was made to jump to its conclusion by leaving out the middle portion, which is a fugue, not perhaps a great one, but a good one. Putting head and tail together does not make a body. Brevity, of course, was the motive for these cuts, for the work is very long. The solos, duets, trios, so many and so beautiful, were admirably sung. Miss Henrietta Beebe, of New York, had just the voice, the execution, and the culture for the soprano melody, which is full of delicate embellishment, and sometimes brilliant. We may name, among other numbers, the long descriptive recitative, " O, welcome now, ye groves," and the air which follows it, "0, how pleasing to the senses." Mr. W. J. Winch sang the tenor solos in good voice and taste ; particularlj- the recitative and cavatina describing the sultry midsummer heat ; and afterwards, in opposite contrast, the " Winter" picture of the traveller lost in the snow-storm, w^here the staccato figures of the violins seem to fill the air with lluttering flakes. Equally welcome was the grand bass of Mr. M. W. Whitney, just arrived from London on a short visit home, who gave a most satis- factory rendering of the part of Simon. Thus sweetly closed, with two melodious evenings of Haydn, another musical season. At a meeting of the board. May 12, the income of the permanent fund was once more required, and the treas- urer was authorized to raise by notes $1,500, or what might be needed to cover the indebtedness of the Society. Mr. Zerrahn's salary for the past year was fixed at $500, and that of Mr. Lang at $300. SIXTY-FIRST SEASON. May 31, 1875, to May 29, 1876. The annual meeting was held May 31. The treasurer's report showed the expenditures for the year to have been $10,666.17, the income $10,207 ; leaving a deficit of $459.17. It was voted to assess each member $5, and withdraw the note for $1,600. President L. B. Barnes, who had declined the nomination for re-election, pre- HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 357 sented a report giving an interesting resume of the Society's history, and speaking particularly of his own relations with it, which extended back twenty years ; during which period he was secretary fifteen years, director three years, and president four years. During the season there had been thirty-five rehearsals, with an average attend- ance of 300 members. He thought the Society, as a musical body, was in a better condition than ever before. The deficit shown in the treasurer's report arose, he said, in no degree from losses by concerts, but from the occupation of Beethoven Hall for rehearsals, and the system of associate membership, which had not fulfilled expectation . With but two or three exceptions the vote for members of the board of government was unanimous, the newly elected president, Mr. Charles C. Perkins, receiving the entire ballot for the office, which was eighty votes. The other gentlemen elected are the fol- lowing : — Vice-President. ■ — George H. Chickering. Secretary. — A. Parker Browne. Treasurer. — George W. Palmer. Librarian. — John H. Sticknet. Directors. — W. O. Perkins, J. S. Sawyer, E. Beeching, F. H. Jenks, M. G. Daniell, W. F. BKADBURy, A. H. Wilson, George T. Brown. During the summer and the early autumn the principal themes of interest with the Society were, first, a correspondence (through the medium of Mr. Otto Dresel) with Robert Franz, of Halle, request- ing him to prepare for the Society some additional orchestral accom- paniments for certain numbers of the Messiah which had been left uncompleted by Mozart, and likewise for Joshua. The result will appear in the sequel. Second, the expectation of a great prima donna and oratorio singer in the person of Wile. Teresa Tietjens, who gave her first concert in America in New York, Oct. 4. She was born at Hamburg, of Hungarian parents, some biographers say in 1834, others in 1831. The inscription on her tombstone states that she died in 1877, aged 4G. Her voice in childhood gave such promise that she was educated for the lyric stage. She sang for the first time at the Hamburg Opera in 1849. as Lucrezia Borgia, and achieved an immediate success, which was confirmed in Frankfort, and in 1856 in Vienna, where her performance of Valentine in Les Eiig^ienots raised'her at once to the highest rank. Then Mr. Lumley engaged her for his last season at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, where her impersonation of the same part made "a success which increased with every repetition, and was the first link in that close 358 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL ANU HAYDN SOCIETY. union between her and the public which was only to be severed by her death." From that time England became her home. Both Co- vent Garden and Drury Lane were the scenes of her frequent operatic triumphs, and finally, just before her death, she sang at the new house in the Haymarket. Sir George Grove says of her in his "Dic- tionary of Musicians": — " Never was so mighty a soprano voice so sweet and luscious in its tone ; like a serene, full light, without dazzle or glare, it filled the largest arena without appearing to penetrate. It had none of a soprano's shrillness or of that peculiar clearness called ' silvery ' ; when it declined, as it eventually did, In power, it never became wiry. It had a mezzo-soprano quality extend- ing to the highest register, perfectly even throughout, and softer than velvet. Her acting in no way detracted from her singing; she was earnest, animated, forcible, in all she did conscientious and hearty, but not electric. Her style of singing was noble and pure. When she first came to England her rapid execution left much to be desired : It was heavy and imperfect. Fluency and flexibility were not hers by nature, but by dint of hard work she over- came all difficulties, so as to sing with success in the florid music of Rossini and Bellini. Indeed she attempted almost everything, and is perhaps the only singer, not even excepting Malibran, who has sung in such completely opposite r61es as those of Semiramide and Fides. But her performance of light or comic parts was a mere tour deforce; her true field was grand opera. As Lucrezia, Semiramide, Countess Almaviva, she was great; as Donna Anna and Valentine she was greater; best of all as Fidelio, and as Medea in Cherubini's opera, revived for her and not likely to be forgotten by any who heard it. " In the Freischutz, as in Fidelio, her appearance " (she was large and some- what heavy in figure, but of noble, genial aspect) " was unsuited to her part, but she sang the music as no one else could sing it. ... Her repertoire also in- cluded Leonora (Trovatore), the Favorita, Alice, Lucia, Amalia (Un Ballo in Maschera), Norma, Pamina, Margherita, Marta, Elvira {Ernani), Reiza (Oberon), and Iphigenia in Tauris." A singer of that stamp, living in England, was of course soon ■drawn also into sacred music : and Tietjens applied herself to the study of oratorio, largely under the advice and teaching of Mme. Rudersdorff, who was warmly her friend during her short stay in Boston. Her services in that field were in continual request. "Per- haps the hardest worked singer who ever appeai ed, she was also the most faithful and conscientious of artists, never disappointing her public, who knew that her name on the bills was a guaranty against change of programme, or apology for absence through indisposition. No doubt her splendid physique enabled her often to sing with impu- nity when others could not have done so." But it broke up her con- etitution in the end. So much in advance of the coming star of the next Handel and HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIKTY. 359 Haydn concerts. The Octob'er rehearsals began with Handel's Joshua. Then Elijah came to the front again, and was performed with Tietjens, Nov. 8, before an immense audience. The receipts were ?4,600, leaving a profit of $650. Those were days of prover- bial " hard times " in Boston, and yet they were full of unusual musi- cal attractions. Hans von Bulow was giving his 'first brilliant con- certs here ; Tietjens and Arabella Goddard also ; and there were the symphony concerts of the Harvard Musical Association ; and the splendid Theodore Thomas orchestra was close at liand. But the great crowd of satiated and economizing concert goers saved itse'f for EHjah on that Monday evening, given by the Haudel and Haydn chorus, 600 strong, with a fine group of soloists besides the glorious soprano. How was expectation rewarded ? We read: — " Every chorus was effective, orchestra and organ helping to good purpose. The quartets, double quartet, and angel trio were exceptionally fine, with such singers to support the great soprano as Miss Anna Drasdil, contralto ; Miss Sarah C. Fisher, soprano ; Miss Ita Welsh, contralto ; Mr. W. J. Winch, tenor; and Mr. J. F. Winch, basso, who joined in these things, besides grandly giving the great role of the Prophet. To be sure. Mile. Tietjeus's great organ seemed almost out of proportion to the others, but it did much to steady them; and Miss Drasdil's voice sounded somewhat dry and ineffec- tive in the concerted pieces, her quality of tone not blending very happily with the rest ; and in this way only was she heard during the first part ; but when she came to the solos in the second part, she gave the vindictive recita- tive of the queen with great dramatic force and fire, and her singing of " O rest in the Lord " was so touching and so full of feeling, and the tones so rich in their strange individuality, that the whole audience were delighted beyond measure, and that number proved the great hit of the evening. Miss Welsh, who sang most of the angel solos, particularly the air ' Woe, woe unto him,' charmed everybody by her pure style, true, simple feeling, and distinct enunciation, winning a round of applause which seemed to take her by surprise. Her rather light organ is very sweet in quality. Once the voice broke, but she kept on bravely ; and once or twice the nervousness betrayed itself by a slight drooping from the pitch ; her contribution on the whole, however, was a beautiful success. " There was no disappointment in Mile. Tietjens. She was in admirable voice, so that her every tone, especially the highest, rang out as clear and pure as a bell, and with a very sweet, expressive quality. The part of the widow was given with great dramatic intensity ; in the answers of the boy sent out to look for signs of rain, the crystal clearness of the tones was thrilling; and in ' Hply, holy,' there was an august and sacred majesty such as we have only heard in'Exeter Hall from Mme. Goldschmidt, whose voice, however, at that time, was by no means so well preserved as that of Tietjens is to-day, and who used it not without much more effort. ' Hear ye, Israel,' was superbly rendered, and, but for the fact that it, like all the soprano solos in this oratorio, ends in a chorus, it would have received the great ovation of the evening. If some, hearing her that evening for the first time, were a 360 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. little cUsappointed in finding tlie voice not quite so sympathetic as some others, they must bear in mind that in Elijah the most sympathetic portions- of the solo music do not fall to the soprano ; nothing like ' rest in the Lord,' for example. On the whole it was a magnificent performance of Elijah, and made that almost too familiar oratorio seem new again." The great soprano returned to us for the Christmas oratorios. On Saturday, the evening of Christmas, the Music Hall was crammed with listeners to the old Society's sixty-fifth performance of the Mes- siah. Teresa Tietjens sang the great soprano arias gloriously. Her large, rich, thoroughly musical and pure voice was here engaged ia the noblest service. She sang with fervor, with right understanding, and with thoroughly artistic, chaste expression. The strong declam- atory passages were all given in the noblest style and without over- doing. " Eejoice greatly " welled up from deep springs of unaffected gladness and unf idling opulence and buoyancy of tone ; and the second part of it was touched with just the right shade of tender seriousness. In " 1 know that my Redeemer liveth," there was no forced, defiant declamation, no tedious conventional sentimentality ;. it was calm, deep, blissful, assured faith ; and every phrase and note of the music, every accent and gradation of light nnd shade, was in accordance with that lofty, sincere mood. Who will live to hear a worthier interpretation of that heavenly music ? Mrs H, E. Sawyer gave a careful, well-conceived, and graceful- rendering of the contralto solos ; her singing was more remarkable for tenderness and sweetness, and for a certain even excellence, than for power. Mr. Maas, with a light tenor voice of great sweetness, very pure and even, made a marked impression by his intelligent, artistic, and expressive style, particularly in tlie pathetic pieces,. " Thy rebuke," etc. Into '• Thou shalt dash them " he also threw a vigor that was hardly expected of him, achieviug a complete success. Mr. Rudolphsen had not all the voice he once had, and some of liis- bass tones sounded dry ; but his style and execution were masterly, making the well-known bass arias uncommonly acceptable. The chorus was large, but the balance of the four parts not quite so perfect as usual. Strangely the basses were too feeble, while the contralto was the strongest part of all, — a solid, rich, and musical mass of tone. Nearly all of the choral work was done with spirit and with even excellence. A few shortcomings, in such " catchy " choruses as "His yoke is easy," " Let us break their bonds," scarcely disturbed the beautiful and grand impression of the whole. With success even more signal the Creation was given the next HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDX SOCEETY'. 361 ■evening. Bating some carelessness in the orchestral accompaniment, the choruses (with better balance) went splendidly. The trios, too, were beautifully sung. And the great voice and art of Mile. Tiet- jens triumphed in this more flowery and graceful melody as fully as they did in the Messiah. One only wondered at some changes of the verbal text, for which no reason was perceptible. Why " On mighty wings " instead of " pens"? Is it not a pleasure to have the original meaning of a word preserved for once in such connection with undy- ing music? Pen. from Latin penna, which means wing. And what is, the objection to the " cooing" of the dove? It is a word expres- sive of the natural sound, and surely it is a good vowel to sing. Not caring to go back so far as Jenny Lind, we never heard the two great airs more exquisitely sung ; and the music of Eve, in the third part, was given with a genuine warmth and tenderness, which had no taint of the weak sentimentality which too often takes its charm away. Mr. Maas sang sweetly and artistically as before, though his voice betrayed exhaustion from previous efforts, or perhaps from a cold. Mr. John F. Winch sang the descriptive bass solos with admirable •effect. The weather was bad both nights. The Messiah brought in $3,600, the expenses being $2,800. The profit on the two perform- ances was $1,300. So far that sixty-first season had spent itself on repetition of three ■of the most familiar and favorite standard oratorios for which the Society always held itself in readiness, the Messiah, the Creation, a,nd Elijah. A little later the Hymn of Praise was brought out again for the farewell of Tietjens. These four might be called the four corner- stones, or the four main columns on which the Society chiefly rested. Perhaps in a few years more it will become safe to add a deeper sub- foundation in the shape of the Passion Mvsic and the Christmas Oratorio of Bach, the first of these already growing into popularity, although not yet completely given. Rehearsals of Joshua and of the Passion Music occupied the first three months of 1876. At a meeting of the government, Jan. 12, the president read a letter from Mr. Dresel, presenting a set of addi- tional accompaniments for the Messiah, prepared by Robert Franz for the exclusive use of the Society. President Perkins was instructed to write a letter of thanks to Herr Franz and send him a gratuity of $100 for the service. It was voted to perform the Pasnon Music (not entire) on April 9, and Joshua on April 16. About the middle ■of February, Bach seemed really in the ascendant here in Boston ; for at the same time three of his great vocal works were in prepara- 362 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. tion ; besides the Passion, a church cantata, " Ich hatte viel Bekiim- merniss," to be sung by the Cecilia in a Harvard symphony concert, and the Magnificat, which the Sharland Choral Society were learning for a Thomas concert. In April (9-16) came a week of oratorios ; Passion Music, Hymn of Praise, and Joshua. Sunday evening, April 9, Palm Sunday, witnessed the third per- formance of Bach's Passion Music, — that is to say, of about three fourths of it, considerably more than in the Festival of 1874. The selections were more judicious, and in their connection more effective. The most important additions were a number of those short, vindic- tive and excited choruses of Jews, taunting and clamoring for cruci- fixion, which, as representing that many-headed and many-voiced monster, the populace or mob, were formerly called turbce. These are wonderfully constructed double choruses, in eight real parts, with independent orchestral parts besides. They are sudden gusts, whirlwinds of harmony, gone in a moment, but their effect is marvel- lous, and they enliven the serious, sentimental progress of the work with most vivid dramatic representations of the excited crowd. They are so quickly gone tbat the hea' er has no tim.' to consider the con- summate art implied in the intricate yet clearly expressive polyphonic texture of each little piece ; hours seem concentrated in an intense moment. Such are (all in the second part) " He guilty is of death" ; " Tell us, thou Christ, who gave the blow " ; " What is that to us?" " Let him be crucified" ; " He saved others, himself he cannot save," etc. ; andthe startling, appalling shout (diminished seventh chord) upon the word " Barabbas," in answer to the question, " Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you ? " This chord was struck with surprising accuracy and unanimity by the whole chorus of five hundred, considering that they had no leading notes. And all these little choruses, requiring the utmost vigilance and self-possession for the attack, were given with spirit and precision, although with not quite the snap of the preceding evening's rehearsal in the smaller hall. Nor should we omit to mention the curious little chorus, in the first part, where the twelve mingle their eager exclamations, '• Lord, is it I? is it I?" Several arias and recitatives, before omitted, enriched this per- formance, namely, for soprano (No. 12), " Only bleed, thou dearest heart"; the recitatives relating to Peter's denial; the tenor recita- tive, " He will not speak " (but not the beautiful aria which follows, " Behold how still, how calm ! ") ; the alto recitative, " Great Lord of heaven, here stands the blessed Saviour bound " (but not the aria to which it leads) ; the alto recitative, " Ah, Golgotha " (No. 69), and HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 363 aria (with ejaculations of chorus) " Look where Jesus beckoning stands"; finallj', that most beautiful bass recitative, "At eventide, cool hour of rest" (not, however, completed by the equally beautiful aria, " Cleanse thee, O my soul"). On the other hand, to make room for these fresh numbers, several of the arias sung before were omiited, besides several of the cho- rals ; indeed only four, out of the fifteen, were given. This was to be regretted for the grand repose they bring at proper moments ; their broad, rich, chaste harmonies are so tranquillizing, strengthen- ing, and uplifting to the soul. It is a kind of all-pervading har- mony, which seems to flow in (as it were silently) on all sides, from around you and below, like a full tide, to buoy you up to higher life. But it was impossible to give all in a single evening ; as it was, it lasted very nearly three hours — hours of intense enjoj'ment to most of the vast audience apparently, if irksome more or less to not a few ; for people differ in their natures and mental conditions, and it is simply a question of experience and time as to Bach's music. Ask the singers who have s-tudied it and in a measure learned it, whether they find it dry or tedious. Certain it is. that that whole crowd, with very few exceptions, listened attentively until the last chord was sung. To give the Passion Music entire requires two performances, either in the morning and evening of a single day, like Good Friday, or on two successive evenings ; that experience we were soon to have. This performance, on the whole, was a great advance upon the previous renderings. Mr. Zerrahn covered himself with credit by the zeal, the energy, the judgment, with which he had worked the whole matter up ; the rehearsals had been urged through with great tact and efficiency, and he conducted as one who had come really to love and feel the music ; there was genuine enthusiasm in it. The choruses, almost without exception, were remarkably well sung. We have already spoken of the turbulent choruses of Jews ; the short choruses of the disciples, in the first part, also went well, — better than before ; the chorals so well that one only wanted more of them. The great double choruses, at the beginning and the end, and the exciting " Ye lightnings, ye thunders," made a profound impression. The solos, of course, offered the greatest difficulties. They are all difficult to unaccustomed singers, though they be artists in more modern styles of music ; and many of them are difficult to unaccustomed hearers. Our Bach culture is but half begun. The Bach melodj' is peculiar ; one has to become gradually familiar with its forms and steeped in its spirit. Ilis too serious, too quiet, too sincere, too religiously musical 364 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. and too musically religious, too devoid of modern effects, and it demands too entire a self-surrender of the singer, to make it readily appreciable to all, to any who' have not soipething in their nature that draws them to it by innate aflSnity. Among our excellent vocalists hardly any had been nurtured upon Bach ; those who have been will never find in music more unfailing bread of life. But this time the solo efforts were all creditable, some of them successful in a bigh degree. Miss Beebe had many qualifications for the soprano portion, but not all. She had a clear, pure, evenly developed voice, a finished style of execution, and she had studied the music faithfully, ap- proaching the task with reverence and no doubt with diffidence, and yet with courage and determination. Tt was a conscientious effort, and there can be no denying that she sang well. It is only that neither the character of voice nor her previous musical atmosphere and culture were much in sympathy with Bach ; the Bach feeling was not there. And yet there is much to be said in praise of the chaste ;style and discretion with which she sang the air " Only bleed," and in the plaintive duet which precedes the outburst of the lightning chorus; and the exquisite aria with the flute solo, "From love unbounded." To Mme. Rudersdorff were assigned the important alto solos in the second part; and here we had an artist of long experience in the Bach school, as well as in all the great schools of vocal art ; one who thoroughly understood the music, and who came back^'to it with :Strong enthusiasm and with desire to signify her undiminished faith in it, with zeal to convert to it new listeners. Of course her render- ing of the great aria, " O pardon me, my God " (Erbarme dich), in spite of some unpleasant tones, was a fine lesson for our singers. There was, perhaps, some occasional exaggeration of the pathetic accent in the recitatives, " Here stands the blessed Saviour bound" and " Ah, Golgotha ! " but it was very grand, impressive declamation ; and the aria, " Look where Jesus beck'ning stands,'' was most artis- tically given, with due tenderness and fervor. The alto solos in the first part were fairly sung by Mrs. Laura Hastings Goodwin, whose low tones were rich and large, but her delivery somewhat constrained and cold. Mr. M. W. Whitney was unable, on account of hoarseness, to appear, which was a general disappointment. But all were surprised at the excellent manner in which Mr. J. F. Eudolphsen, who took his place at a few hours' notice, delivered the beautiful and holy recitative which falls to the part of Jesus. It was most creditable to his musi- HISTORY OF THE HANOEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 365 clanship, his quick intelligence and taste. The other bass solos (in- cluding the recitative of Peter and of the High Priest), the aria (with recitative), " Gladly will I, all resigning," the aria, ''Give me back my dearest Master," and the beautiful recitative, '" At eventide," were sung by Mr. J. F. Winch, all in his best voice, and in a taste- ful, noble style ; Bach evidently had begun to gain possession of him. But the difHcult task of all, and on the whole most laudable achievement, was that of Mr. Wm. J. Winch, who took upon him not only all the frequent and most trying recitative in the connecting narrative of the Evangelist, but all the tenor solos that were sung besides, a most exacting and exhaustive task. And on the whole he •did it admirably, making slight modifications iu now and then a high and fatiguing phrase of the recitative, but giving it for the most part with sweet, clear voice, and with distinct enunciation. In the solo with chorus, " I'll watch with my dear Jesu," his voice was sometimes so subdued at the re-entrance of the theme, that we could not hear it until he had been singing several measures : that was the only draw- back to an otherwise artistic, pleasing, beautiful performance. Mr. Lang presided ablj' at the organ. The farewell of Teresa Tietjens occurred on Wednesday, April 12, between Palm and Easter Sundays. The great prima donna having expressed her wish to sing her farewell in this city, and with our oratorio society, Boston was ready to avail herself of the honor, and it was arranged (at very short notice, with small chance for rehearsal) to give the Hymn of Praise and Rossini's Slabat Mater. The Music Hall was crammed, and the reception of the noble singer was most cordial. In the necessary absence of Mr. Zerrahu, Mr. Lang conducted. It was difticult on a theatre night to collect all the desirable musicians for an orchestra ; yet the opening symphony movements and most of the accompaniments to Mendelssohn's beau- tiful Lobg-satig were quite well rendered, and the chorus singing w.as, with slight exceptions, excellent. Mile. Tietjens delivered the first solo, " Praise thou the Lord, O my soul," with great energy and fervor, and in her noble and commanding style, with full, sweet, pen- etrating tones. In the duet, " I waited for the Lord,'' which she sang with Miss Clara Smart, a light but pleasing soprano, her tones seemed not so sympathetic as they were sometimes ; but the sentence announcing, "The night is departing, departing!" rang out with thrilling and inspiring splendor : it seemed to inspire the whole mass of singers, for never had we henrd them sing the extremely' difHcult chorus which immediately follows with such spirit and precision. Mr. Tom Karl's voice was sweet, but hardly equal to the dramatic 366 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. intensity of the tenor solo, "Watchman, will the night soon pass?" The Stabat Mater shower! more signs of hasty and imperfect prep- aration, not having been sung by the Society for some time. Mr. Tom Karl sang Cnjus animam very acceptably, and all the other tenor solo parts. Miss Drasdil, with her powerful and telliua but ambiguous voice (at times you would take it for a tenor), achieved one of the great successes of the evening in the alto air, Fac ut por- tem; but in the duet, QuU est Jion^o, her voice and that of Tietjens did not seem very well matched in quality. Indeed all the concerted pieces, including- the beautiful quartet, Quawlo corpus, suffered from the imperfect blending of the voices. Mr. T. F. Sullivan sang the bass solos with a good solid voice, but in rather a dry style, and not always in perfect tune. Mile. Tietjens was admirable through- out, but seemed to reserve her full power for her incomparably mag- nificent rendering of the Inflammatus, which brought the concert to a splendid climax, the weak fugue, with which Rossini terminates his Slaba', being wisely left off. The enthusiasm of the audience knew no bounds ; and it was long before they ceased to recall the noble singer, overwhelming her with plaudits. All took leave with regret of one whom all felt to be the noblest living representative of the grand school of vocal art. This farewell was prophetic ; in but a year and a few months later Teresa Tietjens, having returned to England, bade her final farewell o tliis mortal world. That week of oratorios, and that musical year of the Society closed with a work of Handel never before attempted here. Joshua, an oratorio in the same high heroic strain with Judas Maccaboeus. was first presented to a Boston audience, and indeed to any audience in this country, on the evening of Easter Sunday, April 16. The IMusic Hall was full. Like most of Handel's oratorios, the score as it was left by him was very incomplete and sketchy ; many instrumental parts were wanting to fill out the harmony. He could provide for that himself when he presided over the performance at the organ ; but that to musicians of our day is a lost art. Accordingly there had to be done for it — what ./wdas M accabceus stiW so sadly needs — what Mozart did for the Messinli, what Franz did for Baali's Passion Music — the work of completing the instrumentation by another hand ; and that could only be intrusted to a musician of the highest order, thoroughly imbued with the spirit of those old masters and at home in the whole style and feeling of the works in question. Happily in the present HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 367 ease this service had been rendered by the Dresden Kapellmeister, Julius Eietz (Mendelssohn's successor at lieipzig), who. had furnished additional orchestral parts for wind instruments for a performance of Joshua at the Diisseldorf festival in 1841. The AdviHiser of the day before the performance, in a brief communication, evidentl}' from the president of the Society, shows how a copy was obtained : — " Dr. Robert Franz, the well-known composer, who is, perhaps, of all inusi- clalis, best qualifled to judge in such a matter, has a high opinion of Rietz's work, and it was from him that Mr. Otto Dresel borrowed the parts that he might have them copied expressly for the Handel and Haydn Society. The Society also owes to Mr. Dresel's intercession the additional parts to Handel's Messiah composed by Robei-t Franz to complete those written by Mozart. Dr. Franz had undertaken this work some years ago, but had laid it aside to be finished at a future day. When requested to do so for the Handel and Haydn Society by the board of management, through Mr. Dresel, he resumed his labors, and the result has become the exclusive property of the Society. At Christmas, or perhaps even at an earlier date, the Boston public will thus have an opportunity of hearing the Messiah as it has never been heard else- where, enriched not only by the additional accompaniments of Mozart, but also by those of Dr. Franz, whose intimate knowledge of Handel's music and profound respect for his genius assure us that he has worked in the spirit of Handel, and has added only that which will enhance the beauties of his most sublime creation." To return to Joshua. Although not to be ranked with Handel's greatest oratorios, it contains several of his grandest and most graphic choruses, some arias of great beauty, as well as some of a heroic and inspiring strain ; audit abounds in recitative (perhaps a weariness to some) which is always fine, discriminating, eloquent, and true to character and situation. Its martial and heroic strain is well relieved by tender passages of love. Some parts of the earlier choruses, like "In wat'ry heaps affrighted Jordan rolled," remind one of the more massive, but in idea not grander, double choruses in Israel. There are no double choruses in Joshua. The work itself, and the performance on the whole, proved more acceptable than had been commonly anticipated. Indeed it was lis- tened to throughout with every sign of pleasure. Of the work more in detail, and of the way in which it was performed, we must borrow some remaiks from one of the daily purnals of the time : — " lu the first part, which illustrates the preparation of the tribes of Israel for battle, the episode of the meeting of Achsah and Othniel is given such prominence as to make it the feature of this portion of the work. Achsah is introduced in the plaintive air, ' Oh ! who can tell, oh ! who can hear of Egypt and not shed a tear ? Hearing Othniel's praises, she fancies the sweet compliments come from the birds of the forest, and sings, to the 368 HISTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCrETY. accompaniment of the flute, an exquisite song, ' Hark, 't is tlie linnet.' Then, meeting with Othniel, they together sing a love duo in the pastoral style, ' Our limpid streams with freedom flow.' Their wooing is interrupted by the trumpet call, and the first part closes with a grand chorus : ' May all the hosts of heaven attend him.' "At the opening of the second part occurs the piece de resistance of the work, the solo ( tenor) and chorus, ' Glory to God.' Some passages in this num- ber, notably the phrase, ' The nations tremble,' have scarcely been excelled even by Handel in his most inspired moments. A magnificent air for the bass, ' See the raging flames arise,' follows, which Is succeeded by a chorus. ' Almighty ruler of the skies,' which describes the miraculous passage over' Jordan. A superb recitative accompanies Joshua's invocation to the sun and moon; and the chorus, 'Behold! the listening sun the voice obeys,' forms & grand climax to the second part. The third and closing part fairly bristles "with gems. Besides the well-known bass air. ' Shall 1 in Mamre's fertile plains,' and then the not unfamiliar soprano air, ' Oh, had I Jubal's lyre,' occurs a fine aria, ' Place danger iiround me,' for the contralto, a sublime chorus, ' Father of Mercy,' and the great chorus, also introduced in Judas, ' See, the conquering hero comes,' which celebrates the triumph of young Othniel. "The leading soprano pai't was sung by Mme. Van Zandt. This ai-tist's style is not entirely suited to oratorio, and in some of her solos she was not especially successful; albeit she sang her music carefully and conscientiously. Her rendering of ' Oh, who can tell ' was wanting in the depth of feeling which the piece demands, and in ' Hark ! 't is the linnet.' there was a lack of that delicacy and naivetfi for which the music called. In • Oh! had I Jubiil's lyre,' nothing was wanting ; for the piece was exactly fitted to her bi-illiant style, and she won a hearty encore. Miss Phillipps as Othniel justified the title that has aptly been bestowed upon her by an eminent critic, of the most emotional singer America has produced. All her music was impressively rendered, especially the diflScult aria in the third part, ' Place danger around me ' Mr. Maas has never appeared to better advantage than in Joshua. In his recitative, ' thou bright orb,' he rose to a very high point of lyric power. Mr. John F. Winch is entitled to warm commendation for his sing- ing of the bass part, Caleb, which he assumed at very short notice, owing to the continued illness of Mr. M. W. Whitney. The audience was in full sym- pathy with Mr. Winch in his trying position, but his efforts called for no indulgence. His principal air, ' See the raging fiames.' was magnificently gi\-en. Miss Sarah C. Fisher merits favorable mention for her good work in recitative. " To the chorus belongs much of the splendid success attained. Consider- ing that the work was entirely unfamiliar, the choral performance was mar- vellous in its uniform smoothness and power. . . Mr. Zerralm held the baton, and kept the chorus up with his usual success. He was honored with a delicate but significant testimonial from the lady members of the chorus, in the form of a beautiful floral lyre. His discovery of this tribute, which occurred at tlie end of the first part, created a most agreeable sensation in the chorus, which broke forth into quite a spontaneous demonstration of ap- plause " HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 3fi9 SIXTY-SECOND SEASON. May 29, 1876, to MaV 28, 1877. The annual meeting was held May 29. The president, Charles C. Perkins, occupied the chair, and in the absence of A. Parker Browne, Mr. M. G. Daniell was chosen secretary pro tern. The librarian, J. H. Stickney, reported that there had been added to the library during the year one hundred pianoforte chorus scores of the Messiah and some orchestral music He also presented a tabulated list of the works performed by the Society from Dec. 25, 1815, to April 16, 1876 (not including fragments of sm oratorio), as follows : — WAME. COMPOSER. FIRST TIME. NO. LAST TIME. Miscellaneous Dec. 25,1815. 180 May 9,1874 Messiah Handel Dec 25, 1818 . . Go Dec. 25, 1875 Creation Haydn Feb. IG, 1819.. 59 Dec. 26,1875 Dettingen Te Deum Handel April 1,1819.. 3 March 1,1862 The Intercession M.V. King Jan. 25, 1825 . . 1 MasslnBflat Haydn Jan. 25,1829.. 5 Feb. 2,183+ MassinC Mozart April 12,1829.. 1 Mass Buhler Dec. 13,1829.. 2 March 27, 1831 Mountof Olives (Eugedi). Beethoven Dec. 22,1833.. 6 Feb. 27,1853 David S. Neukomm..Feb. 28,1836.. 57 April 10,1859 Remission of Sin C. E. Horn Oct. 2, 1836 . . 1 Hymn of the Night . , S . Neukomm . . Oct. ' 1,1837.. 2 AprU 23, 1843 MountSinai S. Neukomm.. Oct. 4,1840.. 7 Aug. 21,1841 The Last Judgment L. Spohr March 20, 1812.. 8 March 17, 1844 Saint Paul Mendelssohn . .Jan. 22, 1843 . . 9 Dec. 27, 1874 Transient and Eternal Romberg Nov. 14,1841.. 5 Dec. 15,1844 Stabat Mater Rossini ..Feb. 26,1843.. 20 April 12,1876 Samson Handel Jan. 26, 1845 . . 32 May 5, 1868 MosesinEgypt Rossini Dec. 21,1845.. 45 Feb. 29,1868 Judas Maccabaeus Handel Deo. 15, 1847 . . 15 May 5, 1874 J:iijah Mendelssohn . . Feb. 13, 1848 . . 40 Nov. 8, 1875 The Martyrs Donizetti Dec. 16, 1849 . . 7 Jan. 27, 1850 The Ninth Symphony Beethoven .... April 2, 1853 . . 5 May 6, 1874 Solomon Handel Nov. 18,1855.. 3 Dec. 9,1855 Requiem Mass Mozart Jan. 18, 1857 . . 2 March 29, 1857 Eli M Costa Feb. 15,1857.. 4 Nov. 27,1864 Hymn of Praise Mendelssohn . April 10, 1858 ..12 April 12, 1876 Israel in Egypt Handel Feb. 13, 1859 . . 4 June 24, 1872 Ode on St. Cecilia's Day.. Handel Nov. 28,.1863.. 2 Dec. 6,1863 Festival Overture O. Nicolai May 23, 1865 . . 5 May 9, 1871 PsalmXLII Mendelssohn.. May 13,1866.. 1 Jephtha Handel Feb. 17,1867.. 1 Psalm XCV Jlendelssohn . . Jlay 5, 1868 . . 1 370 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. NAME. CO.MPOSEK. FIRST TIME. NO. LAST TIME. Naamau M. Costa March 27, 1869 . . 2 Dec. 26, 1869 The Woman of Samaria. ..W. S. BennettMay 13,1871.. 1 Hear my Prayer Mendelssohn .. May 7,1874.. 2 Feb. 6,1875 Christus Mendelssohn . .May 7, 1874 . . 1 Psalm XLVI D. Buck May 7,1874.. 2 Feb. 6,1875 The Passion Music (Saint Matthew) Bach May 8,1874.. 2 April 9,1876 Saint Peter J K. Paine May 9,1874.. 1 TheSeasons Haydn April 28,1875.. 1 Joshua Handel April 16,1876.. 1 The treasurer, George W. Palmer, reported that the receipts for the year had been S19,261. Included among the items were the fol- lowing : from the Messiah, 13,629.56 ; from the Cnation, $3,030.25 ; from Bach's Passion Music, $1,244.50 ; portion of the Tietjens con- cert, $1,124.57 ; from Jbsftwa, $1,674.50. The general expenses, including the rent of the hall, etc., were $3,073.04, and the expenses of the concerts had used up the remainder of the receipts, leaving a balance of $54.22 in the treasury. The indebtedness had been reduced from $2,750 to $2,000. There was a long discussion on the advisability of assessing the members to pay off the debt, and finally it was voted to levy an assessment of $5 on each member. A motion to reconsider was lost. Mr. Palmer, who was also chairman of the examining committee, reported that 172 candidates for membership had been examined, of which nurriber 80 had been received and 92 rejected. Of those re- ceived 25 were sopranos, 26 altos, 10 tenors, and 19 bassos. The president made a brief address in the nature of a report. He suggested that it would be a good plan to have a library room, where the music could be kept, and of sufficient size to be a pleasant place of resort for the members ; and that a double quartet of the best singers in the Society should be selected to examine music and report upon its merits to the Society. He reported that thirty rehearsals had been held, at which the average attendance was 340 persons, and that six concerts had been given, at which the average attendance was 475. He also suggested that a musical festival be held in May, 1877, and this suggestion was received with applause. He took the opportunity to present to the Society two large folio volumes of the Handel edition of the Messiah, and he urged upon the members the importance of more fi'equent donations of such a character. The thanks of the Society were extended to him for his gift. The election of officers was then proceeded with, and resulted as follows : — HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 371 President. — Cicakles C. Perkins. Vice-President. — George H. Chickering. Secretary. — A. P. Browne. Treaavrer. — Geoege W. Palmer. Librarian. — J. H. Sticknet. Directors. — J. S. Sawyer, R. Beeching, F. H. Jekks, W. F. Bradbury, M. G. Daniell, A. H. Wilson, G. T. Brown, and J. D. Andrews. Mr. John A. Nowell called the attention of the Society to the pres- ence in the meeting of Mr. B. B. Davis, of Brookline, who had attended regularly sixty annual meetings. Mr. Davis responded briefly, testifying to the great good he had received from his con- nection with the Society and his participation in the noble thoughts and words of the oratorios. As this was to be a festival year (the fourth Triennial) , the cus- tomary oratorio work of the Society shrank to small dimensions. Only the Christmas and Easter oratorios were provided for, — the Messiah, and for the second time, Joshua. The Festival was the " objective point " of the year, absorbing all the energyjbeyond the necessary rehearsal for the reproduction of those two works, one for "the sixty-sixth, the other for the second time. During the summer little or nothing of importance is recorded. Some things were discussed without definite or satisfactory result. Perhaps the most significant was Boston's need of a good permanent local orchestra. Music, especially orchestral music, in the United States, was felt to be growing too peripatetic to be relied upon for local uses. Through the frequent invasion of trained travelling orchestras, all our humble attempts to build up a local orchestra were crippled by the falling off of steady, public patronage ; and from this cause the oratorios, as well as the purely instrumental concerts, suffered. It became more and more difficult to gather from among our resident musicians a really sufficient orchestra for the accompani- ment even of Elijah and the Hymn of Praise. To call in a travelling virtuoso orchestra each time was altogether too expensive. (It is better at this present time of writing, 1889.) It may be worth mentioning, as showing the influence of good ex- ample, that Handel's Joshua, a few months after the first production by the old Society, was successfully brought out (early in October), in the Nineteenth Annual Festival of the Worcester County Musical Association at Worcester, Carl Zerrahn conducting. The soloists were Miss Clara Doria (now Mrs. H. M. Rogers), Miss Mathilde Phillipps, Mr. J. R. Nilsen, tenor, of Xew York, and Mr. J. F. AVincli. 372 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Rehearsals of the Messiah and of Joshua occupied the Sunday evenings from Oct. 1 to Christmas. At a meeting of the board, Dec. 8, the committee on soloists presented the first draft of a programme for the Festival ; and Dr. Robert Franz, of Halle, Saxony, was made an honorary member of the Society. Christmas Eve came on Sunday evening, Dec. 24, when the Society gave its sixty-sixth performance of the Messiah, that being its five hundred and ninety- fourth concert in the sixty- two years of its exist- ence. As usual at that joyful festival, the Music Hall was crowded, and the performance on the whole was one of the best, the choruses having been rehearsed with zealous care and even with enthusiasm. This performance derived a special interest from the use, for the first time, of the additional accompaniments furnished by Robert Franz to several numbers of the work which Mozart had omitted to complete in the admirable manner in which he had fitted the rest of the oratorio for public performance in Vienna. It can hardly be supposed that the mass of a Boston audience, not technically musical, noticed par- ticularly wherein the passages in question sounded better than before, and yet unconsciously they must have experienced a fresh pleasure in them. To musical students and observers the improvement must have been palpable. A much richer and warmer coloring was im- parted to the air, " He shall feed his flock," by the addition of two clarinets, two bassoons, and particularly two horns, though this -had been suggested heretofore at least upon the organ. In like manner the pair of clarinets and of bassoons filled out the middle harmony, so long left to the organ, with excellent effect in a considerable num- ber of the choruses, arias, and the more graphic recitatives, as "Thus saith the Lord, And I will shake," etc. And several times the fine contrapuntal art of Franz was beautifully manifested in the answer- ing phrases, imitations, which he has given to those middle instru- ments, or instrumental voices, keeping up the polyphonic continuity. Who can doubt that Handel himself did that when he presided at his organ ? A number of the shorter recitatives, left with only a figured bass, had been written out by Franz for the quartet of strings, and certainly they sounded better. There was, moreover, another impor- tant improvement in the treatment of the orchestral accompaniment. The phrasing and bowing of the violins, and all the strings, which had followed an absurd tradition, — in short a coarse and careless habit of playing nearly every figure with a hacking staccato, — had been carefully conformed by the conductor to the evident intentions of Handel's score, so that we no longer heard the incongruous and stilted separate accent on each note accompanying the legato of the voices. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 373 The solos averaged well, if there was no singer of superlative excellence, no famous prima donna. The soprano pieces were divided between Mrs. J. W. Weston and a new aspirant, Miss Lilian B. Norton. The latter had a pure, large, powerful voice, which she had a tendency to use (probably in the over-anxiety of a debutante in that large hall) somewhat too powerfully. Her vocal culture, too, seemed hardly equal to her sympathetic musical feeling, her dramatic intensity and good conception. She gave "There were shepherds " and "Rejoice greatly," with fine effect, and promised to '»ake high rank among our singers in these nobler tasks. Mrs. Weston sang "But thou didst not leave" and "I know that my Redeemer" very sweetly, but with rather indistinct enunciation. Miss Mathilde Phil- lipps won great favor in the contralto solos. ^Her rich and sympathetic voice, and her large, evenly sustained, expressive delivery, appeared to excellent advantage in " O thou that tellest," and in "He was despised," the latter being given in a chaste and unaffected manner, without any of that sentimental overdoing of expression which has been too common in that song, and without that mannish quality in the deep tones so offensive in many of the powerful contraltos. Mr. Wm. J. Winch sang the more pathetic tenor solos with great refine- ment and true feeling, and with a sweet quality of tone. And in the energetic and trying "Thou shalt dash them," he was remarkably successful, except that the high A on "dash," in his strenuous effort to give it all possible emphasis, was rather robbed of tone. Mr. M. W. Whitney was in grand voice, and rendered tlie bass solos very impressively. The chorus numbered four hundred voices, and there was an orches- tra of forty. The financial result of the concert was a profit of one thousand dollars. 1877. Among the announcements of forthcoming musical events that season appeared this, on the 3d of March : — First in consequence is the Triennial Festival of the Handel and Haydn Society, next May, for which the programme is full of interest and novelty, and the rehearsals are going on in real earnest. There will be six perform- ances, as follows : — Wednesday evening, May 16. A new festival overture and chorus by Prof . J. K Paine; " Spring," from Haydn's Seasons; Ninety-fifth Psalm by Mendelssohn. Thursday afternoon, 17th. Solos; orchestral selections; Redemption Hymn, for contralto solo and chorus, composed expressly by J. C. U. Par- ker; Marcello's Eighteenth Psalm, "The Heavens are telling" {Icieli nar- rano, — the one described in Mme George Sand's Consuelo). Thursday evening. Bach's Christmas Oratorio (two or three parts) ; Kil- ler's Song of Victory, for soprano solo and chorus. 374 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Friday eveninn Handel's Samson. Saturday afternoon. Solos etc. "Noel," a Christmas cantata by Saint- Saens. Sunday eveniny, Mail 20. Handel's grandest choral work, the oratorio Israel in Egypt. Among the solo singers secured are : Miss Clara Louise Kellogg, Miss p:mma C. Thursby, Miss Annie Louise Cary, Mr. Charles K Adams, tenor, from the Imperial Opera in Vienna, Mr. Wm. J. Winch, Mr. John F. Winch, and Mr. M. W. Wliitney. Meanwhile, at Easter, the Society will perform Handel's Joshua, with Miss Thursby, Miss A. Phillipps, Mr. Maas, and Mr. M. W. Whitney for the solos. Some action of the board of governmeDt, Feb. 16, shows the gen- erous patriotic spirit with which the Soeiet}- approached this Festival. It was then voted that one half the profits be devoted to the "Old South (Church) Preservation Fund." That surely should have in- spired enough additional attendance on the part of friends of Boston's sacred, proud, historical memorials, to make it certain that there would be profits to divide The result will show. While busily working on the Festival rehearsals, the chorus still found time to brush up their rather short acquaintance with Handel's Joxhua for the Easter oratorio, which came on the 1st of April. They were greeted by a full house, the receipts amounting to $2,200. If not so great as its great brethren, the Messiah and Israel in Egypt, it was not the less keenly enjoyable as being of the same royal line- age and comparatively new to a Boston public, having been given only once before. It is not always the highest mountain that we care to climb ; a change of view is sometimes more to us than height. The performance was not on the whole so good as that of the year before. The chorus sometimes faltered in attack. Then too, — probably the result of a long Wagnerian dissipation, — the orchestra was often coarse and careless, yet some of the choruses were made remarkably expressive and effective. There was much to praise in the solo singing, while some of it was inadequate. Pretty Miss Emma Thursby, fresh and natural, with her fresh, sweet voice, — her first attempt in oratorio, — sang the music of Achsa (with many omissions) very beautifully, with artistic, true expression, although she seemed not quite in health, and put less life into her song than on some happier occasions. But " Oh, had I Jubal's Ij-re " was splen- didly delivered. " Hark ! 't is the linnet," too, was charmingly sung, being just suited to her liquid, bird-like voice. Miss Adelaide Phil- lipps was thoroughly the artist, ripe and true, in the melodies of Othniel. Mr. Maas, the tenor, sang with sweet voice and refined taste, but seemed to have a cold and lacked weight and resonance for HISTOKV OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 375 the heroic temper of the songs of Joshua, ilr. Whitney, too, our grand basso, did not a few things grandi}', yet was not at his best. " Shall I in Mamre's fertile plain" was given with a sustained and noble gravity on his part ; hut the flowing chords of the accompani- ment, quite as cantabile as the voicp part, were plaj-ed in so staccato, or detached a manner, as to mar the effect of the music as a whole. And now, having sent forth these two noble frigates, the Christmas and the Piaster oratorios, rejoicing on their w.iy, we have the harbor full of sails and full of stir and preparation with the great fleet of the Fourth Triennial Festival. " Play with your fancies . . Hear the shrill wMstle, which doth order give To sounds confus'd : behold the tlireaden sails, Borne witli th' invisible and creeping wind, Draw the huge bottoms through the furrow'd sea, Breasting the lofty surge. 0, do but think, You stand upon the rivage, and behold A city on the inconstant billows dancing ; For so appears this fleet majestical, Holding due course," etc. Hennj V. FOURTH TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL. May 16 to May 2U, 1s77. This Festival, unlike its predecessors, presented a list of principal singers who were all American, and verily a fine one. For sopranos, Miss Clara Louise Kellogg and Miss Emma Thursby ; contraltos. Miss Annie Louise Gary and Miss Mathilde Phillipps ; tenors, INIr. Charles R. Adams (who for nine years had held a high position in the Imperial Opera at Vienna, and who was sure to be welcomed back with enthusiasm to the scene of his old triumphs) and Mr. William J. Winch ; bassos, our two stalwart Handelian " men of war," Messrs. John F. Winch and M. W. Whitney. The chorus had six hundred voices, the orchestra seventy musicians, including the Beethoven and Mendelssohn Quintet Clubs. Mr. B. J. Lang was organist and solo pianist ; Carl Zerrahn, conductor of the whole, as he had been of all the preceding festivals, five in number. The evening oratorios began at 7.45 ; the afternoon concerts at 2.30. The Chickering pianos were used at all the concerts. The order of the programmes, it will be seen, was somewhat changed since the first announcement, and Elijah was added, while Haydn's " Spring" was omitted. 376 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. First Day. Wednesday Evening, May 16. The Festival opened with a superb performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah, the most popular of all oratorios, and one which the chorus knew by heart, and was almost sure to sing it well ; and it was all-important that the first start in such a Festival should be an inspiring, unmistakable success. The choral work was magnificent, chorus after chorus giving more palpable and more inspiring proof of the great progress the Society had made within three years. The enthusiasm, alike of singers and of audience, culminated in the stupendous " Kain" chorus, " Thanks be to God," which, it is safe to say, was never before given here with such precision, such verve, such grand sonorous volume, carrying all before it. The quartet of principal soloists was excellent. Miss Clara Louise Kellogg, to be sure, was somewhat out of her most congenial and accustomed sphere in music of so large and serious a character ; her voice seemed thin and hard and worn in several passages, and once or twice, as in the Angel trio, slightly out of tune. But she was sin accomplished and artistic singer, and she gave herself to the task with right good will. Miss Annie Louise Gary, then one of the noblest contralto singers in the world, came back to us in the full ripeness of her golden voice and art. All that she did that night was admirable and absolutely satisfying The pathos of '-Woe unto them" could hardly find expression more sincere and truthful ; and '' O rest in the Lord " was given in tones of such rich and even volume, such a pure and perfect cantabile, and such chaste and simple fervor, that it required all her judicious amiable firmness to resist the call for a repetition. As the arrival of Mr. Charles E. Adams was delayed by a rough passage from Hamburg, the tenor solos fell to our excellent Wm. J. Winch, whose voice never was sweeter, nor his style more pure, finished, and expressive. Mr. M. \V. Whitney always makes a grand and stately representative of the Prophet. This time his ponderous bass voice, particularly the upper range of it, was hardly in its best condition ; but most of his sentences were grandly delivered, the pathetic arias were sung with feeling and refinement, and the swift, strong, uncon- tainable "Is not his word like a fire?" was given with great entagy and certainty, making the " divine rage" of the music felt. In the double quartet these four artists were assisted by jNIiss Sarah C. Fisher, Mrs. Jennie M. Noyes, Mr. Fessenden, and Mr. J. F. Winch, and Miss Fisher joined Miss Kellogg and Miss Cary in the Angel trio. With the exception of the trio, all the concerted pieces were uncom- monly successful in the rendering. HISTOKY OF THE HAKDEL AXU HAYDN SOCIETY. 377 The Music Hall was crowded in all parts, and the first night of the Festival was a decided and a fruitful triumph. Skcond Day. Thursday Afternoon. May 17. Another crowded house ; receipts $2 600. All the principal vocalists appeared in the following programmi; : — 1. C>verture to Athalie. Op. 74 ilendeUsohn. 2. Air from the Creation, ■• Boiling in foaming billows " Haydn. Mr. M. W. Whitney. 3. Aria from Semiramide, " Ah, quel giorno ! " . . Bossini. M'ss Phili.ipps. 4. Scena from Don ©Joi'ann! , " Non mi clir " . . Mo.voi-t. Miss Keli.ogg. 5. Aria from Requiem Mass. "Ingemisco" . Terdi. Mk. Chahlks K. Adams. fi. Psalm XVIII. " The Spacious Firmament " . Marcello. Solos by Mrs. Jexnie M. Noyes. Assisted in the quartet by Mr. W. J. 'Winch, Mr. B. F. Gii.beut, and Mk. C. E Hay. 7. Adagio from Prometheus, Op. 43 . . . . Beethoven. 8. Song from Naaman, " I dreamt I was in heaven" . Costa Miss Camy. 9. Concert aria, '■ Ma che vi fece ' . . . JIo.tart. Mi.-s Thuushy. 10. Cantata, " Noel '' [Christmas] ... . Saint-Saens. Solos by Miss Kellogg, Miss Caky. Miss Phillipps, Mk. W. .7 Wi.NCii. and Mr. J. F. AYixch. The points of most mnrked interest in this concert were the first hearing of '• Noel," the first appearance of Mr. Adams, and the Mozart aria as sung by Miss Thursbj'. To begin with the last named, it was a triumph for the fresh, pure, bird-like young soprano. The aria itself teems with happy thoughts in the modest, genial orclipstral accompaniment. It soars high in the final allegro and revels in bright florid figures, and the young lady sang in the most crystal clear, sweet tones, with utmost fluency and brilliancy ; her intonation perfect, and her style sympathetic where the passage called for that. Miss Kellogg vocalized fluently and gracefully in the " Letter" aria, but hers was not the Donna Anna sphere of song. Miss Gary sang a flat, sentimental piece as well as she sings every- thing ; there was immense applause for /ter. Miss Mathilde Phillipps seemed better fitted for the stage than for the concert room. Mr. Adams was most warmly greeted as he presented himself with a quiet, manly bearing, and an air of experience and distinction, such as one might look for in the American singer who had held the place of leading tenor for nine years in the Imi)eri'il Opera at Vienna. 378 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. There was the stamp of the artist manifest ere he had sung three measures. His was the robust kind of tenor, of large compass, evenly developed, under complete control, and intrinsically very sweet in quality, though, probably owing to the " sea change" from which he had scarcely yet escaped, a certain huskiness obscured his middle tones. He sang superbly, in a frank, large, masterly dra- matic style, each tone fraught with meaning and intention. The high B flat was splendid, and his baritone notes were musical and solid. Nothino' could be finer than his musical declamation, or his enuncia- tion, for which this impassioned " Ingemisco" from Verdi's Requiem, aft'ected as the composition is and overstrained, afforded him consid- erable scope. Recalled with hearty plaudits, he sang it even better than before. Of Marcello's Eighteenth Psalm, or the fragments culled from it and here put together, with full orchestral accompaniment, by Lind- paintner. for the use of the Parisian and other Conservatories, we have briefly remarked elsewhere : — " It is a portion only, and the smaller portion, the first movement out of several,' of that Psalm which George Sand in her famous novel makes Consuelo sing before the great composer, under the direction of the old maestro Por- pora, beginning, ' I cieli immensi narrano' ('The heavens are telling'). Marcello's music covers all the many verses of each Psalm : the selection here made has greater unity as well as brevity. The words of Addison's noble hymn, 'The spacious firmament on high,' etc., are found to suit the music admirably. It Is in a cheerful, flowing, even, narrative vein of mel- ody, so simple that it almost sings itself ; and being written for alto, first and second tenors, and bass voices, without sopranos, and harmonized with admirable art. It has a singularly rich, full, hearty sound, as refreshing as it Is unusual. The alto solo, however, is so little that we wonder how Mme. Sand came to make so much account of it." And did it occur to George Sand that she was making a contralto of her budding prima donna? The piece, though well sung, made no very marked impression ; the heavy orchestration seemed to overload a work so purely vocal and so modest ; and, pleasing as the extract was, it is by no means the best part of the Psalm, nor is this Psalm so good a specimen as could be found among the fifty. The solos were fairly sung by Mrs. N'oyes, as was a quartet of soli in one place, reminding one of Haydn's '• The heavens are telling." Much more interesting was the short Christmas Oratorio (or can- tata) by Saint-Saens. As an early composition (Op. 12), it shows rare talent, if not genius. The study of Bach betrays itself at various points in it. Had Bach's Christmas music been heard first, every one would have recognized in the instrumental prelude a pal- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 379 pable imitation of Bach's Pastoral Symphony, — the same 12-8 measure, the same sort of phrasing, the same contrasting of pastoral reeds with strings. Only here the orchestra has only strings, the reeds being represented on the organ, and very expressively, by Mr. Lang. Bach's prelude is far more poetic and ideal, this of Saint- Saens more realistic, as if you actually heard the Abruzzi peasants in the streets of Rome ; and hei'e too the narrative and the annuncia- tion, distributed among the four solo voices, may be called conven- tional ; much of it is kept upon a monotone, like church chanting. The chorus, " Glory, now, unto God," etc., is concise and effective. The simple air, " Firm in faith," in detached phrases, with graceful instrumental figures between them, was beautifully sung by Miss Gary. Miss Kellogg and Mr. J. F. Winch did justice to the duet, "Blessed, ever blessed," which, but for the tedious continuity of staccato chord accompaniment by the organ, has much beauty. There was nothing more impressive in the whole work than the stir- ring chorus, " Wherefore are the nations raging?" ; and nothing more lovely in contrast, though the connection seems forced, than the gen- tle, flowing ascription to which its turbulent agitato suddenly gives wa}'. Solo singers, chorus, orchestra, and organ were satisfactory throughout, and the work as a whole probably made all the impres- sion that it ever will make. It certainly gave pleasure here for once. Thursday Evening. Third concert, with this programme : — 1. Christmas Oratorio. Parts I. and II J. S. Bach. Solos by Miss Thuksby, Miss Caky, ilK. W. J. Winch, and Mr. J. F. Winch. 2. Recitative, " Deeper and deeper still " | j,^.^^ ^^^,^^^^ _ ^, ^,, ^^^^^^^^_ Ah-, " Waft her, angels " > Mr. W. J. Winch. 3. Air from £h', " I will extol thee, O Lord " . . M.Costa. Miss Emma C. Thuksby. 4. Hymn, Bedimption ./.CD. Parker. Solo by Miss Gary. 5. Air from The Prodigal Son . . . . . A. S. Sullivan. Mr. .T. F. Wixch. 6. Cantata, A Somj of Victory . . . . . F. Hiller. Solo by Miss Thursby. The two parts of Bach's Christmas Oratorio wei-e far more success- ful, both in their presentation and reception, than we had dared to hope. So far as we could read the signs, the great majority of the audience, that very nearly filled the hall, were charmed and deeply moved by nearly every number of the music, so poetic, so ideal, so sincerely C hristian in its spisit. It is more easily understood than 380 HISTORV OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. the Passion Music; but there was much to imperil its success. It had had too few chances of rehearsal, while it is a kind of music in which our singers are not much at home. Then it needed the addi- tional accompaniments by Franz to fill out Bach's intention ; these unfortunately arrived only the day after the feast. Then the arias, on the old model, with their two long parts and a da capo to the first again (which Franz, in his arrangements of many of them with piano- forte, has happily abridged), could hardly fail, with all their beauty, to prove wearisome to unaccustomed ears. But we were agreeably surprised in hearing the entire performance go so reasonably well. The chorals (five of them) and the two great choruses were sung with spirit and a fair degree of precision ; the soloists, instead of strug- gling painfully with their exacting ;tasks, made the beauty of the music readily appreciable : and the orchestration was passably eked out with parts from England, and, in one or two numbers, from The- odore Thomas, while the organ throughout, handled with discrimi- nating tact by Mr. Lang, went far to make the harmony, if not the counterpoint, complete. The opening chorus, than which nothing could sound more glad and jubilaut, had a most inspiring influence. All felt its power ; all were delighted at the free and hearty childlike way in which this learned old musician could rejoice and shout, and all so musically, and as if unconscious of his own consummate art. The only drawback was in the awkward English version of the text; the first words, "Chris- tians, be joyful," was not easy for the voices, compared with the original, '^ Jauchzet, frohlocket ! " Miss Carj^'s delivery of the reci- tative, "See now the bridegroom," and the air, "Prepare thj'self, Zion," was in the rich, heartfelt tones, and the chaste, even, pure caniabile style required, with just enough of quiet rapture in the florid passage preceding the da capo. The serious choi-al, " How shall I fitly meet thee?" was well sung, as were all the chorals, — all inim- itable specimens of Bach's inexhaustible genius for polyphonic har- mony, — and had a refreshing and uplifting influence. Mr. "\V. J. Winch gave the narrative sentences of the Evangelist in a pure and sweet style of recitative, reverentiallj- and simply. The unison cho- ral for sopranos, " For us to earth He cometh poor," alternating line by line with a beautiful orchestral strain, as well as with reflective sentences of bass recitative, was perhaps not quite so clearlj- brouo-ht out as some other numbers of the work, yet enough so to interest bv its originality of form as well as by its intrinsic beauty. The long and florid bass air, "Lord Almighty," in 2-4 measure, found adequate expression in the at once solid and elastic voice of Mr. J. F. Winch. HISTOKY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 381 And the choral, "Ah! dearest Jesus," with the trumpet interludes, brought the first part to a delightful close. As to the heavenly Pastoral Symphony, with which the second part begins, although the reed parts were somewhat blurred, yet its exqui- site beauty seemed to be felt by all. It is too ideal, too artistically perfect, to be compared at all with the one we had heard in the after- noon. It is woven out of the most vital fibre, instinct with life in every phrase ; every instrument is a melody ; each sings the same thought, the same motive out of its own heart, in its own way, as if each originated it, and they divinely blended. There is the same ideality and poetic freshness, the same imaginative realization of the scene and the events described, in the recitatives, " There were shep- herds," etc., etc. Nothing conventional here, nothing for a moment commonplace. It is all charm and wonder and presentiment. Here occurred Miss Thursby's only participation in this work, the single page of the announcement by the angel, '' Be not afraid," of which her delivery was most pure and brilliant. The wonderful tenor aria, " Haste, ye shepherds," so tender, yet so extremely diflBcult and florid in the latter portion, received a tasteful, highly finished, fervent rendering from Mr. W. J. Winch ; this was the most arduous task for any solo singer. Beautifully soft and harp-like sounded the accompaniment to the bass recitative (well declaimed by Mr. J. F. Winch), exhorting all to sing " with one accord, beside that cradle holy." And then the cradle song of the mother, "Sleep, my be- loved," the loveliest melody of that kind ever invented, and wrought out with most perfect art. Miss Gary's voice and singing were entirely worthy of it ; chaste and deep in feeling, and faultless save in a single slip at the end of the second part through momentary in- attention to the score. The sublime chorus, " Glory to God," won- derfully elaborate as it is, and so involved, in the independent move- ment of each voice part and instrument, was quite effectively given by the great choir, and produced a marked impression. It must be heard again and again to appreciate a tithe of all its beauty and its grandeur ; they are inexhaustible. This chorus formed the exciting climax of the work. Then for a calm and peaceful close, the return of the choral, which has been heard twice before, but now in a new rhythm, the 12-8 of the Pastorale, whose lovely second theme is brought in after every line, was just the most exquisite and perfect thing that ear and soul could crave. Singers and audience were wrought up to the highest pitch of enthusiasm by Mr. Parker's " Eederaption Hymn." It was the sen- sation of the Festival. It was sung perfectly', chorus and orchestra 382 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. doing their best out of a hearty sj-mpathy and respect for the com- poser. The alto solo was admirably sung by Miss Gary, and then — we will let the Courier describe the scene that followed : — '•After Miss Gary had curtsied her acknowledgments of the tumultuous applause, cries of ' Parker ! Parker ! ' began to be heard from various parts of the hall in ever-growing crescendo. The modest composer, apparently rather overwhelmed by these demonstrations, was at last prevailed upon to rise from his seat in one of the back rows on the floor and m^e a half -timid bow. But this was not enough ; hardly a hundred people had seen him, or even knew where to look for him; the applause and cries continuing unabated, Mr. Zerrahn's tall figure was seen striding down the side aisle, like Inexora- ble fate, bearing down upon Mr. Parker's seat. Escape was impossible, and the successful composer was mercilessly captured, and led up to the con- ductor's desk on the stage, from whence he bowed his thanks amid cheers and hand-clapping, the ladies of the chorus fluttering their handkerchiefs as if the signal had been given by an electric battery. Mr. Parker may be proud of having written one of the best choral fugued movements ('Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? ') that contemporary com- positions can boast of. The fugued chorus is almost a lost art, and to have written so strongly eflfective an one is no mean triumph. The composition, as a whole, is admirably written, and shows at times no little melodic inven- tion. Mr. Parker is much to be congratulated." Killer's " Song of Victory," imposing, grandiose in plan, in its elaborate structure and employment of all modern means, was very variously received. Some were carried away by it, and some shook their heads ; to the most its very brilliancy and (so to say) grandilo- quence proved wearisome. Its impressiveness, as a whole, was hardly in proportion to the grandeur of design, the wealth and bold- ness of the' harmony, the ingenuity of form, and the considerable melody displayed in it. That it is the work of a most accomplished musician, one of the masters of our time, armed and ready at all points, there can be no question. But Hiller here, as elsewhere, seems to fall just short of what we call creative genius ; the vitaliz- ing spark is wanting. Had we room to go into detail, however, it would be easy to point out many a passage strikingly effective, beau- tiful, and even original. Some of the choruses arewoithy of their subject, jubilant and full of exultation, while some are bizarre and bordering on the barbaric. The final chorus, " Praise the Lord with lute and harp, with tabors, cymbals, and dances," seemed the literal reproduction, or " materialization" of that text, so full was it of gay and happy sounds, so buoyant, childlike, and like Father Haydn. The choruses were commonly well sung ; but the orchestration, always heavy, was still more over-weighted, as was sometimes the vocal melody itself, with the bloated rimbombo of a big bass tuba. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL A^U HAYDN SOCIKTY, 383 MisB Thursby made the most of her several soprano solos ; in the final chorus her silver}', pure voice soared and revelled, holding out the highest tones witli exquisite beauty and quite rapturous expres- sion. This really brilliant programme, with so many interesting novelties, drew but a moderately large audience, the receipts being only $1,450. Third Day. Fourth Concert, Friday Evming, May 18. A very large audience assembled to hear Handel's Samson, — not the whole of it by any means, which would have taken about five hours, seeing that this performance, in which the cuts and omissions amounted to a full half of the oratorio, lasted two hours and a half. The fact is, Samson is an endless series of recitatives and arias, many of them most beautiful and characteristic, but relieved by comparatively few choruses ; and in his semi-dramatic plan of treating all the words of somebody's adaptation of Milton's " Samson Agonistes," so manj' solos, for a concert room, become intolerably prolix. The retrench- ment, to be sure, was made chiefly from the solos, and this left a fairer proportion of choral numbers. Still, even these had to be reduced, because the text of several of them is really quite unpre- sentable. What would liappen, in these days of woman's rights, for instance, should the whole Handel and Haydn sisterhood and broth- erhood unite in singing : — " To man God's universal law Gave pow'r to keep the wife in awe," and then continue, in full fugue : — " Thus shall his life be ne'er dismay'd, By female usurpation swayed ! " But, on the other hand, the very excision of so much, so frequently, here a bit and there a bit from the same long stretch of recitative, also aggravated the sense of lengthiness by the slight confusion and uncertainty about the place which it occasioned both with listeners and singers. A more serious drawback was the imperfect state in which this, like all the Handel scores, is found with regard to orches- tral accompaniment, middle parts of the harmony being too fre- quently wanting, or but imperfectly supplied upon the organ. Nevertheless, in spite of all these drawbacks, there was much that was grandly impressive, much that was fresh, characteristic, beautiful in melodj-, while nearly all was enjoyable. The solos were mostly excellent. Miss Kellogg was eminently in place in the soft, inveigling, fondling, pleading melodies of Delilah ; she cooed and warbled " With plaintive notes" most gracefully and tenderly; and. 384 HISTORY OF THK HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY^. iu another and a nobler vein, her "Let the bright seraphim" was spirited and brilliantly effective. Jliss Mathilde Phillipps sang " Return, Lord of Hosts," and indeed most of the music of Micah in an earnest, thoughtful manner, and with good expression ; and it was well suited to her rich voice. Mr. Adams had a fine oppor- tunity to illustrate his admirable art of recitative in the part of Sam- son. He is a model in enunciation and in musical declamation ; all his phrasing perfect, never missing the dramatic point. You feel that you have an artist before you always, one who has been thor- oughly trained, one who knows himself, his business and his vocal means. Some of his middle tones were still a little husky ; and yet they wore large tones, full of essential sweetness. Never, unless it were in Braham's time, had we heard so beautiful, so refined, so touchingly eloquent a rendering of "Total eclipse"; had he been blind, as Milton and Handel were, he could hardly have conveyed the spirit of the poetry and music more imaginatively. In his dialogue with Delilah all his replies were telling. Mr. M "W. Whitney sang '■ Honor and arms" superbly, and was in capital voice and trim for sill the music of the boastful Harapha ; "pity onl3' that it was so bare in accompaniment ! Mr. J. F. Winch gave an agreeable and faithful rendering of the part of " aged Mauoah." Several of the more stir- ring choruses were well sung, others not so well ; the singers showed signs of fatigue ; so much work in a crowded hall, and in the first inti'use heat of summer, readilj' accounts for it. Yet the perform- ance was, upon the whole, a fair one, and given to a fair house ; receipts, $2,100. P'ocRTH Day. Saturday Afternoon, May 19. The fifth concert of the Festival offered another very miscellaneous programme, mainly made up of solos, mostly vocal, with but slight intervention of the chorus, and no important orchestral number to give it dignity, beyond a single rather indifferent overture Tlie crowd of listeners on this occasion was surpassing ; hundreds of people stood throughout. The receipts rose to $3,500. The se ection was as follows : — 1. Overture, " Hero and Leander," Op. 1 1 . . lii('t.i Fkstiv.m. Odchk.mua. 2. Scena from Loheniirin. The Legend of the Grail Wu(jit(;r. Mr. Cii.vm.ES R. Adams. 3. Aria from Z*fm CaWos, " O Don Fatale " . . . Verdi. Miss Annie Louise Gary. 4. Aria from /S'em/ramWe, " Bel Raggio " . . Eossini. Miss Clara Louise Kellogg. 5. Aria from La Jnive, " Se oppress! oguor " . . HaUvy. Mr. Myron W. Whitney. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 385 fi I •. , *.„™ /^,.„;,„..„ . /«• " Chiamo il niio ben " ) ,„ , b. Airs from Orpheus: < J . Gluck. I 'j. " Addio o miei sospiri " 3 JIiss JIathilde Phillipps. 7. Fantasle for pianoforte, Op. 15. (Instrumented by Liszt) ... Schubert. Mr. B. J. Lang. 8. Fonr-part song (unaccompanied;, "Farewell to the Forest" Mendelssohn. Festival Chorus. 9. Song, " Die Allmacbt " Schubert. JIr. Adams. 10. Aria from Le Pre aux Clercs, " Dell' Eta mia prlmiera," Herold. Miss Emma C. Thuesby. 11. Aria from i7 PTO/eJa, " Pieta " . . . . Meyerbeer. Miss Philijpps. 12. Quartet from Fidelio, Canon . .... Beethoven. Miss Thuesby. Miss Cary, Mr. Adams, Me. Whitney. 13. Solo and Chorus from iSJofiaf il/aier. " Inflammatus " . Mossini. Miss Kellogg and Festival Chorus. Miss Kellogg was at her best, naturally, in "Bel raggio," and reaped a rich harvest of applause and flowers, huge baskets full. For Rossini's " Inflammatus " she had not the thrilling majesty of voice or style, though technically it was finely executed. Miss Thursby sang the florid aria from Le Pre aux Clercs with the utmost brilliancy and fluency and clear bird-like sparkle (may we say) in the blight highest tones. It was an exquisite piece of vocalization, and received with great enthusiasm and with floral tokens. Miss Gary's selection from Verdi's Don Carlos was a highly dramatic one, and exhibited her glorious, rich voice, her telling declamation, and her singularly even, ripe, sustained cantabile, to full advantage. Cheers and flowers for her, too, without stint. Miss Phillipps chose her most effective concert pieces in the two airs from Orpheus, displaying great fire and facility in the bravura of the second one. Among the men the palm belonged to Mr. Adams, whose delivery of the scena from Lohengrin had all the intensit}' and the romantic tone coloring, with all the nobility of expression which Wagner could have asked for. Not less noble was his rendering of |the majestic, awe-inspiring song of the divine Omnipotence b}' Schubert, though it was only half appreciated, the audience being unprepared for it, not having the words before them. 'Sir. Whitney sang the aria from " The Jewess," with sustained dignity and feeling. Seldom was the quartet from Fi'leiio so finely sung here (in spite of the weak Italian translation) , and yet it was about the first time that we ever knew it to pass with- out a call for repetition. The rare conjunction of four such voices 386 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. and such singers in a gem like that, should, by good rights, have been made the most of. We could not feel that the Liszt-Schubert fanta- sia, brilliant as it is, but so long und beginning to be a trifle hack- neyed, was just in the right place in that programme, though on the part of Mr. Lang it was finely played, and fairly on the part of the orchestra. The rich, cool, broad effect of the whole choral mass of voices was refreshing and inspiring in the part-song by Mendelssohn, but it was never written to be sung by more than a club, or a handful of singers, and the effort must be rated as sensational, rich as the sensation was ; voices never blended more euphoniously, it must be said. Among the other floral tributes of this concert — for it seemed to be the time of general rewards of merit — was an enormous, beauti- ful harp of flowers presented to Carl Zerrahn (by the tenors and basses of the chorus) , and a rich basket to Mr. Lang, who had done such faithful and efficient work at the great organ, as well as at the piano in the rehearsals of the chorus. Fifth and Last Day. Sunday Evening, May 20. Handel's colossal oratorio, Israel in Egypt, brought the Festival to a most noble and impressive close. It was a grand experience. For the first time ip this country was this sublime work brought out complete and in a manner worthy of its surpassing grandeur and its beauty ; and for the first time was it heartily accepted, as a whole, by a great audi- ence. This time it was appreciated, for this time it was adequately presented. It was a triumph for the brave conductor, Carl Zerrahn, and for all his cooperating forces. After the opening tenor recitative, " Now there arose a new king over Kgypt" (enunciated as only Mr. Charles R. Adams, with his rich voice and perfect art, could do it), the double chorus, "And the children of Israel sigh'd" (in bondage), and the whole series of miracle choruses, each itself a miracle of art, were so sung as to bring each a vivid scene before the mind : for the startling succession of these choruses is a kind of musical scene-shifting, a vast unfolding diorama ; sometimes the imagery is so strong, so bold, so graphic, so intensely irradiated or so deeply shaded, so exciting, as to take the listener's breath away. The violins, too, did their part well, sug- gesting the swarming of '' all manner of flies " after the strong unison, " He spnke the word." Of course the " Hailstone" chorus was re- ceived with uncontainable enthusiasm, and had to be repeated ; and it was perhaps the flutter of this excitement that threw the singers a little off their balance in the wonderful, mysterious modulations of '■ He sent a thick darkness." Even that most intricate of double choruses. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 387 " He led them through the deep as through a wilderness," was sung with a clearness in all the parts such as we had not heard before ; through the mazy wilderness of much rehearsal, the conductor's baton surely led them ; but we may not go through them all. Next in grandeur to these miracle choruses, which form the principal matter of the First Part, is the sublime song of Moses and the Children of Israel, " The horse and his ridei-," which begins and ends Part Second with a blaze of glory. This, too, was given with great spirit and precision, making Handel's power seem inexhaustible. There is yet a third class of choruses, — short, one-page sentences of double chorus, which ever and anon stand before us like solid mighty monu- ments to mark the progress of the work. Nothing can be grander than these are ; such a wealth and electric power of harmony is con- densed into each one of them. "He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up " ; " And Israel saw that great work " ; and especially, " And in the greatness of thine excellency," where the most daring and startling of discords is employed with the most wonderful, nay, the most strictly musical effect, — these and more are among the most characteristic features of the woik. And then there is a fourth class, of a more ecclesiastical character, single choruses, mostly aVa breve, or in tempo giuulo, which, if less exciting, add a new and graver element of variety, and offer welcome moments of repose. Such are, "And believed the Lord," "And I will exalt Him," etc. We said the work was given complete ; it was even more than complete. The several additional solos, introduced in the Appendix by Sir George Smart, were all sung after the traditional English cus- tom. This was very well from one point of view, as giving to the solo singers opportunities but sparingly allowed them in the plan of Handel's work ; and that great child, the public, brought up and spoiled on solos, always asks like Oliver " for more." But, on the other hand, the work itself is weakened by these interpolations. They come in, after a great chorus has told the story sublimely, leaving nothing to be said, and say it over again in what must seem a feeble and prolix manner. The soloists, however, for the most part, did themselves credit. The great success in this kind was the duet (part of the real work) , "The Lord is a man of war," in which the two basses, Mr. Whitney and Mr. Winch, were superbly matched, and won immense applause. It was a mistake, however, to repeat it; such a thing Jcould hardly sound so well a second time ; all needed repetition is provided in the structure of the piece itself ; and it could only lengthen the perform- ance, weakening what came after. Mr. Adams sang "The enemy 388 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL A^'D HAYDN SOCIETY. said, I will pursue " very finely ; and his recitatives, of course, were all that could be desired. But in the somewhat bewildering duet (with Miss Thursby), "Thou in thy merej'," he seemed not quite familiar with his music. The lady's soprano was most brilliant in the part of Miriam with the last chorus, and she sang finely. Miss Gary was capital in the quaint air, " Their land brought forth frogs " ; and the tranquil melody of "Thou shalt bring them in" was admirably suited to her voice and style. So closed the Fourth Triennial Festival with Handel in his sublimest phase. The receipts that evening were $2,900. This Festival was shorter than any one of the five preceding, and in that respect it was more wisely planned, for all the others proved that there can be " too much of a good thing." Six concerts in four days, all on so large a scale, and offering so much serious matter, is quite as much as the most eager musical appetite can well digest ; nor can the strength and spirit of the singers and the players well endure the strain much longer. The selections certainly were excellent : four great orato- rios, Elijah, Samson, Israel in Egypt, and for the first time. Parts I. and II. of Bach's ChristmaK Oratorio; with such interesting novel- ties as the JNIarcello Psalm, the Christmas Cantata by Saint-Saens, the Redemption Hymn by our own J. C. D. Parker, and the Song of Victory by Ferdinand Hiller ; besides the wealth of orchestra and vocal solo music in the miscellaneous concerts. The Festival was a gratifying success in almost all respects artisti- cally ; but the expense was heavy, slightly exceeding the receipts, and thus disappointing the hope which tlie Society had entertained of contributing an equal share of possible "profits" to the '■ Old South Church Preservation Fund." There was ground for pride, however, in the fact that the hazardous enterprise had been carried through without any financial" guaranty whatever, and that the music was rendered solely by American singers. The receipts for season tickets were $3,250. The sale of single admissions was, for the first per- formance, $2,726 50 ; for the second, $2,12:1 ; for the third, $898 ; for the fourth, $1,505; for the fifth, $2,999.50; fof the last, $2,310. 5ii. Tlicre was also derived from various sources, $448.15. Total receipts, $16,251.65. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 389 CHAPTER XII. SIXTY-THIRD SEASON. May 28, 1877, to May 27, 1878. The enthusiasm of the fourth Triennial Festival (May, 1877) having reached its climax in that grand performance of Handel's Israel in Egypt, and having now somewhat subsided, the day of reckoning and of thoughtful forecast came in the shape of the Annual Business Meeting, which was held in Bumstead Hall on the evening of May 28, the 'president, Charles C. Perkins, in the chair. The treasurer's report showed the receipts of the year to be S6,796.20, making, with a balaUce on hand the year before of 854.2-2, a total of $6,850.42. Paid floating debt of 82,000. Ex- penses of the year, 14,627. Amount on hand, 8223.42. It was voied to hear the report of the cost of the festival (receipts already stated) at an adjourned meeting. The trustees of the Permanent Fund reported the interest of the year at $899.20, which sum was paid to the treasurer and included in the statement of receipts. The president's report was congratulatory and encouraging. The spirit of devotion in the Society had been attested by the average attendance of three hundred and eighty singers at forty-four re- hearsals during the year. He spoke of a " new departure " to be taken by the Society in performing Elijah and perhaps other ora- torios in the "Tabernacle" (of Moody and Sankey), where for the first time five thousand people could hear the best music at prices within the reach of many now excluded. Of the Festival he said that, although its expenses slightly exceeded the receipts, yet it was carried through without any financial guaranty, and wholly by American singers, and was a success of which the So- ciety might well be proud. OflScers for the ensuing year were elected as follows : — President. — Charles C. Perkins. Vice-President. — George H. Chickering. Secretary. — A. Parker Brow^ke. Treasurer. — George W. Palmer. Librarian. — John H. Stickney. 390 BISTOET OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. DirectO'is. — G. T. Brown, J. D. Andrews, W. F. Bradbury, A H. Wilson, A. K. Hebahd, H. G. Carey, J. A. Pray, and R. S. Rdndlett. The first call to action, in the summer, was "To your tents, O Israel." The Triennial Festival was supplemented on Tuesday even- ing, June 5, by a repetition of Elijah under the ample but temporary roof of the " Tabernacle." The music sounded better than was com- monly expected ; yet it could not be said that either chorus, orchestra, or organ had the telling sonority that they had in the Music Hall ; much depended, however, upon how the hearer was placed. The great enclosure was so cut up overhead by crossing beams and rafters as to reduce its sound-reflecting power almost to nothing. Every note was heard; but it all sounded dull, far-off. One journal said: " Elijah in the Tabernacle is as effective as a string quartet in the Music Hall ; both can be distinctly heard, and intellectually compre- hended ; but neither can be physically felt." • The array of solo artists was one of great strength. First, Mme. Pappenheim, of the German Opera, renowned in Wagnerian music- dramas and in Fidelio, now sang in oratorio for the first time. In voice sure, true, ample, sympathetic, and far-reaching ; in style artistic ; in execution facile, finished, even ; in feeling and expres- sion, she had hardly been surpassed in that music. Her "Hear ye, Israel" (which Mendelssohn wrote for Jenny Lind) was superb. Her "Holy, holy," too, was, next to the Lind's, the nearest to the sublime that we remember. Mr. Charles R. Adams, in the tenor solos, more than made good any disappointment in the Festival. Miss Adelaide Phillipps was all herself in the contralto parts ; and Mr. J. F. Winch was careful and successful in the music of the Prophet. Miss Sarah C Fisher's sweet and clear soprano told well in the part of the Youth and in the Angels' Trio (which had to be repeated) with Pappenheim and Phillipps. The concerted pieces all went well with the aid of Mrs. Jenny M. Noyes, Mr. B. F. Gilbert, Dr. E. C. BuUard, and Mr. D. M. Babcock. There was an audience of about five thousand, at prices of one dollar, seventy-flve and fifty cents. Receipts about $3,100; profit about §1,000. Thus encour- aged, the Society announced the Messiah at the same tabernacle for Wednesday evening, June 20, having secured for solo artists Miss Emma Thursby, Miss Annie Louise Cary, Mr. Alfred Wilkie (late of Chicago), and Mr. M. W. Whitney. The conditions for musical efi'ect were improved by transferring the great chorus and orchestra to the opposite side of the long building and placing them upon the platform. There was no organ, Mr. Lang presiding at a HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 391 grand piano. There was another great crowd, mauy people hearing Handel's Messiah for the first time in their life, thus quickening the charm with others who had linown it so long. The new tenor, Mr. Wilkie, an Englishman, of sweet, not very powerful, but sj^mpathetic, flexible, and well-trained voice, sang in a cultured style, with chaste, intelligent expression. The other three were equal to their work. The loss by the Festival was more than offset by the gain of those two Tabernacle concerts, as appears by the report of the treasurer made to the Board of Government July 6 : Net loss of Festival, $1,400 ; profit on Elijah, S804.37 ; on Messiah, $661.25. One thousand dol- lars was voted to Mr. Zerrahn, and four hundred dollars to Mr. Lang, for their services in the Festival, and subsequent concerts, and both were re-elected. To your tents again ! On the 10th of October, the Tabernacle was once more tested as a home for oratorio. Elijah was given, with a good solid chorus, an orchestra of fifty, and for the solos, Mme. Pappenheim, Miss Antonia Henne, Mr. Wm. H. Fessenden, Mr. M. W. Whitney ; and in the quartets, etc., Miss Fisher, Mrs. Noyes, and Messrs. Whit- oomb, Wiswell, and Babcock. There was an audience of three thou- sand. Receipts, $1,460; expenses, $1,500. The novelty of such ^'camping out" was gone; "the place not made for oratorio." Mme. Pappenheim and Mr. Whitney were themselves. Miss Henne was a new appearance here. She had a rich, smooth, evenlj--devel- oped contralto voice, of sympathetic quality ; but her singing seemed timid, cold, constrained, with something of the school-girl manner. Yet she had been well taught, and she improved as she went on. It was Mr. Fessenden's first essay in oratorio. The well-known sweet- ness of his voice, and the exceeding delicacy, the soft and tender ex- pression with which he modulated it, served him well in his opening recitative and aria ; but he soon grew husky in grappling with stronger passages. At all events, he was not the tenor for that great barn of a place, nor was that to his discredit. On Sunday evening, Oct. 28, Rossini's Stabat Mater (the one " sacred " resource of opera troupes) was given at the Music Hall by the princi- pal artists of a visiting German opera, with the Handel and Haydn chorus. Pappenheim gave out the full power of her voice, with heart and soul, in the Inflammatus est. Miss Antonia Henne sustained the contralto (or second soprano) solos ver}- acceptably. Mr. Adams's delivery of the trying, trenchant Cujus Animam was brilliant, artistic in the highest sense, and enjoyable in spite of even unusual hoarse- ness ; in tone, his voice was the golden sun struggling through clouds. Mr. Blum displayed a very smooth and musical quality of voice in the 392 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. bass air, Pro Peccatis. The beautiful Quartet, Quando Corpus, was not sung quite in tune. This formed the Second Part. Part First opened with an organ fugue, Schumann's, on B-A-C-H, finely played by Mr. Lang. Then came Mendelssohn's " Hear my Prayer," well given on the part of the chorus, with the solo earnestly and admirably sung by Mme. Pappenheim. Then Stradella's Pietd, Signore ! was sung with refinement by Mr. Fritseh, and Gounod's Aoe Maria, pleasingly^ by Miss A. Hiimann, with accompaniment of organ, harp, and violin. A terzet from Rossini's Messe SolennelU closed the concert, with '• crude, strange, and uncertain harmony." The attendance wa& small. Receipts, 81,100, one half of which went to the opera com- pany, who provided soloists and orchestra. (The tickets were too- high, at $2.00, 81.50, and $1.) The Sunday evenings of the next two months until Christmas were devoted to rehearsal, the number of singers ranging from one hundred and twenty-five (on a very stormy night) to four hundred and twenty- five. On Dec. 23 were given, for the second time in Boston, Parts I. and 11. of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, with the additional accompani- ments by Robert Franz, followed by two more of the chief successes of the May Festival: J. C. D. Parker's Redemption Hymn, and the Cantata, No'il, by Saint-Saens, reserving the Messiah for the evening of Christmas proper. The audiences, both evenings, were as large as the great hall could accommodate. The performances were in the main remarkably good, and created enthusiasm. Bach's music was- deeply enjoyed by most listeners, more or less by all. The great opening chorus, " Mortals, be joyful," ushered in with drum and trumpets, was splendidly sung by the four hundred and fifty voices. So, too, the still greater, but more complicated, chorus, "Glory to- God," which grows and swells in power and volume to the end, sweeping the voices on as in a whirlwind. The heavenly peace of the Pastoral Symphony, the serene breadth, depth, and beauty of the chorals, especially the one in which strains of the Pastoral Symphony escort it to the end ; all, indeed, breathed a wondrous charm. Miss- Thursby sang the Angel's announcement with exquisite simplicity and purity. Mrs. H. E. Sawyer delivered the contralto recitative in a large voice and style. The most admired of all the arias was, of course, the Cradle Song, which Miss Annie Cary sang wonderfully well. Mr. Wm. J. Winch gave the tenor recitative intelligently, and achieved a great feat of fluent, rapid, florid execution in the extremely difficult aria, "• Haste ye, shepherds." The bass solos were fairly well done by Mr. A. E. Stoddard, baritone, of New York, his first HISTORY or THE HAKDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 393 appearance here. The Pastoral Symphony certainly sounded better than before on account of the Franz accompaniments ; but it was unfor- tunately taken too fast, nor was the legato character sufHciently ob- served in the reeds. The added pair of low clarinets (which had to serve for the English horns with which Franz replaces the old oboi di caccia, etc.) made the whole harmony sound warmer and less poverty- stricken. The beauty of that symphony was more felt this time ; but it still fell far short of the ideal rendering which it deserves, as being almost the most beautiful piece of pure instrumental music to be found. (We may say that we have not even yet heard it played so well as it might be.) To the Cradle Song the added accompani- ments lent a new charm ; but their use is to be credited with worthy intention rather than with adequate realization. In the choruses the all-important flutes and oboes seemed smothered among all those voices. (Handel used to have a dozen or more of oboes against a far smaller choir of singers.) Mr. Parker's Hymn confirmed the good impression which it made before. The JVbeZ of Saint-Saeus, in spite of much that is beautiful, more that is ingenious, and a few passages of grandeur, seemed on the whole frivolous and superficial, heard right after Bach. The solos, trio and quartet, quintet, etc., by the artists just named, were finely sung, Miss Thursby's sweet, pure voice and delicate, refined expres- sion contributing not a little to the good impression of the work. There was a fair house, which just paid expenses ($1,700). The Messiah took its annual turn on Christmas evening. We find a note we made at the time of " the wonderful period of mild, clear weather, with most exhilarating air, no wind nor snow nor wet, night after night of brilliant starlight, while the evening star in the west, so heavenly pure and bright, ever reminding one of the ' Star in the East,' appeared to reach its perfect climax on that holy night, and disposed one all the more to open heart and soul and sense to heav- enly symphony and song." Given by that great chorus, all knowing the music by heart, and by a fine quartet of principals, — Miss Thursby, Mrs. Flora E. Bairj' (welcomed back to these scenes and to work like that !), Mr. Joseph Maas, and Mr. M. W. Whitney, and in that vigorous and zealous period of the old Society, — we can trust the general report of the excellent treatment which Handel's Christian oratorio received. That performance also was distinguished by the reinstatement of certain choice numbers of the work which had been omitted for many years, — but at the expense of others which no true Handelian could help missing ; such as, " He trusted in God," " And with his stripes," and the second part of the air, " He was de- 394 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. spised." That evening the Society used for the first time the instrumentation which it had procured from Robert Franz for several numbers of the worlc which Mozart had passed over. The experi- ment was but partially successful, because the parts prepared by. Franz were not represented by instruments enough to tell against so vast a chorus in so large a hall. The audience was enthusiastic. Profit, $600. 1878. After ten Sunday evening rehearsals (one with orchestra), St. Paul was given on Wednesday evening, March 6. That was the third of the four subscription oratorio performances. It filled the Music Hall with listeners, although it was not presented on so grand a scale as were the Festival oratorios. The chorus numbered four hundred and twenty-five, with an orchestra of thirty-eight instru- ments. The organ, in the absence of Mr. Lang, was well played by Mr. George W. Sumner. The chorus singing was well up to its highest standard. In promptness of attack, precision, spirit, light and shade, every chorus number told. Mme. Pappenheim was all that could be wished in the soprano recitatives, — musical, expressive, giving all distinctly and purely, free from all affectation or exaggera- tion ; like a true artist, absorbed in her task. Miss Drasdil's pecu- liarly rich, emotional quality of voice made her one song (" But the Lord is mindful of his own") singularly expressive. Mr. William J. Winch was not in good voice, but sang the tenor parts in his best style ; and Mr. J. F. Winch was most satisfactory in Ihe bass. Mr. Zerrahn conducted with an ease and confidence, which showed how well he could rely upon the thoroughness with which the work had been rehearsed. The orchestra was weak in violins, but careful and efficient. Receipts $1 ,800 ; expenses $1,560. The Sunday evenings before Easter (April 21) were occupied with rehearsal of the Creation and Verdi's Manzoni Requiem. Haydn's, fresh, descriptive, happy music drew a large and well-pleased audi- ence on Easter evening. The chorus seats were full and the ensemble of tone very rich. All went well so far as the voices were concerned. But the instruments warmed slowly into perfect tune. "Chaos" in the Introduction rather overdid its part. Mr. Lang was again at his old post at the organ. Nearly every one of the great choruses proved inspiring. The solos were in excellent hands. Seldom had we heard " With verdure clad," or the soprano part in the Trios, or the tender melodies of Eve so beautifully sung as they were then in the lovely voice of Miss Thursby, in spite of a little hoarseness. " On mighty pens" was a greater thing with a great voice and personality like Jenny HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 395 Llnd's. yet Miss Thursby sang it wonderfully well. Mr. Whitney's ponderous bass was grand in the picture passages of the first part ; for Adam it was perhaps too heavy ; such a contrast with so delicate an Eve seemed exaggerated. A bass of lighter calibre, more like a baritone, would seem to be the voice for Adam. Mr. Fessenden's delicate and sympathetic tenor was considerably clouded in the early part ; but when he reached the air, " In native worth," his tones were rich, clear, manly. The four subscription concerts over, there now loomed in prospect a new object of great curiosity and interest for Boston music-lovers, — our first hearing of' the Requiem Mass which Verdi had composed for tfie~anniversary of the death of his friend, the novelist and poet, Alessaudro Manzoni ; a work which had filled all Ital}' with entluisi- asm, and had found many admirers in France, Germany, and Eng- land. The Society was diligently rehearsing it, and the public performance was announced for Sunday evening, May 5. This work had beea loudly heralded, and great expectations raised. A great sensation was at hand. All sorts of prepossessions and opinions were bruited and discussed before, as well as after, the performance. Some awaited it from the point of view of the Italian, others of the Ger- man school of music ; some with Catholic, others with Protestant convictions ; others again in an impartial, uncommitted, common- sense, American frame of mind. That the performance was of remarkable excellence; that the four solo singers (Mme. Pappen- heim. Miss Adelaide Phillipps, Mr. Charles R. Adams, and Herr Alwin Blum) were all equal to their trying tasks ; that the or- chestra of fifty was a good one for that time ; that the great chorus had been thoroughly drilled and were ably led by the energetic con- ductor, Carl Zerrahn ; that the "Great Organ" contributed of its might amply and discreetly under the hands and feet of Mr. Lang ; and that the work really inspired both the singers and the larger por- tion of the audience with a certain enthusiasm, there was no denying. Some even seemed to listen with profound emotion. The soundness, the enduring quality of such emotion, such enthusiasm, of course remained to be tested by after-hearing, after-thought, and feeling. Clearly there is no room here to collect and sift the impressions, criti- cisms, and opinions it called forth. The writer of this History is only answerable for his own views and impressions at the time. He asks indulgence in copying, perhaps too much in extenso, from his record in Dwight's Journal of Music. After thanking the Handel and Hajxln Society for such an opportunity of hearing Signor Verdi's most important work, the article proceeds : — 396 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN 80CIKTY. ..." We listened with great interest. We found much that was delicate and beautiful ; much that was touching ; passages here and there that breathed rest and peace, the proper sense of Bequiem. But these seemed fragmentary ; they were too soon lost in things startling and noisy, with the constant aim to frighten the imagination. We found cheap and coarse effects in plenty ; and these reproduced again and again until the effect grew feeble. We traced also those results of a profounder musical study, those careful marks of contrapuntal, fugal, polyphonic lore, of which Verdi is said to have availed himself of late (beginning with his Egyptian opera Aida). By the putting on of such armor his great native genius is supposed to have rendered itself all-powerful for all great work. We could perceive, too, where he had not disdained to borrow hints of effect from Meyerbeer and Wagner; so that, uniting in himself both German and Italian, he must needs bs henceforth (in the eyes of his admirers) doubly powerful. But to our mind Verdi is Verdi still, and nobody else. His individuality, his genius, such as it was and is, remains. From Aida and from II Trovatore, and even from this Mequiem, he looks out on us with t^e same eyes and habitual expression. He may have begun to score more carefully ; he may make more use of fugue and counter- point; he may have studied Berlioz on modern instrumentation, until he can produce a work more complex and less superficial in its structure technically. But the spirit is not changed ; the genius is no more, no less ; the inspiration comes from the same source, tends to the same ends, namely overstrained in- tensity of passion, often carried to a frantic pitch, and physical, sensational surprises. . . . "To us here, in the light of the Nineteenth Century ideas, it docs seem a strange way for an intellectual musician, a patriot of the young, free Italy, to pay honor to the memory of a gentle poet friend, by conjuring up over his grave all the terrors of the last trump and everlasting fires, with the frantic screams and prayers of frightened sinners. Is this the way to sing a loved soul to rest? Is this a requiem in any bat a traditional, conventional, eccle- siastical sense? Peace, gentle prayer, and benediction occupy the smallest gpace amid the terrors of this vast, appalling panorama ; the Dies irw claims almost the whole of it. But Verdi, as we said before, is Verdi; and it was hardly to be expected that the composer of the Trovatore, the pervading musical motive of which is whirling flame and burning at the stake, — " (7 rogo " being the iaaage burnt upon the brain of the poor crazy gypsy mother and her minstrel son. — could resist the temptation, armed now with such new means, to try his hand upon a vastly wider canvas in Miltouic flaming scenery a thousand times more lurid and appalling. " 1. We must acknowledge tenderness and beauty in the opening num- ber: Bequiem, which is like a murmured prayer for peace; and sweetly does it glide into the major at the words, Hi lux perpetua, and return after Te decet hymnus. This is all very simple, and modestly expressed. The Kyrie, which follows, is not in the elaborate form of a set fugue with double suljject, like Mozart's, nor has it the beauty of that ; yet with its imitations in the four solo voices, and four chorus parts, it is elaborate enough, and not without beauty, giving promise of yet nobler things to come. Only we could not feel HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 397 beauty or meaning in that dull, groplnjr accompaniment with which it begins and which savors too much of tlie early Verdi operas. . . . " 2. Dies irm ! Here every one was startled by what, the more we think -of it, appears to us a cheap and coarse effect. It is an attempt at quite too literal, realistic, palpable a picture of the ' crack of doom.' The world is on fire, the dead rising from their graves, the universal air filled with frantic shrieks and cries for mercy. With all his brass, his fierce chromatic scales, his scouring blasts of sound, half the voices descending in chromatics, whUe the sopranos and tenors hold out one high note, making all together the ex- treme of discord, he does his best indeed to realize the supposed occasion ; weak nerves may be frightened ; all may be startled out of their dull com- placency for a moment ; they may call it grand and awful ; but is it really sublime? Is its appeal to the spirit, or only to the senses? And when this pandemonium breaks loose again in the middle, and still again near the conclu- sion of the work, does it not seem more and more a false alarm? What sort of a 'profound emotion ' is this, which can respond at all to such a boisterous appeal? Mozart and Cherub ini with much more quiet means, and without overstepping the modesty of art, still making music, which in its nature is and must be beautiful, touch the inward spiritual springs of awe and guilty fear with a.much surer hand. Not to speak of Mozart's great Requiem, in his Don Giovanni, where the statue enters in the last scene, there is music which seems to shake the foundations of the earth and of one's very soul, and yet it is all beautiful, pure music ; that speaks to the soul, this to the senses and the nerves. " To usher in the Tuba mirum Verdi has indeed contrived a great effect; hie four pairs of trumpets, some near, some at a distance, as if ringing from the four quarters of the world, are managed with much skill and are most exciting. It is not a new device ; you have heard it in Lohengrin, where the clans are mustered, only with a livelier strain ; and Berlioz in this same part of his Requiem had employed not pairs of trumpets only, but cornets, trumpets, trombones, ophicleides, etc., in four separate orchestras of brass, each numbering ten or more, and placed at the four corners of the choral mass, besides eight fagotti and thrice four horns stationed in the middle. The Tuba mirum here, however, is decidedly impressive. We hardly know whether to say as much of Moi\i stupebit; it is certainly bizarre; but it introduced to us a noble voice in Herr Blum, who knows how to use it. Liber seriptus is made a mezzo-soprano solo, of earnest character, intense dramatic accent, full of a warning and sincere expression, and well suited to Miss Phillipps, who sang it nobly and with feeling. This and other solos in this middle portion contain real beauty and originality, and it is only natural that much of the best music should lie so near the heart of the work. Dur- ing the solo are heard faint whispers of the words Dies irce, which lead into a strong pathetic chorus on the second subject of No. 1, which Is more like human music than the lurid and sulphureous introduction. " Quid sum miser tunc dicturus is a Trio, beginning with the mezzo-soprano CMiss Phillipps) and joined first by tenor (C. R. Adams), then by soprano (Mme. Pappenheim). It is a beautiful Adagio, with an expressive bas- soon figure underlying the accompaniment, and leads into a tremendous for- tissimo of all the basses on the Rex tremendce, amid suppressed ejaculations 398 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. of the teuors in three parts; then melodious entreaties: Salva me, a short phrase from each of the quartet in turn ; and then the whole chorus joins. The melodious phrase acquires new beauty with a change of key, and the whole is worked up with great skill and powerful effect, especially where, beginning with the basses, voices climb oyer voices to the solo soprano in^ the last phrase of Salva me. " Next comes the Becordare, opening gently and sweetly enough with the mezzo-soprano (alto ' for short' ) and joined by the soprano in a provokingly half-pleasing, half-too-artlflcial duet, which seems contrived for the display of the two voices, and smacks very much of the identical old operatic Verdi. An ingenious trifle, by the side of Mozart's Becordare. It was finely sung, especially by Mme. Pappenheim. " The Ingemisco and Qui Mariam ahsolvisti offered the great opportunity for Mr. Adams, who improved it nobly, his intelligent phrasing, perfect enuncia- tion, and ringing high tones in the soaring passages making a marked sen- sation. There is great stir in the accompaniment all through, with plenty of aerial and subterranean tremolos at the mention of the sheep and the goats (the former suggesting a pastoral reed motive), while between the tremulous extremes the other instruments rush up and down the scale lit' triplets. There is solemnity and grandeur in the bass solo, Confulatia- maledictis, grandly sung by Herr Blum ; only here again we might complain of cheap effects of rushing chromatic scales in the basses, with ear-piercing piccolo, aiflammis acribus addictis; but of course the composer of the Trova- tore must needs revel here. We can almost forgive it for the momentary relief of that modulation into a sweet passage ; Voca me cum benedictis. The last notes of Oro supplex are lost in a fresh outburst of the sulphureous, ter- rific Dies irm, which, however, is not carried through, but dies away (that dying more impressive, inwardly, than all the uproar), to make place for the Lacrymosa, which one can hardly help comparing, though we know it is not fair, with that wonderfully beautiful, affecting chorus by Mozart. Verdi treats it as quartet with chorus, in his own dramatic way, very elaborately, drawing upon all his resources of melodic invention, imitation. Interweaving. of parts, subtle modulation, and strange harmonic. contrasts. The soprano, having sung through its sad melody alone, which, the bass echoes, confines itself for some time to spasmodic syncopated sobs, but again takes the lead, as the piece grows more intense and complicated, subsiding into Dona eis requiem ! " 3. Here ends the old Latin hymn of the day of judgment with its ter- rors. The Offertory givs us pause. It is for the quartet of soli, and begins quietly and gracefully : Domine Jesu. At the thought of Signifer sanclus Michael, the violins are faintly heard from airy heights, so that you involun- tarily look for Lohengrin and his Swan ; but we think Verdi had used such- effects before Wagner. The Quam olim Abralim seemed to ns dry and cruelly insenious in its restless modulation ; the Hostias, with its serious, sweetly echoed theme, flattered us that we were done with Abraham, but he- came back again, and the quartet ended with Libera animas. " 4. . The Snnctus, here made to include the Hosanna and the Benedictus, is treated in a singular manner. It is all one swift and stirring fugue for double chorus ; and, ingeniously and clearly as the fugue is wrought, it has HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AXD HAYDN SOCIETY. 399 not the solemnity, the sublimity which we commonly associate with that text. It is of one theme, one texture, part and parcel with the Hosanna which follows, where a jubilant and stirring fugue is more in place. But yet again, without pause, same theme, same swift fugue movement, the Benedictus joins the whirling clamor, subsiding gently at the end and giving way to Pleni sunt cosli and Hosanna, this time in long, tranquil, choral notes (amplified from the latter half of the fugue subject), while the heavy sea Is still kept boiling and rolling in the orchestra, and chromatic scales (_fff) rush up and down in several octaves to increase the turmoil. Now the Benedictus- is commonly made the text for a gentle, lovely movement by itself; in nearly all the Masses it is so, and It seems wronged by being whirled away in a tempestuous Hosanna fugue. "But what of this fugue as fugue? What of the charm, the beauty, the expression of this double chorus fugue? There is skill in it; there is life and stir in it ; to the singers there may be excitement in singing it, the voices chasing each other round in spiral play. But we must protest that to our ears it sounded dry, mechanical, and hard. A true Fugue is not a thing of form alone. There is a fugue spirit, as well as a fugue form. The great fuguists not only lived and freely moved and had their musical being in the essential spirit of the fugue (whether the strict form or freer polyphony) and breathed it as their native atmosphere, used it as a native language for their poetic inspirations; but they wrote fugues which one can feel and love, fugues which not only please the understanding but go to the heart. In Bach's fugues there is consummate beauty, there is sentiment, expression. They are as much inspired as melody itself, and they are woven out of melody. If their general expression is impersonal and not dramatic, yet there are great varieties of mood, sentiment, and feeling in them, and still more of poetic genius and fancy. If an appreciative person will take the eight and forty preludes and fugues of the Well-tempei-ed Clavichord and try to characterize each one of them in writing as to its expression, sentiment, etc., he will perhaps be surprised at what he will find. We cannot think that any one will learn to love and cherish this so-boasted fugue of Verdi ; that it will ever haunt the mind as a dear part of life. Time will show. We admit beauty and religious feeling in the choral conclusion, — that is, in the voice- parts ; the accompaniment might do for Ernani or Aida. " 5. Agnus Dei. This is one of the most admired, and we may say most original pieces in the work. The melody, first sung in pctaves, by twa sopranos unaccompanied, has a sort of local coloring, almost as much so as those Egyptian tunes in Aida. It is calm, sad, seemingly simple, and yet very studied, quaint, and singular. It is four times repeated : first by chorus with simple accompaniment, all in unison ; then in the minor, by the two sopranos again, with some instrumental embellishment ; thirdly, with three flutes twin- ing a light polyphonic wreath about it (a hint from Bach perhaps?) ; and finally, very softly, in full chorus harmonized, the two upper parts, however, still holding to the melody. There is a certain fascination in all this, and It could only be Verdi's. Whether the charm will keep its freshness Ume must show. " 6. iaaceferaa is a trio for alto, tenor, and bass, beginning with murmured monologue of the alto, in no settled key, amid a mysterious tremolo of strings,. 400 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. high and low, which lends a certain sacrificial tone to it, as at the moment of "the elevation of the host, with swinging censers, clouds of incense, etc., occasional notes of the bass drum or chords of brass deepening the sense of awe and strangeness. Much of what the three voices sing Is made out of phrases from the preceding Agnus Del melody, which lends a greater unity. There is much ear-tickling arpeggio and tremolo of high strings and flutes in the concluding portion. " 7. Libera me, etc. An ingenious contrivance for effect, at the beginning and the end, is the monotonous chanting of some sentences, first by the soprano, then by the chorus harmonized. The declamatory soprano solo which follows {Dum veneris judicare, etc.) is intensely dramatic, expressing utmost individual terror ; the voice dies down to pp and ppp and finally (sic) to pppppp (a full pod of peas!). And here once more bursts out the horrid din and fury of the flaming Dies irx chorus, and once more dies away, and Bequiem is softly breathed again as in the Introduction of the Mass. Then a long fugue, for single chorus, on Libera me, drier and harder even than that in the Sanetus. It was prudently omitted, — all but the summing up, or stri'tto at the end. The petition is repeated in fragments, in various forms, flnally the monotonous chant again, and so the Mass dies out. " That It is ' a great work,' in the "Verdi way, we do not question ; but that It is so in the highest, or a very high sense, we cannot feel. It is Verdi, with all his limitations, all his idiosyncrasy, and more than ever of his great pecu- liar power, his unique and decided talent, — creative genius, we can hardly say. Even at his best, we often feel that there is more of will than of spon- taneous inspiration In it. It lacks, after all, the depth, the sincerity, the re- pose, the inwardness of great religious music. Its passionate intensity, even in view of these tremendous terrors, is not religious. The dramatic is not inconsistent with the religious element; but here is too much that is cheaply theatrical, melodramatic, and sensational. Religious feeling rises superior to terrors, and subdues them ; self is forgotten, sympathy and love resolve its discords; every danger, every fear is spiritualized, and physical pains not brought too vividly before the imagination. So it is in all the Passion Music of Bach ; so in every symphony of Beethoven ; if there be struggle, always joy prevails. In the requiems of Mozart and Cherubini it is the Bequiem and not the Quantus tremor subject that is most dwelt upon and fondly treated. But the author of the Trovatore is more at home (wilfully at home) in the sensa- tional, shivering suggestions of the Day of Wrath. That he has been more in earnest, more careful, better fortified with contrapuntal arts and studies in this work than ever before, must be admitted." Undoubtedly the general audience, after this first hearing, would have voted the Manzoni Requiem a success. The receipts were $1,600. ^HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 401 SIXXy-FOURTH SEASON. May 27, 1878, to May 26, 1879. May 27. At the annual meeting the treasurer reported : Income (including balance last year) $12,095 57" Amounts and bills paid ... ... . 12,104 22- Deficit, due treasurer |8 65 The interest on the permanent fund for the past j'ear amounted to $889.10, retained for reinvestment. The president made an interest- ing report, showing that the Society had prospered that year. There had been thirty-iive rehearsals, with an average attendance of three hundred and eight singers. Eight concerts had been given. Fifty- five ladies and thirteen gentlemen had been admitted to the chorus •. and $200 worth of music had been added to the library. President C. C. Perkins and the other principal officers were re-elected, with, the following directors: J. D.Andrews, H. G-. Carey, A. K. Hebard^ R. S. Rundlett, J. A. Pray, M. G. Daniell, F. H. Jenks, G. F. Mil- liken. In October and November chorus rehearsals were held of Judas Maccabceus and of Verdi's Requiem, the latter in compliance with a pretty general request. The number of singers at these rehearsals- ranged from three hundred and twenty to four hundred. Nov. 24. First of the five concerts announced for the season. JVerdi^s^iZegMiem forjhe second time, with a chorus of five hundred, and an orchestra of fifty-five. Every seat was occupied and there was much enthusiasm. This performance was on the whole better than the first. In the soprano solos Mme. Pappenheim was missed ; but Mme. Skelding brought to them a clear and telling voice, too much aflJicted with the tremolo. Some pieces she sang well, with fair dramatic power, but others crudely ; so that, during the intermission, very con- tradictory opinions of her were overheard among the audience. Misa Phillipps was in excellent condition, more at home in her music than before, and sang the trying contralto parts to great satisfaction. The marked success of the evening was that of Mr. C. R. Adams, particu- larly in his superb delivery of Jngemisco. He was in uncommonly good voice, -free from huskiness, so that the ringing, rich, and golden quality of his higher tones asserted itself to great advantage ; the high B-flats were glorious. Mr. J. F. "Winch's noble bass was fresh 402 HISTOKY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY^ and musical as ever ; j'et he lacked fire, or was not quite in his ele- ment in that very Catholic and flaming music. A practical difficult}', both for solo voices and chorus, laj' in the frequency of passages in unison (the old Verdi, as we knew him in Ernani) . The unison must •tae~aEsolute, the pitch without an infinitesimal shade of difference, in order that such passages may sound well, and not coarsely, barbar- ously, as in the monkish monotone familiar to all travellers in Italy. "The receipts were $2,650, a rise upon the May performance. The Christmas performance of the Messiah was religiously attended by as great a crowd as usual. Mrs. Dexter, of Cincinnati, sang the soprano solos with intelligent appreciation ; but in some parts a cer- tain nervousness appeared to hinder her control of her voice. Mr. Courtney was not quite rid of the hoarseness which had affected his fine manly tenor in all his public efforts since his arrival from England ; his style was faultless. Miss Ita Welsh, our young contralto, made a successful first attempt in oratorio. Mr. J. F. Winch (in the place of Mr. Whitney, ill) won the chief triumphs of the evening in the great bass airs. The chorus bore noble testimony to the thorough training of their conductor, Carl Zerrahn. The receipts, including public rehearsal, reached $2,700; expenses, $1,500. 1879. The third concert of the season was given Feb. 9, with a pro- gramme of shorter pieces, instead of an oratorio. First came Luther's choral, Ein' feste Burg, as harmonized by Otto Nicolai, which sounded grandly with the great, solid mass of chorus. Next, Mr. J. C. D. Parker's Redemption Hymn confirmed the good impression which it made at the Festival. The contralto solo was beautifullj^ sung by Miss Annie Louise Gary, and both the chorus portions and the fine instru- mentation were well done. The principal novelty was the "Flight into Egypt " from the trilogy, L'Enfance du Christ, by Hector Berlioz. It opened with a little antique-sounding overture, pastoral, and even rustic, mainly of reeds, the Corno Inglese prodominating, — a vague and idle sort of warbling, innocent and pretty, but some thought it artificial. Then a chorus, " Farewell of the Shepherds," very naive, and melodious for the most part. A narrative tenor solo, sweet and simple, was sung by Mr. C. R. Adams, not in his best voice, and not too familiar with the music. The Sanctus from Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass was of the grandiose kind, overwhelming with its massive weight of harmony, and the sensational effect of-all of brilliancy that brass could add, besides the bass drum imitating cannon. Mr. Adams led off impressively in tenor solo ; and chorus, orchestra, and organ answered, swelling to a climax of irresistible sonority: It HISTORY or THE HAKDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 403 had to be repeated ; but the charm was of the kind that soon wears out. The ever-welcome Hymn of Praise formed the second part. The three symphonic movements and the accompaniments throughout were played with fervor by an unusually complete and capable orchestra. The choruses went finely, i Miss Clara Louise Kellogg sang the soprano solos like an artist, although she seemed fatigued and out of health. Miss Gary was altogether admirable ; and Mr. Adams, albeit somewhat husky, was very noble in the tenor solos. AVhat with tickets given to the chorus for their friends, the hall was very full ; yet the receipts (|2, 000). only met the expenses. The secretary in his record says: "I think we have had all the opera singers that we want ; they cost more than they bring." And now, for the next two months, all addressed themselves, in good earnest, to the rehearsing of Bach's St. Matthew Passion Music for Good Friday, April 11, when the great work was to be brought out, for the first time here entire, Part I. in the afternoon, Part II. in the evening. Every preceding day that week it had been rehearsed', twice publicly, making the week a Passion Festival in Boston. It was the culmination of a series of approaches to completeness, beginning with the Festival in May, 1871, and resumed in May, 1874, and April, 1876. Increasing interest in the music had followed all these efforts. The singers had gradually learned to love it, until those who still thought it dry and merely learned, difficult and unrewarding, were left in a small minority. The enthusiasm spread abroad, until at last the public was prepared to seize with eagerness the rare opportunity now offered. The Music Hall was crowded at both concerts, many per- sons coming from a distance, and man}- having to stand up through the whole ; and for the benefit of hundreds who could not procure seats, public rehearsals of both parts were given on the two preced- ing afternoons. The first part occupied two hours, and the second part almost two hours and a half. Of course this perfofmance of the Passion Music was distinguished from all the preceding ones by the introduction of many important numbers which were omitted before. We shall again be obliged to copy from our own record at the time : — . . . " For order, we will take the various elements which enter into the construction of the work. Of course, the actual order is that of the gospel narrative of the betrayal and crucifixion of Christ. That narrative forms the connecting thread in all representations of the Passion, whether dramatic or musical, and, therefore, we have to consider :— "1. The Becitative, which is of two kinds: first, the simply narrative, 404 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. which is assigned to a high tenor voice, in the character of Evangelist, of the kind called recitativo secco, sustained by mere chords struck on an upright piano (Mr. Tucker). For the singer it is a most exacting task, requiring not only a voice of high range and great endurance, but thorough artistic train- ing, taste and skill and feeling. For Mr. Courtney's delivery of what would be task enough for two voices, independently of the tenor arias, we have only praise. . . . Then there is the dialogue recitative, where characters are intro- duced as speaking, and which are more cantabile, and none could be more char- acteristically contrasted. The words of Jesus (bass), as here set in tones, have all the dignity and tenderness that could be imagined. And with what exqui- site sense of fitness and distinction Bach always, the moment Jesus begins, causes a delicate stream of violin harmony to flow In like a halo about his sacred head, as in the old pictures! Mr. M. W. Whitney gave these senten- ces with due solemnity and tenderness, particularly in the scene of the Supper. Those of the High Priest, of Judas, and others, equally well individualized, were for the most part truly and strongly brought out by Mr. J. F. Winch. And then such expressive bits as the pert accusation of the two maids : ' Thou, too, wast with Jesus of Galilee ! ' . . . "2. The German Chorals, with Bach's inimitable harmony. . . . These, like the choruses In the old Greek tragedy, reflect and comment on the passing moments of the action. If the disciples ask, ' Lord, is it I? ', when told that one of them would betray him, the choral takes it upon itself for all and each, ' "T Is I ! my sins betray Thee ! ' Some of the chorals come in by them- selves as moments of calm, grand repose, amid the exciting, agonizing stir of the recital, like broad, cool, still sheets of water in the midst of a bold, wild landscape, reflecting hills, and woods, and sky ; others steal in softly and with exquisite effect, verse by verse, at intervals during a solo; and one, clothed with a marvellous wealth of figurative counterpoint, and with an orchestral accompaniment as rich and grand as a symphony, is lengthened Into a grand concluding chorus for the first part. They were all sung (some of them for the first time) by the five hundred voices with impressive power and rich sonority, accompanied by instruments in unison with each of the four parts, as well as by the great organ, used discreetly throughout th& work by Mr. Lang. We felt, however, that some of them were rather too coarsely sung; we should have liked some delicate, expressive shading here and there in lines. . . . "3. Gr^d choruses of entrance and of exit in each part, — gigantic portals, fitly leading up to the stupendous scene, and leading us away, filling the mind with wonder and with awe, or swelling forth the universal requiem. Never before was the colossal opening (double) chorus, ' Come, ye Daughters,' sung so grandly here, and so well accompanied. . . . The boys, drafted from three of our public schools, for the soprano ripieno choral, had been well trained by Mr. Sharland. " 'Ye Lightnings, ye Thunders,' that swift, tremendous outburst of in- dignation, and imprecation of divine vengeance, after Jesus is bound and led away, may also count among the grand choruses, though.it Is only incidental, passing like a whirlwind in an instant, and is properly the conclusion of a scene, of which the first part is that tender duet of soprano and alto, with exquisite accompaniment of flutes, oboes, violins, and violas, in which every HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 405 note weeps, and in the midst of which the incontinent rage of the disciples vents itself in exclamations, ' Leave Him ! bind Him not ! ' (which we would rather hear not so fortissimo'), like the muttered thunder of the coming storm, until the double chorus breaks loose, ' Ye Lightnings ! ' etc. Somehow this chorus had not all the spirit that it has had on some former occasions ; partly, perhaps, because so many of the tenor and bass seats were empty in the day- time, and partly because it was not taken quite fast enough. Yet it made an impression, and was loudly applauded, in spite of the request that there might be no applause. ' ' Then, closing the first part, must be named the sublime figured choral, ' Man, bewail thy sin so great,' before alluded to, which, only in four parts, sounds, with its exceedingly rich and gorgeous orchestration, quite as grand and broad as any of those in eight parts. The pervading instrumental figure keeps up that caressing of the notes of which Bach seems so fond. The melody, or tune, is sung always by the sopranos, beginning just ahead of the other voices, which are interwoven in an inexhaustible variety of most expressive counterpoint. The parts are hard to learn, but once learned are not soon lost, for in their character they are essentially singable. What a melodious, natural flow the bass part has, which looks so difficult! This chorus was given here for the first time, aud it was about as capital an achievement as the Handel and Haydn Society had ever reached. " The unspeakably rich and tender concluding chorus, which we have called ■the requiem, ' Around Thy tomb here sit we weeping,' never fails to make a profound impression; it is simply perfect; no choir can sing it, no audience hear it, without deep emotion, which all carry home with them. It was grandly, nobly sung ; and yet we thought, too loudly, with too rough accom- paniment of brass, for the sentiment of words and situation, ' Here sit we weeping, and murmur low in tones supprest : Rest thee softly,' etc. . . . " 4. The so-called Turbce, or short, stirring choruses of an excited crowd, now of the disciples, now of an infuriated mob, clamoring, ' Let Him be crucified,' etc. All of the more moderate ones in Part I. had been sung here before. . . Most of the fierce little choruses of the Jews had not been sung before, and it was no easy work to master them, and so successfully. • Let Him be crucified,' for instance, which occurs a second time in a key one tone higher, is in its intertanglement of parts like an oak wrenched and twisted by the hurricane and lightning. What a satisfaction to have mastered such a thing! So, 'He guilty is of death,' ' tell us . . . who gave the blow,' ' What is that to us? ' ' His blood be on us,' ' Thou that destroy'st the tem- ple,' and that piercing shout (diminished seventh chord), 'Bdrabbas!' all bring an angry, taunting, and relentless multitude, exciting and outscreaming one another, in a few brief strokes most vividly before us. The conductor had been urgent and exacting, and the chorus had wrestled bravely with these knotty problems, and they solved them pretty satisfactorily. "5. The Arias, with their introductory melodic recitatives. . . . Quite a number of them had been sung here before; and among these were some of those exquisitely lovely arias with chorus, such as the tenor recitative and aria : ' grief !'...' I '11 watch with my dear Jesus alway,' in which the soft, sweet harmonies of the choral ; ' So slumber shall our sins befall,' come in repeatedly, yet never twice alike. A new one this time was the 406 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. opening number of Part 11., alto aria: 'Ah! now is my Jesus gone,' and chorus,. In a somewhat pastoral, romantic vein, suited to the words from the Song^ of Solomon : ' Whither has thy Friend departed?' . . . Miss Henrietta Beebe, from New York, sang the soprano arias in a pure, sweet, flexible voice, in a tasteful, finished style, with respect for the composer, and with good expres- sion, although her voice is of too light a character to bear all the weight of emotion with which these songs are charged. She was particularly happy ia the air with the flute solo, and delicate accompaniment of two clarinets r ' From love unbounded.' Miss Edith Abell has a rich contralto, or mezzo- soprano voice, well trained and effective, and sang all her arias artistically, with true feeling and expression. Her great aria, ' O pardon me, my God,' {Erbarme dich), which properly requires one of the greatest singers, great in voice and great in heart and soul, was sung with breadth and sustained noble- ness of style. Mr. Eemenyi's violin obligato was in some respects finely played ^ but there was too much of himself in it. And the same may be said of his obligato in the bass aria, which Mr. J. F. Winch sang tellingly and grandly : ' Give me back my dearest Master.' Mr. Winch was hardly in his best voice,. but he was well prepared and effective in some of his exceedingly difficult- tasks, such as ' Come, blessed cross ! ' in which Mr. Wulf Fries won credit by the altogether beautiful and faultless manner in which he played the inter- esting and very diflicult violoncello solo. Mr. Courtney was as artistic, and on the whole satisfactory. In his trying arias as in the narrative recitatives, — a remarkable achievement for one man indeed ! Mr. Whitney's ponderoua and noble bass told to fine advantage in the most beautiful of all the bass solos, the recitative: ' At eventide, cool hour of rest,' and the aria: 'Cleanse thee, O my soul, from sin,' which he sang with a sustained and even breadth, of style, and with true feeling and expression." There was much more to be said, — of the orchestra, of the debt due to the conductor and to the hard-working officers of the Society,,, for so signal an achievement. Was it not one of the luminous historic points in the whole growth and onward progress of the old Society ? Many of us could read in it the assurance that the Passion would thenceforth be given annually and entire in the same way. But the- stars did not fight with those who entertained that hope ! Keceipts, 82,984.97, expenses, 82,300.17, profits, 8684,80. April 13. Easter. Handel's heroic oratorio, Judas Maccabceux,. was given with great spirit. To be sure, in spite of large omissions, it was too long, after the exhausting music of the Passion week. And- many numbers of the work needed the labors of a Robert Franz to fill out the accompaniment. The choruses were on the whole splen- didly sung. The soloists were : Miss Fanny Kellogg, who achieved a brilliant success in the soprano airs, through the delightfully clear, bright, musical quality of her voice, and her tasteful execution ; her chief fault being the habit of attacking a passage with a too explosive sfurzando ; Miss Edith Abell, whose voice seemed dull and weary- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 407 after the week's hard siege, though she sang finely ; Mr. Courtney, who again distinguished himself by the clear, ringing tone and fervor of his martial tenor airs ; and Mr. M. W. Whitney, who did all justice to the bass part of Simon. The chorus numbered four hundred and sixty, and the orchestra fifty. Eeceipts, $1,700, expenses. $1,350. On Friday evening. May 2, Elijah Was performed for the benefit of Carl Zerrahn, on the completion of his twenty -fifth season as con- ductor. There was a fine audience. The receipts (including a public rehearsal) reached $3,331, of which sum $2,433.50 went to Mr. Zerrahn. The chorus numbered four hundred and fifty, the orchestra, (many volunteering) forty. The solo singers all volunteered, as , follows : Mrs. J. Houston West, Mrs. J. W. Weston, Miss Sarah C. Fisher, Miss H. A. Russell, Miss Emily Winant, Mrs. C. C. Noyes, Mrs. J. R. Ellison, Mrs. A. L. Fowler, Mrs. H. M. Smith, Miss Fanny Kellogg, Mrs. H. E. H. Carter, Master W. H. Lee (" the youth"). Miss Ita Welsh, Mrs. Abby Clark Ford, Mrs. A. G. Spring, — Mr. W. H. Fessenden, Mr. J. C. Collins, Mr. A. C. Ryder, Mr. John F. Winch (" Elijah"), Mr. Alfred Wilkie, Mr. C. E. Hay, and Mr. D. M. Babcock. Before the oratorio Mr. Zerrahn was met in Bumstead Hall by the chorus, who, through the president, C. C. Perkins, presented him with elegantly bound orchestral scores of Elijah, St. Paul, and the Lobyesang, and a solid ^old medallion bearing on one side the seal of the Society, and on the other an inscription setting forth the character of the occasion. The performance was brilliant throughout, and great enthusiasm prevailed. The conductor's stand was adorned with flowers, and with the gifts of the chorus. Other magnificent presents were sent by Miss Annie Louise Cary, Mme. Rudersdorff, and other friends. SIXTY-FIFTH SEASON. May 26, 1879, to May 31. 1880. May 26. Annual meeting. The treasurer reported the receipts of the year $12,386.33, expenditures, $11,395.03; deficit last year, $8.65; balance in his hands, $991.30. The trustees of the perma- nent fund showed a balance of $12,604.66. The president's annual report was a wise and encouraging review of the year's noble work, especially congratulating the Society on having produced the entire St. Matthew Passion Music ot Bach for the first time in America, and recognizing the manifest improvement in the singing of the chorus after the vocal discipline which that music had given them. 408 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. The president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and librarian were re-elected, and the following directors : M. G. Daniell, H. G. Carey, A. K. Hebard, E. S. Rundlett, G. F. Milliken, F. H. Jenks, J. A. Pray, Henry W. Brown. June 6. Conductor and organist were re-elected for another year. It was voted to hold the fifth Triennia. Festival in the week ending May 10, 1880, and to give three concerts in the season previous. I^ov. 23. The first of the three concerts was distinguished by the first public appearance in America of Arthur S. Sullivan, Mus. Doc, who had accepted an invitation to conduct the performance of some of his own compositions. The attendance was worthy of so notable an occasion, the receipts amounting to $2,835. There was an orches- tra of sixty ; chorus, five hundred. The solo artists were Miss Edith Abell, Miss May Bryant, Mr. Wm. J. Winch, and Mr. J. F. Winch. The tenor Winch was at his best. The first part, under Mr. Zerrahn's direction, opened with Beetho. ven's Hallelujah chorus, which was very impressively sung, ihe sixty instruments rendering excellent support in this as in all the numbers of the programme. Then came The Flight into Egypt (Berlioz), which improved upon acquaintance. The tenor solo, representing the Repose of the Holy Family, was sung so exquisitely that there was no resisting the call for a repetition, and many remember it as the purest gem of the evening. The second part began with Dr. Sullivan's In Memoriam overture, composed some years before in honor of his father. His reception was most hearty, and he had long to stand bowing acknowledgment. Turning to the orchestra, he entered quietly and earnestly into the business of conducting. His manner was firm, precise, without any flourish ; he was plainly master of the situation and held all his forces well in hand. In the rehearsals he had shown a rare faculty of mak- ing all go right, quietly insisting on the carrying out of his ideas. The overture proved itself a musicianly work, vigorous in themes, logical in development, clear and symmetrical in form, richly and skilfully instrumented, and worked up to a powerful climax with the organ at the end. His short oratorio. The Prodigal Son, composed for the Worcester Festival (England) in 1869, was really an early work. The Mendels- sohnian influence is unmistakable in it, naturally enough, for Sullivan was then a young man ; he had tield the first " Mendelssohn scholar- ship," at Leipzig, where Mendelssohn was still the ruling spirit ; and it would have required a courage amounting almost to bravado for him to make his debut as composer in any marked departure from the HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 409 coliventional style of one so idolized in England. Not a great work, it was found exceedingly enjoyable. The great assembly left the hall with a new admiration, and of a deeper kind, for the Arthur Sullivan, who had already given so much pleasure, far and wide, by his lighter operatic things, like Pinafore. Dec. 28. The Mesxiah crowded the Music Hall again, and rarely had there been a better performance. The soprano, Miss Fanny Kellogg, showed a great improvement ; she had rid herself of that explosive way which used to mar the beauty of her singing. Miss Winani's great contralto tones, into which she put such honest, true expression, charmed the audience. The tenor, Mr. Fritsch, whose voice was not quite equal to some parts of his task, sang intelligently and like an artist, especially in " Thou shalt dash them." The basso, Mr. Whitney, was in all his glory. One of his final sub-bass tones made one think of the traditions of Lablache. The concert, with public rehearsal, brought in over $3,000. 1880. The rehearsals thenceforward until Easter were devoted to Spohr's Last Jurlgment; Handel's Solomon, Utrecht Jubilate, and Israel in Egypt; Haydn's Seasons; The Deluge by Saint-Saens ; St. Paul; Verdi's Requiem; and Rossini's Stabat Mater, — partly for the approaching festival, for which the Board {March 12) voted to raise a guaranty of $30,000 ; the Society heading the list with $2,000. The prices for season tickets were fixed at $12. Single seats, $1.50, $2.00, and 82.50; admission, 81.00. March 28. Easter. Israel in Egypt was given for the third and last concert of the subscription series. The hall was crowded. The great work was produced on a grand scale, with the chorus ranks full, and an orchestra of sixty musicians, with Mr. Listemann at their head, organ by Mr. Lang, and a goodly array of solo singers. Miss Fanny Kellogg, called upon at a day's notice in the place of Mrs. H. M. Smith, who was ill, and soon after her own severe bereavement (of both parents), kindly undertook several of the soprano solos, having niiver sung nor heard the Israel before, and won warm ap- proval. The alto solos were sung by Mrs. Frank Kinsley, of New York, with a light, pleasing voice, not strong enough for the great hall ; but she sang intelligently and carefully ; only her efforts were marred by a habit of forcing her lower tones into a somewhat boy-like quality. Mrs. F. P. Whitney sang very satisfactorily the soprano solos of the first part, and in the duet, " The Lord is my strength." The tenor solos could hardly have been given to a more effective singer than to Mr. W. C. Power (new to the Society), who had a resonant, robust voice. His style was manly, full of fervor, and, 410 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. although not a Lloyd, he was obliged to repeat the air, " The enemy said, I will pursue." The bass airs in the " appendix," " He layeth the beams " and '• Wave from wave." were nobly sung by Mr. Winch and Mr. Whitney. Excellent music these ; but, being taken evi- dently from Handel's Italian operas, they seemed hardly of the same cloth with the rest of the garment. The same two gentlemen created such enthusiasm in the great duet of basses, " The Lord is a man of war," that they had to labor through it'a second time. Yet it is an artistic mistake ever to repeat that very long, exhaustive, difficult duet ; it repeats itself full enough when once sung through ; it was never made to be a " twice-told tale," and it never goes so well a second time. A conductor ought to be a despot with his audiences (who in art are children) no less than with his choir and orchestra. The receipts from is?'aeZ were $2,200. Now follows busy hum of prepara- tion for the FIFTH TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL. May 4 to Mat 9, 1880. First Day. The performance of St. Paul, on Tuesday evening, May 4, was pronounced to be the best yet given of that oratorio in Boston. So said one of the largest and most cultivated audiences ever assembled in the Music Hall. The chorus seats were full, and the five hundred voices (one hundred and sixty-two sopranos, one hundred and forty-four altos, ninety-seven tenors, and one hundred and thirty-six basses) were, sensitively obedient to the conductor's baton in all points of light and sliade. If there were a few shortcomings anywhere they were lost in the abiding mem- ory of a glorious whole. Possibly the addition of a dozen or more good ringing tenors would have made the balance nearer perfect. The orchestra of seventy-five, under Bernhard Liste- mann, was equally effective. The violin force was of the honest, telling kind. The contrafagotto, rather a stranger to our concerts, made its presence felt. The reeds and flutes were sweet and true ; and the brass, for which Mendelssohn gives splendid opportunities in St. Paul, rang out with refreshing and exhilarating challenge : " Rise up, arise 1 " " Sleepers, awake ! " etc. Mr. l^ang, having taken pains' to procure from Germany Mendelssohn's full organ score, made the participation of the great organ very noticeable. The principal solo singers, both in recitative and song, proved equal to their exacting tasks. The limpid, lovely quality of Miss Emma Thiirsby's pure aod flexible soprano, and her refined execution HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 411 were in keeping with the music. Her singing was that of a bird- like, child-like, happy nature, rather than a deep one. Miss Emily Winant's rich and soulful contralto told in the little that it had to do. Mr. M. "W. Whitney acquitted himself, as always, nobly ; yet there was a certain, heaviness which needed to be lifted by the inspiration which sometimes possessed him. The chief honors were borne off by Mr. Charles R. Adams. For once, he was all himself again, his manl}' tenor free from huskiness, and he improved the auspicious opportunity to show himself the noble artist that he was. When it came to the great aria, " Be thou faithful unto death," he rose to something like true inspiration ; the effect was magical ; every tone was full of fervor and of beauty, and the applause knew no bounds. The receipts were $2,000. Second Day. On Wednesday evening. May 5, the audience was evenlarger, the receipts being $3,282. The chorus numbered four hundred and fifty voices. Two strongly contrasted works were given : Spohr's oratorio, The Last Judgment, for the first time here in twenty- five years, and Rossini's rather too familiar Stahat Mater. All found the music of Spohr sweet, melodious, delicately finished, wrought out with a rare subtlety of harmony, with great contrapuntal skill, and with a perfect mastery of the orchestral means of his day. The sweetness,, however, with the perpetual chromatic and even en- harmonic modulation, while details were beautiful, was cloying on the whole. A few bars, now and then, of plain diatonic harmony would have been so refreshing ! Then, as a treatment of an awful theme, nearly the whole music is extremely mild and amiable. (What a con- trast with the Verdi Requiem \) Only a single chorus, "Destroyed is Babylon," taken with the preceding bass recitative, "The day of wrath is near," contains any hint, musically, of anything appalling. The chorus singing and the accompaniment were w-ell done. The solos form rather a secondary element in the work. Miss Ida W. Hubbell, ihe soprano, new to the Society, sang with intelligence and taste, with zeal and fervor. She had a clear and telling voice, some- times a little strident in the highest tones. Miss Winant, Mr. Court- ney, and Mr. M. W. Whitney were up to their own high mark. The orchestra, which really has the most important part, was equal to it. Besides the long and serious overture, there is a yet longer intro- ductory symphony to the second part, where, if anywhere, one would expect to feel 'a dark and terrible foreboding of the wrath to come. On the contrary, it is almost festive ; it moves with- a gay, buoyant rhythm, like a prelude to some gorgeous pageant. Think what one might of Spohr's oratorio, it certainly added, in the way of contrast and of knowledge, to the interest of the Festival. 412 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Rossini's Stabat Mater, of which the genial composor himself, In a conversation with Ferdinand Hlller, spoke as being only mezzo serio, is liked by all the singers, because it affords fine opportunities for their voices. It went well in nearly every part. The sensation of the performance was Signor Campanini's singing of the Gujns animam. Miss Annie Gary was perfectly at home in the contralto arias. Misa ' Fanny Kellogg had hardly the physical strength for the Et ivflam- matus, but in the rest of the soprano part was eminently successfuL Mr. J. F. Winch was quite equal to the trying Pro peccatis and the other bass airs. Third Day. Thursday afternoon. May 6. Beethoven's Choral Symphony, with the preceding miscellaneous selections, drew an overflowing audience. First came (for the third time in Boston) Mr. George W. Chadwick's overture to Bip van Winkle, heard with fresh interest, from the fact that the young composer, who had recently re- turned from his studies in Germany, conducted it in person. Hewas warmly received, and held the orchestra well in hand. Mr. C. R. Adams sang Schubert's Erl-King, with an orchestral accompaniment, by no means overpowering or extravagant, by Bei'lioz. Then ap- peared Miss Thursby in the scene of poor crazed Ophelia, from the Hamlet of Arabroise Thomas. It was a charming and a touching piece of vocalization, and the audience were delighted. Miss Gary, in lier full contralto, and in her noblest style, with perfect ease of ex- ecution, sang the jealous Juno's recitative, " Awake, Saturnia," and aria, " Hence, Iris, hence away ! " from Handel's Semele, superbly. The short Psalm, without orchestra, by Mendelssohn, " Judge me, O God," was impressively sung bj- the great chorus, the unison pas- sages being firm and massive, and the responses prompt and sure. In the Ninth Symphony the chorus was even more successful than the orchestra. One prime condition of success, enthusiasm, clearly buoyed up the singers to the level of their arduous task. In the sus- tained high notes of the religious climax it all wunded well, however inconsiderately (for voices) Beethoven may have written it. The quartet of soloists — Miss Thursby, Miss Gary, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Dudley — were, with a few momentary shortcomings in one part or another, more nearly eqnal to their arduous task than any we remem- bered to have heard before, even in that almost impossible quadruple cadenza. Mr. Dudley had a manly, ponderous, telling bass voice, which he wielded to good purpose ; and he led off in thfe vocal work, after the suggestion of the orchestral basses, very nobly, giving a spirited impulse to the entire chorus. The orchestra, of over seventy, played the three instrumental move- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 413 ments, on the whole, finely, especially the heavenly Adagio. The- donble basses burst their bonds and talked out very effectuallj' where the need of human utterance first makes itself felt. Certainly those who gave themselves simply up to the music and the thought found it a glorious experience, and went home edified, and in a happy, hope- ful and believing frame of mind. If the St. Paul was the best achieve- ment of the Festival, this was the other best. That concert brought in $3,410. The fourth concert, Thursday evening, opened with Mr. Dudley Buck's Symphonic Overture to Sir Walter Scott's Marmion. If not strikingly original in ideas, it did impress one as a good square piece of orchestral writing, largely and symmetrically laid out, effectively and richly instrumented, with several good themes well developed, although perhaps at too great length. Then followed Verdi's Requiem ( heard here for the thh-d time) . It seemed to call forth the best energies of orchestra and chorus, and to prove highly satisfactory to the great mass of the very largo and eager audience. Of the work itself our first opinion remained un- changed. Its appeal is not to the best that there is in us ; only seldom does it touch the springs of deep religious love and aspiration, but it appeals to fear. Those texts of the old Latin hymn, which offer the best chance for great sensational display of orchestral effects, are the texts chiefly dwelt upon. It is not so with the greater masters, Mozart, Jomelli, Cherubini, who sing more of rest eternal. The performance, on the whole, was excellent. The grander scene- painting came out vividly and strongly. Light and shade were care- fully regarded. The arias and concerted pieces were satisfactory in the main. Mrs. H. M. Smith's clear and powerful soprano voice did good service, though sometimes its effects were overstrained and marred by impure intonation. Miss Gary was altogether equal to her part. Signor Campanini made another great hit in the aria, " Inge- misco." Mr. Whitney sang the bass solos with grand sonority and dignity. The chorus numbered four hundred and thirty. The house was good; receipts, $2,740. Fourth Day. Friday evening. May 7. The fifth concert offered " Spring " and " Summer " from Haydn's Seasons, and The Deluge by Saint-Saens, the first in most refreshing, soothing contrast to the unpeaceful Bequiem of the night before, and to the overwhelming Deluge that immediately followed. Composed by an old man of seventy, it is the happiest expression of a most genial, child-like sj'mpathy with nature. Its flowing honey does not cloy like that of Spohr. It presents a varied picture, nowhere overcolored, nowhere- 414 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. weak or tame. All is characteristic, free from startling contrast and extravagance. The chorus of the thunder-storm, so naturally prepared by passages descriptive of intense summer heat, may be a puny tem- pest by the side of Saint-Saens's picture of the Deluge, but intrinsi- cally it is more near to Nature and more powerful. These two parts of the Seasons were sung and played con amove. All the choruses went well except the first: " Come, gentle Spring," which was a little scrambling. The soprano melody was particularly suited to the voice and style of Miss Thursby, who sang most cbarm^ ingly. Mr. Adams was again in good voice, and with his true artistic instinct gave a most expressive rendering of the tenor part ; espe- cially in the recitative and air descriptive of the summer heat and its effects : " Distressful Nature fainting sinks," he realized the full in- tention of the music in the most complete and tasteful manner. Mr. Whitney sang the song of the " Husbandman," and indeed all that fell to his share, very finely. The general verdict on the Cantata, The Deluge, was upon the whole unfavorable. The vocal writing seemed to interest but few, while plentiful praise was lavished on the transcendent brilliancy and power of its descriptive instrumentation. AH the usual and unusual means of the modern orchestra are employed to work up the descrip- tion of the rising of the waters to a fearful and extraordinary climax. It begins suggestively with a faint, watery tremolo, and presenth' a bubbling and gurgling sound of flutes, and a chromatic whistling of the wind, all quite exciting to the imagination, till finally the great deeps are unloosed with universal, stunning tumult, the like of which in intensity, variety, and cumulative persistency of noise, still kept within the bounds of music, was never realized before. Of course the culminating point of rest, at the subsiding of the waters, is turned to good account by the ingenious composer. But taken as a whole, the work, instrumentally as well as vocally, was to our feeling weak, coarse, wilful, wanting dignity, unequal to the subject, and unworthy -of a composer who in other things had shown so much genius and so much musical savoir faire. After the great flood has begun lo subside, we have in Part III. most interesting and suggestive themes for an imaginative composer : the scattering of the clouds, the sending out of the dove, the olive- branch, the descent from the ark, the rainbow, etc. "And here indeed we have the gentlest and most pleasing portion .of the music. But again all is spoiled by what should be a sublime conclusion. The ■command: "Increase and multiply," naturally suggests a fugue. But what a fugue we get! Learned enough, ingenious enough it HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HADYN SOCIETY. 415 may be, but desperately dry and uninspiring. The performance on the whole was as good as could reasonably be required, especially the orchestral work. The principal vocalists (Miss Hubbeli, Miss Win- ant, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Dudley) did themselves as much credit as could be expected in such music. The chorus numbered four hundred and seventy. Receipts 82,665. Fifth Day. Saturday afternoon, May 8. This was in one sense the gala-day of the Festival, although the giver of the feast, the old Society as such, in its own choral capacity, figured less than in any other concert. It was the people's day, when thousands from the •country, far and near, thronged to Boston Music Hall, attracted by ■the array of famous solo singers. The great crowd is always drawn by a certain interest in the personal performer, more than by the beauty or the grandeur of the music in itself. Hence such a day and such a programme are dear also to the solo artists ; it gives them all an opportunity to shine in pieces of their own selection ; each rides in upon his own hobby-horse, with which he has won before and still feels pretty sure to win. The consequence is that nondescript affair, a miscellaneous programme. In this case the miscellany was a remarkably good one. The crowd was overwhelming ; every seat was occupied and hundreds of applicants were turned away. The performance, singly and collectively, was most satisfactory. With- out further comment, we simply give the bill of fare : — 1. Overture, " Rubezahl" {Ruler of the Spirits), op. 27 - . Weher. 2. Utrecht Jubilate, Chorus Handel. Solos by Miss Gary, Mk. Courtney, and Mr. Whitnby. 3. Romance, from La Forza del Destino Verdi. SiGNOK CaMPANINI. 4. Song: " La Calandrina " Jomelli. Miss Thursby. 5. Aria: " De glorni miei," from JZ Dtjca (i' -B6ro . . . Da Villa. Mr. Courtnby. 6. Duet : " Non f uggire," from William Tell .... Bossini. Signor Campanixi and Mr. Whitney. 7. Intermezzo from Symphony in F, op. 9 . . . . Goetz. S. Air: "Yoic^esa.\>eie," troui Le Nozze di Figaro . . Mozart. Miss Annie Cary. ■9. Miriam's Song of Triumph Beineohe. Miss Hubbell. 10. Air : " Jerum," from Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg . Wagner. 11. Siegmund's Love Song: " Winterstilrme," from Die Walkiire Wagner. Signor Campanini. 416 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 12. Aria from Giulio Oesare Handel. Miss Winant. 13. Aria: "'Sons' ode aXcnn," from L'Etoile du Niird . . Wpyerbeer. Miss Thursbt. [Flute accompaniment played by Messrs. Schlimper and Ribtzkl.] 14. Quartet and chorus from the " CaiiiaJa per ogrniJfimpo" . J.S.Bach, [The Quartet by Miss Hubbbll, Miss Winant, Mr. Courtney, and Mr. Whitney.] Sixth Day. Sunday evening, May 9. There was some falling off in the attendance, the evening being very hot, and Solomon being understood to be not one of Handel's greatest oratorios. The note about it appended to the programme book concludes : " As a whole, we may speak of Solomon as an oratorio which contains much of Handel's best music, but too long, wanting unity, and unusually over- loaded with long, level stretches of those conventional and ornate solos, which it requires the best of singers to lift into light and inter- est. The choruses are, indeed, wonderfully fine, and touch such vari- ous chords of human feeling that they might furnish a complete enough entertainment of themselves. The oratorio as here given is curtailed one third. Why not curtail it even more?" The Society had not given it for twenty-flve years ; this was the fourth perform- ance. One great obstacle to its success lay in the fact that the sketchy instrumentation of the old published score required such com- pletion as was made by Mozart for the Messiah, and by Franz for several works of Bach and Handel, to fit it for performance. It was found impossible to procure Sir Michael Costa's parts from England ;. and at the last moment, when the Society was committed to the work, some parts for the clarinet were written, and those for bassoon and horn were amplified by Mr. J. C. D. Parker, Mr. Zerrahn preparing parts for the trombones. But this was not enough. Of course, the organ in the background became all the more important, and Mr. Lang put in good work there. Yet in spite of such tiresome length of the old conventional cut, in spite of the comparatively small number of the grandest kind of choruses, and in spite of meagre instrumentation, there was much in Solomon to charm and to impress, much of the Handelian tenderness and sweetness in the airs, much of his graphic power, his majesty, and lofty inspiration in the choruses. The latter were perhaps hardly sung with all the spirit shown in some preceding concerts, for natu- rally the singers had become fatigued. But the great hymns of praise at the beginning and the end, the charming epithalamium : '■ May no- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 417 rash intruder," with its sound of nightingales, and the descriptive series in the last part, especially the mournful one : " Draw the tear from hopeless love," — a piece of solemn harmony in which Handel is at his very best — were all well rendered and produced a fine im- pression. Of the solos, the chief part — the alto part of Solomon — was care- fully and smoothly sung by Miss Gary, though her noble voice showed some signs of fatigue. For the same reason, Miss Thursby's sweet voice, finished style, and intelligent conception feebly expressed the tenderness and pathos of the parts of the Queen and the First Woman. Miss Fanny Kellogg's greater voice and greater earnestness, in the parts of the Queen of Sheba, and the vindictive Second Woman, were in strong contrast to the other. Mr. Courtney sang in a thoroughly artistic manner in the part of Zadoc, rendering the long stretches of roulades with perfect evenness and grace ; and Mr. J. F. Winch was fully equal to the trj'ing bass songs in the character of the Levite. The house was moderately full, the receipts $2,150. So ended the Fifth Triennial Festival, favored throughout by the sunshine of nature and of public favor. The average attendance was excellent. No accidents nor disappointments marred the pleasure of participants, and all was congratulation at the end. The financial results were cheering, leaving a fair profit. At the next meeting of the Board (May 27) salaries were voted for services at the Festival, as follows : Carl Zerrahn, as conductor, $1,000 ; B. J. Lang, as organist, $400; S. M. Bedli'ngton, as librarian, $200. Voted, also, to paj' Mr. Lang $300 salarj^, as organist for the season, exclusive of the Festival. And the treasurer was instructed to pay over to the trus- tees of the Permanent Fund the sum of $2,000, then in his hands. 418 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. CHAPTER XIII. SIXTY-SIXTH SEASON. May 31, 1880, to May 30, 1881. May 31 . At the Annual Meeting the treasurer reported : — On hand. May, 1879 $99130 Receipts of the regular season 8,283 13 Receipts of Fifth Triennial Festival 20,481 2» $29,705 72 Expenditures of the regular season .... $7,462 66 Expenditures of Festival 19,287 72 Paid to Permanent Fund 2,500 00 $29,250 37 Balance $455 35 In the report of the Permanent Fund it appeared that a donation of $500 had been received from some unknown friend of the Society. The value of the Permanent Fund was $15,233. The president and other principal oflBcers were re-elected, and the following : — Directors. — Henry M. Brovtn, M. G. Daniell, F. H. Jenks, Geo. F. MiLLiKEN, Geo. T Bkown, Eugene B. Hagar, W. S. Fen- OLLOSA, JosiAH Wheelwright. The president, C. C. Perkins, made his annual report (or address). He said : " Were I to say that the season has been the best so far in the annals of the Society, and that the Fifth Triennial Festival far sur- passed its predecessors, I might be contradicted ; but when I say that no exertions were spared by the conductor, the singers, the organist, and the board of management to make the concerts given before and at the festival as good as possible, I cannot be gainsaid ; for this is- strictly true." He took an interesting survey of the rise and progress of the Society, and claimed that the choral and symphony concerts in which Boston rejoiced were in a measure due to the initiative taken by the Handel and Haydn Society so many years ago. After some eloquent exhortation to future effort and yet higher aspiration, he closed with the following statistics of the season: Fifty-four re- hearsals had been held, with an average attendance of four hundred and forty singers. Thirty-five new members had been admitted ; fifty-five ladies had joined the chorus, and fourteen had been dis- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 419' missed. Eight members had resigned, and three had been dismissed. After reciting the long list of works performed before and at the Festival, he alluded to the deaths, six in number, which had occurred in the Society during the year, namely : Charles Henderson, who- joined in 1834; Henrv A. Coffin, who joined in 1865; T. PVank Reed, who joined in 1866 ; Thomas Grieves, who joined in 1H70 ; Leopold Lobsitz, who joined in 1876 ; and Philo Peabody, who- joined in 1877. Mr. Heed had been a member of the Board of Government in 1870 and 1871. " Actively interested in the cause of music, always conspicuous among those who were best capable of promoting it, genial, kindly, and courteous to all who came in con- tact with him, Mr. Reed is not a little missed bj' those who knew and valued him." During the summer the rebuilding of Tremont Temple (destroyed by fire) was completed, and its old organ was replaced by a new and splendid one constructed by Messrs. Hook & Hastings. The new Temple was dedicated by a series of concerts early in October. To these the Handel and Haydn Society contributed two oratorio per- formances. First, on the formal opening night, Monday, Oct. 11, the Messiah. The chorus of the Society, about one hundred short of its usual number, on account of the limitation of the stage, was well displayed upon the curving tiers of seats in front of the elegant and cheerful architecture of the organ, while the orchestra occupied the space in the middle, the whole being brought so far out into the auditorium that everything was clearly heard. The choruses came out with a ringing, rich ensemble. The shading, too, was' good, and the accompaniment felicitous. Miss Lillian Bailey (Mrs. Henschel) , singing hei-e for the first time since her studies in Paris and her suc- cessful career in England, took the soprano solos ; and, considering her youth and the yet juvenile though much-improved quality of her voice in firmness, evenness, and fulness, acquitted herself most cred- itably. Miss Emily Winant, whose rich contralto seemed richer than ever, sang with unaffected, simple truth of feeling. Mr. Wm. .J. "Winch was not at his best in the tenor solos. Mr. M W. Whitney gave the bass airs in his grandest voice, with rare spirit. and effect. The chorus singing frequently raised the audience (only moderate in numbers) to enthusiasm, (fi^ 13 |^ §■ ;, On Wednesday evening, in the same place and under the same conditions, Elijah was giVen, with the same choral and orchestral forces, and for soloists Miss Fanny Kellogg, Miss Winant, Mr. Charles R. Adams, and Mr. John F. Winch ; and in tlie concerted music Miss Lucie Homer, Mrs. C. C. Noyes, Mr. Geo. W. Want, an(^ C . ^ ' AH^yj/. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Mr. D. M Babcock. The Temple was only half filled, but the per- formance was a fine one. It was an unfavorable week for a series ■of grand concerts in an unaccustomed hall. Many of the most musical families were still out of town ; there was too much politics in the air and in anxious patriotic minds ; beautiful evenings and a reluctance to give up the summer's fascinating freedom, etc., etc., all together proved too strong for the charmer, music, to overcome. -^ The remainder of the autumn months was occupied with rehearsal •of the Mount of Olives and of Mozart's Requiem, until the Messiah ■took its annual turn on the approach of Christmas. The public per- formance was on Sunday evening, Dec. 26. The solos were by Mrs. H. F. Knowles, Miss Anna Drasdil, Mr. W. C. Tower, and Mr. Georg Henschel. The chorus singing was excellent throughout (four hundred voices) . The orchestra of sixty, with Mr. Listemaun heading the fine bodj' of violins, and with plenty of double basses, was uncommonly efficient, while the great organ, played by Mr. Lang, lent judicious, unmistakable support wherever it was needed. The additional accompaniments by Franz, in certain numbers, helped greatly to bring out the beauty and the richness of the composer's meaning. In spite of the John Bull critics, who would hold us to the letter of the hasty sketches which Handel left us in his scores, we doubt not that, could the old giant have been present, his big wig would have vibrated with true satisfaction at finding his hints so finely apprehended and carried out. "While the solos were all good, those contributed by Mr. Henschel and by Miss Drasdil gave dis- tinction to this repetition of the most familiar (yet never too familiar) of oratorios. A new stage had been erected for the chorus, and they were seated in chairs, instead of on benches without backs, as be- fore, — a great improvement both in looks and comfort. The audi- ence was large. Receipts about $2,000. 1881. Jan. 30. The second concert of the season revived two famous works which had not been heard in Boston for a quarter of a century : Mozart's Requiem, and Beethoven's Oratorio, The Mount of Olives, no longer given, out of regard for sanctimonious English prejudice, with an absurd change of text and subject, under the title of Engedi. Mozart's Requitm was indeed refreshing after one's ears had several times been scorched by the sensational, devouring flames of Verdi's intensely lurid and appalling picture of eternal torment. Mozart also can command appalling harmonies ; he has appropriate accent and tone-color for the Dies Tree, Tuba mirum, Confatatis, etc.. HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 421 but he treats them with, a few vivid touches, making them most im- pressive. He does not turn the whole Requiem, the prayer for rest, into a tremendous picture of the terrors of the Judgment Day. Sweet- ness, tenderness, repose are the prevailing key with him ; it is music, not to startle and to frighten, but to please, to comfort, edify, sus- tain, and bless. How reposeful the broad, tranquil opening : Requiem Etenicun, and the majestic fugue : Kyrie Eleison ! How beautiful the Eecordare ! How divinely full of deepest, tenderest emotion, and how wonderful in rhythm, climax, harmony, and expressive, ceaseless modulation the L'ichrymosa, which hardly finds its equal unless we turn to Bach ! And then the lovely Benedictus, the Agnus Dei, etc. (whatever Siissmayer may have had to do with, them, so Mozartean in spirit) ! It is these things, out of the sweetest, inmost heart of music, that leave the permanent impressiou of the work, and not a haunting nightmare dream of terrors, as with Verdi. The interpretation of this immortal .music was very satisfactory on the part of orchestra and chorus. The quartet of soloists was com- posed of Miss Hattie L. Simms, of Brooklyn, N. Y.,Miss Ita Welsh, Mr. Courtney, and Mr. Clarence E. Hay. The Mount of Olives never ranked among Beethoven's greatest works, although his genius and consummate art shine out in it re- peatedly. The instrumentation is thoroughly Beethovenish. The choruses are few. There is only one of much importance — a bril- liant, joyful one, with very florid soprano solo — before we come to the exciting, graphic little choruses (or turbce), first, of tiie soldiers seeking Jesus, which is march-like, pianissimo, staccato ; then of the disciples : " What means this crowd and tumult?" alter- nating with "Then seize and bind him fast," "Haste, and seize upon the traitor," etc. Beethoven shows his imaginative power in these little scenes ; they are not weak even after Bach. Of course there is no need to speak of the sublime majesty and breadth of the well-known-final Hallelujah Chorus, which is one of the great things of Oratorio. The tenor recitatives and arias in the part of Jesus (Mr. Courtney, who sang in his usual chaste, expressive style) fall far short of the tenderness, the realizing sense of Bach. The arias of the Seraph (soprano) are too much like brilliant, ornate concert arias, though sometimes justified by the exultation of the text. Miss Simms, who sang them, a pupil of Mr. Courtney, was an agreeable surpiise. Her voice was singularly pure and fresh, good and even throughout its large compass, and soaring to the high C with perfect ease ; her phrasing intelligent ; her execution and expression fault- less, and her manner free from affectation. Mr. Hay sang the small 422 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. part of Peter with good taste and judgment. There is no contralto role. This short oratorio made an enjoyable contrast with the Requiem, though not so great a work of its kind as that. The audience was fair; receipts, $1,500; expenses, 11,350. For the nine following Sunday evenings the rehearsals, having Holy Week and Easter in view, were devoted to the Passion Music and St. Paul, the attendance varying from two hundred and seventy- five to four hundred singers. A public rehearsal of the Passion was given on Thursday afternoon, April 14, the sale of tickets amounting to $800. On the following evening (Good Friday) , April 15, Bach's Passion Music according to St. Matthew was performed, with an orchestra of fifty, a chorus of four hundred, and one hundred boys in the balconj' to sing the intermittent choral in the gi'eat opening chorus. It seemed a pity that the work could not be given entire, in two performances on the same day, as it was two years before. To reduce it into one evening's concert is not onlj' to omit many most important numbers ; it also tends, in the desire to save as many beautiful arias and cho- ruses as possible, to make that one too long. About half of the chorals, those ever-welcome moments of repose, immortal models, too, of four-part harmony, were omitted ; while the narrative recita- tive, so trying for any single tenor voice, was considerably, and very judiciously, abridged. As it was, much the larger half of the work was sung. We well remember the tasteful, delicate, chaste, pathetic manner in which this tenor narrative was delivered by Mr. William J. Winch, despite some signs of weariness toward the end. Miss Annie Louise Gary took our feelings captive by her rendering of the great aria with violin obligator "O pardon me, my God" {'■'■ Erharme dich "), and by all she sang. It seemed as if the study and the sing- ing of this music .was an entering of new depths of life for her. And here is the place to speak of Mr. Henschel, since these two more than any realized the spirit and transcendent art of this unsurpassable religious music. In the unspeakably beautiful utterances of Jesus (always distinguished by the prismatic halo of string quartet ac- \companiment) his expression was all serious, tender, manly, full of majesty and full of love. It seemed the voice of the divinely human. Mrs. Humphrey- Allen did good justice to the soprano arias which she sang, especially : " From love unbounded," with its innocent and exquisite accompaniment of only flute and two clarinets. Miss Edith Abell's efforts were intelligent and earnest, but the voice seemed suf- fering from a cold. Mr. Wm. "Winch was excellent in the great tenor scene with intermittent stanzas of choral: "O grief!" — one HISTOET OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 423 of the most beautiful inspirations in the work, to which the oboe melody by Mr. de Ribas contributed most happily. Mr. John Winch sang the bass air:,"G-i\e me back my dearest Master," with more life and character than we had heard it sung before, as well as the parts of Judas and of the Higli Priest. Mr. Listemaun played the . beautiful violin solos with artistic certainty and great refinement. The choruses, for the most part, were well sung, especially the chorals and the Schluss-Chor, which is so profoundly affecting ; and the orchestra was commonly effective and subdued to finer light and shade than ever before here in the Passion Music; yet there were some slips and some rough places both in orchestra and chorus, some indifferent or timid entrances. The great organ lent very eflScient aid under Mr. Lang's haud, particularly in the appalling picture where "The veil of the temple was rent," etc. On the whole, this fifth rendering of the music was the most successful since the Society first undertook any considerable portion of it. With every repetition it had gained a wider and a deeper hold among our music-loving people. The performance began at 7.35 and ended at 10.24. The weather was bad, and the receipts were |1,720. Euster Sunday evening, April 17. Performance of St. Paul. ■Orchestra of fifty-five, chorus, four hundred and twenty-five. There was hardly a fault to be found with the chorus singing. In the long grave chorus, written almost uniformly in half-notes, 3-4 (" But our Lord abideth ") , frequently abridged, there is a second soprano part which sings a choral ; this was assigned to a choir of boys who had been drilled for this and for the opening chorus in the Passion by Mr. Sharland, and the effect was good. The four principal soloists were all highly satisfactory. Mrs. Henschel (Lillian Bailey) sang the aria "Jerusalem," aijd aU the soprano solos, in a simple, chaste, refined, and sj'mpathetic voice and manner, winning sincere applause. Mrs. Jennie M. Noyes (her first appearance in a principal role) acquitted herself most creditably in the short contralto arioso.: " But the Lord is mindful." The parts of Paul (bass) and of Stephen (tenor) could not have been intrusted to better artists than Mr. Henschel and Mr. C. F. Adams ; it was a great treat when they sang together in the duet : " Now we are ambassadors." It was the most artistic and complete production, so far, of this noble oratorio in this city. And it came well right after Bach, being conceived so much in his spirit. The audience was very laige ; the receipts, §2,275. At the meeting of the Board, April 29, Mr. Nathaniel Harris, a trustee of the Permanent Fund, leaving died, Mr. Henry P. Kidder (of the banking-house of Kidder, Peabody & Co.) was by vote re- quested to take his place. 424 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. SIXTY-SEVENTH SEASON. May 30, 1881, to May 29, 1882. The annual meeting was held May 30, Vice-President George H. Chiekering in the chair. The report of the president, C. C. Perkina (then in Europe), congratulating the Society upon its excellent con- dition, was read by the secretary. The report of the treasurer, Mr. George W. Palmer, showed the total receipts of the year, including the balance on hand at the outset of $455.35, to have been $9,311.64, and the total expenses $8,917.34, leaving a balance in the treasury of $394.30. The amount of the fund was reported at $21,828.27. The report of the librarian showed that music had been added at a cost of $289.79. The principal officers were re-elected, with the following Directors: George T. Brown, Josiah Wheelwright, H. M. Brown,. Eugene B. Hagar, W. S. Fenollosa, D. L. Laws, J. D. Andrews, and R. S. Rundlett. A series of resolutions was passed recognizing the services rendered by the late Nathaniel Harris, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Permanent Fund. Before passing on to the musical work of the new season, it may- be well to mention here a movement which had been some time in progress among some of the officers of the Society, toward " weeding- out the old choir." It was proposed to authorize the Board of Gov- ernment to remove from the chorus those members who should be proved to be vocally inefficient, offering honorary retirement with cer- tain privileges in case of age. To tbis reform a majority of the Society were still reluctant, but it was bound to come in course of time. June 24. The Board laid out a programme of the season's work as follows: For Dea. 25, the Messiah; Feb. 5, Handel's Utrecht Jubi- late, Parker's Redemption Hymn, Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise; April 5, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Music; April 7, Creation. Sept. 16. The Board received letters from President Perkins, in Europe. Voted to purchase Cherubini's Missa Solemnis, for study and performance; also, Graun's Passion {Tod Jesu), for perform- ance this season in place of the Utrecht Jubilate and the Redemption B^flJ5i>-NAccepted an invitation to take part in a great Musical Festi- v.val, under the direction of Theodore Thomas, in New York. ^ ' __— — ^ In October and November the rehearsals were devoted to the Hymn of Praise, (Jreation, Rubenstein's Tower of Babel, and Graun's Tod Jesu. Nov. 27. The death {JSTuv. 23) of George W. Palmer, its treas- urer, was sad news to the Society. Born in Philadelphia, he had re- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 425 sided forty years in Boston; was once a member of the old publishing firm of Jenks & Palmer, and had held the positions of treasurer of the Brattle Square Church, and of two street-railway companies, one of them for twenty-three years. After the rehearsal, at the suggestion of President Perkins, the chorus sang "Happy and blest," from St. Paul. Dec. 9. At a special meeting of the Society it was unanimously Resolced, " That liy the death of George W. Palmer the Handel and Haydn Society has lost one of its most devoted and valuable mem- bers. Since he joined the Society, in 1841, acting as a Trustee since 1860 and Treasurer since 18B6, he has steadily eared for its interests, and shown a constant kindliness and courtesy in the discharge of his duties, which will always be gratefully remembered by his associate members and by the ladies of the Chorus. Loving the Society, its work, and his share in it, he was always present at its rehearsals and public performances, unless compelled by sickness to absent himself from his accustomed post ; and now, that he will be seen in it no more, his presence will long be missed." Mr. Moses Grant Daniell was 'then chosen treasurer in his place, and Mr. Wm. F. Bradbury as a director in the place of Mr. H. M. Brown, who had resigned. The '• weeding-out " amendment to the By-laws was rejected, but on the motion of Mr. A. Parker Browne the proposition was renewed, with change of form, so as to authorize the Board of Government " to retire from the chorus any member whose singing falls below the proper standard," that fact to be deter- mined by a committee consisting of the four choir superintendents and four members of the Society at large (not members of the Board). Dec. 25. The Christmas performance of the Messiah was crowded (receipts, $2,750) ; chorus, four hundred; orchestra, fifty. Mrs. E. Aline Osgood, a native of Boston, disappointed many by her lack of " thrilling and impassioned " rendering of the soprano solos, after the reputation she had acquired in England. Mr. Courtney was re- ported " under the weather," and partly so Miss Annie Cary and Mr. J. F. "Winch. One paper called the whole performance of the oratorio a " pallid" one, too much a matter of habit. Another said, *' a tame and insipid performance." Mrs. Osgood, however, was credited with a delightfully pure soprano, of great compass and un- usual evenness, and with being a careful, conscientious singer, with an admirable stage manner. 1882. Feb. 5. The second concert of the season began with the first performance in this country (probably the first outside of Ger- many) of Graun's Der Tod Jesu. Karl Heinrich Graun was born near 426 HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Dresden, in 1701, and died at Berlin, in 1759, so that he was mainly contemporaneous with Bach and Handel. He was early noted as a singer, and he composed a Passions-Cantata, — thought remarkable for a boy of fifteen. He was much under the influence, both as singer and .composer (as was Handel) of Keiser, the then celebrated com- poser of Hamburg ; and the operas of the Italian composer Lotti also influenced his style. In 1735 he was invited to the residence of the Crown-Prince of Prussia, afterwards Frederic the Great. Here he composed fifty Italian Cantatas, usually consisting each of two airs with recitatives. When Frederic came to the throne he continued his patronage of Graun, made him his Kapellmeister, and sent him to Italy to form a company of Italian singers for the opera at Berlin. In Italy he remained more than a year, and there his singing was much appreciated. In Berlin he composed many Italian operas, as well as instrumental worlds, which are forgotten. Towards the close of his life he again devoted himself to church music. Two of his works of this period, through which his fame now chiefly lives, are, the Te Deum, for Frederic's victory at Prague (1756), and Der Tod Jesu (death of Jesus) , a "Passions-Cantata," the words by Ramler (not from the Bible), a work which placed him in the rank of classical composers. It was first performed in the cathedral of Berlin on March 26, 1755, and has ever since been annually sung there in Passion-Week. Many have thought it too antiquated, but the repeti- tion has been justified by the complete and masterly form in which it. embodies the spirit of a bygone age. Grove says, "It contains so many excellences and so much that is significant, that no oratorio of the second half of the last century, excepting, perhaps, Mozart's Requiem and Haydn's Creation, can be compared to it." After Bach and Handel this, perhaps, comes next, but longo intervallo. In Berlin Graun's Tod Jesu occupies almost the position which Handel's, Messiah does here. Ramler's rhymed text is poor poetry indeed, but childlike and sin- cere and in the spirit of its time and country. Much of it, especially in the recitatives, deals in realistic physical terrors rather largely., But Graun is greatest in these recitatives ; his music ' ' casts a grate-, ful veil of pure, exalted sentiment over the terrible details of the text." The airs are mostly in the ornate, brilliant operatic Italian style of that day, sometimes cloyingly sweet and sentimental. The choruses (only five) are grand ; the chorals weak compared with those of Bach. The work gave pleasure, but with its numerous repeats seemed very long. The choruses were impressive, and several of the recitatives HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 427 and airs were very effective. These were sung by Miss Ida W. Hub- bell, Mrs. L. S. Ipsen, Mr. Wn]. J. Winch, and Mr. Georg Hen- Bchel, — all excellent in voice and rendering. The chorus num- bered three hundred and fifty, the orchestra, fifty-six. There was an audience of one thousand three hundred ; receipts, only $1,200 ; ex- penses, $1,600. This falling off was owing to the heavy snowstorm of the night before, which interfered with travel in the suburbs. March 27. That evening a grand combination concert was given in the great Mechanics' Fair Building in aid of the Russian Jewish Refugees. The old Society joined forces with the Lynn Choral Union, the Salem Oratorio Society, the Taunton Beethoven Society, a moderate orchestra (no organ), and for solo singers, Mrs. H. M. Knowles, soprano. Miss Mary F. How, contralto, and Messrs. C. R. Adams and J. F. Winch. Conductors, Carl Zerrahn and G-eorg Henschel. There were one thousand singers present, but the stage would only hold six hundred ; the rest went into the hall and listened. The programme consisted of the " Baal " and " Rain " choruses from Elijah, the "HaUeUTJah" from the Messiah, and numerous solos. The night was stormy, yet the audience was large. Tlie hall proved good for sound, but too large for the force employed. April 7. Good Friday. Bach's Matthew Passion Music was for the second time given entire in two performances, with a chorus of three hundred and fifty in the afternoon, and four hundred and fifty in the evening. Mr. Henschel sang the music in the part of Jesus, and also the i-ecitative, "At eventide," and the following air, " Cleanse thee." Mr. Wm. F. Winch toolc the part of the Evange- list and the other trying tenor solos. Mrs. E. A. Osgood was the soprano, and Miss Mathilda Phillipps divided with Miss Edith Abell the contralto solos, at short notice, in the place of Bliss Annie Gary, who was ill in New York. The bass airs and minor parts (Judas, Peter, Pilate, etc.) were taken by Mr. J. F. Winch The solo obli- gatos for violin, violoncello, flute, and oboe were played by Messrs. Listemann, Wulf Fries, Rietzel, and de Ribas. Mr. Hiram Tucker played a piano accompaniment to the recitatives. The choral for soprano ripieno in the great opening chorus was sung by boys from the public schools, under the direction of Mr. J. B. Sharland. It was thought that the Passion Music did not go so well as in some previous years. The arias and the instrumental parts, peculiar and extremely difficult, needed closer and continued study. And the tenor solos, including the narrative ones for the Evangelist, were really too great a load for any singer and ought to be divided between two. The house was very full, the receipts, $2,700. 428 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. April 9. For Easter, tlie Creation was given (for the sixty-first time in Boston), with a chorus of five hundred and an orchestra of fifty-five. Miss Fanny Kellogg sang the soprano solos. Mr. Tom iP^rl, the tenor, was pronounced " timid,"' Mr. Whitney, the basso, " rough," and the orchestra " careless" at times. The receipts were $2,400, being double the expenses. Now followed a series of seven rehearsals (the last four conducted by Mr. Theodore Thomas) of Israel in Egypt, for the New York Festival, which occupied five days {May 2-6). Nearly five hundred of the Society went on by the Providence steamer " Massachusetts," on Thursday, May 4, the party occupying the whole boat. Others had preceded them a few days earlier. They lived on board the boat. They sang in Israel in the fifth concert of the Festival in the Seventh Regiment armory, occupying the central seats (the post of lionor) in the great chorus of two tho usand seven hundred voices (composeil of societies of New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Bos- ton). There was an orchestra of t hree hundred instruments. The solos were sung by Mrs. E. A. Osgood, Miss Hattie Schell, Miss Emily Winant, and Messrs. William Candidus, Franz Reramertz, and M. W. Whitney ; conductor, Theodore Thomas ; organist, Dudley Buck. The societies had not rehearsed the work together, but the performance was pronounced superb. The tone volume of the voices was enormous, rendering the orchestra at times inaudible. The fortissimos were impressive at first, but, being too uniformly kept up, grew tiresome. This was the largest chorus ever gathered in America for any important work (TSFger~pei^Baps~tha"n Handel ever dreamed of !) ; but the great waves of tone were steady and volum- inous. The audience amounted to seven thousand people. Our Society reached home on Sunday morning, all delighted with the rare experience. Other works given at that Festival were: Beethoven's Solemn Mass in D; Bach's Cantata: Ein' feste Burg; Handel's Utrecht Jubilate; Berlioz's Les Troyens (Act 2) ; besides matinees of classical and modern music. The soloists were Mme. Materna, Mrs. Osgood, Miss Annie Gary, Miss Winant, Messrs. Campanini, Candidus, Toedt, Henschel, Remmertz, M. W. Whitneyi^aSd "others. The exfJenses were said to amount to about $120,000, the receipts somewhat less. All the expenses of the Handel and Haydn Society were paid by the Festival Association. "May 16. Art a meeting of the Board, it was voted that the Judge of Probate be requested to appoint Henry L. Higginson a trustee of the Permanent Fund in the place of Hon. John Phelps Putnam, de- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 429 ■ceased. A vote of thanks was passed to the New York Festival Committee " for their courtesj' and attention to the convenience and pleasure of the Society during its visit to New York and participation in the Festival." SIXTY-EIGHTH SEASON. May 29, 1882, to May 28, 1883. May 29. Annual meeting. The treasurer's report showed : — ■Cash on hand at beginning of year $394 30 Receipts from all sources 9,464 73 Total $9,859 03 Expenses of concerts $7,205 85 •Current expenses 1,917 65 Additions to library 427 70 9,551 20 Balance on hand $307 88 No income had been drawn from the fund during the year. Pres- •ent market value of the securities held by its trustees, $20,460. The librarian reported no books lost, and an addition of five hundred copies of Rubinstein's Tower of Babel, five hundred copies of Graun's Der Tod Jesu, forty copies of Cherubini's Mass, with five hundred and fifty chorus parts of the same. The president's report was read, accepted, and placed on file. The election of officers for the ensuing year was as follows : — President. — Charles C. Perkins. Vice-President. — George H. Chickeking. ■Secretary. — A. Paeker Browne. Treasurer. — M. Grant Daniell. Librarian. — John H. Sticknet. Directors. — J. D. Andrews, "Wm. F. Bradbury, George T. Brown, Wm. S. Fenollosa, Eugene B. Hagar, D. L. Laws, E. S. Rdndlett, Josiah Wheelwright. The " weeding out" amendment found the Society not yet ready, and was indefinitely postponed. Sept. 6. Board voted to hold the Sixth Triennial Festival at the Music Hall in 1883, beginning May 1 ; to give the Messiah on Sun- •daj' evening, Dec. 24, and two other concerts during the season, one of them to be on Easter Sunday ; to instruct committee to consider 430 HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. the suggestion of giving an oratorio during the fall in the great halt of the Mechanics' Building. The conductor (Carl Zerrahn) and* organist (B. J. Lang) were reappointed, on the usual terms. At a later meeting {Sept. 20) Mr. Zerrahn's salary was raised to $1,000. Eehearsals of The Tower of Babel and the Creation were held through- out the Sunday evenings of October. Nov. 12, the Creation was re- hearsed at Mechanics' Building by five hundred of the chorus. On the next evening (Nov. 13) it was publicly performed there in the grand hall. The chorus numbered about six hundred ; the orches- tra, led by Bernhard Listemann, seventy-six. The solo singers were Miss Emma Thursby, Mr. Charles R. Adams, and Mr. John F. Winch. All, it appears, sang finely ; even Miss Thursby's sweet and delicate soprano was not lost in so vast a hall. The most effective- moments were Mr. Adams's singing of "In native worth and honor clad," and the great chorus, " The heavens are telling." Mr. Winch was inaudible at times. The effect of the hall was fairly good ; and yet much was wanting to the full enjoyment of the music. It was- thought that the hall with certain improvements might be made very good for large choruses. The audience (one third of which was free) numbered not quite three thousand six hundred. The tickets were put at low prices: $1, 75 cts. and 50 cts. The dollar tickets soldi the most freely. The receipts did not exceed the expenses. Bee. 24. At home again in Music Hall ! The Messiah was given with an orchestra of fifty-four, and a chorus of five hundred. The- soloists were Miss Henrietta Beebe, from New York, Mrs. Flora E. Barry, Mr. William J. Winch, and Mr. Georg Henschel. The chorus work appears to have satisfied the critics better than that of the solo- singers. The audience was very large. Receipts, 12,950. Expenses 81,500. That sort of balance is music to the managers ! 1883. Throughout the month of January the Society was engaged in the rehearsal of a new oratorio ( ?) , The liedemption, by Gounod, which the Society had already announced as one of tlie attractions of the Sixth Triennial Festival in the following month of May. At great cost the right of performance in Boston had been purchased of Mr. Theodore Thomas, who controlled the use of the authorized edition,, the composer's score, for the United States. The reasons for giving it several months before the Festival, namely, on Monday evening, Jan. 29, were set forth in a preliminary circular as follows : " As it now appears that an orchestral accompaniment has been prepared- from the published pianoforte score, and that the work may be per- formed in that unauthorized and incomplete form in Boston and other HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 431 places, therefore, in justice to the composer, who ought to be heard in his own way, to the public, which has a right to have the work in its integrity, and to the Society, which has paid a large sum for the use^ of the real score, it has been decided to give it on the day above- named." By an appeal to the United States District Court, Mr. Thomas succeeded in barring the public use of the "unauthorized edition," and much newspaper discussion and controversy helped to- create a factitious interest in the work. It was performed at the Boston Theatre, a few days in advance of the Handel and Haydn Society, under the direction of Mr. J. oT^nnon, a~CatEoIic'musi- cian of good repute, with only a pianoforte and organ accompaniment,, a choir of three hundred voices from several Catholic churches of the city, and a goodly array of solo singers. Then came the performance-, from the original complete score by the Society, which had bought the right from Theodore Thomas. Naturally there was a wide-spread, eager curiosity to hear a work- which had been the subject of so much litigation and discussion here in Boston ; a work, too, which it was understood that Gounod, com- poser of the admired and well-known opera, Faust, regarded as the supreme effort of his genius. The Music Hall was crowded, and by most attentive listeners. The receipts amounted to 83,110. There was an orchestra of seventy, and a chorus of five hundred. The solo singers were : Mrs. E. Aline Osgood, Miss S. C. Fisher, Miss Emily Winant, Messrs. W. J. and J. F.' Winch, and Mr. Franz Eemmertz. Those who had heard its first production in England at the Birming- ham Festival in August, 1882, or subsequent performances in Lon- don, New York, and Philadelphia, declared that this performance compared well with any of them. The voice of the local press was loudly in its praise. * Of the work itself, in its intrinsic chaiacter, we may copy from the " Notes" in the book of the Society's Sixth Triennial Festival : — "A Catholic oratorio is an anomaly in our time; for, although the name oratorio is Italian, and although musical representations, in dramatic form, by that name were first held in Rome, yet now the word suggests to us those grand, sacred musical epics, like Handel's Messiah, Israel in Egypt, Judas MaccabcBus, or Mendelssohn's St. Paul and Elijah, which sprang up outside of the Church, and were quickened by the spirit of the Reformation. Gounod wrote his Redemption for the church, the Roman Church of France ; and very properly the title by which he wished to have it known was not an oratorio, but a ' Sacred Trilogy ' (since it consists of a prelude and three parts). The music, in its whole style and conception, is essentially ecclesiastical, and it is essentially French. Both the music and the text (of his own writing) have the peculiar French Church flavor ; they are emotional in a sense alike remote 432 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. from, say the Passion Music of Bach, and from the cooler Protestant thought «nd feeling of the present day. Such emotionalism must inevitably seem to many of us very artiflcial, while to the ardent Catholic, who can listen to the ■^ork as if in his own church, transported thither by the sympathetic spell of •Gounod's genius, it may all speak like the slncerest ministry of St. Cecilia's art divine, — a ministry of tears and exaltation. Much that is found strange, affected, sentimental, morbid, and sensational in the music, and, perhaps, offensively doctrinal in the text, one might be more than reconciled to could he only listen from the Roman churchman's point of view and with his sub- jective sensibility. " These remarks are not made in a spirit of condemnation, but simply to account for, and to state, in a very few words, some of the peculiarities, one might say singularities, of Gounod's Bedemption. For instance, while on the one hand it is sentimental, on the other it is almost too painfully realistic ; it dwells with a pitiless minuteness on the cruel images and details of the Cross. The narrative, avoiding all that exquisitely human and expressive recitative which is like a natural language with Bach and Handel and Mozart, is here reduced to the dry monotony of church chanting; It is not music, and it is not speech ; for no one can converse upon a monotone ; the subtle charm of the unconscious natural inflections of the voice is half its eloquence. On the other hand, it has been alleged, that this arid monotony is relieved by the wonderful wealth and graphic point of Gounod's instrumentation. It would be more accurate to say that his orchestra does the narrating and describing, while the tenor or bass voice, with the cool unconcern of the stage prompter in his box, or the expressionless and automatic glib- ness of the showman, as the panorama unrolls, simply notifies what it is about. " The Incessant use of chromatic scales and chromatic sequences of chords, so often dangerously near to discord, with all the startling concomitants, par- ticularly throughout the prologue and whole first part (or act), ^eems to appeal to a physically sensitive imagination, to a morbid emotionalism, rather than to an enlightened spiritual sense, chaining the hearer's mind to the bare, literal earthly facts, instead of transfiguring these into a higher mean- ing, as Bach in his Passion Mugic always does, however bald and literal the text. The harrowing suggestions are in some degree relieved, however, by the early appearance of a lovely bit of melopmia (frequently called a ' Leit- motif,' signifying 'The Hedemption'), which comes back repeatedly. The ' March to Calvary ' is as brutal as it is brilliant ; doubtless intentionally so. The chorals, scattered through the work, avoiding all the saving charm of polyphonic movement, are of a plain and commonplace description, almost as much so as our own New England psalmody ; these again hail from the popu- lar usage of the actual church service. Of great oratorio choruses there are none, in tlie sense of Bach or Handel or Mendelssohn, none with the masterly development, the universal and impersonal suggestion of the inexhaustible fugue form ; but there are several, near the end, which are broad and massive and imposing, easy of apprehension, popular, in one of which reappears the melody which Gounod had already used in his song ' Nazareth.' There are ■many pleasing scenes and passages, at once ingenious and childlike in their simplicity, which certainly serve for a relief, if they do seem out of keeping HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 433 with the gravity of the whole subject. Such, for instance, is the tripping little quickstep ushering in the trio of the Holy Women at the sepulchre, — so elastic, so light-hearted, full of cheer, that it would do well for ' Haste to the Wedding.' " All these traits were variously judged, according to tlie subjective- conditions and the religious associations of all kinds of hearers ; by some admired intensely ; by others, while they found not a little to admire, accepted only with large reservations. Upon the whole the temper of the public was found so responsive that it was decided to grant a second hearing of The Redemption on Good Friday. March 23. It drew another full house (receipts, $2,800, expenses, about $1,900). The chorus numbered four hundred and fifty, the orchestra seventy. We copy from the next day's Transcript (W. F. Apthorp) : "The solos were sung by Mrs. Georg Henschel, Mrs. E. Humphrey-Allen, Miss Ita Welsh, Mr. Wm. J. Winch, Mr. Geprg Henschel, and Mr. Franz Eemmertz, the latter singing the part of Jesus, as at the first performance. Mrs. Henschel has not the vocal power of Mrs. Osgood, who first sang the soprano music, but her singing was exquisite at every point. In the solo and chorus, ' From thy love as a Father,' she made an admirable effect by takino- the tempo decidedly slower than it was sung before. Miss Welsh sang ex- tremely well also; Mrs. Allen did not seem to be in her best voice, and her singing sounded a little strained. Mr. Winch made a decided improvement upon his former effort. . . . Mr. Henschel, as the bass narrator, sang su- perbly, with the utmost simplicity and in a purely narrative style, but with immense effect. Mr. Remmertz was wonderful as ever. Chorus and orches- tra did excellently upon the whole, false intonations being the exception • when the choir did take it into its head to sing flat, however, they san" flat with a vengeance. As for the work itself, we were disappointed at finding how much of it sounded far less impressive than at the flrst performance. One fears greatly that it will not stand the wear and tear of many more per- formances, in spite of isolated passages of rare beauty." March 25. Easter was marked by a /grand performs(nce of Elijah,.\ the oratorio in which the Handel and Haydn chorus always feel them- selves at home and sure. That time they were out in force, five hun- dred voices, with an orchestra of sixty-five. And a brilliant array of solo artists helped to attract an audience that filled every seat and corner of the Music Hall. These were : for principal soprano, Mme. EmmaAlbani; Mrs. J. E. Tippett, Mrs. E. Cleveland Fenderson, and. Uiss SfaTy iL. How, contraltos ; Mr. C. R. Adams, Mr. M. W. Whit- ney, Mr. D. M. Babcock, and Mr. A. E. Pennell. Of Albani's sing- , ing one of the critics wrote : " The commanding largeness of her voice, with its matured wealth of expressive powei', stood her in ex- 434 HISTORY OF THK HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. -cellent stead for her task, and added to these advantages was the deeply earnest and reverential sph'it which informed her delivery of her music, making it in a very high degree impressive and thrillinglv ■eloquent." Of her singing of her great air, " Hear ye, Israel" (in composing which Mendelssohn had the high F sharp of Jenny Lind in his mind) , the same writer says : " It was not only so pure in conception and so finished from a purely artistic point of view, but so profoundly moving in its tenderness and so appealing in its earnestness as to make it almost a new reveljition^of Mendelssohn's thought, and there- fore an event to be gratefully cherished in the memory of all who 'heard it." The pure, true, somewhat childlike soprano of Mrs. Tip- pett, a thoroughly musical nature, musically well taught and full of talent, fitted her for the music of " The Youth." The two contraltos, if not powerful, appear to have made themselves acceptable. But neither Mr. Adams nor Mr. Whitney were in good vocal condition. The others are reported satisfactory, while orchestra and chorus were " at their best." Receipts, $4,000 ; expenses, $2,900. And now the Sixth (and last !) Triennial Festival loomed in imme- •diate prospect, and the whole month of April was given up to rehear- sals, nineteen of them, following thick and fast, in preparation for ithat grand but ominous event. It was nobly, generously planned ; .no pains were spared ; a fine array of artists were engaged, and the week's programme was rich in masterpieces old and new, — such a •concentration of attractions as, it would seem, could not fail, judging from past experience. SIXTH TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL. May 1 TO May 6, 1883. FiEST Day. Tuesday Evening, May 1. Two contrasted woi'ks, one old, one new, were offered in the opening concert. First came Handel's Ode on St. Cecilia's Day, composed in 1739. It had been twice before performed by the Society, in Nov. 1863, in honor of the •opening of the great organ, with organ accompaniment only, as arrano-ed and played by Mr. Lang, upon stops imitative of the vari- ous orchestral instruments. (See page 209.) This time it was given (for the first time here) with orchestra, — such orchestral accompani- ments as exist. Miss Emma Thursby "was in excellent voice, and sang the soprano solos with a clear, full sweetness, generally ade- •quate to their true effect, and into her final recitative she threw a good ■deal of spiritual fervor." The only other soloist, Mr. Wm. J. Winch, HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 435 " gave Ms opening numbers neatly and with finish, saving his voice •carefully for his chief air, ' Orpheus could lead,' wliich he delivered in a very stirring and impressive style, and with sufBcient mastery of its mechanical diflBculties." Yet another writer •' cannot explain to Mmself what induped him to give a rather sad and sentimental tinge to the music." The chorus singing wasjpronounced exceptionally good. Very different in form, feature, and complexion was the work which followed (here for the (first time), Anton Eubinstein's "Sacred ■Opera," The Tower of Babel. There is something Titanic in the genius of this eccentric, bold, adventurous Russian, then in the ful- ness of his powers, at the age of fifty-three. His passionate, strong individuality, often verging on extravagance, his plethora of musical ideas, now noble and sublime, now delicate and tender, now rushing into questionable conceits, were shown boih in his wonderful piano- playing and in his multifarious compositions. Besides writing many ■operas, — some on national or heroic themes, and some, like Nero and The Demon, far from inviting in their titles, — he had long entertained, ;and in several instances endeavored to carry out, a pet theory of his own regarding oratorios. The point of it appea.rs in a remarkable let- ter which he published. Let a few sentences sulHce : " The oratorio is a form of art against which I have always been inclined to protest." "I have no sympathy with the objection that biblical subjects, as bting sacred, do not belong to the stage. Ought not the theatre to serve the highest ends of culture ? . . . With the people, there has «ver been a craving for the sight of sacred subjects on the stage. This is proved by the Mystery plays of the Middle Ages, and b^- the great impression made to-day (in spite of the rnore than naive music) ■on every one who witnesses the Passion Plays at Oberammergau. What a mighty impression would not works of Bach and Handel and Mendelssohn produce if given on the stage ? . . . 1 have conceived >of the creation of a distinct, peculiar art-form which should find its place in a theatre to be built for this peculiar purpose " (at some holier Bayreuth?). " This kind of art should be called, in contradis- tinction to the secular, the ' Sacred or Religious Opera,' and the theatre a ' Sacred Theatre,' as distinguished from the worldly thea- tre," and so on at length. With this view, he composed his Paradise Lost, and meant to compose Gain and Abel, Moses, Song of Solomon, and Christus. His dream of a sacred theatre was never realized ; his lower of Babel has only been performed, like other oratorios, without ecener}', costume, or action. To listen understanding]}' the hearer's imagination needs a little prompting ; he must read a brief '• argu- ment " of the intended action : — 436 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. " In the background of the scene appears the tower, its top reaching above the stage; 8heci8,^huts, implements, building materials, etc., cover the space round about and in front of the tower. On the right of the proscenium is seen Nimrod's mound crowned by a gigantic tree, from which a tamtam is suspended. The people, grouped about the tower, are asleep ; the day begins to dawn. The master workman appears with two trumpeters, and, the call having been given, he summons the people to work. The fires are lighted ' to make brick for stone and slime for mortar ' ; and soon all hands are at work. Amidst this busy scene Nimrod arrives on the mound, and, contemplating the progress of the tower, glories in the expectation of soon ascending it to be- hold the Creator. Among his followers is Abram, who calls upon the mighty monarch to abstain from a design which he cannot hope to accomplish with impunity; but Nimrod, incensed at the boldness of a mean shepherd, orders him to be cast into the fire. The people stop their work and hasten to obey; but hardly has Abram been led to the flames when angels appear from above to protect him; the fire suddenly subsides, the smoke disappears, and Abram emerges from the flames unharmed. Great is Nimrod's consternation at tliia miracle; greater that of the people, who soon divide into their several tribes, of which each claims the miracle for its own God. The tamtam is sounded ; at Nimrod's bidding the conflict is stayed, and work reluctantly resumed. But now the angels again appear. ' Let us go down,' they sing, ' and there confound their language.' The scene suddenly darkens ; Abram predicts the approaching vengeance of Heaven ; Nimrod in vain orders the afTrighted peo- ple to throw the daring shepherd from the tower, and, before he can enforce his command, the tower, amid thunder and lightning, falls to the ground with a terrific crash. The people fly in all directions ; Abram alone is seen kneel- ing in prayer; and Nimrod, overawed by the terrible scene, at last acknowl- edges that he cannot cope with the Deity. Three dissolving views, accom- panied by the chorus behind the scene, then cross the stage in succession, representing the exodus of the Shemites, the Hamites, and the Japhethites. This over, the scene again represents the plane in the land of Shinar; a rain- bow appears, spanning the background. Nimrod and his followers gradually gather in the foreground, and kneel down facing the rainbow ; the heavens open ; the celestial legions appear and shed their dazzling radiance on the scene. At the same time, the infernal hosts are seen rising from below, and, amid the hallelujahs of the angels, the praises of the people, and the defiant shouts of Satan's host, the scene is brought to a close." As to the merits of the work opinions differed widely, some calling it great, while to others it seemed weak and uninteresting. To one the musical description of the fall of the tower was " commonplace and trivial, the thundering big drum being even comic." Another thought, " No musical passages better adapted to crisp the nervea with a sense of fear and wonder were ever heard here than those in which the desti'uction of the Tower of Babel by Jehovah's lightning is indicated," All seem agreed that the best part of the work is in the choruses. All praised the rare beauty of the three choruses of HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 437 the descendants of Shem, Ham, andJapheth. Considering the im- mense difficulty of the composition, chorus and orchestra " performed their task with great credit," although the boys' choir was often out of tune. There were no solo parts for female voices. " Mr. M. W. Whitney sang the (bass) part of Nimrod with dignity and with grand effect, and Mr. John F. Winch did much good work in the (barytone) part of the master workman. Mr. C. R. Adams's voice (Abram) was in poor .condition and almost deserted him at moments." The audience was small, the receipts not exceeding SI, 560. Second Day. Wednesday Evening, Ma'if 2. Prof. John K. Paine's cantata. The Nativity, was composed for this occasion, and was con- ducted by himself. This was the op. 38 of the young American composer, Harvard's musical professor ; his most important effort after his two symphonies, besides the noble music that he wrote for the Greek choruses in that memorable performance of the CEdipus of Sophocles b3- Harvard students and professors in May, 1881. Before hearing we attempted a description of the work as follows : — Prof. Paine has chosen his poetic theme for musical illustration from the hymn in Milton's ode, " On the Morning of Christ's Nativity," a poem which still shines pre-eminent, as with the lustre of the morning star, among all the Christmas odes that have appeared before or since his time. The hymn is too ' long, even without the long -lined prelude, to allow of all its twenty-seven stanzas being set to music with advantage. Nor are the thoughts or diction of some of them available as text for music. Beginning, therefore, with the first stanza : " It was the winter wild," he has found the texts which best lent themselves to Ms musical idea in the first nine stanzas (skipping the second), and, for a conclusion, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth, — eleven in all. The Cantata (we suppose it may be called) js divided into three parts. Part I., beginning, after a short prelude, with "It was the winter wild," goes to the end of the seventh stanza. It opens In C (andantino, 4-4) with a few melodic bars by all the strings in unison, very softly, growing to a fortis- . simo with trombones, and again subsiding as harp tones soar to the skyey octave, and a " Peace " motive floats down, as It were, from heaven, until one by one the voice parts enter, finally blending in full harmony. In the prelude the rhythmical division of the quarters is into triplets, after the Siciliano . model of Bach's and Handel's pastoral symphonies ; but the twofold division prevails, so that the composer has marked it 4-4, and not 12-8. The move- ment in the main is pastoral ; yet a certain wild and restless modulation In the harmony, a certain ambiguity of key, together with the musing, rapt ex- pression of the melody, suggests in one scene both the "winter wild" and the "Heaven-born Child" sleeping in the manger. Where "Nature dofi"s her gaudy trim. With her great Master so to sympathize," the sopranos linger tenderly upon that word, and droop, as in fond revery, down to their lower tones while tremulous triplets in the orchestra acknowledge the divine presence. 438 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. A livelier movement, in the fresh key of A major, for soprano solo and chorus, sings of " universal peace," as told in the third stanza. The words are full of lively images to catch the fancy of the composer, and the music, though not imitative, reveals a sympathy. "No war or battle's sound is heard the wide world round" elicits a flery chorus {allegro moderato), worked up with energy ; the bass voices prolonging now and then a syllable in wind- ing phrases, the orchestra still conjuring up in memory war's wild alarms, though now no longer heard. Those grandly imaginative lines : "And kings sat still with awful eye. As if they surely knew their so v'ran Lord was nigh," are given In most Impressive unison by all the voices in long tones, with trom- bone chords, followed by bold effects of harmony, with tremolo accompani- ments, rising to a climax of intensity, and finally subsiding to a thoughtful, awe-struck piamssimo, while the pastoral 12-8 figure of accompaniment comes back and leads, with soaring arpeggi, into the next stanza of the " Peace " text : — But peaceful was the night Wherein the Prince of Light His reign of peace upon the earth began, etc. A light, caressing figure of the violins, upon an undulating bass, accom- panies the voices, hushed to pianissimo at the words: " The winds, with wonders whist. Smoothly the waters kist"; and when it comes to " Ocean, who hath quite forgot to rave," the pastoral accompaniment again appears, which seems to pervade the work like a leit-motif, signifying peace. The low, brooding harmony, " While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmed wave," Is graphically enlivened with bird-like warblings in the upper Instru- ments. These continue while " The stars, with deep amaze, stand flx'd In steadfast gaze. Bending one way their precious hifluence." That last line seems to have made its Impression on the composer. Verse 7 — " And though the shady gloom" — is begun by soprano solo (the melody resumed essentially from that of the first piece), still waited on by the old pastoral accompaniment. The chorus grows to an imposing, brilliant climax at the mention of the sun, — " He saw a greater sun appear Than his bright throne or burning axle-tree could bear." Here the musician bravely accepts the chal- lenge for corresponding grand effects of vocal harmony and instrumental color. The polyphonic movement of the voices is expressive, — strikingly so where the basses descend in half -notes through the compass of an octave and a half, and then the solo soprano soars to the bright pitch of C above the staff, thus ending the first division of the work. Part II. "The shepherds on the lawn," etc. For the first time, that Siciliano " peace " motive, as we have called it, which seems to lurk not far away — when not palpably present — almost throughout the whole, now steps aside entirely, and we have a new pastoral theme and melody in a new measure (3-8, andantino, A fiat). The tune is quaintly rural, with oboe and horn accompaniment, the strings running in a light staccato figure, and is first taken by a tenor solo, then a bass, then an alto, which soon blend in a charm- ing trio. The momentary enharmonic change to the key of E, at the words " Perhaps their loves," is felicitous, after the solemnizing thought of "Pan comedown to live with them." Verse 9 — "When such music sweet their hearts and ears did greet " — is sung in B major by soprano solo, leading into HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 439 a quartet, with florid passages in one voice or anotlier, expressive of tlie "divinely warbled voice" or "blissful rapture," with copious sprinkling of harp embellishments. The shepherd melody returns, and then the old pastoral motive again steps to the front to offer duty, this time in a nine instead of a twelve eight rhythm. The poetic theme is: "The air, such pleasure loth to lose. With thousand echoes still prolongs each heavenly close." It is used for double chorus or quartet and chorus, making a rich conclusion to this middle portion of the work. Part III. "Ring out, ye crystal spheres" (stanzas 13, 14, and 15), gives the text for the strongest chorus, the finale of the work. It begins and ends in C (allegro maestoso, 4-4) and is jubilant and more exciting to the close, where the voices hold out the last chord as long as they have breath. At the words, " And with your ninefold harmony," the voice parts divide (into two sopranos, two altos, three tenors, and two basses), and so become actually ninefold on the one word " nine," in an /// passage; but it comes about so naturally that the voices seem to do it from their own spontaneous impulse. ..." Surely every one will wonder that no great composer ever thought before of finding a sublime subject for his art in this wonderful ode which Milton wrote when he was only twenty-one years old. What a theme for Handel, whose genius had such affinity with that of Milton ! " The composer was warmly received by an audience still small, but enthusiastic. His work, while hardly calculated to win popularity, gave great satisfaction, particularly the final chorus, which called out a great burst of rapturous applause. The solo and concerted music was sung very smoothly by Miss Emma Thursby, Miss Mathilde Phillipps, Mr. George W. Want, and Mr. M. W. Whitney. After The Nativity came Cherubini's Mass in D Minor, the fifth of his eleven Masses (exclusive of his two great Requiems), composed in 1811. It is said to be the longest mass ever written, much longer than the Missa Solemnis of Beethoven ; while in intrinsic value as religious music, in wealth of noble and expressive musical ideas, and in consummate art of treatment, many have thought it may well rank with that and with the B-minor Mass of Bach. It was heard that evening, for the first time in Boston, in its integrity, from full orches- tral score. The Advertiser of the next morning called it wonderful. " In almost every line it shows the hand of a great master, and it may well rank as the first of his works. Pure, elevated, beyond descrip- tion, in genius, it never fails to give the impression of simplicity even in its most elaborate phrases, and of sincerity in its most conven- tional. It is, indeed, the product of an elder time, but it is as fresh with the youth of beauty to-day as when it was written." So soon after hearing Rubinstein's Tower of Babel, the same critic cou'd not help noting in the mass "the superior repose and freedom from self- consciousness as well as the higher religious aspirations which mark 440 HISTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. the work of the older writer, as opposed to the restlessness, the reli- gious doubt, the sensationalism of the modern genius." Mrs. E. A. Osgood, Miss Winant, Mr. Th eodore J. Toed t, Mr. Henschel, Mrs. , F. P. Whitney. Mr. Want, and Mr. A. E. Pennell gave the solo and concerted music •• with praise worth}' skill and finish, almost the whole burden falling upon the first four of the artists named. The chorus improved upon their performance in the cantata, and sang with more accuracy,, firmness, and sustained force, though their effort left much to be desired on the score of neatness. The orchestral work was nearly all excellent." Another says : " Cherubini's Mass made great effect, the solos being given in almost perfect style." The receipts of that concert, in spite of such attractions, were only $1,550. Third Day. Thursday, May 3. The third concert was given in the afternoon. A miscellaneous selection, vocal and orchestral, was pre- sented, namely : — 1. 0\ertavelo Euryanthe . Weber. 2. Air : " Flowers of the Valley," from Act. I., Euryanthe, Weher. Mes. E. Aline Osgood. 3. Air from Jessonda . . Spohr. Me. Georg Henschel. 4. Minuet for String Orchestra .... . Bocchtrini, 5. Scena and Aria : "Ah! Perfldo!" .... Beethoven. Mme. Gabriklla Boema. 6. Fantasy, for piano, sextet, chorus, and orchestra : Mr. B. J. Lang, pianist ; Mrs. Osgood, Mrs. F. P. Whit- ney, Mi.-is Mathilde Phillipps, Mr. T. J. Toedt, Mk. a. E. Pennbli,, and Mr. Henschel :"~'~'. . Beethoven. 7. Overture : Thalia : an Imaginary Comedy . . . Chadwick. 8. Duet from The Flying Dutchman Wagner. Mme. Boema, Me. Henschel. 9. Recitative and Aria : "OPatria"; " f)i tanti palpiti," from Tancredi Rossini. Miss Phillipps. 10. Orchestral Interlude : Liebesliedchen . . : . Taubert. 11. 'Recitative and Air tvom Joseph and his Brethren . . Mehul. Mr. Tokdt. 12. Chorus : " Sanctus," from Mass in B minor . . Bach. The most important number in this very rich and varied programme, Bach's wonderful, inspiriug Sanctus, was omitted for want of suffi- cient rehearsal, and its place was taken, not made good, by an excel- lent performance of Haydn's Motet : Insance et vance Curou. Touch- ing this interestiug work, we find in our " Notes " : — HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 441 " Haydn wrote many smaller pieces for the church, besides his numerous ■masses. One list of his worlds contains twenty-one motets, offertories, Salve Beginas, arias, etc., some for solo voices, some for chorus, some with a mere organ or quartet accompaniment, and several, like ' Insance et vance Curm,' for full orchestra and chorus. Some of these offertories are said to have been transferred from the concert-room to the church, and have been traced to an •occasional cantata, or to his oratorio. The Beturn of Tobias. " The Motet, or Offertorium, with which we are now concerned, has long been a favorite in some of the Catholic choirs in this country, as well as in Europe. But here it has commonly been given with only an organ accompani- ment. Haydn composed it for a fuller orchestra than that employed in most of his symphonies ; besides the strings, the score has flute, two oboes, two bas- sc'ons, two horns, two trumpets, two trombones, tympany, and organ. It is sometimes called in Germany the Storm Chorus ; for it begins with a stormy orchestral prelude (D minor), with wild, sweeping passages and shifting •chords, frequently diminished sevenths, and keeps on working up the same motives to a fiercer climax, while the chorus enters, singing of the insane and idle cares that Invade and distract men's minds and fill our hearts with madness. The vocal writing is powerfully expressive. Once we have a re- minder of that (so to say) barometrical or atmospheric harmonj', bordering on •discord, which is so suggestive in the ' rain ' chorus of fllijah ; the altos alone sing ' sffipe furore ' on A, the sopranos join them on the half-tone above, then the tenors on E flat, and then the basses on C. " There is a pause in the storm ; the key changes to the relative major (F) , and the voices, to a sweet and serious melody, sing an exhortation to forsake all vain reliance, and look up for divine support. The storm returns with all its fury; but the heavenly melody again pours oil upon the waves, and brings the motet to an end in the bright key of D major. "The meaning and the motives of the music lie upon the surface, too ob- vious to the uninstructed listener to require description." Beethoven's Choral Fantasia was first played and sung in Boston at the unveiling of Crawford's noble statue of the Master, when a poem was recited by the sculptor, William W. Story, followed by a musical programme, which, among other works of Beethoven, in- cluded this fantasia, Mr. C. C. Perkins, the giver of the statue, play- ing the piano part. Once more it had been performed at a Harvard Musical Symphony Concert, on Dec. 15, 1870 (Ernst Perabo at the piano), during a week which, musically, in many ways and in many halls of Boston, was almost wholly given up to a centennial com- memoration of Beethoven's birth. It was composed and first per- formed in 1808, at Vienna ; indeed it was almost improvised for an " Academy " (as such concerts were then called) , in which Beethoven, for the first time, brought out a wonderful collection of his own works. Some look upon it as a forerunner of the far grander choral symphony, — like the toy-balloons sent up to feel the wind before the grand 442 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. ascension. The idea rests on no historical foundation, so far as we know, but solely on internal evidence, and that slight, — simply the two coincidences : that in the earlier, as in the later, work, the development of instrumental motives, as if craving more complete expression, leads into a vocal chorus with full orchestra ; and, sec- ondly, the great resemblance, though with a difference, between the simple popular tunes sung in the two. Of this third performance of the work in Boston, the Gazette said : — " It was interpreted very well, Mr. Lang playing the piano part with ex- cellent taste and spirit, and only erring in forcing the merely accompanying figures into too great prominence. The chorus here achieved some of its best results of the week." Of other features in the concert, the same critic wrote : — " Mr. Chadwick's delightful Thalia overture (under the composer's direc- tion) increased the favorable impression made upon its earlier presentation. Mrs. Osgood sang an air from Weber's Euryanthe with much finish of style, but with no marked \^armth of expression. Mr. Henschel's s-inging of a very vigorous air from Spohr's Jessonda (_' Der Kriegeslust ergeben ') was admirable in its fire and dramatic expression. Mme. Boema, in Ah, Berfido, sang with the same largeness of dramatic style, power, and fervor that won for her so much deserved admiration upon her first appearance at the Symphony Con- certs. Mr. T. J. Toedt distinguished himself greatly by his singing of a re- citative and air from Mfehul's Joseph. Miss Mathilde PhilUpps sang Rossini's Di Tanti Palpiti artistically, but with a want of delicacy in expression. In the duet from The Flying Dutchman, from some cause or other, best results did not ensue." The receipts of that concert were not encouraging, — $1,460. For the evening concert, the fourth, Gounod's Redemption, which had not yet lost its interest with the majority, was given for the third time by the Society, and drew its third great audience. We quote again from the Gazette : — " The performance reflected the highest credit upon the chorus, which sang with exceptional smoothness, precision, and steadiness. The soloists were Miss Thursby, Miss S. C. Fisher, Miss Emily Winant, Mr. W. J. Winch, Mr. J. F. Winch, and Mr. Georg Henschel. Miss Thursby did better than at any of her other performances of the week, and afibrded a large share of pleas- ure. Miss Winant was heard to fine eflfect, and Mr. Henschel interpreted the music of Jesus with a refinement of sentiment truly delightful. Mr. W. J. Winch was not only in good voice, but in excellent mood, and performed his task in charming style. Miss Fisher was wanting in fulness and power of voice to do all justice to the angel's music in the third part. The presenta- tion, taken as a whole, was the best that the oratorio has had here. It attracted one of the largest houses of the week, and elicited the most applause." JIISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 443 At all events, '^ it paid," — receipts, $2,860. FocRTH Day. Friday Eveniog, May 4. In this fifth concert the Festival reached its high tide, although by the doUar-and-cent meas- ure the hall was only half full. But here intrinsically the interest of the week culminated. As Rubinstein had given us a " Sacred Opera," we were now to hear the converse, a secular " Oratorio," Max Bruch's Arminiua. And to lend more lustre to the notable oc- casion, the composer in person had come over to conduct the perform- ance. Of him and of his work our Festival " Notes " may be allowed to speak at some length, in consideration of its novelty : — " Max Bruch, born at Cologne, in 1838, received his first musical instruction from his mother, a favorite soprano singer in the Rhenish musical festivals. At the age of eleven he became a pupil of K. Breidenstein, and already tried his hand at composition in the larger forms ; at fourteen a symphony of his was publicly performed in his native city. In 1852 he gained the Mozart scholarship at Frankfort-on-Main, and became for four years a special pupil of Ferdinand Hiller in theory and composition, and of Reinecke and Breu- nung in piano playing. After a short residence in Leipzig, he lived (1858- 61) as a music teacher in Cologne, constantly composing. After the death of his father (1861) he visited many of the German musical centres, studying for short periods in Berlin, Leipzig, "Vienna, Dresden, Munich, finally stop- ping in Mannheim, where he brought out (1863) his opera Lorelei (using the text prepared for Mendelssohn by Oeibel). In Mannheim (1862-64) he wrote his Frithjof Saga, Homan Song of Triumph (both of which have been given in Boston, and admired). Song of the Heiligen drei Konige, Flight of the Holy Family, and other choral works. In 1864-65 he was again ' on the road,' as actors say, visiting Hamburg, Hannover, Dresden, Breslau, Munich, Binissels, Paris, etc., and had extraordinary success with Frithjof in Aix-la-Chapelle, Leipzig, and Vienna. In 1865-67 he was musical director at Coblenz; in 1867-70 court kapellmeister in Sondershausen, during which time he wrote his first violin concerto, two symphonies, parts of a mass, etc. His opera, Her- mione (Shakespeare's Winter's Tale), was brought out 1872 in Berlin, where he spent a couple of years. To this Berlin period belongs also the greatest of his choral works yet heard in Boston (it has been given several times by our Cecilia with increasing interest), the Odysseus. " From that time he lived for five years (1873-78) in Bonn, devoting him- self exclusively to composition, especially to the Arminius and the Song of the Bell, also the second violin concerto, etc. After a couple of visits to Eng- land, where he brought out several of his works, he succeeded Stockhausen (1878) in the directorship of Stern's famous Choral Society in Berlin; and in 1880 he succeeded Benedict as director of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society. (This choice was so ofifensive to the ' native ' prejudices of many of the jealous Engli^h critical papers that the compositions of the ' foreigner,' particularly his Odysseus, performed in London recently, have been reviewed by some of them with little favor.) In 1881 Bruch married the singer Frl. Tupzek, of Berlin We now learn that he has resigned his post at Liverpool, and will, after his visit to Anierica, assume the kapellmeistership at Breslau. Surely 444 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY, he has led a restless life, with constant shifting of the scene, in striking cor- respondence to the restless modulations, enharmonic changes, and chord- shiftiags, which are some of the most characteristic modern features of his largely orchestrated compositions. " This brief biographical sketch (and more were there only room) seemed due to so distinguished a composer, — one who holds undisputed place in the front rank of his contemporaries, at least in his peculiar sphere of large choral compositions, — who now honors Boston with his presence, and is to conduct here the first performance in this country of one of his noblest works, as yet but little known in Germany or any part of Europe. That we have barely seen a mention of its title hitherto is explained by the fact that it was over- shadowed by the popularity of his own Song of the Bell, which was published almost at the same time, Schiller's poem being such a household word in Ger- many. The score of Arminius is dedicated to his friend, Georg Henschel, who is to sing the principal part, that of the old Cheruscan hero, destroyer of the Roman legions, in this festival. He sang the same pai't in the very first performance of the work (at Zurich, Jan. 21, 1877), on which occasion he had also to supply the difBcult tenor part of Siegmund, the local tenor being suddenly taken ill. It was next given, during the same year, at Bar- men, and, we believe, once in some otlier place, but never yet in Berlin. Leip- zig, or Vienna, nor in any of the great musical centres of Gt-rmany. Practi- cally, therefore, this will be only its third or fourth performance anywhere. The composer, we are told, regards it as his most important work. Poet and composer could hardly have selected a grander, richer, more picturesque, more thrilling subject than the successful uprising of the leading German tribes, in the year nine of the Christian era, against their Roman oppressors, at the inspiring call of Hermann (or Arminius), chief of the Cherusci, ending in the entrapping and destruction of Varus and his legions, — a theme appeal- ing to the national enthusiasm of every German. The plot is extremely simple, and the unities of time, place, and action could not be observed more strictly. The solo characters are only three, — Arminius, bass; Siegmund, tenor; and a priestess, mezzo-soprano, inclining to contralto; all the rest is orchestra and chorus. It is divided into four parts : — " Part I. opens with a short orchestral introduction (full modern orchestra, with four horns, three trombones, and tuba, besides an organ part). First, loud, startling, minor chords, echoed by lower instruments; then a low, rumbling figure, mingled with galloping triplets, like the sound of horses' hoofs, which is kept up throughout the chorus, ' What is 't that looms like thunder cloud, afar'? foreshadowing the approach of the Romans. No. 2. — Arminius, and then Siegmund, answer the anxious inquiries and recite the wrongs done their people by the Romans in strong declamatory recitative, the orchestra flinging in vivid glimpses of the legions, with their plumed ' Captain on stately charger, flying along the ranks '. ' They come ! they come ! the scourges of freedom ', etc. 3. — Chorus of the advancing Romans : ' We are the sons of Mars '- The rhythm has an Iron strength ; the harmony is harsh, hard, barbaric, cruel, bordering on discord, characteristic of the haughty confidence and strength of these ruthless masters of the world. 4, 5. — Recitative of Arminius, taken up by full chorus in slow (grave), solemn, and determined tones : ' We, freeborn sons of Wodan, have not learned to HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 445 bend to the stranger's yoke ' ; this leading to a spirited duet {allegro), ' Fi'ee soars the eagle high', between Arminius and Siegmund; the chorus takes up their strain, the orchestra all the while being very active ; Arminius points to the sacred grove, exhorting them to there register their patriotic vows, and the {grave) chorus returns for a grand conclusion of the first part. " Part IL is the consecration of the warriors of Wodan in the sacred forest. No Bellini Druid scene this, with stately Norma's melody of ' linkfid sweetness long drawn out,' but all large, grand, awe-inspiring, the orchestra lending the chief character to the whole scene with its low, murky tone of color, its rustling, creeping movement, as of wind through the branches of the old oaks ; the utterances of the priestess being mostly declamatory and dramatic, after the manner of the modern ' music-drama' ; the chorus portions written in clear, simple harmony, with due regard to vocal euphony. After the murmurous, low, shaded introduction, suggesting a gloom, pierced ever and anon by horn-tones, echoed by the wood wind, the priestess begins on a low monotone, ' Througli the grove a sound of warning stirs tlie mystic boughs; he who rules these still recesses sends a tremor through my soul, as I bend in prayer'. . . . ' Peace on you, oh faithful sons of Wodan ' ! The re- sponse of the chorus {ndagio, in D), ' Through the oak-tree's sacred branches swells a boding murmur, tells us that the God is nigh', etc., gives the com- poser an opportunity for fine eflect, which he has admirably improved. On a background of smooth, mellow, sustained tones {pianissimo) of trombones, horns, bassoons, with the organ and other basses softly swelling and falling, the violas and the 'cellos (in contrary motion) keep up a continuous rustling figure, while the wood-wind quartet sustains that of the voices, the several parts of one in unison with those of the other. The effect must be very beautiful. In quickened tempo, with rushing string accompaniments, the priestess, in stronger accents, calls attention to the distant roar of war, and exhorts to courage, pointing upward to the gods. "7. Five-part chorus {adagio). The prayer of the warriors and people: * Ye gods, dwelling high in Valhalla '- A beautiful, impressive, tranquilizing, edifying piece of full vocal and orchestral harmony, with full organ part. The rhythm (6-i) flows gently on in rich, full stream ; the harmony is chaste and pure, the coloring refined and delicate, the phrasing natural and melodi- ous; no coarse, barbaric traits are woven into this fine, rich web of tones, and the effect upon the mind is hallowing and reconciling. "Part III. — The Insurrection No. 8. Rousing appeal of Arminius and strong response of the Germans : ' Must I live to tell my people's shame? All-Father, art thou wroth?' etc. He recalls the outrages that have been put upon them, and flres them to revenge. Impetuous, excited declamation, strongly dramatic, with bold effects of modulation, not unrelieved by grate- ful contrasts. "9. Recitative and air of Siegmund, lamenting his sad fate, an exile be- cause he slew the Roman who insulted his beloved maiden, and, he having fled, they have thrown his father into chains. His agony finds vent in wild, impassioned declamation (mostly in E minor), accompanied by a nervous little figure of the violins, with the wood wind and horns holding out long tones. ' Within my breast there rankles deep a pain past tears ', etc., is the burden of his song (which, however, is not a song, but a burst of intense 446 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYUN SOCIETY. musical declamation). At the ttaougbt of the maiden, ' as in tranquil con- verse we sat by the brook', there is a moment's sweeter sadness in the strain, followed by a furious fortissimo of the instruments, describing his revenge. The rise of the voice an octave (G to G) at one leap on the first syllable of the word ' father' shows great intensity of feeling. The final climax, ' Carst be your race, ye robbers ! curst by all gods evermore ! ' demands the utmost strength and passion of a high tenor voice. " 10. Six-part chorus, sopranos and basses divided {andante con moto, E minor, 6-4). The three male parts enter singly in broad rhythm, 'Mine eyes have seen their fate'- . . . 'Our valiant brothers bound', etc. With these alternates the semichorus of women, mourning the fate of their sisters. The piece begins with a continuous tremolo of strings ; for other accompani- ment, sustained horn tones and the bassoons going with the voice. Gradu- ally all the instruments come in (except trombones and tuba), as both choirs blend in a now subdued, now swelling, lamentation, richly harmonized, dying away to pianissimo. This gentler chorus well relieves the rugged, war-like character which naturally pervades most of the music of this oratorio. " 11, 12. We will not attempt to describe the great scene of Arminius, — his clarion call to ' Wodan's f reeborn sons ' — which is most energetic and exciting, a long stretch of thrilling declamation, with horns and trumpets kindling the electric fire, and with bold modulations, frequent changes of key, and most efffective orchestration, as he addresses the tribes by name (Clierus- cans, Mursians, Frisians, etc.) ; nor the mighty Battle Song (Arminius and chorus) , ' To arms ! Let Freedom's banner wave ! ' with which the third part ends. "Part IV. describes the battle, victory, and triumph. It is mainly or- chestral description, while the priestess, in snatches of recitative-like solil- oquy, eagerly listening, scenting the battle from afar, acts as interpreter. ' Hollow thunders the storm '....' Hoarsely croaking are flocks of ill-omened ravens', etc., etc. Her aria, a prayer to Wodan, is intensely declamatory. We will not attempt to describe it, nor the chorus following, which tells how the o'erwhelming force of Germans pours on the legions, with vivid suggestion of their spears like lightning flashing, and Thor's golden chariot rolling loud thro' the sky, which the proud Romans hear, and tremble; nor the priestess's invocation to Freya, with her vision of the Valkyries, ' white-robed and bright ', hovering o'er the slain and chosen heroes ; nor the swan-song of the dying Siegmund, welcoming death in victory with the ten- der chorus, 'Raise him aloft', followed by his fond vision of the beloved maiden; nor the chorus of men and women welcoming back the victors, glorifying their deliverer Hermann, from that day forth the favorite hero of the German race, and ending with the hymn of Germany and Freedom. All this is highly wrought and most inspiring, the last choruses resuming the peculiar 3-2 rhythm, and essentially the theme of the battle song at the-«Bd of Part III. "This description is at best but meagre, vague, and unsatisfactory ; yet it will suffice to show that Arminius is not to be judged by the old models, either of oratorio or of opera; that it is conceived and carried out in the spirit of the most modern music, so far as that might be without scenery or action. Thus, it has musical declamation , — the note tied always to the word , — rather HISTORT OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETT. 447 than independent melody. The subject and the three characters being sternly heroic, all is intense, exciting, rarely tender. The only feminine element, the priestess, is one clothed with majesty and awe. Could the plot have been modified by the introduction of a little contrast, could there have been, say, a love scene or two between Hermann and his wife, Thusnelda, who, with her infant son, was afterwards captured and carried to Bome to grace the triumph of Germanicus, then there might be a chance for, now and then, the repose of real melody to relieve the unrelaxing strain upon the nerves of so much vigorous orchestration. That was the one want most felt in the Odys- seiis; and yet that work has some melodies. " Then, too, the restless modulation, particularly the frequent enharmonic shiftings, aggravates this natural craving for the repose alike of melody and smoothly flowing harmony. But it must be acquitted of the charge of rest- lessness without progress (like water boiling in a caldron, which neither runs nor rests) ; this music we should think not guilty of that besetting sin of so much of the new reformatory art work ; it does not hold you in a tantaliz- ing nightmare of suspended locomotion, making all the motions and yet not proceeding. " The choral writing seems to be all truly vocal, clear, unforced, euphoni- ous. And in the matter of subtile, brilliant, richly colored, and effective orchestration, we all know that Max Bruch has proved himself a master." A8 to the quality of the performance, and the impression made here by the work, let us quote from the Gazette : — " Its finest feature is to be found in its vocal effects. Herr Bruch scores magnificently for the voices, and with a mastery rarely equalled and certainly not surpassed by any composer. He is here always clear, and the different parts come out with extraordinary distinctness, while the effect of the whole is always striking and admirable. His orchestration is solid and scholarly, though sometimes too persistently massive. Very fine indeed is the manner in which he assists the voices in the choruses without clouding their quality. There is a frankness in the music of this oratorio that is not without a Qertain charm, but, taken altogether, it impressed us as blatant and violent, and want- ing in both appropriateness of character and artistic refinement of thought. Its best moments were to be found in the dying music of Siegmund, which is uncommonly beautiful in sentiment and expression. The war song of the Romans and the liberty song and chorus, of which the theme is ' Germania's Sons ' are better fitted almost for any other place than oratorio, no heed how ' secular ' it may be. The latter has more of the character of a table song than the cry of a people announcing their freedom. The treatment of the work is everywhere superior to its ideas. As a composition it is but chapel- master music written perfunctorily ; in its working out it is far more worthy of admiration, though even here it shows the gifted scholar rather than the man of genius. Herr Bruch's conducting was excellent. He held both chorus and orchestra well together, and fully demonstrated that he had perfect and easy control over them. He was cordially received, and his work was applauded heartily throughout. At its end he was recalled with much enthu- siasm. The interpretation may be greatly commended. There were some 448 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. shortcomings, but only one of serious import. Mr. Henschel sang the music of Arminius in a flawless manner. Mr. C. R. Adams was heard to exception- ally fine advantage in the part of Siegmund, and Miss Winant's singing of the music of the priestess was characterized by great power and beauty." Max Bruch, each soloist, and the chorus, were cheered again and again. Receipts, $1,912. Fifth Day. Saturday Afternoon, May 5. Again a miscellaneous concert, with the following programme : — Overture to Zanetta Auier. Air: "0 Sleep!" ttova. Masaniello Auber. Mk. Charles R. Adams. Recitative and Air : " Ocean, Thou Mighty Monster," from Oberon Weber. Mme. Gabriella Boema. Orchestral Fantasy : Une Nuit a Lisbonne .... Saint-Saens. Air: " Lascia ch'io pianga," from ifiraaWo . . . . Handel. Miss Emily Wixant. Recitative and Air: " Sweet Bird," from L Allegro, II Pen- sieroso ed II Moderato . Handel. Miss Emma C. Thdrsby. Song: " I am a Roamer," from the (Son aii(? i%>'a«()'e»' . Mendelssohn. Mr. Myron W. Whitxey. Hymn to Diana, from Iphigenie en Tanride . . . Gluck. Female Chorus. March and Procession, from La Heine de Saba . . Gounod. Air: " Winterstiirme wichen," from Z)(e Walkilre . . Wagner. Mr. William J. Winch. Song: " The Young Nun " . ^. . . . . '. Schubert, Mme. Boema. Rigodon, for Orchestra Bameau. Tarentella Bizet. Miss Thursby. Motet: Insance et Vanm CwK Haydn. We may trust the Transcript of the next day for a fair estimate of the manner in which these interesting numbers were performed : — " Mr. Adams sang the Slumber Song from Masaniello with all the expres- sive tenderness and perfection of style that won all hearts when he first sang it here. Mrs. Boema gave the great Oberon scena with telling dramatic power, if not with the complete mastery she has shown on some occasions; but her singing of Schubert's song, which was given with Listz's orchestral setting of the accompaniment, was beautiful indeed. Miss Winant's noble voice and sincerity of feeling entitled her singing of the Handel air to much admiration ; only she took it too slow, so that all the swing of the Saraband HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 449 rhythm was lost. Miss Thnrsby, admirably seconded by Mr. E Heindl's flute, sang Handel's bird song charmingly, and gave Bizet's coquettish and ex- tremely difficult Tarantella with delightful effect. Mr. Whitney sang the Pedler's Song from Son and Stranger perhaps better than ever before, and Mr. Winch gave Seigmund's Love Song with infinite passionateness of ex- pression, albeit we should have liked a smoother flow of the rhythm in the first part. The female voices of the choir sang Gluck's ineffably beautiful Hymn to Diana exceedingly well, and the wondrous Haydn motet again made an immense effect. The orchestra played the little pieces by Saint-Saens and Bameau very deftly and nicely, and gave the Nicolai overture with much spirit, if not with much finish." That concert proved but moderately attractive, — receipts, SI, 840. Sixth Day. On Sunday Evening, May 6, the Festival was brought to a close with what was generally recognized as an excellent per- formance (the 75th by the Society) of Handel's Messiah. The soloists were : Mrs. E. Aline Osgood, soprano ; Miss Emily Winant, contralto; Mr. Charles R. Adams and Mr. Thodore J. Toedt, tenors ;■; and Mr. Myron W. Whitney, bass. This showed what the Society could do in emergencies ; for the conductor, Mr. Carl Zerrahn (who, by the way, was presented during an intermission with an immense basket of flowers by the ladies of the chorus) , stated to the audience that there had been no rehearsal whatever either of chorus, orches- tra, or soloists. The audience, if not equal to that of some Christ- mas performances, was large, the receipts reaching 82,480. So ended the Sixth Triennial Festival, more flattering to the artistic pride than to the financial hopes of the Society. Certainly there was no lack of choice and solid matter, nor of interesting novelty, in its programmes. The list of principal artists was attractive and supe- rior. No means nor efforts had been spared to make both orchestra and chorus all that they should be for the interpretation of such works. The conductor, Mr. Zerrahn, was instant in season and out. Qf season, using all his characteristic energy, persistency, and pa- tience in rehearsals. The president and secretary, and all the board of government gave of their time, their counsel, and their labor freely, without stint. Yet it had failed financially because, in the terse words of the secretary in his records, " the public let it severely alone." And why so? Doubtless one reason. was, that music in Bos- ton had become so much more plentiful and cheap than it was in the days of the earlier festivals. Think how amply the best musical appetite must have been satiated by the now-established system of twenty-four Symphony Concerts, with twenty-four public rehearsals of the same, making forty-eight such concerts, in every musical sea- 450 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. son! Then there were classical chamber concerts of all kinds. These, taken all together, gave, so to say, the primacy to iustru mental music. But there is also to be taken into account the com- petition with the old Society not precisely on its own ground, but to a considerable extent so, on the part of smaller choral societies (each, to be sure, of special character), like the Cecilia, the Apollo, and the Boylston Club. All this ministered to the proverbial restless- ness of our "modern Athenians," like their old Greek namesakes, always running after " new things." Moreover the very effort made to meet the cry for novelty perhaps only made the matter worse ; for if Gounod's Redemption drew the largest audience, did it not in the same ratio shake the confidence of the more cultivated and exacting » music-lovers in the soundness of the old and honored institution ? On whom but on that class of supporters must such a society in the long run depend ? But, setting these reasonings all aside, was the experiment upon the whole a fair one ? Many thought it failed simply by undertaking too much- The ambitious passion for "big things" has been the cause of many a failure, many a signal crash (well symbolized by that Tow&r of Babel in this very Festival), in this young, enterprising, and o'er-sanguine American people. In no one of our cities have we the large class of people of wealth and leisure, free, as in Europe, to de- vote a whole week to attendance on a feast of oratorio. Even our wealthy families are busy and grudge time for such things. More than that, tiie famous musical festivals abroad, at all events in Ger- many, rarely if ever exceed three days in length. Why not content ourselves with that more modest plan? Providing for a. three days' festival would be risking less, while it would fall within the power of a much larger audience to attend it. Besides, three days of good music could be choicer in selection, less hurried and more perfect in the execution, than a whole week of it, however imposing and mag- nificent the prospectus. Not a few of the most earnest friends of music in this musical city deeply regret that the Triennials were given up before testing the experiment upon a smaller scale. When the Board of Government came to meet to survey the battle- field a few days later {May 14), it was found that the financial result of the Festival had been a loss of about $6,000, while the profit of the regular season had been about $1,600 (to which could be added the interest of the permanent fund, — about $1,100). It was voted to lay an assessment of ten per cent on the subscribers to the guaranty fund of $30,000, and assume the balance of the deficit. It was voted to pay Mr. Zerrahn $1,000 as conductor and Mr. Lang $400 as organ- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HA^DN SOCIETY. 451 ist of the Festival, and to pay Prof. J. K. Paine an honorarium of 8200 for the use of his Nativity. The treasurer was authorized to raise money to defray the expenses of the Festival to an amount not exceeding $1,000. Misfortunes never come single. Indeed the brave old Society was in a critical condition. Not only had its ideal project failed, not only did it see itself constrained to renounce the inspiring stimulus it had received from looking forward to an indefinite future of great trien- nial festivals worthy to compare with those of Birmingham and Nor- wich and Cologne, and reduce itself again to toiling on the old road no longer shone upon and cheered by such light from above. It was now to lose another of its mainstays, another element in its success. For more than thirty years the Great Organ of the Music Hall, one of the great organs of the world, had helped to temper, to enrich, and swell its massive harmonies. Now the control of the Music Hall had passed into new hands ; and it was determined to remove the organ to make more room for orchestra, perhaps for a theatrical stage, at any rate, to increase the seating capacity for audience. Accordingly the noble instrument was banished, stowed away tempo- rarily somewhere. After much negotiation, it was sold to a generous friend of the New England Conservatory of Music, for the benefit of that institution, with the hope that it might acquire new ground ad- joining the large hotel which it already occupied, and thereon build a stately hall wherein oratorios might be presented with all the added glory of such an organ. That hope failed ; and to this day the pipes and all the works and costly frame of the Great Organ lie packed away in a rough wooden shanty in the corner of a burying-ground. It cost originally sixty thousand dollars, it was sold for_^ye thousand! Mean- while in the Music Hall, while the organ end of the hall, once so stately, presents a bald and shabby aspect, a small but vigordus (sic) instrument does duty for the oratorios high up on one side of the end, unbalanced architecturally by anything at all corresponding on the other side. Yet has the old Society not become discouraged ; it 'has done much noble work in the same place since, and hopes and means to do much more and nobler. 452 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. CHAPTER XIV. SIXTY-NINTH SEASON. May 28, 1883, TO May 26, 1884. May 28. Annual Meeting. The treasurer reported^: — On hand May 29, 1882 .|307 83 Receipts from all sources 15,212 06 $15,519 89 Expense of concerts . . $11,148 76 Salaries and rent . . . . 2,453 53 Additions to library 1,153 15 14,756 44 Balance on regular season $764 ' 45 The trustees of the permanent fund reported the j-ear's interest to be $1,129.90, and the present value of the securities $23,008.91. The interest had been paid to the secretary, to be applied to the deficit on the Festival, which the treasurer estimated at $5,000 ; to meet which he counted on : — Surplus of the season $764 45 Interest of fund 1,129 90 Assessment on guaranty fund . . . . 2,540 00 $4,434 35 leaving a balance of deficit of between $500 and 600, to pay which the treasurer had been empowered to borrow money. Mr. C. "W. Stone offered a resolution of regret at the refusal of Col. A. Parker Browne to be again a candidate for re-election as secretary, he having served in that capacity for twelve years faithfully and with signal ability, and the present high condition and character of the Society being largely due to his untiring labors. This was passed unanimously. The annual election of officers resulted as follows : — President. — Charles C. Perkins. Vice-President. — George H. Chickering. Seeretary. — Eugene B. Hagar. Treasurer. — Moses Grant Daniei.l. Librarian. — John H. Sticknet. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 455 Directors. — R. S. Rcndlett, D. L. Laws, J. D. Andrews, H. G- Carey, George F. Daniels, A. Parker, Browne, F. H. Jenks, Charles W. Stone . The president submitted his annual address, showing that there had been held fifty-three rehearsals, with an average attendance of three hundred and sixty singers, and that twelve concerts were given, — five in the regular season, and seven in the Festival, — with an aver- age choral force of from five hundred to six hundred. The address dwelt fairly and eloquently on the gloomy side of the picture, and on the bright one, the artistic side, suggesting that the first production of the Cherubini Mass marked a red-letter year in the history of the Society. The first concert of the season was in honor of the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther, given in the Music Hall on Sunday evening, Nov. 11. The programme consisted of Bach's Can- tata on Ein' feste Burg and Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise. The cantata was produced here for the first time. It was composed either for the Eeformation festival of 1730 or for that of 1739, the two hundredth jubilee of the acceptance of the evangelical doctrine in Saxony. "It begins with a loig chorus in which each line of the ohoralls made- successively the subject of wondrously varied fugual treatment. Tech- nically speaking, this chorus is a curiosity of rare interest from the exhaus- tive use the composer has made of every variety of fugual response, — real, tonal, and irregular. In the higher musical sense, it is no less an astonishing piece of work. ■ In grandeur, dignity, and strong, over-brimming vital force, it ... is stupendous. This chorus embraces the text of the first verse of Luther's hymn. The next number (second verse), set as a brilliant duet for soprano and tenor, was omitted. No. 3, a beautiful recitative, such as no one but Bach has ever written, merging into a short arioso movement, was smoothly and feelingly sung by Mr. Clarence E. Hay. Mrs. Henschel mas- tered the difficulties of the ensuing soprano air : ' Within my heart of hearts,' like the true and accomplished artist she is. . . In the next number, em- bracing the third verse of the hymn : ' Were all the world of devils full,' etc., the chorus sing the chorale, in unison and octaves (6-8 time), against a roar- ing tempest of furious counterpoint in the orchestra. Here again Bach shows his genius in all its glory. The effect is overwhelming. Next follows a beau- tiful recitative and arioso, finely, if a little too formally, sung by Mr. Toedt, and a duet, ' How blessed,' for contralto and tenor, which Miss Winant and Mr. Toedt sang, at times with excellent effect, at others with a lack of security. The work closes with the last verse of the hymn, sung in flowins four-part harmony by the chorus. The efffect of the composition upon the audience was hardly brilliant ; but that must come with future performances. The chorus sang exceedingly well, saving that in the number, ' Were all the world with devils full ', the voices were persistently behind the beat." 454 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. (These remarks are from the pen of Mr. W. F. Apthorp in the Transcript.) As a curious offset, showing how doctors disagree, we cite a couple of sentences from a critic of another sort, one of the ■clamorers for novelties, " new school," etc. : — " As the Society has now accomplished the duty of giving a performance of the Bach Cantata, it might be well to pack it away in the library of the organization, and label it, ' For the Luther Centennial of 1983.' It is quite possible that the work may be interesting as a study, and it has a certain value as a relic of ancient musical forms, but the public will hardly demand a second hearing of it during the present generation." The performance of the Hymn of Praise seems to have been a very brilliant one, Mrs. Henschel, Miss Winant, and Mr. Toedt vying with one another in giving the solos and concerted pieces their full significance. The fitness of this work for the Luther programme lay in the fact that Mendelssohn composed it for the anniversary of the invention of the art of printing, which had much to do with making the age ripe for the Reformation. The audience was diseouragingly small, — about one thousand three hundred. The chorus too was small, — two hundred and eighty-three, against an orchestra of sixtj-- six. It was too early in the season to expect a full attendance, — receipts, $1,258.50; expenses, $1,639.32; Joss, $380.72. Christmas, which came on Tuesday, brought with it the annual per- formance of Handel's Messiah, preceded by a public rehearsal on Sunday evening, Dec. 23. The chorus was small, only two hundred and sixty-seven, but sang with spirit and precision. The reduction in numbers did not perceptibly impair its efficiency. Miss Elizabeth C. Hamlin made her d&hut as soprano soloist, with a voice of great purity, large volume, and extended compass. Her singing was intel- ligent and expressive. Miss Ho pe Glenn t he contralto, with a rich, sweet voice, not always sufficiently powerful, sang with a dignified reserve well suited to the music. Mr. C. E. Adams and Mr. J. F. Winch, both somewhat affected in the throat, sang with their usual good taste and vigor. The house was nearly all sold, in spite of a bad storm, — receipts (with public rehearsal), $2,745.83; expenses, $l-,879.26 ; profit, $866.57. 1884. Jan. 1. We find the following statement in one of the daily papers about this time : — "It having been declared that the Handel and Haydn Society had not done its duty by native singers, a search of the records for thirteen years brings to light these facts : Fifty-four Americans have had a total of three hundred and twenty-two engagements ; twenty-two foreigners (most of them being per- manent residents in this country) have had eighty-seven engagements." HISTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 455 The Sunday evening rehearsals of January and February were occupied with St. Paul, The Redemption, and Bach's St. Matthew Passion Music. Tuesday Evening, Feb. 26. Gounod's Redemption was performed, as a popular attraction, in the vast Mechanics' Hall. This was to test the frequent demand for oratorio at low prices. The chorus numbered three hundred and nineteen, the orchestra, seventy. There was a great array of solo singers : Mme. Pappenheim, Miss Gertrude Franklin, Miss Louise RoUwagen, contralto ; Mr. Georg Henschel and Mr. D. M. Babcock. There had been very careful preparation and wide advertisement. Yet the sale of one-dollar tickets was but 1,172, and of seventy-five-eent tickets, 519. The weather, how- ever, had been stormy, or threatening for three weeks, and on the day and night of the concert it became a heavy storm of most wet and disagreeable snow. The financial experiment, therefore, was incon- clusive. The performance as a whole was generally praised. How well the oratorio (or trilogy) had been prepared was proved by the unhesitating steadiness with which Mme. Pappenheim, the orchestra, and the chorus went through with "From thy love as a father" in darkness, the electric light having gone out just as the number began, and the gas not getting lighted until just as it was finished. The closing in of the lobbies on the floor and first gallery with partitions of wood and glass was found to have greatly improved the acoustic qualities of the hall, — receipts (including rehearsal), $1,. 572. 50 ; ex- penses, $2,581.85 ; loss, $1,009.85 ! For those on whom The Redemption had begun to pall from the first hearing more and more each time a better thing was in store at the next concert of the season. On Good VviAny , April 11 , Bach's St. Matthew Passion Music was performed for the sixth lime by the old Society. But it was reduced to the limit of two hours and a half. The soloists were : Mrs. Osgood, Miss Winant, Mr. George J. Parker, Mr. Henschel, and Mr. Remmertz. Mr. Parker's tenor in the narra- tive recitatives showed the highest refinement of style and beauty of tone. The one thing wanting was a larger volume ; but his original power was fully sustained to .the end. Mr. Henschel's delivery of the music in the part of Jesus was intelligent, musicianly, and expressive, as usual with him. The others had been heard to better advantage. The chorus was best in the chorals; in most of the other parts it was meritorious, if not brilliant. The same could be said of the five and forty boys, trained by Mr. Georj^e A. Veazie, Jr., for the soprano ripieno in the great opening double chorus. There was a chorus of three hundred and ninety-one, an orchestra 456 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. of sixty-five, — receipts, $1,713.34; expenses, 82,072.81; loss, 1359.47. For Easter, April 13, Mendelssohn's St. Paul was given, with Mme. Pappenheim, Mrs. Jennette M. Noyes, Mr. George W. Want, and Mr. Myron W. Whitney in the solo parts. The noble overture was uncommonly well played. The chorus sang with unusual clearness and vigor almost throughout. Mme. Pappenheim made a great im- pression in the soprano solos. Her large, pure, noble voice was a delight to the ear ; only a certain shortness of breath sometimes obliged her to cut her phrases in two, and gave her singing an un- comfortable sense of effort now and then. But this was more than counterbalanced by her commanding qualities, by the nobility of her artistic nature, her dramatic instinct. Mrs. Noyes sang the little music of her contralto part with devout feeling, and with sweetness and evenness of tone. Mr. Want's efforts in the tenor solos were highly creditable, although in such music he hardly found his sphere. Mr. Whitney, in the part of Paul, was at his very best, — chorus, four hundred and forty-six; orchestra, fifty-eight; receipts, $1,769.83; expenses, $1,718.81 ; profit, $51.02. So ended a season fraught with financial disaster, the net loss of the five concerts being $831.95. The obvious causes of this short- coming were : a plethora of music in all departments ; stagnation of business ; almost unprecedented inclemency of weather ; and, as- interfering especially with the last two concerts, an operatic Wag- ner festival directly after Easter. April 29. At a meeting of the Board, the secretary was author- ized to borrow $2,-500 in behalf of the Society, and give its promis- sory note, payable in three months. SEVENTIETH SEASON. May 26, 1884, to May 25, ]88o. May 26. Annual meeting. The 'treasurer, Mr. M. G. Daniell, presented his report of the Sixth Triennial Festival (1883), as fol- lows : — Received ... . . . . $13,232 90 Expended ... . . 18,218 36 Loss .... . . $4,985 46 This loss was met by an assessment on the guarantors ($2,557.50),. a year's income of the permanent fund ($1,129.90), and proceeds. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 457 of treasurer's note for $750 ($729.03). Then followed the treasurer's report for the season of 1883-84 : — Cash at beginning and total receipts .... $10,918 87 Total expenditure .... ... 13,214 76 Deficit $2,295 89 This deficit was met by the proceeds of the Society's note for S2,500, on three months, namely, $2,461.25, leaving a balance on hand of $165.36. The treasurer further stated that the debt had increased from $601.83 at the beginning of the season, to $2,334.64 at its close. The trustees of the permanent fund reported its income during the year at $1,141.56, and the principal (on May 1, 1884) at $22,826.58. It being reported that in the case of ten tenors recentl}' admitted the initiation fee of five dollars each had been remitted, a protest was made on the ground that it was a violation of the by-laws, and a spirited discussion followed, which resulted in a vote of ratification, coupled with a clause prohibiting its repetition. The president, C. C. Perkins, read his annual address, reviewing the year's record in his usual tone of candid recognition, wise counsel, eloquent exhortation, and encouragement. Perhaps the most im- portant passage was the following : — "Let us, then, determine to spend ourselves upon the worli before us with fresh courage, and, while we regret that we have been unable to add • anything to the permanent fund for two successive years, look forward with no less hope to the time when it shaU have been so increased as to enable the Society to build that concert hall which it first proposed to itself as a goal ■of endeavor. At a meeting held on the 22d of November, 1824 — now well- nigh sixty years ago, — a motion to purchase a piece of land for the purpose was then made and carried. What a pity that no subsequent action was taken ! By this time the property would have so risen in value that Its sale would have yielded more than we need to make our castle in Spain a reality in Boston. I picture to myself a building of a simple and somewhat severe character, containing a concert hall of ample dimensions, adorned with statues of the Society's titular composers, and with portraits of all the ^eat authors of sacred music, a fine organ, a stage fitted with permanent «eats for the chorus singers, rooms for the meetings of the Board of Govern- ment, and the examination of candidates, and a library where scores, musical histories, treatises, and periodicals could be consulted at ease by the mem- bers. How soon or how late the Society may have such a building of its own depends in a measure upon what we, its present members, are able to accomplish. This conviction should nerve us to fresh effort, — for although the end will not probably be reached until long after we have passed away. 458 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. we shall have done our part towards it. May those who are destined to give shape to the long-cherished project, and enjoy what we would fain have' enjoyed, rememoer that to us, as to many generations of our predecessors — " ' Hoc erat in votia.* " The annual election of ofHcers resulted as follows : — President. — Charles C.' Perkins. Vice-President. — George H. Chickering. Secretary. — Eogene B. Hagar. Treasurer. — Moses Grant Daniell. Librarian. — Francis H. Jenks. Directors. — H. P. Blackman, A. P. Browne, H. G. Carey, J. S. Sawyer, A. K. Hebard, J. H. Sticknet, G. F. Daniels, C. W. Stone. Attention was caUed to the fact that, many years ago, when the pitch of the Great Organ was raised, the Society contributed a sum toward the purchase of a set of wood-wind instruments ; and it was voted that the secretary make inquiries as to their present situation and ownership, and sell any interest which the Society might hold in them. The secretary offered the following Chorus Statistics of the season of 1883-84. New Total No. of Chorus Tickets. Members. Sopranos . . 166 . . . 23 Altos . . 143 . .31 Tenors . . 120 . .25 Basses 134 . . .12 Total . . 563 91 Maximum attendance . . 456 Average at 28 rehearsals, 337 Minimum attendance . . 208 Average at 5 concerts . 861 At the next meeting of the Board of Government {June 6), in view of the fact that George Frederick Handel was born Feb. 23, 1685, and that the bi-centennial anniversary of his birth would occur dur- ing the current musical season, it was determined to commemorate the occasion by devoting the programmes of the season of 1884-85 entirely to works of Handel, as follows : — 'Dec. 21. The annual Christmas performance of the Messiah. Feb. 22, 1885. A miscellaneous Handel concert, with a pro- gramme so constructed as best to illustrate his genius, the prefer- ence being given to comparatively unfamiliar selections. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 45S> April 3. Easter. Israel in Egypt. During the months of October and November choruses were re- hearsed from Solomon, Deborah, Jephtha, Joshua, Israel in Egypt, and the Messiah. A pleasant incident occurred at the rehearsal of Nov. 30. Mr. B. J. Lang was addressed by President Perkins, who congratulated him on the completion of his twenty-fifth year as organist of the Society, and in recognition of his long and useful term of service, presented him, on behalf of the Society, with a valu- able gold watch suitably inscribed, a set of Shakespeare's works, and a book containing the following address : — " To Mr. B. J. Lang, Organist of the Handel and Ilaydn Society : "Dear Sir, — As on the 27tli of November of the present year you will have held the position of organist of the Handel and Haydn Society for twenty- flve years, and have during that period discharged the duties of your office with distinguished ability and unwearied fidelity, we. members of the Society and lady members of the chorus, desire to express to you our sense of the value of your services and to offer you our best wishes lor your continued prosperity and happiness, and with that Intent have hereto signed our names." (Signed by C. C. Perkins, president ; Carl Zerrahn, conductor, and between four and five hundred members of the Society and chorus.) Mr. Lang's reply was brief, but full of feeling. He recalled the fact that a watch was given him thirty years before by a Salem so- ciety, which he had always prized highly, and he should esteem this later gift still more. Dec. 7. At a meeting of the Board, authority was given to the president to sign, in the name of the Society, a petition to Congress for an International Copyright law (now while we write, July, 1891, just proclaimed by the President of the United States to be in force !) . Dec. 21. The first of the Handel commemoration concerts, the Christmas performance of the Messiah, fell on a very stormy night. Yet the audience was large. The solo singers, all new to the work, were Miss Gertrude Franklin, Mrs. Ella Cleveland Fenderson, Mr. George J. Parker, and Mr. D. M. Babcock. The Great Organ was gone! As a small makeshift, there was a new organ, with Mr. Lang, " suspended in mid-air, like Mahomet's coflSn." But there was some partial compensation for the loss in the chance given and im- proved for a better, more effective seating of the orchestra and chorus. The chorus sang finely, and the soloists did their work very acceptably. The receipts (at $1.50 and $1 prices) amounted to $2,100 ; the expenses to $J,300. 460 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1885. The rehearsals daring January and February were all in preparation for the Handel birthday programme : choruses from Hercules, Theodora, Saul, Athaliah, Belshazzar, and other works of Handel. The concert came on Sunday Evening, Feb. 22, — one day in advance of the actual date of Handel's birth two hundred years before, Feb. 23, 1685. The selections made from Handel's works were mostly new to nearly every listener, and composed an exceedingly interesting, richly con- trasted series : — Part I. Chokus. Immortal Lord of earth and skies. Chokus. Envy, eldest born of Hell. Tenor. Total eclipse Contralto. Return, O God of Hosts ! . Chorus. To dust his glory they would tread. Soprano. Let the bright seraphim. Chorus. Tyrants now no more shall dread. Orchestra. Dead March Orchestra. Larghetto. Contralto. Somnus, awake! Soprano. Thyself forsake. . Bass. Leave me, loathsome light. Chorus. The mighty power in whom we trust. Contralto. He bids the circling seasons shine. ( Deeper and deeper still. . Tenor. { ^^^^ ^^^.^ angels, to the skies. Contralto. In gentle murmurs. . Chorus. "When his loud voice in thunder spoke. Deborah. Saul. ] i y Samson. 1 J Hercules. Saul. 1 I [- Semele. J f Athaliah 1 y Jephtha. J Part II. Okchbstra. Minuet Chorus. May no rash intruder. . Bass. Shall I, in Mamre's fertile plain. Chorus. To long posterity we here record. Contralto. Place danger around me. . Chorus. See, from his post Euphrates flies. Soprano. Ask if yon damask rose be sweet. Bass. Backs, gibbets, sword, and fire. Chorus. He saw the lovely youth. Soprano. Angels, ever bright and fair. Tenor. Sound an alarm Trio and Chorus. See, the conquering hero comes ! Samson. Solomon. Joshua. Belsllazzvr. Susanna. y Theodora. I Judas Maccalxeus. For the interpretation of these wonderfully beautiful and various selections from the prolific fields of Handel's genius, there was the well-drilled chorus of four hundred and twenty-eight voices (one hundred and twenty-four sopranos, one hundred and twenty altos, HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 461 seventy-eight tenors, one hundred and six basses), an orchestra of fifty seven, and the following solo artists: Miss Medora Ilenson soprano ; Miss Sarah C. Fisher, soprano ; Miss P^mily Winant, con tralto ; Mr. Geor ge J. Parker, s uddenly_called on in place of Mr "William J. Winch, tenor ; and Mr. Myron W. Whitney, bass. Mr Carl Zerrahn conducted ; Mr. B. J. Lang was organist ; and Mr Bernhard Listemann was leader of the orchestra. Yet the audience though large, was not remunerative (receipts, 82,001.83; expenses $2,013.88). The concert was too long — nearly three hours; and there were other causes to account for the absence of that enthusi astic lesponse which the Society had a right to expect to a pro- gramme of such exceptional interest, culled from such rich fields and to a concert prepared with so much zeal and faithful labor. These reasons are clearly enough hinted in the following review from the Gazette. ■ — "The selections were made from a wide variety of the master's works, and presented him In many aspects of his style ; but it must be confessed that the music was all very much alike in color and effect, and required a special mood and a special enthusiasm to enjoy it thoroughly. The con- stantly recurring four crotchets in the basses and the eight quavers in the violins became at last painfully monotonous, especially as these instruments invariably played such phrases without any deviation from a forte color. The scanty instrumentation, in its absence of nearly all contrast in effects, was undoubtedly the cause of the monotony complained of ; and the attempt to remedy this by the tasteless intrusion of a bass tuba and trombones into the scores of some of the numbers did not tend to modify in any permissible or pleasing way the prevailing evil. Contrapuntally the music was abundantly interesting, and as music pure and simple it was wonderfully fine to listen to ; but the thin and tiresomely-mannered instrumentation was a distressing draw- back to one's pleasure after an hour of it had been experienced ; and by the time it had extended beyond a second hour, it became almost exasperating. " The chorus work throughout was very good. . . . The best achieve- ments in the solos fell to the lot of Mr. George J. Parker, who was, owing to the indisposition of Mr. Winch, called upon suddenly to replace him, which he did without rehearsal. His singing of ' Waft her, angels,' was beautiful in expression, chaste in style, and exquisite in its delicate gradations of light and shade. . . . Miss Medora Henson, who appeared instead of Mme. Fursch-Madi, acquitted herself with zeal and earnestness. Her voice is clear and bright, but is cold and thin, and better adapted to light concert music than to oratorio. Her intonation is sometimes erratic, and her style is lack- ing in warmth, finish, and maturity. Her best effort of the evening was ' Angels ever bright and fair,' of which her singing was smooth and broad, but it was disfigured by an unpleaslng tremolo and exaggerated sentiment. She sang "Ask if yon damask rose be sweet,' from Susanna, flowingly, though coldly and with very indistinct enunciation. The artist proved scarcely equal either in largeness of style or volume of voice to ' Let the 462 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. bright seraphim.' . . . Miss Emily Winant sang with her usual devotedness, and care, but. as it seemed to us, with something more of nervousness than is customary with her, and as though she did not feel certain of her acquain- tance with her music. In the more florid passages of her bravura air she narrowly escaped disaster at several points. Mr. M. W. Whitney, who wa» warmly received on his appearance by the audience, orchestra, and chorus, sang with that smoothness, ease, and dignity that always characterizes his work." But with all tlie diawbacks complained of, granting that the con- cert was raiher •' monochromatic" and too long, and that the instru- mentation was thin and meagre, needing some Robert Franz to complete it, and not in the coarse English way with tuba and trom- bones, the scheme was noble and ideal, worthy of the high aim which the Society had cherished from its origin. A more serious criticism, no doubt, was made by many, openly or sUently, who could not ignore the fact that the bi-centennial anni- versaries of the birth of the two great giants in music, Handel and John Sebastian Bach, were virtually coincident. Within a month of time and a few miles of distance those two greatest musicians the world has ever known were born. Would not the celebration h;ive been even more significant and more complete, the programme less "monochromatic," had it included representative selections from the music of the two? Perhaps, however, that would have required two evenings. And, considering the labor that it would have cost, was it not natural that the Society should limit its devotion to one, and that one its own titular' hero, Handel? It must be owned, there- fore, that it chose the wiser and the safer course, preferring to do what it could do well, and to leave the commemoration of the other of the Far nobile fratrum to some other body of admirers. And so it came about. The conductor of tlie Boston Sympliony Orchestra, Mr. William Gericke, arranged for Saturday evening, March 20, a memorial programme of Bach's music, consisting of : — Part I. Toccata, arranged for orchestra by . . . . H. Esser. Aria: '-My heart ever faithful," from the Cantata: God so loved the world (with 'cello and piano accompaniment.) Miss Emma Juch, Mk. Giesb, and Mk. Tuokkr. Chaconne, for violin Mii. Loefflbr. Part II. First and second parts of the Christmas Oratorio, with orchestra and chorus of three hundred. Soloists : Miss Juch, Miss Winakt; Mr. Wm. J. Winch, and Mr. Pranz Eemmektz. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 463 And thus had mnsical Boston "fulfilled all righteousness " in the matter of a pious recognition of the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Bach and Handel, — names which will alwaj's be in- separable. April 5. Easter. The colossal oratorio, Israel in Egypt, was given for the third and concluding concert of the Handel com- memoration series. The solo artists were Miss Emma Jueh, soprano ; Miss Ita "Welsh, mezzo-soprano ; Mr. William J. Winch, tenor ; Mr. John F. Winch, bass; and Mr. Myron W. Whitney, bass. "The soloists, though high-priced," says the secretary's record, "were spasmodically good." The chorus (four hundred and two voices), "daunted by no difficulties, rarely reached a higher standard." Es- pecially noteworthy was the deep, mysterious harmony and creeping modulation of " He sent a thick darkness." The audience would insist once more upon a repetition of the bass duet by the two men of war ! There was an orchestra of forty-flve. The audience was large. Receipts, $2,154.61 ; expenses, $1,835.76; profit, 8318.85. Thus, worthily and grandly, ended both the Handel bi-centenniaL commemoration and the seventieth musical season of the old Society. SEVENTY-FIRST SEASON. May 25, 1885, to Mat 31, 1886. May 25. Annual Meeting. The treasurer reported : Balance on hand. May, 1884 Profit on Conc^ts Income Permanent Fund . Sundry Receipts Salaries New Music Bumstead Hall Sundry Expenses Balance on hand $165 36 1,064 23 1,172 86 3.57 47 $2,759 92 •Sl,400 00 292 43 505 00 484 51 2,681 94 $77 98 The outstanding note of the Society amounted to $2,613.75. Present value of the permanent fund, $22,929.60. From the annual address of President C. C. Perkins we are moved to copy largely, both as showing the judicious, happy way he had of 464 HISTORY OF THE HANDKL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. presenting the condition, the duties,' and the prospects of the Society, and for the reason that his earthly career of usefulness was destined to be so soon closed. He said : — "You will remember that the season of 1882-83 closed with a festival which, though inferior to none of its five predecessors in the attractions which it offered, was so insufHciently attended that the receipts fell far short of the expenses ; and you will also remember that the succeeding season not only failed to repair our losses, but, through its own shortcomings, nearly ■quadrupled our debt. The announcement of this state of our affairs cast a gloom over the last annual meeting, and left those of us who were then charged with the management of the Society not a little anxious and per- plexed, although fully determined that, if prudence and economy could avail, the coming year should find us at least no worse off at its close than we were ^t its beginning. " Thanks to the exercise of the homely virtues above referred to, this modest hope has been more than realized, for we have not only reached the ■end of the season without loss, but with a net profit. . . . This seems to show, on the one hand, that so long as the Society is content to give few con- certs in a season, and to produce works whose power to attract large audi- ences can be relied on, as proved by long experience, it will run no risk of loss ; and, on the other, that such risk must attend the multiplication of con- certs, and the production of altogether new works, or of old works hitherto untried. I presume that the Society might pledge itself to repeat the Messiah ■on every Christmas for a century to come, and to sing either the Creation or Elijah on every Easter for a like period, with the certainty that it will not lose a dime, and the probability that it will gain many thousands of dollars. But, gentlemen, at what a cost would such an immunity from loss, or such a possible financial gain, be purchased, and to what a fossil state would the Society be reduced ! It owes its present honorable standing t j the fact that, not content with simply existing. It has lived actively ; on the one hand, keep- ing the glory of the old composers bright by frequent revivals of their master- pieces, and, on the other, helping their successors to attain fame by bringing to a hearing such modern works of high and noble quality as may from time to time have been written. This policy is so plainly dictated by duty, and harmonizes so completely with our best interests, that I am under no appre- hension lest it should be abardoned. As in 1882 we brought out Verdi's Bequiem Mass, in 1883 Bruch's Arminius, and in 1884 Gounod's The liedemp- tion, so, in 1886, we shall, if it prove worthy, bring out Gounod's Mors et Vita, and thus, by keeping pace with the times, deserve a continuance of that public support which is seldom withheld from the energetic and the daring. With such recognition of the claims of modern composers we ought to recog- nize those of their predecessors. That noble Mass by Chernbini, which was sung for the first and only time at the festival of 1883, should be revived, and Bach's great B-minor Mass, of which we have long owned the score and parts, should no longer be allowed to slumber on our library shelves. But you will say, How can this be done in the present changed condition of things musical in Boston, whose effects we have been among the first to feel? That, gentlemen, is .the question which all future boards of government will have HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 465' to meet and answer. The retiring board has shown what can be done with a minimum of risk; and, although its course was fully justified under existing circumstances, we must all hope that the newly elected board will be able to widen the field of operations, and make the next season more notable in a musical sense than the last has been. " Amons the most important questions which it will have to decide is that of holding a seventh Festival, which, according to precedent, should take place in the spring of 1886. Before the last Festival such a question would have been unhesitatingly answered in the affirmative ; but its results were of too serious a nature to justify a like confidence in the success of any further attempt. . We have an aggregate loss of $16,615.17 in four out of the six triennial festivals. It is true that a net profit of $4,376.80 was derived from the other two, the first in 1868, and the fifth in 1880 ; but this success was due to exceptional circumstances, upon whose recurrence no dependence can be placed. . . I am as far as possible from regarding the Handel and Haydn Society as a money-making or money-accumulating institution. It was founded to serve the highest artistic interests, and these only; and when it loses sight of them it will forfeit its right to exist. At the same time, it cannot continue to serve these interests if it be materially crippled by the imprudent management of its affairs. Plato tells us, in his Theatetes, that when Thales fell into a well, as he was looking up at the stars, a clever, witty Thracian handmaid said he was so eager to know what was going on in heaven that he could not see what was before his feet. From this anecdote we are not to conclude against star-gazing as unwise or objectionable, but that it cannot be safely prosecuted unless the star-gazer keep the earth, as well as the heaven, within his range of vision; or, in other words, not lose sight of his actual surroundings while considering things celestial. So we, while keeping the highest objects in view, must walk with circumspection, lest, like the Grecian sage, we come to grief." . . . "Since the last annual meeting, death has deprived the Society of three of its members, namely, Theophilus Stover, who signed on Dec. 28, 1852, and died on the 15th of July, 1884; Silas Parkhurst Merriam, who signed on Aug. 4, 1829, and died, at the age of eighty-three, on the 9th of March, 1885. This gentleman, whose membership lasted fifty-six years, was at the time of his death the oldest living member of the Society. He served as president for two years, 1852-1853, and both during his ofiicial term and after his retirement from the chair proved himself a faithful and devoted member. Charles B. Morton, whose membership dates from June 5, 1845." OflBcers for the ensuing year were elected as follows : — President. — Charles C. Perkins. Vice-President. — George H. Chickering. Secretary. — Eugene B. Hagar. T)-easurer. — Moses Grant Daniell. Librarian. — Francis H. Jenks. Directors. — Horace P. Blackman, A. Parker Browne, Henrt G. Caret, George F. Daniels, Albert K. Hebard, John S. Sawyer, John H. Sticknet, Charles W. Stone. 466 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. A letter was read from ex-President Dr. J. B. Upham denying all knowledge of the missing wood-wind instruments. The secretary's chorus statistics for the year 1884-85 were as follows : — Whole New No. of Tickets. Members. Sopranos . . . 169 . . . . 36 Altos . . ... 157 . . 40 Tenors . . 114 . .8 ■ Basses . . . 131 . . . 13 Average attendance at twenty-five rehearsals . . 327 Average attendance at three concerts ... . . 393 Largest attendance ... . 434 Smallest attendance . . . . 223 June. 15. At a meeting of the Board of Government the question of a seventh Triennial Festival in May, 1886, was indefinitely post- poned. It was voted to give three concerts only in the approaching season, namely, the Mesbiah on Sunday evening, Dec. 27 ; Gounod's Mors et Vita (for the first time) some evening in January, 1886 ; and Elijah at Easter, April 25. Carl Zerrahn and B. J. Lang were reappointed conductor and organist, at salaries respectively of $750 and S300 (the reduction being due to the financial condition of the Society). Mors et Vita was rehearsed through October and November. Nov. 1 . It was voted, on account of the great length of the work, to give it in two performances, afternoon and evening. Nov. 22. At a meeting of the Board a resolution was offered con- cerning the serious rate of absence from rehearsals ; and it was voted to notify the members of the chorus that the by-laws relating to at- tendance and suspension would be rigorously enforced. Dec. 27. The annual Christmas performance of the Messiah on that Sunday evening was of peculiar interest to musicians, from the fact that the new edition of the oratorio by Robert Franz was used here for the first time. Sticklers for Knglish traditions, especially in England, raised an indignant protest against what they were.pleased to call a " modern tampering" with the score of Handel. But both here and in England the so-called Mozart score had always been used in all performances of the Messiah. Indeed, in Handel's original score, comprising fifty-two separate numbers, only twenty numbers (six recitatives, one air, twelve choruses, and the Pastoral Symphony) were sufficiently furnished with accompanying parts to form complete harmony in themselves. Even in the twelve choruses Handel presup- posed an organ part, which he neglected to write out. In more than HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 467 half the oratorio, including all the airs but one, he left the orchestral accompaniment incomplete, sometimes merely hinted in a figured bass. It was not merely a lack of instrumental coloring through the absence of wind instruments ; it was incompleteness in the essential harmony. The rare art and genius of Mozart supplied what was wanting, won- derfully well, in many parts, but not in all. Moreover, in the so- called Mozart score there are certain numbers which, as arranged, were always felt to be unworthy either of Mozart or Handel ; and at last some of these were discovered to be of spurious authorship, for which Mozart had been wrongly held accountable. Hence tlie need of the task which Franz Imposed upon himself. "It was," wrote Mr. W. F Apthorp in the Transcript, "twofold, — first to rid the alleged Mozart score of all objectionable or spurious passages, and then to fill up all remaining gaps liimself. In performing the first part of this Augean task, he was guided by what documentary evidence the Adam Hiller score could furnish, and by his own highly cultivated musical sense; for in'maiiy instances no circumstantial evidence was to be had, merely the inteinal evidence of the poor quality of the writing. To be sure, this testi- mony was often satisfactory enough, for it is Inconceivable that a man like Mozart, whose additions to the airs, ' thou that tellest ' and ' The people that walketh in darkness,' can be ranked only with what is most exquisite in music, should have been guilty of some of the intolerably bald passages attributed to him in ' He was despised.' "Franz has shown the greatest reverence for Mozart, as well as for Handel, in the manner in which ho has done his work. . . . Had he taken Handel's original score, and written additional accompaniments to it through- out, without reference to Mozart's work, there would have been nothing peculiar in his task. But this lie was naturally unwilling to do ; the pre- sumably authentic part of Mozart's work was so fine that it is no wonder that a man of Franz's conscientiousness and modesty could not take it upon himself to undo it. His part was to do what Mozart had not done, not to do over again what he had done ; and from this very fact arose the peculiar difficulty of his task. In all the other old scores, by Handel, Bach, Astorga, and Durante, that Franz has filled out, he has constantly borne in mind the fact that these composers intended what was lacking in their written accom- paniments to be filled out on the organ. His reason for discarding that instrument and choosing orchestral instruments instead (generally a quartet of clarinets and bassoons) was that the organ is, in its very nature, an instru- ment lacking both flexibility and accent, and that it would, therefore, be im- possible to play on it, in a manner that should meet our modern demands for clear and expressive performance, such complex and intricate polyphonic passages as those with which, tradition tells us. Bach and Handel used to fill- out the gaps in their orchestral accompaniments. But in writing for clarinets and bassoons, instead of for organ, Franz has, almost in every case, written his four-part harmony in a pure organ style. In fact, Franz's quar- tet of wind Instruments really represents the organ, only with more flexibility of phrasing and greater decision of accent. . . . Now Mozart, in writing 468 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL, AND HAYDN SOCIETY. his additional accompaniments to the Messiah, showed that he had no such scruples about the matter; he had no thought of even distantly suggesting the organ, but wrote his additions wholly in the prevailing orchestral style of his own day. Here was Franz's dilemma : should he follow Mozart's lead and flU out the remaining gaps in a purely orchestral style, which was not Handel's ; or should he fill them out in as strictly a Handelian style as he knew how, even at the risk of having his additions contrast somewhat in treatment and coloring with Mozart's? He chose the latter alternative. . . . But he left what Mozart actually wrote untouched, and, except in cases of actual necessity, added nothing to it. " Besides completing the score of the Messiah, Franz has made a sugges- tion or two concerning performances of the work. As the florid choruses in the first part — No. 6, 'And He shall purify,' No. 12, 'For unto us a child is born,' and No. 19, 'His yoke is ^sy' — are difficult for a large choir to sing clearly, and as, moreover, these choruses are based upon three of Handel's earlier chamber-duets, he suggests that large portions of them be sung by solo voices. He also suggests that the accompaniment to the secco-recitatives be played on a pianoforte, if there be room for one on the stage. Instead of by the strings, as he has written them. Last, but not least, he has enriched the score by a fully written-out organ part. The trombone- parts to several of the choruses, which exist neither in Handel's original score, nor in Mozart's, but were written by an Englishman by the name of Smithies, have naturally been omitted by Franz. He has, moreover, retained the trombone parts written by Mozart in the overture, and the short choruses,^ ' Since by man came death' and 'For as in Adam all die,' choruses which have hitherto been sung by us, according to ^ome inexplicable tradition, as unaccompanied quartets. " A worthy companion to this full score by Franz is the pianoforte score arranged from it by Mr. Otto Dresel of this city ; it is, beyond question, not only the best, but the only thoroughly good pianoforte score of the Messiah- in existence." In the above extract the reader has as exact an account, as could well be given in so few words, of just what Robert Franz had done with the Messiah in the way of '" additional accompaniments," and of what changes he had suggested — not prescribed — in the customary treatment of certain numbers of the work. So far as the accompani- ments were concerned, the weight of opinion, after that Christmas- performance, was evidently in favor of the new edition. Equally so in regard to most of the suggestions ; especially the dividing of those three florid choruses of the first part between vocal quartet and chorus. About some other changes there was difference of opinion ; for it was largely a question of taste, and many were wedded very naturally to the old practice. The cadenza introduced at the end of "Rejoice greatly" found hardly any favor, although a, cadenza is. directed in Handel's original score, and Franz has written one entirely in the vein and style of Handel, to be used or not, as conductors may HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 469 see fit. The re-arrangement of the trumpet solo was found admira- ble ; and so by perhaps the majority of the most musically cultivated listeners was the singing, in full chorus, of the two short sentences usually given as unaccompanied quartets. In the matter of accom- paniments, of course the difference was distinctly recognizable to but a small part of a miscellaneous audience. Upon the whole, the Society could well congratulate itself on having given the impulse to so valuable a piece of work on the part of so competent a musician, one so thoroughly in sj'mpathy with both Bach and Handel. In the nature of the case, criticism was busy, both in advocacy and in dis- paragement ; but it seems to be practically settled that here, at least, however it may be in England, Franz's is accepted as the standard, the only practicable, truly Handelian score of the Messiah. The audience that evening was immense ; every seat was sold, besides three hundred and ninety-three admissions without seats. The chorus numbered four hundred and fifteen voices, with an orches- tra of forty-five. The ten soprano numbers required two soprano soloists. These were Mrs. E. Humphrey-Allen and Miss Sarah C. Fisher. The contralto, Miss Hattie J. Clapper, was found highly satisfactory iu voice and expression. Mr. Whitney Mockridge, the tenor, who made his first important appearance in Boston, gifted with " a fine natural organ, strong, penetrating, pleasant, and of ample range," seems to have had a " throaty and rigid "way of singing. Mr. M. W. Whitney, " barring some unexpected slips," sang grandly. As to the quartets, leading into chorus, they were sung somewhat lamely, so that the suggestion of Franz was not quite fairly tested. . Receipts, $2,983.95 ; expenses, Sl,o86.36 ; profit, $1,3£[7.59. How much of that was due to " additional accompaniments," who' knows? 1886. Rehearsals of Gounod's second Sacred Trilogy, Mors et Vita, were resumed in January, and on Sunday, the 24th, the work was first brought out before a Boston public. Part I., Mors (Death) was given in the afternoon. That, of course, was the most serious part, and was compared to a Requiem Mass. Part II., Judicium (Judgment), and Part III., Vita (the Resurrection and the Life), followed in the evening. As to the merits of the work, the criticisms were strangely at variance, ranging from the extreme of praise to contemptuous disparagement. Far be it from the present writer to venture an opinion. In medio tutissimus ibis were probably the safe suggestion. So far as he is able to recall his impressions at the time, all based upon that single hearing, the second Trilogy had all the 470 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. characiteristics of the first, all the questionable and unlovely traits of the Redemption, greatly aggravated. It had also passages of beauty, of a " sensuous " order. And great events seemed treated with less power than we have been accustomed to expect, and without disap- pointment, from great masters. It abounds in oi'chestral pictures, some of which, while cleverly realistic, seemed to us vulgar, cheap, and flimsy. Some of the instrumental effects were to an exceptional degree sensational, discordant, and extravagant. Thus the trumpets at the last judgment sound a trichord with the fifth made sharp (the same hideous discord in which Wagner's Walkyrie maids disport themselves !). The choruses, according to most accounts, were well sung, albeit with some tendency to drag. The soloists were, for soprano, Mrs. Lillian Norton, who sang with great power and brillianc}' ; contralto, Miss Alta Pease, honest and accurate, but given to indistinct enuncia- tion ; Mr. Charles Abercrombie, a true tenor of delightful sweetness, except in the higher notes, of great power throughout ; and Mr. Charles E. Hay, bass, who was thought to surpass his former efforts 2 in discrimination and in dignity. There was an orchestra of f ortv- nine, with twelve extra instruments participating here and there. The chorus in the first part numbered four hundred and twelve voices ; in the second and third parts, four hundred and fourteen. Receipts, $2,544.05 ; expenses, 12,382.61 ; profit, $161.44. Is it then the doubtful things that pay ? Is curiosity a stronger passion than the love of beauty, even in music? The Sunday evenings of the following month were dedicated to serious study and rehearsal of portions of that very difficult and very great work, Bach's Holie Messe in H-moll (High Mass in B minor). Then, by way of recreation and reward after those strenuous efforts, the ever-welcome Elijah gave vent to voices and to spirits for a few weeks once more. April 12. The Board of Government considered the selection of a trustee of the Permanent Fund, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry P. Kidder. Mr. O. W. Peabody, another member of the banking house of Kidder, Peabody & Co., was elected. April 23. Elijah was given, renewing its established popularity. The choruses were well sung by four hundred and thirty-four voices, with an orchestra of forty-seven, before one of the largest audiences. The quartet of principal solo-singers, as announced, consisted of : Mme. Fursch-Madi, soprano; Miss Helen D. Campbell, contralto; Mr. William Candidus, tenor ; and Mr. Alonzo_ E. Stoddar d, baritone (all from the " American Opera Company ") . For the second quar- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 471 tet (in the concerted pieces) were announced : Miss Elene B. Kehew, Miss Gertrude Edmunds, Mr. James H. Ricketson, and Mr. Jacob Benzing. But Mme< Madi being ill, Miss Kehew took her place, and filled it with much credit; and Miss Gertrude Swayne was called to the second soprano part without rehearsal. M r. Stoddard's Eli jah was the feature of t he evening, one of great spirit and brilliancy. Mr. Candidus, with a voice of great power and range, not altogether sweet, sang without much warmth. Owing to the absence of the usual wind-instrument players, the high pitch had to be used, Mr. Lang transposing the organ part a semitone upward. Financially, Mendelssohn's Oratorio was again fruitful. Receipts, $3,216.27 ; expenses, $2,010 ; profit, $1,205.21. May 7. At a meeting of the Board, it was voted to pay Mr. Zerrahn, as conductor, $250, in addition to the $750 voted him before. SEVENTY-SECOND SEASON. May 31, 1886, to May 30, 1887. May 31. Annual meeting. The treasurer reported : — Amount on hand May, 1885 $77 98 Total receipts . . 12,099 52 812.177 50 Total expenditures 11,764 20 Balance on hand . . ... $413 30 that $1,000 had been received as legacy under the will of Benjamin B. Davis; also a gift of $1,000 from an unknown friend; that the debt had been reduced by $2,300, and now amounted to $i47.04. As to the Permanent Fund, a gift of $1,000 had been added to the principal; the year's income ($1,181.25) had been paid to the Society, and the value of the Fund's investments April 24, 1886, was $25,817.74. The following resolutions were passed : — ''Resolved, That the two one-thousand-dollar donations inspire the mem- bers with fresh zeal, and tend ' to hasten the day when the Society's musical policy shall be emancipated from the pecuniary limitations by which it is now constantly constrained,' etc. " Resolved, That the Handel and Haydn Society, in common with many other public bodies in this city, sustained a great loss by the death of Henry P. Kidder, lately a trustee of its Permanent l''und. 472 HISTORY OF THE HANDEJL, AND HAYDN SOCIETY. " We, the members, desire to express our recognition of the important place which he fllled in the community, as an ever-active and generous supporter of all useful and charitable enterprises." The secretary reported that nothing was yet known about those wood-wind instruments. The election of officers was as follows : — President. — Charles C. Perkins. Vice-President. — George H. Chickeeing. Secretary. — Eugene B. Hagae. Treasurer. — Moses Geant Daniell. Librarian. — Francis H. Jenks. Directors. — John D. Andrews, Horace P. Blackman, George T. Brown, Albert K. Hebard, Eoger S. Eundlett, John S. Sawyer, John H. Stickney, David A. Alden. Chorus Statistics for 1885-86. No. of Tickets. Sopranos 170 Altos 148 Tenors 10,3 Basses 123 5U Maximum attendance (Rehearsals and Concerts) Minimum attendance (Rehearsals and Concerts) From the annual address of President Perkins we again make large extracts, for these were his last words to the Society for which he had done so much, and which he had so much at heart ! " M-iends and Fellow-Members of the Handel and Haydn Society : " L6t me congratulate you on the fact that this annual meeting takes place under more inspiring circumstances than those which attended that of last year, when we were burdened with the not inconsiderable residue of a heavy debt, resulting from untoward events in' the past, and not a little anxious about the future. The new Board of Management then elected assumed office impressed with the necessity for strict economy, and aware that a pr6- gramme must be prepared for the coming season worthy of the traditions of the Society, and at the same time likely to excite public interest. To frame such a programme was no easy task. Handel's BeUhazzar, Bach's B-minor Mass, and a host of other masterpieces, never or but seldom performed, urged their royal claims for a hearing, and tempted enterprise. Admonitions were not wanting, from certain quarters, that our duty as directors of a musical society instituted for high ends was to disregard pecuniary interests. What Average New .ttendanoe. Members. 107 29 97 19 58 8 85 13 347 69 446 . 211 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 473 did it matter, said our distinguished advisers, if the Society perished, pro- Yided that it did so with the proud consciousuess of having done its duty? Give oratorios on a grand scale, at cheap prices, and abide the issue. Better death and an honorable interment than life supported by a permanent fund acquired through an illiberal and narrow-minded policy. To this counsel your Board of Management turned a deaf ear, and being, like ' George Eliot,' open to conviction on all points ' save dinners and debts, holding that the one should be eaten and the other paid,' determined to conduct the campaign pru- dently by giving the Messiah at Christmas, Mors et Vita in January, and Elijah at Easter, with competent support. ' The three concerts yielded a profit of $2,764.24. . . . " But what of the Triennial Festival, which should have been held in the spring of 1886? On this head, gentlemen, I have to say that, from what seemed to us good and sufficient reasons, we reluctantly renounced all idea of holding it. ... I need hardly remind you that the last festival, that of 1883, obliged us to assess our guarantors ten per cent pro rata, and to apply the sum thus obtained, together with the Income of the Permanent Fund and our profits on the concerts of the preceding season, to the payment of our debts. With these facts and figures staring us in the face, how could we have under- taken another festival? Where should we have found guaranty against loss, without which it would have been suicidal to attempt it? Whether our suc- . cessors may take an opposite view, three years hence, is a matter which I will not undertake to discuss, though I may say that I hardly think it probable that they will. I think we must even now accept the fact that the day of festivals in Boston, excepting at long intervals, when some special anniversary occurs, is over. ' Circumstances alter cases,' as the saying goes, and musical circum- stances have changed greatly with us of late years. In smaller cities and towns, where the winter has afibrded but little opportunity for listening to music of the highest sort, even an annual festival may be held without risk of loss ; but here, where we have forty-eight symphony concerts and rehears- als during the winter and spring, a dozen or more concerts given by the Apollo, the Cecilia, and the Boylston clubs, three or four oratorios performed by this Society, and a host of musical entertainments provided by minor asso- ciations — festivals, annual or triennial, stand but little chance of attracting sufficiently lai-ge audiences to cover the attendant outlay upon them. " Much as this is to be regretted, on ajsthetic grounds, there are reasons connected with the welfare of this Society which may somewhat reconcile us to the new state of things, chief among which are the exhausting labor which festivals entail upon the chorus singers, and the overwhelming amount of work which they require on the part of the secretary. I am not sure that even the present incumbent, with all his readiness to serve the Society at whatever inconvenience to himself, would have accepted the situation had we decided to hold a festival in this month of May, which comes to an end to-night. As for the chorus, I have no doubt that the members would have done their duty at it, as in the past, but we ipay well question whether we had a right to ask them to give the time and spend the strength which they must have given and spent had we taken a different course. With the pres- tige which the long and honorable career of the Society has given to it, with the unique opportunities which it affords for the study of the highest and 474 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND, HAYDN SOCIETY. noblest music, and the pleasure which its performance brings to those who take part in it, we may safely count upon a never-failing supply of the best singers in the city to the chorus, provided we do not ask too much of those who have already joined it. We have a right to insist upon regular attend- ance at the Sunday evening rehearsals, and to ask for close attention to the conductor's instructions, in order that the works under study may be worthily performed; but more than this, except on extraordinary occasions, we can- not exact without risk of driving away many whom we should wish to keep in, or preventing some whom we should like to add to the chorus of our Society. Its foundations, securely laid on good ground many years ago, have enabled it to resist many an earthquake, and will yet give it strength to survive such stress of weather as may come upon it in the future, provided we and those who come after us are watchful and prudent in the manage- ment of its affairs. Indifferent as to the quantity, we should be more and more concerned as to the quality of our work — for it is the last consideration, and not the first, which will keep the Society in the van. " What our work has been during the winter you all know. It began with the Messiah at Christmas, according to the time-honored custom, which up to 1850 had, I think, been disregarded but four times. The performance was especially interesting, as for the first time the version of the score as amended by Robert Franz was used, in which the additional accompaniments, really written by Mozart, are preserved, and from which those falsely attributed to him, though undoubtedly by Adam Hiller, have been eliminated by the distin- guished composer of Halle, who, by his reverent filling up of harmonies indicated in Handel's figured bass, and by the addition of a complete organ part, has deserved and won the gratitude of musicians and music lovers throughout the world. " That, as acknowledged by Dr. Franz in a letter sent with a copy of the score, he was induced to complete this work, which he regards as the most important of his life, by the Handel and Haydn Society, is a fact of which it has every reason to be proud. Certain changes suggested and adopted, such as the assigning of parts of ' He shall purify,' ' For unto us,' and ' The yoke is easy,' hitherto sung throughout by the chorus, to a quartet of single voices, seemed to many undesirable innovations ; but it is possible that, on a second hearing, the gain in effect will be more generally admitted. "The first performance of M. Gounod's new oratorio (?), Mors et Vita, took place on the afternoon and evening of Jan. 24:, and the favor with which it was received seems to warrant the belief that it will be well to repeat it at no very distant period. It is the latest and most important sacred work of one of the most eminent composers of our day, and ag such it represents one of the schools of oratorio music in modern times as completely as the Messiah does another which flourislied in its golden age, and Elijah, which we sang at Easier, does still another, belonging to that silver age which lies more than midway between Handel's day and our own. By giving the three in one season, we have, then, illustrated the leading phases of thought in one of the chief forms of musical expression, and may claim that if our programme was short, it was comprehensive and catholic in spirit. . . . " During the year we have received a legacy of $1,000, left by our late and honored associate, Benj. B. Davis, who joined the Society May 2, 1816, HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 475 and died, at the age of eighty-three, Aug. 22, 1877. For this, and a recent gift of $1,000 from an anonymous benefactor, one Of those who are •' Resolved on scripture grounds to go ; What the right doth the left hand shall not know, " you will, I am sure, desire to express your gratitude in suitable form. . . . The list of members deceased since the last annual meeting includes the names of Mr. Dexter Wiswell, who joined the Society in 1863, served on the Board, of Directors from 1871 to 1873, and died Aug. 11, 1885 ; of Mr. Edward Faxon, who joined in 1851, served as director from 185i to 1856, from 1863 to 1865, and from 1870 to 1872, and died Jan. 26, 1886 ; and of E. B. Dearborn, who joined in 1841, and died in the month of February last. To this list I may add the name of Frederick Ferdinand Miiller, who was elected organist of this Society in 1852, Sept. 7, but never became a member." June 14. The Board of Government voted to give, during the season of 1886-87, three concerts : Dec. 26, the Messiah; Feb. 20, Bach's B-minor Mass (Hohe JHesse) , with necessary abridgement; Easter, April 10, the Creation. The following reappointments were made : Carl Zerrahn, conductor, at a salary of $750, besides such sum (not exceeding S250) as may be warranted by the current receipts of the season, exclusive of gifts, legacies, and income of the fund ; B. J. Lang, orgauist, at $300; and S. M. Bedlington, assistant librarian, at $100. Aiig. 25. We have reached now one of the darkest pages in the annals of the old Society. What loss could be greater than that which suddenly befell in the instantaneous death by accident of the honored president, Charles Callahan Perkins? On this day (Aug. 25, 1886), like a stroke of lightning out of a clear sky, the fatal blow fell. It was in the town of Windsor, Vt., near the farm and summer residence of U. S. Senator Evarts. Mr. Perkins was on a visit to his son, E. C. Perkins, who married Senator Evart's daugh- ter. The senator, Mr. Perkins, and a young lady from Washington, daughter of Judge Stanley Matthews, of Cincinnati, were out riding, near sunset. While crossing a dike, one horse being restless, the coachman reined him up, when the bits parted, and the bridle came off, setting the horses into a run. The coachman jumped, and, in trying to catch the horses, was thrown down the embankment. The horses kept on at a fearful pace, and, while turning a sharp corner, all were thrown out. Mr. Perkins, striking a stone, was instantly killed. The others were slightly injured. ''The young lady after- ward spoke of his enthusiasm at the beauty of the country, and of his conversation on many lovely things. The last thing she remem- bers of him was the smile he gave her, as if to save her from alarm ; 476 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. then the crash came." The following brief record of his life, by one of his friends, appeared in one of the papers of the day : — " He came of a distinguished family, his grandfather (Thomas Handyside Perkins) having been a prominent old-time merchant in Boston. He grad- uated from Harvard in 1843, and some years afterward went abroad, where he remained twelve years, spending his winters principally at Rome, and devoting himself to the study of music and painting. He was the first American to be elected a member of the French Academy, in the section of inscriptions and belles-lettres. After his return home, Mr. Perkins published a number of works on art, Ms ' Tuscan Sculptors ' appearing in 1864, and being republished in London the next year. This work was in two volumes, and was illustrated with forty-three etchings and twenty-three wood-engrav- ings from original drawings and photographs. The work took high rank in art circles. In 1867 he published ' Italian Sculptors,' also profusely illus- trated, the etchings in both works being done by the author. In 1878 he pub- lished a biographical and critical essay upim ' Raphael and Michael Angelo,' and at the time of his death he was engaged upon a comprehensive work, entitled ' The Cyclopsedia of American Art.' Although Mr. Perkins was not a professional artist, few men were better fitted to discuss questions of art. His broad cultui-e, technical training, and wide study eminently fitted him for a critic and patron of art. He was among the first to advocate and carry through the establishment of the Museum of Fine Arts. He was for many years president of the Art Club, resigning this office in 1880, but always maintaining an interest in its affairs. "Perhaps the greatest single service which he did in this direction was the giving of the fine Beethoven statue to the Music Hall, the work of Thomas Crawford. The sculptor refused to accept any remuneration, but Mr. Per- kins assumed all the expenses of casting, founding, and putting the whole work in place. On March 1, 1856, there was a Beethoven festival for the inauguration of the statue. Mr. W. W. Story wrote and recited an ode, and selections from Beethoven's music* were rendered. " Among Mr. Perkins's other labors in the cause of art were several series of lectures delivered by him at the Lowell Institute. Another service which he rendered to the city was in connection with his term as a member of the School Committeef, in 1871, when, by his advice, the new system of drawing was inaugurated. . . . ' ' Mr. Perkins was equally devoted to music, and was one of the members of the original committee appointed by the Harvard Musical Association, in 1851, to consider the plan of a music hall in Boston. He was one of the largest sub- scribers to the building, which was erected during this and the following year, and in all the course of its history he took a lively interest. ... He was a promi- nent member of Trinity Church, and a warm personal friend of Rev. Phillips Brooks. AlsO) he was honorary director of the Art Museum, a member of the Union and Saturday clubs, a member of the American Academy of Arts * Among them, Beethoven's Choral Fantasia, in which the pianoforte part was played by the donor of the statue. t He was many years a devoted member of the school committee, particularly interested in the teaching of music and drawing. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 477 and Sciences and of the Massachusetts Historical Society, honorary member of the Metropolitan Art Museum, New York, corresponding member of the French Institute, and Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. He was a careful collector of works of art, and had gathered together a valuable gallery." . . . Charles C. Perkins was a man of fine personal presence, who always wore a youthful, blooming, blonde complexion ; of frank and winning manners ; a gentleman in every sense ; of a natilre singu- larly refined and noble, with the look and air of a born artist. One of the truest friends of art he undoubtedly was. Born in easy cir- cumstances, he gave his whole life unselfishly to public good, to the interests of culture and of art. In every relation of life, it may be truly said, he always did the best that he kn&w how. His life was a beautiful and an inspiring sacrifice. "There was nothing low or cheap in his composition." Always cheerful, always friendly, always ready to devote his best powers to a good cause, he seemed always happy. And was he not thus suddenly called away to yet happier and higher service? Of course, the whole community were appalled when the sad news came on that hot day of August ; and his nearest friends were scattered and each had to muse upon the loss alone. To the Handel and Haydn Society it was a severe affliction. At the first rehearsal of the season, Oct. 3, after a few words from the secretary, the chorus, in memory of their president, sang "Happy and blest are they who have endured," from Mendelssohn's St. Paul. A few weeks later, after several rehearsals of Bach's great Mass, which he had been so zealous to have studied and performed (but which he did not live even to hear rehearsed !), at a meeting of the Society specially called for the purpose {Oct. 25), Mr. George H. Chickering, the vice-president, being absent, IMr. Sawyer, the next senior member of the Board of Government, took the chair, when the secretary, Mr. Hagar, offered the following resolution : — " Hesolved, That in the death of Charles C. Perkins, its late president, the Handel and Haydn Society has sustained a loss of no ordinary character. Stricken by death's arrow while in the enjoyment of perfect health, the victim of a catastrophe so swift and appalling as to fill all hearts with hor- ror and dismay, there has passed from our midst a prudent guide and a devoted friend. At two widely separated periods president of the Society, the second time for a term of more than eleven years, he found many fields for the exercise of natural gifts of a high order in its service, and his loyal spirit neglected no opportunity for action in its behalf. Endowed with a refined taste, and equipped with an education which qualified him for the performance and even the composition of musical works of the highest class, his discriminating criticism was of constant value in shaping the musical policy of the Society and in promoting Its efficient execution. ' Art for Art's 478 HISTOBY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. sake' never found a more unfaltering champion than in liim, and his allegi- ance to the highest standards knew no abatement. The sacrifice of genuine merit to pecuniary gain or to popular applause ever encountered his unflinch- ing resistance ; and to stimulate the Society to an unceasing struggle for the attainment of the loftiest ideals was his constant aim. The esteem and affection of his associates were awakened by his uniform courtesy and affable manner, the just expression of a kind and pure spirit, and by his singular unselfishness, a virtue which adorned him in an eminent degree. The His- tory of the Society, happily completed by him to the close of his first presi- dency, in 1851, a. task to the performance of which no selfish motives could have actuated him, is a monument of infinite, but gratuitous and uncomplain- ing labor, a cheerful and graceful tribute to the Society which he loved. His regard and good-will were further evinced by the final disposition of the Beethoven statue, and by the gift to the Society of valuable scores — par- ticularly that of the Bach Mass, the additions to which, transcribed by his own hand, involved so great personal labor to himself. His successful efforts to avert a threatened reconstruction of the Music Hall will not soon be for- gotten as a conspicuous, though by no means isolated, instance of his friendly zeal. " His purity of motive and forgetfulness of self, his patience and modesty, his gracious and genial manners, his refinement of nature, his honesty of thought and candor of speech, his undevlating pursuit of excellence, his fidelity to the cause of true art unmixed with base alloy, — these afford a rare example for his successors, and their memory will constitute a rich inheritance to a grateful Society." The reading of this resolution was followed by remarks in eulogy of the deceased by Messrs. Hagar, J. S. Sawyer, A. P. Browne, Nowell, Barnes, and Stone. It was then passed unanimouslj-, all the members rising. Resolutions in the same sense and spirit were also passed by the Harvard Musical Association, of which Mr. Perkins had long been vice-president, by the Massachusetts Historical Society, and by other societies of art and learning of which he was a member. It may here be mentioned, in explanation of some things said above, that in a codicil to his will, dated April 27, 1881, " the statue of Beethoven, which has been in Music Hall ever since the hall was built, is to be given to the Handel and Haydn Society in case the hall is converted into an opera house, pulled down, or destroyed by fire." He makes the gift in the hope that the Society will eventually own a hall especially devoted to its concerts and meetings. At this meeting ( Oct. 25) George H. Chickering was chosen presi- dent ; and at a meeting held Nov. 15, A. Parker Browne was chosen vice-president. The chorus then went on with its hard study on the Hohe Messe of Bach until near the Clii'istmas season,^ when the Mesdah was given HISTORT or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 479 (for the seventy-ninth time) on Sunday evening, Dec. 26. The Franz instrumentation was again used, and on the whole more widely appreciated. The sale of tickets was immense. The orchestra con- sisted of forty-flve musicians from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The chorus of four hundred and twenty-one voices sang for the first time under the new sounding-board, which had been placed over the stage to improve the accousties of the hall, and it was thought that the effect was somewhat heightened. The choruses were given in the Society's best style, the body of tenors being particularly strong. The soloists were : Miss Zippora Monteith, soprano (of the quartet of the church of Rev. Dr. H. Storrs, Brooklyn, N. Y.) ; Miss Ger- trude Edinands, contralto ; Mr. William J; Winch, tenor (his first appearance in oratorio since his return from England) ; and Mr. D. M. Biibcock, bass (of the American Opera Company). Mr. Franz Kneisel headed the violins, and Mr. Eichard Scbuebruck played the trumpet solo. Miss Monteith had a voice of great power and wide range, moderate flexibility, not quite uniform in quality, nor always true. Miss Edmands sang with her usual conscientious care, good judgment, warm and earnest feeling. Mr. Winch was excellent, but hoarse at "Thou shalt break them." Mr. Babcock was hoarse throughout, yet he won applause. Receipts, S2,933.42 ; expenses, $1,553.22; profit, 81,380.20. 1887. The year began with nearly two months of study and rehearsal on that most difficult of all great choral works, Bach's SoJie Messe in H-moll (High Mass in B minor) and of Hiller's Song of Victory, which had been sung here only once before, at the Festival of 1877, — a work wholly modern and in contrast with the Mass. On Sunday evening, Feb. 27, these two .works came to public per- formance ; that is to say, a considerable selection from the Mass, followed by Hiller's work entire. Of the former we borrow again from our own Festival " notes" : — " Many regard this colossal Mass iu B minor as Bach's greatest work, — at least as standing on an equal height with his St. Matthew Passion Music, although the two works are so entirely different that one marvels at the many-sided genius that could create them both. Bach, besides his almost innumerable church cantatas, written weekly for each Sunday's service, his motets, Christmas Oratorio, Magnificat, and five Passions, — all counted among the very richest treasures of church music, — also wrote, at vari- ous times, a number of ' short masses,' all intended for the Protestant (Lutheran) service; and in them are found a number of pieces transferred from some of his cantatas. Some instances of this are found even in this last and greatest effort in this form, the Hohe Messe in B minor. The Kyrie 480 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. and Gloria, wWch form a full half of the whole work, were composed in 1733 for his Catholic sovereign, Friedrich August II., of Saxony. These two parts, with all their themes developed on so extended a scale, were by Bach regarded as a whole Mass by themselves. It was some time afterwards that he composed the Credo and the other texts. Nor was the score ever com- pletely and correctly published, after careful comparison of original manu- script and copies, until the Bach Gesellschaft, in Leipzig, commenced its noble enterprise of bringing out in uniform edition all the works of Bach that could be found in print or manuscript. This Mass had been selected for the first annual volume of the splendid series (18.91) ; but various ob- stacles, the chief of which was a certain dog-in-the-manger disposition of the holder of the precious manuscript, were so slowly overcome that its pub- lication was postponed till 1856. This noble edition of the score, just as Bach left it, now places it within reach of all musicians. Before that it had first been published part by Nageli, of Zurich, part by Simrock, of Bonn, about 1830. "As to public performances of the entire Mass, its great length, as well as the formidable difficulties of the music, almost exclude it from the service of the churches. The Credo was performed by Emanuel Bach, with an or- chestral introduction of his own, at Hamburg, before 1788, the year of his death. The Sing-Akademie, of Berlin, gave both portions of it in 1835. In Frankfort it was given in part by the Cacilien-Verein, under Schelble, who died in 1837, Mendelssohn taking his place in some of the rehearsals. It became one of the Prankfort Society's stock pieces, and was performed by them entire eight times between 1856 and 1875. Other performances are mentioned : By Riedel's Choir, at Leipzig, in April, 1859 ; by the Sternsche Gesang-Verein, at Berlin, in 1859, and by the Cacilien-Verein, of Hamburg, in April, 1868 ; at Barmen, in March, 1872. The Credo, alone, was given by Hullah, in London, in 1851, and at the Lower Rhine Festivals of 1858 and 1873. " To Otto Goldschmidt and his Bach Choir (amateurs) belongs the honor of first attempting this colossal task in London, where it was twice brought out publicly, in April and May, 1876, and again in 1881, producing a profound impression among truly musical people ; but the expression thereof seems ta have stopped short with general praise and wonder. Few, so far as we can find, have had the courage to attempt any detailed description or analysis of the Mass itself. "Bach's manuscript is divided into four parts, with four separate title- pages, as follows : . — " No. I. {Kyric. and Q-loria) is called ' Mass for five voices ' (two sopranos),, three trumpets, tympani, two flutes, two oboes, two violins, one viola, and, continuo. "No. II. Symbolum Nicenum (Nicene Creed), for the same voice-parts- and instruments. "No. III. Sanctus, for six voices (two soprano and two alto), three trumpets, tympani, three oboes, etc. "No. IV. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, Dona nobis paeem, for eight voices (each of the four being divided), three trumpets, tympani, two flutes two oboes, violins, etc. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 481 "Mr. Goldschniidt, with a true Bach devotion (seconded by his noble ■svife, Jenny Lind, who sang in the chorus) and with immense labor, had rearranged ranch of the instrumentation according to the best Leipzig and Frankfort traditions, — supplying here and there a viola part, changing the three high trumpet parts (regarded as unplayable) for trumpets and clarinets, adding an organ part, expression marlis, etc. The fruits of these labors will be availed of in to-day's performance of the Sanctns, and, it is to be hoped, in future performances by the Handel and Haydn Society o£ the entire Mass. " A writer in the London Times well remarks : ' That the great musician could look back to the Kyrie and Gloria — which he had vouchsafed to his Catholic sovereign — and not desire to go on with the work thus nobly com- menced would teem impussible; and the astonishing Credo, which is the division next following, showed with what fervor he set about resuming his task. It is remarked by C. H. Bitter (one of Bach's biographers) that the phrase to the words " Credo in unum Deum," led off by tenors and answered by the other voices in succession, is the melody of one of the old Gregorian church songs.' The same writer says, ' What Bach borrowed for his immedi- ate purpose he borrowed invariably from his own stores, — not always the case with Handel. Enough, that the Mass in B minor is all that its most ardent admirers have pronounced, — a masterpiece of form, science, and religious expression; a thing not for a day, but for all time.' " In the Sanctus all the fervor and the inspiration of this wonderful com- position seems to reach its climax. Rightly presented, rightly heard and felt, it lifts us to the height of the sublime. In its musical motives and construc- tion it is very different from the Sanctus in most Masses (for instance that of Cherubini, above mentioned), where the 'Holy, holy!' is commonly pro- claimed in long tones separated by pauses. Here the six voices, which seem to represent a union of both human and angelic choirs, go circliog off, as it were, through boundless space amid and beyond the planets, in answering and commingling triplet phrases (all in D major, 4-4 measure), while the oboes and strings fan the enthusiasm with strong, wing-like figures, and the trumpets intermittently flood all with a blaze of splendor. On and on the voices circle, higher and higher, soaring, climbing, as if to find tTie region of pure, perfect light, and lose themselves in the ineffable glory of the Divine. Twice, however, the five upper voices relax their speed and linger in long notes, while the basses descend, note by note, a full octave, with stately tread, the instruments still pursuing their unwearied flight. At the words Pleni sunt cceli et terra gloria ejus the rhythm chd,nges to 3-8, and a fugue sets out unaccompanied (except by the basso continuo), until all the voices have got in, when by degrees the instruments are drawn into the development, and it is all worked up with increasing splendor and excitement (the first trumpet soaring in high, bird-like trills) to the end. How far this Impression can be realized in the detached performance of a miscellaneous concert remains to be tested." To the above it seems well to add the following statement from the printed programme of the concert : — " During his last visit in London, the late Mr. Charles C. PBRiaNS, the president of the Handel and Haydn Society, was given access to Mr. Gold- 482 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. scbmidt's score, and was presented with a manuscript copy of the organ part. Having procured a copy of the score published by the Bach Gesellschaft in Leipzig, with his own hand he transcribed into it, from Mr. Goldschmidt's score, all additions to and changes in the orchestra part, expression marks, practical hints for performance, and historical notes; and, from the manu- script presented to him, the organ part. The additional orchestra parts were first copied somewhat roughly, and were then copied a second time, on slips of paper carefully fitted to the available spaces in the score, and the slips were then pasted in. The organ part had likewise to be inserted on fitted slips of paper. The score thus amended, together with the memoranda used in the process, and the independent organ part, were then handsomely bound in two separate volumes, and presented by Mr. Perkins to the Society. For this invaluable gift, enriched by personal labor of Mr. Perkins that can have occupied no less than several weeks' time, public and grateful acknowledg- ment is here made. " In default of printed orchestra parts, the Society has caused a complete set to be written out from this score, — excepting that the part of the oboe d'amore (now obsolete) has been assigned to the oboe instead of the clari- net; and certain high passages for the trumpet, transposed in the London score for clarinet, have been retained in the trumpet part. The extremely difficult part of the now obsolete coriio di caccia in the Quoniam will be played on the Prencli horn; and the contra-basses will be doubled by the 'cellos throughout." All this shows with what zealous, conscientious care, and in what reverent spirit, the Society approached the performance of this im- portant work. It could not undertake to bripg out the Mass entire ; that would have been too much for a single effort, and the Mass would have been too long for any audience. Selections were made, not to exceed an hour and a half in time ; to fill out a programme, and at the same time to afford relief from the intense mental strain of listening to music so elaborate and so severe, Ferdinand Hiller's short, more modern, and easily appreciable Cantata was made to fol- low it. Out of the twenty-four numbers of the Mass, six solo and six chorus numbers were performed, — a good half of the work. The numbers presented were : 1. Chorus, " Kyrie eleison ! " 2. Duet (S. and A.), " Christe eleison!" 4. Chorus, "Gloria in excelsis"; 9. Aria (A.), " Qui sedes ad dexteram" ; 10. Aria (B.), "Quoniam tu solus"; 13. Chorus, "Credo"; 14. Duet (S. and A.), " Et in unum Dominum"; 16. Chorus, " Crucifixus " ; 20. Chorus, " Sanc- tus"; 22. Tenor Aria, " Benedictus " ; 23. Alto Aria, "Agnus Dei" ; 24. Chorus, " Dona nobis pacem." The solo, singers were : soprano. Miss Lilli Lehmaun (of the Im- perial Opera, Berlin) ; contralto. Miss Mary H. How ; tenor, Mr. George J. Parker ; bass, Mr. Jacob Benzing. In the solo music Miss How had the largest share and won most honor. Miss Lehmanii HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 483' had no solo ; in the two duets the beauty of her voice availed her, and she sang correctly, although somewhat coldly. Mr. Parker sang his single solo, " Benedictus," with delightful purity and delicacy of taste and truth of feeling. Mr. Benzing's wrestling with his one bass aria, "Quoniam," betrayed nervousness- and unsteadiness. DifHcult in itself, his vocal path was hard to keep against the extremely difficult and florid French horn obligaio, which, however, was marvellously well played by the phenomenal hornist, Mr. Reiter, of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The two bassoon parts also in that accompaniment were most elaborate, in- creasing the perplexity. Of the solo numbers generally it must be said, that the copied orchestral parts were not free from errors, and that the instrumentation called for completion by probably some abler, subtler hand at such work than Mr. Otto Goldschmidt. The chorus singing deserved great praise ; only a little more rehearsal would perhaps have given it the crowning grace of clearness, ease, and eloquent expression. The most complete success was in the Sanctus, which they seemed to sing as if inspired, with greatest power and accuracy. In other choruses some indecision and weak- ness were betraj-ed. But the chorus work, upon the whole, was su- perior to the Society's first public trial of the Passion Music. We cannot sympathize with those undoubtedly sincere and well- instructed lovers of Bach's music, who thought it a great pity to attempt the work at all under such circumstances. Even such glimpses of the glories of a sublime work are not without their in- fluence as the impressi(ms work on in the mind. We are nearer to an adequate performance of the Hohe Messe than we were before that attempt. And ever since, no doubt, a higher and more earnest aspira- tion has been stirring in the bosom of the old Society, and a more responsive audience has been ripening. Jn the Song of Victory Miss Lehmann had all the solos, and she displayed more warmth, more interest in her task. The work had an enlivening effect, and was enjoyed and heartily applauded. Through its intervention it is easier to come down from the empyrean of the Sanctus to such practical details as these : The chorus num- bered four hundred and twenty-three, the orchestra fifty. Receipts, $1,949.57; expenses, $2,037.66; loss, $88.09 (not a very heavy forfeit to pay for so instructive an experiment) ! April 10. Easter Sunday was marked by a fine performance of Haydn's Greation. The solo artists were Mrs. Georg Henschel, whose voice had expanded, and who gave what could almost be called an ideal rendering of the soprano part ; Mr. William J. Winch, who 484 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HATDN SOCIETr. sang with fine .finish and appreciation, albeit not always quite sure of his higher notes ; and Mr. Georg Henschel, who always sings with rare intelligence, though sometimes a bass rather than a baritone voice seemed called for here. The choruses went almost always well, at times finely. Mr. Hiram Tucker accompanied the recitatives on the pianoforte. Miss Nettie C. Foskett sang the alto in the final quartet. Chorus, four hundred and thirty-six ; orchestra, forty-six. Receipts, 82,861.63; expenses, $1,659.12 ; profit, $1,192.41. April 29. The Board, considering the financial result of the season, voted to pay as salary to Mr. Zerrahn $250 in addition to the S750 before voted. It was voted to pay the Society's promissory note for $447.04, due May 8, 1887, and to request the trustees of the Permanent Fund to pay over its income for the year to the Society. Mr. B. J. Lang was unanimously (by a rising vote) elected an honorary member of the Society. SEVENTY-THIRD SEASON. May 30, 1887, to May — , 1888. May 80. Annual meeting. The treasurer reported : — Balance on hand last May . $413 30 Xet profits three concerts 2,484 52 Interest Permanent Eund 1,241 33 Sundry receipts .... 271 72 f4,410 87 Salaries $1,400 00 Bumstead Hall 585 00 New music 104 40 History No. 2, 217 61 Paid note 447 04 Sundry expenses 510 63 3,264 68 Balance on hand $1,146 19 The amount of the Permanent Fund at market prices. May 12, 1887, was stated to be $28,869.50, including a second gift of $1,000 from, the same anonymous^ friend of the Society. The president, Mr. G. H. Chickering, being abroad in search of health, the vice-president, A. P. Browne, presided, and presented the annual report. Beginning with grateful allusion to the late president, C. C. Perkins, after a comprehensive review of what the Society had HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 485 since done without the active presence, but only the inspiring memory of " the gentle man," he offered the following significant hint of some- thing most important yet remaining to be done : — " Several times has the Society been asked to pass an amendment to the by-laws which would give the Board of Government control over the chorus of the Society ; but these propositions have never met with sufficient support to be adopted. You expect, and rightly, that your directors shall engage competent conductors, organists, orchestral players, and solo singers, and they have absolute power over the sopranos and altos ; those they may sus- pend or discharge at their discretion; but when it comes to the tenors and basses, there your confidence In your Board ceases, and you limit their pow- ers. Let a member avoid breaking rules of behavior, and he may break every rule of singing, and yet your directors have no power to silence him." After the vice-president's address, officers for the ensuing year were elected (mostly re-elected) as follows: — President. — Geoege H. Chickeking. Vice-President. — A. Parker Browne. Secretary. — ^Edgene B. Hagar. Treasurer. — M. Grant Daniell. Librarian. — Charles W. Stone. Directors. — David A. Alden, John D. Andrews, Wm. F. Brad- bury, George T. Brown, Nathaniel G. Chapin, George F. Dan- iels, Thomas W. Proctor, Richard S. Whitney. During the balloting the vice-president read some extracts from a letter received from Mr. George H. Chickering, president of the Society, as follows : — "Florence, Italy, May 13, 1887. " You are doubtless aware that Rossini's remains were lately removed from Paris to Florence, and interred in Santa Croce. I arrived here just in time to take part in the ceremonies. I was invited, as president of the Handel and Haydn Society and vice-president of the Apollo Club, to join in the proces- sion that accompanied the remains from the railroad station to Santa Croce. This I did, with Mr. Thomas Ball, and we were on our feet from half past one to Ave o'clock in the afternoon, waiting or walking in that section of the procession devoted to musicians, actors, and various other celebrities. Near us were "Von Billow, Sgambatl, Buonamici, and other men of note. When we reached the square in front of Santa Croce we found assembled a chorus of six hundred voices and an orchestra of a hundred players. The coffin was taken from the catafalque and placed under a cauopy. The chorus sang, magnificently, the prayer from Moses in Egypt, after which the coffin was conveyed into the church, and placed in a vault under the pavement. On it were laid many wreaths that had been sent by societies and cities, and which had been carried in the procession. "I have since had made a large laurel wreath. The white silk ribbon. 486 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. attached to it bears, on one end, in letters of gold, the words ' Homage to Eossini,' and on the other, ' The Handel and Haydn Society, Boston, U. S. A.' Mr. Ball and I took this to the house of the Sindaco, the Marchese Torrigi- ani, and left it with a note in which I requested permission to place it over Eossinl's tomb. Next morning we called for a reply, and of course our request was granted. We took the wreath to Santa Croce and laid it over the place where the remains had been newly buried. All this we did in the name of the Society, and in my note to the Marchese I referred to myself as president of the Society. "I have heard here a magnificent performance of the Stabat Mater,y)y a, chorus of six hundred, an orchestra of two hundred, "and Mmes. Durand and Barbara Marchisio and Messrs. Sani and Nannetti for solo singers." After considerable amending and increasing of by-laws, still ignoring the significant hint above quoted from the vice-president's address, the annual meeting dissolved. June 29. The Board decided to give four concerts for the season of 1887-88, namely: 1. Messiah, at Christmas; 2. Te Deum, hj Berlioz, and Prof. Paine's Nativity, Jan. 29 ; 3. Bach's St. Mat- thew Passion Music, before Easter ; 4. Judas Maccabceus, ^t Easter, April 1 . Conductor, organist, and assistant librarian were reappointed on the same terms as before. Dec. 25. Christmas fell on Sunday this time, and the Messiah was given for the eightieth time, with an overflowing house, as usual. The Franz edition was used again for the most part. The beautiful chorus, "And. with his stripes," for several years omitted, was restored. The chorus throughout was clear, firm, steady, and effec- tive, if the quality of tone was not of the best. The soprano solos were intrusted to Miss Gertrude Griswold, a young singer who had taken a first prize at the Paris Conservatoire, had sung in English oratorio with eminent artists, and several times in light opera, with- out marked success, after her return to this country. She had been trained in a more serious direction. Her performance drew extremes of criticism in opposite directions, praise and blame. Her voice, except in the lower portion, was full, pure, sweet, and mellow; her enunciation faulty ; her j^o?-tfitre uncertain, colorless, and weak. She was better in cahtabile, and her conception always good ; yet she was accused of too mnch portamento, and a sentimental style in phrasing. Miss Gertrude Edmands, in the contralto arias, confirmed the good impression she had made before. The tenor, M:\ Albert Lester King, of New York, with a voice of great power and range, and fairly sympathetic, though not perhaps of such volume as his large physique and fine presence would suggest, made a very favorable impression. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY, 487 Mr. M. W. Whitney was himself, improved perhaps, in some respects, by the experience he had had upon the light dramatic stage. The chorus numbered three hundred and eighty ; the orchestra, of forty- four, was from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and led by Mr. Kn,eisel. The trumpet solo was played by Mr. E. N. Lafricain. Eeceipts, S2,772.39 ; expenses, $1,613.18 ; proflt, $1,1.59.21. 1888. The year began with six rehearsals of the music assigned for the second of the four concerts for the season : one a work por- tentous, French, by a composer of unquestioned genius but suspected sanity, Hector Berlioz, a formidable task to undertake, but hailed with gleeful triumph by the party of " the newness " ; the other, to precede it as a milder, soothing introduction, the Nativity, by Prof. John K. Paine, which had already established itself in the sincere favor of this musical community. Now this historian finds himself obliged to confess that, although he must have been a listener at that first and only performance here of the wildly lauded, loudly trumpeted Te Deum of Berlioz, he has not the slightest recollection of it, or of any point or feature in it. His mind, or memory, on that matter is absolutely blank. The daily and weekly local press of that date is full of it, seemingly marvel- lously excited about it, both before add after the performance, with most intensity and most verbosity before. In those " omnium- gatherum " Scrap-Books {quoad musical matters) which threaten, at the rate they keep accumulating, to burst the archives of the old Society, in which we are obliged to rummage for much of the miscel- laneous material woven into these later chapters, we find enough to. bewilder and appal a poor patient, conscientious annalist. We find the monster work announced • in articles of several columns in the closest type, embodying long, critical analyses, or rather rhapsodies, by admiring countrymen of Berlioz ; and we find the concert followed by briefer notices {critiques), which range through tbe whole scale of wonder, praise, and, downward, through all degrees of timid fault- finding, to outright condemnation and contempt. Now, if the alleged monstrosities of the work were so glaring as some have alleged, we surely should be likely to remember something of it ; the wounded sensibilities would still wear some scars. And if it did abound in lovely, glorious things, we should have loved them, — and love fades not out so easily. As for the prefatory, perfunctory long articles referred to, we can give the gist of the matter, both descriptive and historical, as condensed in the words of the programme of the concert : — 488 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY, " The Tb Deum, by Berlioz, dates from 1849, and stands as Op. 22 in the list of the master's works. It was originally intended to form an episode in a grand epic-dramatic work, to commemorate the military fame of Napoleon Bonaparte, and to bear the title, The Beturn of the First Consul from his Italian Campaign. As the victorious general passed (in the drama) through the portals of Notre Dame the Ambrosian hymn of praise, as the Te Deum has been called, would resound from all sides. To produce the effect of a com- plete invasion of the cathedral by musical forces, Berlioz prescribes a triple chorus, composed of two choirs of three parts each, and a third of children's voices, which sometimes double the sopranos and sometimes the tenors of the mixed choirs. The Banner March, which comes at the close of the hymn, was to be played as the flags of the victorious troops were brought to the high altar, and there consecrated by the attendant priests. Berlioz's score is char- acteristic in the number and variety of instruments demanded. There are actually prescribed one hundred and one instruments of the violin family, twelve harps, sixteen each in wood-wind and brass-wind groups, and six per- cussion; in all, at least one hundred and fifty-one players being needed. There is also an organ part, obligato. The composer directs the orchestra and chorus to be placed at the end of the church opposite that occupied by the organ, and the choir of children's voices to be set on a platform above the orchestra. The composer, however, concedes that not all these conditions are practicable in concert performances, and explicitly says that the choir of children may be altogether dispensed with. " When, in 1855, the first international exhibition in Paris was about to be opened, the occasion seemed a fitting opportunity for a production of the woi'k. It was accordingly brought out on a magnificent scale — orchestra of one hundred and sixty, six hundred children's voices, two choirs of one hun- dred voices each, in all nine hundred and sixty performers, in the Church of Saint Eustache, under the direction of the composer. By chance, the work gave emphasis to the occasion, — a thanksgiving service in recognition of the escape of Napoleon III. from assassination two days before. Berlioz subse- quently directed performances of portions of the hymn — Tibi Omnes in the Palais de 1' Industrie, Paris, Judex Crederis at Baden-Baden, and several num- bers at Boideaux. The composition slumbered after the death of Berlioz (1869) until a revival was attempted at Bordeaux in 1883. On May 24, 1884, it was performed at Weimar, at the jubilee meeting of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein, and this was its first complete presentation in Ger- many. Mr. August Manns brought it out at' a concert for his own benefit, in the Crystal Palace, London, on April 18, 1885. It has had but one performance in America, namely, by the Apollo Musical Club of Chicago, Dec. 1, 1887." Jan. 29. Second concert of the season. Paine's Nativity (second time) preceded " a musical problem by Berlioz," as one of the news- paper critics called the Te Deum, given by the Society for the first time. " Not being able to solve the problem," continues the same critic ( and manj' others seem to have been in the same predicament) , " we took our enjoyment in the first half of the programme." Mr. Paine's beautiful setting of a large portion of Milton's Christmas HISTOEY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 489 hymn was heard with all the admiration that it won at its first hearing at the triennial festival for which it was composed. Miss Gertrude Franklin sang the solos. The chorus is said to have lacked volume, being somewhat obscured by the orchestra, enlarged for the Te Deum. The latter work, it will be seen, was not given on the vast orchestral and choral scale intended by the composer. The orchestra, instead of one hundred and sixty, had sixty-five instruments. The chorus had three hundred and sixty-three voices ; and the six hundred children's voices were represented by thirty-nine boys. The Banner March, after the hymn, had but a single harp to do duty in dumb show for tlie twelve harps prescribed by Berlioz. After the confes- sion frankly made above, the historian cannot offer an opinion, either on the intrinsic merits of the work or on the quality of the perform- ance. The opening number, Te Deum laudamus (for two three-part choirs, with a third in unison for boys), seems to have been sung fairly well ; and the same is said of No. 2, Tibi Omnes. Nos. 3 and 4, Dignare, Domine, and Christe, Bex Glorice, went '* admirably" on the part of the sopranos, but " execrably" on that of the tenors and basses. The prayer, for tenor solo. No. 5, Te ergo qucesumus, was sung by Mr. William H. Fessenden, " in a thoroughly artistic man- ner, and with admirable expressiveness." No. 6, the final chorus, Judex crederis, is reported to have been sung with spirit and with power. Of the composition itself, one, after hearing, writes : " It is all so strong, manly, and noble ; its effects are attained so' easily, and it stands as so majestic a whole, that to pick it to pieces and analyze it were wellnigh- futile now." To another, "the work seemed noisy, blatant, vulgar, eccentric, and abounding in instrumental and vocal sensationalism, directed towards the production of mere color effect, sometimes grotesque, sometimes impressive, but seldom clear. Every- where is heard the profound master of orchestral resources, but nowhere is heard a bar that seems to spring spontaneously from a sincere emotion." ..." On one point we are not in the slightest doubt, and that is, that the work is supremely difficult, and that the chorus found it a verj' hard task to stagger under the load it was called upon to bear." So the experts differ. For our own part, may we not be allowed to take some comfort in our own negative experi- ence on that occasion, and to think what a good thing it would be were all questionable music endowed with the quality of making itself so easily forgotten? The hall, that evening, it seems, was not crowded, nor was the 490, HISTOKT OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. applause liberal. Receipts, $lj540.50 ; expenses, $1,70?. 02; loss,i 1161.52. ■■./', , ' ■ After this trying encounter with the much-mooted ." problem " ofi Berlioz, the singers could comfort themselves with Dr, Hplmes : — i "But hark! the air again is still, The music is all ground ; ' And silence, like a poultice, comes To heal the blows of sound." , » \ But their poultice was sweeter even than silence. It came in the, shape of Bach's Matthew Pasdon Music, which they were glad to rehearse again for several weeks, in view of an experimental aft^rr, rioon performance. It was given (largely abi;idged, of course) on Sunday afternoon, March 4. But the public did not show a prefer-, ence for afternoons. On Saturday afternoon only one third of the hall was sold, and the audience was eked out by admission tickets given to the chorus. The performance was generally conceded, to be, the best one which the work had yet received in, Boston, The chorus was voluminous, sure and prompt in a.ttack, and moved easily and| steadilj'. The orchestral work was of extraordinary delicacy, witlij nice adjustment to the voices. Mrs. Henrietta BeebcrLawton and. Miss Mary H. How sang conscientiously and correctly, but wi(;h les^^ warmth and vitality than they both had shown before. Miss How lacked physical force. Mrs. Lawton's voice had lost much of it^ brilliancy, and she had dropped into a style more sentimental. Mr. W. .T. Winch, in the narrative tenor recitative, had to save himseljf too much,. resorting to falsetto. Mr. M. W. "Whitney's great bass, voice was not always in tune ; but he sang the music, in the part of, Jesus, and the beautiful " At eventide," with entire simplicity and with nobility of style. Other bass solos were sung by Mr. George Prehn„ (new to Boston, although he had sung in Worcester and New York), with a voice large in compass and in volume, in good tune, yet with a, certain cloudiness, but with earnestness and vigor. The phorus num- , bererl three hundred and sixty-seven (out of a possible four hundred , and twenty-six), the orchestra sixty-seven. The choir of boys,i, fifty-four in number, were from several churches, and were trained by Mr. S. B. Whitney, organist and musical director at the Church , of the Advent. Among the most important omissions was the great , figured choral at the end of the First .Part, — a much worthiei,* , conclusion than the exciting, brilliant chorus, "Ye lightnings, ye , thunders." Expenses, $2,236.95 ; receipts, $1,845.20 ; loss, $391.75,. . The Sunday evenings of the month of March were given to HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 491 rehearsal of Jurlns Maccdboeus, — too little rehearsal, it was thought, inasmuch as the work was new to about half the members of the chorus. It was the Society's seventeenth production of this oratorio, which it had left unsung for nine years. Written to commemorate the battle of Culloden, it is conceived in a happy and triumphant spirit (which perhaps was a little suppressed and solemnized in this performance) ; it has always ranked next to the Messiah and Israel in Egypt in popular favor. If it awakens but a drowsy interest in our modern audiences, " harps of a thousand strings," which have been played upon by Verdis, Gounods, Berlioz, and all the later prophets, it is not altogether nor mainly because of its old and too familiar Handelian cut (which is intrinsically beautiful and noble) so much as it is because of the incomplete condition in which the accompaniments have been left, and in which they are given in every performance of the work to this day. Some Robert Franz has yet to do for them the pious work which has been done for the Messiah and for Bach's jPassivn Music. The chorus sang remarkably well, and the solo singing was above the average. Notably so was that of the tenor, Mr. George J. Parker, and the bass, Mr. Max Heinrich, from New York. Their singing was the salient feature of the concert. Both were heartily admired ; the former for " suavity and polish," the latter for vitality and vigor. " The musicianly quality of Mr. Heinrich's singing caused one to forget the rough dryness of his voice." Miss Emily Winant, in her one absolute solo, sang with noble voice and a majes- tic style. Mrs. Giulia Valda (new to Boston), who had the long and varied soprano part, showed a voice of extended range, but rather hard and unsympathetic, hollow in the lower register, not uniformly sweet in the higher. Her singing had no depth of expression, betrayed bad method, and was unsteady in roulades. In short, she could not be called a Handelian singer. Yet she won favor with the audience. Miss Louise Laine's " sweet and ripe soprano voice came forth most pleasantly in the trio, ' See, the Conquering Hero Comes.' " The chorus numbered three hundred and seventy-nine ; the or- chestra (still from the Boston Symphony), forty-four. Receipts, $2,124.56; expenses, 81,767.01 ; profit, $357.55. This was a period in the councils of the Society of agitation and suggestions of reform, — some only tentative, some (soon to be) practical and final. Already we have seen a trial, and a fruitless one, of a Sunday afternoon instead of evening for a concert. Con- servative habit was too strong. Again {April 24) the Board of Government compared and counted answers received to circulars 492 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. sent out to all the members of the Society and chorus proposing a change of the weekly rehearsal night from Sunday to some week- day evening. It was a question of convenience and preference to the singers. In support of the proposed change were these consid- erations : That Sunday, with so many, was a day of rest ; that many came to the rehearsal already much exhausted by their service in church choirs ; that the railroad and other facilities for getting in and out of town were much curtailed on Sundays. On the other hand were urged : the force of habit ; the comparative peace and leisure, freedom from care, on Sundays ; the multitude of engage- ments and distractions, social, musical, and what not, to which week-day evenings were liable ; and such other considerations as can be easily imagined. The answers to the circulars were as follows : — Whole number sent out 481 In favor of change 153 Against change 221 Neutral 42 So it was wisely concluded to " let well enough alone." Soon wiU come up, irrepressibly, a question which has ruffled the placid sur- face of this record several times already, the question, namely, of letting very bad alone, — that of "weeding out,'' or "purifying" the chorus. The times are almost ripe ! HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 493 CHAPTER XV. SEVENTY-FOURTH SEASON. May 28, 1888, to May 26, 1889. May 28. Annual meeting. President George H. Chickering in the chair. The treasurer reported : — On hand May, 1887 $1,146 19 Income Permanent Fund . 1,275 78 Profits on concerts . 963 49 Other receipts 328 85 $3,714 81 Expense on season $2,385 08 Cost of History No. 3 330 05 2,715 13 On hand ... $999 18 The Permanent Fund was valued at $27,126.75. In his address (which was accepted and a copy requested for the press) President Chickering declined a re-election and withdrew from the active service of the Society, after thu'ty-one years of connection with it on the Board of Government. He eulogized his predecessor, Charles C. Perkins, whose death removed one of the Society's most active and most honored members, and he presented to the library a bust of Mr. Perkins, modelled by Thomas Ball in Florence, an old member of the Society, which was accepted with a vote of thanks. Eemarks were made by some of the members, expressing their appreciation of the debt of the Society to the Chickering family, father and sons, who for forty of the seventy-three years of its ex- istence had held the office of president, and had at all times been actively associated in all its affairs. The following resolutions were passed : — "That the Handel and Haydn Society regret that their president, Mr. George H. Chickering, is unable to accept the re-election which they would have been so glad to give. That they rejoice to have had the privilege of doing honor both to his own personality and to a historic name. That they express anew their appreciation of the numberless courtesies and unfail- ing generosity which have made of the Chickering family their traditional tower of strength." 494 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. The election of oflBcers was as follows : — President. — A. Parker Browne. Vice-President. — John H. Sticknet. Secretary. — Eugene B. Hagar. Treasurer. — M. Grant Danibll. Librarian. — Charles W. Stone. Directors. — David A. Alden, John D. Andrews, William F. Bradbury, George T. Brown, Nathaniel G. Chapin, George F. Daniels, Thomas W. Proctor, Richard S. Whitney. The secretary's amendment to Article XIX. of the By-Laws,' adding : — " The Board of Government may permanently retire from the chorus any members who are not, in the judgment of the Board, qualified to sing in the chorus," was unanimously adopted as amended by adding : — " No member shall be so retired until he has been examined or has had an opportunity to be examined in such manner as the Board shall determine." Article XXII. was then amended, so as to read : — "Any member who has belonged to the Society for twenty successive years, or who has been retired from the chorus by the Board of Government under Article XIX., shall be entitled to an honorary ticket instead of an active chorus ticket! An honorary ticket shall admit the holder to all rehearsals and concerts of the Society, but not to a seat in the chorus at concerts ; and no attendance shall be required of him. A twenty-years' member, though halving previously taken an honorary ticket, may at any time exchange it for a chorus ticket, unless he has been retired from the chorus by the Board of Government under Article XIX. Except as otherwise provided herein and in Articles XVIII. and XIX., a twenty-years' member shall retain all his former rights and privileges and be subject to all other liabilities of membership." ' Thus have the "ripples" of reform, which we have seen occasion-- ally fleeting across the surface of the stream, gathered an irresistible force at last and grown, if not to a tempest, at least to an invigorat- ing northern blast for the clearing up (purification) of the close choral atmosphere. Call it weeding out or ventilation, if you like, a better state of things is certainly at hand. The amendment will be put in force, with what commotion and what beneficial change of air we shall soon see. It remains to append to the record of this annual meeting the careful secretary's "chorus statistics" for 1887-H8 : — HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 495 Tickets. New Members. Sopranos 159 35 Altos Ul 25 Tenors 100 U Basses ....... 114 13 , 5U 87 Average attendance at twenty-eight rehearsals . . . 302 Average attendance at four concerts . . : . . 372 Maximum attendance 380 Minimum attendance 87 A few extracts from the address of the retiring president will doubtless interest the reader. Speaking of his lamented predecessor he said : — "In the tribute paid to the memory of Mr. Perkins in the last annual report by our vice-president he is alluded to as the ' gentleman ' (gentle man). I recently read in Thackeray a description of a gentleman that seemed to me so applicable to Mr. Perkins that I shall quote it : ' Perhaps these [gen- tlemen] are rarer personages than some of us think for. Which of us can point out many such in his circle — men whose aims are generous, whose truth is constant, and not only constant of its kind but elevated in its degree ;: whose want of meanness makes them simple; who can look the world hon-^ estly in the face with an equal manly sympathy for the great and the small? "We all know a hundred whose coats are very well made, and a score who have excellent manners, and one or two happy beings who are what they call in the inner circle, and have shot into the very centre and bull's-eye of the fashion; but of gentlemen, how many? Let us take a little scrap of paper' and each make out his list.' " I am sure, my friends, that your list and mine would be headed with the name of Charles C. Perkins. The death of Mr. Perkins gave me the office of president by inheritance, followed by the time in October, 1886, when you honored me by electing me president. This was done against my wishes, for at the time I was only a convalescent from a very long, painful, and dangerous illness, and one which compelled my absence in search of health. : I accepted it, however, not only as an honor conferred on me but on those of my name who for so many years faithfully served the Society, at the same time, with the knowledge of those who elected me, that, owing to my illness and necessary absence, whilst I accepted the honor of the office, I could not perform its duties. I accepted also with the condition that at the end of that season my term of office should expire I left my case and condition in the hands of a lawyer who is well known in this Society. What information he gave you about my condition, or what arguments he. used at the caucus and election of 1887, I do not know, for at that time I was still absent. Whatever they were, he lost his case, for on my return iu June last I found I had been re-elected. Whilst I appreciated and felt proud of this great' honor and mark of your confidence, 1 regretted it, for I felt that the Society ' needed a president who possessed far more ability than I ever did, and whose 496 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. healtli was more to be relied ou than mine. Hopeful, however, I decided to try to perform the duties devolving on me. I have only been partially suo- cessful, for, during most of the working season, I felt obliged to give up all calls of duty or pleasure that would expose me to the changes and chances •of our climate. For this reason I was absent from the rehearsals and from some of the government meetings." "The following deaths of members have occurred since the last annual meeting : J. Q.' Chace, Dec. 11, 1887, a member twenty-two years ; George W. Hunnewell, Dec. 12, 1887, a member nearly forty- four years; John W. Proc- tor, March 5, 1888, a member thirty-eight years ; Robert H. Clouston, March 23, 1888, a member forty-flve years. The long memberships of the deceased are noteworthy. Also died, Oct. 7, 1887, George James Webb, aged eighty- four, a member from 1830 to 1842, but not a member at the time of his death. He was president of the Society in 1837, 1840, and 1841, during which time he was also conductor, a customary duty for the president to perform in those days, and which, from Mr. Webb's accomplishments as a musician, he was capable of doing in a most satisfactory manner." The address closed with some cogent suggestions on the great and pressing topic of " the purification of the chorus," showing that cases parallel to that of the Society had recently existed in the choral so- cieties of Birmingham and Norwich in England, and how the diffi- culty there was overcome by the adoption of the trenchant measures proposed here. This touched the heart of the problem of chorus reform'; and the practical solution of that problem was destined to be the prominent and distinctive feature of the next year's history of the Handel and Haydn Society. Naturally the movement would and ■did cause some fluttering among some of the oldest and most devoted members of the old Society. There were not a few old men among the tenors and the basses who from their youth up had sung with zeal, if not discretion, in the ranks ; to whom that membership was one of the dearest, proudest associations of their life ; who clung to the connection with a determined loyalty ; by whom no wound would be felt more sensitively than to have that connection severed. It had not been voted, nor proposed, that their connection with the Society should be severed. But what was to be done ? There was no ignor- ing the notorious fact, patent at every concert and rehearsal, that the choral effects were sadly marred by the presence of out-worn and unpleasant voices ; that the ranks contained so-called singers who really could not sing. These had to be eliminated ! But the process was to be conducted in the gentlest way ; all due consideration was to be paid to past services and to intrinsic character and loyalty. If their voices coulil no longer help in chorus, personally they were to HISTORY OF THE HAJfDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 497 be welcomed, honored, cherished in the business and social inter- course of the Society. For this the latter clause of the amendment just passed amply and tenderly provides. At a meeting of the Board of Government, June 25, the "retire- ment of singers " was practically discussed, surveying the field for action. It appeared that about one fifth of the active chorus had joined within five years (the Examining Committee for Membership having had their hands full during those five years), and that about one half had joined within ten years. Accordingly it was voted, that all who would have been members of the chorus at least ten years on the 1st of September, 1888, should be examined as to voice and musical capacity ; that the examination should be conducted by a disinterested professional musician; that those accepted by him should be accepted, and that those rejected by him should have nu appeal to the Beard of Government. Meanwhile the season's work in the way of rehearsal and concert- giving had been laid out accordingly, it would seem, on a limited and comparatively easy scale. Three concerts only were to be undertaken : the Messiah, as usual ; the Requiem of Verdi ; and St. Paul for Easter, April 21, 1889. Sept. 28. At a meeting of the Board the Committee on Examina- tion of Voices reported. They had appointed Mr. Henry M. Aiken, a musician and vocal teacher of great experience, to conduct the ex- amination. In his comparison he had established four grades : 1. The exceptionally good. 2. Satisfactory and useful. 3. Of little value. 4. Bad. In the first grade he found fifty voices, in the second grade, sixteen, in the third, three, in the fourth, twenty- one. Many had not yet presented themselves for examination, and the work would be completed on the 15th of November, 1888. The Board then voted to accept all in grades 1 and 2. Those who paid no attention to the summons of the directors were treated as if they had failed to pass the examination, and were " retired." The result of all this canvassing, examining, and " weeding " was, as stated in the secretary's prospectus for the Seventy -Fourth Season of concerts, the permanent retirement of about seventy-five singers from the chorus ; while new members in large numbers had flocked to take their places. The effect for a time was a sensible contraction of the chorus. Yet the rehearsals in October, ou Verdi's Requiem, showed an average attendance of two hundred and eighty-three singers ; and in Novem- ber, on the Messiah, of three hundred aud forty-two, showing that fresh air was rushing in to supply the vacuum. 498 HISTORY, OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. At Christmas season, Sunday evening, Dec. 23, came the first fruits of the reform. '.in the pei'formance of the Messiah, not, as we have so many times had occasion to say, " as usual," but, under the new con- ditions, with a chorus sifted, winnowed, weeded out, and replenished with fresh, young life and voices in their prime. For the seventy-six old members who had been ' ' retired " between one hundred and thirty and one hundred and forty new ones had been added. The musical public were on the qui vive to test the improvement with their own ears, and many hundreds . of would-be purchasers were turned away from the ticket-ofHce. The Franz orchestration was used again, with a return to the old disposition of the entire vocal portion. An attractive quartet of solo singers was provided . For soprano. Miss Emma Juch, always a favorite in Boston, who sang " devotedly and well, in some of the less taxing numbers with admirable effect," though signs of fatigue and operatic wear and tear were noticed in her voice. Miss Winant and Mr. M. W. Whitney were hardly at their best. Mr. Charges A. Knorr, from Chicago ("the most emi- nent tenor in the West"), had "a sweet, pure, and well-trained voice," sang " with skill, ease, and smoothness," "phrased artisti- cally," and was " delightfully finished " in style, but " not warm in expressiveness," — so we gather from the critics. The trumpet solo was played by Mr. Pierre Miiller, on a genuine trurnpet, not a cornet, " for the first time in a generation." And what of the renovated, chorus ? The Transcript said : ' ' It was up to the emergency. . . . The improvement ran all through, in Shatpness of attack, in clearness in the long roulades, in intonation, quality of tone, and light and shade. And the best of it is, that a chorus that can sing as well as that can be made to sing better still. The Handel and Haydn Society has put Itself Into a condition that makes constant improvement possible ; its chorus is no longer an inert body." A severer critic (in the Gazette) wrote : — • " The result is a splendid choral body, that gives forth a fresh, brilliant, and rich volume of tone, well balanced, and fine in its fulness and sonority. Its exacting work was done with steadiness, precision, and smoothness, and may be praised as mere chorus singing; but It was lacking in color and expressiveness. ... A society with such aspirations should strive to be abreast of the highest contemporary development of musical progress. It has now the opportunity within its grasp. It has given us a fine choral organization, and now let it also give us that ,with which it has hitherto failed to delight us in its choral performances — style, phrasing, color, and expressiveness ; otherwise it will have reorganized its chorus in vain, for fresh voices used without art are only a shade better than worn voices used in the same manner ; the difference being In degree, and not in quality." HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 499 It must be added that the chorus sang this time under one special disadvantage ; they were practically unsupported by an organ. The rats and the November rains had made such havoc with the small instrument provided in place of the Great Organ that no part of it could be used at all except the pedal organ ; no stop in the manuals was available. The orchestra was excellent, though eight first vio- lins were hardly sufficient. The chorus numbered three hundred and ninety-four ; the orchestra, forty-four. Receipts, $2,925.42 ; expenses, $1,952.17; profit, $973.25. 1889. Feb. 24, Sunday evening. The second concert of the season was made to open with the genial and enjoyable motet of Mendelssohn, Hear my Prayer, for soprano solo and chorus. In the beautiful solo, " O for the wings of a dove," Miss Elizabeth C. Ham- lin's pure and lovely voice gave great pleasure, though her intonation was not always true, and she was too much addicted to the use of the portamento. She was well supported by the chorus. Verdi's" Requiem followed. As to the merits of the work itself, there was aboirrEfie same difference of opinion as before. As to the perform- ance, the chorus was thought to have improved upon the gain it had already shown — in the Messiah. The vigor of the new " departure " had by no means spent itself,- but showed a hopeful onward impetus. The solos were sung by Miss Hamlin, less effectively than in the Mendelssohn motet ; Miss Clara Poole, with a full and pleasing con- tralto voice, which sank below the key occasionally ; Mr. A. L. King, the tenor, who took the high notes with steadiness, and was some- what "throaty" in the Ingemisco, but was secure in intonation and adequate in power. Of Mr. Guiseppe Campanari, the Italian basso, " it was easy to see that his experience as an orchestral player (vio- loncellist) stood liim in good stead in his singing ; for no one who is merely a singer could feel the absolute security in such music as the liequiem that he evidently did. . . . His Italian instinct, too, led him to complete sympathy with the style of the music, and he sang it with admirable effect throughout. His phrasing, intonation, and expression were alike fine." Yet his voice was unequal to the lower part of the staff. The orchestra laid itself open to no fault-finding. Mr. Lang made the most of the poor wreck of an organ, which had been partially patched up. The audience filled the hall. Chorus, three hundred and eighty-seven ; orchestra, sixty-five. Receipts, $2,186.60; expenses, $1,927.47; profit, $259.13. The remainder of the season was devoted to the rehearsal and performance at Easter {April 21) of Mendelssohn's *S'(. Paul. 500 HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. There was a great audience, eagerly attentive. The rejuvenation of the chorus was now complete. While seventy-five of the older and devoted members, with declining vocal powers, had been " retired" from active service, nearly two hundred new singers had been added. The chorus, of four hundred and one voices, never sang better. The performance from first to last was regarded as a triumph. Mr. Georg Henschel was the leading power among the solo singers. In spite of his defects in quality of voice, he sang with the greatest breadth of style, .and true dramatic force. Mrs. Henschel's purity and refinement of voice and style won their way, in spite of the lim- ited calibre of her tone- Her "Jerusalem " was marked by repose, dignity, and depth of sentiment. Mr. George J. Parker, tenor, sang "Be thou faithful unto death" with care and taste and beautiful expression. Miss Flora E. Finlayson, her first appearance in ora- torio, had a sweet and uniform contralto voice of not great power, but an excellent vocal method. In " But the Lord is mindful of his own " she hushed the audience to absolute stillness. Mr. Gardner S. Lamson and Mr. Arthur B. Hitchcock, baritones, were excellent in the duet of false witnesses. The orchestra, of fifty-eight instru- ments, mainly of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, played superbly, while the ruined old organ, under the patient hands of Mr. Lang, was a drawback in spite of his mastery. Eeceipts, $2,740.31 ; expenses, $1,765.40; profit, 8974.91. SEVENTY-FIFTH SEASON. May 27, 1889, TO May 26, 1890. May 27. Annual meeting. The usual reports were made and accepted, including the annual address of the president, A. Parker Browne, whose summary of the j^ear's business may speak for all con- cerned. The following extracts cover the chief points. Of the purgation and renovation of the chorus, after enumerating the concerts, he speaks as follows : — " The choral force was powerful, the parts well balanced, the voices fresh and bright, and the execution clear and firm. Much improvement in expres- sion was also noted, and, in fact, the chorus singing was in most cases praised without stint. We may therefore congratulate ourselves that a diffi- cult and delicate duty has been at last performed, and that the results have been so far satisfactory ; but we must remember, what has been so often said during the winter, that these results will be valuable only so far as the efforts which have produced them may be continued. . . . Some of the most enthusiastic praises of your singing have come from the lips of those who have been retired. In the knowledge of this fact I talie great pleasure, for- HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 501 it emphasizes the loyalty and disinterestedness of our older members, and proves that, while we have been increasing the efficiency of the Society we all love, we have done no wrong to those old friends to whose faithfulness in the past we and the public owe so much. " For the first time within my knowledge, our oratorios, this season, have been given with orchestral accompaniment alone, the small but sufficient organ which was placed in the Music Hall after the sale and removal of the Great Organ having been so nearly ruined, by leakage in the roof during the great storm of last November, that only the pedal organ could be used. Of course, not even Mr. Lang could make this sufficient, and indeed it is doubt- ful if many persons in the audience knew that an organ was being played at all. . . . " The total strength of the chorus this year was five hundred and forty-six; that is, so many chorus tickets have been issued, though it is probable that not more than five hundred persons have at any one time held them. This chorus was divided thus : One hundred and seventy sopranos, one hundred and fifty-two altos, one hundred and fifteen tenors, one hundred and nine basses. We need to increase the proportion of basses. . " The average attendance at twenty-nine rehearsals was three hundred and eleven; at three concerts, three hundred and ninety- four; and for all, three hundred and nineteen. The maximum was four hundred and eight, and the minimum ninety-seven, — the former being at a concert and the latter at a rehearsal on a very stormy evening. . "Three members have died during the year : Philip F. Chase, joined March 20, 1877; died Aug. 28, 1888. Frank E. Upham, joined June 6, 1887; died Aug. 11, 1888. Benjamin F. Baker, joined April 16, 1837; died March 11, 1889. Professor Baker was vice-president from 1844 to 1849 inclusive. " An unusual event in connection with our chorus and its discipline merits attention at this time. One of our sopranos. Miss Jane Eosenberger, joined the chorus in the spring of 1868. From November, 1868, to November, 1888, a period of full twenty years, she attended every meeting of the chorus, whether for rehearsal or for performance, and the Board, agreeing with you that such faithfulness merited very full acknowledgment, voted her a hand- some gift, to be paid for from the Society's funds, and this gift — a marble clock — was sent to her at Christmas time, as well as a bouquet at the concert. Such an appropriation of the Society's money was unusual, but there is no danger that a similar expenditure on each similar occasion would seriously impair our finances. "From your treasurer's report, which has been read, and from which you see clearly the present financial condition of the Society, I have extracted its leading features, which, for matters of record, I incorporate in this report : — On hand last May $999 18 Profits of concerts ($973.25, $259.13, $974.91) . 2,207 29 Admission fees 280 00 Loan and sale of music and histories . 84 00 Income Permanent Fund ... . . 1,15453 Carried forward .... ... $4,725 00- 502 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Brought forward $4,725 00 EXPENDITURES. Conductor .... ... |800 00 Organist 300 00 Librarian ... . . 100 00 Doorlceeper . 46 50 Kent Bumstead Hall 580 00 Library 26 2.5 Insurance 81 00 Sundries (secretary, agent, history, etc.) . 1,039 95 2,973 70 Balance on hand $1,751 30 "The value of the Permanent Fund is $27,088 ..'iO. During the past year a bequest has been Inade, by the will of the late Oliver Ditson, of $1,000. This sum remains to be added to the Permanent Fund. Mr. Ditson had been, dur- ing all his long and useful life, a firm friend and helper in all good musical enterprises, and particularly in what concerned the Handel and Haydn Society.. There are those among you who were leaders in the Society when it was less strong than now, and when Mr. Ditson was younger and took a more active part in public afi'airsthan he has of late, and who can speak to you better than I can of his value to us and to music generally ; but I came in early enough to speak of my own knowledge of his warm heart and open hand and purse, to which the Society was many times indebted for substan- tial help in time of need. His splendid public bequests, and particularly, that of $25,000 for the relief of poor and needy musicians, are a monument to his will and power for good, better than anything I can say to you. " The Handel and Haydn Society was organized in 1815, the earliest recorded meeting thereof having been held on March 20 of that year. A con- stitution was adopted April 13, and on the 26th it was signed by forty-four members, and a Board of Government was elected, Thomas Smith Webb being the first president. Next year will bring the seventy-fifth anniversary, and I think you will agree with me that it is our duty to observe that occa- sion by a musical festival, which, if it is to be worthy of the history it commemorates, must present a great programme, greatly performed. " To the Board of Government you to-night elect I recommend early and careful preparation for this celebration, and to the members of the Society I appeal to help on that work by every means in your power. The planning of such an enterprise must be done by a few, but its successful accomplishment can only be brought about by the hearty co-operation of the many. What- ever may be said about our abandonment of the scheme of Triennial Festivals, there can be but one opinion as to tlie propriety of giving one next spring." The Board of Government was then elected, as follows : — President. — A. Parker Browne. Vice-President. — John H. Stickney. Secretary. — Eugene B. Hagar. Treasurer. ^— M. Grant Daniell. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 503 Librarian. — Charles W. Stone. Directors. — William F. Bradbury, Nathaniel G. Chapin, George F. Daniels, Horace B. Fisher, Henry S. Pray, Thomas W. Proctor, Eichard S. Whitney, Sanford C. Chase. June 10. The Board of Government took up in earnest the recommendation above quoted from the president's annual address, and voted to give a Festival in the spring of 1890 (beginning with Easter Sunday, April 6), to celebra,te the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Society (1815). . Voted, To have no concert between Christmas, 1889, and the Festival. Voted, That Carl Zerrahn be conductor, at $1,250, for the season and Festival; B. J. Lang, organist for the same period, at $500; and S. M. Bedington, assistant librarian, at $200. The scheme of the Festival gradually shaped itself in the councils of the Board of Government, and by the end of September was announced in substance to the members by circular. It was to begin on Easter Sunday, A'pril 6, 1890, and extend into the following week, concerts probably not occurring on successive evenings. The works appointed to be given, in four concerts, were : Elijah, Israel in Egypt, The Redemption, Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Parts I. and II.), and a cantata, St. John, written for the occasion by J. C. D. Parker. This scheme embraces the three periods of oratorio composition, as set forth in one of the annual addresses of the late president of the Society, C. C. Perkins, namely, 1. The Bach and Handel period; 2. The middle period, Mendelssohn ; 3. The modern (quasi Ora- torio), Gounod. And to this is added, as modestly representative of our own immediate present, and our own country, Mr. Parker's • St. John. It will be remarked, too, that the scheme avoids one fault, which, as we have hitherto suggested, was one main reason of the financial failure of the Triennial Festivals, — namely, the undertaking to give too great a quantity of music at one time, preoccupying a whole week, — more than any large number of a busy people can find time to attend, and more than they can listen to without exhausted inter- est, or satisfactorily absorb and digest. Now there are to be but four concerts, instead of seven or eight ; and the feast is not to be con- tinuous, but intermittent ; a day of rest between each two sittings. The engagement of suitable solo-singers was not yet complete enough to be announced. But the work of chorus rehearsal began vigorously, and was carried on persistently throughout October and the first half of November, on the works above named. Meanwhile the Messiah 50.4 HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HATDN SOCIETY. had to take its annual turn at Christmas, with several preceding Sunday evenings for rehearsal. Dec. 22. On Sunday evening before Christmas Handel's Messiah was eung by the Society for the eighty-second time. As this is prob- ably the last time that the present historian will be called upon to write about the Messiah , he has made it a point to carefully read all the newspaper criticisms upon that performance which he finds pasted into the ninth and last scrap-book so carefully preserved in the archives by the secretary. These criticisms coincide so essentially, and even so minutely, that it is not diflScult to gather and compound from them a fair conclusion as to the merits of that evening's inter- pretation of the immortal work (at least as now regarded). The chorus, considerably augmented for the Festival so near at hand, sang never better, on the whole. With the exception of now and then slight weakness in attack, it was good in all respects, — far better than the solo singing, on the whole. Both the soprano, Miss Elene B. Kehew, and the contralto, Miss Lilian Carll Smith, were found in- adequate in voice and in expression. The former, timid, uncertain, weak, seemed to have lost her large voice, while what of voice re- mained was often untrue. It was urged by her friends afterwards, however, in excuse for these short-comings, that just before the ora- torio she had been suddenly attacked by the then prevailing form of in- fluenza called "the grip." Miss Smith was pronounced a promising and ambitious young singer, but " too immature in art and in feeling for such music in such a place," " ill at ease and dryly monotonous " in '' He was despised," " over-tame and insipid in the contralto solos, which were sung with much crudeness of style and general weakness in effect," and so on. Mr. William Denison, tenor (from New York), was generally accredited with a pure, sweet voice, of more than ordi- nary power, sure in the upper register, and with good phrasing and excellent method. In " Comfort ye" he was by some thought rather sentimental, but not so in " Thy Rebuke," which is a severer trial of a tenor singer. The honors of the evening (among soloists) were unani- mously ascribed to the bass, Mr. D. Marks Babcock. His" delivery of " Why do the nations so furiously rage " provoked storms of applause. The orchestra, from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, was con- ducted by Mr. Charles M. Loeffler in the absence of Mr. Kneisel. Some said the accompaniment was " rather clumsy.'' The trumpet solo was by Mr. Lafricain, suddenly called upon in the place of Mr. Mueller. Touching the important and much-mooted matter of the orchestral accompaniment, some remarks by Mr. Apthorp in the Transcript seem to be worth reproducing here : — HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 505 " All internal and external evidence is against this sort of vague orches- tral ■whispering which we are still called upon to accept as an accompani- ment to Handel's airs; the only people vcho can logically approve it are the singers, who like it because it allows them to rule the roost, and make the fullest display of their Majesties Themselves, without orchestral com- petition. The whole relationship between voice-part and accompaniment which has obtained so long in modern music, especially in Italian opera, and In which the accompaniment is distinctly relegated to the second place, and the singer, as the saying is, has it all his own way, — this relationship, we say, hardly dates back farther than Gluck. It is diametrically opposed to the musical spirit of Handel's day. In his airs there is no question of ' voice and accompaniment,' in the modern sense; the voice-part, far from being the ruler whom the accompaniment was only to aid and abet, was, at most, ' First among equals,' — like the pope among the bishops. It was but a part in a contvapuntally organized whole, and of little more importance than the other parts ; it was to be distinctly audible, to a certain extent it was to dominate, but not to the point of effacing or extinguishing the others. In Handel's airs the accompaniment has always something of definite importance to say, and should be made to say it with due clearness and emphasis ; the very struc- ture of the music demands this. But, as the fashion of our day goes, we have yet to hear a Handel air accompanied otherwise than if it were a Bellini cavatina, as if the accompaniment had nothing better to do than to ' support the voice.' A little firmness on the conductor's part might remedy this; singers would kick against the pricks for a while, but there is nothing either in the Ten Commandments or the Forty-nine Articles that neces- sarily implies that the omnipotence of singers need be eternal. They have had it their way for a century or so ; now let Music, for once in a while, have it her way. " It may well be doubted, however, whether the desirable result could be obtained by an altered style of playing, alone. A remodelled seating of the orchestra might be necessary. The regular constitution of the modern or- chestra, with its hard-and-fast relation between the strings and wind, is admirably exemplified in the now traditional way of grouping the various classes of instruments on the stage. But Handel's orchestra was far differ- ently constituted, and its peculiar character is not so well shown forth by the present seating of the players. The wind parts, which are often of prime structural importance in the music, are, as a rule, too nearly inaudible, es- pecially the clarinets in Franz's favorite quartet of clarinets and bassoons. You find, in the score that these instruments have exceedingly interesting things to say, but you cannot hear them. Now an experiment costs little ; would it not be well, for once at least, to try the experiment of pushing the whole wooden-wind band farther forward on the stage, up to immediately behind the solo singers, so that they could play freely out into the haU, with- out being veiled by the strings? In Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, or Men- delssohn they should be veiled by the strings ; but in Handel and Bach, they should not. The two styles of orchestral treatment are fundamentally dif- ferent ; and what is good for the one is not good for the other. Wooden- wind that is used chiefiy for coloring is a different thing altogether from vrooden-wind that is treated contrapuntally, in real parts." 506 HISTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. The chorus, in this performance of the Messiah, numbered four hundred and fifteen, the orchestra fifty-four. Receipts, $2,804.04 ; expenses, $1,466.69 ; profit, $1,337.35. 1890. The year opens full of expectation and of preparation for the Festival with which the Society will celebrate the completion of its seventy-fifth year of choral life and work. For that now a clear field lies before it, with nothing to distract. The months of January, February, and March, with the first week in April, were devoted with enthusiasm to industrious rehearsal of the works to be presented upon that occasion. Israel in Egypt, the Christmas Oratorio, Elijah, The Redemption, and St. John share the hours among them in an un- broken and unflagging series of twenty-two rehearsals, often two in one week. The average number of voices present was between three hundred and forty and three hundred and fifty ; and they were live voices ; the dummies and theunmusical ones had been "weeded out," as we have seen. The chorus as a whole felt a new life in itself ; the tuneful body felt clean, felt vigorous, and true to pitch. And while the chorus were rehearsing, the managers, the presi- dent, the indefatigable secretary, on whose shoulders always rests the heaviest burden of responsibility and labor, and the whole Board of Government, had been shaping and arranging and providing. How much anxious forethought, how much courage and self-sacrifice an enterprise of that sort demands ! In due time all was ready. All the difficult and puzzling problems had been solved ; if not solved, tided over. For instance, that vexatious little question of the or- gan, — the persistent effort made by the Society to get that little makeshift instrument removed into a fitter place, the recess behind the Beethoven statue, had failed despite the willingness of the Society to defray a large part of the cost. The Music Hall proprietors re- paired it, put it in decent, passible order where it stood. A new ■ chorus stage was constructed, so that no seats faced each other across the hall from side to side, but all looked out toward the audience. What should be done with the recess back of Beethoven, to make that, and, so far as possible, the whole bald stage end of the hall, look more respectable ? It was decorated after an artistic design by Ipsen, who also happily employed his well-known inventive taste upon the covers of the prospectus and the programmes. Then to fix the prices of admission ? _ It was decided to have three grades of tickets : Season tickets (with reserved seats) at ten, eight, and six dollars ; tickets for the single concert at $2.50, $2.00, and $1.50; for admis- sion (without seat) $1.00. The orchestra (mainly from the Boston HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HADYN SOCIETY. 507 Symphony concerts) was to be on the scale of twelve first and twelve second violins, eight violas, nine 'cellos, and eight double basses. Hardest, most delicate, question of all to settle was that of solo singers. There was a strong desire to procure a new and first-class oratorio tenor ; and the most distinguished English tenor of the day, Mr. Edward Lloyd, the worthy successor, in some respects superior, of Braham and Sims Reeves, was first approached with liberal offers. But after much correspondence the idea was reluctantly and all but finally dismissed as impracticable. At last, however, by a happy joint arrangement with festival managers in Canada and in the West, involving further negotiation with Mr. Llo}"d, it was made for his interest to come to this countrj', and he was engaged to sing in each of the four concerts of the Festival. Edward Lloyd was born of musical parents, in London, March 7, 1845, and received his early musical education in the choir of Westminster Abbey, under James Turk. In 1866 he was appointed tenor singer in the chapel of King's College, Cambridge, which position he resigned in 1867 on being appointed a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, a post which he held about two years. From that time he devoted himself entirely to concert singing. He made his first great success at the Glouces- ter Festival, in 1871, in Bach's St. Matthew Passion Music, and in 1874 won universal admiration by his singing of " Love in her eyes sits playing," at the Handel Festival at the Crystal Palace. This is all that Grove has to tell us of him, except that liis reputation has steadily increased, and that " his voice is a pure tenor of excellent quality, and his style musician-like and finished." But he was here to speak for himself, or, what is better, sing to us. He had already sung once in Cincinnati, fully vindicating the reputation he brought over with him. In his first rehearsal here we understand he placed himself at once in pleasantest relations with the chorus, singing all his part in full voice, and gracefully ready to oblige. The other artists engaged to sing solos were "already favorably known in Boston. Heading the list as "bright particular star" was Mrs. Lilli Lehmann-Kalisch, one of the first soprano artists of the day, not only distinguished in Wagnerian declamation, but also as a singer in the best sense in music of Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. There were three other sopranos : Mrs. Lillian Nordica, Miss Clementine DeVere, and Mrs. Jennie Patrick Walker. For altos there were Mrs. Walter C. Wyman, Miss Emily Winant, and Miss Clara Poole. For tenor (besides Mr. Lloyd), Mr. Herbert O. Johnson. For basses, Mr. Myron W. Whitney, Mr. William Ludwig, and Dr. George R. Clark. 508 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. The sale of season tickets was unprecedented, namely : six hun- dred and twenty-nine at $10, one hundred and ninety-seven at $8.00, one hundred and thirty-three at $6.00, — nine hundred and fifty-nine in all. The possible chorus w.as stated at one hundred and fifty-six sopranos, one hundred and thirty-six contraltos, eighty-four tenors, and one hundred and ten basses, — total, four hundred and eighty- six voices. The active chorus was larger than ever before, though there had been sometimes nominal choruses of more than five hun- dred. Undoubtedly the chorus was better, more effective, than the vSociety could ever boast before. And now for the performance — Easter has arrived. FIRST CONCERT. April 6. Sunday evening. Elijah had lost nothing of its power to draw a crowd. Every seat in the hall was sold, besides four hundred mere admissions, and multitudes were turned away. So great was the crush that, at a hint from the Fire Commissioners, the admissions thereafter were limited to three hundred. The chorus seemed inspired by the occasion and the work they had been through. In all four- voice parts the power and quality of tone was admirable. The tenors, though comparatively small in number, won especial praise ; every voice told, and all were musical and sweet and true. Mr. William Ludwig, in the part of Elijah, created wild enthusiasm by the spirit and Vigor of his impersonation, for his singing was re- markably dramatic ; he threw himself into the role as if he were an actor. His voice showed signs of wear and tear, sometimes requir- ing a little time to steady itself in a note. There was, moreover, a lack of fluency in his rapid passages. But the nobility and pathos of his rendering merited the applause he got. Mr. Edward Lloyd sang with a high, pure, strong tenor voice, of quality refined and rich, and lovely timbre. So refined was his de- livery, so easy and unforced, so quiet and sincere, that few seemed aware of the full power he was putting forth. He seemed wholly absorbed in the expression of the music ; it was the music that pos- sessed him ; the voice was the willing and spontaneous servant. Both technically and artistically he showed the finest skill. He was not strong in the lowest register, and there was a hint of throatiness. Other blemish there was none. If he did not sing with passion, he did sing with a deep, strong, sustained power, and with a beautiful and rare legato. Some of the critics, to be sure, were rather disap- pointed. To them his tones were very throaty, his portamento " fear- fully prominent," and " his enunciation by net means so clear as we HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 509 ■expect from English singers." Another well suggested that '-The leading tenor part in Elijah is not very long nor very grateful, that therefore the public did not have much opportunity to learn more of Mr. Lloyd than that he has a beautiful voice and that he is one of the most artistic singers who has ever been heard in this country." Said another: "His voice seemed a little husky at the opening, but as he reached ' If with all your hearts,' the beautiful mellow quality, the admirable phrasing was clearly manifest, and his ' Then shall the righteous shine ' was the signal for prolonged applause." We must Tvait, to fairly know the singer. But in speaking of the prophet and the new-comer in the oratorio we are postponing homage to the queen and chief soprano of the Festival, Lilli Lehmann. The power and beauty of her voice and her dramatic fire and majesty did not fail her. Yet there was disappoint- ment felt in her singing ; she had been heard here to better advantage before. The scene of the " Widow" was given with great vividness and force; but in "Hear ye, Israel," there was room for improve- ment in the matter of expression ; it was not like Jenny Lind. Miss Clara Poole, the contralto, after a long illness, lacked strength. Her "Oh, rest in the Lord" was taken too fast for true effect. The secondary quartet of soloists (Mrs. Jennie Patrick Walker, Mrs. Walter C. Wyman, Mr. Herbert 0. Johnson, and Dr. George R. Clark) were wholly adequate. The Angel Trio, " Lift thine eyes," and the double quartet, were sung marvellously well. The actual chorus in Elijah numbered four hundred and fifty-nine voices, the orchestra sixty-eight instruments. The receipts were -$4,504.30 ; the expenses (for that single concert), $3,456.65 ; profit, ^1,047.65. SECOND CONCERT. Tuesday evening, April 8. After a day's rest there might have been a keener appetite for music. Yet that evening saw the smallest audience of the four. Two hundred and forty-one seats remained unsold, and the number of mere admissions was but sixty-nine. The attractions of the programme as originally announced had been increased bj' the interpolation, between Bach's Christmas Oratorio (Parts I. and II.) and Mr. J. C. D. Parker's Saint John, of a couple of arias from Haydn's Creation, — one foe Mrs. Lillian Nordica ("On mighty pens"), and one for Mr. Lloyd ("In native worth and honor clad ") . In the Christmas Oratorio, Mrs. Nordica, Miss Winant, and Mr. M. W. Whitney sang for the first time. Mr. Lloyd was at home, 510 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. well seasoned, in the Bach music, and had now an opportunity to show his mastery in that most rare and difficult art, the art of recita- tive ; and there is no recitative so beautiful, so full of pious feeling and expression, so full of art and soul and poetry, as that of Bach. Mr. Lloyd's delivery of the tenor recitatives made a beautiful and deep impression ; it was perhaps more artistic, more appealing and expressive, than any recitative that had been heard in Boston. If his one terribly difficult aria, "Haste, ye sheplierds," cost him a manly and visible struggle, he came out conqueror. The critic of the New York Tribune wrote : — " I have never heard a specimen of Bach singing so perfect as his 'Haste, ye shepherds.' Boston has been a little sceptical about the righteousness of the claim to the great distinction which Mr. Lloyd enjoys, but his work to-night effected a complete conversion. Musical standards are growing more and more confused, as great singers become rarer, and I fancy that Mr. Lloyd's mission in America, just now, is to recall the old ideal of pure sing- ing in the province of oratorio. Popular taste, fed on the virile method of dramatic or heroic tenors, may not find complete satisfaction in his voice or his essentially lyric treatment of the musical text; but it is impossible to escape the charm exerted by the delicious suavity of his manner, the con- sistent quality of his voice, the faultlessness of his phrasing, and, above all, the feeling of repose which is inspired by the impeccable symmetry of his performances." Of the other soloists' in the Bach work, Mrs. Nordica had but a single sentence to declaim ; Miss Winant sang with apparent effort, yet with sympathetic expression, the beautiful " Slumber Song," and Mr. M. W. Whitney was all there, with voice unimpaired, magnifi- cent power, sonority, security, and dignity. The jubilant opening chorus, "Christians, be joyful," moved steadily, and made excellent effect. The chorals, too, all sounded rich, reposeful, and refreshing. But the second of the great choruses, " Glory to God,'' was sung in a tone somewhat ghastly and uncertain, — was it owing to bad man- agement of breath? Fortunately these two parts (out of the six composing the Christmas Oratorio) had been made whole in the mat- ter of instrumentation by Eobert Franz, so that they were in condition for performance. Moreover, the intrinsic beauty of the work, a cer- tain pastoral, poetic charm about it, its fresh and hearty, jubilant appeal, made it one of the best among the hundreds of Bach's master works of choral music to bring before a public here. The exquisite Pastoral Symphony, which opens the second part, and which is hardly ever played as well as it ought to be, went much better than usual this time, and the accompaniments were at least respectable. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 511 In the Intermezzo (so to say) of solos, Mrs. Nordica won great applause in " On mighty pens," although the style of it was "too sophisticated" for Haydn. Her voice, too, sounded rather hard when forced ; but it was a voice of wide range, well trained and true. Mr. Lloyd, in " With native worth," was masterly at all points. He was recalled repeatedly with thunders of applause. Mr. Parker conducted the performance of the Cantata he had written for the- Festival — Saint John — calmly and gracefully, inspir- ing orchestra and singers with his own intentions. Mr. Parker, as a composer, has the merit, not too common in these days, of daring to be simple. His music wins a sympathetic hearing, without trying to astonish, without straining for effect. It is all genuine and sincere. And yet it has refinement, beauty, dignity, impressiveness, the sort of unction that comes from purity and depth of feeling. Even where it is most simple you must own originality. Thus the choral recita- tive with which it begins — a form of . composition characteristic of the structure of the work more or less throughout, — seems at first a very humble style, and quite conventional and service-like ; but it grows upon you ; you find that there is meaning in it, that there is beauty, and a certain fine magnetic power. Moreovei', in the instru- mentation there is taste and. judgment, there is a chaste refinement. It sounded worthy- of the fine orchestra from the Symphony concerts, under the lead of Mr. Kneisel. It was choice, well blended, well contrasted. The composer seemed to move knowingly and easily among the instruments ; nothing confused, or weak, or overdone ; no bloated instrumentation a la Wagner. In several passages the trum- pets speak "with no uncertain sound," spreading abroad a great light. Of the Cantata, and of its performance, the Transcript (W. F. A.) wrote: — "... The composer lias made one innovation, suggested perhaps by some things modern French composers have done, in giving such passages as would have been sung by ' The Evangelist ' to the male chorus (and, later on, to the female chorus) in unison. These passages of choral quasi recitative come in, apparently, almost at random, in the midst of beautifully melodi- ous and poetically suggestive bits of orchestral writing, and with admirable effect, the chorus being supported by full harmony on the organ, while the orchestra goes its own way. The choruses proper are notable for purity of style, and for the just proportion in them between homophonic and contra- puntal writing ; they are, too, especially and highly i-emarkable for a masterly treatment of the voices, for what might be called their ' vocal orchestration.' The quality of tone produced is invariably of the finest. This beauty is also noticeable to a high degree in the quartet, ' Now arc we the sons of God.' If the solos are somewhat less inspiring than the choruses, they still impress one by their beauty of sentiment. 512 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. "... Tills Saint John Is one of the exceedingly few modern sacred works we know of that sound as If the composer thoroughly meant what he wrote. It Impresses one distinctly as a free, spontaneous expression of indi- vidual religious feeling, profound, fervent, and thoroughly sincere. It sounds as if the composer had written it on his knees. " The performance was very fine indeed, chorus and orchestra doing admirably, and Mrs. Nordica, Miss Winant, and Mr. Lloyd vieing with one another in doing full justice to the solos. Be it said, too, that Mr. Parker showed himself to be an excellent conductor, and held all his forces at the tip of his baton." There were sixty-nine in the orchestra and four hundred and twenty-eight in the chorus that evening. The receipts were $3 , 728 . 77 ; expenses, $3,277; profit, $451.26. THIRD CONCERT. Thursday evening, April 10. Gounod's Redemption had its fifth hearing here as given by the old Society. It had not ceased to draw, although the secretary records " the general effect of the oratorio monotonous, in spite of individual moments and movements of beauty and power." And such had been the growing impression for sorne time before as will be found already hinted in these pages. Nevertheless, every seat was sold, and two hundred and thirty mere admissions, — an audience almost as large as that of Sunday evening {Elijah). The chorus were credited with singing finely, although the tenors were accused of " the usual false intonation at certain danger- ous places in Part II." of the trilogy. The only soloist who had any real chance for displaj' was the soprano. Miss Clementine De Vere. Her voice was pure and true, especially in the high notes, reaching the ■ high C with ease ; but her phrasing was not above reproach : there was too much staccato, too much disconnectedness in her style. Yet her bright voice and straightforward manner won her way with the audience. Mr. Lloyd again sang with consummate art, although his part afforded him no chance to stir his audience to enthusiasm. Mr. Ludwig sang the music allotted to Jesus with ten- derness and pathos ; and the other solos, by Mrs. Jennie Patrick Walker, Miss Winant, and Mr. M. W. Whitney, were creditably rendered. Chorus, four hundred and forty-one ; orchestra, seventy-four. Receipts, $4,338.58; expenses, $3,258; profit, $1,079.78. HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 513 FOURTH CONCERT. Sunday evening, April 13. The Festival closed with a grand performance of Handel's grandest choral work, the oratorio Israel in Egypt, — " one mountain chain of colossal choruses and double cho- ruses." All the seats were sold again, and there were two hundred and thirty-three admissions without seats. The solo singers were Miss Clementine DeVere, Miss Clara Poole, Mr. Edward Lloyd, Mr. William Ludwig, and Mr. Myron W. Whitney. The work was pre- sented entire, and with several arias from other works of Handel, cotained in the " Appendix" of the usual editions, interpolated with a view to relieving the monotony of the long stretch of choruses, — a questionable policy at best. If it gave more opportunity to soloists, it marred the unity of style and character with which the work is woven; the interpolations are not of the same cloth, though written by the same man ; he was not one who treated all themes, all characters, alike. In such an oratorio the chorus claims the first and paramount attention Some of the great chorus numbers, notably the double choruses, are the most difficult tasks which Handel has presented to singers. It seems agreed on all hands that this body of four hundred and forty-two voices, remarkably well balanced, trained with utmost zeal and care and energy by Mr. Carl Zerrahn, showed throughout good mettle and endurance ; the volume and quality of tone were never better ; the intonation alwaj-s true ; and there was promptness in attack, clearness and unflagging spirit in the development and carrying thiough of every theme. The choruses descriptive of the plagues of Kgypt were made palpable and vivid, particularly the " Hailstorm" chorus, and "They loathed to drink," and " Darkness, which might be /eft," were wonderfully impressive ; in the latter, Mr. Lang did all that could he done with the damaged and depraved little organ to help out the groping and mysterious modulations. " The horse and his rider," especially where it returns, worked up with all the mastery of Handel, as the sublime finale of the oratorio, was magnificently sung. Mr. Lloyd electrified the audience by his thoroughly artistic, well- nigh perfect rendering of " The enemy said : ' I will pursue.' " Not accustomed (in England) to the low French pitch, which has happily become established here, he had had the piece transposed a half-tone upward. In every point of technique and expression his delivery was masterly ; every tone was pure and musical, every accent true and thrilling. Such singing carries all before it. One writer said : — 514 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. " The bravura passages were given out in a wonderfully clear, smooth, and even way, though the artist was at some disadvantage, owing to the inflexi- bility with which he was followed (?) by the conductor, who. Instead of fol- lowing the singer, in his earnest efforts to push the time in these prolonged and breath-trying figures, held him with a grip of iron to the strict tempo. It needed all of Mr. Lloyd's art and science to prove equal to the rigid strain by which he was thus hampered; but he went through the ordeal successfully. He was rewarded with thunders of applause." Miss De Vere declaimed well the phrases leading in the final chorus (" Sing ye to the Lord," etc.) ; but the other efforts of the two female soloists were dry, labored, ineffective (was it that the music was ungrateful?). Mr. Whitney was in all his glory in the air, " Wave from wave, congealed with wonder." Mr. Ludwig was less success- ful in " He layeth the beams" ; for he was not in his dramatic ele- ment. In the duet of basses, " The Lord is a man of war," the two voices did not blend in timbre, and Mr. Ludwig was not always heard. Yet there was great applause, which fortunately for once failed to enforce a repetition. The orchestra of sixty-seven instru- ments, from the Boston Symphony concerts, led by Mr. Kneisel, did well what was given it to do. But the accompaniments were in a very imperfect state. It was "• putting one's faith to a prettj' severe test to try to argue that that faint, pastoral squeaking of two oboes and a bassoon in many parts of ' The Lord is a man of war ' would have satisfied Handel. Nothing could be more out of keeping with the massive and brilliant character of this mighty duet for two basses than this small piping on three reed instruments ; it is simply comi- cal." Here again a Eobert Franz was wanting to " make whole " the composition, before its full power could tell upon an audience. The receipts of this fourth and last concert of the Festival were $4,338.42; expenses, $3,080.72 ; profit, 11,267.70. In the intermission between the two parts of the oratorio occurred a pleasant episode or intermezzo. Mr. Carl Zerrahn, the conductor, was presented, by the men of the chorus, with a superb edition of, " Musical Instruments : Historic, Rare and Unique," published by A. & C. Black, Edinburgh, costing 850. Only ten hundred and forty copies were printed. It was an elegant volume in folio, having fifty plates, artists' proofs, colored. The collection includes old English instruments, among which is a curious old harp ; Chinese, Japanese, Siamese, arid other instruments. There are old carved violins, spinets, a guitar of tortoise-shell, with the colors richly shown ; instruments with inlaid work of ivory or mother-of-pearl, all finely reproduced ; and representatives of all the families of instruments. HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 515 Each instrument has one or more pages of letter-press, describing it, and giving its history and ownership. Afterwards, the ladies of the chorus presented Mr. Zerrahn with a lafge and elegant basket of flowers. Soon after tlie Festival {May 16) the Board of Directors met; instructed the treasurer to pay over to the trustees of the Permanent Fund the legacy of $1,000, received during the current season under the will of Oliver Ditson, besides S2,000 out of funds in the treasury exclusive of said legacy ; made provision for the preparation of a fifth number, completing Vol I., of the History of the Society, bringing it down to the end of the seventy-fifth season (May, 1890) ; and voted to pay Mr. J. CD. Parker an honorarium, with the thanks of the Society, for composing the cantata St. John for the Festival. The Committee on Examination of Voices reported that, from a total of two hundred and twenty-four voices examined, they had accepted one hundred and sixty-four, namely, sixty-three sopranos (of whom sixty joined the chorus) , forty-five altos (of whom forty-four joined) , twenty tenors (of whom fourteen joined) , and thirty-six basses (of whom thirty joined) . May 26. Annual meeting, A. Parker Browne, president, in the chair. Reports were presented by the treasurer and by the trustees of the Permanent Fund ; a clear summary of both will be found in the annual address of the president below. On motion of Mr. L. B. Barnes, thanks were presented to the retiring secretary, Eugene B. Hagar, Esq., "for his able, arduous, and impartial services for the past seven years ; and that our best wishes go with him for his future prosperity and happiness"; to which resolution Mr. Hagar made grateful response. The Society then proceeded to the election of officers for the ensuing year, as follows : — President. — A. Pakkee Browne (unanimously). Vice-President. — John H. Sticknet. ^ Secretary. — Charles Wellington Stone. Treasurer. — Moses Grant Daniell (unanimously). Librarian. — Eichard S. Whitney. Directors. — John D. Andrews, Herbert H. Bates, Sanford C. Chase, Horace B. Fisher, Eugene B. Hagar, Isaac F. Kingsbury, Frederick E. Long, and Henry S. Pray. From President Browne's address, which was read by him, accepted, and ordered to be printed in pamphlet form for distribution, the fol- ■ lowing copious extracts contain all that is needed to complete the record of the Handel and Haydn Society for the first three quarters 516 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. of a century of its existence. After a glowing but judicial estimate of the success of the Festival, with due credit warmly given to Con- ductor Zerrahn, to the chorus, orchestra, and solo artists, the address proceeds : — "Financially our Festival was a success, and it left a surplus of about $1,500 to be added to our Permanent Fund. This was very gratifying ; for we had laid our plans so liberally that full houses all the time were produc- tive of a, profit of only ten per cent on the expenditure, and we asked for no guarantee fund. If any music festival approaching ours in artistic impor- tance has been given anywhere outside of Boston without such a fund, the fact has escaped my notice. I give here, In a very condensed form, the prominent items in the treasurer's report for the year : — On hand May 26, 1889 Receipts from Ave concerts Oliver Ditson bequest Admission fees . Sale of History Loan of music . Interest Cost of concerts Cost of rehearsals . Printing History (No. 4) Insurance of library New music . Miscellaneous expenses Paid to Permanent Fund Left in hands of treasurer Value of Permanent Fund $1,759 69 19,714 11 1,000 00 225 00 71 25 35 95 40 28 §22,846 28 §14,540 37 . 2,934 00 . 301 90 81 00 . 536 03 279 66 3,000 00 21,672 96 §1.173 32 31,047 37 "You observe here that the welcome bequest of the late Oliver Ditson, referred to in my last report, has since been received, and added to the Per- manent Fund. In each of the years 1886 and 1887 the fund was increased by the gift of $1,000 from an anonymous friend. The only condition ac- companying those gifts was, that while the donor liyed her name should be kept secret. By the death of Miss Rebecca Goddard, which occurred during the year 1889, that injunction was removed. It was not alone in these gen- erous contributions that Miss Goddard's Interest in our work was shown. She was a great lover of oratorio music, and for many years a constant attendant at our concerts, where her evidently keen enjoyment was a source of great interest and pleasure to those subscribers who sat in her vicinity. " The chorus during the season numbered five hundred and sixty-flve, and at the time of the Festival had been reduced, by dismissals and resignations, to HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 517 four hundred and eighty-six, comprising one hundred and fifty-six sopranos, one hundred and thirty-six altos, eighty-four tenoi-s, and one hundred and ten basses. There had been admitted during the year sixty-three sopranos, forty-five altos, fourteen tenors, and twenty-nine basses, a total of one hun- dred and fifty-one. The average attendance at thirty-eight rehearsals was three hundred and forty-three, and at five concerts four hundred and thirty- seven. The maximum attendance was four hundred and fifty-nine at one of the Festival concerts, and the minimum one hundred and seventy-one on one of the very few stormy rehearsal evenings. " The necrology of the Society is as follows : John S. Farlow joined Nov. 17, 1839, died March 24, 1890. He was a director for several seasons, and president in 1855. John B. Pewtress joined Nov. 26, 1853, died Aug. 26, 1889. Martin Draper, Jr., joined Nov. 1, 1866, died Aug. 27, 1889. Ralph H. Sawyer joined May 5, 1883, died April 16, 1890. He was the son of Capt. J. S. Sawyer, who was for several years a director of the Society ; and was a young man of fine character and promise, and universally esteemed. He took part in the performance of Israel in Egypt April 13, and was killed by a fall from his horse three days later. George William Given joined April 11, 1889, died June 30, 1889. William Staunton, D. D., elected honorary member Aug. 17, 1826, died, in New York, Sept. 29, 1889. He was at the time of his death the oldest honorary member. " The determined refusal of our devoted and efficient secretary, Eugene B. Hagar, to be a candidate for re-election, must be regretted by every member of the Society. He has held the office seven years, during all of which time he has been your most prominent and active officer. I have been associated with him during nearly all that time, and, having a pretty intimate acquain- tance with the duties, of the secretaryship, I am able to give a tolerably intel- ligent opinion as to his discharge of those duties. There can be no question that he has been one of the most efficient officers the Society has ever had ; and I take pleasure in making record here of my great esteem for him as a man, my appreciation of his conduct as your secretary, and my sincere regret for his retirement, though that regret is tempered by the knowledge that his experience is stiU to be at your service, though he will be in a less active position." Near its conclusion the address saves the present historian con- siderable labor by casting the following convenient and compre- hensive bird's-eye view over the whole work of the Society, from its beginning, in 1815, to the end of its seventy-fifth year: — "The Society has given six hundred and seventy- five concerts; never less than one, and as many as twenty-two, in one year. It has held nine Festivals in Boston, and taken part in three in New York, in two peace jubilees in Boston, and assisted at a great many public occasions, such as the World's Fair in New York, the dedication of Music Hall, in 1852, and the funeral memprial services in honor of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Abraham Lincoln, and John A. Andrew. 518 HISTOET OF THE HANDEL ANP HAYUN SOCIETr. Total. It has performed The Messiah eighty-two times ; Samson, thirty-three ; Judas Maocaboeus, seventeen; Israel in Egypt, eight; other works of Handel, thirteen 153 Haydn's The Creation, sixty-three ; The Seasons five ; others, nineteen, 87 Mendelssohn's Elijah, forty-seven ; A Hymn of Praise, nineteen ; St. Paul, fourteen ; other works, ten 90 Bach's Passion Music, eight; Christmas Oratorio, three; B Minor Mass (in part), one; A Stronghold Sure, one 13 Beethoven's Mount of Olives, thirteen; Ninth Symphony, seven; Choral Fantasle, one 21 Mozart's Requiem Mass, three ; Twelfth Mass, one . . . i Spohr's Last Judgment, mne; God, Thou Art Oreat, one . .10 Rossini's Stabat Mater, twenty-seven ; Moses in Egypt, forty -five . . 72 Neukoram's David 57 Verdi's Requiem Mass 5 Gounod's Tlie Bedemption 5 The following important works once or twice each : — Bennett's The Woman of Samaria. Berlioz's Te Deum and The Flight into Egypt. Buck's Forty-sixth Psalm. Bruch's Arminius. Costa's Eli and Naaman. Graun's The Death of Jesus. Gounod's Mors et Vita. Hiller's A Song of Victory. Cherubim's Mass in D minor. Rubinstein's The Tower of Babel. Palne's St. Peter and The Nativity. Parker's Redemption Hymn and St. John. Saint-Saens's Noel and The Deluge. Sullivan's 2he Prodigal Son." " Surely this record is most honorable," adds the president, and 'who will not say Amen ! And again heartily to Ms declaration of belief " that our fund will increase tcf such figures that we need never have to think of a work proposed for performance, ' Will it pay expenses ? ' but only, ' Is it the right thing to do ? ' " Here ends this first volume of the " History of the Handel and Haydn Society." Its members " have now to make matter for use by the gentleman or lady of the future who shall write Volume II., which few if any of us will read." OONOERTS 6ITSN BT THB HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY, FBOH ITS FIRST THROUGH ns SEVENTY-FIFTH SEASON. 1. 1816, Dec. 2. 1816, Jan. 7. 8. 16. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. J1E9T SEASON. Fbou Mabch 30, 1815 TO Sept. 2, 1816. 26. Selections Stone CSbapel. 18. " May 80. 1817, April 1. April 3. April 4. April July 9. 1818, Mar. 20. 10. April 2. 11. April 28. 12. May 1. 13. Jane 2. U. July 1. 1818, Nov. 24. Dec. 3. Dec. 25. 1819, Feb. 16. Feb. 23. Mar. 2. April 1. Jnne 22. SECOND ;SEABON. Fbou Sbtt. 2, 1816 TO Sept. 1, 181T. 1st Part of Messiah : Selections : 1st Part of Creation 2nd Part of Messiah : Selections : 2nd Part of Creation . 3rd Part of Messiah : Selections : 3rd Part of Creation Selections Stone ChapeL " First Church. THIRD SEASON. Fbom Sept. 1, 1817 to Sept. 7, 1818. Selections Boylston HaU. FOITETH SEASON. Fboh Sept. 7, 1818 to Sept. 6, 1819. Selections Boylston Hall. Messiah (first time complete) Creation (first time complete) Dettingen Te Deum : Selections Selections CONCERTS GIVEN BT THE FIFTH SEASON. Fbom Sept. 6, 1819 to Sept. 4, 1820. ■is. 1819, Dec. 21. Selections 24. 1820, Feb. 3. " 25. Peb. 22. 26. Mar. 81. Messiah 27. Si. May 2. Selections Boylston Hall. 28. 1820, Nov. W. 29. Dec. 19. 30. 1821, Jan. 16. 31. Feb. 6. 32. Mar. 15. 33. AprU 6. SIXTH SEASON. Fbou Sept. 4, 1820 to Sept. 3, 1821. Selections Boylston Hall Selections : King's Intercession King's Intercession: Selections Fart of Messiah : Selections May 13. Selections S5.. 1821 Oct. 30. .8fi. Dec. 11. 37. Dec. 26. 38. 1822 Jan. 8. 39. Jan. 16. 40. Peb. 19. 41. Mar. 12. 42. Mar. 26. 43. May 31. SEVENTH SEASON. Fbou Sept. 3, 1821 to Sept. 2, 1822. Selections Boylston Hall 44. 1822, Nov. 12. Selections 45. Dec. 10. n 46. 1823 Jan. 28. Creation 47. Feb. 11. It 48. Mar. 25. Selections 49. May 27. (c EIGHTH SEASON. From Sept. 2, 1822 to Sept. 1, 1823. Selections Boylston HaH 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 1828, Nov. 1824, Jan. Feb. Mar. Mar. May NINTH SEASON. From Sept. 1, 1823 to Sept. 6, 1824. 11. Selections Boylston Hall 20. King's Intercession : Selections . . " 24. Selections " 16. Creation << 25. Selections rii-) HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETT. 56. 1824, Dec. 21. 57. 1825, Jan. 25. 58. Peb. 27. 69. Mar. 22. 60. May 3. TENTH SEASON. Feom Sept. 6, 1824 to Sept. 6, 1825. Creation Boylston HaU. King's Intercession : Selections . . " Dettingen Te Deum : Ssleetions . . " Selections " Creation «• 61. 1826, Jan. 31. 62. April 23. 63. June 4. Aug. 2. ELEVENTH SEASON. Fbom Sept. 6, 1826 to Sept. 4, 1826. Selections . .... Selections from Messiah and Creation. Selections Society assists in services, in Faneuil EaJl, commemorating death of Adams and Jefferson. Boylston HaU. TWELFTH SEASON. From Sept. 4, 1826 to Sept. 3, 1827. 64. 1826, Nov. 12. Selections 6S. Dec. 10. (( 66. 1827, Jan. 2. <( 67. Mar. 25. Creation 68. May 13. Selections Boylston nail 69. 1827, Dec. 23. 70. 1828, Feb. 10. 71. Mar. 9. 72. AprU 13. 73. May 25. THIRTEENTH SEASON. Fbom Sept. 3, 1827 to Sept. 1, 1828. Creation .... Selections from Messiah Selections .... Selections from Creation Boylston Hall 74. 1829, Jan. 18. 75. Jan. 25. 76. Mar. 1. 77. AprU 12. FOURTEENTH SEASON. Fbom Sept. 1, 1828 to Sept. 8, 1829. Selections Selections : Haydn Mass in B-Flat Selections Selections : Mozart Mass in C Boylston HaU 78i 1829, Dec. 13. 79. 1880, Jan. 24. 80. Feb. 21. 81. Mar. 21. 82. April 4. 83. June 20. FIFTEENTH SEASON. From Sept. 8, 1829 to Ado. 2, Selections : Selections Creation Selections iiMer Mass aii) Boylstcm HaU. CONCERTS GIVEN BY THE ■Si. 86. 86. 87. 88. SIXTEENTH SEASON. Fbom Aug. 2, 1830 to Ano. 1, 1831. 1830, Sept. 17. Society assists in celebration, in Old South Church, of 200th anniversary of first settlement of Boston. Nov. 21. Selections Boylston Hall. Dec. 26. " " 1831. Mar. 16. " Mar. 27. Selections : Biihler Mass ... " June 6. Selections " SEVENTEENTH SEASON. Fboh Aua. 1, 1831 TO Auo. 6, 1832. 89. 1831, Oct. 2. Creation 90. Nov. 27. Selections : Haydn Mass 91. 1832, Jan. 15. Selections 92. Feb. 26. Selections : Horn's Ode to "Washington, 93. May 20. Selections . . . Boylston Hall. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 1832, Nov. 4. Nov. 18. Dec. 2. Dec, Dec. 1833, Jan. Jan. Feb. Feb. Feb. 9. 30. 6. 27. 3. 10. 24. EIGHTEENTH SEASON. rROU ATia. 6, 18B2 to Acq. 5, 1833. Selections Messiah ft Creation Messiah Mar. 24. Selections : Haydn Mass Mar. 31. " " " April 29. Selections May 12. Benefit of Mrs. Ostinelli. Selections June 23. Selections, in aid of completion of Bunker Hill Monument . Boylston HalL 109. 1833, Oct. 110. Dec. 111. Dec. tl2. Dee. 27. 1. 8. NINETEENTH SEASON. Prom Aua. 5, 1833 to Aca. 4, 1834. Selections . Creation . . ... Boylston HalL Selections from Mount of Olives : Haydn Mass . . . HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 113. 1834, Jan. 12. Selections from Messiah . . . Boylston Hali 114. Jan. 19. " " " ... " Up. Feb. 2. Selections from Mount of Olives: Haydn Mass *' 116. Feb. 9. Selections " 117. Feb. 23. " " 118. Mar. 2. " " 119. Mar. 23. " " 120. April 2% " » 121. May 11. " " 122. May 18. " " 123. June 1. " " TWENTIETH SEASON. fBOH Auo. 4, 1834 TO Aus. 3, 1835. 124. 1834, Oct. 6. Creation Boylston HaU. 125. Oct. 12. " " 126. Oct. 26. Selections " 127. Nov. 2. " " 128. Nov. 23. Haydn Mass : Selections from Mount of Olives " 129. Dec. 28. Messiah " 130. 1835, Jan. 4. " " 131. Jan. 18. Creation " 132. Jan. 25. " " 133. Feb. 22. Horn's Ode to WasMngton : Selec- tions " 134. Mar. 8. Selections •■ 135. Mar. 22. " 136. Mar. 29. " " 137. April 12. " .... . " 138. May 17. Selections from Creation and David . " TWENTT-ITRST SEASON. Ebou Aus. 3, 1835 to Avs. 1, 1836. 139. 1835, Oct. 11. Creation Boylston HalJ 140. Oct. 18. " 141. Nov. 15. Haydn Mass : Selections from Mount of OUves " 142. Dec. 27. Messiah " 143. 1836, Jan. .10. " " 144. Feb. 28. David 145. Mar. 6. " . . • ... " 146. Mar. 13. " 147. Mar. 20. " " 148. Mar. 27. " 149. AprU 3. " " 160. AprU 10. " . . . . (y) CONCERTS GIVEN BY THE 181. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 168. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167. 1836, Oct. Oct. Oct. Nov. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. 1837, Jan. Jan. Jan. Feb. Feb. Feb. 2. 9. 80. 6. i. 11. 18. 25. 1. 8. 29. S. 12. 26. TWENTY-SECOND SEASON. From Auo. 1, 1836 to Aug. 7, 1837. Horn's Bemission of Stn Creation David Hessiali n Selections {t It David . Mar. 19. Haydn Mass April 9. David . May 28. " Horn's Bemission of Sin. Buylstos HdU. 168. 169. 170. 171. 172. 173. 174. 175. 176. 177. 178. 1837, Oct. Oct. Dec. Dec. Dec. Dec. 1R38, Jan. Feb. Feb. Mar. April 15. 3. 10. 17. 31. 7. 18. 25. 11. 1. TWENTY-THIRD SEASON. From Aug. 7, 1837 to Mat 28, 1838. Neukomm's Hymn of the Night Selections Selections : Neukomm's Hymn of the Night David . Messiah Creation Selections Selections : Hymn of the Night Boylston Hall. TWENTY-FOURTH SEASON. I'BOM Mat 28, 1838 to Mat 27, 1839. 179. 1838, Oct. 7. Creation 180. Oct. 14. 181. Nov. 4. Bomberg's Power of Song: Selectiouij, 182. Nov. 11. " " " " 183. Dec. 2. Selections 184. Dec. 30. Messiah 185. 1839, Feb. 24. David . 186. ^ Mar. 8. " 187. Mar. 10. " l.vi) Bovlston Hall. HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETT. 188. 1839, Mar. 17. 189. Mar. 24. 190. Mar. 31. 191. AprU 7. 192. AprU 14. 193. AprU 21. 194. April 28. 195. May 5. David Boylston Hall. TWENTY-FIFTH SEASON. From Mat 27, 1839 DO Mat 27, 184». 196. 1839, Sept. 29. Selections Boylston HalL 197. Oct. 6. (( " 198. Oct. 20. David . " 199. Oct. 27. tt (( 200. Nov. 3. " ti 201. Dec. 29. Messiah Melodeon. 202. 1840, Jan. 5. (1 203. Jan. 19. Creation 204. Jan, 26. (( 205. Feb. 2. (t 206. Peb. 16. David . 207. Feb. 23. It 208. Mar. 1. ti 209. Mar. 29. Selections 210. April 6. " 211. 212. 213. 214. 215. 216. 217. 218. 219. 220. 221. 222. 223. 224. 225. 226. 227. 228. TWENTY-SIXTH SEASON. From Mat 27, 1840 to Mat 31, 1841. 1840, Oct. 4. Mt. Sinai Oct. 11. " Oct. 18. Oct. 25. Nov. 1. " Nov. 20. Selections Nov. 22. Nov. 24. " Nov. 26. " Dec. 27. Selections from Messiah 1841, Jan. 3. (( Jan. 17. David . Jan. 24. (( Jan. 31. Selections Feb. 7. ti Feb. 14. Mt. Sinai Mar. 28. Creation May 2. David . Melodeon. fvu) CONCERTS GrVEX BY THE 229. 230. 231. 232. 233. 234. 235. 236. 237. 238. 239. 240. 241. 242. 243. 244. 245. 1841, Aug. 21. Aug. 22. Aug. 25. Aug. 27. Nov. 14. Dec. 12. Dec. 19. Dec. 26. 1842, Feb. 6. Feb. 13. Mar. 20. Mar. 27. April 3. April 10. April 17. April 24. May 1. TWENTY-SEVENTH SEASON. Fbov Mat 31, 1841 to Mat 30, 1842. Mt. SiBai .... Messiah .... Selections .... Melodeon. Spohr's cantata, God, Thou art Great : Romberg's Transient and Eternal . Selections Messiah Selections Spohr's Last Judgment David TWENTY-EIGHTH SEASON. From Mat 30, 1842 to Mat 29, 1843. 246. 1842, Oct. 16. David . Ikfelodeon 247. Oct. 23. tt (( 248. Nov. 6. K (t 249. Nov. 13. C( (( 250. Dec. 11. Selections tt 251. Dec. 25. Messiah ft 252. 1843, Jan. 1. ti . May 7. 626. May 8. 627. May 9. FIFTH TRIENNIAIj FESTIVAL. St. Paul The Last Judgment : Stabat Mater Selections, including Mendelssohn's Forty-Third Psalm : Ninth Symphony. Verdi Requiem First two parts of The Seasons : The Deluge Selections, including Utrecht Jubilate . Solomon (.XX) ■ Music Hall- 628. 1880 Oct. 629. Oct. 630. Dec. 631. 1881, Jan. HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETT. SIXTY-SIXTH SEASON. From Mat 31, 1880 to May 30, 1881. 11. Dedication of Tremont Temple. Messiah Tremont Temple. 13. Dedication of Tremont Temple. Elijah 26. Messiah Music Hall. 30. Mozart Requiem : Mount of Olives . " 632. April 15. St. Matthew Passion Music (not entire). " 633. April 17. St Paul SIXTY-SEVENTH SEASON. Fbom May 30, 1881 to Mat 29, 1882. •634. 1881, Dec. 25. Messiah Music Hall. 635. 1882, Feb. 5. Graun's The Death of Jesus : Hymn of Praise " Mar. 27. Society assists in concert in aid of op- pressed Jews fleeing from Russia. Mechanics Hall. ■636. April 7. St. Matthew Passion Music (entire, in two concerts) Music Hall. •637. April 9. , Creation .... . . " May 5. Society assists in performance of Israel in Egypt with societies from New Yorli, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, under Theodore Thomas. 7th Regiment Armory, New York. SIXTY-EIGHTH SEASON. From Mat 29, 1882 to Mat 28, 1863. ■638. 1882, Nov. 13. Creation Mechanics Hall. 689. Dec. 24. Messiah Music Hall. fi40. 1883, Jan. 29. The Redemption " 641. Mar. 23. " " . ' . . . 642. Mar. 25. Elijah SIXTH ,TRIENNIAIi FESTIVAL. 643. 1883, May 1. Ode on St. Cecilia's Day : Tower of Babel Music Hall. 644. May 2. The Nativity : Cherubini Mass in D minor . 645. May 3. Selections, including Choral Fantasia . 64fi. May 3. The Redemption 6i7. May 4. Arminius 648. May 5. Selections 649. May G. Messiah (xxi) CONCERTS GIVEN BY THE SIXTY-NINTH SEASON. Feom Mat 28, 1883 to Mat 26, 1884. 650. 1883, Ncv. 11. Celebration of four hundredth anniver- . sary of birih of Martin Luther. Bach's A Stronghold Sure : Hymn of Praise Music Hall 651,, .Dec. 25. Messiah " 652. ,1884, Feb. 26. The Redemption Mechanics HaU.. 653. J April 11. St. Matthew Passion Music (not entire) ., Music Hall. 654. ' April 13. St. Paul ...'.... SEVENTIETH SEASON. From May 26, 1884 to Mat 25, 1885. Season devoted to works of Handel, in observance of bi-centenary of his birth, Feb. 23, 1685. 65E. 1884, Dec. 21. Messiah '. Music HalU 656. 1885, Feb. 22. Handel Selections " 657. AprU 5, Israel in Egypt ..... " SEVENTY-FIRST SEASON. J'KOM Mat 25, 1886 to Mat 31, 1886. 668. 1885, Dec. 27. Messiah (Franz edition) . ' . . Music Hall, 659. 1886, Jan. 24. Mors et Vita (entire, in two concerts). " 660. April 25. Elijah " SEVENTY-SECOND SEASON. Prom Mat 31, 1886 to Mat 30, 1887. 661. 1886, Dec. 26. Messiah Music HalU 662 1887, Feb. 27. Selections from Bach Mass in B minor : Song of Victory " 663. April 10. Creation " SEVENTY-THIRD SEASON. From Mat 30, 1887 to Mat 28, 1888. 664. 1887, Dec. 26. Messiah Music llalU 665. 1888, Jan. 29. BerWoz' s Te Deum : The Nativity . . " 666. Mar. 4. St. Matthew Passion Music (not entire). " 607. April 1. Judas Maccabseus ..... " SEVENTY-FOURTH SEASON. From Mat 28, 1888 to Mat 27,1889. 668. 1888, Deo. 23. Messiah . .... . . . Music HaU. 669. 1889, Feb. Si. Verdi Requiem :' Mendelssohn's Hear My Prayer ,■ . . " 670. April 21. St. Paul . . . , .^ .. . . " , (xxii) HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. BEVENTT-FIFTH SEASON. Fbom Mat 27, 1889 to May 26, 1890. «71. 1889, Dec. 22. Messiah Music Hall. SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL. 672. 1890, April 6. Elijali Music Hall. 673. April 8. First two parts of Bach's Christmas Oratorio : Selections : Parker's St. John " 674. April 10. The Redemption " 675. April 13. Israel in Egypt " (xxilil CHARTER Commontaialt^ of S^assadjus^lts. In the year of oar Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixteen. AN ACT TO LSrCORPORATE THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Sec. 1. Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Sepresentatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That Thomas Smith Webb, Amasa "Winchester, Nathaniel Tucker, and Matthew Stanley Parker, together with such as may become associated with them, and their successors, be, and they hereby are, incorporated and made a body politic and Corporation, for the purpose of extending the knowledge and improving the style of performance of Church music, by the name of the Handel and Haydn Society; and by that name the}' may sue and be sued, have a common seal, and the same at pleasure alter, and be entitled to all the powers and privileges incident to aggregate Corporations. Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That the said Corporation shall at "their first or some subsequent meeting choose a President, Treasurer, and such other ofHcers as they may deem necessary or convenient for the government and regulation of said Corporation and its property. They shall have the power to make standing rules or by-laws for pre- scribing the terms of office and duties of their officers, for regulating the terms on which persons may be admitted and continue members of the Corporation, and generally for the regulation of their affairs. Sec. .3. Be it further enacted, That the said Corporation shall be capable of taking and holding real estate not exceeding the value of fifty thousand dollars, and personal estate not exceeding the value of fifty thousand dollars, which estate shall never be divided among the members of the Corporation, but shall descend to their successors, subject only to the payment of the just debts to be incurred by said Corporation. Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That Thomas Smith Webb shall have power to call the first meeting of said Corporation, by appointing a time and place therefor, and giving notice thereof to the other persons named and incorporated by this act. In the House of Bepresentatives, February 7, 1816. This bill having had three several readings passed to be enacted. TIMOTHY BIGELOW, Speaker. In Senate, February 9, 1816.- This bill having had two several read- ings passed to be enacted. JOHN PHILLIPS, President. February 9th, 1816. Approved. CALEB STEONG. (1) BY-LA^VS, 1890 ARTICLE I, The Government of the Society shall consist of a President, Vice- President, Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, and eight Directors, who shall together constitute a Board of Management, to be denominated " The Board of Government of the Handel and Haydn Society." ARTICLE II. There shall be an Annual Meeting of the Society for the choice of officers and for the transaction of business, on the fourth Monday in May; notice of such meeting, or any adjournment thereof , being given by publication in two or more daily papers published in Boston, and also by personal notification of members where deemed advisable. The election shall be by ballot, and all the Directors may be voted for on one ticket. No person shall serve as a Director for more than three years in succession. In case the Society should fail to choose any of its officers on the aforesaid day, the meeting may be adjourned from time to time, until such election is completed, provided, how- ever, that no more than two weeks shall intervene from one adjourn- ment to another. Any vacancy occurring in the Board of Government may be filled by the Society at any business meeting, notice that such vacancy is to be filled being advertised in the same manner as herein provided for calling annual or special Weetings. ARTICLE III. Twenty members shall constitute a quorum of the Society for the transaction of business; but a less number shall be competent to ad- journ for business to a day certain. ARTICLE IV. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Society and of the Board of Government. At all meetings for the performance of music, the President may conduct the same, or a suitable Musical Director may be appointed at the discretion of the Board. It shall be the duty of the President, or of the Secretary if the (2) BY-LAWS, 1890. President shall so direct, to.make a report in writing, at the Annual Meeting, of the operations of the Society for the preceding year, with such suggestions and comments as the best interests of the Society may seem to require. ARTICLE V. In case of the death, resignation, disability, or absence of the Presi- dent, the Vice-President shall perform his duties; in case of the death, resignation, disability, or absence of both these offioers, the senior- Director shall succeed to the same duties ; and, in the absence of both President and Vice-President at any meeting of the Society or of the Board of Government, the senior Director present shall preside. Senior, as here used, shall mean earliest in office in point of time; and, if at any time this deiinition shall apply equally to two or more Directors, then as among such Directors seniority in age shall govern. ARTICLE VI. The Board of Government shall s.uperintend the prudential affairs of the Society; they shall have power to judge of the qualifications of candidates ; to select music for performances ; to provide suitable accommodations for the Society ; to remit arrearages due from mem- bers, when, in their opinion, the circumstances of such members re- quire it, or the best interests of the Society will be promoted thereby; they shall, for the purposes of the agreement between the Handel and Haydn Society of the one part, and J. Baxter Upham, John P. Put- nam, and Nathaniel Harris of the other part, dated May 28, 186&, and creating a Permanent Fund, constitute the Board of Trustees of the Corporation, and shall have power to transfer such surplus moneys of the Society as may not be needed for current expenses to the Trustees of said Permanent Fund, to be by them held and disposed of in accordance with the terms of said agreement ; and shall generally transact, manage, and direct everything which the interests of the Society may in their judgment demand, which is not specially pro- vided for in these articles. It shall be their duty to assemble together as often as occasion may require, and the necessary, expenses incurred at such meetings shall be defrayed from the funds of the Society. ARTICLE VII. , The Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the Society and of the Board of Government, give all necessary notices of meet- ings, receive all moneys, and pay the same over to the Treasurer, taking his receipt therefor, and, when required by the Board of Gov- ernment, shall report the amount of such payments. (3) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. ARTICLE VIII. The Treasurer shall take charge of the Society's funds,- and when- ever required shall render an account to the Board of Government of all moneys received, and of the state of the treasury. He shall, at the Annual Meeting, make a report of his receipts and disbursements as Treasurer, which report, duly audited, shall be placed on the files of the Society. ARTICLE IX. It shall be the duty of the Librarian to keep a catalogue of the music and musical instruments belonging to the Society, and to have the general care and superintendence of the library. He shall, at the Annual Meeting of the Society, make a report of the condition of the property under his care. ARTICLE X. The right to assess or tax members of the Society for any purpose whatever shall rest exclusively with the Society, and the Board of Government shall in no case exercise this.power, unless authorized so to do by a special resolution of the Society. ARTICLE XL Public performances of sacred music may be given whenever the Board of Government shall determine. ARTICLE XII. Meetings of the Society for business shall be holden whenever it is deemed expedient by the President, or a majority of the Board of Government, or whenever twenty or more members shall make a request in writing to the President therefor ; notice of such business or special meeting to be given as provided in Article II. There shall be weekly meetings for the practice of music ; but one or more of them may be omitted, or additional ones appointed, whenever thi' Board of Government shall so order. Rehearsal may be suspended during the months of May, June, July, August, and September, at the discretion of the Board. ARTICLE XIII. No debate or discussion of any question shall be allowed at any meeting held for the practice of music. (4) BY-LAWS, 1890. ARTICLE XIV. No person shall be admitted a member of Ihe Society, unless he be approved by the Board of Government, and receive at least three fourths of the votes of all the members present and voting at the time he is balloted for ; and no person shall be entitled to any of the privileges of the Society until he shall have signed the by-laws and paid an admission fee of five dollars ; and, if he shall, without satis- factory excuse, neglect so to qualify for thirty days from the time of his election, he shall be considered as having declined to become a member. ARTICLE XV. Two thirds of the members present at any business meeting shall be competent to expel any member who shall be guilty of a breach of the by-laws of the Society, or of any misconduct or disorderly behavior. ARTICLE XVI. Any member desirous of . withdrawing from the Society shall make known his desire, in writing, to the Board of Government, and they shall grant his request, provided he shall first discharge and pay all debts that may be due from him to the Society. ARTICLE XVII. Any member refusing or neglecting for the space of three months to pay money due from him to the Society, shall, at the discretion of the Board of Government, forfeit his membership, but shall, never- theless, be liable to pay all such arrears. ARTICLE XVIII. No member of the Society, except an ofBcer, or member of twenty years' standing, or member retired from the chorus by the Board of Government under Article XIX, when present at any public perform- ance or rehearsal, shall absent himself from his seat in the choir, on penalty of forfeiture of his membership. ARTICLE XIX. Any member, except one of twenty years' standing, or one retired from the chorus by the Board of Government as hereinafter provided, who shall absent himself from the meetings of the Society for two . successive regular rehearsals, and who fails to give to the Board of (5) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Government, through the Secretary, or the Superintendent of bis part of the chorus, a satisfactory excuse for his absence, may be sus- pended from his rights and privileges by a vote of the Board of Gov- ernment. The Secretary shall, if practicable, notify such member of his suspension ; and the member so suspended may, upon application to the Board of Government, be reinstated, if his reasons for absence are deemed sufficient. If they are deemed insufficient, the Board may give such applicant a final discharge, either honorable or dis- honorable, as the circumstances of the case may warrant. The Board of Government maj', previous to any concert in which the Society is advertised to take part, suspend from participation in such concert such members as are, in their opinion, incompetent to sing the music to be performed. The Board of Government may permanently retire from the chorus any members that are not, in the judgment of the Board, qualified to sing in the chorus. No member shall be so retired until he has been examined or had an opportunity to be examined in such manner as the Board shall determine. ARTICLE XX. No forfeiture of membership shall take place under the XVIIth, XVIIIth, or XlXth Articles, without the concurrence of a majority of the whole Board of Government; and in each case of forfeiture, the member shall be notified thereof by the Secretary in writing. ARTICLE XXI. Any member of the Board of Government who shall be absent from three successive meetings of the Board, without giving a satisfactory excuse, may be reported to the Society at any regular meeting, and the Society may declare his seat at the Board vacant. ARTICLE XXII. Any member who has belonged to the Society for twenty successive years, or who has been retired from the chorus by the Board of Government under Article XIX, shall be entitled to an honorary- ticket instead of an active chorus ticket. An honorary ticket shall admit the holder to all rehearsals and concerts of the Society, but not to a seat in the chorus at concerts; and no attendance shall be required of him. A twenty years' member, though having previously taken an honorary ticket, may at any time exchange it for a chorus ticket nnless he has been retired from the chorus by the Board of Govern- ment under Article XIX. Except as otherwise provided herein and (6) BY-LAWS, 1890. in Articles XVIII and XIX, a twenty years' member or a retired member shall retain all his former rights and privileges, and be sub- ject to all other liabilities of membership. ARTICLE XXIII. The Board of Government may admit as honorary members of the Society such persons as are distinguished for their love of music, or their zeal for the promotion of the objects of this institution; which honorary members shall be entitled to attend all the Society's re- hearsals and public performances, but shall have no other rights or privileges of membership. ARTICLE XXIV. These articles may be altered or amended by a two thirds vote of the members present and voting thereon at any legal meeting of the Society; the proposed amendments or alterations having been read at a previous meeting, and notice of the same having been given in the call for the meeting. (7) DEED OF TRUST CREATING A PERMANENT FUND This agreement, made this 28th day of May A. D. 1866, by and between the Handel and Haydn Society, a Corporation created by and existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, of the one part, and J. Baxter Upham and John P. Putnam, of Boston in the County of Suffolk, and Xath'l Harris, of Brookline in the County of Norfolk, in said Commonwealth, of the second part, wit- nesseth: — That, whereas the said Corporation is desirous of creating for its benefit a " Permanent Fund," the foundation of which shall be the net proceeds from the Great Festival of May, 1865, to be increased from the profits of future concerts and festivals and from the dona- tions and legacies of their friends and patrons, or otherwise; And whereas the parties of the second part have agreed to hold the said Fund, with its future income and increase, for the benefit of the said Corporation, in the manner hereinafter specified: Now, therefore, the said Corporation do hereby give and transfer to the said Upham, Putnam, and Harris the sum of two thousand dol- lars, being the net proceeds, to the Society, of said Festival, and its increase up to this present time, to be held by them, the said Upham, Putnam, and Harris and their successors, in trust, for the following uses and purposes, to wit: — 1st. They shall invest and at their discretion sell and re-invest the said sum of two thousand dollars in such manner and at such times as they shall deem judicious. 2nd. They shall pay over the annual income from said Fund to the said Corporation, if the said Corporation shall notify them in writing, ten days at least before the date of their "annual meeting in each year, of their wish so to receive it, and a majority of the Trustees shall assent thereto; otherwise they shall add such income from year to year to the " Permanent Fund," and shall invest it and re-invest it in the same manner as is above provided in reference to the principal. 3rd. They shall in the same manner invest and re-invest and dis- pose of the income of any future contributions to the said " Perma- nent Fund " which shall be made from time to time, by the said So- ciety, by donations from its friends and patrons, by legacies, or other- wise. 4th. They shall make a written report to the said Corporation, at its annual meeting, of the condition of said Fund, with such details as to its management as the said Corporation shall direct. They shall, if required by the said Corporation, give satisfactory bonds for the faithful discharge of their trust. Sth. The President of the said Corporation, for the time being, shall at all times be one of the said Trustees, and the said J. Baxter Upham, (8) DEED OF TRUST. the now President of the Corporation, shall continue one of said Trustees so long as he shall continue to he such President, and when- ever he shall cease to be such President, his duties and obligations as one of the said Trustees shall cease, and whoever shall be chosen in his place as President of the said Corporation, shall be his successor in said Trust, and shall continue such until another shall be chosen such President, — and so on, so long as this Trust shall exist. The other two Trustees shall continue such until the decease or resignation of either of them, and in case of such decease or resigna- tion the vacancy shall be filled by the Board of Trustees of said Cor- poration ; — provided that no person shall be elected to fill such vacancy who is a member of the Corporation other than the President afore- said. 6th. During the time that any vacancy exists in the Board of Trustees the remaining Trustee or Trustees shall have the same power as though the Board was full. 7th. This Trust shall continue until such time as the said Corpora- tion, by the unanimous vote of its Board of Trustees for the time be- ing, and a majority of the Trustees of the " Permanent Pund " shall revoke it: — and, in such event, the said Trustees shall transfer and convey to the said Corporation all the property, of every kind, held by them in trust, — the same to be thereafter held by the said Corpora- tion absolutely, for its own use and benefit, free and discharged from all trusts, — provided, that in no case shall this Fund ever be divided among the members of said Corporation; — and by such action the said Trustees, and each of them, shall be released and discharged from all further duties or liabilities in the premises. 8th. And the said Trustees, parties of the second part, hereby sig- nify their acceptance of said Trust and hereby agree with the said Corporation to discharge all their duties and obligations herein con- tained, to the best of their judgment and discretion, being responsible only, each one, for his own wilful neglect, and not for the default or neglect of either of his associates. In Testimony of all which, the said parties have hereto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written, the said Corpo- ration acting herein by Loring B. Barnes, its Secretary, thereto duly authorized by a vote of the Corporation. r seaiofthe -| HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY, I Handel and Haydn dnl Society. J By LoRiNG B. Baknes, Secty. [SEAL] J. BAXTEE upham ^ [seal] J. P. PUTNAM ( Trustees. [SEAL] NATH'L HAREIS ) SUBSEQUENT TRUSTEES. May 16, 1881. Henry P. Kidder, vice Nathaniel Harris, de- ceased. Sept. 11, 1882. Henry L Higginson, vice John P. Putnam, deceased. April 15, 1886. Oliver W. Peabody, vice. Henry P. Kidder, deceased. (9) OFFIO ERS 1815 (April) Pres. Thomas Smith Webb. V. Pres. Amasa Winchester. /Vec' Matthew S. Parker, Treas. Nathaniel Tucker. Trustees. Blnathan Duren, Benjamin Holt, Joseph Bailey, Charles Nolen, EbenezerWithington, John Docid, Jacob Guild, William K. Phipps, Samuel H. Parker. 1815 (September) Pres. Thomas Smith Webb. V. Pres. Amasa Winchester. Sec. Matthew S. Parker. Treas. Nathaniel Tucker. Trustees. Elnathan Duren, Benjamin Holt, Joseph Bailey, Charles Nolen, John Dodd, Bbenezer Withington, Jacob Guild, William K. Phipps, Jonathan Huntington. 1816 Pres. Thomas Smith Webb. | See. Matthew S. Parker. V. Pres. Amasa Winchester. Treas. Nathaniel Tucker. Trustees. Elnathan Duren, Benjamin Holt, Joseph Bailey, John Dodd, Ebenezer Withington, Jacob Guild, Jonathan Huntington, William Row- son, Otis Everett. 1817 Pres. Benjamin Holt. V. Pres. Joseph Bailey. Seo. Matthew S. Parker. Treas. Nathaniel Tucker. Trustees. Amasa Winchester, John Dodd, Jacob Guild, Jonathan Huntington, William Kowson, Otis Everett, Ebenezer Frothingham, Luke Hemmenway, William CofiSn, Jr. 1818 Pres. Benjamin Holt. V. Pres. Amasa Winchester. Seo. Matthew S. Parker. Treas. Nathaniel Tucker. Trustees. Joseph Bailey, John Dodd, Jacob Guild, Jonathan Hunting- ton, William Rowson, Otis Everett, Luke Hemmenway, William Coffin, Jr., Ebenezer Erothlngham. 1819 Pres. Amasa Winchester. V. Pres. John Dodd. Sec. Joseph Lkwis. Treas. Ebenezer Frothingham. Trustees. Benjamin Holt, Jacob Guild, Nathaniel Tucker, Matthew S. Parker, Jonathan Huntington, William Rowson, Otis Everett, William Coffin, Jr., Robert Rogerson. (10) OFFICEKS. 1820 Pres. Amasa Winchester. V. Pres. John Dodd. Sec. Joseph Lewis. Treas. Ebenezek Frothingham. Benjamin Holt, Jacob Guild, Nathaniel Tucker, Matthew S. Parker, Jonathan Huntington, William Rowson, Otis Everett, William Co£9n, Jr., Robert Rogerson. 1821 Pres. Amasa Winchester. V. Pres. John Dodd. Sec. Joseph Lewis. Treas. Ebenezer Frothingham. Trustees. Benjamin Holt, Jacob Guild, Nathaniel Tucker, Matthew S. Parker, William Rowson, Otis Everett, William Coffin, Jr., Kobert Roger- son, Allen Whitman. 1822 Pres. Amasa Winchester. V. Pres. John Dodd. Sec. Joseph Lewis. TYeas. Ebenezer Frothingham. Trustees. Benjamin Holt, Jacob Guild, Matthew S. Parker, William Rowson, Otis Everett, William Coffin, Jr., Robert Rogerson, Allen Whit- man, Nathaniel Ford. 1823 Pres. Robert Rogerson. V. Pres. Joseph Bailey. Sec. Joseph Lewis. IVeas. William Coffin, Jr. Trustees. Amasa Winchester, John Dodd, Benjamin Holt, Matthew S. Parker, William Rowson, Otis Everett, Allen Whitman, Nathaniel Ford, Ebenezer Frothingham. 1824 *Pres. . V. Pres. Joshua Stone. Sec. Joseph Lewis. Treas. William Coffin, Jr. Trustees. Matthew S. Parker, Otis Everett, William Rowson, Allen Whitman, Nathaniel Ford, Ebenezer Frothingham, James Sharp, Joshua Vose, Samuel Sanger. 1825 Pres. Amasa Winchester. | Sec. Joseph Lewjs. V. Pres. Joshua Stone. J Treas. William Coffin, Jr. Trustees. Matthew S. Parker, John Dodd, Otis Everett, Allen Whit- man, Samuel Sanger, James Sharp, Joshua Vose, Nathaniel Ford, Bela Hunting. 1826 Pres. Amasa Winchester. I Sec. Joseph Lewis. V. Pres. John Dodd. | Treas. William Coffin. Trustees. Matthew S. Parker, Otis Everett, Allen Whitman, Nathaniel Ford, Samuel Sanger, James Sharp, Joshua Vose, Bela Hunting, Samuel Richardson. * Amasa Winchester was elected, but he declined, and the vacancy was not tilled. (11 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1827 Pres. Lowell Mason. V. Pres. John Dodd. See. Joseph Lewis. Treas. William Coffin. Trustees. Amasa Winchester, James Sharp, Saranel Richardson, Mat- thew S. Parker, Bela Hunting, Allen Whitman, Joshua Vose, Samuel Topliff, Samuel Sanger. 1828 Pres. Lowell Mason. V. Pres. James Shakp. Sec. Joseph Lewis. Treas. William Coffin. Trustees. Matthew S. Parker, Increase S.Withington, Allen Whitman, Bela Hunting, Christopher Gore, Samuel H. Jenks, James Clark, John H. Pray, Jubal Howe. ■ 1829 Pres. Lowell Mason. V. Pres. Samuel Richardson. Sec, Joseph Lewis. Treas. William Coffin. Trustees. James Sharp, Matthew S. Parker, Increase S. Withington, Samuel H. Jenks, Bela Hunting, James Clark, John H. Pray, Jubal Howe, George W. Edmands. 1830 Pres. Lowell Masi>n. V. Pres. Samuel Richardson. Sec. Joseph Lewis. Treas. William Coffin. Trustees. James Sharp, Matthew S. Parker, Increase S. Withington, Samuel H. Jenks, James Clark, Bela Hunting, John H. Pray, Jeremiah Washburn, George W. Edmands. 1831 Pres. Lowell Mason. V. Pres. Increase S. Withington. Sec. Joseph Lewis. Treas. William Coffin. Trustees. James Sharp, Jeremiah Washburn, George W. Edmands, John G. Brown, John G. Roberts, Jonas Chlckering, George Bacon, Fran- cis C. Whiston, Lorenzo S. Cragin. 1832 Pres. Samuel Richardson. V. Pres. Charles W. Lovett. Sec. Joseph Lewis. Treas. William Coffin. Trustees. Lowell Mason, Jeremiah Washburn, Jonas Chickering, John G. Roberts, George Bacon, Nathaniel Clark, John G. Brown, Matthew S. Parker, Jonathan Bowditch, Jr. 1833 Pres. Samuel Richardson. V. Pres. Charles W. Lovett. Sec. Joseph Lkwis. Treas. William Coffin. Trustees. Jonas Chickering, John G. Roberts, George Bacon, Nathaniel Clark, John G. Brown, Matthew S. Parker, Jonathan Bowditch, Jr., George. W. Edmands, John H. Pray. (12) OFFICERS. 1834 Fres. Charles W. Lovett. V. Pres. Jonas Chickebisg. Sec. Joseph Lewis. Treas. William Cofbin. Trustees. Matthew S. Parker, Jonathan Bowditch, Jr., Nathaniel Clark, Abner Bourne, James Shafp, James Clark, Martin Wilder, Calvin BuUard, Jubal Howe. 1835 Pres. CHAULE8W;_L0JtBTT. V. PresTJONAsCHICKERING. Sec. Allen Whitman. Treas. William Coffin. 'Trustees. James Sharp, James Clark, Calvin Bullard, Martin Wilder, Silas P. Meriam, William Learriard, Isaac K. Wise, John Bigelow. Pres. Bartholomew Brown. V. Pres. George James Wkbb. 1836 Sec. J. Hill Belchek. Treas. Abner Bourne. Trustees. John Dodd, William Coffin, Jeremiah Washburn, John G. Roberts, Silas P. Meriam, Nathaniel Clark, Jonathan Bowditch, Jr., Calvin Bullard, Isaac K. Wise. 1837 Pres. George James Webb. V. Pres. Jonas Chickering. Sec. William Learxard. Treas. Ab.ver Bourne. Trustees. John Dodd, James Clark, William Coffin, Jeremiah Wash- burn, George W. Edmands, Silas P. Meriam, Nathaniel Clark, John G. Roberts, Jubal Howe. 1838 Pres. Charles Zkunbr. v. JVes.EPHRAiM L. Frothingham. Sec. William Lkarnard. Treas. Abnek Bourne. Trustees. John Dodd, Nathaniel Clark, Jeremiah Washburn, William Coffin, Matthew S. Parker, John H. Pray, George W. Edmands, George Hews, John G. Roberts. 1839 Pres. Increase S. Withington. V. Pres. George Hews. Sec. William Leaknard. Treas. Abnkr Bourne. Trustees. Matthew S. Parker, John H. Pray, George W. Edmands, John Bigelow, Beniamln C. Harris, David Tillson, Ezra Weston, Jr., Silas P. Meriam, Isaac Cary. Pees. George James Webb. V. Pres. George Hews. 1840 Sec. William Learnard. f Treas. Abner Bourne. XTrustees. Increase S. Withington, Matthew S. Parker, John H. Pray, John Bigelow, Benjamin C. Harris, David Tillson, Ezra Weston, Jr., Silas P. Meriam, I.«aac Cary. * Joseph Clark was elected, but he declined acllng, and never met with the board. t July 21, 1840, Matthew B. Parker was elected itr place of Abner Bourne, deceased. i July 21, 1840, John F. Payson was elected in place of Matthew S. Parker, elected treasurer. (13) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Pres. George James Webb. V. Pres. George Hews. 1841 Sec. William Lbarnard. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Trustees. Increase S. Wlthington, David Tillson, Silas P. Merliim, Isaac Cary, John F. Payson, Samuel Topliff, Eber Taylor, Dexter W. Wis- well, Lorenzo S. Cragin. 1842 Pres. Jambs Clark. V. Pres. George Hews. iSec. William Lbaenard. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Trustees. Lorenzo S. Cragin, John P. Payson, Samuel Topliff, Eber Taylor, Dexter W. Wiswell, Abraham O. Bigelow, George W. Lloya, George W. Edmands, Jonathan E. Hazelton. 1843 Pres. Jonas Chickbring. V. Pres. Josiah Q. Wethekbee. Sec. Abraham O. Bigelow. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Trustees. Lorenzo S. Cragin, Samuel Topliff, Eber Taylor, Dexter W. Wiswell, George W. Edmands, Jonathan E. Hazelton, N. Cushing Byram, John G. Faxon, Silas P. Meriam. 1844 Pres. Jonas Chickering. V. Pres. Benjamin F. Baker. Sec. Abraham O. Bigelow. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Trustees. James Clark, Samuel Richardson, George W. Edmands, Silas P. Meriam, John H. Pray, Jonathan E. Hazelton, N. Cushing Byram, Marshall Johnson, Jr., John G. Faxon. 1845 Pres. Jonas Chickering. V. Pres. Benjamin F. Baker. Sec. Abraham O. Bigelow. Treas. Matthew S. PArfKER. Trustees. James Clark, Samuel Richardson, John H. Pray, Silas P. Meriam, Marshall Johnson, Jr., N. Cushing Byram, John Dodd, James L. Oliver, Josiah L. Fairbanks. 1846 Pres. Jonas Chickbrisg. V. Pres. Benjamin F. Baker. Sec. Abraham O. Bigelow. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Trustees. James Clark, Samuel Richardson, John H. Pray, John Dodd, Josiah L. Fairbanks, Jonathan E. Hazelton, James S. Sweet, David Carter, Alfred H. Pratt. 1847 Pres. Jonas Chickering. I Sec. Josejph G. Cakes. V. Pres. Benjamin F. Baker. Treas. Matthew S. Paukeh. Trustees. John Dodd, David Carter, Josiah L. Fairbanks, Jonathan E. Hazelton, James S. Sweet, Abraham O. Bigelow, Silas P. Meriam, George Hews, Thomas Ball. (14) OFFICERS. 1848 Pres. Jonas Chickering. V. Pres. Benjamin F. Baker. Sec. Joseph G. Oakbs. T7-eas. Matthew S. Paukkr. Triistees. Jonathan E. Hazelton, James S. Sweet, Abraham O. Bigelow, Silas P. Meriam, George Hews, Thomas Ball, Samuel C. Ware, Harvey Jewell, Dexter W. Wiswell. 1849 Pres. Jonas Chickering. V. Pres. Benjamin F. Baker. Sec. Joseph G. Oakes. Treas. Matthew S. Parkkr. Trustees. Abraham O. Bigelow, Silas P. Meriam, George Hews, Dex- ter W. Wiswell, Harvey Jewell, 'Samuel C.Ware, John Dodd, Josiah L. Fairbanks, N. Gushing Byram. 1850 Pres. Charles C. Perkins. V. Pres. Abraham O. Bigelow. Sec. Joseph 6. Oakes. Treas. Matthew b. Parker. Trustees. John Dodd, John S. Farlow, Isaac Gary, Josiah L. Fairbanks, Thomas B. Frothiiigham, John G. Hovey, Harvey Jewell, Dexter W. Wis- well, Samuel C. 'tt'are. 1851 Pres. Abraham O. Bigelow. V. Pres. John S. Farlow. Sec. Joseph G. Oakes. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Trustees. John Dodd, Josiah L. Fairbanks, Thomas B. Frothingham, John G. Hovey, Henry Pierce, Charles P. Adams, Horace L. Hazelton, John A. Nowell, Oren J. Faxon. 1852 Pres. Silas P. Meriam. | Sec. Josiah L. Fairbanks. V. Pres. John Dodd. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Trustees. Thomas B. Frothingham, Oren J. Faxon, Charles P. Adams, John A. Nowell, Horace L. Hazelton, John F. Payson, John H. Pray, George Hews, J. Haskell Long. 1853 Pres. Silas P. Meriam. V. Pres. John Dodd. Sec. josiah L. Fairbanks. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Trustees. Oren J. Faxon, Charles P. Adams, John A. Nowell, Horace L. Hazelton, John F. Payson, John H. Pray, George Hews, J. Haskell Long, Loring B. Barnes. 1854 Sec. Horace L. Hazelton. Pres. Josiah L. Fairbanks. V. Pres. George Hews. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Trustees. John H. Pray, John F. Payson, J. Haskell Long, Loring B. Barnes, John Dodd, Irving I. Harwood, Joseph H. Ward, Edward Faxon, George W. Hunnewell. (15) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1855 Pi-es. John S. Farlow. i See. Horace L. Hazklton. V. Pres. George Hews. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Libr'n. Oken J. Faxon. Trustees. Joseph H. Ward, Loring B. Barnes, George W. Hunnewell, Edward Faxon, Irving I.Harwood, Silas P. Meriam, Abraham O. Bigelow, Dexter W. "Wiswell. 1856 Pres. C. Francis Chickbring. V. Pres. George Hews. Sec. LoKiNG B. Barnes. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Libr'n. Ores J. Faxon. Trustees. Horace L. Hazelton, John S. Farlow, Joseph H. Ward, George W. Hunneweil, Edward Faxon, Uexter W. Wisweli, Abraham O. Bigelow, James P. Draper. 1857 Pres. C. Francis Chickbring. | Sec. Loring B. Barnes. F. Pres. George Hews. | Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Libr'n. Edward Faxon. Trustees. John S. Farlow, Horace L. Hazelton, Abraham O. Bigelow, James P. Draper, Dexter W. Wiswell, Oren J. Faxon, George H. Chicker- ing, Theron J. Dale. 1858 Pres. Thomas E. Chickbring. V. Pres. George Hews. Sec. Loring B. Barnes. Treas. Matthew S. P.4.rkbr. Libr'n. EbwARD Faxon. Trustees. John S. Farlow, James P. Draper, Theron J. Dale, George H. Chickering, Oren J. Faxon, John A. Nowell, George Fisher, Horace L. Hazelton. 1859 Pres. Thomas E. Chickering. V. Pres. Oren J. Faxon. Sec. Loring B. Barnes. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Libr'n. George H. Chickhring. Trustees. Theron J.. Dale, John A. Nowell, George Fisher, George W. Hunnewell, Thomas I). Morris, Theophilus Stover, Joseph W. Foster, Ephraim Wildes. 1860 Pres. Thomas E. Chickbring. V. Pres. Ores J. Faxon. Sec. Loring B. Barnes. Treas. Matihew S. Parker. Libr'n. George II. Chickering. Trustees. George Fisher, John A. Nowell, George W. Hunnewell, Thomas D. Morris, Theophilus Stover, Ephraim Wildes, George W. Palmer, James Rice. C16) OFFICERS. 1861 Pres. J. Baxter Upham. V. Pres. Orbn J. Faxon. Sec. LoRiNG B. Barnes. Treas. Ma.tthbw S. Parker. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Trustees. George W. Hunnewell, Thomas D. Morris, TheopWlus Stover, Ephraim "Wildes, George W. Palmer, James Rice, ■William Hawes, H. Farnam Smith. 1862 Pres. J. Baxter Upham. I Sec. Loring B. Barnes. V. Pres. Oren J. Faxon. | Treas._ Matthew S. Parker. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Trustees. George W. Palmer, James Rice, William Hawes, H. Farnam Smith, George P. Carter, Isaac Woodward, William 0. Perkins, S. Lothrop Thorndlke. 1863 Pres. J. Baxter Upham. V. Pres. Oren J. Faxon. Sec. Loring B. Barnes. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Trustees. William Hawes, H. Farnam Smith, George P. Carter, Isaac Woodward, William 0. Perkins, S. Lothrop Thorndike, Edward Faxon, George Fisher. 1864 Pres. J. Baxter Upham. V. Pres. Oren J; Faxon. Sec. Loring B. Barnes. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Trustees. George P. Carter, Isaac Woodward, William 0. Perkins, S. Lothrop Thorndike, Edward Faxon, George Fisher, George W. Palmer, John S. Sawyer. 1865 Pres. J. Baxter Upham. j Sec. Loring B. Barnes. V. Pres. Oren J. Faxon. Treas. Matthew S. Parker. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Trustees. Edward Faxon, George Fisher, George W. Palmer, John S. Sawyer, Charles H. Johnson, Frank N. Scott, O. Trank Clark, George Hews. 1866 Pres. J. Baxter Upham. V. Pres. Oren J. Faxon. Sec. Loring B. Barnes. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Trustees. John S. Sawyer, George Hews, Charles H. Johnson, Frank N. Scott, O. Frank Clark, S. Lothrop ThorndiSe, Levi W. Johnson, John A. No well. (17) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1867 Pres. J. Bajctek Upham. V. Pres. Obbn J. Faxon. Sec. LoKiNG B. Barnes. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Directors. O. Frank Clark, Theophilus Stover, Charles H. Webb, D. Lyman Laws, EUery C. Danlell, Robert M. Lowell, Stephen Somes, Oliver B. Lothrop. 1868 Pres. J. Baxter Upham. | Sec. Loring B. Barnes. V. Pres. Ores J. Faxon. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Directors. Theophilus Stover, D. Lyman Laws, EUery C. Daniell, Robert M. Lowell, Oliver B. Lothrop, George Fisher, Samuel Jennison, Levi W. Johnson. 1869 Pres. J. Baxter Upham. V. Pres. Oren J. Faxon. Sec. LoBiNG B. Barnes. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Directors. D. Lyman Laws, Ellery C. Daniell, Robert M. Lowell, Oliver B. Lothrop, George Fisher, Samuel Jennison, Levi W. Johnson, William H. Wadleigh. 1870 Pres. J. Baxter Upham. V. Pres. S. Lothrop Thorndike. Sec. Loking B. Barnes. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. George H. Chickering. Directors. Samuel Jennison, George Fisher, Levi W. Johnson, A. Parker Browne, Edward Faxon, T. Frank Reed, Charles H. Johnson, William O. Perkins. 1871 Pres. Loring B. Barnes. V. Pres. George H. Chickering. Sec. A. Parker Browne. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. Charles H. Johnson. Directors Edward Faxon, T. Frank Reed, William O.Perkins, Horace B. Fisher, W. Dexter Wiswell, William H. Wadleigh, William F. Brad- bury, Curtis Brown. 1872 Pres. Loring B. Barnes. V. Pres. George H. Chickering. Sec. A. Parker Browne. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. Charles H. Johnson. Directors. William F. Bradbury, Curtis Brown, W. Dexter Wiswell Horace B. Fisher, D. Lyman Laws, John H. Stickney, Edward Faxon, George W. Warren. (18) OFFICEKS. 1873 Pres. LoRiNG B. Barnks. | Sec. A. Parker Browne. V. Pres. George H. Chickbring. 1 Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. Charles H. Johnson. Directors. John H. Stickney, Horace B. Fisher, William F. Bradbury, W. Dexter Wiswell, D. Lyman Laws, Curtis Brown, George W. Warren, William O. Perkins. 1874 Pres. LoRiNG B. Barnes. V. Pres. George H. Chickering. Sec. A. Parker Browne. Treas. George W. Palmer. Zibr'n. Williaji F. Bradbury. Directors. John H. Stickney, D. Lyman Laws, William 0. Perkins, George W. Warren, M. Grant Daniell, Richard Beeching, John S. Sawyer, Francis H. Jenks. 1875 Pres. Charles C. Perklss. V. JVes. George H. Chickering. Sec. A. Parker Browne. Treas. George W. Pai-mer. Libr'n. John H. Stickney. Directors. William 0. Perkins, John S. Sawyer, Elchard Beeching, Francis H. Jenks, M. Grant Daniell, Arthur H. Wilson, William F. Brad- bury, George T. Brown. 1876 Pres. Charles C. Pbriqns. Sec. A. Parker Browne. V. Pres. George H. Chickering. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. John H. Stickney. Directors. John S. Sawyer, Richard Beeching, Francis H. Jenks, William F. Bradbury, M. Grant Daniell, Arthur H. Wilson, George T. Brown, John D. Andrews. 1877 Pres. Charles C. Perkins. 1 Sec. A. Parker Browne. V. Pres. George H. Chickering. | Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. John H. Stickney. Directors. George T. Brown, John D. Andrews, William F. Bradbury, Arthur H. Wilson, Albert K. Hebard, Henry G. Carey, John A. Pray, Koger S. Rundlett. 1878 Sec. A. Parker Browne. Treas. George W. Palmer. Pres. Charles C. Perkins. F. Pres. George H. Chickering. Libr'n. John H. Stickney. Directors. John D. Andrews, Henry G. Carey, Albert K. Hebard, Roger S. Rundlett, John A. Pray, M. Grant Daniell, Francis H. Jenk«. George F. Milliken. (19) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1879 Pres. Charles C. Pbrkins. V. Pres. Gbokge H. Chickehing. Sec. A. PARKBIt Bkowne. Treas. Gboege W. Palmer. Libr'n. John H. Sticknby. Directors. M. Grant Daniell, Henry G. Carey, Albert K. Hebard, Roger S. Rundlett, George F. Milliken, Francis H. Jenks, John A. Pray, Henry M. Brown. 1880 Pres. Charles C. Perkins. V. Pres. George H. Chickering. See. A. Parker Browne. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. John H. Stickney. Directors. Henry M. Brown, M. Grant Daniell, Francis H. Jenks, George F. Milliken, George T. Brown, Eugene B. Hagar, William S. FenoUosa, Josiah Wheelwright. 1881 jFVes. Charles C. Perkins. V. Pres. George H. Chickering. See. A. Parker Browne. Treas. George W. Palmer. Libr'n. John H. Stickney. Directors. George T. Brown, Josiah Wheelwright, Henry M. Brown, Eugene B. Hagar, William S. Fenollosa, D. Lyman Laws, John D. Andrews, Roger S. Rundlett. 1882 Pres. Charles C. Perkins. V. Pres. George H. Chickering. Sec. A. Parker Browne. Treas. M. Grant Daniell. Libr'n. John H. Stickney. Directors. John D. Andrews, William F. Bradbury, George T. Brown, William S. Fenollosa, Eugene B. Hagar, D. Lyman Laws, Roger S. Rund- lett, Josiah Wheelwright. 1883 Pres. Charles C. Perkins. V. Pres. George H. Chickering. Sec. Eugene B. Hagar. Treas. M. Grant Daniell. Libr'n. John H. Stickney. Directors. Roger S. Rundlett, D. Lyman Laws, John D. Andrews, Henry G. Carey, George F. Daniels, A. Parker Browne, Francis H. Jenks, Charles W. Stone. 1884 Sec. Eugene B. Hagae. Pres. Charles C. Perkins. V. Pres. George H. Chickering Treas. M. Grant Daniell. Libr'n. Francis H. Jenks. Directors. Horace P. Blackman, A. Parker Browne, Henry G. Carey, John S. Sawyer, Albert K. Hebard, John H. Stickney, George F. Daniels, Charles W. Stone. (20) OFFICERS. 1885 Pees. Charles C. Pkrkins. V. Pres. George II. Chickering. Sec. EuGENK B. Hagar. Treas. M. Grant Danikll. Libr'n. Francis H. Jenks. Directors. Horace P. Blackman, A. Parker Browne, Henry G. Carey, George ¥. Daniels, Albert K. Hebard, John S. Sawyer, John H. Stickney, Charles W. Stone. Pi-es. Charles C. Perkins. V. Pres. George H. Chickering 1886 Sec. Eugene B. Hagar. Treas. M. Grant Danieli Libr'n. Francis H. Jenks. Directors. David A. Alden, John D. Andrews, Horace P. Blackman, George T. Brown, Albert K. Hebard, Roger S. Eundlett, John S. Sawyer, John H. Stickney. 1887 Fres. George H. Chickering. V. Pres. A. Parker Browne. Sec. Eugene B. Hagar. Treas. M. Grant Daniell. Libr'n. Charles W. Stone. Directors. David A. Alden, John D. Andrews, William F. Bradbury, George T. Brown, Nathaniel G. Chapin, George F. Daniels, Thomas W. Proctor, Richard S. Whitney. 1888 Pres. A. Parker Browne. V. Pres. John H. Stickney. Sec. Eugene B. Hagar. Treas. M. Grant Daniell. Libr'n. Charles W. Stone. Directors. David A. Alden, John D. Andrews, William F. Bradbury, George T. Brown, Nathaniel G. Chapin, George F. Daniels, Thomas W. Proctor, Richard S. Whitney. 1889 Fres. A. Parker Browne. | Sec. Eugene B. Hagar. V. Pres. John H. Stickney. Treas. M. Grant Daniell. Libr'n. Charles W. Stone. Directors. William F. Bradbury, Nathaniel G. Chapin, Sanford C. Chase, George F. Daniels, Horace B. Fisher, Henry S. Pray, Thomas W. Proctor, Richard S. Whitney. (21) MEMBERS CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED .The first 114 names according to membership in the original organization; the subsequent •names according to membership in the corporation. .Compiled, 1-114 from the signatnreB in the first hook of records; 115-465 from those in the book of by-laws of 1816; 466-1717 from those in the book of by-laws of 1843. * indicates that membership was terminated by death; r, by resignation; d, by discharge. ORIGINAL MEMBERS 1 Thomas Smith Webb * 24 Amos Sumner .... d 2 Amasa Winchester * 25 Kbenezer Frothingham # 3 Samuel H. Parker . . * 26 E. T. F. Richardson . •. * 4 Blnathan Duren . r 27 George Cashing . . . r 5 William Eowson * 28 Ebenezer Goodrich . . d e Nathaniel Tiicljer . 3K L'9 Peter Osgood . . . d 7 Benjamin Holt . . * 30 John Mackay . . . * 8 Charles Nolen . . . * 31 Abner Bourne .... * 9 John Dodd .... * 32 Thomas Marshall . . . * 10 Joseph Bailey . . . * 33 William Simmons . . . * 11 George Singleton * 34 Samuel Floyd . . * 12 Luke Eastman . . . . r 35 Aaron Peabody . d 13 Samuel Richardson * 36 Elisha Baker ... * U Matthew S. Parker * 37 Ebenezer Withington * 15 Otis Everett .... * 38 Abel Duren . . d 16 Charles French . . . . d 39 James Pierce .... * 17 Chester Stebbins * 40 Luke Hemenway . r 18 Jacob Guild . . . cl 41 Isaac Davis . ... * 19 Gottlieb Graupner . . * 42 Stephen Childs . . . * 20 Jonathan Huntington . * 43 Moody Park .... . d 21 Nathaniel Meriam . . * 44 William K. Phipps . d 22 James Clark . . . * 45 Joseph MuUiken . . . * 23 Christopher Lincoln . . cl 181 46 5-16 Alexi Enstaphieve . . . * 47 Christopher Gore . J une 1, 1815 * 48 John F. Payson . . " * 49 Jonathan Loring, Jr. (( . r 50 Melvin Lord .... " . d 51 Silas Barrett . . . " * 62 Samuel H. Jenks " . r (22) MEMBERS. 53 Joshua Vose . . . June 1, 1815 54: Thomas L. Paine . . (( 55 William Dillaway . . . <( 5'i William T. Eustls . . " 57 Thomas V. Dillaway 58 William Jepson . . . " 59 Elijah Thayer .... . . t( 60 Elijah Mears " . . . . 61 James Coolidge . " 62 John Hart . . . . 63 William Coffin, Jr. . . July 6, 1815 64 Bela Hunting .... (t 65 Samuel Stockwell " 66 William Wright . . . " . . . . 67 John H. Pray .... . . 68 Edward Horsman . . 69 Levi Merlam ... ... 70 Noah Hill " . . . . 71 Francis W. Waldo . Aug. 3, 1815 72 James McAUaster . . cc 73 Edward Jewett . . . " ... 74 Joseph Adams . .... 75 Gershom Cobb .... " 76 William Learnard . . . " 77 George Pollock .... Sept. 7, 1815 78 Pliny Hayes . . . (I 79 George Bawn .... '■ 80 Nahum Mitchell . . . . Oct. 5, 1815 .. 81 Bartholomew Brown (( 82 Jerome Nichols . . " 26 " 83 Nathaniel Clark . . . " 84 John Bridge (t 85 George Warren .... " 86 Ebenezer Hunt . . . c( 87 Lewis Wood ... . . . Nov. 9, 1815 . 88 Caleb Andrews .... (( 89 Tristram Vose .... " 90 Francis Jackson . . " 91 J. Smallidge " 92 Frederick Lincoln . . . . . . " 23 " 93 Boardman Williams . . " 94 Thomas Badger, Jr. . . " 95 Joseph Lewis .... " 96 Benjamin Pitman . . . K 97 Ebenezer Newcomb . . (( 98 Lewis Leland .... i( 30 " 99 Peter Wainwright, Jr. . . . . Dec. 7, 1815 . 100 Joseph Clark t£ (23) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 101 Sidney iSlerrill . . 102 Daniel Staniford . 103 William A. Codman 104 Jonathan Fowle, Jr. 105 Joshua Stone . . 106 Benjamin P. William 107 William Denton 108 Ralph Smith . 109 Allen Whitman 110 Hervey Nolen . 111 Samuel Jewett . 112 David Reed . . 113 Jonathan French 114 John L. Phillips 115 John W. Hyde . 116 Nathaniel Munro 117 Nathaniel B. Homer 118 Elijah Nevers . 119 Jonathan Hagar 120 Benjamin Barnes, Jr 121 Neil Pollock . 122 Thomas Mason . 123 Nathan f iske . 124 Caleb Hartshorn 125 E. Shaw, 3d . . 126 N. Lovejoy . . 127 Williau) Fracker 128 Torrey Hancock 129 Thomas Park . 130 Benjamin B. Davis 131 Asa Warren 132 Charles Beck . 133 Ezra Hawkes . 134 . Thomas G. Bangs 135 D. Messinger, Jr. 136 Calvin Washburne 137 Benjamin Huntington Dec. 7, 1815 March 7, 1816 Apr. 2, 1816 May 2, 1816 d r d r d d d d d d r d d r * d d d d r d * d d r r * r d r. d r Aug. 6, 1816 r 1816-17 138 Henry Pomroy . . J.39 Joshua Cheever 140 Addison Searle 141 James Sharp . . 142 Aaron Holbrook . 143 John G. Brown 144 Thaddeus Baldwin 145 Richard G. Cole . 146 Aaron Rice . . . Oct. 1, 1816 . . . d . . . d 16 " ... * . . . d . . . d Nov. 19, 1816 . . . . . . r . . . d (I . . . r (24) MEMBERS. 147 Ebenezer B. Nichols Nov. 19, 1816 148 Silas Dodd Dec. 3, 1816 149 John Glynn s • Jan. 28,1817 1817-18 160 Joseph W. Newell Oct. 7, 1817 151 Thomas G. Parnsworth ... " 152 Samuel Topliff 163 William Blake 154 Benjamin Rouse .... . " 165 Isaac S. Tompkins " 166 Jonathan Bingham " 157 Thomas Whittemore " 158 Henry Davis " 159 Horace Fox " 160 Thomas H. White 161 Charles Brintnall 162 Jacob R. White " 163 Zeba Gushing 164 Jedediah Barker " 14 " 165 John Chadwick " 166 John Ewell Nov. 18, 1817 167 Isaac Bird " 168 John Gushing " 169 E. Webster 170 Joseph H. Eayrs D»c. 9, 1817 171 Seth B. Cook 172 John Leonard " 173 Joseph W. Welch 174 George W. Welsh " 30 " 176 John Fuller 176 Luther Priest 177 Isaac Kendall 178 Marshal Keith Feb. 3,1818 179 Allan Pollock Mar. 10, 1818 180 Samuel Smith " 181 Hodges Reed 182 Isaac S. Coffin 183 John Ware 184 Abel W.Bruce June 1«, 1818 185 Thomas V. Dillaway .... " 186 Theodore D. Parker 187 Benjamin Pray " 1818-19 188 George R. M. Wlthington . . . Sept. 1, 1818 189 John Holman " 190 Jonas Chickering Oct. 4, 1818 (25) d d d r r r d r d d d d r d d rt d r d d d * d d d d d d d d d r d r HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HATDN SOCIETY. 191 John Whitney Oct. 6, 1818 192 John T. Brigham " 193 Samuel Sanger " 194 Thomas Vose Nov. 10, 1818 196 Isaac Adams " 196 .Tohn Cheever " 197 Henry Bowen " 198 John Spring 199 ST. B. Mountfort 200 Nathaniel Hayden, Jr " 201 Robert Rogerson "-26 202 Henry Burnett " 203 Ralph B. Holland Dec. 6, 1818 204 Charles Everett "15 205 Nathaniel Griggs " 206 Isaac Learnerd, Jr. ... . " 207 Justus Lincoln " 208 Lemuel Claris " 209 Charles H. Carroll Feb. 9, 1819 210 David R. Griggs 211 James Hooton Apr. 20, 1819 d d d * r « d r d d d d d d d d d d d d d 212 Stephen Parker, Jr. 213 Isaac K. Wise . 214 Lewis Pierce . 216 Nathaniel Ford 216 Barney Clap . 217 N. C. Martin . 218 Eliphalet Thayer 219 Moses Mandell . 220 John H. Belcher 1819-20 Dec. 9, 1819 Jan. 14, 1820 Mar. 16, 1820 1820-21 221 Martin Wilder Oct. 3, 1820 222 David Child " 223 James Averill " 224 James G. Bacon " 225 Peter Hern " 226 John Farrie, Jr " 227 George Denny " 228 Samuel Moody " 239 Ephraim L. Frothingham ... '■ 230 Elijah Cobb, Jr 231 N. D. Gould 232 Joseph Eustis, Jr " 31 " 233 Henry Jones Nov. 10, 1820 234 A. H. Haskell ....... (26) MEMBERS. 235 236 287 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 Moses W. Copeland Joslah Wheelwright Increase S. Withingt Lorenzo S. Cragin George W. Edmands Elisha Horton . Isaac Chamberlin Charles Guild Charles Bicknell Abner Ball . . Shepherd Leach Jonathan Bowditch, Jr Asa Gowen . . Sidney Mandell Oliver Chandler Benjamin C. Harris William Gragg Lowell Mason Jeremiah P. Smith Ephraim Buck . . Daniel Gould, Jr. Jonathan A. Richards Michael Whittemore, Jr. David W. Child, Jr. . . Samuel S. Reynolds . . John M. Robertson Elbridge Brown . . . Samuel S. Miles . . . Joseph Hayward . . . Samuel Tidd . . . Edward Haskell . . . Benjamin G. Hill . . William H. Richardson . James Pierce, Jr. . . Aaron Capen . . . . Edward H. Fessenden . William Stearns . . . William Nichols . . . Dexter C. Force . . . Jan. 2, 1821 Feb. 2, 1821 Mar. 6, 1821 CI May 1, 1821 June 5, 1821 1821-22 Oct. 2, 1821 " 17 Nov. 27, 1821 Dec. 4, 1821 Jan. 1, 1822 Feb. 6, 1822 " 26 " May 7, 1822 Aug. 6, 1822 i t " 17 " 1822-23 Francis Jennison Sept. 17, Jubal Howe " Francis C. Whiston " Robert French Dec. 3, John Roberts " (27) 1822 1822 d r * d d d * d d d d d d d r r r r d d HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 279 Amasa G. Smith Deo. 3, 1822 280 William Howe 281 NaJiumBall " 282 Charles Nolen, Jr Jan. 7, 1823 283 Calvin BuUard Feb. 4, 1823 284 Nathaniel Brackett " 285 Derastus Clapp 286 DavldJ. Badger Mar. 13, 1823 287 George H. Holbrook " 288 Elisha Wood, Jr Apr. 1, 1823 d d d * d r d d d 1823-24 289 Jeremiah Washburn Nov. 4, 1823 290 George H. Lane 1824-25 291 James Fenno Sept. 7, 1824 292 Emery Alexander " 293 Ebenezer Alexander, Jr. ... Dec. 7, 1824 294 Charles P. Allen " 295 Joseph Leonard " 296 Charles L. Force Apr. 5, 1825 297 Rosea Bartlett " 298 Samuel Davis, Jr June 7, 1825 299 Lyman Biglow Ajig. 2, 1825 d d * d * d r d 1825-26 300 Ephraim Willy Oct. 4, 1825 301 Ziba Cary " 302 Charles W. Lovett " 303 Nathaniel H. G. Oliver .... " 8 " 304 Marcus Coburn Dec. 6, 1825 305 John Bartlett " 306 Abraham Blckford "20 " 307 M. B. Hunting " 308 J. M. Dodd 309 William B. Oliver " 310 Luther B. Wyman Jan. 3, 1826 311 Thomas B. Hawkes ...... Mar. 6, 1826 d r r d r r 1826-27 312 Jonathan E. Hazeltou . 313 Joseph Dowe . . . . 314 William Small . . . . 315 S. S. Eice .... 316 William H. Henderson , 317 Reuben Gerry . . . Oct. 17, 1826 Dec. 5, (28) 1826 d d r d d d MEMBEKS. 318 Warren Fisher Feb. 6, 1827 319 John Stratton Feb. 6, 1827 320 Nathan F. Kingsley . 321 Eber Taylor . . 322 Edward H. Holbrook 323 Isaac Hall . . . 324 Samuel H. Jenks . . 325 James J. FuUerton . 326 P. P. Pond . . . . 1827-28 Nov. 6, 1827 Dec. 4, 1827 Jan. 1, 1828 Mar. 4, 1828 1828-29 327 Seth J. Thomas Jan. 11, 1829 328 Erastus F. Brigham " 329 Joseph Brown " 330 George Meriam Aug. 4, 1829 331 Silas P. Meriam 332 Charles Harlow 1829-30 333 Edward R. Adams Oct. 6, 1829 384 Isaac Cary Nov. 15, 1829 3,35 Josiah E. Challis 336 "William Johnson Mar. 9, 1830 337 George W. Lewis " 1830-31 338 Edward J. Long Oct. 5, 1830 339 George James Webb .... 340 George Hews Dec. 12, 1830 341 James Harrod Feb. 6, 1831 342 George F. Gwinn Mar. 20, 1831 343 Thomas Comer Aug. 14, 1831 344 John Bigelow " 345 Joseph N. Pierce " 1831-32 346 E. R. Hansen Oct. 23, 1831 347 Eben F. Gay Nov. 1, 1831 348 Henry Card 349 J. B. Kimball Jan. 22, 1832 350 Charles Stedman " 351 James Hooton " 352 Silas Allen, Jr Aug. 7, 1832 353 Daniel Wilder (29) d d d * * * r * r * * * r * d a r d r d d r HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1832-33 354 Volney Wilder Oct. 21, 1832 365 J. W. Webster . ... " 28 " 356 Dexter W. Wiswell Jan. 1, 1833 357 S. E. Blaney " 13 " 358 David C. Long " 20 " 359 Henry F. Alexander " 1833-34 360 David Tillson Feb. 4, 1834 361 Lucius D. Alexander ... " 362 G. William T. Jones .... " 363 Theodore A. Gore .... " 1834-35 364 Timothy Brown Sept. 28, 183+ 365 Lewis Wilder 366 James R. Aikin Nov. 4, 1834 367 Edward H. Aiken " 368 Marshall Johnson, Jr " 369 Charles Henderson " 9 " d r 1835-36 370 Alfred H. Pratt . . 371 Gilbert Cutting . . 372 Solomon B. Gushing 373 Theodore Hach . . 374 Abraham 0. Bigelow 375 Anselm Lothrop . 376 N. Gushing Byr'am 377 WiUiam R. Bradford 378 Mark Googin . . 379 Allston Allen . . 380 George W. Lloyd . 381 Leonard Marshall 382 Benjamin F. Baker 383 Albert G. Barker . 384 George W. Ellis . 385 Jarvis Lothrop 386 Isaiah D. Richards 387 Hiram Swift . Nov. 1, 1835 Apr. 17, 1836 11 Aug. 16, 1836 1836-37 Sept. 24. 1836 Nov. 13, 1836 (1 ( ( Jan. 15, 1837 Apr. 16, 1837 388 Isaac Spear 389 John D. Labree May 21, 1837 1837-38 . . Sept. 17, 1837 . . Oct. 3, 1837 (30) MEMBERS. 390 James B. Nason Oct. 391 Ephraim Wildes 392 Ezekiel W. Pike 393 Sumner Hill Feb. 394 Alexander S. Lincoln .... 3, 1837 d 14 4, 1838 395 Converse Hill 396 E. Weston. Jr. . . 397 Thomas Ball . 398 James Dyer .... 399 Samuel P. Tuckerman 400 William M. Byrnes . 401 Charles Young . . . 402 Horace G. Barrus 1838-39 . . Oct. 21, 1888 Jan. 20, 1839 Feb. 3, 1839 " 17 403 Philip W. Goodridge 404 Peleg Strong . . 405 John S. Farlow . 406 Aaron Butler . . 407 Elijah W. Palmer 408 James Prideanx 409 Edmund Bates 410 William G. Moody 411 Henry Schmidt 412 David F. Felt . . 413 George B. Jones . 414 J. W. Wright . . 415 William H. Wellingti 416 Samuel C. Ware . 417 Josiah Q. Wetherbee 418 Josiah L. Fairbanks 419 O. C. B. Carter . 420 W. Treubeck 1839-40 Sept. 15, 1839 Nov. 17, 1839 Dec. 22, 1839 " 28 " Feb. 14, 1840 Apr. 19, 1840 May 25, 1840 June 28, 1840 July 5, 1840 1840-41 421 L. Lemaire Nov. 8, 1840 422 Tilden H. Keen " 423 William H. Jones 424 Jonathan E. Hazeltoii .... " 425 James Lloyd Oliver .... Dec. 20, 1840 425 Davis Howard " 427 E. B. Dearborn July 18, 1841 428 H. W. Greatorex Aug. 10, 1841 (31) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1841-42 429 Oren J. Faxon Sept. 430 OtisClapp 431 George W. Palmer 432 Wymond Bradbury 433 George Minot Oct. 434 Joel H. Walker Jan. 435 James E. Dodd 486 David Carter 437 Osgood Eaton 438 Denlson Kimberly " 439 Joseph Morrill, Jr " 440 Edwin Brown " 44 1 Joseph J. "Whiting 442 John G. Faxon Mar. 443 Henry Allen Apr. 444 Lorenzo P. Leeds 1842-43 445 Joel Clapp Sept. 446 Charles H. Saflford - Oct. 447 John A. Nowell 448 Benjamin T. Roath 449 Edward Denny 450 Leverett A. Lull Nov. 451 Edwin Tllden 452 Aaron P. Richardson .... 453 David A. Granger 454 Mark Worthley Dec. 455 Charles P. Adams 456 John G. Hovey 457 Joseph H. Ward 458 George P. Carter 459 Reuben Howard 460 William D. Clark 461 James T. Bicknell 462 Henry Pierce Jan. 463 John T. Lyon * . . Feb. 464 Robert H. Clouston 465 James W. Patterson .... 465a R. S. Denny Mar. 4656 Barney Cory 465c James S. Sweet Apr. 466rf John Dearborn May 1843-44 466 Horace Leland Oct. 467 James J. Fullerton .... (32) 12, 1841 19 It (( 24, 1841 2. 1842 9 " 16 t4 23 " " 6, 1842 10, 1842 1842 1842 1, 1842 6, 1842 1843 1843 7, 1843 1843 1843 3, 1843 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 602 503 504 605 506 507 508 609 510 511 512 513 614 ' MEMBERS. Leonard Marshall .... Oct. 10, 1842 Henry L. Dean ■NTnv 9, 1843 Augustus K. Gardner . . . " 11 tt Daniel Ruggles . . . 13 (C Martin Wilder, 2d " John F. F^lows . Dec. 8, 1843 William Parkman . . 13 (( James G. Swan . 20 " Warren White . . . . 25 " George W. Hunnewell . Jan. 3, 1844 Jame.s Alexander . . . 6 " Theodore T. Baiker '• Frederic Davis . . 15 '• Henry M. Aiken . " Henry R. Cutler Feb. 10, 1844 David Paine . . " George P. Cox . " F. F. Far well . . . . 25 (( Lewis Hall . . Mar. 7, 1844 Joseph W. Cox . . . Apr. 6, 1844 Albert Eaton " 13 " Hiram Fogg . . 1844-45 23 Thomas B. Frothing lam . Oct. 3, 1844 Harvey Jewell . . '• Bridge Wheat . . " 4 " Joachim Gervasio (Jo s. G. Oakes) " John E. Gould . . (( 5 (C Pliny Jewell, Ji-. " Caleb T. Curtis . . . . Nov. 7, 1844 D. T. Haraden . (( E. J. Titcomb. It Alfred Whitney . . 8 i< Joseph P. Moulton " Ebenezer Smith . t( 9 *' L. P. Homer ti Benjamin Butler . '• William Daniels . . . . . " 11 *' J. H. Adams, Jr. (I I. D. Brewer . . . . 16 (( Samuel S. Chase . (( 17 (( George S. Parker . (( Osgood Bradbury . " Alexander W. Thayei . . . Jan. 10, 1845 Joseph S. Eastman ti 11 '* S. P. Brooks . . . . . " 18 it L. S. Frost . . (( 24 (( J. A. Pray . . . .... Feb. 3, 1845 r r d d * d d d r 1853 618 Henry Stone .... . . 9 It 619 Kobert M. Lowell . . " 620 Edwin Brown .... " 621 Edward C. Guild . . . ^ (( 11 " 622 Samuel S. Chase . . . .( 14 tl 623 Samuel Carter . . . . 11 16 • t 624 A. W. Woodward . . . . 24 " 625 Daniel M. Adams . . . . " 25 " 626 Nathan Sanborn . . . . . 26 " 627 George H. Coney . . . . . Mar 6, 1853 . 628 Charles H. Chase (( 9 " 629 T. A. Upham .... ft 22 " 630 Alvan Kingman . . . (( 26 tt 631 Josiah Hobart (( 632 John B. Edmands . . June 27, 1863 . 633 E. A. Newman . . . . July 4, 1853 18.-.3-64 634 William D. Brewer William L.Elliot . . Charles E. Hill . . . . . Sept K 10, 16 22 1863 635 636 637 John A. Peabody . . " 638 Thomas D. Morris . a 639 C. P. Weeks . . . J. H, L. Slay ton . . . Leonard 0. Grover . . . . Oct. . . Nov. 8, 22 5, 1853 1853 640 fiH (36) MEMBERS. ^ 642 Gardner Gove . . . . . Nov. 6, 1853 643 Levi E. Day .... (( 644 John N. Danforth . . (( 645 William Garrett . . . (( 17 (t 646 David Alden t( 18 " 647 Asa Hull i( 22 il 648 George P. Cox .... i( 26 l( 649 John B. Pewtres.s " 650 Frank N. Scott . . . . . Dec. 81, 1853 651 S. N. Watson .... ' . . Jan. 7, 1854 652 I. Henry K. Downes tc 10 (( 653 George B. Melvin . . " 12 " 654 George E. Hodge it 655 Jonathan C. Woodman " 656 Henry Leeds, Jr. . . . (( 14 " 657 Nathan Lincoln . . . " 658 J. J. Perkins . . Mar. 6, 1854 659 J. H. Shaw . 1854-55 660 Hubert Stone . Oct. 6, 1854 661 William H. Pray ■. . . 7 " 662 Alfred Andrews . . . tt 10 " 663 H. W. Carstens . (( 12 (( 664 John T. Lyon .... " 17 (( 665 Alfred N. Proctor . . . . . Nov +, 1854 6H6 Joseph W. Boynton . . " 667 Joseph M. Shattuck . . (( 668 James Williams . . . (( 669 James Rice .... u 670 Bansom F. Evans . . . " 17 " 671 Franklin J. Brazier . . " 672 J. C.Page (( 673 George W. Heywood . It 25 " 674 I. B. Benton .... 1855-56 675 D. Lyman Laws . . Oct. 3, 1855 676 S. F. Carter . . . 11 6 677 George Dimond . . . . " 7 678 Cliarles C. Poole . . '* 679 William H. Gerrish (t 8 680 C. R. Hatch . . . . 9 681 George Patten . . . tl 11 682 John Appleton . . it 12 688 Marcus Morton . . '* 13 684 J. R. Miller . . It 20 685 D. P. Lincoln . . . . . '• 22 686 0. Frank Clark . (( 27 d d d d d d * d d (37) HISTORY OP T^ E HANDEL AND HATDN SOCIETY. C87 «88 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 71i 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 C. T. Lang .... Oliver B. Lothrop Horace W. Barry E. G. Shaw .... Benjamin C. Vose . E. C. Metcalf . . . William Anderson . Charles R. Adams L. B. Hanaford . . C. Francis Chickering Henry T. Bryant . . Not. 1, 1865 " 10 " " 12 " " 14 " 1 « Dec. 14, 1855 May 26, 1866 June 16, 1866 1856-57 Isaac Woodward . Ansel Pendergrass Simeon Fuller . . Charles H. Johnson A. T. Bennett . . James D. Kent H. Farnam Smith George M. Thacher Charles P. Emerson Frederick A. Searle Curtis Brown . . Charles W. Simmons A. B. Brown . Frank Howard Theron J. Dale Hiram Wilde . E. S. Howe Arthur Hall . , William H. Johnson Edmund T. Eastman Thomas Pritchett (Chas. Nelson Mann . . . William B. Merrill . James M. F. Howard C. E. Whiting . . . John W. Leatherbee H. C. Barnabee George D. Capen . . George H. Chickering Charles F. Browjie . Lyman B. Meston King) Sept. 26, 1856 " 27 " Oct. 26, 1866 Dec. 22, 1856 Mar; 16, 1867 May 5, 1857 It n (( May 16, 1857 June 3, 1857 d d * d d d r d d d d * d r d d d" r d d d 1857-58 729 Stillman J. Quimby Dec. 16, 1857 730 George W. Garland " 731 Dexter Beeves, Jr " (38) MEMBERS. 732 Samuel G. Parsons . . 733 George W. Ware . . 734 ■William M. Goodridge . 735 Augustus G. Greenwood 736 A. W. Brown .... 737 W. L. Wakefield . . . 738 B. L. Gushing . . . 739 William S. Pellotler 740 Sebastian B. Schlessinger 741 W. Frank Mullln 742 Frederic Dame 748 E. W. White . 744 L. W. Johnson 745 0. B. Brown . 746 Reuben Dimond 747 Edward L. Balch 748 S. Lothrop Thorndike 749 Frederick O. Ellis . 750 George W. Hindes . 751 G. B. Pearson . . . 752 Charles A. Ga^e . . 753 George H. Nason 754 Chandler Wright . . 765 Alanson Bigelow, Jr. 756 W. H. Daniels . . . 757 Charles P. Daniell . 758 F. J. Whittemore . 759 George G. Colman . 760 William C. Eustls 761 D. E. Washburn . . 762 Isaac Morehpuse . . 763 F. K. Simonds . . 764 Oliver Edwards . . 765 Thomas E. Chickering (759) (758) Dec. 16, 1857 Mar. 19, 1858 " 24 " Apr. 3, 1858 " 5 May 3, 1858 " 17 " 31 " 766 Alfred W. Bates . 767 Caleb E. Niebuhr 768 A. B. Lincoln 768a Albert N. Daniels 769 H. Townsend . . 770 Charles W. Smith 771 Charles C. Ewer . 772 Gideon T. Mansfield 773 George S. Cheney 774 0. L. Fuller . . 775 W. S. Ring . . 1858-59 Deo. 7, 1858 Feb. 4, 1859 (39) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1859-60 776 J. A. Eisinp . . . Oct. 27, 1859 777 Barlow Hall . K 778 H. A. Cook (( 779 John G. Duffy . " 780 ^enryj. Sweny (< 78 1 Edwin Holmes " 782 Koyal Keith . " 783 John 6. Tompson. Jr. " 784 John D. Long . . " 785 Joseph Borrowscale " 786 William H. Blood . (( 787 George H. Bradford " 788 John Haskins, Jr. " 789 J. C. Wilson : . . " 790 Francis V. B. Kern . " 791 Clinton V. Mason . (( 792 Joseph H. Smalley . . Jan. 7, 1860 793 Leonard Deniiam " 794 George W. Lawrence *' 795 John W. Kinnicutt . " 796 S. A. Howland . . (( 797 C. E. Howland (( 798 George O.Brigham . (( 799 A. F. Poole .... II 800 N. R. Andersen . . . Mar. 8, 1860 801 Daniel Nowlan . . . . . July 23, 1860 If i60-61 802 J. T. Croft .... . . Oct. 23, 1860 . . . . 803 Alfred E. Ansorge . . . Nov. 23, 1860 ". . 804 W. F. Gale . . . If 805 Alonzo Leavitt . (809: . II 806 W. O. Perkins . . (805^ . Dec. 29, X860 807 H. S. Perkins . . (806] . (( 808 Robert G. Peny . (807] . ({ 809 S. D. Bassett . (808] . " 810 John S. Sawyer . . " 811 N. B. Boutwell . Apr. 6, 1861 812 J. Baxter Upham . June 4, 1861 . . 1 361-62 818 Edwin Clapp . . . . Nov. 7, 1861 814 John H. Stickney . . (f 815 Thomas Atkinson, Jr. U 816 Edward T. Cowdrey l( 817 John J. Henry . . . (1 14 818 D. B.Whiltier. . . . Dec. 8, 1861 (40) MEMBERS. 1862-63 819 Edwin A. Kimball . . . . . Oct. 12 , 1862 820 S. Frank Crockett . . . . . Feb. 18, 1863 821 S. M. Downs . . . ... 822 H. H. Beach . . . 823 G. Francis Toplifif i 824 J. Kennedy . . . . i ( 825 Nathaniel Head ... i 826 S. B. Colburn .... 1863-64 827 C. H. W. Wood . . . Nov. 1, 1863 828 "William H. Randall . . . 829 Samuel P. Prentiss . . (1 830 John W. Porter . . . ... " 831 William P. Butler . . ... 832 William D. Wiswell . . (. 833 M. Grant Daniel! . . . (( 834 W. Trask Barry . . 835 William J. Hyde . 8 " 836 Ch.irles T. Plimpton . . . 837 Albert B. Cole . . (( 838 George P. Lasselle . (( 839 Alfred H. McKenney ti 840 Francis T. Irish . . . . 841 Arthur Reed .... " 842 Charles E. Ho-^mer (( 843 J. F. Goddard .... (( 844 W. A. Richards . . 845 George W. Jackson . . . . " 846 H. 0. Apthorp . . . . . " 847 J. B. Fiske ... (( 848 John B. Goodrich cc 849 J. G. Smith . . . " 850 B. F. Bennett . . . . . " 851 Thomas H. Holland . . (( 852 S. W. Trowbridge . . 4( 853 George Ilsley . . " 854 Joseph Bird . . (( 855 Horace Bird .... . . . 856 Jacob Chany .... 1864-65 867 James J. Putnam . . . . . . Nov. 10, 1864 858 G. W.Lindsey. . . . t( 859 John C. Warren . . (1 860 George C. Wiswell . . . . . *' 861 B. D. Faulkner . . . ( d r d r d d d d d d d d d d d d r d d d r d d d r d d (41) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND H^TDN SOCIETY. 862 George W. Spauldlng . Nov. 10, 1864 .. . d 863 L. G. Sylvester . . " . . . d 864 James L. Hunt . . 1 (( . d «65 "William F. Bradbury (( 866 T. W. Trowbridge . li ... . d 867 Charles A. Burditt . . " . . r 868 James W. Jones . . " 869 George H. Wentworth (( ... d 870 L. H. Gurney . . . <( ... . d 871 Charles Howard . (( ... d 872 S. H. 0. Hadley . . '■ 873 H. E. Holt . . . " . . , d 874 J. R. Hopkins .... (1 d 875 H. H. Mansfield . . " ... . .1 876 Charles P. Putnam . March 2, 1865 . d 877 George N. Spear . . ti . . . d 878 Charles E. Hodgkins " . d 879 George M. Brown (t ... d 880 Harrison Conkey . . " . d 1865-66 881 James Perley Nov. 1, 1865 ... . d 882 Charles Edwin Fuller .... " * 883 J. M. Lincoln " * 884 George H. S. Driver . . d 885 H. E. Valentine ... d 886 S. H. Spaulding d 887 T. C. Webb * 888 J. Q. Chace " * 889 Samuel A. Angler " . . . d 890 William W. Bemis r 891 J. A. Houston " . r 892 Francis H. Underwood .... " . . . r 893 EUery C. Daniell . d 894 J. R. Winch . . r 895 C. G. Dana . . d 896 Martin Draper, Jr " * 897 A. J. Hadley * 898 J. H. Badger . . ..... . . . . r 899 H. H. Boardman " . . d 900 J. Haven Hanson " . . d 901 James P. Rice " ... d 902 W. N. Levering 903 L. W. Mason " d 904 J. F. Winch " r 905 Reuben Ring " ... . d 906 G. H. Wood d 907 Thomas B. Fittg " .... d 908 S. C. Harris . . . If (42) «09 M. T. Eayrs 910 H. B. Farley . 911 John D.Andrews 912 James W. Cheney 913 Francis H. Jenks 914 Porter S. Allen 915 Henry A. Coffin 916 George H. Newell ■917 John A. Tompson ms T>. B. Lyman . 919 Edward Y. White 920 B. Bourne . . 921 Sarauel Jennlson 922 John Wilson . 923 C. C. Bourne . 92i Regis Chauvenet 925 Lewis B. Monroe 926 F. Henry Chadwick 927 George P. Raymond 928 A. Parker Browne 929 F. H. Raymond . 930 G. Gravenhorst 931 James T. Drown . 932 William H. Wilson 933 Charles W. Goddard 934 E. A. Burbank . . 935 M. J. Mandell . . 936 O. F. Wadsworth 937 J. P. Estabrook . 938 Frank H. Lee . . 939 T. Frank Reed 940 Leonard B. Adams 941 Roger S. Bundlett 942 William W. Richards 943 William N. Eayrs 944 Henry R. Stone . 945 Frank A. Carpenter 946 Charles F. King . MEMBERS. Nov. 1, 1865 Mar. 14, 1866 947 Henry J. Perkins 948 F. C. Loring, Jr. 949 H. Loewe . . . 950 George W. West . 951 Edward L. Norris 952 Dwight M. Turner 953 E. G. Gardner 954 Henry B. Williams 955 Joseph E. Keates 15 " 1866-67 ' . . Oct. 14, 1866 . . Nov. 4, 1866 d r d d d d d d (43) HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 956 John Robertson . . 957 Henry F. Wight 958 Charles H. Danf orth . 959 E. S. Metcalf . . 960 Thomas G. Kord . . . 961 John N. Morse . . . 962 Samuel F. Williams . 963 F. K. Drake, Jr. . . 964 J. E. Perkins . . 985 Sewall A. Fannoe . . 966 E. F. Lowe .... 967 Frank T. Eustis . . 968 James P. Lewis . . . 969 C. A. Mooar . . 970 A. W. Edmands . 971 Charles R. Abell . . . 972 Joseph S. Robinson 973 Frederic Dodge . . . 974 Rollin B. Fisher . 975 John A. Burrows . . 976 W. A. Webber . . . 977 Albert K. Hebard . 978 George H. Meader . . . 979 Henry D. Putnam . . . . 1867- 980 Eichard W. Smith 981 George L. Gardner 982 J. Q. Henry .... 983 William Dodd . 984 J. R. Baldwin . 985 Edmund S. Clark 986 Edward Stanwoori 987 Ozias Goodwin . . 988 N. 0. Whitcorab 989 Lebbeus Leach, Jr. 990 William A. Packard 991 Amos M. Leonard 992 P. A. Butler .... 993 Charles M. Bassett 994 E. P. Wright. . 995 James M. Atwood 996 B. W. Hayes . . 997 Francis C. Ropes 998 George C. Mann . 999 Moses Carpenter 1000 H. K. White, Jr. 1001 Benjamin F. Dymond (1002) . 1002 George W. Warren (1 001) . Nov. 7, 1866 Jan. 28, 1867 May 9, 1867 Nov. 13, 1867 Mar. 26, 1868 d d d d d d d * r d d d d d r d r r d di d r di r r d d d d d d d d r d d June 3, 1868 (U) MEMBERS. ] 868-69 1003 L. P. Williams . . . . Nov. 19, 1868 . . . 1004 W. H. Freeman . . . (t 1005 George C. Beckwith . 1006 James E. R Hill . (( 1007 John E. Hobbs . ... 1008 A. J. Tenney .... it / 1009 C. B. Bradbury . . : t- 1010 A. F. Perkins . . (( 1011 Ricliarcl S. Whitney . i( 1012 William Lynch . . . " 1013 A. T. Tattle . . . (( 1014 A. M. Davis . . . " ... 1015 George T. Brown . . (( 1016 K. H. Higley .... ... 1017 Edwin L. Haley . . *' . . 1018 Joseph W. Green, Jr. . ** 1019 W. I. G. Hayward . (( 1020 Warren H. Gay . . (( 1021 Wilfrid A. Emery . . . 1022 Jerome C. Hosmer . " ... 1023 H. M. Brown . . . " . . 1024 W. B. Rice . . . 11 1025 Walter Deane . . . 1 1026 Charles F. Folsom . 1027 N. S. Shattuck . . (( 1028 Thomas Hall . . . " . . 1029 Frederick E. Paine . 11 1030 Jaines llamblet, Jr. " . . 1031 Lewis B. Guyer . . . . Peb. 8, 1869 1032 J. C. Bartlett . . . t( 1033 E. E. Adams . . . (( 1034 William Liddell . . *( 1035 William E. Tarbell . . . '* . . 1036 Granville J. Hobbs . (t 1037 Albert M. Barnes . . . '* . . 1038 J. W. Webster . " . • 1039 A. W. Merriam . a 1040 J. H. Woods . . . " . . 1041 Charles T. Sylvester *' 1869-70 1042 Francis A. Kerap Nov. 24, 1869 1043 George H. Munroe " ■ • 1044 Arthur H. Wilson 1045 William S. Weymouth ... " 1046 Horace B. Fisher 1047 F. A. Leonard " • - 1048 James L. Taylor . . " • • (45) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1049 Laban Sawyer . 1050 Walter Shepard . 1051 W. W. Spaulding 1062 Edward F. Chapln 1053 Otis E. Waitt . . 1054 W. E. Ilolden . . 1055 Erank W. Lewis 1056 C. P. apaulding . 1057 W. E.^'ood . . 1058 A. B. Chandler . 1059 C. P. Metcalf . . 1060 H. C. Andrews . 1061 Henry T. Mansfield 1062 D. Gilbert Dexter 1063 R. J. Chute . . 1064' Joslah Wheelwright 1065 Charles K. Cutter 1066 E. D. Bradford . 1067 John Rogers . . 1068 George A. Denham 1069 SelimErost . . 1070 Abbott S. Coffin . 1071 Henry M. Howe . 1072 Thomas Gurney . 1073 Fred Senior . . 1074 Francis O. Lyman 1076 Eben N. Phinney 1076 Albert J. West . 1077 Josephs. Ballou 1078 Nathan K. Bacon 1079 Thomas Leslie . Nov. 24, 1869 d " ' r d " r ■ d II » d d " r " ... . . * . . . . r d d d d r d " r d ' d d d d d Apr. 9, 1870 . . . . r d d d *( » . » d 1870-71 1080 Charles C. Noyes ' Oct. 1081 D. W. Noyes 1082 H. C. Lyon 1083 Henry C. Kendall Nov. 1084 S. Walter Wales 1085 H. P. Blacliman 1086 E. H. Aiken 1087 Thomas W. Campbell .... 1088 W. H. M. Austin 1089 Edvrard E. Allen 1090 Henry S. Pray 1091 George C. Appleton .... 1092 George S. Wheelwright . . . 1093 Arthur T. Cutler ..... 1094 Edwin Merrick ' 1095 Edwin K. Rand (46) V 2, 1870 29, 1870 d r r d r d r d * r d d d MEMBERS. 1096 A. r. Roberts . . . . . Nov. 29, 1870 . . . . . . d 1097 D. S. Brigham . . . . . . . . . d 1098 Justin D. Litchfield . . 11 . .' . r 1099 William Croswell . . " . . . d 1100 W. H. Proudfoot . " . . . r 1101 F. M. French ... (t . . . r 1102 W. Bradford (( . . . d 1103 W. George Alden . . . . . . . . r 1104 Andrew J. Lloyd . . . . . . . . . r 1105 George H. Eugg .... (( . . . r llO'l Franklin G. Fessenden . it . . . r 1107 Edward S. Dodge . . . '' . . . d 1108 Edward H. Jones . (C 1109 James A. Wentworth . . n . . . d 1110 Moses P. Home .... . . . . . d 1111 Harry Benson ..... (( 1112 Frank B. "Wilder . . . ... . . . d 1113 E. F. Ballon . , . . d 1114 F. G. Reynolds .... . . *' . . . T 1115 Isaac K. Proctor .... '. ** . . . d 1116 G. W. Oakman .... ■ " . . . r 1117 A. B. Smalley .... . . . . . . d 1118 Charles S. Stone . . . . . " . . . . . d 1119 Charles B. Codding . . It . . . d 1120 George B. Krothlngham . It . . . d 1121 Gustavus A. Puffer . . . " . . . * 1122 Thomas Grieves .... " . . . * 1123 J. E. Randall t( . . . d 1124 J. B. Shaw ti . . . d 1125 E. P. Miller . . . . . d 1126 Maurice H. Richardson . " . . . d 1127 Isaac H. Putnam . . . tt . . . r 1128 H. F. Cary . . . . d 1129 Frank H. Hathorne . . ... . . . d 1130 David Dilley . . . . . . d 1131 Benjamin Conant . . " ... . . . fl 1132 T. H. B. Witter ... . . . r 1133 C. B. Fillebrown .... ft . . . r 1134 A. A. McFarlane .... (( . . . d 1135 J. Q. A. Brackett .... tt . r 1136 Eli A. Sawtelle ... . . . d 1137 C. W. Chase tt . . . d 1138 Benjamin H. Fabens . . . ... . . . d 1139 Daniel L. Tower .... tt . . . d 1140 William M. Lawrence . . . tt . . . r 1141 J. W. Poster . Apr. 20, 1871 . . . ... 6 1142 Benjamin F. Gilbert . . . tt . . . d 1143 I. C. Collins ... . . . d 1144 W. W. Davis ... . . . d (47J HISTORy OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETr. ' 1871-72 ■1145 Richiird H Soulo . . . . Nov 12, 1871 114(i D. A. Alden ■' 1147 S. S. Murgan " 1148 Clarence E. Hay 1149 John R. Lander ... (I 1150 Cnarles 0. Brooks .... ii 1151 A. F. Belcher " 1152 J. C. Indies " 1153 Richard Beeching .... " 1154 William H. Bunton .... " 1156 George A. Bunton . . " 1156 Robert W. Willson . . . " 1157 Atkins N. Cooke .... 11 1158 H. C. Hopkins " 1159 Austin C. Wellington . . " 1160 William A. Holmes . . " 1161 C. F. Piper " 1162 John W. Bird .... (( 1163 James L. Hillard . . 11 1164 Theodore Sutro . . . " 1165 E. C. Waterman 11 1166 W. K. Webb (. 1167 J. R. Leeson ... " 1168 Carlos Nudd " 1169 Frank H. Pierce . . . u 19 ■■ 1170 Monroe W. Hatch .... " 1171 Samuel S. Watermaa . . . " 1172 Joseph H. Alden .... " 1173 1174 Louis H. Parkhurst .... Dec. 9, 1871 1175 Charles K. Hinkley .... Feb. 25, 1872 1176 Kimbal J. Fenno " 1177 J. S. Abbott " 1178 Seth W. Kelley Mar. 3, 1872 1179 E. O Youug 1180 Charles A. Cox (( 1181 B. U. Morse " 10 1182 R. J. Elder " 1183 N. E. baville (1 1184 William H. Elliott " 17 1185 W. T. Barker " 1186 W. H. Lyou May 5, 1872 1187 Frank W. Kuowles ; . . . . (( 1188 A . L. Bearoe " 1189 George E. Henry (t 1190 A. G. Dow " 1191 George H. Hull, Jr " ll92 A. S. Dabney i( (48') MEMBERS. 1193 G. AV. Brett . . May 5, 1872 . . . d 1194 H. J. Hallgrien .... tt d 1195 J. W. Webster .... *' d 1196 H. S. Foster *' d 1197 G. I. Favor it d 1198 Walter S. Swan . . . it d 1199 T. F. Bigelow . . 11 d 1200 George F. Milliken . . . (( r 1201 John P. Lyman, Jr. . . t ( r 1202 Lawrence L. Wagner . . <( d 1203 George D. Emerson . . . . " 12 " r. 1204 Charles E. Clark . . . " r 1205 George H. S. Driver . . *t 19 " ....'.. d 1206 Lucius L. Hubbard . . (1 26 " d 1207 William W. Winward . . " d 1208 William H. Hunt . . . . . June 1873-74 2, 1872 d 1209 Henry J. Perkins . . . . Oct. 26, 1873 . ... d 1210 George F. Daniels . . . . . Jan. 24, 1874 . . 1211 Charles Harts . . . . . . 25 (( r 1212 Frank T. Ware . . . " 1213 N. F. Lincoln . . . . " 1214 John Denton . . . . (( d 1215 Eugene B. Hagar . . . " 121l! A. Metzger, Jr " d 1217 Horace Frail . . ct d 1218 Reginald Austin . . . (( d 1219 Henry N. Marr .... (( r 1220 Frederick P. Fish . . . 11 r 1221 Nathan H. Dole . . . . " d 1222 C. H. Newcomb . . . . u . d 1223 William K. Sawyer . . n r 1224 Charles W. Stone . . " 1225 Henry K. Adams . . . . . Feb. 1, 1874 . . r 1226 Henry 6. Carey .... (( r 1227 John Midgley . . . . " r 1228 George H. Wilson . . . " r 1229 George E. Richardson t( d 1230 T. L. Talbot " d 1231 Lowell M. Cooke . . . 1( d 1232 Charles E. Munroe . . . " r 1233 L. K. Palmer ... " 8 (1 d 1234 John A. Lowell . . <( 15 " . . r 1235 SethW. Kelley . . . . t( d 1874-75 1236 F. M. Kilmer . Dec. 12, 1874 . . . r 1237 Andrew D. Ward . (( d (49) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HATDN SOCIETl'. 1238 Frank G. Crandale Dec. 12, 1874 1239 1240 1241 1242 1243 1244 1245 1246 1247 1248 1249 1250 1251 1252 1253 13 20 Jan. 3, 1875 W. J. Windram .... William S. Fenollosa . . George E. Bogle .... Albert G. Pike .... Thomas H. Hall .... Herbert Rice W. D. Brewer " C. R. FuUerton " Pliilo Peabody Apr. 4, 1875 Fred R. Merritt " Charles E. Swett " George H.Lowe " 11 " J. K. Berry " A. B. Furlong " 25 " ;2'rank S. Thayer " 28 " r r d d d r d d r d d r d d 1875-76 1254 S. H. Swain . . 1255 J. H. Chase . . 1256 Charles H. Cole . 1267 Benjamin L. Enapp 1258 George F. Forbes 1259 Rufus Pendleton 1260 S. F. Robinson . 1261 John P. Putnam . 1262 Franklin H. Newell 1263 H. A. Hall . . . 1264 Robert D. Andrews 1265 Arthur F. Burnett 1266 D. L. Rand . . 1266o Jerome C. Hosmer 1267 William M. Kichardson 1268 Ernest F. Fenollosa 1269 Charles F. Folsom 1270 Albert J. West 1271 F. W. Rollins 1272 Parke W. Hewins 1273 Ralph W. Ellis 1274 F. B. Keene . 1275 C. Daniels . . 1276 Leopold Lobsitz 1277 W. F. Warren 1278 L. J. Fuller . Dec. 12, 1875 d 18 19 " 29 Jan. 9, 1876 16 d r r d d d r d Feb. 6, 1876 .;.... d 27 " d Apr. 16, 1876 r " 20 " d May 9, 1876 * 10 " ....... " 11 " d 1876-77 1279 Thomas A. Davin Nov. 26, 1876 r 1280- Walter C. Harris Jan. 6, 1877 r 1281 Horace C. Sherman 7, (50) MEMBERS. 1282 1283 1284 1285 1286 1287 1288 1289 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1295 1296 1297 1298 1299 1300 1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 1306 1307 1308 1309 1310 1311 1312 1313 1314 1316 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 13l'8 William Dutemple Jan. W. G. McKo'wn F. F. Favor F. B. Wilder Charles C. Eoby Fred A. Carney Richard H. Kidder " G. H. Hudson " S. T. Wentworth John W. Dalzell Feb. J. K. S. Pearson Mar. E. H. Smith " W. W. Keays George W. Blodgett .... J. E. Smith A. C- Patten William T. Souther .... Alvah Crocker Philip F. Chace 1877-78 George A. Lord Oct. F. W. Emerson Dec. Walter Jenney Harry A. Bolan George C. Angell W. H. Payson George H. Woods Thomas M. Noyes Fred. M. Smith Henry M. Brown " H. C. Prentiss " John D. Billings " Preston Wilcox . . . . William I. Hoyt V. R. Pierce R. E. Newhall JoelC. Bolan " George T. Elliot Philo Peabody Rufus Pendleton Charles W. W. WelliDglon . . Apr. John A. Harris " George H. Sturtevant . . . Charles A. Clark Frederick E. Long . ..." Lewis H. Corliss " Charles W. Smith E. P. Faunce (51) 7, 1877 r d ..'.... d . d d 13 " 14 " d r 18, 1877 14, 1877 r 18 " d d 20 " d .„./... d 3, 2, 1877 1877 30 13, 15 18 20 24 1878 r d d d r d r HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1329 F. O. Leonard Apr. 1330 Arthur C. Vose 1331 F. F. Preble " 1332 W. m Barrett May 1333 N. J. Hall " 1334 William A. Blake " 1336 Herbert E. Greene June 13, 1878 d d 28 " 1, 1878 d 2 " d 11 " d 3, 1878 d 1878-79 1336 James E. Miller . 1337 Rosea S. Ballou . 1338 A. D. Coombs . 1339 James L. Mills . 1340 Charles S. Gooding 1341 Henry E. Cooper 1342 Edward Stickney 1343 Arthur C. Buttrick 1344 Benjamin J. Bowen 1345 H. F. Eveleth 1346 Walter S. Frost 1347 Harry G. Wells 1348 W. R. Eaton . 1349 W. Worcester 1350 A. T. Marston 1351 A. S. JohnstoD 1362 A. W. Briggs . 1353 J. B. Scamman 1364 J. D. Buckingham 1355 Josiah Wheelwright 1356 John F. Newton, Jr. 1367 W. J. Lowder . 1368 A. R. Underwood 1359 L. M. Eldridge . 1360 J. B. Dunnels . 1361 W. A. Woodward . (1866) 1362 W. L. Titus . . . (1361) 1363 F. C. Shepard . . (1362) 1364 William B. Phelps . (1363) 1365 J. F. Powers . . . (1364) 1366 R. J. Huntley. 1367 R. T. Williams 1368 Frank E. McWiggin 1369 Henry W. Lamb . . 1370 George H. Webster, Jr. 1371 Charles P. Stimpson 1372 A. N. Howes . . . 1373 N. Wardner Williams 1 374 John Roraback . . 1375 W. L. Whitney . . 1376 Henry B. Brown . . Nov. 10, 1878 d " r 17 22 Dec. 1, 1878 8 11 12 14 d r d d r d r r d d d r d r, d d .1 Mar. 11, 1879 d 13 14 16 19 26 31 r d r d d d d d (5-') MEMBERS. (1380) (1388) (1390) (1382) (1389) (1392) (1381) (1883) (1378) (1387) (1393) (1386) (1394) (1391) (1385) (1377) 80 Sept. 22, 1879 Oct. 8, 1879 18 18 22 Nov. 1, 1879 10 " 1, 1880 21 " 28 30 Jan. 1879- 1377 Samuel M.Bedlington a384) . 1378 Edwin E. Eaton . . (1379) . 1379 "Walter A. Adams 1380 Charles L. Maraton 1381 Selah Howell . . 1382 Albert J. Pratt . 1383 L. N. Howe . 1384 Tilden G. Abbott 1385 Thomas Hooper, Jr. 1386 John A. Barrl . 1387 WUliam H. Guild 1388 H. A. Davis, Jr. . 1389 S. A. Sargent . . 1390 John W. Estie . 1391 Julius H. Waterbury 1392 "William H. Harlow . 1393 Chauncey M. Hatch . 1394 Henry L. Marindin . 1395 William I. Howell . . 1396 W. H. Pelton .... 1397 A. Sydney Acker . . . 1398 Eben H. Chapin . . 1399 W. A. A. Gardner . . 1400 C. R. Teele .... 1401 Charles F. P. Burchmore 1402 Edward T. Kemick . . 1403 John E. Swett . . . 1404 Lewis M. Palmer " 1406 T. L. Roberts " 1406 H. F. Gage 1407 Sanford C. Chase 1408 C. E. Stephenson " 1409 George R. Beyerle 1880-81 1410 1). B. Harding Dec. 23, 1880 1411 "William Fowler " 1412 H. N. Redfern " 1413 "William S. Richardson . . . 1414 J. F. Malette Jan. 1415 C. D. Stanford 1416 N. G. Brinsmade " 1417 Edward Barnes " 1418 Edward T. Cabot " 1419 J. R. Baldwin 1420 C. "Winther " 1421 M. r. Denton May 30, 1881 1422 Alton Faunce " May 27, 1880 24 4, 1881 (I 8 11 17 r d d d d d r d d d d d d d r d * d d d d d d r d r r r r (53) HI8TOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1423 F. A. Bayley May 30, 1881 r 1424 Charles H. Cumings .... " r 1426 H. V. Hayes " d 1426 C. P. King " d 1881-82 1427 Louis F. Brown Dec. 19, 1881 r 1428 W. H. Coffey " 1429 J. Frank Williams " d 1430 W. J. Meadowy " r 1431 N. W. Treadwell " 22 " r 1432 E. E. Gorham " 23 " d 1433 E. W. Hatch " 24 " * 1434 W. E. C. Rich " 31 " 1435 G. W. McKinnon Jan. 6, 1882 1436 Jarvis B. Keen " 16 " r 1437 Henry H. Turner ... . " 21 " 1438 H. A. Moore " d 1439 C. F. Davis . Apr. 22, 1882 d 1440 Clarence H. Pike " 24 " ...... 1441 Charles P. Pond " d 1442 Robert S. Nodine, Jr " 25 " d 1443 Edwin A. Brooks " r 1444 Thomas W. Proctor .... " r 1445 Ira G. Stevens " d 1446 Thomas A. Lambert .... " 1447 William S. Randall " r 1448 Francis A. Kemp " d 1449 Francis P. Trench " r 1450 H. D. Young " d 1451 L. C. Hascall '• ...... 1452 H. S. Fletcher May 9, 1882 - d 1463 Isaac W. Risdon " ..".... 1454 G.W.Whitney " 16 " ' 1455 Willis H. Freeman " 17 " 1456 H. E. SanQerson " r 1457 T. F. Davis " d 1458 Otis F. French •• 18 " r 1459 E. J. Hersey " 1460 Charles R. Draper " 1461 George Knight " 19 " d 1462 H. A. Hall " 24 " ....... d 1463 J. H. Seaverns ' " 26 " r 1464 W. K. Sawyer " 29 •• 1466 Charles H. West June 21, 1882 d 1466 Joseph H. Chadbourne ... " d 1882-83 1467 J. C. DeLaney Sept. 18, 1882 d 1468 David Lockhart " 26 '* d (54) MEMBERS. 1469 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 ,1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 •1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 14ai 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500 1501 1502 1503 1504 1504a 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1610 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 Clarence W. Ayer Sept. 30, 1882 r J. Q. A. Brackett Oct. a. W. Walton P. R. Eaton C. S. Davis C. A. Harvey J. W. Batchelder , F. W. Porter C. L. Gerrauld George H. Brown May E. A. Leonard Balph H. Sawyer David G Eldridge, Jr. . . . " George A. Nesmitli .... " Charles C. Parkyn William U. Swan Oliver E. Simmons .... Hugo Boeder Chandler Wright " L. G. Ripley L. C. .Johonnot G. N. P. Mead " A. S. Joyner Clarence A. Marshall .... Ernest S. Jack Robert L. White " C. P. Harkins " Thomas S. Napier " Harry Holden " Charles H. Cumings .... " 4, 1882 r d d d d Henry C. Hackett . Albert F. Roberts . Franklin K. Gifford Herbert Harris . . Robert Codman, Jr. Charles W. Dimick Otis Tufts . . . Orion S. Taylor . . Joseph R. Worcester Warren A. E. Fish . Elijah A. Wood . . Albert E. Dobbs . John Marten . . . Dexter P. Whittemore Andrew W. Turner Edgar F. Stevens . George M. Cranltch Daniel S. Harkins . 5 (t 7 10 12 15 17 22 23 24 28 1883 d d r d r d d r d r r 1883-84 Oct. 11, 1883 r Dec. 3, 1883 d Feb. 13, 1884 . . . 16 " .... " 25 " .... Apr. Apr. May . . . . d . . . . r . . . . r . . . . d 12, 1884 r 23, 1884 r 3, 1884 r d 6 12 15 (56) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1616 James Ryan . . 1517 George J. Ferreira 1618 Henry D. Goodale 1519 Samuel L. Hills . 1520 Walter G. Clark . May 16, 1884 " 20 " 28 " (I June 7, 1884 1521 C. Edwin Jarvis 1522 William L. Brown 1523 Charles H. Dodge 1524 W. H. Briggs . 1525 A. H. Morris . . 1626 George E. Baxter 1527 S. H. Cutting . . 1528 Joseph O'Connor 1529 Walter G. Morey 1530 Henry C. Parker 1531 Walter C. Hobbs 1532 D. L. Billings . 1533 Cecil H. Cummings 1534 J. M. Gorrie . . 1535 I. P. Horton . . 1536 J. M. Campbell . 1537 H. W. BuUard . 1538 P. D. Houghton . 1539 H. Tracy Balcom 1540 Charles B. Perkins 1541 William H. Snow 1542 Edward P. Boynton 1543 Ernest N. Bagg . 1544 Charles P. Worcester 1545 Charles A. Stowers 1546 Arthur H. Frost . 1547 Frank M. Leavitt 1548 Arthur W. Sim . 1549 Joseph L. Caverly 1550 William C. Greene 1551 James Matheson . 1552 Fred. S. Johnson 1553 W. Frank Grieves 1554 Sidney F. Smith . 1555 George F. Dunham 1566 William D. Brewer, Jr, 1557 Nathaniel G. Chapin 1558 William L. Thompson 1659 Edward A. F. Gore . 1560 William S. Swett 1884-85 Sept. 21, 1884 d 25 " " 26 " " 27 " . . . . . ' Oct. 2, 1884 r 4 12 18 20 25 Nov. 6, 1884 d ■• 10 " d Dec. 1, 1884 d Feb. 7, 1885 d May 26, 1885 r " 29 " d June 1, 1885 r 5 6 15 22 1885-86 Sept. 21, 188."; r " 23 " r Oct. 5, 1885 d " 12 " r Nov. 19, 1885 d Feb. 24, 1886 r May 31, 1886 Jane 3, 1886 r (56) MEMBEKS. 1561 Charles A. Call .... . . June 8, 1886 1562 Herbert Merriam . . . . . " 9 " ... 1563 John G. Russell .... . . " 21 " . r 1564 falter C. Martin . . . . . " 22 " . 1565 Henry K. Lambert . . . . . * 1566 Richard C. Rankin . . (4 1567 Charles C. Ryder . . " 23 " . . r 1568 David Harrison .... . . "24 1569 Frederick W. Kettelle . . . . " 28 " . 1670 Robert H. Richards . . . . July 3, 1886 . 1571 Marcus A. Perkins . . . . . " 9 " . * 1672 Karl A. Rydingsvard . . . . "12 . d 1673 George P. Kendrick . . . . " 20 " . . d 1886-87 1574 George H. Barney . . . . . Sept. 24, 1886 . . . . r 1575 George W. Egerton . . . . Oct. 2, 1886 . . d 1576 William W. Burnham . . . . May 30, 1887 d 1577 Albert H. Lamson . . . . . 1578 William H. Mitchell . . . . r 1579 Lewis W. Roe .... . . June 6, 1887 d 1580 Frank H. Sprague . . . IC r 1581 Frank E. XJpham .... It " 1582 Willis P. Howard . . . . 1683 Henry B. Adams .... . . " 11 " . 1584 Harry W. Johnson . . . . . " 16 " . d 1585 AlUston Greene .... . . d 1586 Owen J. Cnrley .... . . " 18 " . 1687 David L. Rand .... . . " 1588 Wellington Wells . . . . . " 20 " . r 1589 C. Frederick With . . . . . " 21 " . d 1690 Lewis W. Cutting . . . it d 1691 William B. Ropes . . . . . ' " J 1592 Osborne N. Sargent . . . . " . . r 1693 Arthur B. Moorhonse . . (* r 1594 John G. Howard . . . " 22 " . . d 1595 Charles E. Alexander . . (( r 1596 Frank W. Patch .... . . " r 1697 Blewett H.Lee .... . . " 23 " . . d 1598 Herbert G. Aldrich . . . . . •■ 25 " . d 1699 Charles A. Phinney . . . . " 27 " . . d 1600 Frederick Fox, Jr. . . . . . " 28 " . . 1601 Harold B. Warren . . . It r 1602 George A. Hanson . . . . . " . . r 1603 Charles W. Edwards . . 11 d 1604 Leonard J. Manning . . (1 r 1605 Edward H. Kidder . . . . . '• 29 " . . r 1606 Samuel A. Davis . . . . . " 30 " . . d (57) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 1607 Albert N. Page . . 1608 Lyman O. Dennison 1609 Sumner Coolidge . 1610 Henry M. Esselen . 1611 Frank M. Copeland . 1612 Edward N. Ainsworth 1613 Charles E. Titz . . 1614 William H. Henderson 1615 William N. Eustis . 1616 Josepli H. McKenna 1617 George E. Bonney . 1618 Glenn R. Gardner . 1619 Harry H. Smitli . . 1620 Howard Frisbee . . 1621 George H. Kattenliorn 1622 Charles 0. Bourne . 1623 Harlan F. Newton . 1624 William P. Chadwicls 1625 Joseph W. Belcher . 1626 Edward A. Smith . 1627 George F. Hulslander 1628 Charles H. Fernald . 1629 William F. Roll . . 1630 Frank J. Hale . . 1631 Arthur W. Chesterton 1632 Adolph Eberlus . . 1633 John B. Barton . . 1634 Albert M. Phelps . 1635 Henry D. Young . 1636 Whittle Poor . . . 1637 Henry B. Ashton . 1638 Frank R. Bodwell . 1639 Chester W. Purington 1640 Alfred E. Mayell . 1641 Prank M. Tuttle . 1642 George W. M. Given 1643 Nathan R. George, Jr. 1644 Walter P. White . 1645 Walter E. Henderson 1646 Edward R. Maxwell 1647 Mercer B. Moody . 1648 George H. Rose . . 1649 Arthur H. Whittemore ICoO John Stalker .... 1651 Edward L. Cleveland, Jr July 12, 1887 . " 28 " . 1887-88 Oct. 17, 1887 . . . . f . r May 21, 1888 26 28 June I, 1888 r 16 20 " 22 " July 9, 1888 12 1888-89 Oct. 4, 1888 r 15 " r Nov. 10, 1888 d Apr. 11, 1889 (58) MEMBERS. 1652 William J. Luker . Apr. 11, 1889 1653 John A. Fish (1 1654 Wilton H. Despar *' 1665 Clement C. Hyde 1( 1656 Wilbur 0. Higslns 41 1657 Frederick 0. Houghton ... " 19 " 1658 Mackintosh Scott 1( 1659 Herbert H. Bates H 1660 John C. Ballou ... . . *< 1661 James H. Kenney . ... (( 1662 Rowland H. Barnes .... (( 1663 James Durham (t 1664 Harry P. Dyer <( 1665 Willard E. Ryder 1( 1666 Howard P. Quick l( 1667 Ralph B. Savage ({ 1668 John H. W. Fraser .... (C 1669 Herbert E. Kenney " 1670 Jesse L. Nelson " 1671 Wilson R. Butler ( 1 1672 Francis A. Shove " 1673 Frank P. Gowing - 1674 Frank D. Swope (C 1673 George F. Blake . ... Apr. 25, 1889 1676 Sidney Taylor . . ... May 1, 1889 1677 George S. Cheney " 6 " 1678 Charles Teasdale (1 1679 Almon H. Morris " 11 tt 1680 Prentiss A. Allen 16 " 1681 Lewis P. Everett " 1889-90 22 1682 William A. Parks . * . . . Oct. 3, 1889 1683 A. Hillis Boyd . 8 (i 1684 John M. Phipps . . . . Nov. 20, 1889 1685 Arthur Reddish . . May 26, 1890 1686 Isaac F. Kingsbury . " 1687 Clinton A. Ricker . " 1688 Justin F. Emery . . June 6, 1890 1689 George L. Ruffln . . " 7 " 1690 Oliver H. Clark, Jr. (( 1691 Harry N. Redman . " 1692 Charles H. Harmon June 10, 1890 1693 Charles A. Gould . It 16 " 1694 Frederick P. Kidder " 18 " 1695 Fritz H. Small . . " 19 (( 1696 Louis S. Brigham . . (( 20 (1 1697 James W. Loveland " 21 " 1698 Charles F. Harper . C( (59) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HATDN SOCIETY. 1699 Leonard M. Allen 1700 John H. Child 1701 H. S. Fletcher . 1702 James C. Reid . 1703 George M. Brooks 1704 Hobart E. Cousens 1705 Frank P. Ball . . 1706 Frank R. Moore . 1707 Charles S. Hawes 1708 James D. Gordon 1709 Lawrence Whitcomb 1710 Edward P. McKisslck 1711 Joseph Westwood . 1712 Jesse Johnson . . 1713 Murdock McNeil . 1714 Albert N. Page . . 1715 Edmund H. Lansing 1716 Harris E. Sawyer . 1717 Edwin B. Leavitt . June 21, 1890 r " 23 " r d " 24 " r (t It 25 " r r r " r It " 26 " Oct. 23, 1890 Nov. 2, 1890 * 24 " " 29 ' r Jan. 29, 1801 Feb. 7, 1891 r (60) MEIVEBERS ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED • indicatea that membership was terminated hy death; /•, by resignation; d, by discharge. Abell, Charles R Jan. 28, 1867 . . . . r Abbott, J. S. Feb. 25, 1872 r Abbott, Tllden G Oct. 13, 1879 d Acker, A. Sydney Jan. 30, 1880 d Adams, Charles P Dec. 6, 1842 r Adams, Charles R Nov. 14, 1855 Adams, Daniel M Feb. 25, 1853 d Adams, E.E Feb. 8,1869 ..... d Adams, Edward R Oct. 6, 1829 .../... r Adams, Henry B. . _ June 11, 1887 . .... Adams, Henry K. . . ., Feb. 1,1874 . . . . r Adams, Isaac Nov. 10, 1818 r Adams, J. H. Jr Nov. 11,1844 Adams, Joseph Aug. 8, 1815 r Adams, Leonard B Mar. 14, 1866 r Adams, Walter A Oct. 8, 1879 r Aiken, E. H Nov. 29, 1870 r Aiken, Edward H Nov. 4, 1834 d Aiken, Henry M Jan. 15, 1844 r Aikin, James R Nov. 4, 1834 Ainsworth, Edward N May 26, 1888 • Alden, D. A Nov. 12, 1871 . . T Alden, David . Nov. 18, 1853 d Alden, Joseph H Nov. 19, 1871 d Alden, W. George Nov. 29, 1870 r Aldrlch, Herbert G June 25, 1887 ... d Alexander, Charles E June 22, 1887 ...... r Alexander, Ebenezer, Jr Dec. 7, 1824 .... * Alexander, Emery .... . Sept. 7, 1824 . . . . . d Alexander, Henry F Jan. 20, 1838 • Alexander, James Jan. 6, 1844 . . . . . d Alexander, Lucius D Feb. 4, 1834 d Allen, Allston Jan. 16, 1837 r Allen, Charles P Dec. 7, 1824 d Allen, Edward E Nov. 29, 1870 d Allen, Henry Apr. 10, 1842 * Allen, Leonard M June 31, 1890 r Allen, Porter S Nov. 1, 1865 d • (61) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Allen, Prentiss A May 16, 1889 Allen, Silas, Jr Aug. 7, 1832 Ames, Simeon S Dec. 14, 1848 d Anderson, N. E Mar. 8, 1860 d Anderson, William Nov. 14, 1855 d Andrews, Alfred Oct. 10, 1854 d Andrews, Caleb Nov. 9. 1815 r Andrews, H. C Nov. 24, 1869 d Andrews, John D Nov. 1, 1865 Andrews, Kobert D Dec. 19,1875 d Angell, George C Dec. 2, 1877 r Angier, Samuel A Nov. 1, 1865 d Ansorge, Alfred E Nov. 23, 1860 d Appleton, George C Nov. 29, 1870 r Appleton, John Oct. 12, 1855 d Apthorp, II. Nov. 8. 18C3 r Ashton, Henry B Apr. 11, 1«S9 Atkinson, Thomas, Jr Nov. 7, le61 Atwood, James M Nov. 13, 1867 d Austin, Reginald Jan. 25, 1874 .... . d Austin, W. H. M Nov. 29, 1870 r Averill, James Oct. 3, 1820 cV Ayer, Clarence W Sept. 30, 1882 r Babcock, W. E Jan. 11, 1848 d Bacon, James G Oct. 3, 1820 r Bacon, Nathan K Apr. 9, 1870 * Badger, David J Mar. 13, 18i3 d Badger, J. H Nov. 1, 1865 r- Badger, Thomas, Jr Nov. 23, 1815 * Bagg, Ernest N June 1, 1885 r Bailey, Joseph Original member "• Baker, Benjamin F Apr. 16, 1837 "■ Baker, Elisha Original member » iBalch, Edward L Sept. 14, 1S62, Dec. 16, 1857 . • Balcom, H. Tracy Eeb. 7, 1885 di Baldwin, J. E Nov. 13, 1867, Jan. 17, 1881 . r Baldwin, Thaddeus Nov. 19, 1816 r- Ball, Abner Feb. 2,1821 d Ball, Frank P June 25, 1890 r- Ball, N. A. H Nov. 2, 1847 d Ball, Nahum Dec. 3, 1822 d. Ball, S. B Dec. 11, 1851 * Ball, Thomas Oct. 21, 1838, Apr. 3, 1846 . . * Ballou, E. F.' Nov. 29, 1870 d Ballon, Hosea S Nov. 10, 1878 r Ballou, John C Apr. li), 1889 d Ballou, Joseph E Apr. 9, 1870 d< (62) MEMBERS. Bangs Thomas G May 2,1816 d Barker, Albert G Apr. 16, 1837 r Barker, Jedediah Oct. 14, 1817 d Barker, Theodore T Jan. 6, 184+ d Barker, W. T Mar. 17, 1872 . . . . d Barnabee, H. C May 5, 1857 r Barnes, Albert M Feb. 8, 1869 d Barnes, Benjamin, Jr Apr. 2, 1816 d Barnes, Edward Jan. 11,1881 d Barnes, Loring B Deo. 11,1851 Barnes, Rowland H Apr. 19, 1889 r Barnes, Samuel H Feb. 4, 1847 ....'.. d Barney, George H Sept. 24, 1M«6 r Barrett, Silas June 1, 1815 * Barrett, W. M May 1, 187« d Barri, John A Oct. 18, 1879 r Barrus Horace G Feb. 17, 1839 d Barry, Horace W Nov. 12, 18,ir, Barry, W. Trask Nov. 1, 1863 ,1 Bartlett, Hosea Apr. fi, 1825 d Bartlett, John Dec. 6, 18-J5 * Bartlett, John W Jan. 6, 1848 d Bartlett, J. C Feb. 8, 1869 d Barton, John B Apr. 11, 1889 .... Bassett, Charles M Nov. 13, 1867 d Bassett, S. D Dec. 29, 1860 d Batchelder, J. W Oct. 4, 1«82 Bates, Alfred W Dec. 7, 1858 r Bates Edmund Dec. 22, lb39 d Bates Herbert H Apr. 19, 1889 Bawn, George Sept. 7, 1815 . . . . r Baxter, George |; Oct. 4, 1884 r Bayley, F. A May 30, 1881 r Beach, H. H Feb. 18, 1863 ' . r Bearse, A.L May 5,1872 f Beck, Charles May 2, 1816 d Beckwith, George C Nov. 19, 1868 d Bedlington, Samuel M Sept. 22, 1879 » Beeching, Richard Nov. 12, 1871 Belcher, A. F Nov. 12, 1871 d Belcher, John H Mar. 16, 1820 d Belcher, Joseph W June 20, 1888 Bemis, William W Nov. 1,1865 r Bennett, A. T Oct. 25, 1856 d Bennett, B. F Nov. 8, U63 r Benson, Harry Nov. 29, 1870 Benton, I. B Nov. 25, 1854 d Berry, J. K Apr. 11, 1875 r Beyerle, George R May 27, 1880 d (63) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Bickford, Abraham Bicknell, Charles . Bicknell, James T. Bigelow, Abraham Bigelow, Alanson, Jr Bigelow, John . . Biglow, Lyman Bigelow, T. F. . . Billings, D. L. . . Billings, John D. . Bingham, Jonathan Bird, George W. . Bird, Horace Bird, Isaac . . . Bird, John W. . . Bird, Joseph . . Blackman, H. P. . Blake, George F. . Blake, William Blake, William A. Blaney, S. K. . . Blodgett. George W. Blood, William H. Boardman. H. H. . Bod well, Frank R. Bogle, George E. . Bolan, Harry A. . Bolan, Joel C. . . Bonney, George E. Borrowscale, Joseph Boihamly, William B Bourne, Abner . Bourne, C: C. . Bourne, Charles Bourne, E. . . Boutvvell, N. B. Bowdltch, Jonathan, Bowen, Benjamin J. Bowen, Henry . . Bowker, Dexter . Boyd, A. Hillis . Boynton, Edward P. Boynton, Joseph W. Urackett, I. Louis Brackett, J. Q. A. Brackett, Nathaniel Bradbury, C. B. . Bradbury, Osgood Bradbury, WilliamiF Jr Dec. 20, 1825 d Jan. 2, 1821 d Dec. 6, 1842 • Aug. 16, 1836 * Mar. 19, 1858 r Aug. 14, 1831 * Aug. 2, 1825 d May 5, 1872 d Oct. 20, 1884 Dec. 9, 1877 ....:. r Oct. 7, 1817 r Nov. 2, 1847 * Nov. 8, 1863 d Nov. 18, 1817 • Nov. 12, 1871 ...... r Xov. 8, 1863 r Nov. 29, 1870 Apr. 26, 1889 r Oct. 7, 1817 r May U, 1878 d Jan. 13,1833 d Mar. 18, 1877 Oct. 27, 1x59 d Nov. 1, 1865 d Apr. 11, 1889 Dec. 13, 1874 Dec. 2, 1877 d Dec. 30, 1877 d May 28, 1888 r Oct. 27, 1859 d Sept. 29, 1849 d Original member * Nov. 21, 1865 d June 16, 1888 r Nov. 21, 1865 d Apr. 6, 1861 d Mar. 6, 1821 d Nov. 10, 1878 r Nov. 10, 1818 d Nov. 5, 1846 .......* Oct. 8, 1889 r May 2i), 1885 Nov. 4, 1854 d Mar. IB, 1848 d Nov. 29, 1870, Oct. 4, 1882 . . r Feb. 4, 1823 d Nov. 19, 1868 r Nov. 17, 1844 d Nov. 10, 1864 . (64) MEMBERS. Bradbury, Wymond Sept. 19, 1841 Bradford, E. D. Nov. 24, 1869 Bradford, George H. . . . Oct. 27, 1859 Bradford, W Nov. 29, 1870 Bradford, William R Nov. 13, 1836 Brazier, Franklla J. . Nov. 17, 1854 Brett, G. W. May 5, 1872 Brewer, I. D Nov. 16, 1844 Brewer, "W. D Jan. 3, 1875 Brewer, William D. . .... Sept. 10, 1853 Brewer, William D.. Jr. . . Feb. 24, 1886 Bridge, John Oct. 26, 1815 Briggs, A. W. . . ... Nov. 10, 1878 Briggs, W. H Sept. 27, 1884 Brigham,D. S. Brigham, Erastus F. Brigham, George O. . Brigham, John T. Brigham, Louis S. Brinsmade, N. G. . . Nov. 29, 1870 Jan. 11, 18i'9 Jan. 7, 1860 Oct. 6, 1818 June 20, 18!I0 Jan. 8, 1881 Brintnall, Charles Oct. 7, 1817 Brooks, Charles O. Nov. 12, 1871 Brooks, Edwin A Apr. 25, 1882 Brooks, George M. June 24, 1890 Brooks, S. 1' Jan. 18, 1845 Brown, A. B Oct. 25, 1856 Brown, A. W Dec. 16, 1857 Brown, B.irtholomew . . . . . Oct. 5, 1815 Brown, Curtis Oct. 25, 1856 Brown, Edwin Jan. 23, 1842, Feb Brown, Elbridge Jan. 1, 1822 . Brown, George H. . . . May 4, 1883 . Brown, George M. . Mar. 2, 1865 . Brown, George T Nov. 19, 1868 Brown, H. M. ... ... Nov. 19, 1868 . Brown, Henry B Mar. 31, 1879 Browu, Henry M. . . . . Dec. 4, 1877 , Brown, John G Oct. 15, 1816 Brown, Joseph Jan. 11, 1829 Brown, Louis F . . Dec. 19, 1881 . Brown. O. B Dec. 16, 1857 . Brown, Timothy . Brown, William L. Browne, A. Parker Browne, Charles F. Brace, Abel W. Bruce, Edwin . . Bryant, Henry T. . Buck. Kphraim Sept. 28, 1834 Sept. 25, 1884 Nov. 21, 1865 June 3, 1857 Juae 16, 1818 Dec. 6, 1845 June 16, 1850 Nov. 27, 1821 185 d d d d d (65) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Buckingham, J. D Nov. 10, 1878 d BuUard, Calvin Feb. 4, 1823 * BuUard, H. W Nov. 10, 1884 ...... d Bunton, George A Nov. 12, 1871 r Bunton, William H Nov. 12, 1871 Burbank, E. A Mar. 14, 1866 Burchmore, Charles F. P Jan. 30, 1880 d Burditt, Charles A Nov. 10, 1864 r Burnham, William W May 30, 1887 d Burnett, Arthur F Dec. 19, 1875 r Burnett, Henry Nov. 26, 1818 d Burrows John A Jan. 28, 1867 d Burton, Andrew N Feb. 12, 1847 Butler, Aaron Nov. 17, 1839 d Butler, Benjamin Nov. 9, 1844 d Butler, Charles Nov. 2, 1852 d Butler, John Nov. 9, 1846 r Butler, P. A Nov. 13, 1867 d Butler, William P Nov. 1, 1863 r Butler, Wilson K Apr. 19, 1889 r Buttrick, Arthur C Nov. 10, 1878 d Byram, N. Cushing Nov. 13, 1836 * Byrnes, William M Jan. 20, 1839 ... . * Cabot, Edward T Jan. 17, 1881 r Call, Charles A June 8, 1886 Campbell, J. M Nov. 6, 1884 d Campbell, Thomas W Nov. 29, 1870 d Capen, Aaron Feb. 26, 1822 r Capen, George D. . May 7, 1857 ..'.... d Card, Henry . . ' Nov. 1, 1831 d Carey, Henry G Feb. 1, 1874 r Carney, Fred A Jan. 7, 1877 d Carpenter, Frank A Mar. 15, 1866 d Carpenter, Moses Mar. 26, 1868 d Carroll, Charles H Feb. 9, 1819 d Carstens, H.W Oct. 12,1864 d Carter David Jan. 2, 1842 "■ Carter, George P Dec. 6, 1842 * Carter, 0. C. B June 28, 1840 d Carter, S. F Oct. 6, 1855 * Carter, Samuel Feb. 16, 1853 Gary, H. F. . . . ' Nov. 29, 1870 d Cary, Isaac Nov. 15, 1829 * Cary, Ziba ... .... Oct. 4, 1825 * Caverly, Joseph L. . June 22, 1885 d Chace, J. Q Nov. 1, 1865 * Chace, Philip F Mar. 20, 1877 * Chadbourne, Joseph H. ..... June 21, 1882 d (66) MEMBERS. Chadwick, F. Henry Nov. 21 Chadwick, John Oct. 14 Chadwick, WiUlam P June 20 Challis, Josiah E Nov. 15 Chamberlin Isaac Jan. 2 Chandler, A. B Nov. 24 Chandler, Oliver June 5 Chany, Jacob Nov. Chapin, Edward F Nov. 24 Chapln, Eben H Jan. 30 Chapin, Nathaniel G May 31 Chase, C. W Nov. 29 Chase Charles H Mar. 9 Chase, J. H Dec. 12 Chase, Samuel S Nov. 17, Chase, Sauford C May 27 Chauvenet, Regis Nov. 21 Cheever, John . Nov. 10 Cheever, Joshua Oct. 1 Cheney, George S .' Feb. 4 Cheney, George S May 6 . Cheney, James W Nov. 1 Chesterton, Arthur W Oct. 15 Chickering, C. Francis Chickerlng, George H. Chickering, Jonas Chickering, Thomas E. Child, David . . May 26 May 16 Oct May 31 Oct. 3 Child, David W., Jr Dec. Child, John H . . June 23 Childs, Stephen . Original Chute, R. J Nov. 24 Clap, Barney Jan. 14 Clapp, Derastus Feb. 4 Clapp, Edwin Nov. Clapp, Joel Sept. 6 Clapp, Otis . . . ; Sept. 19 Clark, Charles A Apr. 18 Clark, Charles E May 12 Clark, Edmund S Nov. 13 Clark, Gilbert Nov. 6^ Clark James Original Clark, John B . Jan. 5 Clark, Joseph Dec Clark, Lemuel Dec. 15 Clark, Nathaniel Oct. 26 Clark, O. Frank Oct. 27 Clark, Oliver H., Jr June Clark, Walter G. June 7 , 1865 . , 1817 , , 1888 . , 1829 . , 1821 . , 1869 . , 1821 . , 1863 . , 1869 . , 1880 , 1886 . , 1870 . , 1853 . , 1875 . , 1844, Feb , 1880 . , 1865 . , 1818 . , 1816 . , 1859 . , 1889 . , 1865 . , 1888 . , 1856 . , 1857 . , 1818 . , 1858 . , 1820 . , 1821 . , 1890 . member , 1869 . , 1820 . , 1823 . , 1881 . , 1842 . , 1841 . , 1878 . , 1872 . . , 1867 . . , 1849 . . member . , 1848 . . ■, 1815 , 1818 . , 1815 . . , 1855 . . , 1890 . . , 1884 . 14, 1853 (67J HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Clark, William D Dec. 6, 1842 . Clement, S. S : Jan. 6, 1862 . Clements, D. B Nov. 14, 1852 . Cleveland, Edward L., Jr Apr. 11, 1889 . Clouston, Robert H Feb. 7, 1843 , Cobb, Elijah, Jr. . . -. Oct. 3, 1820 . Cobb, Gershom Aug. 3, 1815 . Coburn, Marcus Dec. 6, 1825 Codding, Charles B Nov. 29, 1870 . Codman, Robert, Jr Feb. 16, 1884 . Codman, William A Mar. 7, 1816 Coffey, W. H Dec. 19, 1881 Coffin, Abbott S Nov. 24, 1869 , Coffin, Henry A Nov. 21, 1865 Coffin, Isaac S Mar. 10, 1818 . Coffin, William, Jr July 6, 1815 Colburu, S. B Feb. 18, 1863 . Cole, Albert B Nov. 8,1863 . Cole, Charles H Dec. 12, 1875 , Cole, Richard G .- . Nov. 19, 1816 . Collins, I. C Apr. 20, 1871 . Colman, George G Mar. 24, 1858 . Comer, Thomas Aug. 14, 1831 , Conant, Benjamin Nov. 29, 1870 . Coney, George H Mar. 5, 1853 Conkey, Harrison .... . . Mar. 2, 1865 Cook, H. A Oct. 27, 1859 , Cook, Seth B Dec. 9, 1817 Cooke, Atkins N Nov. 12, 1871 Cooke, Lowell M Feb. 1,1874 , Coolidge, James . June 1, 1815 Coolidace, Samner Oct. 17, 1887 . Coombs, A. D Nov. 10, 1878 Cooper, Henry E Nov. 10, 1878 , Copeland, Frank M May 23, 1888 Copeland, Moses W Jan. 2, 1821 Corliss, Lewis H Apr. 24, 1878 . Cory Barney Mar. 7, 1843 Cousens, Hobart E June 24, 1890 Cowdrey, Edward T Nov. 7, 1861 Cox, Charles A Mar. 3, 1872 Cox, George P Feb. 10, 1844, Nov Cox, Joseph W Apr. 6, 1844 Cragiii, Lorenzo S Jan. 2, 1821 Crandale, Frank G Dec. 12, 1874 Cranitch, George M May 15, 1884 Crocker, Alvah Mar. 20, 1877 Crockett, S, Frank Feb. 18, 1863 . Croft, J. T Oct. 23, 1860 (68) 26, MEMBEBS. Croswell, William Nov. 29 earnings, Charles H May 30 Cummingg, Cecil H Oct. 25 Curley, Owen J June 18 Calais, Caleb T Nov. 7 Gushing, B. L Dec. 16 Cushing, George Original Gushing, John Nov. 18 Gushing, Solomon B Apr. 17 Gushing, Zeba . . Oct. 7 Cutler, Arthur T • . . . Nov. 29 Cutler, Henry S Feb. 10 Gutter, Charles K Nov. 24 Cutting, Gilbert Apr. 17 Cutting, Lewis W. June 21 Gutting S. H . . Oct. 12 Dabney, A. S . . May 5 Dale, Theron J Oct. 25 Dalzell, John. W Feb. 18 Dame, Frederic . ... . . Dec. 16 Dana, C. G. . Nov. 1, Danforth, Charles H. . . ... Nov. 7 Danforth, John N Nov. 5 Daniell, Charles P Mar. 19 Daniell, Ellery C Nov. 1 Daniell, M. Grant Nov. 1 Daniels, Albert N Dec. 7 Daniels, C Apr. 20 Daniels, George F. Daniels, W. H. Daniels, William . Davin, Thomas A. Davis, A. M. . . Jan. 24, Mar. 19 Nov. 11 Nov. 25 Nov. 19 Davis, Benjamin B May 2 Davis, C. F Apr. 22 Davis, C. S Oct. 4 Davis, Frederic ' . ■ Jan. 15 Davis, H. A., Jr Oct. 22 Davis, Henry ... ... . Oct. 7 Davis, Isaac Original Davis, Samuel, Jr June 7 Davis Samuel A June 30 Davis, T. F May 17 Davis, W.W... .... Apr. 20 Day, Levi E Nov. 5 Dean, Henry L Nov. 9 Deane, Walter Nov. 19 Dearborn, K. B July 18 (69) 1870 d 1881, May 28, 1883 . r 1884 r 1887 ... 1844 d 1857 . . d member . . r 1817 d 1836 .... • 1817 . . d 1870 .... d 1844 ... d 1869 r 1836 . . 1887 . . d 1884 . . d 1872 . d 1856 r 1777 . 1857 . . * 1865 ... d 1866 . . 1853 . . . d 1858 . . d 1865 . . . . d 1863 . . 1858 .... 1876 ... d 1874 .... 1858 .... d 1844 .... 1876 r 1868 r 1816 * 1882 d 1882 d 1844 d 1879 .... . d 1817 d member * 1825 r 1887 d 1882 d 1871 d 1853 d 1843 d 1868 . . . . r 1841 * HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HATDN SOCIETY. Dearborn, John ........ May 2 DeLand, B. E Nov. 7 DeLaney, J. C Sept. 18 Denham, George A Nov. 24 Denham, Leonard Jan. 7 Denny, Edward Oct. 4 Denny, George Oct. 3 Denny, R. S. . . . ; Mar. 7, Dennison, Lyman July 28 Denton, John Jan. 26 Denton, M. P May 30, Denton, William Mar. 7 Desper, Wilton H Apr. 11 Dexter, D. Gilbert Nov. 24. Dillaway, Thomas V June 1 Dillaway, William June 1 Dilley, David Nov. 29 Dimick, Charles W Feb. 25 Dimond, George Oct. 7 Dlmond, Reuben . . Dec. 16 Dobbs, Albert E May 5 Dodd, J. M Dec. 20 Dodd, James E Jan. 2 Dodd, John Original Dodd, Silas Deo. 3, Dodd, William Nov. 13 Dodge, Charles H Sept. 26 Dodge, Edward S Nov. 29 Dodge, Frederic . ... . . Jan. 28 Dole, Nathan H Jan. 25 Dow, A. G May 6 Dowe, Joseph .... .... Oct. 17 Downes, I. Henry K Jan. 10. Downs, S. M Feb. 18 Drake, F. K., Jr Nov. 7 Draper, Charles R. May 18 Draper, J. P Jan. 15 Draper, James Nov. 6 Draper, Martin, Jr. . . .... Nov. 1 Driver, George H. S Nov. 1 Drown, James T Nov. 21 Duffy, John G Oct. 27, Dunham, George F Nov. 19 Dunnels, J. B Dec. 1 Duren, Abel Original Duren, Elnathan, Original Durham, James ....'.... Apr. 19, Dustln, William . . Nov. 6, Dutemple, William Jan. 18^3 1846 d 1882 d 1869 d 1860 d 1842 1820 r 1843 1887 ...... r 1874 d 1881 r 1816 r 1889 r 1869 d 1815, June 16, 1818 . r 1815 '. r 1870 d 1884 d 1855 d 1857 d 1884 d 1825 r 1842 r Member * 1816 d 1867 d 1884 1870 d 1867 r 1874 d 1872 d 1826 d 1854 r 1863 d 1866 d 1882 1853 d 1846 d 1865 ♦ 1865, May 19, 1872 . d 1865 r 1859 d 1885 d 1878 r Member d Member ...... r 1889 1852 d 1877 (70) MEMBERS. Dyer, Harry P. Apr. 19, 1889 Dyer, James Oct. 21, 1838 Dyer, John J Dec. 16, 1852 Dymond, Benjamin F Mar. 26, 1868 Eastman, Edmund T. ... Dec. 22, 1856 . Eastman, Joseph S Jan. 11, 1845 . Eastman, Luke Original Member Eaton, Albert Apr. 13, 1844 . Eaton, Edwin R. . Oct. 8, 1879 . Eaton, Osgood Jan. 2, 1842 . Baton, P. R. . Oct. 4, 1882 . Eaton, W. R Nov. 10, 1878 . Eayrs, Joseph H Dec. 9, 1817 . Eayrs, M. T Nov. 1, 1865 . Eayrs, William N Mar. 15, 1866 . Eberius, Adolph Nov. 10, 1888 Edmands, A. W Jan. 28, 1867 . Edmands, George W Jan. 2, 1821 Edmands, John B. . June 27, 1853 . Edwards, Charles W June 28, 1887 Edwards, Oliver May 17, 1858 Egerton, George W. ... Oct. 2, 1886 . Elder, R. J Mar. 10, 1872 . Eldridge, David G., Jr May 7, 1883 Eldridge, L. M Dec. 1, 1878 Elliot, William L Sept. 16, 1853 . Elliot, George T. . . . Dec. 30, 1877 EUiott, William H Mar. 17, 1872 . Ellis, Frederick O Dec. 16, 1857 Ellis, George W .' • May 21, 1837 . EUis, Ralph W Apr. 15, 1876 . Emerson, Charles P. Oct. 25, 1856 . Emerson, P. W Dec. 2, 1877 . Emerson George D May 12, 1872 Emery, Justin F June 6, 1890 . Emery, Wilfrid A Nov. 19, 1868 . Emmons, T. H Feb. 12, 1847 . Esselen, Henry M May 21,1888 Estabrook, J. P Mar. 14, 1866 . Estle, John W Nov. 1, 1879 . Eustaphleve, Alexi . ... Original Member Eustis, Frank T. . Jan. 28, 1867 - Enstis, Joseph, Jr Oct. 31,1820 . Eustis, William C Apr. 3, 1858 . Enstis, William N May 28, 1888 Eustis, William T June 1, 1815 . Evans, Ransom F Nov. 17, 1854 . Eveleth, H. F Nov. 10, 1878 . (71) HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY, Everett, Charles Dec. 15, 1818 . Everett, Lewis P May 22, 1889 . Everett, Otis. ... ... Original Member Evrell, John Nov. 18, 1817 . Ewer, Charles C Dec. 7, 185.S . Fabens, Benjamin H Nov. 29, 1870 . Fairbanks, H. W Mar. 16, 1848 . Fairbanks, Josiah L June 28, 1840 . Farley, H. B Nov. 1, 1865 . Farlow, John S Nov. 17, 1839 . Farnsworth, Thomas G. . . . Oct. 7, 1817 . Farrie, John, Jr Oct. 3, 1820 Farwell, F. F Feb. 25, 1844 . Faulkner, E. D. Nov. 10, 1864 . Faunce, Alton . . . . ' May 30, 1881 . Faunce, E. P Apr. 24, 1878 Faunce, Sewall A. Jan. 28, 1867 . Favor, F. F Jan. 7, 1877 . Favor, G. I May 5, 1872 Faxon, Edward Nov. 1, ISSl . Faxon, Edwin ... .... Feb. 4, 1845 . Faxon, John G Mar. 6, 1843 . Faxon, Oren J Sept. 12, 1841 . Fellows, John F Dec. 8, 1843 Felt, David F ... Feb. 14, 1840 . Fenno, James Sept 7, 1824 . Fenno, Kimbal J Feb. 25, 1872 . FenoUosa, Ernest F Jan. 9,1876 FenoUosa, William S Dec. 13, 1874 . Fernald, Charles H July 12, 1888 Ferreira, George J May 20, 1884 Fessenden, Edward H May 7, 1822 . Eessenden, Franklin G Nov. 29, 1870 . Field, B. W Dec. 6, 1846 . Fillebrown, C. B Nov. 29, 1870 . Fish, Frederick P Jan. 25, 1874 . Fish, John A ' . . Apr. 11, 1889 . Fish, Warren A. E May 3, 1884 . Fisher, George Sept. 20, 1861 . Fisher, Horace B Nov. 24,1869 . Fisher, Eollin B Jan. 28, 1867 . Fisher, Warren * Feb. 6,1827 . Fiske, J. B Nov. 8, 1863 . Fi.-*• . . Aug. 17, 1822 r . . . Jan. 14, 1820 . r . . Nov. 7, 1866 d . . . May 5, 1872 . d . . . Apr. 20, 1871 d . . . Nov. 16, 1849 . d Mar. 7, 1816. . d . Dec. 23, 1880 June 28, 1887 . . Oct. 7, 1817 . d . May 2, 1816 . d . . . Jan. 25, 1874 . d . . . Apr. 19, 18H9 . Sept ■'., 1848 . . . Nov. 19, 1868, May 17, 1882 . . . Original Member . d . . . Nov. 39, 1870 r . . . Mar. 7, 1816 . d . . . May 18, 1882 r . . . Dec. 3, 1822 . d . . . June 8, 1888 June 5, 1885 6, 1850 . . . Sept. . d . . Jan. 24, 1845 . d . Nov. 24, 1869 . d . Nov. 10, 1878 r . . . Original member . . * . . Dec. 5, 1845 r . . . Oct. 3, 1820 r . . Nov. 29, 1870 d Oct. 3, 1844 . r . Nov. 1, 1865 * . Dec. 30, 1817 . d . . May 11, 1876 d . Feb. 4, 1859 . d . Oct. 25, 1856 . d . . Jan. 3, 1875 . d . Jan. 1, 1828, Oct. 3, 1843 . . r Apr. 25, 1875 . d Dec. 16, 1857 d May 27, 1880 . d . . . Nov. 23, 1860 . d . Dec. 15, 1852 . d . . Nov. 11, 1843 r HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Gardner, E. G Gardner, George L Gardner, Glenn R Gardner, W. A. A Garland, George W Garrett, William Gay, Eben F Gay, Warren H George, Nathan E., Jr Gerrauld, C. L Gerrish, William H Gerry, Reuben Gervasio, Joachim (Joseph G. Oakes) Gifford, Franklin K Gilbert, Benjamin F Gilman, Peter S Given, George W. M Glynn, John Goddard, Charles W Goddard, J. F Goodale, Henry D Gooding, Charles S Goodrich, Ebenezer Goodrich, John B Goodridge, Philip W Goodridge, William M Goodwin, Ozias Googin, Mark Gordon, James D Gore, Christopher Gore, Edward A. F Gore, Theodore A . . Gorham, E. E ... Gorrie, J. M Gould, Charles A Gould, Daniel, Jr Gould, John E Gould, N. D Gove, Gardner Gowen, Asa Gowing, Frank P Gragg, William .... ... Granger, David A Graupner, Gottlieb Gravenhorst, G Greatorex, H. W Green, Joseph W., Jr Greene, Alliston Greene, Herbert E (7+) Nov. 7. 18fi6 . . . . . d Nov. 13, 1867 . . . . d June I, 1888 . . . . . . r Jan. 30, 1880 . . . . . . d Sept. 23, 1852, Dec. 16, 1857 . Nov. 17, 1853 . . . . . . r Nov. 1, 1831 . . . . . . r Nov. 19,, 1868 . . . . d Apr. 11, 1889 . . . Oct. 4, 1882 . . . Oct. 8, 1855 . . . . . . d Dec. 5. 1826 . . . . . . d Oct. 4, 1844 . . . * Dec. 4, 1883 . . . . . d Apr. 20, 1871 . .' . . . . d Sept. 27, 1848 * Apr. 11, 1889 . . . * Jan. 28, 1817. . . . . d Nov. 21, 18G5 . . . d Nov. 8, 1863 . . . . d May 28, 1884 . . r Nov. 10, 1878 . . . . d Original member . . . d Nov. 8, 1863 . . . . d Sept. 15, 1839 . * Dec. 16, 1857 . . . . . . d Nov. 13, 1067 . . . • Nov. 13, 1836 . . . . . . d June 25, 1890 . . . . . . r June 1, 1815 . . . « June 3, 1886 . . . Feb. 4, 1834 . . . d Dec. 23, 1881 . . . . d Oct. 25, 1884 . . June 16, 1890 . . . . . . r Nov. 27, 1821 . . . * Oct. 5, 1844 . . . . . . d Oct. 3, 1820 . . . . r Nov. 5, 1853 . . . . . . di Mar. 6, 1821 . . . . . . d Apr. 19, 188!) . . . . . . r Oct. 2, 1821 . . . . . . d Nov. .1, 1842 . . . . d Original member * Nov. 21, 1865 . . . r Aug. 10, 1841 . . . . d Nov. 19, 1868 . . . . r June 16, 1887 . . . . . d June 3, 1878 . . . . . . d Greene, William C. . . Greenwood, Augustus G. Gregory, Samuel H. Grieves, Thomas . Grieves, W. Frank Griggs, David R. . Griggs, Natlianiel Grover, Leonard O. Guild, Charles, Guild, Edward C. . Guild, Jacob . . Guild, William H. Gurney, Edward B. Gnrney, L. H. Gurney, Thomas . Guyer, Lewis B. Gwinn, George F. Hach, Theodore Hackett, Henry C Hadley, A.J. . Hadley, S. H. O. Hagar, Eugene B Hagar, Jonathan Hale, Frank J. Haley, Edwin L. Hall, Arthur Hall, Barlow Hall, Gustavus HaU, H. A. . HaU, H. A. . Hall, Isaac . HaU, Lewis . Hall, N. J. . Hall, Thomas Hall, Thomas H Hallgrien, H. J. Hamblet, James, Jr Hamilton, Edward Hanaford, L. B. . Hancock, Torrey . Hanson, E. K. . Hansen, George A. Hanson, J. Haven Haraden, D. T. . Harding, D. B. . Harkins, C. P. . . Harkins, Daniel S. Harlow, Charles . MEMBERS. . . . . Sept 21, 1885 . . . . Dec. 16, 1867 . . . . Oct. 12, 1862 . . . . Nov. 29, 1870 . . . . Oct. 5, 1886 . . . . Feb. 9, 1819 . . Dec. 15, 1818 . . . Nov. 6, 1863 . . . . Jan. 2, 1821 . . Feb. 11, 1853 . . . Original member . Oct. 22, 1879 . . . Jan. 15, 1?53 . . . Nov. 10, 1864 . . Nov. 24, 1869 . . . Feb. *8, 1869 .. Mar. 20, 1831 . . . Aug. 16, 1836 . . . . Oct. 11, 1883 . Nov. 1, 1865 . . . . Nov. 10 1864 . Jan. 25, 1874 . . Apr. 2, 1816 . . . . Oct. 4, 1888 . . . Nov. 19, 1868 . . . . Dec. 22, 1856 . . . Oct. 27, 1859 . . Sept 27, 1848 . . Dec. 19, 1875 . . May 24, 1882 . . . . Jan. 1, 1828 . . . . Mar. 7, 1844 . . . . May o 1878 . Nov. 19, 1868 . . . . Dec. 20, 1874 . . May 5. 1872 . . . Nov. 19, 1868 . . . . Nov. 1, 1861 . . . Dec. 14, 1855 . May 2, 1816 . . Oct. 23, 1831 . . June 28, 1887 . . . . Nov. 1, 1865 . . . . Nov. 7, 1844 . . Dec. 23, 1880 . . . . May 22, 1883 . . . . May' 15, 1884 Aug. 4, 1829 . (75) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Harlow, William H Jan. 1, 1880 . Harmon, Charles H June 10, 1890 . Harper, Charles I" June 21, 18!10 . Harris, Benjamin C June 5, 1821 . Harris, Herbert Feb. 13, 1884 . Harris John A Apr. 15, 1878 . Harris, S. C Nov. 1, 1866 . Harris, Walter C .Tan. 6, 1877 . Harrison, David ... .... June 24, 1886 . Harrod, James Feb. 6, 1831 . Hart, John June! 1, 1815 . Harts, Charles Jan. 25, 1874 Hartshorn, Caleb Apr. 2, 1816 . Harwood, Irving I .Tan. 6, 1852 . Harvey, C. A. . Oct. 4, 1882 . Hascall, L. C Apr. 26, 1882 . Haskell, A. H Nov. 10, 1820 . Haskell, Kdward Jan. 1, 1822 . Haskins, John, Jr Oct. 27, 1869 . Hatch, C. K Oct. 9, 1855 . Hatch, Chaurcey M Jan. 21, 1880 . Hatch, E. W Dec. 24, 1881 . Hatch, Monroe W Nov. 19, 1871 . Hathorne, Frank H Nov. 29, 1870 . Hawes, Charles S June 25, 1890 . Hawes, William Sept. 16, 1848 . Hawkes, Ezra May 2, 1816 . Hawkes, Thomas B Mar. 6, 1826 . Say, Clarence .E Nov. 12,1871 . Hayden, Nathaniel, Jr. ... . Nov. 10,1818 . Hayes, B. W Nov. 13, 1867 . Hayes, H. V. . ■ May 30, 1881 . Hayes, Pliny Sept. 7, 1815 . Hayter, George F Nov. 6, 1846 . Hay ward, Joseph ... ... Jan. 1, 1822 Hayward, W. I. G Nov. 19, 1868 . Hazelton, H. L June 16, 1847 . Hazelton, Jonathan E Oct. 26, 1826, Nov. 8, 1840 Head, Nathaniel .... . . Feb. 18, 1863 . Hebard, Albert K Jan. 28, 1867 . Hemenway, Luke Original member Henderson, Charles Nov. 9, 1884 . Henderson, Walter E Apr. 11, 1889 . Htnderson, William H Dec. 6, 1826 . Henderson, William H May 28, 1888 . Henry, George E. . . .... May 5, 1872 . Henry, J. Q Nov. IS, 1867 . Henry, John J. . . . . Nov. 14, 18C1 . Hern, Peter Oct. 3, 1820 . (76) MEMBERS. Hei-sey, E. J May 18, 1882 . Hewins, Parke W Feb. 27, 1876 . Hews, George • • •/ Dec. 12, 1830 . Heywood, George W Nov. 25, 185+ . Hlgley, E. H Nov. 19, 1868 . Higgins, Wilbur Apr. 11, 1889 . Hill, Benjamin G Feb. 5, 1823 . Hill, Charles E Sept. 22, 1853 . Hill, Converse Oct. 21, 1838 . Hill, G. William Dec. 15, 1852 . Hill, James E. R Nov. 19, 1868 . Hill, Noah July 6, 1815 Hill, Sumner Feb. 4, 1838 . Hillard, James L Nov. 12, 1871 . Hills, Samuel L May 28, 1884 . Hlndes, Georjre W Dec. 16, 1857 . Hinkley, Chailes K Feb. 25, 1872 . Hobart, Josiah Mar. 26, 1853 Hobbs, Granville J Feb. 8, 1869 . Hobbs, John E Nov. 19, 1868 . Hobbs, Walter C Oct. 20,1884 . Hodge, George E Jan. 12, 1854 . Hodgkins, Charles E Mar. 2, 1865 . Holbrook, Aaron . . Oct. 15, 1816 . Holbrook, Edward H Dec. 4, 1827 Holbrook, George H Mar. 13, 1823 . Holden, Harry May 24, 1883 . Holden, W. E Nov. 24, 1869 . Holl, WUliam F July 12, 1888 . Holland, Ralph B Dec. 6, 1818 . Holland, Thomas H Nov. 8, 1863 . Holman, John Sept. 1, 1818 . Holmes, Edwin Oct. 27, 1859 . Holmes, William A Nov. 12, 1871 . Holt, Benjamin Original member Holt, H. E Nov. 10, 1864 . Homer, L. P -Nov. 9, 1844 . Hpmer, Nathaniel B Apr. 2, 1816 . Hooper, R. H. . . . , Feb. 20, 1847 . Hooper, Thomas, Jr Oct. 18, 1879 . Hooton, James Apr. 20, 1819, Jan. 22, 1832 Hopkins, H. C Nov. 12, 1871 . Hopkins, J. R. Nov. 10, 1864 Home, Moses P Nov. 29, 1870 Horsman, Edward July 6, 1815 . Horton, Elisha ... ... Jan. 2, 1821 . Horton, I.P Oct. 25,1884 . Hosmer, Charles E Nov. 8, 1863 . Hosmer, Jerome C Nov. 19, 1868, Jan. 9, 1876 (77) HISTORY OF THE HANDEX AND HAYDN SOCIETY. 'Houghton, Frederick O Apr. 19, 1889 d Houghton, P. D Dec. 1, 188i d Houston, J. A Nov. 1, 1865 r Hovey, John G Dec. 6, 1842 • Howard, Charles Nov. 10, 1864 d Howard, Davis Dec. 20, 1840 * Howard, Frank Oct. 25, 1856 d Howard, James M. F Dec. 22, 1856 d Howard, John G June 22, 1887 d Howard, Reuben Dec. 6, 1842 * Howard, Willis P. June 6, 1887 . . . Howe, E. S Oct. 25, 1856 ....',. d Howe, Henry M Nov. 24, 1869 d Howe, Jubal Sept. 17, 1822 * Howe, L. N Oct. 13, 1879 d Howe, Williani Dec. 3, 1822 d Howell, Selah Oct. 8, 1879 r Howell, William I Jan. 30, 1880 Howes, A. N Mar. 19. 1879 d Howland, C. E Jan. 7^ 1860 d Howland, S. A • . Jan. 7, 1860 d Hoyt, William I Dec. 9, 1877 * Hubbard, Lucius L. . . . . . May . 26, 1872 d Hudson, G. H Jan. 14, 1877 d Hull, Asa Nov. 22, 1853 ..".... d Hull, George H., Jr May 6, 1872 r Hulslander, George F July 9, 1888 Hunne well, George W Jan. 8, 1844 . • • Hunt, Ebenezer Oct. 26, 1815 * Hunt, James L Nov. 10, 1864 r Hunt, William H June 2, 1872 d Hunting, Bela July 6, 181S r Hunting, M. B Dec. 20, 1825 r Huntington, Benjamin Aug. 6, 1816 ......* Huntington, Jonathan Original member ... . * Huntley, R. J Mar. 11, 1879 d Hyde, Clement C Apr. 11, 1889 Hyde, John W Apr. 2, 1816 d Hyde, William J Nov. 8, 1863 Ilsley, George Nov. 8, 1863 d Inches, J. C Nov. 12, 1871 r Irish, Francis T Nov. 8, 1863 d Jack, Ernest S. ... ^ ... . May 15, 1883 d Jackson, Francis .... . Nov. 9, 1815 r Jackson, George W Nov. 8, 1863 d Jarvis, C. Edwin Sept. 21, 1884 d Jenks, Francis H . Nov. 1, 1865 Jenks, Samuel H June 1, 1813, Jan. 1, 1828 . . * (78) MEMBERS. Jenney, Walter Jennison, Francis . Jennison, Samuel . Jepson, William . Jewell, Harvey Jewell, Pliny, Jr. Jewett, Edward . Jewett, Samuel Johnson, Charles H Johnson, Fred S. Johnson, Harry W. Johnson, Jesse . . Johnson, L. W. . Johnson, M. S. Johnson, Marshall, Johnson, William Johnson, William H Johnston, A. S. Johonnot, L. C. . Jones, Edward H. Jones, G. William T Jones, George B. . Jones, Henry Jones, James W. . Jones, William H. Joyner, A. S. . . Jr. Kattenhom, George H Keates, Joseph E. Keays, W. W. . . Keen, Jar vis B. Keen, Tilden H. . Keene, F. B. . . Keith, Marshal Keith, Eoyal . . Keller, Joseph A. . KeUey, Seth W. . Kemp, Francis A. '. Kemp, Robert . . Kendall, Henry C. Kendall, Isaac . . Kendrick, George P- Kennedy, J. . . . Kenney, Herbert E. Kenney, James H. Kent. James D. Kern, Francis V. B. Kettelle, Frederick W Kidder, Abner C. . . Dec. Sept. Nov. June Oct. Oct. Ang. Mar. Oct. Oct. June Oct. Dec. Dec. Nov. Mar. Dec. Nov. May Nov. Feb. Apr. Nov. Nov. Nov. May June Nov. Mar. Jan. Nov. Apr. Feb. Oct. Oct. Mar. Nov. Nov. Nov. Dec. July Feb. Apr. Apr. Oct. Oct. June Dec. 2, 1877 17, 1822 21, 1865 I, 1815 3, 1844 5, 1844 3, 1815 7, 1816 25, 1856 5, 1885 16, 1887 23, 1890 16, 1857 16, 184(5 4, 1834 9, 1830 22, 1856 10, 1878 12, 1883 29, 1870 4, 1834 19, 1840 10, 1820 10, 1864 8, 1840 15, 1883 16, 7, 18, 16, 8. 15, 3, 27, 24, 3, 24, 16, 29, 30, 20, 18, 19, 19, 25, 27, 28, 1888 . 1866 . 1877 . 1882 . 1840 . 1876 . 1818 . 1859 . 1846 . 1872, Feb 1869, Apr 1852 . 1870 . 1817 . 1886 . 1863 . 1889 . 1889 . 1856 . 1859 . 1886 1845 . 15, 1874 25, 1882 (79) IIISTOKY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Riddpr, Edward H Jane 29, 1887 r Kidder, Frederick P June 18, 1890 Kidder, Kichard H Jan. 13, 1877 Kilmer, F. M. . Dec. 12, 1874 r Kimball, Edwin A ,• • ■ Oct. 12, 1862 d Kimball, .1. B '. . . Jan. 22, 1832 Kimberly, Dcnison Jan. 9, 1842 . '. . . . r King, C. P May 30, 1881 . . . . . d King, Charles F. (Thomas Pritchett) . Mar. 15, 1866 * Kingman. Alvan Mar. 26, 1853 d Kingsbury, Isaac F . . . May 26,1890 Kingsbury, Reuben . . . . Eeb. 17, 1846 Kingsley, Natlian F; Nov. 6, 1827 Kinnicutt, John W Jan. 7, 1860 r Knapp, Benjamin L Dec. 12, 1875 r Knight, George May 19, 1882 d Knowles, Frank W. . . . May 5, 1872 d Kurtz, William Oct. 7, 185^ ' Labree, John D Oct. 3,1837 * Lamb, Henry W Mar. 13, 1879 r Lambert, Henry K June 22, 1886 * Lambert, Thomas A Apr. 25, 1882 Lamson Albert H May 30, 1887 Lander, John K Nov. 12, 1871 r Lane, George H Nov. 4, 1823 • Lang, C. T Nov. 1, 1855 ...... d Langley, William Nov. 4, 1852 * Lansing, Edmund H. . . . . Nov. 29, 1890 r Larrabee, Joel F Sept. 29, 1851 d Lasselle, George F Nov. 8, 1863 d Lawrence, George W. . .... Jan. 7, 1860 Lawrence, William M Nov. 29, 1870 . ... r L&ws, D. Lyman Oct. 3, 1855 * Leach, Lebbeus, Jr Nov. 13, 1867 Leach, Shepherd Feb. 2,1821 * Learnard, William Aug. 3, 1815 * Learnerd, Isaac, Jr Dec. 15, 1818 , d Leatherbee, John W Mar. 16, 1857 d Leavitt, Alonzo Nov. 23, 1860 d Leavitt, Edwin B. Feb. 7, 1891 Leavitt, Frank M. June 6, 1885 Lee, Blewett H June 23, 1887 d Lee, Frank H Mar. 14, 1866 d Leeds, Uenry, Jr Jan. 14, 1854 d Leeds, Lorenzo P Apr. 10, 1842 * Leeson, J. R Nov. 12, 1871 r Leland, Horace Oct. 3, 1843 d Leland, Lewis Nov. 30, 1816 d (SO) MEMBERS. Lemaire, L. . . Leonard, Amos M, Leonard, E. A. Leonard, F. A. . Leonard, F. O. Leonard, John . Leonard, Joseph Leonard, Joseph A Leslie, Thomas Lewis, Frank W. Lewis, George "W Lewis, James P. Lewis, Joseph . Liddell, William Lincoln, A. B. . Lincoln, Alexander S Lincoln, Christopher Lincoln, D. P. . Lincoln, Frederick Lincoln, Henry T. Lincoln, J. M. . Lincoln, Justus Lincoln, N. F. . Lincoln, Nathan Lindsey, G. W. Litchfield, Justin D Lloyd, Andrew J. Lloyd, George W. Lobsitz, Leopold Lockhart, David _ Loewe, H. . . Long, David C. Long, Edward J. Long, Frederick E Long, J. Haskell Long, John D. . Lord, George A. Lord, Melvin . Loring, F. C, Jr. .Loring, Jonathan, Jr, Lothrop, Anselm . Lothrop, Jarvis . Lothrop, Oliver B. Lovejoy, N. . . . Loveland, James W. Lovering, W. N. . Lovett, Charles W. Low, J. H. . . . Lowe, E. F. . . Nov. 8, 1840 . Nov. 13, 1867 . May 5, 1883 . Nov. 24, 1869 . Apr. 24, 1878 . Dec. 9, 1817 . Dec. 7, 1824 . Jan. 1, 1849 . Apr. 9, 1870 . Nov. 24, 1869 . Mar. 9, 1830 . Jan. 28, 1867 . Nov. 23, 1816 . Feb. 8, 1869 . Dec. 7, 1858 . Feb. 4, 1838 . Original Member Oct. 22, 1855 . Nov. 23, 1816 . Nov. 13, 1846 . Nov. 1, 1865 . Dec. 16, 1818 . Jan. 24, 1874 . Jan. 14, 1864 . Nov. 10, 1864 . Nov. 29, 1870 . Nov. 29, 1870 . Jan. 16, 1837 . May 9, 1876 . Sept. 26, 1882 . Nov. 7, 1866 . Jan. 20, 1833 . Oct. 5, 1830 . Apr. 20, 1878 . Oct. 24, 1851 . Oct. 27, 1869 . Oct. 3, 1877 . June 1, 1815 . Nov. 4, 1866 . June 1, 1815 . Sept. 24, 1836, Nov, May 21, 1837 Nov. 10, 1856 May 2, 1816 June 21, 1890 . Nov. 1, 1865 . Oct. 4, 1825 . Dec. 29, 1851 . Jan. 28, 1867 . 1852 (81) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Lowe, George H Apr. 11,1875 d Lowell, John A Feb. 15, 1874 r Lowell, Robert M. ' Feb. 9, 1853 Lowder, W. J UTov. 22, 1878 d Luker, William J. ... Apr. 11, 1889 Lull, Leverett A. . ... Nov. 1, 1842 : d Lyman, D. B Nov. 21, 1865 . . ' . . d Lyman, Francis Apr. 9, 1870 r Lyman, John P., Jr May 5,1872 . . . . r Lynch, William Nov. 19, 1868 d Lyon, H. C Oct. 2, 1870 r Lyon, John T Feb. 7, 1843, Oct. 17, 1854 . d Lyon, W. H May 5, 1872 d Mackay, John Original Member ... Malette, J. F Jan. 4, 1881 d Mandell, M. J Mar. 14, 1866 Mandell, Moses Jan. 14, 1820 . . . . d Mandell, Sidney May 1, 1821 d Mann, George C Mar. 26, 1868 r Mann, Nelson . . .... Dec. 22, 1856 d Manning, Leonard J. ... . June 28, 1887 . . . r Mansfield, Gideon T Feb. 4, 1859 . . . d Mansfield, H. H Nov. 10, 1864 d Mansfield, Henry T Nov. 24, 1869 d Marindln, Henry L. ...... Jan. 28, 1880 r Marr, Henry N Jan. 25, 1874 r Marshall, Clarance A May 15, 1883 r Marshalf, Leonard Apr. 16, 1837, Oct. 10, 1848 . * Marshall, Thomas Original Member ^ Marston, A. T Nov. 10, 1878 d Marston, Charles L Oct. 8, 1879 r Martin, John May 6, 1884 Martin, N. C Jan. 14, 1820 r Martin, Walter C June 22, 1886 • Mason, Clinton V Oct. 27, 1859 d Mason, L. W Nov. 1, 1865 d Mason, Lowell Oct. 17, 1821 * Mason, Thomas Apr. 2, 1816 d Matheson, James Sept. 23, 1885 r Mathews, Hiram S Oct. 4, 1852 d Maxwell, Edward li. ... . Apr. 11, 1889 Mayell, Alfred E Apr. 11, 1889 McAUaster, James Aug. 3, 1815 . . . . . r McFarlane, A. A Nov. 29, 1870 d McKenna, Joseph R May 28, 1888 McKenney, Alfred H Nov. . 8, 1863 d McKlnnon, G. W Jan. 6, 1882 McKlssick, Edward P June 25, 1890 (82) MEMBERS. McKown, W. G Jan. 7, 1877 . McNeil, Mnrdock Nov. ' 2, 1890 . McWiggin, Frank E Mar. 13, 1879 . Mead, G. N. P May 15, 1883 . Header, George II Jan. 28, 18fi7 . Meadowy, W. J Dec. 19, 1881 . Mears, Elijah June 1, 1815 . Melvin, George B Jan. 12, 1854 . Meriam, George Aug. 4, 1829 . Meriam, Levi July 6, 1815 . Meriam, Nathaniel Original Member Meriam, Silas P Aug. 4, 1829 . Merriam, A. W Peb. 8, 1869 . Merriam, Herbert June 9, 1886 . Merrick, Edwin Nov. 29, 1870 . Merrill, C. Judson Oct. 1, 1852 . Merrill, Sidney Dec. 7, 1815 . Merrill, William B Dec. 22, 1856 . Merritt, Pred R Apr. 4, 1875 . Messinger, D., Jr May 2, 1816 . Meston, Lyman 15, Sept. 12, 1851, June 3, 1857 Metcalf, C. P Nov. 21, 1869 Metcalf, E. S Nov. 7,1866 , Metcalf, R. C Nov. 14, 18n5 Metzger^ A., Jr Jan. 25,1874 , Midgley, John Feb. 1,1874 Miles, Samuel S Jan. 1, 1822 , Millard, Samuel H. Feb. 4, 184:. Miller, E. P Nov. 29, 187(i , Miller, J. R Oct. 20, 1855 . Miller, James E Nov. 10, 1878 . Mills, James L. . . .... Nov. 10, 1878 Milliken, George F May 5, 1872 Minot, George Oct. 24, 1841 Mitchell, Nahutn Oct. 5, 1815 . Mitchell, William H May 30, 1887 Monroe, Lewis B Nov. 21, 1865 . Mooar, C. A Jan. 28, 1867 Moody, Mercer B. Apr. 11, 188 i Moody, Samuel ' Oct. 3, 1820 Moody, William G Dec. 22, 1839 . Moore, Frank R June 23, 1890 Moore, H. A Jan. 21, 1882 . Moorhouse, Arthur B June 21, 1887 Morehouse, Isaac May 3, 1858 . Morey, Walter G Oct. 12, 1884 Morgan, S.S Nov. 12, 1871 . Morrill, Joseph, Jr Jan. 16, 1842 . Morris, Almou H Oct. 2, 1884, May 1 1 , 1889 (83) HISTORY OP THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Morris, Thomas D Sept. 22, 1853 * Morse, E. R Ma^. 10, 1872 d Morse, Enoch B Eeb. 4, 1845 d Morse, John N Nov. 7, 1866 d Morton, Charles B June 6, 1845 * Morton, Marcus Oct. 13, 1855 d Moulton, Joseph P Nov. 8, 1844 Mountfort, N. B Nov. 10, 1818 d MuUlken, Joseph Original member ... . * MuUin, W. Frank Dec. 16, 1857 r Munro, Nathaniel Apr. 2, 181G d Munroe, Charles E Eeb. 1, 1874 r Munroe, George H Nov. 24, 1869 . . . Munroe, J. W Feb. 1, 1853 Napier, Thomas S May 23, 1883 d Nason, George H Dec. 16, 1857 Nason, James B Oct. 3, 1837 d Nelson, Jesse L. . Apr. 19, 1889 Nesmith, George A May 10, 1883 r Nevers, Elijah Apr. 2, 1816 • Newcomb, C. H Jan. 25, 1874 d Nevircomb, Ebenezer Nov. 23, 1815 .... . d Newell, Franklin H Dec. 18, 1875 .... NeweU, George H Nov. 21, 1865 .... . d Newell, John Nov. 16, 1852 .... d NeweU, Joseph W Oct. 7, 1817 .... » Newhall, Daniel B Feb. 8, 1845 * Newhall, B. E.' Dec. 9,1877 d NewhaU, Samuel M Oct. 30, 1852 d Newman, E. A July 4, 1858 * Newton, Harlan F June 20, 1888 Newton, John F., Jr Nov. 17, 1878 Nichols, Ebenezer B Nov. 19, 1816 ... * Nichols, Jerome Oct. 26, 1815 . . d Nichols, WilUam Aug. 6, 1822 r Niebuhr, Caleb E Dec. 7, 1858 Nodine, Robert S., Jr Apr. 25, 1882 d Nolen, Charles Original member * Nolen, Charles, Jr Jan. 7, 1823 * Nolen, Hervey Mar. 7, 1816 d Nolen, S Dec. 16, 1852 Norris, Edward L Nov. 7, 1866 d Nowell, John A Oct. 4, 1842 * Nowlan, Daniel July 23, 1860 d Noyes, Charles C Oct. 2, 1870 * Noyes, D. W Oct. 2, 1870 d Noyes, Thomas M Dec. 2, 1877 .... d Nudd, Carlos Nov. 12, 1871 r (84) MEMBERS. Oakes, Joseph G. (J. Gervaslo) . . . Oct. i, 1844 . Oakman, G. W Nov. 29, 1870 . O'Connor, Joseph Oct. 12, 1884 . Odiorne, John W Feb. 12, 1847 . Oliver, James Lloyd . _ Dec. 20, 1840 . Oliver, Nathaniel H. G Oct. 8, 1825 . Oliver, William B Dec. 20, 1825 . Osgood, Peter Original member Packard, William A Nov. 13, 1867 . Page, Albert N July 12, 1887, Nov Page, J. C . . Nov. 17, 1854 . Paine, David Feb. 10, 1844 . Paine, Frederick E Nov. 19, 1868 . Paine, Thomas L June 1, 181s . Palmer, Elijah W Nov. 17, 1839 . Palmer, George W Sept. 19, .1841 . Palmer, L. K Feb. 8, 1874 . Palmer, Lewis M May 27, 1880 . Park, Charles S Nov. 6, 1852 . Park, Moody Original member Park, Thomas May 2, 1816 . Parker, George S Nov. 17, 1844 . Parker, Henry C Oct. 18, 1884 . Parker, Matthew S. : Original member Parker, Samuel H. ... ... Original member Parker, Stephen, Jr Dec. 9, 1819 . Parker, Theodore D June 16, 1818 . Parkhnrst, Louis H Dec. 9, 1871 . Parkman, William Dec. 13, 1843 . Parks, William A Oct. 3, 1889 . Parkyn, Charles C May 10, 1888 . Parsons, Samuel G Dec. 16, 1857 . Patch, Frank W June 22, 1887 . Patten, A. C Mar. 18, 1877 . Patten, George . • Oct. 11, 1855 . Patterson, James W Feb. 7, 1843 . Payson,JohnF June 1,1815 . Payson, W. H Dec. 2, 1877 . Peabody, Aaron Original member Peabody, John A Sept. 22, 1853 . Peabody, Philo Apr. 4, 1875, Dec, Pearson, G. B Dec. 16, 1857 Pearson, J. H. S Mar. 14, 1877 Peirce V. R Dec. 9, 1877 Pelletier, WUliam S Dec. 16, 1857 Pelton, W. H Jan. 80, 1880 Pendergrass, Ansel Sept. 27, 1856 Pendleton, Eufus Dec. 12, 1875, Dec. (85) 24, 1890 30, 1877 30, 1877 HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Yerley, James Nov. 1, 1865 d Perkins, A. F Nov. 19, 1868 Perkins, Charles B May 26, 1885 r Perkins, Charles C May 27, 1850 * Perkins, H. S Dec. 29, 1860 d Perkins, Henry J Oct. 14, 1866, Oct. 26, 1873 . d Perkins, J. E Nov. 7, 1866 * Perkins, J. J Mar. 6, 1854 d Perkins, Marcus A July 9, 1886 * Perkins, W. Dec. 29, 1860 ■Perry, C. A Oct. 5,1852 r Perry, Robert G Dec. 29, 1860 d Pewtress, John B Nov. 26, 1853 • Phelps, Albert M Apr. 11,1889 Phelps, William B Dec. 12, 1878 d Phillips, John L Mar. 7, 1816 r Phinney, Charles A. . . June 27, 1887 d Phinney, Eben N Apr. 9. 1870 d Phippen, George Mar. 1. 1847 d Phipps, John M Nov. 20, 1889 Phipps, William K Original member d Pierce, Frank H Nov. 19, 1871 d Pierce, Henry Jan. 3, 1843 Pierce, James Original member .... * Pierce, James, Jr Feb. 5, 1822 d Pierce, Joseph N Aug. 14, 1831 r Pierce, Lewis Jan. 14, 1820 • Pike, Albert G Dec. 20, 1874 d Pike, Clarence H Apr. 24, 1882 Pike, Ezekiel W. . . . _ Oct. 14, 1837 ....... d Piper, c! F Nov. 12. 1871 ...... d Pitman, Benjamin Nov. 23, 1815 d Plimpton, Charles T Nov. 8, 1863 d Poole, A. F Jan. 7, 1860 Poole, Charles C Oct. 7, 1855 Poor, Whittle Apr. 11, 1889 Pollock, Allan Mar. 10, 1818 . . . * Pollock, George Sept. 7, 1815 * Pollock, Neil Apr. 2, 1816 d Pomroy, Henry Oct. 1, 1816 * Pond, Charles P Apr. 24. 1882 d Pond, P. P Mar. 4, 1828 d Porter, F. W Oct. 4, 1882 d Porter, John W Nov. 1, 1863 r Powers, J. F Dec. 14, 1878 d Pratt, Albert J Oct. 13, 1879 r Pratt, Alfred H Nov. 1, 1835 d Pray, Benjamin June 16, 1818 r Pray, Henry S Nov. 29, 1870 * (86) MEMBERS. Pray, J. A Feb. 3, 1845 Pray, John H July 6, 1815 Pray, William H Oct. 7, 1854 Preble, F. F Apr. 28, 1878 Prentiss, H. C Dec. 8, 1877 Prentiss, Samuel P Nov. 1, 1863 Prideaux, James Nov. 17, 1839 Priest, Luther Dec. 30, 1817 Pritchett, Thomas (Charles F. King) . Dec. 22, 1856 Proctor, Alfred N Nov. 4, 1854 Proctor, Isaac K ... Nov. 29, 1870 Proctor, John H Nov. 15, 1849 Proctor, Thomas W Apr. 25, 1882 Proudfoot, W. H Nov. 29, 1870 Puflfer, Gustavus A Nov. 29, 1870 Purington, Chester W Apr. 11, 1889 Putnam, Charles P Mar. 2, 1865 Putnam, Henry D. ... ... May 9,. 1867 Putnam, Isaac H Nov. 29, 1870 Putnam, James J. . Nov. 10, 1864 Putnam, John P Dec. 18, 1875 Quick, Howard P Apr. 19, 1889 Quimby, Stillman J. . . ' Dec. 16, 1857 Rand, David L Dec. 29, 1875, Rand, Edwin K Nov. 29, 1870 RandaU, J. E , . . Nov. 29, 1870 Randall, William H Nov. 1, 1863 Randall, WilUam S. . ... Apr. 25, 1882 Ranliin, Richard C June 2i, 1886 Raymond, F. H Nov. 21, 1865 Raymond, George P. . ... Nov. 21, 1865 Reddish, Arthur May 26, 1890 Redfern, H. N Dec. 24, 1880 Redman, Harry N June 7, 1890 Reed, Arthur Nov. 8, 1863 Reed, David Mar. 7, 1816 Reed, T. Franli Mar. 14, 1866 Reed, Hodges Alar. 10, 1818 Reeves. Dexter, Jr Dec. 16, 1857 Reeves, Nathaniel Nov. 5, 1846 Reid, James C. . . .... June 24, 1890 Remlck, Edward T Jan. 30, 1880 Reynolds, F. G Nov. 29, 1870 Reynolds, Samuel S Jan. 1, 1822 Rice, Aaron Nov. 19, 1816 Rice, Herbert Jan. 3, 1875 Rice, James ... Nov. 4, 1854 (87) d d * d * il V r d ... (I r d d . . . . r d June 18, 1887 . d d r r r d r d d d r d r d r U HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. ■Rice, James P Nov. 1, 186") d Rice, Luther G May 8, 1845 d Rice, S. S Oct. 17, 182ii d Rice, W. B Nov. 19, 1868 d Rich, W. B.C Dec. 31, 1881 Richards, George C Nov. 3, 1860 d Richards, Isaiah D May 21, 1837 r Richards, James B Feh. 18, 1847 d Richards, Jonathan A Nov. 27, 1821 d Richards, Robert H July 3,1886 Richards, W. A Nov. 8,1863 Richards, William W Mar. 14, 1866 d Richardson, Aaron P Nov. 1, 1842 * Richardson, E. T. F Original member * Richardson, George E Feb. 1, 1874 d Richardson, Maurice H Nov. 29, 1870 d Richardson, Samuel Original member * Richardson, William H Feb. 5, 1822 d Richardson, William M Jan. 9, 1876 d Richardson, William S Dec. 24, 1880 d Ricker, Clinton A May 26, 1890 Ring, Reuben Nov. 1, 1865 d Ring, W. S Feb. 4, 1859 r Ripley, L. G May 12, 1883 d Risdou, Isaac W May 9, 1882 Rising, J. A Oct. 27, 1859 d Roath, Benjamin T Oct. 4, 1842 d Roberts, Albert F Nov. 29, 1870, Dec. 3, 1883 . d Roberts, John Dec. 3, 1822 * Roberts, T. L May 27, 1880 ...... r Robertson, John Nov. 7, 1866 d Robertson, John M Jan. 1, 1822 * Robinson, Joseph S Jan. 28, 1867 d Robinson, S. F ■ Dec. 12, 1875 Robinson, Tilon Jan. 6, 1853 * Roby, Charles C Jan. 7, 1877 d Roe, Lewis W June 6, 1887 d Boeder, Hugo May 10, 1883 r Rogers, John Nov. 24, 1869 r Rogerson, Robert Nov. 26, 1818 d Rollins, F. W Feb. 6, 1876 d Rollins, James W Sept. 29, 1851 d Ropes, Francis C Mar. 26, 1868 d Ropes, William B June 21, 1887 Roraback, John Mar. 31, 1879 d Rose, George H Apr. 11, 1889 Rouse, Benjamin Oct. 7, 1817 r Rowson, William . Original member . . . . * Ruffln, George L June 7, 1890 ..'..... (88) MEMBERS. Eujrg, George H. . Ruggles, Daniel . Sundlett, Uoger S. Russall, John G. . Ryan, James . . Ryder, Charles C. . Ryder, Willard E. Ry dings vard, Karl A Safford, Charles H. Safford, Isaac T. . Sanborn, Nathan . Sanderson, H. E. . Sanger, Samuel Sargent, Osborne N. Sargent, S. A. . . Savage, Ralph B. . Saville, N. E. . Sawtelle, Ell A . . Sawyer, John S. Sawyer, Harris E. Sawyer, Laban Sawyer, Ralph H. . Sawyer, W. K. . . Sawyer, William K. Scamman, J. B. . Schlessinger, Sebastian Schmidt, Henry . Scott, Frank N. . Scott, Mackintosh Searle, Addison . Searle, Frederick A. Seaverns, Charles H Seavems, J. H. Senior, Fred Sharp, James . . Shattuck, Joseph M. Shattuck, N. S. . Shaw, E., 3d . . Shaw, E. G. . . Shaw, J. B. . . . Shaw, J. H. . . . Shepard, F. C. . . Shepard, Walter . Sherman, Horace C. Shove, Francis A. Sim, Arthur W. . Simmons, Charles W Simmons, Oliver E. B. Kov. Nov. Mar. June May June Apr. July Oct. Sept. Feb. May Oct. June Oct. Apr. Mar. Nov. Dec. Jan. Nov. May May Jan. Nov. Dec. Dec. Dec. Apr. Oct. Oct. Sept. May Nov. Oct. Nov. Nov. May Nov. Nov. Mar. Dec. Nov. Jan. Apr. June Oct. May 29, 1870 13, 1843 14, 186fl 21, 1886 16, 1884 23, 1886 19, 1889 12, 1886 4, 1842 26, 1848 26, 1853 17, 1882 6, 1818 21, 1887 22, 1879 19, 1889 10, 1872 20, 1870 29, 1860 29, 1891 24, 1869 5, 1883 29, 1882 25, 1874 10, 1878 16, 1857 28, 1839 31, 1853 19, 1889 1, 1816 25, 1856 18, 1852 26, 1882 24, 1869 16, 1816 4, 1854 19, 1868 2, 1816 14, 1855 29, 1870 6, 1854 11, 1878 24, 1869 7, 1877 19, 1889 15, 1885 25, 1856 10, 1883 (89) HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Simmons, William Original member * Simonds, B". K May 3, 1858 d Singleton, George Oria[lnal member * Slayton, J. H. L Oct. 22, 1853 d Small, Fritz H June 19, 1890 Small, William Oct. 17, 1 826 r Smalley, A. B Nov. 29, 1870 d Smalley, Joseph H Jan. 7, 1860 d Smallldge, J Nov. 9, 1815 * Smilie, Elton K Jan. 22, 1848 Smith, Amasa G Dec. 3, 1822 d Smith, Charles W Nov. 7, 1846 r Smith, Charles W Dec. 7, 1858 r Smith, Charles W Apr. 24, 1878 d Smith, E. H Mar. 18, 1877 Smith, Ebenezer Nov. 9, 1844 .^ d Smith, Edward A iune 22, 1888 Smith, Fred M Dec. 2, 1877 Smith, H. Farnam . . . Oct. 25,1856 d Smith, Harry H June 5, 1888 r Smith, J. E viar. 18,1877 d Smith, J. G Nov. 8, 1863 . . -d Smith, Jeremiah P Nov. 27, 1821 * Smith, Ralph Mar. 7, 1816 d Smith, Richard W Nov. 13, 1867 Smith. Samuel Mar. 10, 181S d Smith, Sidney F Oct. 12, 1885 r Snow, William H May 29, 1885 ci Somes. Stephen Oct. 9, 1852 Soule, Richard H Nov. 12, 1871 a Souther, William T Mar. 20, 1877 . . . . Cann, Minnie, Miss Capon, Mrs. Card, Lucy G. M., Miss- Garden, F. B.. Mrs. Carleton, C. F., Mrs. Carleton, I. S., Miss Carleton, J. P., Mrs, Carleton, J. S., Miss Games, E. L., Miss Carnes, F., Mrs. Carr, B., Mrs. Carr, 1£., Mrs. Carr, H. H., Mrs. Carr, H. V., Mrs. Carr, J. A., Mrs. Carr, M. G., Mrs. Carrier, Ida, Miss Carrington, L., Miss Carter, H., Mrs. Carter, Mary, Miss Carter, Mary L., Miss (100) LADIES OF THE CHORUS, 1865-1890. Cary, J. B., Miss Cary, L. P., Miss Gary, S., Miss Case, A. C, Mrs. Case, H. V., Miss Case, I. F., Miss Casey, J. F., Mrs. Cassidy, Jennie, Miss Caswell, A., Miss Caswell, M. A., Miss Cazemay, Lizzie, Miss Ceiley, Anna, Miss Chadwick, Amelia, Miss Chadwick, Anne, Miss Chadwick, H. B., Mrs. Chadwick, J. C, Mrs. Chaffin, Mary A., Miss Chamberlain, S. E., Miss Chandler, Estelle I., Miss Chandler, Mary, Miss Chandler, S.E., Mrs. Chapln, M. E., Mrs. Chapman, E. A., Mrs. Chase, Abbie A., Miss Chase, Florence, Miss Chase, J. H., Mrs. Chase, Jennie E., Mrs. Chase, Lihna A., Miss Chase, P. F., Mrs. Chase, W. P., Mrs. Cheesman, James, Mrs. Cheney, C. A., Mrs. Cheney, C. M., Mrs. Cheney, EUa, Miss Cheney, J. E., Miss Chickering, Addle M., Miss Child, Frances L., Miss Child, Harriet M., Miss Chisam, E. B., Miss Chlsholm, E., Miss Chisholm, L. E., Miss Chisholm, R. C, Miss Christie, C, Miss Christie, Helen, Miss Church, Joseph, Mrs. Chnte, C. H., Mrs. Chute, R. J., Mrs. Cllley, Clara A., Miss Claflin, A., Mrs. Clapp, Abbie F., Miss Clark, AbbyR., Miss Clark, C. H., Mrs. Clark, C. W., Miss Clark, E. P., Miss Clark, Emma W., Miss Clark, J. N.,Mrs. Clark, Jennie B., Miss Clark, L. W., Mrs. Clark, M. C, Miss Clark, M. E., Mrs. Clark, Minnie A., Miss Clarke, M. A., Miss Clarke, S. A., Miss Cleaveland, Ella, Miss Close, Fannie M., Mrs. Clough, Gertrude, Miss Clough, Lucy A., Miss Clouston, A. J., Miss Cloutman, AdaG., Mrs. Cloutman, Ella D., Miss- Cluer, B.,Miss Coburn, E. S., Miss Coburn, Flora M., Miss Coburn, M. P., Mrs. Cochran, MaryE., Miss Cochran, Susan, Miss Cochrane, S. C, Miss Coffey, John A., Mrs. Coffey, William H., Mrs. OofiSn, Josie P., Miss Coffin, M. 0., Miss Coffin, Marietta, Miss Cogswell, W. C, Mrs. Colburn, Mary P., Mrs. Colby, Lizzie, Miss Cole, M. E., Miss Cole, 0. R., Miss Colgate, H. C, Mrs. Collier, Annie E., Miss Collins, Amelia, Miss Collins, E.D., Mrs. Comey, Georgu H., Mrs. Conant, Annabel O., Mrs. Conant, Benjamin, Mrs. Conant, Martha T., Miss Conkey, H., Mrs. Converse, W. H., Mrs. Cook, C. E., Mrs. (101) HISTORY or THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Cook, E. O., Mrs. Cook, H. E., Mrs. Cook, H. J., Mrs. Cook, J. F., Mrs. Cook, Lottie A. , Miss Cook, Mary T. F., Miss Cooke, A. B., Mrs. Cooke, C. G., Mrs. Coolidge, Emma, Miss Copeland, M. J., Mrs. Corey, A., Mrs. Corliss, Grace S., Miss Cornwall, Mary A., Mrs. Corson, C. D., Mrs. Costello, Abbie May, Miss Cotton, Anna L., Miss Covell, Olive M., Miss Cowclin, G. M., Mrs. Cox, Mary A., Miss Cox, W. N., Mrs. Crabtree, Inez, Miss Crafts, A. F., Mrs. Crafts, H. F., Miss Cragin, Lizzie, Miss Crandon, S. F.. Miss Crane, A. F., Miss Crane, Carrie, Miss Crane, Emma L., Miss Crane, L. L., Mrs. Crane, Sarah L., Miss Crawshaw, Mary, Miss Crego, Miss Crocker, M. H., Miss Croft, Ada G., Miss Croft, M. F., Miss Crosby, Alice K., Miss Crosby, Mary C, Miss Crosby, S. F., Miss Crosby, S. H., Miss Cross, Viva, Miss Crossette, Minnie A., Miss Crossman, B. J., Mrs. Crossman, Jennie, Mrs. Crowell, J. A., Mrs. Crowell, Nellie H., Miss Cumings, C. H., Mrs. Cummings, H. A., Mrs. Cummings, Lillian S., Miss Cundy, Ida, Miss Cunningham, E., Miss Cunningham, S. V..Miss Currier, Abbie, Mrs. Currier, C. E., Mrs. Curry, Mrs. Curry, Alfaretta, Miss Curry, Ida F., Miss Curry, Mary M., Miss Curtis, E., Miss Curtis, L. A. B., Mrs. Curtis, M. G., Mrs. Cushing, A. 6., Mrs. Gushing, C, Mrs. Cushing, E. F., Miss Cushing, E. S., Miss Cushing, George, Mrs. Cushing, Laura J., Miss Cushing, M., Miss Cushing, Mary A., Mrs. Cushing, Mary E., Mrs. Cushing, R. D., Mrs. Cushman, Hattie E., Miss Cushman, L., Miss Cushman, Mary L., Miss Cushnie, Mary J., Miss Cutler, Mary E., Miss Cutter, C. K., Mrs. Cutter, C. R.,i-Miss Cutter, Edith, Miss Cutter, Imo L., Miss Cutting, E. G., Miss Cutting, F., Miss Cutting, Lizzie S., Miss Dabney, Ellen, Miss Dabney, F., Miss Dabney, Julia P., Miss Dabney, S., Miss Dakin, Bertha M., Miss Dakln, Lillian J., Miss Dalton, Grace P., Miss Dalton, L. M., Mrs. Dame, J. W., Mrs. Damon, Lizzie, Miss Dana, C, Miss Dana, E. E., Miss Dana, I. H., Miss Dana, J. E., Miss Dana, K., Miss (102) LADIES or THE CHORUS, 1865-1890. Dana,L., Miss Dana, R. C, Miss Dane, Came, Miss Danforth, Adelaide, Miss Danforth, Delphis S., Miss Daniels, G. P., Mrs. Daniels, Grace, Miss Daniels, Isabel, Miss Daniels, J. Scott, Mrs. Daniels, M. W., Mrs. Daniels, S. I., Miss Daniels, S. M., Mrs. Darling, M., Mrs. David, LucyE., Miss Davidson, Mrs. Davis, A. A., Miss Davis, A. F., Miss Davis, A. M., Mrs. Davis, Anna M., Miss Davis, Annie H. , Miss Davis, Belle, Miss Davis, Eleanor P., Miss Davis, Emily I., Miss Davis, Frank L., Miss Davis, J. M., Mrs. Davis, Josie F., Miss Davis, L. C, Miss Davis, I/. E., Miss Davis, M. A., Miss Davis, Mary T., Miss Davis, V. G., Miss Davy, M. E., Mrs. Day, H. E., Miss Dayton, I. M., Mrs. Dearing, Lilla A., Miss Dearing, Marcia A., Miss Decrovr, Gertrude, Miss Deering, Estelle C, Miss Delano, Addie, Miss Delano, K. E., Mrs. Dempster, Mrs. Denley, Mary, Miss Dennett, Mabel F., Miss Dennis, Mrs. Dennis, A., Miss Derby, Lizzie M.,Mis3 Derby, M. F., Miss De Renfro, Mlllicent, Mrs. De Ribas, H. R. G., Miss Dewey, Mary E., Mrs. Dexter, CJiarles H., Mrs. Dexter, Florence, Miss Dexter, Hattie L., Miss De Young, Kate, Miss Dickerman, A., Miss Dickerman, A. L., Mrs. Dickinson, Anna, Miss Dickinson, M. S., Miss Dickinson, Mary, Miss Dimick, C. W., Mrs. Dietrick, Louise G., Miss Dodd, John, Mrs. Dodge, Annie, Miss Dodge, Edna S., Miss Dodge, L. B., Mrs. Dodge, S., Miss Dolbeare, F. M., Miss Dole, Kate, Miss Dole, M. A., Miss DoUover, Miss Dorr, Daisy, Miss Dow, Alice I., Miss Dowling, E. M., Miss Downer, Ella, Miss Downing, Sarah E.,Miss Drake, Inez, Miss Drake, M. Bessie, Miss Drake, M. L., Mrs. Drake, Sarah, Mrs. Drake, T., Mrs. Drew, G. H., Mrs. Drew, Thomas, Jr., Mrs. Du Bois, S. M., Mrs. Dudley, E. M.. Miss Dudley, M. L., Miss Duganne, S., Miss Dumas, George V., Mrs. Dunham, E. E., Mi.ss Dunklee, Nellie M., Miss Dunlap, G. E., Mrs. Dunnells, Jessie, Miss Dunnels, E. W., Mrs. Dunnels, Jennie L., Miss Dunnels, Mattie D., Miss Dunning, Clara M., Miss Dunning, R. B., Mrs. Dupee, C, Mrs. Durand, M. L., Mrs. (103) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Dui'gin, E. E., Mrs. Dustin, M. E., Mrs. Dwyer, Hannali, Miss Dyer, E. Jessie, Miss Earnest, Hattie, Miss £astabrooks, Emma, Miss Eastman, Mrs. Eastman, Emma J., Miss Eastman, Mary A., Miss Eaton, H. E., Miss Eaton, Lizzie, Miss Eaton, Lucy H., Miss Eayrs, Maria, Miss Echeran, D. C, Mrs. Eddy, Mary, Mrs. Edes, M. C, Miss Edwards, J., Mrs. Eldridge, L. M., Mrs. Eldridge, M., Miss Eliot, Catlierine A., Miss Elliott, C. A., Miss Elliott, M. L., Miss Ellis, Emma H., Mrs. Ellis, F. 0., Mrs. Ellis, Mary, Miss Ellison, J. R., Mrs. Ellsworth, G. C.,Mrs. EUwell, A. M., Miss Emerson, C. W., Mrs. Emerson, R. V. C, Mrs. Emerson, Sara, Mrs. Emery, L. M., Miss Emery, M. L., Miss Emery, M. T., Miss Emmons, J. M., Miss Esselen, H. M.,Mrs. Estabrooks, H. A., Miss Estes, Lizzie 6., Miss Estle, Mary A., Miss Esty, Annice E., Miss Eustis, Grace E., Miss Evans, E., Miss Evans, E. B.,Mrs. Evans, Ellen, Miss Evans, L. A., Miss Evans, M. J., Miss Evans, Margaret, Miss Ewer, Pauline C. Miss Ewer, Susan, Miss Eabyan, E. C, Miss Eairbanljs, Miss Fairbanks, D., Mrs. Fairbanks, E., Mrs. Fall, Miss Fanor, A., Miss Farmer, H. M., Miss Farmer, M. C, Miss Farmer, M. E., Miss Farmer, W. C, Miss Farrell, Mary, Mrs. Farrlngton, A., Mrs. Farrington, Alice E., Miss Farrington, H., Mrs. Farrington, H. E., Mrs. Farrington, Julia B., Miss Farrington, Marietta T., Miss Farrington, Mary E., Miss Faxon, Edward, Mrs. Fay, Edward, Mrs. Fay, K. , Miss Fell, Sarah A., Miss Fenno, Ada C , Miss Fenno, E. A., Miss Feran, E. A., Miss Fernandez, Emma, Miss Ferrin, Abby N., Miss Ferris, T. L., Mrs. Fessenden, William H., Mrs. Field, A. L., Mrs. Field, Emma S., Miss Field, Mary W., Miss Fields, Etta, Miss Fininly, Martha, Miss Fisher, 6. B., Miss Fisher, Sarah C, Miss Fisher, T. W., Mrs. Fiske, Emma L., Miss Fitch, S. E., Mrs. Fitch, W. F., Mrs. Fitz, Andrew, Mrs. Fitz, Hattie G., Miss Flagg, Luthera, Miss Flagg, Minnie A., Miss Fletcher, Esther, Miss (104) LADIES OF THE CHORUS, 1866-1890. IFletcher, G. H., Mrs. Flinn, A., Miss Tlinn, M., Miss Ployd, M.' H. , Miss Tlynn, Annette, Miss -Flynn, Theresa M., Miss FoUansbee, E. E., Miss Follett, Dr., Mrs. FoUett, A. L., Miss FoUett, A. S., Miss FoUette, J. A., Mrs. Tolsom, George C, Mrs. Folsom, Hattie S., Miss Ford, Anna, Miss Ford, Emma B., Mrs. Ford, Mary E., Miss Foskett, Nettie C, Miss Foss, Anna F., Miss Foss, Clara T., Miss Foss, Nellie C, Miss Foster, Annie L,, Miss Foster, Clyde, Miss Foster, Cordelia A., Miss F'oster, E. G., Mrs. Foster, George E., Mrs. Foster, M. F., Miss Foster, M. H., Miss Foster, Susie, Miss Fowles, A. L., Mrs. Fowles, Carrie L., Mrs. Fox.Effie H., Miss Fox, J., Mrs. Fox, Lizzie S., Miss Fox, Lucy M., Miss Fox, iJ. S., Miss Fox, W. S., Mrs. Frencli, Fannie T., Miss French, Mary E., Miss French, Mary L., Miss Friend, Fannie C, Miss Frisbee, A. B., Miss Frisbee, Q. B., Miss Froh witter, Ernie J., Miss Frost, Mrs. , Frost, E. J., Mrs. Frost, F., Miss Frost, G. E., Miss Frost, S. F., Miss Frye, Georgia M., Miss Frye, Mary P., Miss Frye, Sereaa J., Miss Fuller, Abbie T., Miss Fuller, E. F., Miss Fuller, Eloise L., Miss Fuller, Etta 0., Miss Fuller, H. M., Mrs. Fuller, L. J., Mrs. Fuller, M. A., Miss Fuller, M. A. G., Mrs. Fuller, Sarah E., Mrs. Furlong, A. B., Mrs. Gaffney, A., Miss Gaffney, Anna T. , Miss Gaflfney, H. E., Miss Gage, A. L., Miss Gage, E. A., Miss Gallagher, Jessie F., Miss Gallison, L. J., Mrs. Gamage, A., Mrs. Gacaage, A. M., Miss Garcelon, Lillian 0., Miss Gardner, Hattie, Miss Garland, H. S., Miss Garland, N. L., Miss Garrette, Lilian M., Miss Garrette, Lucy I., Miss Garrette, Victoria A., Miss Garrison, Agnes, Miss Gary, Edward, Mrs. Gates, Alice, Miss Gates, Florence, Miss George, Mary E., Mrs. Gerrish, Hattie N., Miss Gerry, L. .J., Miss Getchell, Annie A., Miss Gharky, Marionette, Miss Gibbs, Kate F., Miss Gifford, W. B., Mrs. Gilbert, B. F., Mrs. Gild, G. L., Miss Giles, Lucy A., Mrs. Giles, N. L., Miss Gilkey, C, Miss Gill, Annie C, Miss Gilmore, E. G., Miss Gilmore, Emma M., Miss Gilson, H. A., Miss (105) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Gilson, S. Anna, Miss Glnn, S. M., Miss Glazier, O. E., Miss Glldden, Jingie, Miss Glover, Jennie A., Miss Goddard, C. F., Mrs. Goddard, K. T., Mrs. Goldthwait, L. B., Miss Gomez, Anna, Mrs. Gooch, Caro, Miss GooUale, E. P., Miss Goodale, G. O., Miss Goodale, Lizzie N., Miss Goodnow, H. A., Mrs. , Goodnow, Luria, Miss Goodnow, Olive, Miss Goodnow, S., Miss Goodwillie, Mrs. Goodwin, A., Miss Goodwin, D. A., Mrs. Goodwin, E., Miss Goodwin, H. B., Miss Googins, S. E., Miss Gorliam, Miss Gould, B. A., Jr., Mrs. Gould, Jesse, Mrs. Gould, Minnie M., Miss Gould, S. E., Miss Grarapson, Miss Granger, Annie M., Miss Granger, M. M., Miss Grant, A. E., Mrs. Grant, Clara E., Miss Grant, M. A., Mrs. Granwood, C, Miss Graves, C. E., Mrs. Graves, G. H., Mrs Gray, Clara E., Miss Gray, H. E., Mrs. Gray, H. M., Miss Gray, M., Miss Gray, M. A., Mrs. Greeley, Nellie, Miss Green, Maggie, Miss Greene, Ella, Miss Greene, Elora, Miss Greene, W. C, Mrs. Greeor, Ella R., Miss Greves, Clara E., Miss Grieves, Maria, Miss Griffln, W. F., Mrs. Griffiths, A. W., Mrs. Griswold, Sarah A., Miss Guardenier, M., Miss Guenter, Anna, Miss Guething, Sarah W., Miss Guild, F. Albertina, Mrs. Guild, G. L., Miss Guild, Gertrude M., Miss Gulbranson, Anna, Miss Gunderson, H. M., Miss Gunn, Grace A., Miss Gurney, E. R., Mrs. Hackett, Henry C, Mrs. Hadley, E. M., Miss Hadley, M. T., Mrs. Hadley, Mary E., Miss Hadley, S. Henry, Mrs. Hadley, S. M., Miss Hafford, Isabel, Miss Haines, A. F., Miss Haines, A. R. , Mrs. Haines, Mary C, Miss Hains, G. M., Mrs. Hale, E. M., Miss Hale, Florence, Miss Hale, Jennie S., Miss Hall, A., Miss Hall, A. B., Miss Hall, B., Mrs. Hall, Bertha H., Miss Hall, D. C. Mrs. Hall, Dora K., Miss Hall, E., Miss Hall, E. M., Miss Hall, M. A., Miss Hall, Mary L., Mrs. Hall, Millie L., Miss Hall, S. H., Miss Hallenbeck, Jessie L., Miss Ham, Cedilla D., Miss Hamilton, Bessie, Miss Hamilton, Julia, Miss Hamilton, M. M., Miss Hamlin, E. A., Miss Hammett, H. Ml, Mrs. Hammond, A. S., Miss (106) LADIES OF THE CHORUS, 1865-1890. HammoncI, A. W., Mrs. Hammond, C. D., Miss Hanson, Clara, Miss Hapgood, H. L., Miss Hapgood, M. L., Miss Haraden, A. W., Miss Haraden, H. A., Miss Harding, C. L., Miss Harding, Ella, Miss Hardy, C. A., Mrs. Hardy, Dora A., Miss Harlow, A. P., Mrs. Harmon, Annie L., Miss Harper, H. G., Mrs. Harrington, C. M., Miss Harrington, E. W., Miss Harris, Annie S., Miss Harris, 6. M., Miss Harris, W. S., Mrs. Hartwell, Cora B., Miss Harvey, Alice A., Miss Harwood, Minnie L., Miss Haslett, A. C, Miss Haslitt, M. J., Miss Hastings, C. A., Miss Hastings, E. H., Miss Hastings, F. I., Miss Hatch, A. S., Miss Hatch, Edith, Miss Hatch, Ida, Miss Hatch, Jessie F., Miss Hatch, John M., Mrs. Hatch, Stella, Miss Hathaway, Emma F., Miss Haven, Franli, Mrs. Hawes, C. W., Miss Hawes, M. J., Mrs. Hawes, William, Mrs. Hawkes, Ellen E., Miss Hay, M. D., Mrs. Hayden, Emma, Miss Hayden, H. C, Miss Hayes, B. W., Mrs. Hayes, Ella K., Miss Haynes, Effle O., Miss Haynes, H. M., Miss Haynes, S. F., Miss Hays, W. T., Mrs. Hayter, E. V., Miss Hayward, F. S., Mrs. Hay ward, Lucy B., Miss Haywood, S. F., Mrs. Hazen, A., Mrs. Headley, Carrie, Miss Heath, E. M., Miss Heath, Nettie M., Mrs. Hebbard, Laura, Miss Hebbard, Lena E., Miss Hedge, Lizzie B., Miss Hellman, Pauline J., Miss Hemmenway, A., Mrs. Henderson, A. E., Miss Henderson, Amanda, Miss Henderson, Edith, Miss Henderson, O. M., Miss Henry, G. E., Mrs. Henry, Lizzie N., Miss Herriclj, William T., Mrs. Hersam, A. K., Mrs. Hersey, Mrs. Hersey, Nellie P. , Miss Hervey, A. F., Mrs. Hervey, Lizzie, Miss Hewett, Lizzie, Mrs. Hews, Mary C, Miss Heywood, Miss Heywood, L. B., Miss Hibbard, Annabel. Miss Hicl^s, S. L., Miss Higgins, F. K., Miss Higgins, J. E., Mrs. Higgins, P., Miss Higgins, S. M., Miss Higley, E. H., Mrs. Hill, Abbie E., Mrs. Hill, H., Mtss Hill, H. A., Miss Hill, H. M., Miss Hill, L. E. E., Mrs. Hill, Lulu A. L., Miss Hill, M., Mrs. Hill, M. E., Miss Hill, M. G., Mrs. Hill, M. H., Mrs. Hillard, J. L., Mrs. Hillard, L. Alice, Mrs. Hillman, M. G., Miss Hillman, Susie, Miss (107) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Hilton, Carrie, Miss Hinds, Ella M., Miss Hinds, Louisa F., Miss Hinkley, Cornelia, Miss Hitsen, M. E., Miss Hobbs, M. E., Miss Hodgdon, A. M., Miss Hodges, Etta J., Miss Hodsdon, A. M., Mrs. Holbrook, Anna C, Miss Holbrools, E. L., Miss Holbrook, E. W., Miss Holbrook, L., Miss Holden, M. H., Mrs. Holder, Carrie, Miss Holder, F. A., Miss Holland, Alice D., Mrs. Holland, B. A., Miss Holland, S. N., Miss Hollings, E. L., Mrs. Holmes, Carrie I., Mrs. Holmes, Edith, Miss Holmes, Florence, Miss Holmes, Lizzie, Miss Holmes, Theresa C, Miss Holt, E. M. , Miss Holt, Fanny E., Miss Holt, H. E., Mrs. Holt, M. E.,Miss Holt, S. L., Miss Homer, Emma, Miss Hood, L. Emma, Miss Hood, Mary A., Miss Hooker, Abby B., Mrs. Hooker, E. M., Mrs. Hooper, Louise R., Mrs. Hopkins, A. J., Miss Hopkins, Lizzie M., Miss Hopkinson, Grace M., .Miss Hosley, H. P., Mrs. Hosmer, Anna L., Miss Hosmer, Cora E. , Miss Hosmer, E., Miss Hosmer, Jessie M., Miss Hosmer, Mary A., Miss Hosmer, Ora. Miss Hosmer, Susie, Miss Hough, Annie H., Miss Houston, Julia E.,'Miss Hovey, A. L., Miss Hovey, E. F., Miss Howard, C. R., Mrs. Howard, E. M.. Miss Howard, J. B., Mrs. Howard, L. Eva, Miss Howard, M., Miss Howard, M. E., Mrs. Howard, Mattie W., Mrs. Howe, A., Miss Howe, CM.. Mrs. Howe, B. L., Miss Howe, Emma S., Miss Howe, Hattie E., Mrs. Howe, Julia Ward, Mrs. Howe, Nellie, Miss Howes, M., Mrs. Hubbard, C. J., Mrs. Hubbard, Caro, Miss Hubbard, Laura, Miss Hudson, M. T., Mrs. Huff, Carrie, Miss Humphrey, A. E., Miss Humphrey, L. B.. Miss Hunnewell, E. F., Miss Hunnewell, B. L., Miss Hunnewell, Eloise, Miss Hunt, Mrs. Hunter, Agnes E., Miss Hunter, Hattie V., Miss Hunter, L.F., Miss Hunter, L. M., Mrs. Hunter, Lizzie M., Miss Huntley, J. R., Mrs. Huntress, P. B., Mrs. Hurll, Mrs. Hussey, A. S., Mrs. Hussey, Fannie, Miss Hussey, Flora A., Miss Hutchins, Miss Hutchinson, A. S., Miss Hutchinson, B. F., Mrs. Hutchinson, E. L., Mrs. Hutchinson, F. P., Miss Hutchinson, Flora A., Miss Hyde, F. L., Miss Irving, Anna M., Miss Ives, C. F., Mrs. (108) LADIES OF THE CHORUS, 1865-1890. Jackson, C. S., Miss Jackson, G. W., Mrs. Jackson, L. S., Miss Jackson, Louisa, Miss Jackson, M. C, Miss Jackson, Minnie W., Miss Jacobs, Hale, Mrs. Jacques, M. A., Miss James, Mary, Mrs. Janes, Gertrude M., Miss Janes, W. S., Mrs. Jarvis, Charles, Mrs. Jarvis, Julia A., Miss Jarvis, Mattie C., Miss Jeffers, Miss Jenkins, C. E., Mrs. Jenney, Walter, Mrs. Jewell, Annie P., Miss Jewett, Nellie, Miss Johnson, C. P., Mrs. Johnson, Charles H.. Mrs. Johnson, Etta L.. Miss Johnson, Hattte L., Miss Johnson, L. F., Miss Johnson, M., Miss Johnson, M. A., Miss Johnson, Mabel, Miss Johnson, Maggie A., Miss Johnson, Myra E., Miss Johnston, M. A., Miss Jones, G. S., Mrs. Jones, J. E., Mrs. Jones, Jennie E., Miss Jones, L. A., Miss Jones, N. D., Mrs. Jones, Nan L., Miss Jones, Nellie D., Miss Jones, S. H., Miss Jones, Susie, Miss Jose, A., Miss Jose, S., Miss Josselyn, C. E., Miss Josselyn, E., Miss Josselyn, B. R., Miss Julio, O., Mrs. Katou, Mary A., Miss Kean, M. V. B., Mrs. Keays, Lizzie M., Miss Kelley, A. S., Mrs. Kelley, G. G., Miss Kelley, Julia, Miss Kemp, Edith, Miss Kendall, Grace M. , Miss Kendrick, E. E., Miss Kenerson, Louisa, Miss Kennedy, Kate, Miss Kent, A. K., Mrs. Kent, L. A., Mrs. Kern, M. B., Mrs. Kern, M. E., Mrs. Keyes, Emily S.. Mrs. Keyes, J. M., Miss Keyes, M. E., Miss Keyes, Martha, Miss Kidder, Miss Kidder, H. E., Miss Kidder, Kate B., Miss- Kiernan, T. J., Mrs. Kilburn, D. W., Mrs.. Killiam, J. M., Mrs. Kimball, E. F., Miss Kimball, Ella, Miss Kimball, H., Miss Kimball, J. B., Mrs. Kimball, J. J., Mrs. Kimball, M. I., Miss King, Miss King, Amelia, Miss King, C. F., Mrs. King, Jenny L., Mrs. Kingsbury, H. J., Miss Kingsbury, P. O., Miss Kingsbury, Susan, Miss Kinsman, T. J., Mrs. Kitson, M. E., Miss Knapp, Almira S., Miss Knapp, Emma W., Miss Knapp, N., Miss Knight, Martha D., Miss- Knowles, H. F., Mrs. Knowles, M. F., Miss Knowlton, Emily. Mrs. Knox, S. Carrie, Miss Kramer, E., Miss Kronberg, Fannie, Miss- (109) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Ladd, M. H., Miss Lambert, E. A., Miss Lambert, Eunice, Miss Lamont, Sarah, Miss Lamprey, Ada G., Miss Lamson, B., F., Mrs. Lamson, Helen, Miss Lanagan, Effie, Miss Lane, Mrs. Lane, Mary, Miss Langell, Henrietta, Miss Langford, Mrs. iLarkin, Cora F., Miss Laselle, S. E., Mrs. Laskey, M. A., Mrs. Latham, Mary J., Miss Lathe, S. Lizzie, Miss Lathrop, A. F., Mrs. Lathrop, A. G., Miss Lathrop, A. S., Mrs. Lawrence, Lilian, Miss Lawrence, M , Miss Lawrence, M. Carrie, Miss Lawrence, P., Miss Lawton, Charles, Mrs. Lawton, Lillie M., Miss Lazzaro, Carrie, Miss Leatherbee, Miss Leavitt, Nellie W., Miss Le Cam, Mrs. Lee, Lottie E., Mrs. Le Favor, A. S., Mrs. Lefavor, Mabel B., Miss Leighton, A. F., Mrs. Leland, Anna M., Miss Lenfest, G. B., Mrs. Leon, Rosalie F., Miss Leonard, C. C, Mrs. Leonard, Cora B., Miss Leonard, Etta A., Miss Leonard, Jennie, Mrs. Levick, H. W., Mrs. Lewis, Edith, Miss Lewis, Estelle, Miss Lewis, Ida L., Miss Lewis, W. T., Mrs. Lincoln, Anna L., Miss Lincoln, Maria, Miss Lincoln, S. S., Mrs. Lindsay, Hattie C, Miss Lissner, Sarah S., Miss Little, Addie, Miss Little, Emma M., Miss Little, M., Mrs. Lloyd, Emma, Miss Lloyd, Mary R., Mrs. Locke, Anna L., Miss Locke, Carrie A., Miss Locke, Cora S., Miss Locke, Emma, Miss Locke, M. E., Miss Loheed, L. J., Mrs. Long, Emma A., Miss Long, Frederick E., Mrs. Long, Sarah, Mrs. Longfellow, Nellie J., Miss Lord, E. Grace. Miss Lord, M. J., Mrs. Loring, J. L., Mrs. Lothrop, A. M., Miss Lothrop, Alice G., Miss Lothrop, C. M., Miss Lothrop, Sarah J., Miss Loud, S. E., Miss Lovejoy, M. F., Miss Loveland, Angle P., Miss Lovell, Clara W., Mrs. Lovering, Ella M., Miss Lovering, M. F., Mrs. Lovering, W. H., Mrs. Low, F. C, Mrs. Low, J. H., Mrs. Lowd, S., Miss Lowell, R. M., Mrs. Ludlow, Clara S.,Mlss Lund, C. W., Mrs. Lunt, Lizzie P., Miss Mabie, Mattle M., Miss Mack, Minnie L., Miss Mackintosh, Georgia D., Miss MacNeil, M. A., Miss Macy, E. P., Mrs. Magulre, Alice A., Miss Maguire, H. A., Miss Maher, Josephine, Miss Mahoney, G. S., Mrs. Mann, A. W., Mrs. (110) LADIES OF THE CHORUS, 1865-1890. Manning, M. A., Miss Manning, S. C, Miss Manning, S. E. R., Miss Manny, E. B.,Mrs. Manser, Julia, Miss Mansfield, A., Mrs. Mansfield, M. M., Miss Manson, Clara E., Miss Manson, Lillian J., Miss Marble, Anna E., Miss March, Caro, Miss Marks, Augusta M., Miss Marsh, Mrs. Marsh, Hariette H., Miss Marsh, Jessie A., Miss Marsh, Luella M., Miss Marshall, Emma J., Mrs. Marshall, Nettie, Mrs. Marsters, Georgie M., Miss Marston, Dr., Mrs. Mars ton, A. T., Miss Martin, J. L., Mrs. Martin, Leslie A., Miss Mason, Annie. Miss Mason, Fanny, Miss Mason, Flora E., Miss Mason, H. W., Mrs. Mason, Virginia A., Miss Masten, Helen L., Miss Maxwell, Mary D., Miss May, M. S., Miss Mayhew, Georgie K., Miss Mayhew, M. A., Mrs. Maynard, Alice E., Miss Maynard, P., Miss Maynard, H. C, Mrs. Mayo, Dora M., Miss McClure, V., Mfss McCrillis, Andrew, Mrs. McCrillis, Isabel, Miss McDonald, Eosanna, Miss McDonough, Nellie A., Miss McDougall, Clara, Miss McGill, J., Mrs. McGowan, W. S., Mrs. Mcintosh, H. S., Mrs. McKay, C. C, Mrs. McKay, H. A., Miss McKillican, J. M., Miss McKinnon, 6. W., Mrs. McKnight, Carrie A., Miss McLaughlin, M. Marie, Miss McManus, Mary J., Miss McVey, Mary, Miss Mead, H. M., Miss Mead, M. T., Miss Mead, Mattie, Miss Meader, George C , Mrs. Meisel, Carl, Mrs. Mellen, H. L., Miss Mellen, H. M., Miss Mellen, H. S., Miss Mellen, Maria A., Miss Melvin, Carrie, Miss Merrill, E. ■W..Mrs. Merrill, Lizzie, Miss Merrill, M. W., Miss Merrill, S. M., Miss Merriman, A. E., Miss Merritt, Emma F., Miss Meston, L. B., Mrs. Metcalf, Lizzie, Miss Metcalf, Mary F., Miss Meyer, H. A., Mrs. Miles, L. H., Miss Milkins, Florence, Miss Miller, A. M., Miss Miller, B. H., Mrs. Miller, B. H.,Miss Miller, EttaB., Mrs. Miller, G. E., Miss Miller, G. F.,Mrs. , Miller, Mary C, Miss Millett, Emily M., Miss Milliken, Georgie, Miss Milliken, Josie B., Miss Milliken, M. C.,Mrs. Milliken, Mary, Miss Milton, M. Viola, Miss Minot, Carrie P., Miss Mirlck, A. G., Mrs. Mirrick, Carrie, Miss Mitchell, Ada B., Miss Mitchell, Lucia H., Miss Mitchell, M. E., Miss Mitchell, N. B., Mrs. Monroe, Laura, Miss Moody, S. E., Miss (111) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Mooney, M. J., Mrs. Moore, Eva J., Miss Moore, Lucy A., Miss Moore, Mary R., Miss Moors, Mrs. Morgan, Sarah A., Mrs. Morrill, C. A., Miss Morrill, Viola E., Miss Morris, Etta, Miss Morris, Lizzie M., Miss Morris, M. A., Mrs. Morrison, A. P., Miss Morrison, Eleanor Le F., Miss Morrison, Rebecca, Miss Morse, Alice A., Miss Morse, C. A., Mrs. Morse, E. Isabella, Miss Morse, E. S., Miss Morse, ElUe C, Miss Morse, Ethel, Miss Morse, Etta, Miss Morse, H. J., Miss Morse, I., Miss Morse, M. E., Miss Morse, S. J., Mrs. Morton, A. E., Miss Morton, F. W., Mrs. Morton, Mary B., Miss Morton, S. R., Miss Moses, Fannie, Miss Moultou, Annie J., Miss Moulton, E. B., Mrs. MuUaly, J. C, Mrs. Mullen, A. B., Mrs. Mullen, J. R., Mrs. Munroe, Abby M., Mrs. Munroe, Alice, Miss Munroe, Charles, Mrs. Munroe, E. T., Miss Munroe, J. W., Mrs. Manroe, L. B., Mrs. Munroe, L. C, Mrs. Munroe, L. F., Miss Munroe, Laura, Miss Munroe, Mary E., Mrs. Munroe, S. E. H., Miss Murray, Minnie S., Miss Nash, S. A., Mrs. Nason, C. M., Mrs. Nason, G. H., Mrs. Nason, G. W., Mrs. Natale, Lizzie, Miss Naughton, M. A., Miss Neale, E., Miss Neflf, E. G., Miss Neilson, Lizzie, Miss NelUs, Adaline, Miss Nettleton, ivfrs. Newell, F. H., Mrs. Newhall, Lute M., Miss Newhall, William, Mrs. Newman, Nellie T., Mrs. Nice, Abby M., Miss Nichols, C. B., Miss Nichols, E A., Mrs. Nichols, M. A., Miss Nichols, Mary, Miss Nichols, Mary E.,Mrs. Nichols, S. W., Mrs. ' Nicholson, Abby N., Miss- Nickerson, Abby C, Miss Nickerson, Ella L., Miss Nixon, Georgia, Miss Nixon, Lizzie, Miss Nolen, Caroline, Miss Norris, E. L.,Mrs. Norwood, Bertha, Miss Nowell, Mrs. Nowell, J., Miss Noyes, C. C, Mrs. Noyes, Jennie M. P., Mrs.. ' Noyes, M. G., Miss Noyes, Mary E., Miss Nutter, Ida, Miss Nye, A. S., Mrs. Nye, J. A., Mrs. I Nye, Sarah A., Mrs. Oakes, George H., Mrs. O'Brien, Nellie, Miss Oldham, Sarah W., Mrs. Olive, Douglas, Mrs. Olive, Grace, Miss Olive, M. R., Mrs. Oliver, Leslie, Miss O'Neill, E. G.. Mrs. Orcutt, Isa C, Miss (112) LADIES OF THE CHORUS, 1865-1890. Orcutt, Kate W., Miss Orcutt, M. A., Miss Ordway, E. A., Mrs. Ordway, 0., Mrs. Osborn, C. H., Miss Osborne, Alice J., Mrs. Osgood, Annie M.. Miss Osgood, C. E., Miss Osgood, H. W., Miss Osgood, M. A., Miss Otis, Annie E., Miss Oviatt, Bertha G., Miss Packard, Carrie B.,.Miss Packard, E. A., Miss Packard, Emma R., Miss Packard, Helen E., Miss Packard, M. I., Mrs. Page, J. C, Mrs. Page, J. E., Mrs. Page, Jennie E., Miss Page, Nellie, Miss Paige, C. F., Mrs. Paine, Alice I., Miss Paine, Fannie E., Miss Paine, Isabella S., Miss Paine, Jennie F., Miss Paine, Nellie V., Miss Palfrey, S. H., Miss Palmer, G., Miss Palmer, P. F., Miss Pancoast, Mary A., Miss Papendiek, Miss Parcber, Eva A., Miss Park, Nellie F., Miss Parker, Alice Q., Miss Parker, Delia, Miss Parker, H. A., Mrs. Parker, H. G., Mrs. Parker, Mary E., Miss Parker, Nellie, Miss Parker, R. S., Mrs. Parker, W. F., Mrs. Parker, "W. T., Mrs. Parkes, Rene S., Miss Parks, J. A., Mrs. Parmelee, Alice E., Miss Parry, Edith V., Miss Parsons, C. L., Miss Parsons, M., Miss Partelow, Fanny,- Miss Partridge, C. C, Mrs. , •Partridge, Charles G., Mrs. Patch, E. O., Miss Patchen, Ida E., Miss Patten, Fannie G., Miss Payson, CD., Miss Payson, C. L., Miss Payson, L. E., Miss Peabody, L. M., Miss Peabody, Sarah S., Miss Pearson, D, A., Miss Pearson, M. L., Miss Peck, E. A., Miss Peirce, M. F., Mrs. Peiver, M. E., Miss Pendleton, Ellen L., Miss Percival, F., Miss ' Perkins, Carrie A., Miss Perkins, E. E., Mrs. Perkins, E. F., Miss Perkins, H. M., Mrs. Perkins, M. P., Mrs. Perkins, N. M.,Mrs. Perkins, K. W., Mrs. Perkins, S., Mrs. Perkins, W. M., Mrs. Perrin, Julia, Miss Perry, F., Miss Peterson, S. L., Miss Petterson, L. E., Mrs. Pettingill, M. E., Miss Pevear, Abbie F., Miss Pewtress, C. E., Miss Pewtress, J. B., Mrs. Pfordte, Eosa, Miss PBelps, A. D., Mrs. Phelps, Lizzie A., Miss Philbrick, G., Miss Philbrick, H. F., Miss Philbrook, A. E., Miss Philbrook, G. H., Mrs. Philbrook, J. H., Mrs. Phillipps, E. M., Miss Phillips, Clara B., Miss Phillips, M. T., Miss Phillips, Olive A., Miss Phillipson, E. F., Miss (113) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Phipps, Alice C, Mrs. Pickemell, Etta, Miss Pierce, A. S., Miss Pierce, Fanny, Miss Pierce, L. Y., Miss Pierce, M. E., Miss Pierce, Mary, Miss Pierce, V. E., Mrs. Pike, E., Miss Pike, J. H , Mrs. Pillsbury, L. A., Miss Pinkham, A. P., Mrs. Pitkin, Belle A., Mrs. Plimpton, Bessie, Miss Plimpton, Hattie H., Miss Plummer, E., Miss Plummer, Grace H., Miss Plummer, William H., Mrs. Poland, Ellen M., Miss Poland, ., Mrs. Stanley, A., Mrs. Stanley, A. F., Mrs. Stanley, A. S., Miss Stanley, Nettie, Miss Starbird, Etta, Miss Stark, Eva A., Miss Stark, Grace A., Miss Stearns, E. D., Miss Steele, Carrie L., Mrs. Steele, E. Alice, Miss Steele, Emma A., Miss Steere, Etta A., Mrs. Steere, H. L., Mrs. Stephenson, Belle, Mi.ss Stetson, C. W., Miss Stetson, E., Miss Stetson, E. J., Miss Stetson, H. H., Mrs. Stetson, J. W., Mrs. Stevens, A. D., Mrs. Stevens, A. M., Miss Stevens, A. R., Miss Stevens, B. D., Miss Stevens, E. E., Miss Stevens, E. L., Miss Stevens, IdaC, Miss Stevens, M. D., Miss Stevens, Mary S., Miss Stevens, N. W., Miss Stevenson, Annie B., Miss Stevenson, B., Miss Stewart, R. A., Mrs. Stickman, L. , Mrs. Stickney, Jolin H., Mrs. Stickney, R. H., Mrs. Stickney, S. B.,' Miss Stiles, Z. A., Miss Stillings, S. E. G., Mis. Stockman, L., Miss Stockman, 0. P., Miss Stoddard, H. H., Miss Stoddard, S. S., Miss Stone, Agnes, Miss Stone, Alice, Miss Stone, Anna, Miss Stone, Annie L., Miss Stone, Ctiarles "W., Mrs. Stone, E. F., Miss Stone, Ellen,' Miss Stone, George T., Mrs. Stone, H. L., Mrs. Stone, J. M., Miss Stone, Julia, Miss Stone, L. G., Mrs. Stone, N. J., Miss Store, T. G., Miss Stone, W. H., Mrs. Storer, Agnes, Miss Storer, M. W., Miss Stowers, N. M., Miss Strater, P. P., Mrs. Strickland, Mary, Miss Sturgiss, M. H., Miss Sturtevant, A. E., Miss Swain, Amy, Miss Swain, Nellie E., Miss Swan, Ellen M., Miss Sweeny, Madelena, Miss Sweeny, S. L., Miss (117) HISTOET OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. •Sweet, E. B., Mrs. Swett, E. E., Mrs. •Swett, M., Mrs. Swett, Miriam B., Miss Swett, William B., Mrs. Swett, "William 6., Mrs. " •Sylvester, C., Mrs. Sylvester, C. T., Mrs. Sylvester, E., Miss Sylvester, E. E., Miss Sylvester, H. E., Mrs. Sylvester, J. A., Mrs. Sylvester, N., Mrs. Sylvester, Nellie, Miss Symonds, L. H., Miss Taft, Mrs. Talbot, E. F., Mrs. Talbot, Jennie M., Miss Talbot, M. E., Miss Tappan, Eugene, Mrs. Tarbell, A. A., Misa Tarleton, Miss Tate, H. A., Mrs. Tate, Helen, Mrs. Tate, S. W., Mrs. Taylor, A., Miss Taylor, A. B., Miss Taylor, A. J., Mrs. Taylor, A. S., Mrs. Taylor, C. A., Miss Taylor, Ella B., Mrs. Taylor, Gertrude H., Miss Taylor, H., Miss Taylor, H. H.,Miss Taylor, Jennie, Miss Taylor, Julia, Miss Taylor, L. P., Miss Taylor, M. P., Miss Taylor, N., Miss Tedford, Laura D., Miss Teele, A. E., Miss Temple, Hattie, Miss Tenney, Mary, Miss Tetlow, Ella, Mrs. Thayer, F. S., Mrs. Thayer, J. W., Mrs. Thomas, AnnaL., Miss Thomas, J. B., Miss Thomas, M. A., Miss Thomas, M. E., Mrs. Thomas, W. J., Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Thompson, Andriua L. T., Miss Thompson, Lizzie, Miss Thompson, M. E., Miss Tborndike, Eva M., Mrs. Thorndike, Grace M., Miss Thorndike, Mary V., Miss Tibbetts, Louise, Miss Tilden, Clara, Mrs. Tilden, Helen, Miss Tinkham, E. T., Miss Tinkham, Emma, Miss Tinkham, Lucy E. T., Miss Tirrell, Florence, Miss Tirrell, M. A. T., Miss Tirrell, Miriam A., Miss Tirrill, Carrie, Miss Titcomb, J. P., Miss Titus, E. E., Miss Titus, Eliza J., Miss Titus, Minta C, Miss Todd, Mabel L., Mrs. Todd, Mildred, Miss Tobey, Mary E., Miss Toffey, Kate, Miss ToUes, H. F., Miss Tolman, H. M., Mrs. Tonett, K., Mrs. Tower, Carrie, Mrs. Towle, O. A., Miss Towne, M. E., Miss Tozier, S. A., Miss Tozier, Sarah, Miss Travis, Mrs. Treadwell, A. 0., Mrs. Treadwell, Clara M., Mrs. Treadwell, E. C, Miss Treadwell, J. B., Mrs. Treadwell, M., Miss Treadwell, Olive A., Miss Treat, Sarah, Miss Trow, M., Miss Truett, H., Mrs. Trull, O. J., Mrs. Tucker, Bertha J., Miss Tucker, Maud, Miss (118) LADIES OF THE CHORUS, 1865-1800. Tucker, W., Mrs. TuckermaD, E. M., Miss Tuckerman, Mary F., Miss Tuckerman, Mildred E., Miss Tuckerman, S., Miss Tufts, Cora L., Miss Tufts, Eleanor Vaughan, Mrs. Turner, Ella S. , Mrs. Turner, Mary G., Miss Turrill, M. C, Miss Twlchell, Ellen M., Miss Tyler, Jennie, Miss Tyng, A., Miss TJnderhill, Emma, Miss TJpham, Katherine B., Miss Upham, M. E., Miss Varney, Grace S., Miss "Varney, Sarah E., Miss Vernon, Annie, Miss Verry, Eliza, Mi.ss Very, H., Mrs. Very, Harriet G., Mrs. Very, T. K., Mrs. Vinal, Josephine, Miss Vinal, M. A., Miss Vogel, S. C, Mrs. Vogel, S. E., Miss Vogl, Susie, Mrs. Vose, A. M., Miss Wade, C. H., Mrs. Wadleigh, Addie, Miss "Wadleigh, "W. H., Mrs. Wadsworth, Edna, Miss Wadsworth, Florence L., Miss Waitt, S. W., Miss Wakefield, Ella, Miss Wakefield, Grace, Miss Walberg, Anna, Miss Waldmeyer, M. P., Miss Waldo, E. C, Mrs. Walker, A. S., Miss Walker, Almira, Miss Walker, Attie M., Miss Walker, J. A., Mrs. Walker, M. J. E., Mrs. Walker, Mary E., Mrs. Wallace, E. L., Mrs. Wallace, M. E., Mrs. Walters, Maggie, Miss Walton, E. B., Miss Walton, L. A., Miss Walton, M. B., Miss Ward, H. P., Mrs. Ware, H., Miss Ware, L. P., Miss Warman, Effie E., Miss Warner, Ella M., Miss Warner, J. C, Mis. Warren, J. F., Miss Washburn, Emily P., Miss Washburn, Evelyn F., Miss- Washburn, Henry, Mrs. Washburn, J. P., Mrs. Washburn, Jennie P., Miss Wason, Annie, Miss Wasson, A. J., Miss Waterhouse, R. J., Mrs. Waterman, H. E., Miss Waterman, L. L., Miss Waterman, S. E. V , Mrs. Waterman, S. L., Miss Waters, A. F., Mrs. Waters, G. W., Mrs. Waters, Irene F., Miss Watjen, Cora, Miss . Watson, Elizabeth, Miss- Watson, Emma, Miss Watton, E. B., Miss Weale, Emma S., Miss Weale, Marie E., Miss Webb, C. E., Miss Webb, E. K., Miss Webb, E. R., Mrs. Webber, Miss Webber, Charles F., Mrs- Wedger, E. S., Miss Weed.H. M., Miss Weeks, Carrie S., Mrs. Weeks, EmmaM., Miss Weeks, M. M., Mrs. Weeks, N., Miss Weld, Lina S., Miss Wellington, A. C, Mrs. Wellington, A. F., Miss Wellington, Annie, Miss- (119) HISTORY OF THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY. Wellington, Cora L., Miss Wellington, Edith, Miss Wells, Addie. Miss Wells, H. G., Mrs. Wells, Julia A.. Miss Wells, M. Frances, Mrs. Wells, Mary, Miss Wells, S. A., Miss Wells, Susan E., Miss Wemyss, 0. C, Mrs. Went worth, L. J., Mrs. Wessells, E. 0., Mrs. West, Fannie K., Miss West, Lizzie, Miss Westcott, Sara H., Miss Weston, Isa G., Miss Weston, M. E., Miss Weston, W. E., Mrs. ' Wetherbee, Cora M., Miss Wetherbee, Helen F., Miss Wetherbee, M., Miss Weymouth, A., Miss Weymouth, A. J., Miss Weymouth, C, Miss Weymouth, E., Miss Weymouth, J. W., Miss Wheaton, Hattie B., Miss Wheeler, C. J., Miss Wheeler, Clara, Miss Wheeler, Dora, Miss Wheeler, E. B., Mrs. Wheeler, H., Mrs. Wheeler, Lena C, Mrs. Wheeler, Lizzie A., Mrs. Wheeler, Marie S., Miss Wheeler, Nellie F., Miss Wheeler, S. M., Miss Wheeler, Sarah W., Mrs. Wheeler, W. H., Mrs. Wheelwright, Josie, Miss Whitcomb, Anna L., Miss Whitcomb, Clarence P., Mrs. Whitcomb, H. P., Mrs. Whitcomb, N. 0., Mrs. White, A. S., Mrs. White, A. W., Miss White, Abbie, Miss White, Ada G., Mrs. White, Agnes A., Miss White, Agnes E., Mrs. White, C. A., Miss White, E. Y., Mrs. White, Bha G.,Miss White, Grace F., Miss White, L. A., Miss White, Lizzie F., Miss White, M. Louisa, Miss White, "Villa W., Miss WMtehouse, E. A., Mrs. Whiting, C. H.,Mrs. Whiting, Henry, Mrs. Whiting, N. M., Mrs. Whitman, Jlrs. Whitman, J. F., Miss Whitmore, Fanny A., Miss Whitmore, Helen R., Miss Whitmore, J. C, Mrs. Whitney, F. P., Mrs. Whitney, Florence S., Miss Whitney, H. J., Mrs. Whitney, H. M., Miss Whitney, Hattie, Miss Whitney, L., Miss Whitney, M. E., Mrs. Whitney, M. W., Mrs. Whiton, A., Miss Whittemore, Alice, Mrs. Whitten, Lucy H., Miss Whittier, Charles K., Mrs. Whittlesey, Ellen, Miss Whorf, Abbie, Miss Wiggln, Lucy P., Mrs. Wilbur, Belle, Miss Wilcox, Ellen L., Miss Wild, H., Miss Wilde, Hiram, Mrs. Wilde, Laurette M., Miss Wilde, Millie, Miss Wilder, F. A., Miss' Wilder, L. L., Miss Wilder, S. L., Mrs. Wilklns, H., Miss Wilkins, M. F., Mrs. Willard, G. F., Mrs. Willard, Susannah, Miss WlUet, Mary, Miss Willey, Cora J., Miss Willey, G. H., Mrs. (120) LADIES OF THE CHORUS, 1863-1890. Williams, Caio, Miss Williams, Carrie, Miss Williams, F. M., Mrs. Williams, J. L.,Mrs. Williams, L. M., Miss Williams, Maud K., Miss Williams, S. A., Mrs. Willis, Miss Willis, Ellen S., Miss Willis, Julia, Miss Wllmarth, M. E., Miss Wilson, A. L., Mrs. Wilson, Annie A., Miss Wilson, E., Miss Wilson, Jennie, Miss Wilson, M., Miss Wilson, W. C, Mrs. Wing, J. A., Mrs. Winnard, Mary, Miss Winslow, Emma, Miss Winslow, M. Q., Miss Winward, A. J., Miss Winward, Lizzie, Miss Wiswall, George C, Mrs. Wood, Abby E., Miss Wood, Alice C. S., Mrs. Wood, Anna E. H., Miss Wood, C. H., Miss Wood, F. A., Miss Wood, Katherine, Miss Wood, L. Augusta, Miss Wood, M. F., Miss Wood, S. A. W., Miss Woodbury, B. P., Mrs. Woodbury, Nellie L., Miss- Woodman, E. P., Mrs. Woodman, S., Miss Woodman, S. A., Miss Woods, Annie L., Miss Woodward, H. M., Miss- Worcester, J. R., Mrs. Worth, Mary E., Miss Wortlien, Inez, Miss Wright, C, Mrs. Wright, C. J., Mrs. Wright, Chandler, Mrs. Wyman, Florence, Miss Wymau, Lizzie, Miss Yeager, Mary, Miss Young, D. M., Mrs. Young, Etta E., Miss. Young, H. 0., Miss Young, H. T., Mrs. Young, Ida J., Miss Young, J. H. , Mrs. Young, Jessie M., Miss Young, Marion F., Miss- Young, Mattie C, Miss (121) HONORARY MEMBERS, 1816-1890 Nahum MltcheU Brldgewater, Mass. May 21, 1816 Bartholomew Brown ti (1 <( (( (( Alexl Eustaphieve Boston ti (1 CI Thomas Smith Webb (( Sept. 15, 1817 Oliver Shaw Providence, R. I. Mar. 13, 1818 Augustus Peabody Boston " 21, " John K. Parker It (( " " Moses Noyes Providence, R. I. Nov. 25, it David Lawrence Brown Boston Dec. 8, f tt l)aniel Stamford ii Jan. 13, 1819 John Pickering Salem, Mass. Eeb. 19, It Samuel P. Taylor Boston Jan. 10, 1820 Reuben D. Muzzy Hanover, N. H. Jan. 21, 1823 J. H. Bingham Alstead, N. H. " 28, " Thomas Hastings Albany, N. Y. (1 " t( A. P. Heinrich Kentucky Mar. 4, " Amos Albee Watertown, Mass. Wy 1, tt Benjamin Brierly Portsmouth, N. H. May 4, 1824 Joshua Stone Boston Aug. 17, 1826 William Staunton, Jr. " (( " " Prentiss Mellen Portland, Me. Jan. 5, 1827 Edward Howe i( It (( " (( Henry K. Oliver Salem, Mass. f ( 12, " John Meachum Albany, N. Y. Sept. 13, tt George Oates Augusta, Ga. " " " Samuel Bigelow Charleston, S. C. li (( t( John Wills Boston " 26, " George W. Lucas Northampton, Mass. Sept 12, 1828 Solomon Warriner Springfield, Mass. (< '• (( E. Ives, Jr. Berlin, Conn. 1( " (1 A. F. Putnam Dartmouth, N. H. " it '» George Button Utica, N. Y. 11 " (' Amatus Bobbins Troy, N. Y. - " *' H. Sewall Augusta, Me. il (( (t John Paddon Boston H " " Abraham G. Tannatt Springfield, Mass. u 11 (( Charles E. Horn London, England Feb. 17, V 1829 (122) HONORAEY MEMBERS, 1815-1890. Gottlieb Graupner Boston Nov. 20, 1829 Bryant P. TiWen ti Jan. 26, 1830 Charles K. Kupfer .1 " (( . (( •Abijah M. Ide Berkley Attleborough June 10, 1831 Adoniram Crane Berkley " li (( T. Hopkins Boston Aug. 19, " John Pierpont " 29, " Nathaniel L. Frothingham " Aug. 6, 1832 Charles Zeuner " .. .. Jonathan Huntington Mar. 28, 1833 Jonathan M. Wainwright " Jan. 29, 1834 Samuel H. Jenks Nantucket, Mass. Oct. 10, " Otis Everett Boston Benjamin Holt Lancaster .. .c Allan Pollock Boston (( (I Joseph Bailey New York (( (( John "W. Webster Cambridge .. ADDENDA TO VOL. I., NO. 1. Page 6, note, line 11. For "Ein fester Burg," read "Ein feste Burg." Page ft, note, line 3. For " sing them icith withal," read " sing them withal." Page 12, note 2. Concerning the Old Hundredth Psalm, the reader may consult History of, by the Eev. W. H. Havergal, 1854. Fr. F. MuUer ascribes Old Hundredth to Claude Goudimel (see Musical Magazine, Hach. III., 199). Eavenscroft's Psalms, of which Gov. Endicott's copy is preserved in the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, were republished by the Eev. Mr. Havergal, in 1865. Page 13. Many secular tunes, turned to ecclesiastical uses in the sixteenth century, are given in Becker's Musik in Deutschlancl, 1840. Page 15, note 2. For " Th. Eavenscroft," etc., " published in 1628," read " Th. Eavenscroft (b. about 1582; d. about 1630 or 1635), . . . published in 1621." Page 25, line 26. For " nor in any instance," read " nor destitute in many instances," etc. Page 33, line 27. Strike out "father of Mrs. Ostinelli." Mrs. Ostinelli was the daughter of James H. Hewitt. Page 33, note 7. For " Mem. Hist, of Boston, I., 116," read "IV., 416." Page 35, note 3. For " Columbia Gentinel," read " Columbian Centinel." Page 36, line 6. For " source of," read " service of," etc. Page 36, note 2. Miss Catherine, sister of Gottlieb Graupner, who some- times played the organ at the rehearsals of the Handel and Haydn Society, married a Mr. Gushing. Miss Harriet Graupner, daughter of Gottlieb, still survives. His adopted daughter, Olivia, was living in 1871. Page 3s, line 22. For " Thomas L. "Webb," read " Thomas S. Webb." Page 42, line 18. For " George I. Webb," read " Samuel Webbe (b. 1740; d. May 26, 1816).'' The anthem for five voices by this well-known English glee writer, " When winds breathe soft along the silent deep," here referred to, is printed in the first volume of the Old Colony Collection, page 53, and in Vol. III., page 83. Page 43, Programme, Part II. For " Chorus. They played in air, etc.," read " Anthem. They played, in air the trembling music floats." Anthem composed by Sir John Stevenson. Printed ia first volume of the Handel and Haydn Collection, page 98. Page 43, note 1. Mr. Melvin Lord, who was a member of the chorus in 1815, used to teU the story referred to. He described with much emphasis the vexation of the president at their not making better work with it. Page 44, line 17. For " Transcript," read "Advertiser, Supplement, Sat- urday, Dec. 23, 1871." IV APPENDIX. Page 47, line 21. Mr. 'Stockwell. It is related of this gentleman, who was small of stature, that at a rehearsal, after the intermission, when all were ready, he alone was not at his post. Samuel Richardson, a large and powerful man, volunteered to find him, and going round behind the organ, where the members resorted for a glass of brandy, which was the regular and invariable refreshment between the parts, soon returned, holding the delinquent by the collar of his coat, with his legs dangling helplessly In the air, and placed him at the organ. Page 48, line 3. "Reconsidered the matter, as we shall see." This is an error. It was S. P. Taylor, of New York (see Musical Library, page 27), as mentioned on page 52, who ofB elated as organist at the four concerts given by the society on the 1st, 4th, 6th, and 8th of April, 1817, andnotDri RajTier Taylor, mentioned on page 47, who, according to a writer in the Euterpiad, Vol. II., page 162, used to relate that when he was a choir boy at the King's Chapel Royal (1754-1760), he attended Handel's funeral (April 27, 1759), and that " on this solemn and memorable occasion his hat accidentally fell into the grave, and was buried with the remains of that wonderful composer." "Never mind," said some one to whom he told the story, " he left you some of his brains in return." After Taylor ceased to be a chorister, he found employment as composer, vocalist, organist, and harpsichord player. Having taught for several years at Chelmsford, he became director of music at the Sadlers Wells Theatre. His song, "A Sailor's Life at Sea," and his comic trio, " Chiu-chat-quaw," written at this time, became very popular. About 1792, Taylor came to America with his family, and found employment as organist and teacher in various cities. In 1821 he was still living at Phila- delphia. " The Paded Lily " and "The Beech Tree's Petition," songs, which he published in this country, were mxich admired. The writer in the Euterpiad speaks of him as a master of the best style of organ playing. This seems hardly compatible with his alleged fondness for singing Vauxhall ballads and caricaturing Italian operas extemporaneously at the piano. Page 48, note 3. For " 1774, choir boy," etc., read " 1754." In explana- tion of Dr. Jackson's refusal "to have anything to do with the Society" etc., mentioned line 15 of page 48, it may be said, that being conscious of very superior knowledge, he felt certain that if he were brought into close contact with a chorus of amateur singers, quarrels would inevitably ensue. "His only safe course," says a writer on this matter, "was to keep at a distance from what they would call his pretensions, and save them from his contempt for what he would know to be their ignorance." Page 50, note 2, line 5. John Mackay, here spoken of, was lost at sea on a voyage to South America. Page 52, line 22. S. P. Taylor (misprinted Taylof), b. in England, 177K, began his career as a chorister, and played the organ at the age of twelve. In 1806 he came to America, and the next year was appointed organist at Christ Church. He directed oratorios (concerts?) at St. Paul's, and first introduced the chant in New York. In 1863, Mr. Taylor, then eighty-flve years old, played Luther's (so-called) Judgment Hymn at the dedication of a new organ Page 52, line 24. Last word " or " should be " of." Page 52, note 1, line 4. After first "it" insert date (1852). Line (!. "music" should be "Music." Ibid. For "p. 26," read "p. 25." Ibid. After "cites" insert "(Note, p. 26)." APPENDIX. V Page 53, line 20. Oliver Shaw, a native of Miclclleboro' , Mass., studied singing under Dr. Rinterhead at Newport, and after wai-ds the organ and piano under Graupner. He taught singing schools, presided over musical societies in Dedham and Providence, sang often in public, and died in 1848. Page 53, line 25. For " listeued," read " listened." Page 53, note 2. The concert referred to in this note was given at the Chauncy Street Chiuxh. Page 53, note 3, line 2. For " honorably having," read " honored by hav- ing," etc. Page 5i, Programme, Part I., No. 10. For "There rest the sinful Mary's tears,", read, — " Were not the sinful Mary's tears An offering worthy heaven, When o'er the faults of former years She wept, and was forgiven? " Page 54, note 2. The quotation from the Centinel ends with the word "animated," fotirth line. There should be no quotation-marks after the word •\iealousy." Page 56, line 30. "The print." The Transcript for June 7, 1873, contains S. J.'s correspondence with Mrs. Jonathan Preston about her father's por- trait The "precipitous and most unuatm-al mountain," spoken of in the thirty-third line, appears, on closer inspection, to be that common funereal emblem, the willow-tree. Page 57, Historical Sj'nopsis, second line. For "Eleventh annual meet- ing," read "First annual meeting."