CARL ZERRAI1N. THE New England Magazine. New Series. OCTOBER, 1899. Vol. XXI. No. 2. FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND. * v By Martha Dana Shepard. I SHALL always recall with pleas- ure the fact that I made my first appearance in public as a musician under the auspices of that distin- guished man who did so much for the cause of music in New England, par- ticularly church music and chorus singing, Mr. Lowell Mason. I was eight years old at the time. Mr. Mason had come to Plymouth, New Hampshire, to direct one of the gath- erings so commonly spoken of then as a "county sing." On such an oc- casion the people who were musically inclined would gather from all over the county for musical drill, con- ducted by some well-known local teacher or some man of wider fame, like Mr. Mason, hired to come from Boston for the occasion. The ambi- tious achievements of the country fes- tivals ot to-day, when entire oratorios of world-wide reputation are sung, and often well sung, by country choruses, were unknown then. The chorus spent more than half the time singing psalmody, with glees and part songs interspersed for recreation. The rest of the time was devoted to anthems and choruses from the great oratorios and operas. In this way country singers became familiar with many of the world's musical master- pieces, such as "The Heavens are 131 Telling," and the "Hallelujah Chorus," with a result which could not but be beneficial to country music. In those days, the small "county sings," those of only one day's dura- tion, would often take place at the home of some one interested in music ; but the larger gatherings, where a famous director like Mr. Mason was to conduct, would meet in a more public place. I have often been to the old Pemigewasset House at Plym- outh, New Hampshire, for this pur- pose. At the time I first played in public we met in the village church. Mr. Mason was then an old man with white hair. I remember that he was not large in stature and that he always wore a little black cap. Everybody looked up to him as a sort of saint in music, an opinion which the silk cap strengthened in my childish mind, I think. I wish I could remember more about Mr. Mason ; but I was so much a child that I fear I thought little of anything except myself and my play- ing. I played "Home, Sweet Home," with variations, and was so small that I had to be lifted on and off the piano stool. As I look back to that time, and remember how I played, I think my "tempo" and "expression" must have been a source of amusement to 132 FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. the eminent direc- tor, and 1 can only hope that he did not remember me any better than I do him. I suppose I was looked upon as an infant prodigy; but I do not think I was a prodigy at all. My father, Dr. J. A. Dana, had a fine musical tempera- ment, played the violin well and was also a good tenor singer. My mother played the piano, and was a singer of local reputation. I cannot remember when she began to teach me to play the piano, but it must have been when I was very young, for I do not remember the time when I did not play, gaining expe- rience by playing accompaniments for my father. Our home life was singu- larly happy. I can- not imagine how any could be hap- pier. While he had only moder- ate means, and followed faithfully the arduous profession of a coun- try physician, my father loved the beautiful in nature and every- thing which was beautiful in life, flowers, music, books and pictures, and, so far as he could do so, en- dowed his home with such surround- ings. It may have been partly this, as well as my parents' genial hospi- tality, which made our home a centre to which friends and neighbors liked to come. Very many were the even- ings when a dozen or more, musically inclined, would be gathered in our sil- ting room, bringing their instruments MARTHA DANA SHEPARD. with them. Basses, violins and the smaller wind instruments made up an orchestra to which mother or I played accompaniments on the piano, while we sang over and over again the great oratorio and opera choruses, until I was as familiar with them as with my letters. The days when such gather- ings were easily possible seem to have gone from the New England country towns, taking with them the church choirs which made the bare but rev- erent country churches full of the melody of the praise of God. It was a little later, at one of the "county sings" at Plymouth, that I first heard B. F. Leavens, then the or- FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. 133 ganist at St. Paul's Church in Boston, play the piano. This festival was con- ducted by Leonard Marshall, then the choir master at Tremont Temple. Later, when I was studying in Bos- ton, I boarded in Mr. Marshall's fam- ily, and sang in the Tremont Temple choir. Mr. Marshall had a son by the same name, who is to-day one of the best known of the teachers of music in the Boston public schools. I have made special mention of my having heard Mr. Leavens play because I was soon to become his pupil. His early teachings had a great influence for good over my whole musical life, and I fully realize how great are my obligations to him. When I was eleven years old my father decided that I ought to begin to study music under a more experienced teacher than my mother, and, deter- mined that from the very first I should have good instruction, ar- ranged for me to come from my home in Ashland, New Hamp- shire, for the winter, to re- main in Boston and take lessons of Mr. Leavens. How much Boston has changed since then ! I boarded that first winter with a friend of my family, — not Mr. Marshall, — who lived on Harvard Street, off Harrison Avenue, up and down which I rolled my hoop ; and I walked for my lessons across the Common and over Beacon Hill to where Mr. Leavens lived, on Chilson Place, near the foot of Green f ,< w Street. That same winter I attended Mr. Spaulding's famous dancing school in the old "Liberty Hall," at the corner of Essex and Washington Streets. At the end of the winter I went back to Ashland, and to school, practising over and over what I had studied in the winter. That was my life for several years. I suppose my father took a natural pride in my work, for while it would never have been his nature to push me forward, he was always anxious for me to do my part towards the pleas- ure of others. Whenever at singing school or social gathering there was any delay for an accompanist, he would say, "Here's Martha. She'll play for us," and play I had to, often when I would rather have sung, or perhaps have passed the time in more social pleasures with the young people of my own age. I do not speak of this here so much for its connection with my own life as with musical life in general. I would like to show, if I can, that the ability to do really good work in music, as in everything else, can come only by years and years of patient, conscien- tious work, by associating with good musicians and by living in the atmos- phere of fine music. So very often. ■>:■: LOWELL MASON. 134 FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. J. H. MOREV. especially now that it is known that I have given up my professional work, do young people, and sometimes older ones, come to me and ask: "How was it, Mrs. Shepard, that you fitted yourself for your work? I would like to do such work as you have done. What shall I do to be- come known or to get a position or engagements?" I have always deemed it a pleasant duty to advise, encourage and help along those who had talent and ambition ; and as far as I could, I have done so. My work was my very life itself, begun before I can remember, and developed by al- ways doing every task which pre- sented itself just as honestly and faith- fully as I could. I am very proud to be able to say, and I think I may be pardoned the pride, that in over forty years of musical life I have never failed to keep an engagement but once, and then only on account of the illness of one of my family. My musical horizon first broadened in this way. George Wood, who was one of the most successful of the New Hampshire singing-school teachers, and had conducted several such schools at Ashland and Plymouth, ar- ranged to give a concert at Concord, New Hampshire. To my surprise and delight, he asked me to come down to that concert to play a solo and the accompaniments. Of course I was glad to go. At that time Walter Dignum's band of Manchester was probably the most famous musical or- ganization of the kind in the state. By a member of this band hearing me play at Concord, I was asked to come to Manchester and play at a series of concerts which the band was to give there. I went, and gained self-confi- "UNCLE BEN" DAVIS. DUDLEY BUCK. FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. 135 ADELAIDE PHILLIPS. dence and experience from the en- gagements. Up to this time there never had been attempted in New Hampshire anything more ambitious than the "county sings," of which I have spoken, except that in some places, such as Keene, these had been dig- nified by the name of festivals, and had been improved until they de- served the name. Among the music teachers of the time two of the best known and most successful were J. H. Morey and "Uncle Ben" Davis of Concord. Mr. Morey had the reputa- tion of being the best pianist in the state, and "Uncle Ben" was a distin- guished teacher. These two men, with John Jackman, another well- known teacher, conceived the idea of organizing a state musical festival, which should meet at Concord, and to which singers should come from all over the state. They carried out their plans successfully, and the first state festival assembled in Phoenix Hall, Concord. There was present a chorus of a thousand persons. To accommo- date the chorus, the stage was built far out into the middle of the hall, and the chorus was about as large as the audience. My father went down to join the chorus, taking me with him, as he always did to such gather- ings. I had no idea of doing anything at the festival but sing, and joined the chorus. There were two pianos on the stage, though, and when Mr. Morey, who was to play one of them, met me before the first rehearsal, he said, "Martha, I wish you would play that other piano." I said I would play if he really wanted me to, and did so. That was my most important engage- ment up to that time. After that I played there every year as long as the gatherings lasted. The state festivals continued for several years, the audi- ences growing larger from year to year, and the choruses smaller, as the flood wood in the latter dropped out. The festivals at Concord brought into the country many able musicians as conductors whose conscientious work in the drilling of those country singers was to have a wide and per- manent influence for good. Mr. L. O. Emerson conducted the first state fes- tival, and Mrs. Minnie Little was the soloist. Mr. Emerson was a distin- guished writer of church music, and he was equally successful as a festival conductor. He always maintained MYRON \V. WHITNEY. 136 FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. SOLON WILDER. good discipline with his singers and he had that personal magnetism which, is so essential to successful leadership. Among other conductors who came to Concord were W. O. Perkins, Carl Zerrahn, B. F. Baker and L. H. Southard. Up to this time the work of festivals had still been largely de- voted to psalmody, anthems, glees and choruses from oratorios and operas. It was not until Carl Zerrahn began his work as a director that the country singers began to be familiar with oratorios as a whole. Travel was not so easy in those days as now, and comparatively few persons would have had an opportunity then to come to Boston to hear an oratorio. The first time I played for Mr. Zerrahn was at Keene, New Hamp- shire, and among the selections which he gave was the "Stabat Mater," — the first time it had ever been given there. The playing at that festival was a very important event in my life, both from the prominence of the festival and be- cause it was there I first met Mr. Zerrahn. The Keene festival was then probably the most famous in all New England, being relatively what the Worcester festival has since be- come. In the wildest dreams of my youthful days there had been none more extravagant than to wish that some time I might get to be able to play at a Keene festival. The opportu- nity came very unexpectedly. A member of the Keene committee who had heard me play at Concord recom- mended me, and I was written to and asked to come. At first it seemed as if I could not leave my home at Ash- land, where I had married and was living ; but I knew very distinctly that I wanted to play at Keene, and I realized that it might be now or never. So. taking my six-months old baby with me and a woman to take care of him, I started for Keene. Meanwhile the committee, it seemed, were having anxieties of their own on my account. Mr. Zerrahn was known to have de- cided opinions, and it was reported to the committee that he did not approve of women pianists as accompanists for a chorus. Years afterward, when we had become fast friends, he told the story many times for us to laugh over. "Mr. Zerrahn," said the committee propitiatingiy, "we have arranged for a pianist for you." W. O. PERKINS. FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. 137 LEONARD MARSHALL. "Ah," said Mr. Zerrahn, "who is he?" "It is a woman, Mrs. ■ " "A woman!" interrupted Mr. Zerrahn, "I will not have a woman play for me!" "But, Mr. Zerrahn," implored my friend, "we have engaged Mrs. Shep- ard of Ashland. She is a very fine pianist, and I am sure you will like her." "I have no doubt I should," de- clared Mr. Zerrahn, not a bit placated, "as a woman ; but as an accompanist, never! In the first place, I always feel that I am working a woman ac- companist to death ; and in the second place, if she doesn't play to suit me, and I say anything to her, she'll cry. I will not have her." Can more unpropitious auspices for the beginning of a friendship be imag- ined? Fortunately I did not know of them. I only knew that I was desper- ately afraid of Mr. Zerrahn, the Men- delssohn Quintette Club, who were to assist, and the quartette of famous Boston singers who had come as solo- ists ; but, frightened as I was, I real- ized that perhaps this was "my chance," and I meant to do my best, resolved that if I did not give satis- faction I would never have to feel that it was not because I had not tried. I watched Mr. Zerrahn, and when his baton fell, my hands came down on the piano. Greatly to the relief of the committee, as I afterwards learned, he was pleased. As he has been good enough to say since: "I saw that this woman had talent, and T made up my mind I would help her," adding, "be- sides, she didn't cry." Really, I believe the fact to which he referred last has been no small factor in such success as I may have had as a festival pianist. I have al- ways tried not only to inspire confi- dence, no small item with choruses of inexperienced country singers, but I have always tried to smooth down all the rough places that I could. Peo- ple cannot sing half as well as they might if they do not feel pleasant. Just here I would like to write a few words which may express in a meas- ure the regard which I have for Mr. Zerrahn and for his work. I have played for him for forty years. I think of him as one of the best musical friends I have ever had. He was al- ways kind, thoughtful and helpful. As a conductor he was unexcelled for L. O. EMERSON. itf FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. EDWARD LEHMAN. AUGUST FRIES. Wl'I.F THE MENDELSSOHN tact, for wisdom and for dignity. His very presence commanded respect. I think his influence on the musical life of this country has been as great as his career has been uncommon. He came to New England at just the op- portune time, when the country needed just such a leader, and his in- fluence has been correspondingly strong for good. I have spoken of the quartette of Boston singers who came to Keene as soloists. No small portion of the pleasure which I have derived from my work has come from the acquaint- ances which I have made in this way, although one of my greatest anxieties also came with the soloists, since they were almost always talented and thor- oughly trained musicians, and I could very rarely know beforehand what they would select for their solos, nor how difficult an aria I might be asked at a moment's notice to play an accompaniment to. In cases like that, I have so many times looked back with thankfulness to my father's train- ing, which gave me confidence and ability to attack almost anything at sight. THOMAS RYAN. FRIES. FRANCIS RHZ1A. QUINTETTE CLUB. I remember I first heard Annie Louise Cary sing in a little hall in Bradford, Vermont, where I was play- ing for a festival. She was then only a church singer in Boston, and had probably never even dreamed of the great success which she was later to attain. She impressed me even then with the quality of her voice, the magnetism with which she held her audience, and the remarkable ability with which she read. Personally, I was charmed with her hearty manner. She was one of those rare persons who are honest in every way, and I have counted her friendship one of the privileges of my musical life. When she was in Milan, I had a letter from her in which she said her teacher wanted her to study for opera, but that it did not seem to her as if she was equal to it. The photograph which I have used in this article was taken in Chicago, and bears in her writing the date of May, 1877. I have a photograph of the hall in Bradford, where Cary sang. It was taken many years afterward, and shows me at the piano there. Speak- FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. - T 39 ing of halls, my work has taken me into about everything- of the kind in the country, from the perfectly ap- pointed opera house to little rooms so bare that a barn would be well fur- nished in comparison with them. Twice at least, once in Canada and once in Pennsylvania, I have played in buildings which might to all appear- ances have just been used for a prize fight, since the earth floor was deeply strewn with sawdust. Think how music must have sounded in such a place ! At one time and another I have played for pretty nearly all of the best- known solo singers and performers who have lived in Boston, as well as for very many of the most famous who have come to Xew England. One of the funniest experiences of this kind that I ever had was with Camilla Urso, the great violinist. She came to Boston when I was seventeen years old. I happened to be in Boston then taking lessons of Mr. Leavens. Mr. Marshall, in whose family I was boarding, arranged a concert in Tremont Temple at which Camilla Urso was to play, and he asked me to play her accompaniments. Neither Mr. Marshall nor I could find out CAMILLA URSO. ADDIE RYAN. what she was to play until she came to a rehearsal which had been arranged for her on the morning of the day of the concert. The music proved to be something with which I was familiar, and I did not have any anxiety as to my ability to go through it satisfac- torily. When the star performer saw me, though, agirl of seventeen, and was told that I was to accompany her, she declared that she didn't believe that a girl could play the accompaniment, winding up finally by handing the sheets of music to me and declaring that she would not rehearse a note until I had gone home and practised the music. There was nothing for me to do but to go, and I went ; but when I came back in the afternoon, and we went over the score together, violin and piano, the great artist was pleased to declare her satisfaction, and we became such good friends that the next day I went with her to have the photograph taken which I have included in the illustrations of this 140 FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. and director. I always enjoyed p 1 a y i n g his compositions. lie had great individuality, and his accom- paniments are so thoroughly musical in t h e in s e 1 ves that they m i g h t well A COUNTRY FESTIVAL HALL. article. Afterwards I played for her at Concord and at other places. At the time of the Peace Ju- bilee in Boston I came down from my home and sang in the chorus. That was the first time I saw Parepa Rosa and heard her marvellous voice. Her hus- band was with her and I remem- ber one day seeing them walk up the central aisle, when she had her arm around him — she was so much larger than he was. Among my pleasantest recollec- tions are those of Dudley Buck, who has been so successful as a composer .;n'i.^'v'\ ' - 3%hl Vk$^^*i =r*:Y THE PEMIGEWASSET HOUSE. CITY HALL, KEENE. serve as solos. The first time I saw Mr. Buck was at Keene, and some little time after the festival which Mr. Zerrahn directed there, of which I have written. Mr. Buck was to direct one of his own compositions, a secu- lar cantata called "The Legend of Don Munio." I went to the festival a little worried, because I was afraid I should not be able to suit him. This may have been because I had always heard my teacher, Mr. Leavens, who was an intimate friend of Mr. Buck, speak so highly of his abilities. Instead of being difficult FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. 141 H. G. BLAISDELL. to please, as I had feared, Mr. Buck proved very pleasant, and after the festival was over gave me one of the most satisfactory com- pliments I ever received. Since the frankest of vanities are par- doned in reminiscences, and since this warm word gave me such peculiar pleasure and pride, I shall venture to repeat it. "We are living in a time," said he, "when we are not surprised at anything we may hear in the way of music, since it is possihle for us to hear the most eminent musicians of the world, those who are well-nigh perfect in technique, — so if I should say that you play better than any one else, you might doubt my veracity ; but the days of common sense are as rare as they ever were, and you have it." Afterwards I played at the St. Albans, Vermont, festival for him, where "Don Munio" was given again. After the festival was over Mr. Buck thanked me for my work, and asked me if I remembered what he had told me at Keene. I said, "I shall never forget it." "I wish to repeat it," said he. At the St. Albans festival the Men- delssohn Quintette Club was with us. The members of that organization, as well as of the Temple Quartette, and the Beethoven Club, were thor- ough artists, with whom it was always a pleasure to work. Mrs. H. E. H. Carter was the solo singer. Mrs. Carter's picture, which I use in this article, was given me about that time, as was also that of Mr. Buck. Mrs. Carter was a delightful singer, so musical, and with such a truly musical temperament. She had a sweet, rich voice, and was one of the first church singers of her time in Bos- ton. Another composer and director who has had a great influence for good on the musical life of New Eng- land was Solon Wilder of Worcester, who frequently conducted the festi- vals there. Mr. Wilder was a highly cultivated man, a composer of good music, and a conductor of ability. At the time of his death, I remember the chorus of the Worcester festival at- tended his funeral in a body and sang his composition, "Rock of Ages." During the last thirty years the genius and skill of Mr. H. G. Blaisdell of Concord, New Hampshire, has contributed to the success of very many of the musical gatherings. I MRS. H. E. H. CARTER. I4i FORTY YEARS OF MUSICAL LIFE. CLARA LOUISE KELLOGG. have played for him a great many times. He has a keen appreciation of the finest music and is a good conductor, bringing out good results in little time. His orchestra, too, has been very successful under his leadership. Boston, our New Eng- land capital, is the musical capital of America. Every- body knows about the musical life of Boston ; its famous musical organiza- tions and its great series of i concerts of every kind. But not everybody knows of the conscientious and im- portant 'work which is be- ing done year after year, and has been done for many years, in many of the smaller \Y\\ England cities. The Worcester fes- tivals command general at- tention, and the oratorio work of the societies at Salem and Springfield and a few other places is some- times noticed in the Boston and New York papers ; but much remains to be said of musical life in New England. At times, when I get to "retrospect- ing," it seems to me as if I had lived through generation after generation, as musical generations go, the faces of so many singers rise before me who have won recognition by their efforts and merits, have pleased the public during their day, and then have gone on to make room for others, who in their turn, too, have made way for those who now are doing such good service. Away back in the days when I was first beginning to play in public were Julia Houston West and Mrs. Minnie Little, Flora E. Barry and Mrs. J. H. Long. With them were M. W. Whitney and James Whitney, ■"Bass" and "Tenor" Whitney, as we distinguished them. All were true artists, and all, like all of those I shall name, Boston singers. Annie Louise ANNIE LOUISE CARY. INDIAN SUMMER. 143 C a r y I have spoken of. Then there were Ade- laide Phillips, Mrs. H.M.Smith. Addie Ryan, Mrs. D. C. Hall, Mrs. H. yer and E. Saw- Mrs. H. F. Knowles. H. C.Barnaby every- body knows, and also D. M. Bab- cock. Then there are "Billy" Fes- senden, who made a success in light opera, Ella Cleveland Fender- son, Jennie Pat- rick Walker, Ger- trude Edmands, J. C. Bartlett Ivan Morowski. that these are all George CARL AXD PAREPA ROSA. J. Parker and I do not mean but these are the faces which rise most vividly be- fore me. With- out exception they were, and those who live still are, artists in their profession, conscientious and faithful in their work ; and the service which they have ren- dered and the pleasure which they have given have been great. [ feel sure that the life of the people of New England has been made better bv the work they have done, just as I know my own life has been made hap- pier by my association with them. INDIAN SUMMER. By Alice Van Leer Carrick. A SOFT wind moves through all the garden walks, And, stirring gently, as it onward blows, Bends down the tall heads of the hollyhocks, And strips the petals from a faded rose. Light whispers all across the grasses run, That sigh and pause and sigh again and sway. And pigeons, preening burghers of the sun, Strut in its warmth the whole exultant day. The velvet nights, the days of lessening heat. The growing symphony of Autumn's strain. All weave in one a melody complete, The echo faint of Summer's last refrain. Ill