|
-J . |
|
|
|Ki |
,-> . |
|
g-J^V,;'., -• |
|
|
B^E^- *>' |
•_?'- '."7 • -"
tv>
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Ye Olden Time Series.
During the Spring of i885 TICKNOR AND Company began the publi- cation of "Ye Olden Time Series, or Gleanings from the old Newspapers, chiefly of Boston and Salem," with brief Comments by Henry M. Brooks, of Salem, Massachusetts. Six volumes are now ready : each in i vol. i6mo. Cloth. Price, 50 cents per vol.
Of this Series there are now ready : —
Vol. L CURIOSITIES OF THE OLD LOTTERY. " H DAYS OF THE SPINNING-WHEEL IN NEW ENGLAND. " m. NEW-ENGLAND SUNDAY. •• IV. QUAINT AND CURIOUS ADVERTISEMENTS. " V. SOME STRANGE AND CURIOUS PUNISHMENTS. " VL LITERARY CURIOSITIES. The Series will be continued, and the following are some of the titles of forthcoming volumes : —
" New-England Music in the Latter Fart of the 18tb and in the Beginning
of the 19th Century." "Travel In Old Times, with Some Accoimt of Stages, Taverns, etc." "Cariosities of Politics, among the Old Federalists and Republicans."
" What Mr. Brooks has thus gleaned has a noteworthy interest, not only as offering a fund of amusement to ycung and old, but as having a certain value to the student of New-England history, and an instructiveness for the general reader." — Boston Advertiser.
" A treat of good things out of the past. While not professing to be history, they will contain much material for history." — Literary World.
Sold by all Booksellers. Sent, post-paid, on receipt of price by the Pub- lishers,
TICKNOR AND COMPANY, Boston.
^
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC
" It is a hinde of difparagement to be a cunning Fidler. It argues his neglect of better employment, and that hee hath fpent much time upon a thing zinnecejfary. Hence it hath been counted ill for great Ones to ftng or play like an Arted Mufician. . . . Mifu is good or bad as to the end to which it tendeih. . . . They that defpife it wholly may well bee fufpected to be fomething of a favage nature. . . . Ari/lotle's conceit that Jove doth never Harpe norfmg, I doe not hold a difpraife. We finde in Heaven there be Hallelujahs fu7ig.'"
Owen Feltham, 1647.
OLDEN=TIME MUSIC
A COMPILATION FROM
Newfpapers and Books
BY
HENRY M. BROOKS
AUTHOR OF THE " OLDEN-TIME SERIES"
OEi'tfj an IFntrotJiiction By professor EDWARD S. MORSE, PhD.
" Whoso despises music, as a^l fanatics do, with him I am not pleased. For music is a gift of God, and not an invention of man. It drives away the devil, and makes people cheerful." — Martin Luther
BOSTON
TICKNOR AND COMPANY
211 STremont Street
1888
Copyright, 1887, By Ticknor and Company.
.2
All rights reserved.
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge.
INTRODUCTION.
T^HE rapid progress our country has shown in the development of the finer arts and industries is an encouraging omen for the hope that it will not be many years before much that we seek for in Europe may be found here.
In art, science, and literature America has made phenomenal progress ; in no one direc- tion, however, has she made more rapid or greater strides than in the character of her music. In no way can this progress be more fully appreciated or better exhibited than in comparing the records of fifty years ago and the condition of things which obtains to-day. In the earlier years of this Republic there were a few church choirs with lugubrious psalmody,
X INTRODUCTION.
and a few chorus societies with a limited range of works that they were capable of mastering or for which they would find appreciative list- eners; now we find every large town in New England, and not a few cities beyond the Alle- ghanies, possessing great choral unions, and societies bearing respectively the names of all the great composers. Then a few itinerant singers, giving concerts in halls of limited capacity; now great bodies of trained musi- cians surging across the continent and pre- senting the complete orchestral works of the masters to the delight of thousands. Then the indigenous productions limited to church music and sentimental and comic songs, most of which have passed into oblivion ; now our composers producing symphonies and orato- rios, some of which have received applause in musical centres abroad.
To those interested in all this progress Mr. Brooks's book will be of value ; and to those who would get an idea of the olden-time music and the status of musical culture when their grandparents were children, it will have a curious interest.
INTRODUCTION. XI
It would justly be considered presumptuous in me to offer to write an Introduction to a work relating to music if such a work pre- tended to be a critical essay on the subject. It must not be understood, however, that Mr. Brooks claims for his efforts a merit of this nature; on the contrary, he has simply brought together a large number of curious and inter- esting facts, — many of which might otherwise have been lost, — and arranged the material in a way he hopes may be of value to those in- terested in the history of our progress in this direction. When it is considered that Dr. Hawkins devoted sixteen years of his life to the preparation of his "General History of the Science and Practice of Music," and that Dr. Burney was occupied for fifty years in the preparation of his great work, so that when it finally appeared, many of his original sub- scribers were dead, it is a matter of surprise that Mr. Brooks has in the short time allotted to his work brought together so many quaint and interesting facts as are here presented. I am satisfied that this book will not only form a valuable addition to our musical literature,
Xll INTRODUCTION.
but will also be of great interest to the anti- quary and the ethnologist.
In no way can we realize the tendency of Church enlightenment more than by consider- ing the character of Church music to-day, with the high salaries paid singers and organists, and then recalling the fact that in the early days of New England instrumental music was looked upon as a snare of the devil. It seems an extraordinary fact, too, that the musical in- struments so much inveighed against by the early Church in New England should not only be found in nearly every house of wor- ship to-day, but that many of the organs now used are much larger than were the meeting- houses of early times, and that the cost of one of these modern instruments would have built a score of those primitive tabernacles.
It is suggestive also that while the progress of music was thwarted in this country by the early Church, we are indebted to Catholic Italy through the itinerant organ-grinder, and ra- tional Germany through her political refugees, for much of the musical progress made in re- cent years. It would seem as if Calvin must
INTRODUCTION. XIU
have had some premonition of what the ulti- mate effect of instrumental music would be if admitted into Church worship; for it is an un- questionable fact that music has done much to soften the angles of the sombre and monstrous dogmas which the nineteenth century is rapidly repudiating. J. Spencer Curwen, in a recent number of the " Contemporary Review," testi- fies to the liberalizing progress of the Church in musical matters, and to the great advance made in this direction within a few decades of
years.
Salem, Mass., Aug, 15, 1887.
E. S. MORSE.
PREFACE.
'T^HE design of this work is to give some account of music in ^' ye olden time" in New England, more particularly in Boston and Salem. For this purpose the compiler has gathered numerous extracts from old newspapers and books, together with such other illustrations of the subject as he has been able to obtain. In this way he hopes to throw some additional light upon a subject which has often been well handled by others.
Mr. George Hood published in 1846 ^'A History of Music in New England," which is perhaps one of the best works of its kind extant. Mr. Hood, however, confined his investigations exclusively to psalmody ; conse- quently he has but little to say about instru- mental music. He is also naturally silent in
XVI PREFACE.
regard to secular music, remembering that for two centuries psalmody constituted the whole of New England music ; the former, in the earlier days of our history, being hardly repu- table, if indeed allowable. It is within the memory of persons now living that professed musicians occupied an inferior social position in the community.
A more elaborate work, and one possessing higher claims on the reader's attention, is Dr. Frederic Louis Ritter's "Music in America," published as recently as 1883. This is con- sidered a very complete and valuable contri- bution to the subject.
The plan of the present book limits the writer to about the year 1830, although a few matters of a later date are incidentally men- tioned. It seems almost unnecessary to say that the progress of musical culture in New England, and public interest in music in gen- eral, have been greater during the last fifty years than in all the previous years of our history.
The compiler desires here to thank those who have so kindly aided him in the work.
PREFACE. XVll
He would especially mention Prof. Edward S. Morse, Mr. George R. Curwen, Mr. Francis H. Lee, and Captain George M. Whipple, of Salem ; Mr. James E. Mauran, Mr. James C. Swan, and Miss Mary E. Powel, of New- port, R. I. He also wishes to express his obligations both to Dr. O. W. Holmes for the use of his poem on the "Opening of the Piano," and to the publishers of the same, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Salem, Mass., Septeynber, 1887.
CONTENTS.
♦
INTRODUCTION ix
PREFACE XV
Chapter Page
I. Music in England before the Puritans
CAME TO America i
II. Music in the Early Days of New Eng- land 17
III. Music in England at the Time of the
Restoration 25
IV. Some English Puritans who disliked
Music 29
V. Early Musical Instruments in New
England 31
VI. The Old Music-Books 35
VII. The Old Hymns 45
VIII. The First Church Organ in Massachu- setts 49
IX. Organ at Trinity Church, Newport, R.I. 52 X. Some Quaint Advertisements .... 58
XI. The First Organ in Salem 65
XII. Music in the latter Half of the Last
Century 69
XX CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
XIII. The Introduction of Organs in Meet-
ING-HOUSES 'jd
XIV. The First Chanting in New England 78
XV. The Second Organ in Salem .... 80
XVI. Concerts in the Last Century ... 84
XVII. Opinion of a Celebrated Frenchman. 105
XVIII. Hand-Organs for Churches .... 107
XIX. Singing-Schools in Salem 109
XX. Singing-Schools in Boston .... 122
XXI. Commemoration of Handel 126
XXII. Harpsichords and Spinets 130
XXIII. Old Pianofortes 135
XXIV. Secular Music 148
XXV. Ode to Music 188
XXVI. The Handel and Haydn Society at
King's Chapel, 181 5 190
XXVII. Haydn's "Creation" in Boston in 1819. 197
XXVIII. Musical Anecdotes and Curiosities . 201
XXIX. Choirs 210
XXX. Some Sacred Concerts advertised in
Boston, Salem, etc 225
XXXI. Salem Musical Societies 236
XXXII. Music-Books advertised 249
XXXIII. William Billings, the first American
Composer 259
XXXIV. American Organs and Pianofortes . 266 XXXV. Conclusion 274
INDEX OF NAMES 277
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER I.
MUSIC IN ENGLAND BEFORE THE PURITANS CAME TO AMERICA.
Of all Beasts, there is none (saith iElianus) that is not delighted with Harmony, but only the Ass.
No Science but Musick may enter the door of the Church. — Vener- able Bede.
Playford's Introduction to the Skill of Miisick.
TN England music appears to have been ^ much cultivated from the time of the Reformation to the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. During this period there were many composers of distinction and ability, to whom we are indebted for some very fine Church music, as well as glees, madrigals, rounds, etc.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Dr. RItter, in his able work on " Music in America/' says : —
"Under the reigns of Henry VIIL, Queen Eliz- abeth, and James I., music, both sacred and secular, was diligently and earnestly cultivated in England ; and masters like Tallis, Byrd, Dowland, Morley, Or- lando Gibbons, created works that could hold their own beside the labors of their neighbors the Gallo- Belgian contrapuntists. With the temporary supre- macy of Puritan religious influence in Great Britain, all serious musical culture vanished as by magic ; and from that time on, the English people, though ap- parently lovers of music, did not succeed in regaining, in a broad sense, the title of a musical people, en- dowed with the faculty of original inventiveness. . . . The Puritans destroyed organs, music-books, dissolved church-choirs, and chased musicians from the organ- gallery. . . . The Puritan having been taught to look upon music as a frivolous product fashioned by the evil designs of the Tempter (the Antichrist), he nat- urally shrank back with horror from an artistic occu- pation that might bring upon his soul everlasting punishment after death. The adaptation of a few simple, harmless psalm-tunes caused him much relig- ious scruple ; and these were only accepted when, on the strength of different passages of the Bible, the clergy proved that singing of psalms was agreeable to and even commended by the Almighty Father.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
"The Puritans [Pilgrims ?] who landed in 1620 at Plymouth Rock brought with them their psalm-tunes and their hatred of secular music."
THE IMPRESSMENT OF MUSICIANS.
In the fifteenth century musicians were so scarce in England that they were impressed by Government order, as in more recent times seamen had to suffer in like manner. Henry VIII. also issued warrants for the impressment of children with good voices for the choirs of the cathedrals : and in Oueen Elizabeth's time children with the proper qualifications for her Majesty's choirs were taken from their parents, without any compensation being given to the latter.
The '^ Quarterly Review" (June 30, i860) says : —
"Though the musical taste of the people in Queen Elizabeth's time was distinct from that of the erudite composers and their patrons, it was equally remote from the mere love of boisterous noise which characterizes the so-called ' harmonic meet-
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
ings ' of the humbler classes of our own days. Tinkers, tailors, smiths, colliers, not only were known to sing in parts, but their talent in this re- spect is the subject of frequent allusion in the works of our old dramatists. Nay, Deloney, in a history of the 'gentle craft,' mentions an unlucky wight who tried to pass for a shoemaker, but was detected as an impostor because he could neither ' sing, sound the trumpet, play upon the flute, nor reckon up his tools in rhyme.' "
From the Salem "Observer," April 21,
1827 : —
GOD SAVE THE KING.
The anthem of " God Save the King " was composed for Charles the Second by Shirley, the dramatic poet in that King's reign, and who was pat- ronized by Lauderdale and Rochester. He died at the time of the plague. The anthem was first sung at a concert given by the nobility in honour of the King, and not heard on the stage till many years afterwards.
The anthem in Latinlty was written at the time as under :
" O ! vivus omnibus, Salvus ab hostibus, Carolus Rex.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC
" Tibi victoriam Deus et gloriam, Det et memoriam,
Optime Rex.
" Probe caelipotens, Deus omnipotens, Solus armipotens, Auxilia."
ANOTHER OPINION.
" God save the King " was composed by a Dr. John Bull in the reign of Henry VII. It is a sin- gular coincidence that a name which has been so ludicrously applied to the English as a nation should be found really to have belonged to a person who was the composer of the great national air. That he gave rise to the application there is perhaps no reason to suppose. The writer does not remember to have met with it before Arbuthnot's excellent " History of John Bull," but it must have been of an earlier date.
ANOTHER OPINION.
Mr. Clarke, of the King's Chapel Royal, has, in a work recently published, traced back, from the rec- ords and books of the Merchant Taylors' Company, that this song was composed and sung on the escape of King James I. from the gunpowder plot, and sung in their hall, by the gentlemen and children of his Majesty's Chapel Royal on the day when King James I. dined there, when a grand solemn enter-
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
talnment, to celebrate the event of the King's escape from the gunpowder plot, was given ; and it is sup- posed that the church service was performed previous to the entertainment, as the Dean and Sub-Dean were present, and an organ was erected in the hall for the occasion, which was on the i6th of July, 1607. Dr. John Bull was first professor of music to Gresham college in 1596, and was chosen organist to James I. in 1607, and played before the King at the above entertainment.
It appears by the Merchant Taylors' records that the master of the company conferred with Ben Jon- son, who was then Poet-Laureat, to write some verses for an anthem, which he accordingly did, be- ginning with " God save Great James our King," and Dr. John Bull set them to music, which is the same so universally admired : now " George " is substituted. The whole will be found applicable to those times; and in Dr. John Bull's manuscript- catalogue of music. No. 56 is " God save the King."
Another memorable composition was performed at the above entertainment for the first time : the Latin Grace, Non nob'is^ Domine^ was written for the occa- sion, and set to music as a canon, by Mr. Wm. Byord, one of the gentlemen of the King's chapel, and it was sung at the King's table.
Dr. Bull, who was regarded as the best organist in Europe, received £^0 salary as
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
*' Gentleman of the Chapel Royal," and /^^o as ''Teacher of the Prince of Wales."
Another account of the entertainment re- ferred to says : —
" Mr. Dr. Bull, who was free of that company [the Merchant Taylors'] being in a citizen's gowne, cappe, and hood, played moft excelent melody vpon a fmall payre^ of organs placed there for that purpofe only."
Some writers have ascribed the composition of " God save the King " to Henry Carey.
Roger Ascham, in his '' Scholemaster " (1563), has the following quaint opinion about the practice of music : —
" Whatfoever ye judge, this I am fure, that Lutes, Harps, Barbitons, Sambukes, with other Inftruments, every one which ftandeth by fine and quick fingering, be condemned by Ariftotle, as not to be brought in and ufed among them which fludy for Learning and Virtue. — Much Mufic marre Men's Manners, faith
1 " Pair," used in this sense, means simply a complete organ, — as we say "a pair of scissors," a "pair of trousers," or "a pair of stairs."
8 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Galen : Although fome Men will say that it is not fo, but rather recreateth and maketh quick a Man's Mind ; yet methink by reafon it doth, as Honey to a Man's Stomach, which at the firft receiveth it well, but afterward it maketh it unfit to abide any ftrong nourifhing Meat or elfe any wholefom fharp and quick drink. And even fo in a manner thefe Inftruments make a man's Wit fo foft and fmooth, fo tender and quaify, that they be lefs able to brook ftrong and tough Study. Wits be not fharpened but rather dulled and made blunt with fuch fweet foftnefs, even as good Edges be blunted, which Men whet upon foft Chalk
Stone."
♦
In William Byrd's " Psalms and Sonnets and Songs of Sadness and Piety," published in 1588, we have the following —
" Reafones briefly fett downe by ye Auctor to per- fuade everie one to learne to finge: —
" I. It is a knowledge eafilie taught and quicklie learned when there is a good mafter and an apte scholar.
" 2. The exercife of finginge is delightfulle to nature, and good to preferve the health of man.
" 3. It dothe ftrengthene all partes of ye breafte, and doth open ye pipes.
" 4. It is a fingular good remedie for a ftutteringe and ftammeringe in ye speeche.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
cc
5. It is the beft meanes to preferve a perfette pronunciation and to make a good orator.
" 6. It is the only waye to knowe where nature hath beftowed ye benefytte of a good voyce, — whiche gifte is foe rare yt there is not one amongfte a thoufand yt hath it, and in manie yt excellente gifte is loft becaufe they want an arte to expreffe nature.
" 7. There is not anie muficke of inftruments whatfoever comparable to yt whiche is made of ye voyces of men where ye voyces are good and ye fame well forted and ordered.
" 8. The better ye voyce is, the meeter it is to
honor and ferve God therewith ; and ye voyce of man
is chieflie to be employed toe yt end. Omnis spiritus
laudet Dominum.
" * Since finginge is foe good a thinge
I wifh alle men woulde learne toe finge.'"
Women's "voyces" do not appear formerly to have been held in high favor ; but perhaps that was due to ecclesiastical influence. In the ritual of the Catholic Church male voices alone are allowed to participate.
The following graceful lines, written in the early part of the present century, appeared in the '' Salem Gazette " : —
lO OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
From Miss Balfour's Poems.
Written extempore^ under a drawing of Cupid playing upon a lyre^ and holding a bunch of grapes,
TDERHAPS a bosom may be found
-^ That ne'er was touched with dulcet sound,
That wine had ne'er the power to warm,
Nor love, resistless love, to charm j
But who will not his heart resign,
Assail'd by music, love, and wine ?
In i6ii was published in England, "The Tears or Lamentations of a Sorrowful Soul, compofed with Mufical Airs and Songs, both for Voices and Divers Inftruments."
Mr. Joseph Bird, in his '' Gleanings from the History of Music" (Boston, 1850), says of this work : —
cc
It was made up of a kind of music which was fashionable at that time. Sir Wm. Leighton, the ed- itor, wrote many of the pieces, and Bird, Bull, Gib- bons, Dowland, Weelkes, Wilbye, and many others had compositions in it. One would be led to sup- pose, upon reading the poetry and the music, that the people were possessed of more religion at that time than at any other ; yet beyond doubt most of it was
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. II
but fashion, and had little to do with morals or piety. The Calvinists had similar grievous words in their books of psalmody, the Italians in their Salmi Peniten- tiales, and the Church of England in her Lamen- tations. The same style is also found in the secular words and music of the time. They were in agonies of love, and groaned and sighed upon all occasion when they put their pens to paper to write poetry or music. Many of the words which were set to music of this kind are beneath contempt, — such as would disgrace a cowboy ; and it is most singular that men who could not well have avoided seeing good poetrv, should have encouraged such vile stuff by setting it to music."
John Day published In 1571 a collection of secular music: *'Some long, fome fhort, fome eafy to be Tung, and fome between both; fome folemn, fome pleafant and merry.** Mr. Bird says, '' Both the words and the music would now be called barbarous."
In 1594 was published ''The Whole Book of Pfalms, with their wonted Tunes as they are fung in the Churches, compofed into Four Parts by nine fundry Authors, who have fo laboured in this Work that the unlkilful by
12 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
fmall practice may attain to fing that Part which is fitteft for his Voice." The parts were called " Tenor/' " Cantus," " Altus," and " Bass ; " the air was in the tenor. Mr. Bird says that the harmony was excellent for that time, and that it was the best book which had then been published.
In 1599 was published in London, —
" The Pfalms of David in Metre, the Plainfong being the common Tune to be fung and played upon the Lute, Opharion, Citterne, or Bafs-viol, feverally, or together ; the finging Part to be either Tenor or Treble to the Inftrument, according to the Nature of the Voice, or for Four Voices ; with Ten Short Tunes in the end, to which, for the moft part, all Pfalms may be ufually fung : for the Ufe of fuch as are of mean Skill, and whofe Leifure leaft ferveth to practife. By Richard Alifon, Gent., Practitioner in the Art of Mufic."
Thomas Tallis, the famous composer who flourished in the reign of Henry VIIL to Queen Elizabeth's time, wrote pieces for the Queen's virginal-book. His beautiful "Even-
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 3
ing Hymn," written in 1567, finds many admirers even in our day. With the words of Bishop Thomas Ken (1697): —
" Glory to thee, my God, this night For all the bleffings of the light : Keep me, oh, keep me. King of kings, Beneath the fhadow of thy wings ! " etc.
Perhaps the arrangement of this tune may have been changed from what it was originally, but the melody is no doubt preserved.
The London "Quarterly Review" says:
"The extent to which the very air of London was impregnated with melody and harmony in the Eliza- bethan epoch is thus described by Mr. Chappell.^
" Tinkers sang catches, milkmaids sang ballads, carters whistled ; each trade and even the beggars had their special songs ; the bass-viol hung in the drawing-room for the amusement of waiting visitors, and the cittern (a species of guitar strung with wire) and virginals for the amusement of waiting cus- tomers, were the necessary furniture of the barber's shop."
V
1 W. Chappell, F.S.A., Collection of Ancient Songs. London, 1863.
14 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
The following ballad was written about 1600 by Martin Parker ; it was sung to the tune of " Sally in our Alley " : —
Although I am a country lafs,
A lofty mind I bear — a ; I think myfelf as good as thofe
That gay apparel wear — a. My coat is made of comely gray,
Yet is my fkin as foft — a As thofe that with the choiceft wines
Do bathe their bodies oft — a.
What though I keep my father's fheep
(A thing that muft be done — a), A garland of the faireft flow'rs
Shall fnield me from the fun — a ; And when I fee them feeding by.
Where grafs and flowers fpring — a, Clofe by a cryflal fountain-fide,
I fit me down and fing — a.
D wight's Journal of Music, 1865.
THE BARBER IN CONNECTION WITH POP- ULAR MUSIC
One branch of the barber's occupation in former days was to draw teeth, to bind up wounds, and to let blood. The particolored pole which was exhibited
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 5
at the doorway, painted after the fashion of a bandage, was his sign, and the teeth he had drawn were sus- pended at the windows tied upon lute-strings. The lute, the cittern,^ and the gittern hung from the walls, and the virginals stood in the corner of his shop. " If idle," says the author of " The Trimming of Thomas Nashe," " barbers pass their time in life- delighting musique " (1597). ^^^ barber in Lyly's "Midas" (1592) says to his apprentice: "Thou knowest I have taught thee the knacking of the hands like the tuning of a cittern ;" and True-wit, in Ben Jonson's "Silent Woman," wishes the barber "may draw his own teeth and add them to the lute-string." In the same play Morose, who had married the barber's daughter, thinking her faithless, exclaims: "That cur- sed barber ! I have married his Cittern, that is common to all men ! " One of the commentators, not understanding this, altered it to " I have married his cistern^'^ etc.
Dekker also speaks of " a barber's Cittern for every serving-man to play upon."
One of the " merrie-conceited jests of George Peel " is the stealing of a barber's lute, and in Lord
1 Cittern, or gittern : an old English name for a guitar, strung with wire instead of with gut. An instruction-book for this in- strument was published in 1597 with the title "The Cittharn Schoole, by Antony Holborne, Gentleman, and Servant to Her Moft Excellent Maieftie. Hereunto are added fix fhort Airs, Neapolitan like to three voyces without the Instrument : done by his brother William Holborne, London."
1 6 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC
Falkland's " Wedding-night " we read : " He has travelled, and speaks languages as a barber's boy plays o' the gittern." Ben Jonson says : " I can compare him to nothing more happily than a barber's Vir- ginal ; for every man may play upon him." " For you know," says Tom Brown, "that a Cittern is as natural to a barber as milk to a calf, or dancing-bears to a bagpipe " — Dwight's Journal of Music,
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 7
CHAPTER II.
MUSIC IN THE EARLY DAYS OF NEW ENGLAND.
How sour sweet music is, When time is broke, and no proportion kept !
Shakspeare.
TTOOD, in his '' History of Music in New ^ -*■ England," says : "The music used for a long time before the year 1690 was mostly written in the psalm-books. The number of tunes rarely exceeded five or six." In the early days of Harvard College, however, music was a study. At the beginning of the eighteenth century congregations throughout New England were rarely able to sing more than three or four tunes. Mr. Hood con- tinues : —
"The knowledge and use of notes had long been neglected, and the few melodies sung became cor- rupted until no two individuals sang them alike. Every melody was 'tortured and twisted' as 'every inskillful throat saw fit,' until the psalms were uttered in a medley of confused and disorderly noises rather
1 8 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
than a decorous song. The Rev. Mr. Walter says of their singing that it sounded ' Hke five hundred dif- ferent tunes roared out at the same time,' often one or two words apart. The same author says : ' I my- self have twice in one note paused to take breath.* In 1 72 1 we meet with the first direct effort at improving church music. . . .
" There was, however, a determined opposition to singing in the ' new way,' — that is, by using note- books ; and it is said that it caused a contention in some congregations which lasted fifty years. In some churches the deacons persisted in continuing to ' line out ' the psalms, although a majority of the congregation were in favor of the improved method. As some may not understand what the old way was, we would here mention that it was simply this : the deacon would read one line of the psalm to be sung, and then the congregation was expected to sing that line ; then another line was read and sung ; and so on. We can explain this a little better with an anecdote. In 1787, during the discussion about the new Constitution, a member of Congress said that 'the manner in which the opposition treated the pro- posed Plan of Government, taking it by peace-mesil^ without considering the relative connection and de- pendence of its parts, reminded him of an anecdote which occurred when it was the practice in churches to detail a single line of Sternhold and Hopkins's psalms, and then set the verse to music. A sailor
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 9
entered a church, when the clerk gave out the following line : —
" ' The Lord will come, and he will not.'
The sailor stared ; but when he heard the next
line : —
" ' Hold your peace, but speak aloud,'
he instantly left the congregation, convinced that it was an assembly of lunaticks."
Some of the objections made to a reform in singing seem now very curious : " So many- tunes, one could never learn them ; *' " The new way grieved good men and caused them to behave disorderly ; ** " That it was Po- pish ; " *' That it would introduce instru- ments ; '* " That the names of the notes were blasphemous ; " "That the old way was good enough ; " etc. It is difficult for us to com- prehend the bitter and violent opposition this change in musical arrangements caused. It is said that in some instances Church councils were called to consider the matter, and that learned books were written on the subject. The excitement appears to have furnished occasion for Conservatives and Radicals — al- ways in the Church — to express themselves.
20 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Choirs were not common until about the time of the Revolution, although there were a few in Boston and in other large New Eng- land towns as early as 1750. They were formed as the custom of "lining out" the psalm, or "deaconing out/' as some called it, was done away with. About 1790 this prac- tice had been pretty generally discontinued, — not without in some cases, however, severe and protracted struggles.
A writer in the " New England Chronicle " in 1723 says : —
" Truly I have a great jealoufy that if we once be- gin to fing by rule, the next thing will be to pray by rule, and preach by rule ; and then comes Popery, ^^
In the " New England Courant " (Benja- min Franklin's paper) of Sept. 16, 1723, is the following : —
" Laft week a Council of Churches, etc., was held at the South part of Braintree to regulate the difor- ders occafioned by regular finging in that place."
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 2 1
Lines written^ rather out of temper^ on a Pannel in one of the Pews of S — m Church.
COULD poor king David but for once
To S — m Church repair, And hear his Pfalms thus warbled out,
Good Lord, how would he fwear !
But could St. Paul but juft pop In,
From higher fcenes abftracled. And hear his gofpel now explaln'd,
By — , he'd run diftra6led !
The American Apollo^ Boston, April 20, 1792.
The story is related of an old New Eng- land deacon whose duty it was to '* line out" the hymn to be sung, that upon one occasion, finding some difficulty, from failing sight, in reading the first line, he apologized by observing: —
" My eyes, indeed, are very blind."
The choir, who had been impatiently wait- ing for the whole line, thinking this to be the first of a common-metre hymn, im-
2 2 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
mediately sang it ; whereupon the deacon exclaimed with emphasis : —
" I cannot see at all."
This they also sang. Then the astonished deacon cried out : —
" I really believe you are bewitched ! " On which the choir responded : —
" I really believe you are bewitched." The deacon added : —
"The mischief's in you all ! "
The choir then finished the verse by echoing this last line, and the deacon sat down in despair.
"Lining out" the psalm appears to have been a custom established by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster in 1644, when the English liturgy was ruled out of Parlia- ment. It was designed for those unable to read. The Divines say: —
" It is the duty of Chriftians to praife God pub- lickly by finging of Pfalms together in the congrega- tion, etc. That the whole congregation may join
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 23
herein, every one that can read is to have a pfalm- book \ and all others not difabled by age or otherwife are to be exhorted to learn to read. But for the prefent, where many in the congregation cannot read^ it is convenient that the minifter, ox fome fit perfon ap- pointed by him and the other ruling officers, do read the pfalm line by iine^ before the finging thereof."
It is evident, therefore, that at first the New England settlers did not sing by this method, — not, indeed, until after the custom of 'Min- ing out'* had been adopted "at home; " and this was some twenty years after the landing of Governor Endicott on these shores.
John W. Moore, in the '^ Musical Herald " for March, 1887, says: —
" The history of psalmody from the beginning, in America, may be divided into three important peri- ods. The first period, from the landing of the Puri- tans to the Revolution, may be called the rude age of psalmody, in which the rough, literal version of the psalms was the words as they were given by Pu- ritan writers, and which were sung to a few heavy, monotonous English chorals, such as that sect pre- ferred to use, without the aid of instruments, and without the help of female voices, for the most part.
24 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
The second period reached from the Revolution un- til Puritanism subsided, when our schools and choirs, with instruments and the organ^ were restored. The third period extends to our time, and is marked by- wonderful progress in the increased variety and rich- ness of Church as well as other music, and by the better adaptation of the music to words, or words to the music in general use."
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 25
CHAPTER III.
MUSIC IN ENGLAND AT THE TIME OF THE RESTORATION.
Methinks the reading of Ecclefiaftes fhould make a Puritane undrefs his brain and lay off all thofe Phanatique toyes that gingle about his underftanding. — Feltham.
TT should not be forgotten that in England -^ during the time of Cromwell all the organs in churches had been taken down or destroyed, and musicians forced to leave the country for want of employment. We read in Knight's History of England that "The Puritans had been so successful in decrying all music except their own nasal psalm-singing that at the Res- toration the art seemed to be in an almost helpless state." From the same authority we learn that, —
*' In London the first assembly deserving the name of a concert was of a most remarkable kind, having been projected and established by a person of the low- est class, in a remote part of the town, difficult of access, unfit for the resort of persons of condition,
26 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
and in a room that scarcely afforded them decent ac- commodation when they had escaped the dangers of reaching it."
Sir John Hawkins, in his "History of Music/' says : —
" It was in the dwelHng of Thomas Britton,^ one who gained a livelihood by selling about the streets small- coal, which he carried in a sack on his back, that a periodical performance of music in parts took place, to which were invited people of the first consequence. The house was in Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell ; the room of performance was over the coal-shop; and strange to tell, Thomas Britton's concert was the weekly resort of the old, the young, the gav, and the fair of all ranks, including the highest order of nobility."
And Crowest, in his " Musical Anecdotes," gives the following interesting account of Brit- ton and his concert-room : —
" Britton was courted by the most fashionable folk of his day. He was a cultivated coal-heaver, who, be- sides his musical taste and ability, possessed an exten- sive knowledge of chemistry and the occult sciences. His house was originally a stable ; on the ground-floor
1 Britton died in September, 1714.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 27
was the small coal repository, and over that the con- cert-room, very long and narrow, badly lighted, and with a ceiling so low that a tall man could scarcely stand upright in it. The stairs to this room were far from pleasant to ascend ; and the following facetious lines by Ward, the author of the ' London Spy/ con- firm this, —
" * Upon Thursdays repair To my palace, and there Hobble up stair by stair, — But I pray ye take care That you break not your shins by a stumble ;
" ' And without e'er a souse Paid to me or my spouse, Sit as still as a mouse At the top of the house, And there you shall hear how we fumble.'
" Let us follow the short stout little man on a concert-day. The coal-shed is made tidy and swept up, and the coal-heaver awaits his company. There he stands at the door of his stable, dressed in his blue blouse, dustman's hat, and maroon kerchief tightly fastened round his neck. The concert-room is al- most full, and, pipe in hand, Britton awaits a new
visitor, — the beautiful Duchess of B . She is
somewhat late (the coachman, possibly, is not quite at home in the neighborhood).
" Here comes a carriage which stops at the coal-shop ; and laying down his pipe, the coal-heaver assists her
28 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Grace to alight, and in the genteelest manner escorts her to the narrow staircase leading to the music-room. Forgetting Ward's advice, she trips laughingly and carelessly up the stairs to the room from which pro- ceed faint sounds of music, increasing to quite an olla podrida of sound as the apartment is reached, for the musicians are tuning up. The beautiful Duchess is soon recognized, and as soon in deep gossip with her friends. But who is that gentlemanly man lean- ing over the chamber-organ ? That is Sir Roger L'Estrange, an admirable performer on the violon- cello and a great lover of music. He is watching the subtle fingering of Mr. Handel as his dimpled hands drift leisurely and marvellously over the keys of the instrument."
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 29
CHAPTER IV.
SOME ENGLISH PURITANS WHO DISLIKED MUSIC.
But one Puritan amongst them, and he sings psalms to hornpipes. — Shakspeare.
•jV/TARTIN LUTHER said, ''1 verily -^^ ^ think, and am not ashamed to say, that, next to divinity, no art is comparable to music ; " and John Milton sang, —
" Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie. "
Yet it is plain that a large majority of the Puritans might be said to have been fanatical in their dislike of music. It is on record that they once petitioned Parliament, praying, among other things, that, —
" A Requeft of all true Chriftians to the Houfe of Parliament, . . . that all cathedral churches may be put down, where the fervice of God is grievoufly abufed by piping with organs, Tinging, ringing, and trowling of pfalms from one fide of the choir to another, with the fqueaking of chanting chorifters difguifed (as are all the reft) in white furplices, fome in corner caps and filly copes, imitating the fafhion and manner of
30 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Antlchrift, the Pope, that man of fin and child of perdition, with his other rabble of mifcreants and fhavelings."
It is probable that if the New England Puritans had been a musical people and had had good organs (well played) in their churches, the Quakers of that day, who hated music, would not have entered and disturbed their meetings. Who shall say that a good band of music might not have soothed the be- witched of 1692? Queen Elizabeth said that music, especially her virginals, enabled her "to shun melancholy."
In some remarks upon Luther, Hood says :
" Perhaps there is no better proof of his good taste, sound judgment, and deep piety, than the style of his music. Free in its melody, compared with any then in use, it partook nothing of the vulgar and irreverent lightness of our so-called 'revival '-music, — a style as hostile to the progress of true religion as it is to the cultivation of good taste."
A Puritan of that time might, in the lan- guage of George Eliot, have felt that " Music sweeps by me as a messenger carrying a mes- sage that is not for me.'*
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC 3 1
CHAPTER V.
EARLY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN NEW ENGLAND.
With one consent they brought around Dire instruments of grating sound.
Monthly Anthology.
HTHE Rev. Joseph B. Felt, In the ^' Cus- •*• toms of New England," says : —
" The musical instruments used in a few of our earliest families were the spinet, virginal, and treble viol. The first was a small harpsichord. The second was so called because played by young women ; it was a favorite with Qiieen Elizabeth. The third, while the other two for a Ions; time ha\ e been scarcely heard of, has continued to be known and used till the present. It is likely that the flute found a place amonq; these instruments. Thoug-h none of the young women who took part in the stirring scenes of our newly-settled colonies could literally have as- signed to them ' the skill which hyperbolical tradition attributes to St. Cecilia, so that her music drew down a celestial angel,' still we believe there were some whose strains charmed the ear and heart of domestic relations and visiting friends."
32 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
We do not know whether there were any mu- sical instruments brought over in the '' May- flower." That little vessel must have been so crowded with tables, chairs, and other articles, judging from the number of things represented to have come in her, that there could not have been much room left for spinets and virginals. But probably any instruments that were here early in the settlement were not very fine in tone.
It is said that the first organ built in this country was made in 1745 by Edward Brom- field, Jr., of Boston. Mr. Bromfield was born in Boston in 1723, graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1 742, and died in Boston, Aug. 1 8, 1746. The Rev. Thomas Prince, minister of the Old South Church, says of Mr. Bromfield : —
" As he was well fkllled In Mufic, he for exercife and recreation, with his own hands, has made a moft accurate Organ, with two rows of keys and many hundred pipes, his intention being twelve hundred, but died before he completed it. The workmanfhip of the keys and pipes [was] furprifingly nice and curious, exceeding anything of the kind that ever came here from England. And what is furprifing was that he had but a few times looked into the infide work of two or three organs which came from England."
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 33
As to whether this instrument was ever entire- ly completed and set up in any church, we have no positive information ; but one thing seems to be clearly inferred, — that there was no or- gan in any church, certainly in this part of the country, for nearly a century after the arrival of the first settlers, and that then, and for a number of years thereafter, that instrument was only introduced into Episcopal churches.
An examination of the earliest " inven- tories" in the Probate Office of Essex County fails to find record of any musical instruments appraised in the estates settled there. While every pot, skillet, gridiron, article of wearing- apparel, old chair and table, bed, bolster, and pillow, silver spoon, pewter dish, bushel of corn, indeed articles of the most trifling nature, are carefully enumerated, no lutes, citterns, spinets, harpsichords, flutes, or viols, are mentioned. This would seem to show that the early settlers did not possess these instru- ments, or that at least they must have been rarely seen here.
Mr. Goodell, in his paper on Sacred Music read before the Essex Institute, says: —
3
34 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
" The second and third generation in New Eng- land lost much of what their fathers and grandfathers knew, including the use of instruments, with which many of the first settlers were familiar, but which had become so neglected in 1673 that the Commissioners for Plantations reported that there were ' no musi- cians by trade ' in the whole colony."
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 35
CHAPTER VI.
THE OLD MUSIC-BOOKS.
The psalms of David in the sinking-seats Of the meeting-house, — bass-viol, flute, And tuning-fork, and rows of village-girls, With lips half open ; treble clashed with bass In most melodious madness ; voices shrill Climbing for unreached ke3-s, grave bur>-ing soft In solemn thunders ; fugues that rush and wait Till lagging notes find the accordant goal.
Lucy Larcom.
TT is a little singular, remembering the fact ^ that in England as early as 1601 the reputed author of the music of ^' God Save the King," Dr. John Bull, was able to write a composition of forty parts, yet a century and a half later Englishmen or their descendants in America displayed so little knowledge of the art. Most of the old music-books in this country were arranged with not more than three parts, often only two. The *' treble," or highest part, was then sung by men ; while women sang the second, or tenor. There was no written ac- companiment for the instrument. The player
36 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
had to read from the score, or be well ac- quainted with counterpoint or thorough-bass, and play from a figured bass whenever there was one. The laws of harmony were then, and for the next hundred years, so little under- stood that there were but few native players. Most of those who were able to play the organ or harpsichord were foreigners who had had a musical education abroad.
In order that the public might have some- idea of the old method of singing, some years ago the late General Oliver instructed a choir to sing in that way, and had an exhibition at the Lyceum Hall in Salem. This was preceded by a lecture on Ancient Psalmody by the Hon. A. C. Goodell, Jr. It was a novel and interesting entertainment, and afforded a great deal of amusement to a large audience. Some of the tunes, such as *' Old Hundred," *' St. Martin's," '' Mear," etc., were hardly recog- nizable sung in this old way.
Mr. Goodell in his lecture referred to a psalm by the Rev. Mather Byles, of Boston, which was travestied by Joseph Green, a contemporary wit and poet, as follows : —
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 37
In David's Psalms an oversight Byles found one morning at his tea, —
Alas! that he should never write A proper psalm to sing at sea.
Thus ruminating on his seat,
Ambitious thoughts at length prevailed ; The bard determined to complete
The part wherein the prophet failed.
Our modern parson having prayed,
Unless loud fame our faith beguiles, Sat down, took out his book, and said:
*' Let 's sing a psalm of Mather Byles."
At first, when he began to read.
Their heads the assembly downward hung; But he with boldness did proceed,
And thus he read, and thus they sung.
THE PSALM.
With vast amazement we survey
The wonders of the deep. Where mackerel swim, and porpoise play.
And crabs and lobsters creep.
Fish of all kinds inhabit here.
And throng the dark abode ; Here haddock, hake, and flounders are,
And eels and perch and cod.
From raging winds and tempests free,
So smoothly as we pass. The shining surface seems to be
A piece of Bristol glass.
38 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
But when the winds and tempests rise,
And foaming billows swell, The vessel mounts above the skies.
And lower sinks than hell.
Our heads the tottering motion feel,
And quickly we become Giddy as new-dropped calves and reel
Like Indians drunk with rum.
What praises then are due that we
Thus far have safely got, Amarescoggin tribe to see.
And tribe of Penobscot.
To the satirists of this period must also be referred those curious verses which we find occasionally as- cribed to Sternhold and Hopkins, Tate and Brady, or the Bay Psalm-book, or, perhaps more commonly, to Mather Byles. I am unable to give the names of their authors, though they can be traced back many years in our newspapers. One of them begins : —
Ye monsters of the briny deep.
Your Maker's praises spout ; Up from the sands, ye codlings, peep,
And wag your tails about.
And another : —
The race it is not always got
By him that swiftest runs, Nor the battell by those peopell
That shoot the longest guns.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 39
The first tune-book printed in this country (about 1690) is represented as having been badly executed, and as having contained a great many errors. The tunes named were Litchfield, Low Dutch or Canterbury, York, Oxford, Windsor, Cambridge, St. David's, Martyrs, Hackney or St. Mary's, and the Hundredth, Hundred and Fifteenth, Hun- dred and Nineteenth, and Hundred and Forty-eighth Psalm-tunes, printed in two parts only, — the bass and treble.
Here is a specimen of old-fashioned notes, from a book printed in 1639. The same kind of notes can be seen in Sternhold and Hop- kins's '' Booke of Psalms : Set forth and al- lowed to be fung in all churches of the people together, before and after Morning and Euen- ing Prayer, As alfo before and after Sermons ; and, moreour, in private houfes, for their godly folace and comfort, laying apart all vngodly Ballads, which tend only to the nourifhment of vice and corrupting of youth, 1617."
40
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Paraphraje upon Job and the Pfalms, hy Mr. George Sandys^ 1639*
Set to new Tunes for private Devotion, And a thorov;^ Bafe for Voice or Inftrument, by Henry Law^es, Gentleman of His Majefties Chappell Royall.
PSALME I.
^Pp:^^^!E^!;|!E^.Eg^P
^
Hat man is true - ly bleft, who nev - er ftrayes By falfe.
seeesej:
£
^— ♦
Bafs:
In the " Introduction to the Singing of Psalm Tunes," by the Rev. Mr. Tufts, of Newbury, in 1712, the tunes are printed in letters instead of notes.
It may be difficult to decide what music- books the first settlers really had. Mr. Hood says the tunes used were taken from Ravens- croft's collection, published in London ini^ 1 8. Dr. Ritter says that this collection was not printed until 1621 ; but as the Puritans did not arrive in Salem until 1628, they might have brought this collection with them, and Mr. Hood be simply mistaken as to the date. We
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 4 1
are now talking about the Puritans, who first came to Salem and Boston, and not about the Pilgrims, who settled at Plymouth. This dis- tinction should be kept in mind. Many per- sons speak of the Pilgrims and the Puritans as if they were the same religious body, just as Japanese and Chinese are sometimes con- founded. Dr. Ritter has another reason, however, for his doubt in regard to Ravens- croft's psalm-book ; he thinks the American Puritans were never musical enough to make use of it, — "They were not musical enough to indulge in the luxury of a learned four-part arrangement;" and the directions for singing in the Bay Psalm-book, printed in 1698, seem to confirm this view. This is, we suppose, not a very important mat- ter to us, but is interesting to a historian in tracing the early history of music. In this connection we quote the following statement from Mr. Joseph Bird's valuable work : —
"Thomas Ravenscroft, Bachelor of Music, pub- lished in 1621 and 1633 a collection of psalm-tunes in four parts, which was not only the best which had
42 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
appeared, but was the best published for upwards of one hundred and fifty years.
" Not a few of the best tunes of our time appeared in this book. Most of the tunes which are now at- tributed to him are only taken from his book, where they are called Welsh, English, French, Scotch, Ger- man, Dutch, and Italian. The parts were written by themselves, and the words are repeated four times to each tune. There were twenty-three English, six Northern (among which are York, Durham, and Chester), seven Scottish (among which were King's, Duke's, Dundee, Glasgow, and Martyrs), and five Welsh tunes (Landaff, Bangor, St. David's, St. Asaph or Wrixham, and Ludlow). Old Hundred was set to the hundredth psalm, and called ' French Tune,' and it was credited to J. Dowland, Doctor of Music. Dowland probably wrote the harmony to it." ^
In his preface Ravenscroft gives the follow- ing directions: (i) That psalms of tribulation be sung with a low voice and in long measure ; (2) that psalms of thanksgiving be sung with an indifferent voice, neither too loud nor too soft, and neither too swift nor too slow ; (3)
1 Old Hundred in some of the tune-books is ascribed to Martin Luther ; General Oliver credits it to W. Frank; the tune-book of the American Unitarian Association, to Guillaume Franck, 1545. Mr. Bird says it is an old French love-song ; Mr. Hood says the melody is probably German. " Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? "
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 43
that psalms of rejoicing be sung with a loud voice, and in a swift and jocund measure. He closes his preface with a hope that all whom he was addressing might after death bear a part with the ^^ Quire of Angels in the Heauens."
The book to which we have referred as published by the Rev. John Tufts, of New- bury, in 17 12 (one account says 17 14), was probably a very small affair. It was entitled, " A very plain and eafy Introdudion to the Art of Singing Pfalm Tunes : With the Can- tus, or Trebles, of Twenty-eight Pfalm Tunes contrived in fuch a manner as that the Learner may attain the Skill of Singing them with the greateft eafe and Speed imaginable. By Rev. Mr. John Tufts. Price, 6d.^ or c^s. the doz.'* This was the first publication of the kind in New England, if not in America. As late as 170O5 it is said, there were not in many con- gregations more than three or four tunes known, and those were sung altogether by rote. Mr. K. Arvine, in his *' Cyclopaedia of Anecdotes," commenting on this attempt to introduce the use of notes, says : —
44 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
"To publish at this time, therefore, a book on music containing the enormous number of twenty- eight tunes, was a daring innovation on the old, time- honored customs of the country ; and the attempt to teach singing by note, thus commenced by Mr. Tufts, was most strenuously resisted for many years by that large class of persons everywhere to be found who believe that an old error is better than a new truth."
It may be mentioned here that a copy of Thomas Ravenscroft's collection of tunes, dated 1621, containing the autograph of Gov- ernor Endicott, is now in the Massachusetts Historical Society's Library.
In regard to the order in which instruments were introduced, Mr. Goodeli says : —
" Instruments were generally introduced in the following order, — first, the pitch-pipe ; second, the tuning-fork, or the brass reed ; and third, the vio- loncello, which was followed by the flute, hautboy, clarionet, bassoon, and violin ; and finally, the majes- tic organ, which, though introduced here before the Revolution, was never used west of the Alleghanies until 1837."
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 45
CHAPTER VII.
THE OLD HYMNS.
The psalm-tunes of the Puritan ;
The hymns that dared to go Down shuddering through the abyss of man,
His gulfs of conscious woe.
Lucy Larcom.
"\^7"HEN hymns like the following were sung in churches, need we wonder that there was objection on the part of many per- sons to singing as a portion of the service ?
HYMN 44. — L. M. (b) Hell ; or^ the vengeance of God.
"\XriTH holy fear and humble song,
The dreadful God our souls adore ; Reverence and awe become the tongue That speaks the terrors of his power.
2 Far in the deep where darkness dwells, The land of horror and despair. Justice has built a dismal hell, And laid her stores of vengeance there.
46 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
3 [Eternal plagues and heavy chains, Tormenting racks and fiery coals, And darts t' inflict immortal pains. Dipt in the blood of damned souls.
4 There Satan, the first sinner, lies. And roars, and bites his iron bands ; In vain the rebel strives to rise.
Crushed w^ith the v^^eight of both thy hands.]
5 There guilty ghosts of Adam's race Shriek out, and howl beneath thy rod ; Once they could scorn a Saviour's grace. But they incensed a dreadful God.
6 Tremble, my soul, and kiss the Son ! Sinners, obey thy Saviour's call, Else your damnation hastens on. And hell gapes vi^ide to wait your fall !
Fancy the congregation or choir of one of our churches to-day singing such dreadful words to "Old Hundred," "Hamburg," or "Federal Street"!
We are glad to know that Dr. Watts, who wrote so many admirable hymns, regretted in the latter part of his life that he could not recall some of his verses ; but having, it is said, sold the copyright of his works, he
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 47
was unable to control the publishing of all he had produced.
The early settlers in New England had no hymns to sing, but only the Psalms, arranged for that purpose. The dreadful hymns were of a later date.
One would suppose that these shockingly profane old hymns (no matter who the authors were) could hardly in these days find ad- mirers ; yet within three or four years a Boston correspondent of the *' Salem Gazette," who signed " Eurus," regrets that ministers so often say '' Please to omit *' the singing of particular verses of certain hymns. He says : " Which of the six verses would we spare of the author's ' Why do we mourn Departed Friends ? ' or even a single stave of that harrowing picture of a sinner's death that immediately precedes the last-named : —
" ' My thoughts on awful subjects roll, — Damnation and the dead. What horrors seize the guilty soul Upon a dying bed ! ' "
After quoting three more verses of this agreeable poetry (so-called), he says : " I
48 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
' omit * the rest out of regard for your space, though perfect as a jewel."
We suppose there have been those who admired Michael Wigglesworth's " Day of Doom," — an American religious poem pub- lished in Boston about 1700. Of " Babes, thieves, heathen, and heretics," he sings : —
" Then might you hear them rend and tear The air with their outcries ; . The hideous noife of their fad voice
Afcendeth to the fkies. They wring their hands, their caitiff hands,
And gnafli their teeth for terror ; They cry, they roar, for anguifh fore,
And gnaw their tongues for horror. But get away without delay :
Chrift pities not your cry ; Depart to hell, — there may you yell
And roar eternally."
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 49
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FIRST CHURCH ORGAN IN MASSACHUSETTS.
Some to church repair, Not for the doctrine, but the music there.
Pope.
'T'^HE first notice of a church organ in Mas- •^ sachusetts is in the Diary of the Rev. Joseph Green, of Salem Village (now Dan- vers). Under date of May 29, 17 11, he writes : *' I was at Mr. Thomas Brattle's ; heard ye Organs," etc. This Diary was printed in the Essex Institute Collections in 1869.
Drake, in his *' History of Boston," says that King's Chapel, between 1710 and 1713, was rebuilt and enlarged to twice its original size, and that then Mr. Thomas Brattle pre- sented the society with an organ ; this is prob- ably the organ referred to by the Rev. Mr. Green. We believe there is no record to show where and by whom this organ was built, though it is supposed to have been of English manufac- ture. The first organ built in New England
4
50 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
was made by Thomas Johnston, of Boston, for Christ Church, about 1752.
King's Chapel Society imported a new or- gan from London in 1756. This was much larger than the old one, and it is said was se- lected by Handel. The following statement appeared in the "Columbian Centinel" of Boston, Nov. 22, 18 17, on the occasion of the opening of a new organ in the New South Church in that city : —
NEW AMERICAN ORGAN
The very elegant and costly Organ^ manufactured at the Franklin Musical Warehouse in Milk-street, has been purchased by the members of the Rev. Mr. Thacher's society, and will be put in operation T^o- Morrow, It is said, by those vv^ho are capable of judging of its merits, that this Organ is inferior only in power to that in the Stone Chapel, and in regard to the melody of its tones it is thought to be equal. This is a high eulogium on the American Artist, as it is said the Organ in the Chapel was selected by the great Handel, after undergoing his severest scrutiny, as one of a very superior make. In the purchase of this valuable piece of workmanship, the New South Society have risen above the prejudices which have been suffered too long to cramp the efforts of native
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 5 I
genius, and evinced a disposition in the highest degree honorable to patronize and reward the enterprizing Artists of their own country in preference to any other. We learn that the religious exercises of To-Morrow at this Church will be adapted to the occasion of the opening of this excellent instrument ; That the subject of the afternoon sermon will be Sacred Music, by the Rev. President Kirkland ; that of the musical performances will be Old Hundred, Anthems, &c., from Handel, Madan, and Slade, — " Strike the Cymhals^'' accompanied by a full chorus of a select choir and the Organ ; and that they will conclude with the Pastoral \{yvc\v\^^^ Nothing True hut Heaven^' in which the children of the Female Orphan Asylum will take a part.
In 1756 the old organ of King's Chapel was sold to St. Paul's Church, Newburyport. It was used there for eighty years, and in 1836 was sold to St. John's Church, Portsmouth. The original pipes and wind-chest remain, it is said, in perfect order to this day.
52 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER IX.
ORGAN AT TRINITY CHURCH, NEWPORT.
Such music (as *t is said) Before was never made.
Milton.
'T^HE second organ set up In New England was undoubtedly that presented by the celebrated Bishop Berkeley to Trinity Church, Newport, R. I. We are indebted to Mr. James C. Swan, who was at one time the or- ganist at this church, for some account of the instrument. In February, 1733, according to the church records, *^the Wardens pro- cured the Services of Mr. Charles Theodore Parchebel, of Boston (who was the first Or- ganist), to assist in setting up the Organ in the Church." About the same time the Rec- tor, '^the Rev. James Honeyman, was di- rected to draw up a letter of thanks to the Rev. Mr. Dean Berkeley for his generous present of an Organ to this Church."
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 53
The organ is thus described : Its case was of English oak, and of very beautiful design. It was about fourteen and one half fcQt high, eight feet front, and eight feet deep. In its front there were twenty-three gilded pipes, and its top was ornamented with a crown, supported by two mitres. The compass of its manual or keyboard was from C to D, four octaves. Its long keys were made of ebony, and the short ones of ivory with a strip of ebony through the middle of them ; and the keys of the swell organ were placed below those of the great organ, beginning on middle C. Between the key-boards was the maker's name : " Ricar- dus Bridge Londini, Fecit m.d.ccxxxiii."
The workmanship of the instrument in all its details was of a very high quality, and in tone it was most excellent, and would com- pare favorably with any work of the kind done at the present day. That those of our readers who are especially interested in organs may have a more definite idea of the size and quality of this instrument, we include Mr. Swan's specification of the pipes. Its con- tents were as follows : —
54
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Great Organ.
Principal 50 pipes.
Stopped Diapason .... 50
Open Diapason .... 50
Twelfth 50
Fifteenth 50
Tierce Bass 25
Tierce Treble 25
Flute 50
Trumpet 38
388 pipes.
Swell Organ.
Stopped Diapason .... 27 pipes.
Open Diapason .... 27
Flute 27
Trumpet 27
?>
'it
108
M
Total 496 pipes.
There was one stop marked "Vox Hu- mana," but the stop itself was never furnished. Undoubtedly for many years this was the best organ in America. It is said that persons outside of the regular worshippers looked for- ward to going to Trinity Church on Christmas Days to hear the organ ; it was a luxury no
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 55
Other church in the place was then able to offer.
With some interruptions, this organ was used in the services of the church until 1844, — one hundred and eleven years, — when a new organ was put in ; reserving, however, two stops of the original instrument and the case. The old organ went to Brooklyn, N. Y., and was subsequently bought by Miss Sarah Gibbs for St. Mary's Church, Portsmouth, R. I., where it now is, in good condition. It is a singular fact that there was no other organ in Newport until 1834.
During the last century and in the early part of the present, this church seems to have been put to no slight inconvenience in providing its musical service. Considerable trouble was experienced in finding organists, on account of the meagreness of the salary, — not over a dol- lar a Sunday sometimes. At one time (about 1809), Miss Floride Calhoun, a summer resi- dent, played the organ, apparently without compensation. In 1753, Aug. 27, at a meet- ing of the society, it was voted to dismiss Mr. John Grelca, clerk, for his ill-behavior in
56 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
refusing to sing the tunes played by the or- ganist in the morning service. Mr. John L. Burkenhead, a blind man, became the organist in 1796, and continued for eight years. The following anecdote is told of him : It appears that while on his way to church Mr. Burken- head was in the habit of stopping in to see John Frazer, schoolmaster, on Church Street, where he indulged in a *' drop of something." It was after one of these visits, while at the organ playing the tune which he supposed was suited to the hymn just read by Mr. Joseph Dyer, the clerk, that he was interrupted by the latter calling out from the desk, '' Burken- head, you are playing the wrong tune." Mr. Burkenhead, though blind, drew aside the cur- tain in front of the gallery, and told him he lied. The congregation were greatly shocked at this indecorous reply of Mr. Burkenhead ; and the Vestry in their further employment of him continued to put in the proviso, "during good behaviour and punctual attendance," be- ing well aware that this sudden outburst, and doubtless numberless others of a similar char- acter, were attributable to the peculiar quality
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 57
of the old Scotch rye which he so frequently imbibed at Master John Frazer's.
George G. Channing, in his '' Early Recol- lections of Newport/' says : —
" I relished very keenly the soul-inspiring music of blind Birkenhead at Trinity Church, played on the best organ then In America, the gift of George Berk- ley, bishop of Cloyne."
And he adds : —
" I could not bear the crown and mitre on the top of the organ. I was taught to hate popery, — I did not know why ; and these signs of man-worship were too significant for my parents' spiritual digestion."
58 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER X.
SOME QUAINT ADVERTISEMENTS.
Think nought a trifle, though it small appear : Small sands the mountain, moments make the year.
Young.
TN the Newport, R. I., "Mercury, or
•^ Weekly Advertiser,'' for Tuesday, Dec. 19, 1758, appears the following advertise- ment : —
Any perfon who plays well on a Violin, on Ap- plication to the Printer hereof may be inform'd where he will meet with proper Encouragement.
This journal was printed by James Franklin (brother of Dr. Franklin) ; and his printing- office was " under the Town School."
This is the first notice in reference to music that we have seen in the old news- papers ; and taken in connection with another advertisement in the same paper on the 26th of June, 1759, which we copy, it shows that
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 59
the people of Newport had some taste for the art before the time of the Revolution.
Imported in the laji Ships from London and Bris- tol, And to be fold by yacob Richardfon^ Wholefale and Retail, At his (hop in Brenton's Row in Thames Street, Newport, All forts of Goods made in Brafs, Copper, Pewter, Iron and Steel ; Alfo Woolens, Linens, Silks, and India Goods. ******** Brafs and Iron Jew's Harps, * * * Englijh Flutes^ Violins^ Bows^ Bridges^ heft Roman Violin firings . * * *
The following curious notice appears In the Newport '* Gazette," Thursday, Aug. 21,
1777 : —
Wanted. A Fifer for the ALARM Galley. Good Wages will be given.
From the Newport *' Mercury," Oct. i, 1764: —
To he feen at Mrs. Cowley's, a curious Piece of Clock work, by which the Image of a Man is made to beat upon a Drum to Admiration ; his Wife by his
6o OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Side dances to the Drum, and calls him Cuckold ; he moves his Lips as if fpeaking, turns his Eyes on all the Spectators, and bows his Head in a very complai- fant Manner. He was the firft Drummer in the King of Pruflia's Army, and has been in Germany, London, and Bofton for Ninety years paft. He continues to be feen no longer than ten Days, from ten o'clock in the morning till nine at night.
A CURIOUS COMBINATION.
In the same journal from April 7th to 14th, 17665 Abraham Remsen advertises for sale at his "fhop in Clark Street, nearly oppofite the Rev. Dr. Style's meeting," every conceivable sort of dress-goods, jewelry, sewing materials, violins, window-glass, washballs, short-handled frying-pans ; the best of Liverpool aky etc.
From the Newport " Mercury " of Sept. 1 1, 1769: —
This evening, at Mrs. Cowley's Afsembly Room in Church lane, will be read the Beggar's Opera, by a perfon who has read and fung in moft of the great
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 6 I
towns in America. All the fongs will be Tung. He ' perfonates all the characters and enters into the vari- ous humours or pailions, as they change from one to another throughout the Opera. Tickets to be had at the printing office at half a dollar each. No per- fon to be admitted without a ticket. To begin at 7 o'clock. 1
In the Newport ^' Mercury," Jan. 8, 1770, we find this notice : —
The Public are hereby informed That a Singing School will be opened at Mr. Bradford's School- houfe, next Thurfday Evening, by a Perfon who has taught the various Branches of Pfalmody in the Pro- vinces of New York, MaiTachufetts Bay and Con- necticut, when thofe Gentlemen & Ladies who have an Inclination to improve in this Excellent Art, may expe6t all that care and Dilligence which is ne- cefTary to their being rightly instru6ted in the fame.
N. B. For further Particulars enquire of Mr. Bradford, School-Master.
1 Mrs. Cowley's assembly-room was at the time referred to the most aristocratic place in the town. March 6, 1781, Washington, Rochambeau, and other officers of the American and French army attended a grand ball at these rooms, which was graced by the beauty of which Newport has ever been celebrated.
62 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
In the same paper, June 4, 1770, is this announcement: —
Public Notice is hereby given That the Sub- fcriber defigns to open his Singing School on Tuefday the 5th Inftant at 5 o'clock P. M. at Mr. Bradford's School-Houfe. Elias Gilbert.
It will be inferred from this that some at- tempts at teaching singing had at this time been made in several States besides Rhode Island.
From the Newport '* Mercury," April 27,
1772 : —
On Tuefday Evening, the 5th of May, At the Court- Houfe in Newport, Will be held a Grand Concert of Vocal and Inftrumental Music, By a Number of the Firft Performers from Bojlon^ &c. To begin pre- cifely at 7 o'clock. Tickets, at Half a Dollar each, to be had at Mr. Samuel Bours^s^ Mr. Ichahod Potter's^ at Mr. John Lawton's^ and at the Printing Office. (No Perfons to be admitted without Tickets.)
In the Newport " Mercury," June 28,
1773 • —
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC 63
James Rivington of New York advertifes Keyfer's Pills, Jefuits' drops, alfo a certain cure for the bite of a mad dog, together with guittars, fiddles, violincellos, German flutes, tabors, and pipes, hautboys, moft kinds of mufic. Orders fupplied by the firft veflels to Newport, or any other place.
Musicians were sometimes dancing-masters in old times, as is shown by advertise- ments.
The following is from the " Mercury " of Jan. 24, 1774: —
William Selby (Organift of Trinity Church) in- forms the ladies and gentlemen that he purpofes opening a Dancing School for teaching young ladies and gentlemen.
N. B. Teaching days on Mondays and Thurs- days at 4 o'clock P. M.
From the "Mercury," Sept. i6, 1774:
For the benefit of Mr. Knoetchel (Organift of Trinity Church) a Concert of Mufic will be per- formed in the Colony houfe on Thurfday, the i8th inft., at 3 o'clock P. M. Tickets may be had of
64 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
MefT? Silas Cooke, James Keith, Samuel Brenton, Samuel Wickham, Ifaac Eliezer, Nathaniel Bird, and of Mr. Knoetchel, at his houfe, at three pounds each.
As this sum was in depreciated currency, the price of the ticket would be about fifty- cents in silver.
Frorn the Newport " Mercury" of Aug. i, 1774: —
On Wednefday next, at the Court houfe in Newport, will be performed a concert of vocal and inftrumental mufic, to begin precifely at 7 o'clock in the evening. Tickets, at half a dollar, to be had of MefTrs. Samuel and John Proms, of Mr. Selby (organift of Trinity church), and at the printing office.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 65
CHAPTER XI.
THE FIRST ORGAN IN SALEM.
The listening crowd admire the lofty sound. — Dryden.
T N the year 1743 the society of St. Peter's ■^ Church purchased by subscription an or- gan from Mr. John Clark. We have this information from Mr. George R. Curvven, who is an authority on all matters relating to the Episcopal Church in Salem.
This appears to have been the fifth church organ set up in New England, — King's Chapel in Boston having had the first; Trinity Church, Newport, the second ; Trinity Church, Bos- ton, the third; and Christ Church, Boston, the fourth.
The second organ in St. Peter's Church was made by Thomas Johnston, of Boston, in 1754; but for some reason not now known it was not placed in St. Peter's until 1770, when this church made an exchange with Mr. John- ston, giving him their old organ and ^50. This organ was, it is said, in design and exe-
5
66 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
cution after the pattern of an English organ at Trinity Church in Boston. In the year 1819 the organ at St. Peter*s was presented to St. Michael's Church in Marblehead, the former church at that time having purchased an Eng- lish organ which had been imported by Dr. Benjamin Lynde Oliver, a physician noted for his musical taste and attainments. Many years afterwards, when the Messrs. Hook made a new instrument for the Marblehead church, they came into possession of the old Salem organ. Above its key-board, in German or Old English text, was the following inscription, cut in ivory : —
Cri)ama£5 ^oljnston Jecit il^iot-^nslorum 1754.
It has sometimes been stated that Mr. John- ston made two other organs about the time he made this, — -one for Portsmouth, and one for Marblehead ; but those who have investigated the matter think there is not sufficient evidence to warrant such a conclusion. Some one was evidently deceived by seeing the date upon the Marblehead organ, not knowing it to be the original Salem instrument.
/U. ^<^^^^^7^9^<it^ u^^^i^y^
68 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Mr. Johnston, besides being an organ- builder, painted escutcheons, or family coats- of-arms. He also engraved music on copper, and printed the old tunes bound with the psalm-book. He was at one time a leading singer in the Brattle Street Church, Boston, and died about 1768. We give some of these facts upon the authority of Professor W. J. Bruce, who communicated them to the "American Historical Record" some years ago.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 69
CHAPTER XII.
MUSIC IN THE LATTER HALF OF THE LAST CENTURY.
Seventeen hundred and fifty-five :
Georgius Secundics was then aUve. — Holmes.
TT would not be possible to learn much •^ about music in New England in the last century if we depended for information upon old newspapers. Our early journals do not throw much light upon this subject, or, we had almost said, upon any other, except perhaps European politics. The writers of the day did not notice personal matters, or comment much upon the condition of the arts. Strange as it may appear, advertisements furnish more real knowledge of the times than editorials or communications. Before the Revolution the art of music appears not to have been much cultivated here. It has been said, indeed, that the theory of music and the laws of harmony were not understood at all. These remarks apply more particularly to Boston and the
70 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
neighboring towns, and to a large majority of the population in these towns. Of course there must have been here and there a person musically inclined, who understood the prin- ciples of the art.
In John Adams's Diary there are some ref- erences to music that are interesting in this connection. In 1758 he speaks of Peter Char- don as '* a promifing youth," who " has a fenfe of the dignity and importance of his profeffion, — that of law. . . . This fellow's thoughts are not employed on fongs and girls, nor his time on flutes, fiddles, concerts, and card-tables ; he will make fomething." " Flutes, fiddles, and concerts " were evidently not in high esteem at this period. It will be noticed, too, that "songs and girls" are slurringly alluded to. On June 9, 177I5 during his stay at Middle- ton, Conn., Mr. Adams says : —
" Went to meeting with Dr. Eliot Rawfon, and heard the fineft finging that I ever heard in my life. The front and fide galleries were crowded with rows of lads and laffes, who performed all their parts in the utmoft perfection. I thought I was wrapped up. A row of women, all ftanding up, and playing their parts
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 7 1
with perfe6t fkill and judgment, added a fvveetnefs and fprightlinefs to the whole which abfolutely charmed me.
In the same town Mr. Adams speaks of the son of his landlady (Mrs. Shaler) : —
" He lived with a merchant ; is now twenty-five or twenty-fix, and contents himfelf ftill to keep that mer- chant's books, without any inclination to fet up for himfelf; is a great proficient in music, — plays upon the flute, fife, harpfichord, fpinet, &c. ; aflbciates with the young and the gay, and is a very fine ConnecSlicut young gentleman."
And under date of August 21, at New York : —
" Went to meeting at the old Prefbyterian Society ; the Pfalmody is an exa6l contraft to that of Hartford. It is in the old way^ as we call it, — all the drawling, quavering difcord in the world."
At Nassau College, 1774, *'the fcholars fing as badly as the Prefbyterians at New York." At Philadelphia, Sunday, Oct. 23, 1774:
" In the evening I went to the Methodift meeting, and heard Mr. Webb, the old foldier, who firft came to America in the character of Quarter Mafter under General Braddock. He is one of the moft fluent, eloquent men I ever heard j he reaches the imagina-
72 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
tion, and touches the paflions very well, and exprefTes himfelf with great propriety. The Tinging here is very fweet and foft indeed, — the firft mufic I have heard in any fociety, except the Moravians, and once at church with the organ."
In reference to the Presbyterians, we believe that that body has until very recently been op- posed to the use of organs and other musical in- struments in their houses of v/orship; but here is a book advertised in the Essex *' Gazette," Aug. 13, 177 15 in which the author, who calls himself "a Presbyterian," is in favor of in- strumental music in public worship : —
To he fold by the Printer hereof {?nQQ, half a Piftereen), A Book entitled,
The Lawfulnefs, Excellency and
Advantage of INSTRUMENTAL MUSICK in the Publick Worfhip of GOD, urg'd and enforced from Scripture, and the Example of the far greater Part of Chriftians in all Ages. AddrefTed to all (par- ticularly the Prefbyterians and Baptifts) who have hitherto been taught to look upon the Ufe of Inftru- mental Mufick in the Worfhip of GOD as unlawful. By a Presbyterian.
Muftck has Charms to footh the favage Breaft^ To foft en Rocks, and bend the knotted Oak.
CONGRE VE.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 73
Some of the noted men of England about this time — as Dr. Johnson, Charles James Fox, William Pitt, Edmund Burke, etc. — had an antipathy to music. It is related of Dr. Johnson that on one occasion, at a concert, he was observed to be extremely inattentive dur- ing the performance of a celebrated violinist. A friend, to induce him to pay more atten- tion, told him how extremely difficult it was for the player to make such runs. '* Difficult do you call it, sir ? " replied the Doctor ; " I wish it were impossible ! "
Singing in Whitefield's time.
Mr. WHITEFIELD.
Mr. Whitefield was one day preaching in Bos- ton on the wonders of creation, providence, and redemption, when a violent tempest of thunder and lio-htnina: arose. In the midst of the sermon it had attained to such a tremendous pitch of wild uproar that the congregation sat in almost breathless awe. The Doctor closed his note-book, and stepping into one of the wings of the desk, fell on his knees, and with much feeling and fine taste repeated, —
74 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
" Hark ! th' ETERNAL rends the sky 1 A mighty voice before him goes I — A voice of music to his friends, But threat'ning thunder to his foes I Come, children, to your Father's arms : Hide in the chambers of my grace 'Till the fierce storm be overblown, And my revenging fury cease."
" Let us devoutly sing to the praise and glory of God the 7th Hymn : Old Hundred."
The whole congregation instantly arose, and poured forth the sacred song, in which they were nobly secon- ded by the scientific and respected Mr. , on the
full organ, in a style of pious grandeur and heartfelt devotion that was never surpassed. By the time the hymn was finished, the storm was hushed, and the sun bursting forth, showed through the windows to the enraptured assembly a magnificent and brill- iant arch of peace. The preacher resumed the desk and his discourse with this apposite quotation : —
" Look upon the rainbow, praise him that made it J very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof!
" It compasseth the heaven about with a glorious circle i and the hands of the Most High have bended it."
The remainder of the services were well calculated to sustain that elevated feeling which had been pro- duced ; and the benediction, with which the good man dismissed the flock, was universally received with streaming eyes and hearts overflowing with tender- ness and gratitude. — Boston Telegraphy 1824.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 75
The following anecdote of Handel is taken from the Salem "Gazette" of June 28, 1790: —
The first time the musical instrument called the Serpent was used at a concert at which Handel pre- sided, he was so much surprised with the coarseness of the sound that he called out lustily, " What de devil is dat?" On being informed that it was a Serpent, he replied, "it can never be de serpent dat seduce Eve."
76 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE INTRODUCTION OF ORGANS IN MEETING- HOUSES.
Music when thus applied raises in the mind of the hearer great con- ceptions. It strengthens devotion, and advances praise into rapture. — Addison.
"ITTE have spoken of the introduction of organs into some of the churches of New England ; it will of course be understood that we referred to the English, or Episcopal Churches. The Puritan Congregatlonalists had not, up to the Revolution, deemed organs essential, or perhaps even desirable, as an aid to their music. The liberal element in their societies, however, in the period following that event, showed that they at least had no preju- dice against instrumental music as a part of public worship.
The Rev. Joseph B. Felt, in the " Annals of Salem,'* says : —
" Stiles's Diary informs us, under date of July lo, 1770, that on the preceding Sunday an organ was
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. "J^
played in the Congregational Church at Providence, R. I., and that was the first instance of such music in any 'Dissenting' church in all British America. Stiles also states that an English gentleman had offered ;^500 to any such church as would set up an organ and have it used in their worship."
78 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE FIRST CHANTING IN NEW ENGLAND.
To hear the glorious swell
Of chanted psalm and prayer, And the deep organ's bursting heart
Throb through the shivering air.
Lowell.
TN old St. Michael's Church in Marble- -^ head, Mass., which was erected in 17 14, was heard the first chanting in this country. The Rev. Thomas Fitch Oliver, who was rector in 1787, says in a letter of the 24th of December of that year : " As to- morrow is Christmas, we intend to intro- duce chanting into our Church/* " It was done,'* he writes afterward, "before a very crowded audience of Churchmen and Dissen- ters, and to general acceptance." Mr. Oliver testifies later to the constant use of the new practice, and ''believes his almost the only church on the continent in which this is done." Some writers have claimed that
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 79
chanting was first introduced into the United States in 1813, amid turbulent opposition, at St. George's Church, New York. As we have already shown, this is a mistake ; it was practised fully a quarter of a century earlier in Massachusetts.
So OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XV.
THE SECOND ORGAN IN SALEM.
Let me review the scene, And summon from tlic shadowy Past The forms tliat once have been.
Longfellow.
TN the year 1798 the First Church Society -^ (Rev. Dr. Prince's) voted to place an or- gan in their meeting-house; and the subscrip- tion-list for purchasing the same shows the names of citizens who were men of note in their day. Elias Haskett Derby, who has sometimes been styled ** Father of the Ameri- can commerce to India," and Thomas Mason, another well-known merchant, headed the list with the two largest subscriptions. Then follow Dr. Benjamin Lynde Oliver, Hon. William Prescott, father of the historian ; Hon. Richard Derby, John Derby, E. Her- sey Derby, William Orne, Jonathan Har- aden, who distinguished himself in the Revolutionary navy ; Abel Lawrence, Peter
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 8 I
Lander, Judge Nathaniel Ropes, Thomas Sanders, Hon. Nathan Read, member of Congress, inventor of a steamboat ; Edward Pulling, a lawyer of distinction ; Hon. Jacob Crowninshield, member of Congress ; John Pickering, Hon. William Gray, Jr., who was at one time the largest shipowner in America; Captain Nathaniel West, Stephen Phillips, Hon. Andrew Oliver, John Barton, Samuel Williams, and others.
An order was sent to Mr. Samuel Williams, of London, the distinguished American banker, who arranged for the instrument with Mr. John Avery, a celebrated organ-builder at St. Margaret's Churchyard, Westminster. It was more than a year before it was completed and set up in the church. This organ was con- sidered by competent judges at the time to be a very fine one. It cost about two thousand dollars, — which in those days was a large sum to expend for such a purpose. It had fourteen stops and two banks of keys. When the writer saw the specification for this organ he observed that the '* Second set of keys [were] designed to play the Swell down to
6
82 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Fiddle G." He has heard the late General Oliver and some other musical persons in Salem speak of this organ as an excellent- toned instrument; and although not so large as some, it was equal in quality to any in New England at the time. We believe the society had it for half a century.
It was then quite an event for a Congrega- tional society to have an organ, and there was such a crowd in the gallery to see it set up that a committee was appointed by the society to look after the matter and keep specta- tors from interfering with the work. Rum or punch was no doubt furnished the workmen, as was the custom at such times. This cus- tom was followed when the third organ came to be set up in the North Church in 1808. We know that these "aids" were always furnished at ordinations and church committee meetings, and that they were offered to ministers when- ever they called upon their parishioners.
The following advertisement in the Boston " Columbian Centinel " refers to the old North Church organ : —
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 8 7,
J. Geib,
ORGJN BUILDER, New- York,
RESPECTFULLY informs the Public that he has completed an ORGAN for Dr. Ber- nard's Meeting-Houfe at Salem, to which he refers all Congregations as a fpecimen of his work, and further to one ere6led by him at Providence a few years fince. J. G. flatters himfelf that it will be mutually fatisfa6lory for both parties to infpe6l the aforementioned fpecimens. 6w J 15
84 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC
CHAPTER XVI.
CONCERTS IN THE LAST CENTURY.
Relics of things that have passed away. — Byron.
IN 1744 there was a concert at Faneuil Hall in Boston for the benefit of the poor; and Mr. Dipper, who was the organist of King's Chapel, announces one in the Boston " Post-Boy," Feb. 2, 1761 : —
Mr. Dipper s Publick Concert
will be To-Morrow the 3d of Februarys when will be performed feveral Pieces of Vocal and Inftrumental MUSICK, compofed by the beft Mafters ; and many of them accompanied by two French Horns. To be divided into Three A6ts. To begin at 6 o'Clock. J|@-TICKETS to be had of Mr. Richard Billings, near the Post-Office ; and at Green & RuffeWs Print- ing-Office in Queen-Street, at Haifa Dollar each.
A^. B. As fome Tickets were made out for the 20th of January, and difpers'd, the Shortnefs of Time will not admit of an Alteration, therefore Tickets of that Date will be received.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 85
The following advertisement is from the Boston ''Gazette/* Nov. 2, 1761 : —
At Concert Hall,
On FRIDJT next^ the 6th of November^
WILL be perform'd a Concert of Vocal and In- ftrumental Mufic (to confift of Seleft Pieces by the beft Mafters) — Tickets to be had of Green and Ruffell^ Printers in Oueen-Street, the Crown & Comb near the Poft Office, and of Air. Dipper^ at Haifa Dollar each. To begin at 6 o'Clock.
From the Boston " Chronicle," Nov. i, 1768: —
'This is to acquaint the Gentlemen and Ladies that a
CONCERT of M U S I C
will be performed On Monday, the 21ft Inftant, at Six o'Clock in the Evening, at the Mufic Hall in Brattle-Street, oppofite Dr. Cooper's Meeting-Houfe. After the Concert is over, the Gentlemen and Ladies may have a Ball till Eleven o'clock.
Tickets may be had of James Joan, at the above faid Place, and of Thomas Chace, near Liberty Tree, at Two Shillings Lawful Money, or One Shilling and Six Pence Sterling, each.
86 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
In the Boston "Chronicle" of Nov. 28, 1768: —
A Concert of Mufic
will be performed in Mufic-Hall, in Brattle-Street, on Monday the 5th of December next, at Six o'Clock in the Evening. — Tickets to be had at faid Place, at Eighteen Pence Sterling, each.
Sheet-music began to be advertised in 1768. The following is from the '' Chronicle/' October 17 : —
The New and FAVOi/RiTfi
LIBERTY SONG,
In FREEDOM we're Bovry, &c. Neatly engraved on Copper-plate, the fizcol' Haifa fheet of Paper,
Set to MUSIC for the VOICE,
And to which is alfo added,
A Set ofNOTES adapted to the
GERMAN FLUTEand VIOLIN,
I<}jurtl piibiiflied and to be SOLD at tliQ
LOKDOl^f Boohftoje, Kmg^fireety Bojhn^
Price Si X p Eii c e Lawful fingle, and.
FouR^ujLUiNGs Lawful;, the dozca*
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC 87
In the Boston ''Chronicle" of June 29, 1769, Is advertised a concert in Queen (now State) Street : —
For the Benefit of Mr, F L A G G,
This Evening,
A public Concert of
Vocal and Iiiftrumental MUSIC, Will be peiTorincd at Concert Hali in Qiieei:- ftieet.
The Vocal part to be performed by Four Voices, ar.d to conclude with the BRITISH
G R E N A D I E RS.. N. B. TICKETS 10
be had at the Printers, or at the London Book-
ftore, at HALF a DOLLAR each To begirt
precifely at half after ieveii,
*^* Ihc laft Conceit this Sea fon.
In the Boston " Gazette," Jan. 12, 1767 :
For the Benefit of Mr. Hartley,
Will be perform'd at CONCERT HALL, On the 15th Inftant,
J CONCERT
Of Vocal and Inftrumental Mufic, confifling of felecS: Pieces by the moft eminent Mafters. To begin pre-
88 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
cifely at 6 o'Clock. Tickets to be had at Concert- Hall, Brazen Head, Coffee Houfe, Bunch of Grapes, and at Mr. Hartley^s Lodgings next Door to Mr. JVilUam Greenleaf^s^ the Bottom of Cornhill, at Half
a Dollar each.
♦
Harpsichords and spinets were advertised in 1768. We notice that the word "spinet" was then invariably spelled with two ns in- stead of one, as some of us moderns, who never saw the instrument, spell it, although Dr. Johnson is authority for one n.
From LONDON,
JOHN HA R R I S,
WH O arrived in Cipt. Calef, beg? leave to inibr w, the pubiic, that he MAKJES and SELLS all forts of
H\KPSIGH()RD8 and SPINNETS.
LikcwiiVmeods, repairs, new rt rings,- aud tunes the faid fo;
ftrumenti , in the beft and neatcft manner. .
) Any Gentlemen and ladies thafwili honour .him with their
cn/tom, fhaU be punftually waited upon. He lives at
Mr. Gavin Brown's Watck-nuket Nbnh-fide ot* K i N Cr.
STREJBT.
Boston Chronicle^ Nov. 14, 1768.
In the Boston "Gazette," Jan. 12, 1767, appears the following quaint advertise- ment : —
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 89
TANSUR'S
Royal Melody Compleat,
the lad and beft Edltioji, with Addiiions, on ODpper Plaie, may be had at JOHN PERKINS'S Shop 10 Unioo Street. Boftoo, next Doot to Mr. Ftedertck WiU'tam G€ycr\. - N B. At the fame Place may be bad, a large AiTortmem of Paper Hangings iorRoomj»
Complimentary concert to Mr. Selby in Boston. From the '' Massachusetts Gazette/' April 24, 1786 ; —
Concert-Hall.
ON Thurfday next, 27th April, will be a CON- CERT of VOCAL and INSTRUMEN- TAL MUSICK.— Among other felea pieces and fongs, will be performed, Jn Ode i?i honour of General Washington, compofed by Mr. Wi^lliam Selby. — Likewife, the favourite catch of " Hark the bonny Chriji Church helhr
Tickets, at Three Shillings each, to be had of Mr. Hastings, at the Poft-Office, Mr. Deverell, Watchmaker, next door to the Treafury, and of Mr. Burke, at Concert-Hall.
90 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
N. B. The ahovementioned Concert is to he performed in confequence of a Refolve of the Muftcal Society : and the monies arifing from the fale of the Tickets to he pre- fented to Mr, SELBY,yir his fmgular fervices rendered the Society.
The " Massachusetts Gazette/' Jan. 2, 1786, thus notices a concert to take place at the Chapel-Church (King's Chapel) for a chari- table purpose : —
We hear that the Muftcal Society in this town agreed, on the 20th of laft month, to perform a Concert of facred Mufick^ vocal and inllrumental, at the Chapel- Churchy on Tuefday, the loth day of this prefent month of January, for the benefit and relief of the poor prifoners confined in the jail in this town, and that the Mufick^ and Morning Service of the Church, are then to be performed as follows, viz.
As foon as the Church doors are (hut, precifely at II o'clock in the forenoon of that day,
I. That the Overture in ^q facred Oratorio^ called the Occafional Oratorio^ compofed by the late celebrated Mr. Handel, be performed by all the mufical, in- ftrumental band.
II. That the firft, famous and juftly celebrated Recitative^ in the Oratorio of the Messiah, compofed by the inspired Handel, be fung, accompanied by the
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 9 1
firjl znAJecond violin^ the tenor and bafs injlruments. — The words, " Comfort ye^ comfort ye my peoplf^ faith your God. Speak ye comfortably to ferufalem ; and cry unto her^ that her zvarfare is accomplijhed^ that her iniquity is pardoned. The voice of him that crieth in the wilder- nefs^ prepare ye the way of the Lord^ make Jtraight in the defart an high-way for our God"
III. That the firft Song in the fame moft facred Oratorio^ to be fung, accompanied by the proper in- ftruments. The words, Every valley Jhall he exalted^ and every mountain and high hill Jhall be brought low^ and the crooked Jhall be made Jlraight^ and the rough places plain ; and the glory of the LORD f hall be revealed.**
IV. The Morning Service of the Church is then to begin ; and after the Lord's Prayer^ and the four verficles following, then the Doxologv, or Glory to God, — " Now unto the King eternal^ immortal^ in- vifible** &c. as fet to mufick by Mr. Selby.^ is to be performed by all the voices, accompanied by the Organ only.
V. That the Anthem from the 95th Pfalm, in the ufual Morning Service of the Church, " O come let us fing unto the Lord^* &c. be fung or faid.
VI. That the 41ft, 1 12th, and 146th be read as the proper Pfalms for the day ; after each of which, the fame Doxology, as fet to mufick by Mr. Selby^ be performed by all the voices, accompanied by the Organ and all the inftruments.
VII. That the 4th Concerto of Jmizon, Mufica de
92 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Capella^ opa. 7 ma. be performed by the Organ and all the inflruments, as and for the Voluntary.
VIII. That the firft leffbn for the day, taken from the 4th chapter of Tohit^ from the 3d to the end of the nth verfe, with the i6th verfe of the fame chapter, be read.
IX. Then that the Te Deum^ or, " We praife thee^ O GOD^ we acknoiv ledge Thee to be the Lord," ^c, be chanted.
X. Then that the fecond leflbn for the day, taken from the 25th chapter of Matthew, from the 31ft verfe to the end of verfe the 40th, be read.
XI. Then the jubilate Deo^ or, " O be joyful in the Lord^ all ye Lands^^ Is to be fung, as and for an Anthem, by the voices, accompanied by all the inftruments.
XII. Then the Apoftles' Creed will be read.
XIII. Immediately after that Creed, the Song from the Oratorio of the Messiah, " The Trumpet fhall found^ and the Dead fhall be raifed^^ Sec. is to be fung, accompanied by the Trumpet^ &c.
XIV. Then the Verficles after the Creed, with the firft Colle6i: for the day, are to be read. And after the fame,
XV. The Song from the Oratorio of Sampfon is to be fung. The words,
" Let the bright Cherubims, in burning Row, " Their loud, uplifted, angel Trumpets blow."
XVI. Then the fecond and third Colle6ts, the
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 93
Prayer for Congrefs, and the Prayer for all forts and conditlojis of men ^ be read.
XVII. Then the fecond Organ Concerto of Mr. Handel is to be performed.
XVIII. Then the General Thankfglving and the concluding Prayers are to be read.
XIX. Mr. Selhy will then play a Solo, Piano, on the Organ; during which the fentences in the Offer- tory will be read, the Boxes at the fame time being carried about to receive the Contributions and Dona- tions of the charitable and humane,
XX. Then " the Prayer for the whole ftate of Chrift^s Church militant here 07i earth " is to be read, and the Aborning Service of the Church is to end with the ufual concluding Prayers and Bleffing.
XXI. Laftly, the mufical Band will perform a favourite Overture by Mr. Bach.
N. B. Tickets for this Charity^ at three fhillings each, as we are informed, will be offered for fale in every part of the town.
We are further informed that all the Alinifters of all the fever al religious focieties and perfuafons in this Town, with Jofeph Henderfon^ Efq. the High-Sheriff of the County, Samuel Breck^ Efq. and Thomas Dawes, Efq. Members for the Town, fofeph Bar- rell, Efq. Do6lor Charles farvis^ and Samuel Hen- fhaw^ Efq. are chofen, by the Musical Society, to be a Committee, for the purpofe of appropriating all Monies, to be raifed by the fale of the Tickets, and
94 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
which may accrue from the Donations and Contribu- tion of the charitable and hutnane towards the fup- port of this Charity.
The first appropriation of the money, for the afford- ing neceflary cloathing, firing and provifions to the moft necefiitous prifoners for debt.
)^°*We hope none will be backward in beftowing, according to their ability, for this truly benevolent
purpofe.
• •
We find the following advertisements in the Salem " Mercury'* and other papers announc- ing concerts at King's Chapel in Boston. On one occasion General Washington, then on a visit to New England, was to be present.
For Publick Ornament.
An ORATORIO,
Or, CONCERT of SACRED MUSICK.
WILL be performed at the Stone Chapel in BOSTON, an
Oratorio, or Concert of
SACRED MUSICK, to affift in finifliing the COLONNADE or POR- TICO of faid Chapel, agreeably to the original defign.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 95
PART THE FIRST.
1. Full Anthem — compofed by Mr. Selby,
2. The favourite Air in the Mefliah (compofed by the celebrated Handel), " Comfort ye my People,^'* By Mr. Rea.
3. Organ Concerto — by Mr. Selhy,
4. The favourite Air in the Oratorio of Samfon (compofed by the celebrated Handel), " Let the bright Seraphim;'— By Mr. Rea,
5. Full Anthem, compofed by Mr. Selby,
PART THE SECOND.
The Oratorio of Jonah
complete — The Solos by MefTrs. Rea^ Fay^ Brewer^ and Dr. Rogerfon. The Chorufles by the Indepen- dent Mufical Society : The inftrumental parts by a Society of Gentlemen, with the Band of his Moft Chriftian Majefty's Fleet.
l^^As the above ORATORIO has been highly applauded by the beji judges, and has never been per- formed in America \ and as the firft Performers of this country will be jointed by the excellent band of his Moft Chriftian Majefty' s fquadron ; the Pub lick will have every reafon to expedl a more finifJied and de~ lightful Performance than ever was exhibited in the United States,
Tickets, at half a dollar each, may be
had at Dr. Winfliip's, Union-Street i at B, Guild's
96 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Bookjlore, and at the PoJIojffice, in CornJiill ; and at y. Tempi eman^s, W. Bnrkys, and B. Riiffeirs Offices, in State-Jlreet. Bofton, 061. 19, 1789.
[ This performance was to have takeii
place on Wednefday the 2\Jl injl. {To-morrow)^ but is pojlponed for a few days. The precife time will be advertifed in the Bofton papers ; and we fJiall en- deavour to give our cuftomers infonnation of the
fanie.\
♦
For Publick Ornament.
THIS DAT,
THE Oratorio, or Concert of Sacred Music, which was to have been on Wednefday laft, will be performed at the Stone Chapel in Bofton, in prefence of the PRESIDENT of the United
States.
First Part.
1. A congratulatory ODE to the PRESIDENT
2. The favourite Air in the Mefliah (compofed by the celebrated Handel), " Comfort ye my People,''^ By Mr. Rea.
3. Organ Concerto — by Mr. Selby.
4. The favourite Air in the Oratorio of Samfon (compofed by the celebrated Handel) "Z^/ the bright Seraphim.,'' — by Mr. Rea.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 97
5. Anthem from looth Pfalm, compofed by Mr. Selby,
PART THE SECOND.
The Oratorio of Jonah
complete — The Solos by Meflrs. Rea^ Fay^ Brewer^ and Dr. Rogerfon. The Choruffes by the Indepen- dent Mufical Society : The inftrumental parts by a Society of Gentlemen, with the Band of his Moll Chrift'ian Majefty's Fleet.
The Miijic to begiii precifdy at XI o'clock in the forejtoon.
No p erf on will be admitted zvithotit a ticket.
No more Tickets will be fold than will admit of the auditory being conveniently accommodated.
Tickets for admit tatice on the 2\fl infiant will be received.
The doors open at 9 o'clock.
Tickets fold at Dr. WinfJiip's, B. Guild's, J. Templejna7i'Sy IV. Biz/'ley's, B. RuffelVs, and at the
Popffice. [Oa. 27, 1789.]
♦
FOR PUBLIC ORNAMENT.
npHE ORATORIO, or, Concert of Sacred -'- Music, which, thro' the indifpofition of feveral fingers, could not be fully performed on the 27th 06i:ober, will be performed at the Stone Chapel, in Boston, THIS E VENING^ if the weather permits j otherwife, to-morrow evening.
7
98 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
The Mufick to begin precifely at fix o'clock, P. M.
Tickets for admittance on the 21ft 06tober will be received.
No perfon will be admitted without a Ticket.
The doors will be opened at 5, and the firft bell rung at 2 o'clock, P. M.
Tickets fold at Dr. Winfhip'j-, B. Guild'i", J. Templeman'j, W. Burley'j, B. RulTell'i-, and at the Poji-Office, Bojlon, at TWO SHILLINGS each,
[Dec. I, 1789.]
♦
There was a concert advertised in the Sa- lem "Gazette," July 10, 1792, in connection with a " Moral Lecture.''
At Concert-Hall,
This Evening^ will be performed
A Concert of vocal and inftru-
mental MUSIC ; between the parts of which will be delivered the tragic and moral Lecture called
DOUGLAS ;
with various Songs, as will be expreffed in the Hand
Bills. TICKETS, at Half a Dollar, may be
had of Dr. Bacon, of Capt. Webb at the Sun Tavern, of Mr. Dabney at the Salem Book Store^ and of Mr. Carlton at the Bible and Heart, — The doors will be opened at 6 o'clock.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 99
A subscription concert is advertised in the Boston "Columbian Centinel," Nov. 21, 1792:
By SUBSCRIPTION,
For the benefit of Monf. PICK, will be performed on Tuesday the 27th inftant, at Concert- Hall,
A Grand Concert
Of Vocal and Inftrumental Musick, confifting of the following Pieces, viz.
A Grand Symphony,
Compofed by Hayden.
SONG, By a Lady.
A Sonata on the Piano Forte,
By a young Lady.
A Flute Concerto,
By a Gentleman Amateur.
A SONG,
By Monf. PiCK.
A Grand Symphony,
Compofed by P ley el.
The Song of Bellisarius,
By Mr. Powell.
A Grand Overture.
A Grand Symphony,
By FiLS.
lOO OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
SONG, By a Lady.
A Hautboy Concerto,
By Mr. Stone.
A Quintetto,
Compofed by Pleyel, and performed by the Gen- tlemen Amateurs of Bofton.
A SONG,
By Monf. Pick, with a Flute Accompanyment, by
a Gentleman.
Several pieces on the Harmonica,
By Monf. Pick.
A Grand Overture.
*^* The Subfcription to be one Dollar each
Subfcriber to be entitled to one Lady's Ticket.
^^^ The Concert will commence precifely at fix o'clock. *^* The Subfcription Paper at Concert-
Hall. NOV. 21.
Mrs. Von Hagen, who has " studied the science of music from her infancy," thus ad- vertises in the "Columbian Centinel " in 1799:
To the LADIES of BOSTON,
RS. VoN Hagen refpedfully informs the ladies of Bojlon that fhe teaches the theory and pra61:ice of MUSIC, on the Harpfichord and Piano Forte with thorough bafs^ if defired. — Alfo, the
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. lOI
principles of Vocal Mufic^ and finging, according to the moft approved method, and the prefent tafte of Europe — as (he from her infancy ftudied the fci- ence of mufic, and at the age of eleven performed at the court at the Hague, with univerfal applaufe ; flie was for feveral years Organift at the churches at Namur^ Middlehurgh^ Vlijfingen^ and Bergen opden Zoom : She alfo teaches on that inftrument, as well Church Muftc as Lejfons Sonat'is Concertos^ and by theory, the Fantafie.
Mrs. Von Hagen hopes from her Theo- retic knowledge, and fuccefsful experience in the fci- ence of Mufic to be as fortunate in the progrefs of her pupils in this town as fhe was in the firft families in Europe and New-Tor k^ which is well known by many. As motives of delicacy may induce parents to commit the tuition of young Ladies in this branch of education to one of their own fex, and the female voice, from its being in unifon, is better adapted to teach them Singing than that of the other fex, which is an octave below. She flatters herfelf that fhe fhall be indulged with their approbation, and the pro- te6lion of a refpe(Stable Public. The terms of in- ftru6lion are, 5 dollars entrance, and every eight leflbns eight dollars. At Mrs. Von Hagen 's houfe, the terms are only fix dollars every eight leflbns, as well Theoretical Practical^ and the art of Singing. Inquire at the MUSICAL MAGAZINE, No. 55, Marlboro' -Street, April 3.
I02 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Performances on the grand pianoforte in Boston. From the " Columbian Centinel/'
May 9, 1798 : —
Peter Dolliver's Benefit. THE COLUMBIAN MUSEUM
WILL be opened on Tuefday Evening next, ift of May, for the Benefit of Mr. Peter Dolli- ver, who will perform feveral Pieces of MUSIC on the Grand Piano Forte.
Mifs Amelia DoU'iver (by particular requeft of her brother) will (for that evening only) accompany the Piano Forte with her voice.
The Mufeum will be opened at 7 o'clock, and the Mufic commence at 8. Tickets, Half a Dollar^ Children 25 Cents^ may be had of Mr. Dolliver^ near Concert-Hall^ and of Mr. Bowen^ at the Mufeum,
From the " Columbian Centinel/* May 9, 1798: —
SPIRITUAL CONCERT. R. MALLET, Organift to the Rev. Mr. Kirkland's Congregation, encour- aged by the Members of that Society, propofes giving an ORATORIO, or SACRED CONCERT, of Vocal and Instrumental Music, on Thurf
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. IO3
day^ the 31ft inftant, at the New South Meeting- houfe, Summer-ftreet. He has procured the afliftance of the firft Vocal and Inftrumental performers in Bofton^ and the pieces will be fele6led from Han- del and other moft celebrated Authors. If a fincere defire to pleafe, and the exertion of his utmoft abili- ties, will infure fuccefs, Mr. Mallet ventures re- fpe6tfully to folicit the patronage of thofe Ladies and Gentlemen who unite to a love of this liberal art the difpofition of alleviating real misfortune.
The performance will begin at 4 o'clock, P. M. ; the place where the tickets may be had, will be notified in a fubfequent advertifement : firft feat, 75 6ls. ; fec- ond, 50 6ls. ; and third, 25 6ls. % May 9.
The Boston Conservatory in the year 1800. TO THE LOVERS OF HARMONY.
The Conservatory ; Or, MUSICAL ACADEMY,
WILL be opened on Thurfday, the i8th inft., at the hours mentioned in the former advertife- ments, viz. from 10 till i A. M. for Ladies ; from 3 to 6, and from half-paft 6 to half-paft 9 P. M. for Gentlemen. — Thofe gentlemen wifhing to add to the Subfcriptions, are informed, the Books are re-
I04 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
moved to the Hall in Rofe-Lane^ where regulations of the Academy will be delivered to each Sub-
fcriber. Dec. i6, [1800].
•
Juft puhlifhed^ and for Jale at the MUSICAL MAGAZINE, No. 3, Cornhill.
AFUNERx^L DIRGE on the death of Gen. WASHINGTON; the mufic com- pofed by P. A. VON HAGEN, Organift of the Stone Chapel. Jan. 7, [1800].
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. IO5
CHAPTER XVII.
OPINION OF A CELEBRATED FRENCHMAN.
If fine manners are so admirable in men, how much more effective are they in women ! — Madame Rf camier.
J
P. BRISSpT DE WARVILLE, writ- • ing from Boston in 1788, says : —
" You no longer meet here that Prefbvterian au- fterity which interdidled all pleafures, even that of walking, which forbade travelling on Sunday, which perfecuted men whofe opinions were different from their own. The Boftonians unite fimplicity of mor- als with that French politenefs and delicacy of man- ners which render virtue more amiable. They are hofpitable to ftrangers, and obliging to friends ; they are tender hufbands, fond and almoft idolatrous pa- rents, and kind mafters. Alufic, which their teach- ers formerly profcribed as a diabolical art, begins to make part of their education. In fome houfes you hear the forte-piano. This art, it is true, is ftill in its infancy ; but the young novices who exercife it are fo gentle, fo complaifant, and fo modeft that the proud perfection of art gives no pleafure equal to what they afford. God grant that the Boftonian
I06 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC
women may never, like thofe of France, acquire the malady of perfe6lion in this art ! It is never attained but at the expenfe of the domeftic virtues."
It is sad to think that Brissot, who was a sincere lover of liberty and a good friend to America, perished by the guillotine. He in- curred the dislike of Robespierre and the Terrorists during the French Revolution on account of his vote against the death of Louis XVI.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. lOJ
CHAPTER XVIII.
HAND-ORGANS FOR CHURCHES.
Sweetest melodies are those that are by distance made more sweet. — Wordsworth.
TT would appear as if some churches in Bos- -*- ton or elsewhere in New England indulged in the luxury of hand-organs during the latter part of the last century, from the fact that Dr. Flagg, who was about embarking for Europe, offered to contract abroad for such instruments, as we learn from his advertisement in the "Columbian Centinel," Dec. 8, 1797: —
^ Read This.
Newhury-Jireet^ No. 47. T^R. FLAGGj Surgeon-Dentift, intending to embark in the (hip Hancock for Liverpool, requefts thofe to whom he is indebted to apply for payment. Thofe indebted to him are informed that, as cafh is one of the indifpenfable recommendations in a foreign country, there is an abfolute neceflity of his receiving payments, by which to enfure him a favorable reception in Europe. He hopes a hint is fufficient to thofe who have long experienced his indulgence.
I08 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
With a wllh of rendering himfelf ufeful while he continues in Bofton, he offers to thofe who ftand in need of his affiftance, his Dental and Surgical prac- tice, for a few weeks only.
T^o the Leavers of Harmony.
Dr. Flagg, if a fufficient number of pur- chafers offer, intends to contrail in Europe for the conftru6lion of a number of Organs, calculated to play all tunes ufually fung in places of worfhip, with interludes to each pfalm, without the ajfliftance of an organift. Their prices will be various, fuppofed from 60 to ^300. No money to be paid until the inftru- ments are delivered.
N. B. The conftrudlion of the Organs will be adapted to play all the tunes and pieces of mufic which any particular parifli may require, with every direction adapted to the moft fimple capacity.
He will alfo execute orders for any articles of tafte or fancy.
Dr. Flagg, being an amateur, offers an ad- vantage feldom to be met with by muficians in this country. He will purchafe from the beft workmen any inftruments which may be wanted, with their mufic, proved by his own examination, upon fmall commiffion.
P. S, Good fecurity for any advances,
Dec. 8, [1797]-
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC IO9
CHAPTER XIX.
SINGING-SCHOOLS IN SALEM.
A modern Mtifickmajler^ taking great pains, to little ptirpofe, in in- ^rudling a pupil in that agreeable /cience, at lajl, out of all patience^ exclaimed, ^' Sir, you murder the time!'* " Well," replies the pupil, '^that's better than to be eternally beating it, as you do." — Salem Mercury, Dec. 2, 178S.
A S early as the year 1772 we find that "^^^ private singing-schools were advertised. These schools seem to have become well grounded in public favor in a short time, and in the latter part of the last century and during the early years of the present had grown to be very popular. As late as the year 1835 Dr. Lowell Mason, Joseph A. Keller, Jacob Hood, and numerous other musicians of the period had such schools in Salem. Many persons now living received their musical instruction from these teachers. We copy the advertisements of some of the earliest of these schools from Salem newspapers : —
no OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Samuel Wadfworth
BEGS leave to inform the Publick, but the Female Sex in particular, that he has opened a SINGING-SCHOOL for their Ufe, at his Dwelling- Ho ufe near the Town-Houfe, to be kept on Tuefday and Friday Evenings, from 6 to 9 o'clock. If any of the Sex are defirous of being infl:ru6led in this beautiful Science, they fhall be inftru61:ed in the neweft Method.
Ye Female Sex^ I pray draw iteaVy To Mujic fweet pi'ay lend an Ear-, Young Virgins all with beauteous Voicey Make mu/ic Harmony your Choice,
Philo Mufico.
♦
Mr. MuNSON
RESPECTFULLY acquaints the GEN- TLEMEN and LADIES of the Town of Salem that he opens
A Singing-School
THIS DAY, at the Affembly-Room, where Parents and other Subfcribers are defired to fend their Chil- dren at 5 o'clock P. M., and young Gentlemen h Ladies to attend at feven in the Evening.
N. B. Subfcriptions are taken in at Mr. Samuel Field's in School-Street, and at the Printing-Office. Salem^ September 14, 1 773.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I I I
WILLIAM KENNY propofes to open a Singing School in the eaftern part of the Town. He teaches vocal mufic only. He teaches Pfalmody. Such perfons as will fend their children may depend on his attention. — They who wifh further information may have dire6tions at this office. Dec. 6, [1802].
T'
Singing School.
^HE fubfcriber propofes to open a Singing School, X on Tuefday evening next, at the room form- erly occupied by Mr. Biglow, provided thirty names are obtained. The terms for inftru6lion, one evening per week, for three months, will be one dollar and fifty cents ; or if two evenings per week are defired, the terms will be two dollars each fcholar. Thofe who are difpofed to attend faid School, are defired to leave their names at either of the following places, viz. Mr. Gilbert Chadwick's, Mr. Jofiah Caldwell's, Meflrs. Cufhing and Appleton's, or Mr. B. B. Maca- nulty's Bookftore, at which places fubfcription papers will be lodged.
N. B. The number of Scholars is not limited to thirty. S. HOLYOKE.
March 22, [1805].
112 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Singing School.
MR. TOWNE will open A FREE SCHOOL for the Rev. Mr. Hopkins's fociety on the evening of the 26th inftant. — Those w^ho wifh to attend are requefted to call on him, or Mr. Jona. Glover, or Mr. Nathan Cook, previous to that time.
Jf^g^" Mr. Tovvne can accommodate a few more fcholars at his Day School. March 19, [1805].
SINGING SCHOOL.
THE subscriber proposes to open a Singing School on Thursday evening next, at the Vestry of the New Universalist Society, on the corner of Rust street.
Terms $2,50 per quarter for Gentlemen and 1,50 for Ladies. JOSEPH DANFORTH.
Oct. 2, [1826].
MR. CLAGGETT intends to commence an- other Singing School on Thursday evening next, March 3d, at half past 6 o'clock, in the Com- mercial School Room. The School will be kept twelve weeks, two evenings each week, for practising
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC II 3
select music. None will be admitted but advanced singers. Terms of admittance, 3 dollars.
Another School will be open on Monday evening following, at the same place, for those who wish to commence the rudiments of music.
Those who wish to attend either, arc requested to give their names previously, at Mrs. Felt's, Essex street. 3W Feb. 26, [1825].
Singing and Writing School. N. D. GOULD
RESPECTFULLY informs the Ladies and Gentlemen of Salem that he intends to com- mence a School at the Commercial School Room, County street, on Tuesdav, the 27th inst. The School will be kept one Quarter, Tuesdays and Wednesdays each week. From 10 o'clock A. M. till 2 P. M. he will give lessons in Plain and Orna- mental Writing, &c. From 3 to 5 P. M. he will teach a Class the rudiments and practice of Sacred Music.
From 6 to 9 in the evening, also teach a class the practice of Psalmody & Select Music.
Terms may be known by inquiring at Mr Ives' Bookstore.
He has for several years past taught Music and Penmanship in Boston and its vicinity, and hopes to
8
114 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
receive the same patronage in Salem he has else- where.
Reference to the Rev Mr Emerson, Rev Mr Col- man and Mr H. K. Oliver. Sept 17, [1825].
Singing School.
MESSRS. POMROY & DANFORTH wish to inform the Young Gentlemen and Ladies of Salem that they propose opening an Evening School for the purpose of teaching the art of
SACRED MUSIC. Those who wish to become acquainted with this most important branch of divine worship will please to leave their names at the Bookstore of Capt. Henry Whipple, where the terms may be known.
Salem, Nov. 3, [1815].
SINGING SCHOOL,
JOSHUA CUSHING has opened a SINGING SCHOOL in the second story of the Central Building, to be continued two evenings in a week, if
sufficient encouragement shall be offered. Persons
disposed to attend will please to call at Messrs. Cush- ing ^ Appleton's Bookstore, where the terms may be seen. [Nov. 14, 1815].
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. II 5
Singing School,
THE subscriber will attend a School for instruc- tion in SACRED iMUSIC, on Monday and Friday evenings, at the Methodist Chapel in Sewall street. — Terms, two dollars per quarter ; one half in advance.
AMOS BLANCHARD. Salem, Nov. 13, [1823].
Singing SchooL
THE subscriber respectfully gives notice that he will, on Saturday Evening next, commence a Singing School in the Vestry of the new Methodist Meeting House in Sewall street, to be continued on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Terms, — for Ladies i dollar per quarter ; for Gentlemen 2 dollars.
JOSEPH W. CAREY. Salem, Nov. 20, [1823].
SINGING SCHOOL.
WILLIAM KIMBALL
RESPECTFULLY informs the public, that he propofes opening a School for the purpofe of inftrufting in SACRED MUSIC, on Thurfday even- ing, Odi. 12, in the upper chamber over Merchants
Il6 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Bank. Thofe who wifti to attend, may learn the terms, &c. by applying at the School Room on faid evening. 061. 7, [1820].
SS17^!Il!?(^ g(Sli:@)@)lLi
THE subscriber will commence a SINGING SCHOOL This Evening, at the Vestry of the First Baptist Society. — Terms of admission, for Ladies 1,50, and for Gentlemen 2,50 per quarter.
HORATIO PERRY. Oct. 16, [1826]. 3w
Advertisements from Salem ^' Gazette " of music-teachers in Salem : —
Mr. Blodget
PROPOSES (with fuitable encouragement) to teach the Organ, Harpfichord, Piano Forte, Violin, Flute, and Guitar, on Mondays, Wednefdays, and Saturdays. He will alfo infi:ru(3: ladies and gen- tlemen in the polite accomplifhment of Drawing. He may be fpoken with at Mr. Young's, Market- Street.
Salem, Aug. 31, [1797].
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. II 7
B. GLAAN
RESPECTFULLY informs the Ladies of Salem that he teaches the Piano Forte ; and as his method of proceeding in the inftrudlion of the Key'd inftruments is approved of by a Gentleman who has knowledge of this branch, he flatters himfelf to render fatisfaction to thofe that will give him the favour of employment. His terms may be known on applica- tion at Mrs. Hunt's.
N. B. He has for Sale a very good Horfe- man's Trumpet. may 4, [1798].
InJiru5fion on the Forte Piano.
P. A. von Hagen, junior,
From Bojlon,
MOST refpedfully begs leave to acquaint the Ladies and Gentlemen of Salem that he intends to give inftrudion on the Harpfichord, Piano Forte, Organ, Violin and Singing. Thofe Ladies and Gentlemen who pleafe to favor him with their commands, may depend on the ftri6left attention to render their lefTons ag-reeable and inftru6live.
His terms of tuition are — Entrance five dollars, and every eight Leflbns fix dollars.
He may be fpoke v/ith by applying at Capt. Webb's. [1800.]
Il8 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Mr. Maurice will give LefTons on the Forte- Piano, Violin, &:c. (hould any one apply. Salem, March 12, 1801.
^ Music School.
6 6
T^HOSE Perfons who may have made fome progrefs upon Mufical Inftruments and who : may wifh to make farther improvement, are in- : formed that they can have an opportunity, by \ joining with the Inftrumental Club, dire6ied by ?S. HoLYOKE. A fecond quarter commences
? This Evening,
: at the Hall formerly occupied by Mr. Biglow. : April 2, [1805].
• o--o--o--o--o--o--o--o--o---o---o-'0--o--o--o--o--o
^ffrentf) €\)entns ^c|)ooL
Instruction on the Piano Forte,
R. P. C. LOUVRIER, in offering his thanks to his friends and the public for the confidence with which they have been pleased to honour him in his professions, begs leave to inform them that his EVENING SCPIOOL for the tuition of those
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I I 9
young gentlemen who wish to acquire a thorough knowledge of the French Language^ will commence on the ist of October next.
Terms as usual, $3 entrance for new scholars, and 9 per quarter.
The School to be kept 3 times a week, from 6 to 9 o'clock.
As the number of pupils will not exceed eighty those who wish to attend are requested to leave their names at Mrs. P. GraftQn\^ liberty street.
MR. LOUVRIER
Continues to give Private Lessons, and he would be happy to undertake the tuition of a few more scholars, either in French or on the Piano Forte,
Sept. 15, [1807].
rOUNG LADIES' ACABEMT.
MRS. CURTIS respectfully informs the public that, having removed to Essex street, oppo- site the Salem Hotel, she has very agreeable accom- modations for Boarding Scholars. She hopes for the patronage of those parents and guardians who take pleasure in assisting the luiclow and the fatherless^ and assures them that she will make every exertion to reward their benevolence by the rapid improvement of their beloved children. Mrs. Curtis feels herself under /)^r«//^r obligations to cultivate the manners and
I20 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
morals of such of her pupils as board with her, and they will also receive decided advantages by uniting with her numerous day school, whose intelligence and progress in useful knowledge has long obtained the most flattering approbation.
TERMS. For board and instruction in common 1 (i|> /^ p.^,
branches per quarter _ /
For instruction on the Piano Forte, per ) lesson i
Drawing and painting per quarter 6,00
Embroidery, per piece 3,00
Salem, Aug. 28, 1816.
GRATEFUL for the liberal patronage which has been extended to him, would respectfully in- form the Ladies and Gentlemen of Salem that he has been induced to fix his residence in this town, and will continue to instruct on various instruments of Music, viz., Piano Forte, Violin, Flute, Guitar, &c.
j|@°* Residence corner of Crombie and Norman- streets.— J|@="Terms, $12 per quarter.
'' George Peabody^ Esq,
_, ^ ^ H. K. Oliver. Esq.
Reference to < ^ '
■^ Charles Lawrence^ Esq.
L Dr. Charles G. Putnam-
Salem, Sept. 2, 1830. [2mo.]
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 12 1
Mrs. CRANCH,
HAVING dissolved her partnership with Mrs. Peabody, has removed her Academy to Market-Street, where she will be ready to receive her Pupils after the i6th instant : till that period applica- tions for admission may be made at her house in Williams-Street.
Those who wish to be instructed in Painting or upon the Pianoforte will be attended by professors of these arts. April 5, [i8i i].
Martin Luther said ; " A schoolmaster must be able to sing, or I do not think him worth anything. Young men ought not to be ordained as preachers of the gospel unless they have well practised it in the schools."
122 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XX.
SINGING-SCHOOLS IN BOSTON.
For some of 'hem songe lowe, Some high, and all of one accorde.
Chaucer.
Singing Academy.
MR. ATTWILL refpedtfully informs the young Ladies and Gentlemen of this Metropolis that he propofes opening a SINGING SCHOOL in the Hall of the Green-Dragon, where he will give Leffons of Vocal Mufic two evenings in a week, from 6 to 9 o'clock P. M., on the following terms, ift. Each Scholar will pay Six Shillings pre- vious to receiving the firft lefTon, and Nine Shillings
at the expiration of three months. 2d. The Hall
will be lighted and prepared for the reception of the School at the expenfe of the Inftru6lor.
Thofe who pleafe to favour him with their encouragement may depend on his utmoft exertions to render it deferved.
He will attend in perfon at the Green Dragon Hall next Monday evening, and each fuc- ceeding Monday, Wednefday, and Friday evenings, from 4 to 9 o'clock, P. M., until a fufficient number
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC I 23
of Scholars prefents to render it an obje6t to open the fchool.
A Subfcrlptlon Paper will be left at MefTrs. Thomas and Andrews's Bookftore, and another in the hands of Mr. Bowman, at MefTrs. Bond and Bryant's Store, where any inclined to fubfcribe may have an opportunity.
He will alfo attend In private families (If requefted) at fuch hours as will be moft agreeable, to inliru6l fuch as are inclined to employ him in that way.
It is at the requeft and promifed patronage of a number of refpe6lable gentlemen in this town that he has been induced to make the foregoing propofals. — From the ufual readinefs of the inhabitants of this town to encourage and promote all ufeful and improving inftitutions, he flatters himfelf that in the prefent undertaking he fhall not fail of fuccefs.
N. B. After a fufficlent number of Scholars have made application, public notice will be given in the Cent'mel when the School will commence.
Bofton^ June 5, 1793.
He-A SINGING SCHOOL.^.^^
MR. J. BAILEY would respectfully inform the Gentlemen and Ladies of Boston that he pro- poses Next Monday Evening, at 6 o'clock, to open
124 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
a private SINGING SCHOOL in the upper room of the North School House, a few rods from the Rev. Mr. Murray's Meeting-House.
This SCHOOL will be opened to receive Gentle- men and Ladies from every religious society without distinction, — provided that every person can produce satisfactory evidence of sustaining a good moral char- acter; otherwise it will be in vain to apply.
As Mr. Bailey has had considerable experience in teaching Sacred Mus'ic^ he thinks he can more con- fidently hope for the patronage of all those who are desirous of practising this pleasing part of the wor- ship of God. Although the undertaking is novel, yet he believes it will answer the most sanguine expectations.
He has long been desirous that some mode of in- struction might be adopted in which learners may become more thoroughly versed in the principle, as well as in the execution, of Sacred Music, than they can be in the mode usually adopted in common Sing- ing Schools ; and he flatters himself that this plan of instruction will in a great degree have the desired effect.
It is generally expected that the members of a Sing- ing School, which is supported by any particular reli- gious society, will sit in the seats appropriated to them, and perform the singing part of public worship ; con- sequently, many who are desirous of learning to sing, and, at the same time, have no wish to join any partic-
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 25
ular singing choir, find no opportunity. — To such Gentlemen and Ladies this SCHOOL will present a favourable one.
Mr. B. will introduce into his singing school no other Music than that written in the style of the most approved Authors of Europe, such as G. F. Handel^ Giardini^ Sacchini^ Loekhart^ Dr. Arne^ Dr. Burney^ Dr. Arnold^ Worgan^ M'llgrove^ Madan^ Pleyel^ Dr. Croft^ Dalmer^ Callcott^ ^c.
Every attention will be paid to accommodate and instruct those who may attend. Arrangements will be made that those who have some acquaintance with music shall not be retarded by such as begin entirely new.
The School will be opened two Evenings each week.
Terms, $4 per quarter. Should there be sufficient encouragement, the School will be continued at least two quarters. dec. 12, [18 12].
Columbian Ceniitiel.
126 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XXI.
COMMEMORATION OF HANDEL.
But when the deep-ton'd Organ's peal And minstrel's solemn chant conspire
To fill the heart with heav'nly zeal, T' endue the soul with heav'nly fire.
Boston Palladium^ 1819.
' I ^HE following account is from the Salem ^ "Gazette," Sept. 21, 1784, — probably- taken from a London paper ; and the fact of a Salem paper selecting such an article shows that there must have been some interest in good music, even if musical characters were then scarce : —
COMMEMORATION of HJNDEL,
WESTMINSTER ABBEY was thronged on Saturday, May 30, equal to the firft day. Their Majefties did not arrive till half paft twelve, when the Hallelujahs of impatience which had previoufly refounded in every part of the Abbey, ceafed. The Princefs Royal, Princefs Augufta, Princefs Elizabeth, and three of the younger Princefles, with a numerous fuit of Royal attendants, were prefent. The Meffiah was immediately begun j the band was led by Mr.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 27
Cramer. The vocal performance was fupported by a moft refpedtable lift. Mr. Harrifon, in '' Comfort ye, &c.," acquitted himfelf very ably. Mr. Rheinhold fung v^ith his ufual judgment and power. The Rev. Mr. Clark, MefTrs. Champnefs and Norris were very refpe6lable. Mifs Cantelo appeared rather frightened, but notwithftanding gave great fatisfa6lion in " Come unto me all ye, &c." Signior Tafca ftuig with great power " Behold I tell you, &c." It is above panegy- rick to do juftice to the excellence of Madam Mara, particularly in the air " I know that my Redeemer liveth ; " it was fung with the utmoft energy and fweet- nefs. The King feemed particularly pleafed with her various performances. The efFeft of the chorufes is not to be defcribed, from the combination of fine voices which united in them, and the echoes of the Gothic roof, by which their founds were prolonged. Mr. Bates played the organ with his ufual brilliancy of finger. The whole of this performance was con- iiu6led in a manner to do the higheft honour to the Condu6lor and the Dire6lors to whofe charge the management fell, and at the head of whom Mr. Simp- fon muft be placed.
The Oratorio ended a little before four o'clock, when their Majefties took their departure in a very gracious manner. The Royal defcendants retired from the audience with every demonftration of polite- nefs — the youngeft Princefs, not accuftomed to fuch meetings, was prompted by the Princefs Royal to
128 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
make her obeifance; it unfortunately happened that the front of the ftate box was nearly as high as the Princefs's chin, fo that her head was invifible for a time : the Princefs Royal could not reftrain the laugh, fo much provoked, and every lip wore a fmile.
His Majefty was drefTed in a fuit of petit gris and gold. The Queen was in white, and difplayed a pro- fufion of diamonds ; but her richeft ornaments were her fix lovely defcendants, arrayed in the charms of native beauty, and looks of tranfcendant innocence! The Princefs Royal appeared in a prune colour. The drefs of the Princefs Augufta was a dove luteftring. The Princefs Elizabeth was apparelled in a Pomona colour.
The following infcription, on a tablet of white marble, was this morning placed over the monument of Handel in Weftminfter Abbey : —
Within thefe walls The Memory of
HANDEL
Was celebrated
Under the patronage of
His Moft Gracious Majefty
George HI.
On the 26th and 29th of May,
And
On the 3d and 5th of June,
M,DCC,LXXXIV.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 29
The Mufick performed On this Solemnity- Was fele6le(l From his own Works, By the diredlion of Brownlow Earl of Exeter, John Earl of Sandwich, Henry Earl of Uxbridge, Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, And Sir Richard Jebb, Bart., And conducted by J O A H BATES, Efq.
On the Wednefday and Saturday following, the performance was repeated by command of their Majefties.
The following is the amount of the receipt at each performance.
Firft day in the Abbey - 2,825 Guineas.
Second day. Pantheon - 1,619
Third day. Abbey - 3,049
Fourth day, - i,547
Fifth day, - 2,002
Two rehearfals - 800
11,842 Guineas.
To which we may venture to add, from the profits arifing from the fale of the books of each day's per- formance, 200 guineas ; fo that the total amount of the produce will exceed 12,000 guineas.
9
I30
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Old Spinet made by Samuel Blyth, now at the Rooms of the Essex
Institute, Salem.
CHAPTER XXII.
HARPSICHORDS AND SPINETS.
Tlicy both are jronc : now quite forlorn,
In dusty attic, stands the spinet; And nought remains to mark Love's pains,
Except the airs she found within it.
M. II. M., in "Life."
T TARPSICHORDS and spinets, the pre-
^ ^ cursors of the piano, were in use in
New England during the latter part of the last
century. There is a spinet now in the Rooms
1 Sec Frontispiece.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I3I
of the Essex Institute in Salem, made by Dr. Samuel Blyth, who afterwards gave instruc- tion on the piano and guitar. Here is his advertisement, from the Salem ''Gazette" of
1805 : —
Doctor Blyth
BEGS leave to announce to his friends that he intends to open his ACADEMY for YOUNG LADIES on Monday, the lOth init., at the Houfe of A^Irs. NoRRis, Court Street.
In addition to his other engagements, Dr. B. pro- pofes to give elementary inftru(Stions on the Piano Forte and Guitar : The former at three quarters of a dollar a leflbn, the latter half a dollar.
June 7, [1805].
♦
From the Salem " Register," Nov. 8, 1866 : —
" Among the donations announced, we noticed an old ' Spinet,' from the estate of the late Jesse Smith, of this city. This is a stringed musical instrument — played, like the piano, by striking the keys — formerly much in use. This instrument bears the inscription, ' Samuel Blyth, Salem, Massachusetts, fecit,' and was undoubtedly made some sixty or seventy yeai^s since. Mr. Blyth is remembered by the elder portion of our community as a person of great genius and wit.
132 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Robert Cowan also made musical instruments of a similar character. VVm. Hook likewise manufactured organs, and his sons, since their removal to Boston, have obtained a world-renowned reputation as manu- facturers of organs, &c."
We have in our possession a bill which reads thus : —
Mrs Margaret Barton to Sam: Blyth Dr.
To making a Spinnett for her Daughter £^^' o. o
Supra. Cr. By 34? i^^^r old filver @ 6/ per oz ^^lo. 4.11
By Cafh to Ballance 7.15- i
/;i8. o. o
Salem, 7th Feb'y 1786.
RecM payment
Sam! Blyth.
In the Salem "Gazette" for June 6, 1797, is the following advertisement : —
]/Fanted on Hire^
A Harpfichord or Spinnet,
for which a generous price will be paid monthly.
Leave word at the Printing-Office.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 33
In the Newport ''Mercury," May 17, 1773, there is advertised " To be fold ^ a Spinnet of a proper ftze for a little mifs, and a mofi agree- able tone, — plays extremely eafy on the keys. Inquire of the Printer."
In the Salem " Gazette," July 16, 1805, Is advertised an " excellent harpsichord, seventy years old'' It would appear that instruments were then sometimes valued according to their age, like old wine, or "old Medford."
FOR SALE BY GUSHING ^ AP- PLETON.
AN excellent pair of Concert FRENCH HORNS, complete, in a cafe. — \^Thefe are the fame injirumerits that were ufed i?i the Federal Procef- fion on the \th >/v]— BASSOONS of the lateft improvement. CLARIONETS of different kinds. C. and D. FIFES. ALSO,
German Flutes, Tenor Viols, Bafs Viols, with Bridges, Strings, Pegs, Reeds, Books of Inftrudlion, and fuitable Mufic for the above. and
An excellent HARPSICHORD, feventy years old, A well-toned handfome SPINNET.
134 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
On June 6, 1794, an American spinet is offered at auction : —
Next THURSDAY, 10 o'clock,
At W. P. Bartlett's Office^
Court Street, At XII o'clock, A neat well tuned American Spinnet, and feveral other articles.
The Boston *^ Gazette," Sept. 18, 1769, says:
"It is with pleafure we inform the public That a few days fince was fhipped for Newport a very curi- ous Spinnet, being the firft ever made in America, the performance of the ingenious Mr John Harris, of Boflon (Son of the late Mr Jofeph Harris, of London, Harpfichord and Spinnet Maker), and in every re- fpe6l does Honour to that Artift, who now carries on Bufinefs at his Houfe, a few Doors Northward of Dr Clark's, North end of Bofton."
Mr. James E. Mauran, of Newport, R. I., says that this instrument was in 1877 at Miss Catharine Crook's, iii Spring Street, Newport. From the same authority we learn that a "Spinette" is now preserved at the old Hall, Tubley, Cheshire, England, in good condition, and bears the inscription : " Phillip Jones. Londini. Fecit 1671."
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 35
CHAPTER XXIII.
OLD PIANOFORTES.
I love everything that 's old, — old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine. — Goldsmith.
' I ^HERE are several old pianos in Salem, ■*- but perhaps the oldest is in the house occupied by Augustus D. and Edward Rogers, sons of the late Nathaniel L. Rogers. It was once the residence of Aaron Wait, a distin- guished merchant nearly a hundred years ago. For a very full description of this interesting old instrument we are indebted to a writer In the Boston ** Herald " last year: —
" One of the most interesting articles in the Rogers home is the old piano, which is quite likely the oldest musical instrument of the kind in the United States which is now fit for use. The ' in- ventor ' of the first American piano — which was brought out in Salem, according to more than one chronicler — would not have cared to have the fact generally known that he spent hour after hour at dif- ferent times studying the Rogers piano, and that he copied all of its essential points. This venerable in-
136 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
strument is a surprising revelation to those who pon- der on the ' strides ' made in the manufacture of piano- fortes in this country. This musical relic of 'ye olden time ' is a pretty convincing bit of testimony to the fact that there have been no astonishing improve- ments in pianos for a hundred years. The essentials of the modern splendid piano are all in that old instru- ment, and its notes are still surprisingly excellent, v^hile the 'action' is almost a marvel of mechanical achievement, vv^hen the remoteness of the production is taken into account. The case is a costly one, fillets of rare inlaid work profusely diversifying the beautiful rosewood and mahogany ; while the keys, while varying slightly from the present pattern, are about as good as those now standard. In size this instrument is in no wise to be compared with the modern piano. It is so diminutive that its real excellence is obscured. It is sixty-six inches long, twenty-three and a half inches wide, and thirty-three inches high. Its legs, six in number, are as slim and of the shape as those of a stand or small table. The legs are square, tapering to the bottom, slightly beaded. Four of the legs are on the front of the piano. At each end, underneath the piano proper, are small music-closets, with doors opening to the front ; while still nearer the player and underneath are shelves with gracefully rounded cor- ners. Just above the legs handsome brass rosettes are set upon the body of the instrument. There are two pedals, one being used to prolong the notes, and
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 137
the other serving a double purpose. One of Its uses is to increase the volume of sound somewhat by lift- ing a section of the top of the piano or lid near the front 5 the other use of this pedal is to produce an imitation of the firing of cannon, — in this case a slam-bang operation as the player suddenly lifts the section of the top referred to, and as suddenly lets it fall. This was the novel and taking feature of the instrument j and Miss Waite, afterwards Mrs. Rogers, created quite a sensation in the dawn of the present century by her rendering of battle pieces with this banging accessory. The following is the lettering in the usual place : —
New Patent
Astor and Comp'y
Cornhill, London.
'79
The figures ' '79 ' are supposed to indicate that the instrument was made in 1779.^ It was imported about the beginning of the present century, and was brought from Boston to Salem, being wrecked on Cat (nov/ Lowell) Island in its last brief passage. In one of the odd ' cupboards ' of the piano the writer found a venerable music-book full of pieces of music, bear- ing the following imprint : —
" ' Printed and sold by Gottlieb Graupner at his musical academy, No. 6 Franklin street, near Frank-
1 The figures " '79" do not denote the date, but No. 79, Corn, hill, London. H. m. b.
138 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
lin place, where the best collection of songs and other pieces for any instrument will be daily augmented by new productions. Pianofortes for sale, to let, and tun'd in town and country at the shortest notice.' "
John Jacob Astor, before he came to Am- erica, resided in London, and was connected with a brother in the sale of musical instru- ments ; and this piano came no doubt originally from their firm. At the Rooms of the Essex Institute may be seen a small piano made by Broadwood, of London, in 1791. It is usually considered that the pianos manufactured by the Broadwoods are the best made in England. The Clementi pianos were at one time much used in this country. The following advertisement, from the Salem "Gazette," offers one for sale:
P. A. von Hagen, jun.,
InJlru£lor of Vocal and Injirumental MUSIC,
RESPECTFULLY informs the Public that he now refides in SALEM, at the houfe next to Mr. B. Webb's Inn, Eflex-Street, where he will be happy to receive the commands of thofe who may wifh for anything in the line of his profeffion. He alfo informs thofe Ladies and Gentlemen who
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
139
live in the country, and neighbouring towns, that he can make it convenient once a week regularly to wait on them.
N. B. Piano Fortes and other kinds of Inftruments tuned and regulated in town or country, at the (horteft notice.
t|^§=^ A warranted Piano Forte for Sale, made in London by B. Clementi.
Salem, 061. 10, [1800].
According to the '' Palladium," upright pianos were made in Boston in i8ij: —
COMMUNICATION.
''FIAT yusricur
MESSRS. EDITORS.
I am induced to hand you the enclosed statement of the " Franklin Musk Manufactory^' No. 6, Milk- street, Boston, in consequence of having observed in your last Palladium the following paragraph: —
140 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
" A Cabinet Piano Forte has been lately manu- " factured in New York, and is there said to be the " first ever made in the United States."
Since the year 18 13, above fifty upright Cabinet Piano Fortes (many with two and several with three strings to each key) have been manufactured at No. 6, Milk-street. The present arrangement of the Manufactory furnishes two Instruments complete per week; but the demand exceeds the number manu- factured very considerably. Since the above men- tioned period, Twenty Church and Chamber Organs^ of large dimensions and extended scales, averaging from five hundred to four thousand dollars, have also been made as above, and there are now building two elegant Church Organs, one of them will exceed four thousand, the other one thousand dollars, both of which are contracted to be delivered the ensuing Spring.
JOHN R. PARKER,
Agent to the Proprietory.
[Feb. 23, 1819.]
We insert here a very appropriate poem by Dr. Holmes, referring to the Clementi piano, which we copy from Dwight's " Journal of Mu- sic," though the poem originally appeared in the "Atlantic Monthly" for March, 1859:
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
T4I
Five-Octave Piano, Light V/cod and Mahogany, made by Eroad- wood, 1791, now at the Rooms of the Essex Institute, Salem.
THE OPENING OF THE PIANO. By Oliver Wendell Holmes.
In the little southern parlor of the house you may have seen,
With the gambrel-roof, and the gable looking west- ward to the green,
At the side toward the sunset, with the window on its right.
Stood the London-made piano I am dreaming of to-night !
142 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Ah me ! how I remember the evening when it
came ! What a cry of eager voices, what a group of cheeks
in flame, When the wondrous box was opened that had come
from over seas, With its smell of mastic-varnish and its flash of ivory
keys !
Then the children all grew fretful in the restlessness
of joy; For the boy would push his sister, and the sister crowd
the boy, Till the father asked for quiet in his grave, paternal
way, But the mother hushed the tumult with the words,
" Now, Mary, play."
For the dear soul knew that music was a very sover- eign balm :
She had sprinkled it over Sorrow, and seen its brow grow calm,
In the days of slender harpsichords with tapping, tinkling quills.
Or carolling to her spinet with its thin, metallic thrills.
So Mary, the household minstrel, who always loved
to please. Sat down to the new " Clementi," and struck the
glittering keys.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 43
Hushed were the children's voices, and every eye
grew dim As, floating from lip to finger, arose the " Vesper
Hymn."
Catharine, child of a neighbor, curly and rosy-red (Wedded since, and a widow ; something like ten
years dead). Hearing a gush of music such as none before, Steals from her mother's chamber and peeps at the
open door.
Just as the " Jubilate " in threaded whisper dies, " Open it ! open it, lady ! " the little maiden cries (For she thought 'twas a singing creature caged in a box she heard), — Open it ! open it, lady, and let me see the bird / "
((
Terms for music tuition in 1798 : —
PIANO FORTE. J. H. Smith,
Organiji and Profejfor of Miiftc^
REfpedlfully informs the Ladies and Gentlemen of Portfmouth and its vicinity that he teaches the Piano Forte, Harpfichord, Spinnet, Singing, the Vio- lin, Tenor, Bafs Violin, and Flute.
144
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Mr. Smith has taught in the firft families and young ladies' boarding Ichools in the United States and Europe. He begs leave to obferve that when parents fent their daughters to boarding fchools, either in Bofton or New-York, they pay 4 dollars entrance, and 4 (hillings a lefTon.
His terms will be 2 dollars entrance, and 2s6 a lelTon. He tunes instruments for 2 dollars. M. S. hopes for fome encouragement, and will pun6lually attend to any line or meffage left at his lodgings — Capt. Smith's, Water-ftreet, near the Hotel.
Port/mouthy Nov, 9, 1798.
Oracle of the Day.
In an advertisement from the '^ Columbian Centinel" of 1806 there is represented a piano of that period : —
New Patent Piano Fortes.
FOR Sale, at the Bos- ton Piano Forte Ware-house, corner of Short and EJfex Streets^ di- re6tly oppofite the Glafs- Houfe, by P. A. VON HAGEN & CO., a large alTortment of
NEW PATENT PIANO FORTES, (by the laft arrivals from London^) with additional Keys ; fome an o6lave above the common Pianos ; made by Geo, After cs' Co, and Riker^ Barlow ^ Co,
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
145
Jlfo — a grand Englifh, and a few American Piano Fortes ; Barrel Organs ; French Concert Horns ; Hautboys ; Clarionets ; Flutes ; Violins ; Strings ; and Inftru6lion Books.
f^^ Piano Fortes Let^ and tuned in town or country^ as ujual. July 30.
Five and a half Octave Piano, made by Clementi & Co., London, now at the Rooms of the Essex Institute, Salem.
Lately received, and for Sale at the Store of Benj. Dodge, EJfex St., Salem [being a confignment),
AN excellent toned patent PIANO FORTE, with additional keys, made by J. Ball, Lon- don, and warranted by P. A. Von Hagen, jun. and
Co., Bofton.
10
146
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Where may alfo he had Harpfichord, Guitar, Violin, Bafsviol, and Double Bafs Strings, Crow Quills, Clarinet, Hautboy, and BafToon Reeds, Books of Inftru6lion and Mufic for different Inftruments.
A good aflbrtment of Englifh and India Goods, as ufual, cheap for cafh or approved credit.
\_Ga%ette\ July 27, [1798].
In the Boston '' Patriot " of 1830 is repre- sented a grand piano of that date : —
GRAND PIANO FORTE.
J A. DICKSON, at the Music Saloon, No. 36, • Cornhill, (late Market street,) has just received from the Factory of R. & W. Nunns, a horizontal Piano Forte^ with the grand Piano action. The tone of this instrument surpasses any ever manufactured either
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
147
in Europe or America. The public are respectfully invited to call and examine this Piano. Orders re- ceived and punctually executed.
^ Also on hand^A very extensive assortment of up- right and horizontal Piano Fortes, of superior manu- facture and very low prices. All instruments sold at the Music Saloon are warranted, and exchanged if defective in any way. eoptf. july 24, [1830].
148 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XXIV.
SECULAR MUSIC,
CASTA LI AN FOUNT.
MUSICK.— AN ODE.
THE various paflions of the foul Are under Musick's vaft controul When Genius ftrikes the lyre ; Hark ! how the fweetly foothing ftrain DifFufes love thro' every vein, Avi^akening foft defire.
Anon the rapid notes impart Extatick fury to the heart,
Bellona vv^ields her fpear : The coward now a hero feems, Of laurell'd enfigns, vi6tory dreams,
Devoid of pallid fear.
Now, like the voice of Philomel^
Th' elegiack notes are taught to fwell.
And pity melts the heart ; The lover views th' untimely bier. And flieds the fympathetick tear,
Compeird by magick art.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 49
And now th' allegro notes entrance : Let gay-eyed Pleafure lead the dance,
Her rofeate wreaths entwine ; Lo ! Beauty, by the Graces dreft, Refponfive heaves the raptur'd breaft,
And owns thy pow'r divine.
Columbian Centinel^ 1789-
The '' Columbian Songster " was, we believe, one of the earliest collections of secular music published in this part of the country. This was advertised in the *' Centinel " in 1798 : —
yuft publifhedy price i dollar^ neatly bound and
lettered^ fold by
E. LARKIN, A"^. 47 Comhill,
q^HE COLUMBIAN SONGSTER, and J- ir^f yI/<7/^«'j Pocket Companion. A Col- lection of the neweft and moft celebrated Sentimental, Convivial, Humorous, Satirical, Paftoral, Hunting, Sea, and Mafonic SONGS, being the largeft and beft collection ever publiflied in America.
Selected by S. Larkin. ExtraSls from the Preface, " The Editor is happy that, after having taken great pains, and having fpared neither trouble nor ex-
150 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
penfe, he is able to prefent his friends and the pubHc with the largeft and (he beheves) the beft collection of Songs ever publifhed in this country.
"In the Mafonic colle6i:ion he has been able by the help of a variety of books and the kind affiftance of friends, to form vi^hat he hopes will prove an agree- able companion to his brethren in general ; he aflures them that he has taken great care in fele6ling that none but fuch as are genuine fhould be admitted. He has taken the liberty of adding at the end of the volume the celebrated and much admired tale of " Monfieur Tonfon^^ which he doubts not will be acceptable, and which he conceives not improper to infert in a collection of this kind.'*
The same year was published in Northamp- ton, by D. Wright & Co., *' The American Mufical Mifcellany," with over one hundred songs set to music. The editor says: ''Their aim has been to cull from a great variety of ancient fongs fuch as have been at all times generally approved."
In this collection appears a fine old English hunting-song, of which we give the words as there printed, as a specimen of the kind of songs in the work : —
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I5I
The dufky night rides down the fky,
And ufhers in the morn; The hounds all join in jovial cry,
The huntfman winds his horn.
Chorus. — And a-hunting we will go, etc.
The wife around her hufband throws
Her arms to make him ftay : " My dear, it rains, it hails, it blows;
You cannot hunt to-day."
Yet a-hunting we will go, etc.
Sly Reynard now like light'ning flies.
And fweeps acrofs the vale ; But when the hounds too near he fpies.
He drops his bufhy tail.
Then a-hunting we will go.
Fond echo feems to like the fport,
And join the jovial cry ; The woods and hills the found retort.
And mufic fills the fky.
When a-hunting we will go.
At laft, his ftrength to faintnefs worn.
Poor Reynard ceafes flight ; Then hungry homeward we return
To feaft awav the night.
And a-drinking we will go, etc.
152 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Ye jovial hunters, in the morn Prepare then for the chafe j
Rife at the founding of the horn, And health with fport embrace,
When a-hunting we will go.
CONCERT,
WILL be performed on Thursday Even- ing, the i6th inftant, a CONCERT of Vo- cal and Inftrumental Mufick, at Concert-Hall, to begin at 7 o'clock, for the benefit of Oliver Barron^ one of the unhappy men who were caft away on Grand Manan ; by which accident he had the misfortune to freeze his feet to fuch a degree as to be under the ne- ceffitv of havino; them cut off, which has rendered him unable to fupport himfelf.
Tickets at 3s. each, to be had at the Hall, at Mr. Deverel's (hop, the Poji Office^ and the Bunch of Grapes.
Bojlon., Sept. 8, 1790.
Specimens of American music In 1789 and 1790: —
Scat dJ the Mufes, FOR TH2 MASSACHUSETTS ^fAGA2INE.
The CHARMING CREATURE.
Si'in,
Set bj H. J.
l±±l±:zd::Gtt:^
t'other day in harmlef* chat, With Sylvia I was v/alkm^, A5 - mir - ing this.
T \
.tnmng th»t> To - gcthferfwecdy -talking j Yoan^ Damon met us. :.Ta.'.the *^— r-^l- :?Trr—T-lP"^-~^ f^T^
i-i--
-t—
"i^"
-Il-r
gcovej With joy h» ev'Vy > feature; He prcfsMnrjr hand, then whlfperi'dlovei:
rddz^ fcp^ g 1^^
O what
::n:zt::t:fczziz:
3/ charming creature !
EE±|rfe
what a charming
His parflion oft times he exprefs^^^
In words To foft and kind, I felt a fomething in my breaft.
But doubts Were 5n my mind. I toM him he with Doll was fcen.
And fure he came to fneet her ^ He vow'd I was his only queen,
O what a charming creature t
To yonder church, then fliall'we|;o?
He preft me to comply j (How can the men thus teazB one Co 1
I try'd f^om him to fly : ^ And will nry Delia name ihe^day ?
Let Dd-mon kindly greet her ? Thus elofel/ prcft, what cOiiSd 1 fajT
To fuch a charming creature I
April, 1790
ODE for American INDEPENDEKTCE,
Jui:i £^h, 1789.
By DANIEL GEORGE.— —Set by HORATIO GARNET. J *Tis done! the edict paft, by • Pleav'n da --creed. And"
£ "fit- #^ X~?~ *- • IT" i r~ I r'T^r f-~[ t. "T P P" > S !r Ti^
I 'r-^!^|:l~ " ' '~i:T"'~'i~~f:~k^ f"i — ^"LKj "I 1 i y- —
i fpicioivs ^jiom Vv'as ix\dcpcr.dcnce bom : Fro - - pi-tious da)' J
For>e .
i
Lf,.t.;.j. Tf _:» .J c. .r ui.n. a : . . I
Hail \hc V - nit - td Scares of bleft A - - mer - i - - - ca
t±:c.-5ui^tEs^±rE::t:::i:::::c-±:-r.dzi:c::;:r
chorus, ,. — _
3—^ 9)..
fc:
■i—
.,^■1.-.^-.
Fly I Fly I Flvj fwift-wirg'd Faaic, The ne \vs, ihc^
/">,
^ ^ ^^ iT^
newi pro-ciaim: 3trc«n fliore to Ihore Lef can -D-nons roarj And
r^J^S
^ ^ ^ /-> /^.
^:x
i iztE^bzH±Er3:HEiFtE^±E3rt:zi^
jov - . - fi;| vo'C - . - . C3 , mout Co - lumbia'i nam?, j]iout
x:^:^z -^; ■,:j::zg^-»lr»ziz^ — p. — .gZ-p.irfL.-
.# — I L-T, I r L_L__— L._«_L. j_— 4.J_..
•F—
I t-p~n-U-t----Ftz^'""'r- f -p^'-rp^^-'l^i — ~- — ""•'"
*T'">-'~ "~y"~' Zri i^~Z":ZT-!!I|Z_|rX*
I 7~ir""'^f"-f'r — T-^'^^zs'X'^iirrT-zzzzirizzzzzrzzi!
J^XI -,'-: ■ L.-X.pi^L.™( — -i ^J— U— — Xfi ^
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC I 57
See haughty Britain, fending hofls of foes, Pa]e terror marches on, with folemn ftride; With vengeance arm'd, our freedom to op- Cornwallistrembles.Britain'sboafted pride; But Washington, the Great, [pofe : He, and his armed hofls,
Difpeird impending fate, Surrender ah their pods
And fpurn'd each plan : [man. To Washington, [fon.
Americans, combine to hail the godlike The friend of Liberty, Columbia's fav'rite
Chorus. — Fly , fwift-wing' d Fame, S:c. Choktjs.— Fly, fwifi-wing-' d Fame, &c.
Let Saratoga's crimfon plains declare Now from Mount Vemou's peaceful fliades
The deeds of Gates, that " thunderbolt of again [train:
His trophies grac'd the field: [war:" The Hero comes, with thoufands in his
He made whole armies yield — 'Tis Washington, the Great,
A vet'ran band : [withftand. Muft fill the chair of (late,
In vain did Burgoyne ftrive his valor to Columbia cries: [the (kies.
Chorus. — Fly , fwi/t-wi7ig' d Favie, &c. Each tongue the glorious name re-echoes to
Chorus. — Fly,/'wift-wi/ig^'d Fame, Sac. Now Yorktown's heights attracfl our wond'-
ring eyes, Now (hall the ufeful arts of peace prevail.
Where loud artill'ry rends the lofty (kies : And commerce flourifh, favor'd by each There Washington commands, Difcord forever ceafe. [gale;
With Gallia's chofen bands, Let Liberty and Peace
A warlike train ; [o'er the plain. And Juftice reign ; [train.
Like Homer's conq'ring gods, they thunder For Washington protects the fcientific
Chorus — Fly,fwijt-wi7ig''d Favie, &c. Chok\:s.— Fly, /wi/t-wi7ig'd Fame, &c.
From the MassacJnisetts Magazine.
The '' Essex Gazette," uncder the head of '^ Boston, Sept. 23, 1773," says : —
"Yefterday being the Anniverfary of his Majefty's Coronation, Guns were fired and the MiHtary paraded. In the evening was a grand Concert of Mufick at Con- cert Hall, and a number of Fire Works were played
off in King St."
•
A ^'Simphony" Concert in Boston, in 1775, ^^ Concert Hall. From the ''Mas- sachusetts Gazette," May 12th: —
m8
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
By particular Dejtre.
The great Approbation ex-
prefled at the late Concert has emboldened Meffi'rs Morgan and Stieglitz (at the particular Requeft of a Number of Gentlemen) to Advertife their Friends That there will be on WEDNE SD A Y, the i8th Inftant, at CONCERT HALL,
A Grand CONCERT
Of Vocal and Inftrumental MUSIC, accompanied by the Band of the 64th Regiment,
ACT ift. Overture. — Guilielmi ift. Concerto. — Barbant. Song.-"All in the Downs, &c." Harpficord Concerto, Mr. Selby^ Simphony. — G. Flute, accompanied with Kettle Drums,
ACT 2d. Overture — G ffec33d
Song. Solo.— G Flute. Song, " Soldier tir'd of Wars Alarms" from the Opera of Artaxerxes, accom- panied with the Kettle Drums, &c. Solo, — Violin. To conclude with a Grand Simphony by Lord Kelly^ accompanied by Kettle Drums, &c.
1^ TICKETS at Half a Dollar each, to be had at the Britifh Coffee-Houfe, at Meffi'rs Cox and Berry'^^ at Mifs Cuming^ in Cornhill, and of Meffi'rs. Steiglitz and Morgan, To begin at 7 o'Clock.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 59
To the lovers of Music. R. EDWARD REYNOLDS, late from Dub- lin, intending to remain in this town a short time, for the purpose of performing on the
IRISH UNION PIPE, Most respectfully informs the Ladies and Gentlemen of Boston and vicinity that he would be happy to at- tend any party or private family, if requested, at any time during the day or evening.
Mr. R., who is esteemed the most celebrated per- former on said instrument in America, can at any time be engaged by calling at Mr. J. Byrne's, No 4. Water-street.
Those persons who have an ear for music cannot fail to be agreeably entertained.
march 21. Columbian Ceyit'inel^ 18 1 2.
From the Newport ''Mercury," Sept. 12,
1774: —
Juft publlflied (price 2 fhillings in blue paper), and to be fold at William Bailey's Hardware ftore in Thames Street, Mifs Afhmore's favorite collection of Songs, as fung at the Theatres and Public gardens in London and Dublin. To which is prefixed of the Padlock Lionel and Clarifsa and many other opera fongs never before publiflied ; containing in the whole near Three hundred, in which are many original and a
l60 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
variety of other fongs by different compofers, allowed to be the beft of the kind yet publifhed, and may be well termed, The beauties of all the fongs feleded.
From the " Centinel," June, 1793*.
A Grand CONCERT of Vocal and Inftru- mental MUSICK.
WILL be performed, at CONCERT-HALL TO- MORROW Evening, the 20th inft.
For the Benefit of MefTrs Selby and Fick^
Confifting of
The Overture of Henry I Vth.
A French Song, by M. Mallet,
A Clarinet Concerto, by M. Foiicard,
A French Song, by Madam Douvillier^
A Violin Concerto, by M. Boidlay,
An Italian Duetto, by Meffrs Pick and Mallet,
A Flute Concerto, by Mr. Stone,
La Chajfe, Compofed by Hojfmeijier,
A Piano Forte Sonata, by Mr. Selby,
A French Trio, by Madam Douvillier,
[ Mejrs Pick and Mallet. A Violin Concerto, with the famous Rondeau of Ma I brook,
[by M. Petit, A Duetto on the Harmonica, by Meffjs Pick and Petit.
A Symphony, Compofed by Pichell
MefTrs S'elby and Pick having already expe- rienced the Boftonian liberality, will exert themfelves to merit an extenfion of it, on the prefent occafion.
S^^The Concert will begin at 7 o'clock precifely. TICKETS may be had at Concert-Hall.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
i6i
DRUM AND FIFE IN 1775.
In the Essex Institute, Salem, there is a very ancient-looking book of manuscript music, which contains the air of " the tune played on Drum and Fife when Col. Pickering's Regi- ment marched from Salem to Lexington, April 19, 1775." ^^ ^^ called by the very pleasing name of " Black Sloven." It would not now be regarded as a very great production, but no doubt it was inspiring to the troops of that day. We give an exact copy from the book : —
^JtrjuilffltJ^l^jtif
t^h ^W r t |t^^^^
y t^'*
^
II
1 62 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Concert at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1796. From the " Oracle of the Day."
Concert.
Mrs. Arnold
IV /TOST refpeftfully Informs the Ladles & Gentle- ■^^ ^ men of Portfmouth fhe intends having a CONCERT at the JJembly Room on Wednefday, Auguft 3d ; aflures them fhe will ufe her every exertion to render the entertainment of the evening worthy their patronage; the following is a part of the fe- le6tion for the occafion : —
SONG. The Bonny Bold Soldier. Mrs. Arnold.
SONG. The Market Lafs. Mrs, Arnold,
SONG. Ellen, or the Richmond Primrofe Girl, as fung by Mrs. Arnold repeatedly at the Bojlon Theatre^ with univerfal applaufe, accompanied on the Forte Piano.
Mrs, Arnold, VOL UNTAR r PIE CES,
SONG.
Henry's Cottage Maid. Mrs, Arnold.
SONG. By moonlight on the green. Mrs, Arnold.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 63
SONG.
The heaving of the Lead. Mrs. Arnold.
SONG. Oh llften, liften to the voice of Love. Mrs. Ar7iold.
SONG. Mary's Dream, or Sandy's Ghoft, by particular defire, accompanied on Forte Piano. Mrs. Arnold.
Subfcription one Dollar each Gentleman, admitting one Lady; each additional Lady, half a dollar. AIu- fic will be provided for thofe Ladies and Gentlemen who choofe to have a Ball after the Concert.
Subfcription papers to be left at Capt. Fiirnifss and at Mr. Daniel Syniess.^ Daniel-flreet.
Concert to begin precifcly at half pafl fcve7i.
Portfmouth, July 21, 1796.
From the *' Centlnel/' 1792:
Mr PICK, Mujician,
(lately arrived in town) "UAS the honour to acquaint the Publick that
he gives leflbns of Vocal Mufick, and for the Violin, the Alto,
the Piano-forte, the Guittar, and the French-Horn To be fpoke
with at Mrs. Gray's, State-Street. July iS
Music advertised in Salem and Boston :
164 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Songs.
The patriotic Songs of Adams and
Liberty^ and The Green Mountain Farmer^ with the Mufic, are for Sale by
B. B. MACANULTY.
1798.
FOR SALE BY
Thomas C. Cujhing^ The American Ladies'
POCKET BOOK for 1799;
Aljo,
The Humming Bird, or
New American Songfter.
1799.
Muftcal Magazine.
Wis Day is publijhed, at P. A. VON HAGEN,>«. and Co.'j, No. 55, Marlboro' -Street.,
THE Favorite Song of Momijeer Nong tong paw. Sung by Mr. Hodgkinson lafl: evening at the Thea- tre, with the greatell applaufe. -^l/o,
Truxton's Victory ^ and the much admired
Song in the Caftle Spe6lre. March 30, 1799-
OLDEX-TIME MUSIC.
165
CONSERVATORY.
LAST CONCERT this SEASON.
M MALLET refpedfuUy informs his • Friends and the PubHc generally that on Tuefday, May 19,
A Concert of Vocal and Inftrumental Mufic Will be given at the Confervatory-Hall^ Rowe's Lane, for his
BENEFIT.
part I.
1. Overture of Chirnene, Compofed by Sachini.
2. Air, Sung by Fil Trajetta^ accompanied on the Oboe, Clarinet, tenor and bafs, MeiTrs. Graupner^ Granger^ Schaffer^ and Mallet^ FiL Trajetta,
3. Concerto, Clarinet, Mr. Granger (by defire).
SCHAFFER, of Bofton.
4. Song, " My plaint in no one pity moves." Mrs. Graupner^ accompanied on the Clarinet by Mr. Granger^ Storage.
1 66 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
5. Concerto, Violin, Fil Trajetta^
FiL Trajetta.
6. Glee, " Come, all Noble Souls," Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Graupner, and Mr. Mallet^ Fil Trajetta.
part II.
1. Overture on the Piano Forte, Mr. Mallet, ac- companied by MefTrs. Graupner and Trajetta,
Ha YD EN.
2. The favorite Song of "The Wolf," Mr. Mallet, Shield.
3. Concerto Bafs, Mr. Mallet, Breval.
4. Song, " The Soldier Tir'd," Mrs. Jones^
Dr. Arne.
5. Concerto, Oboe, Mr. Graupner, Le Brun.
6. Song, " Come, fweet Sleep," vi^ith accompani- ments on the Siftre, by Mr. Mallet, Gluck.
7. Duett, " Bid me, when forty Winters," MefTrs. Story and Mallet, S. Web be.
J^^^The Doors will be opened at half p aft 6, and the Concert commence precifely at half p aft 7 0^ clock.
Tickets, one Dollar each, to be had at This Office, Congrefs Street ; of Mr. Mallet, Court-Street ; of Mr. Graupner, Sweetfer's Alley; and at the Conferva- tory-Hall. — Boston Gazette, 1801.
From General Oliver we learn that —
" Monsieur Mallet was a French gentleman of much respectability who came to this country with
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 67
Lafayette, and served in the army of the Revolution to the end of the w^ar. He then settled in Boston as a teacher of music, declining to receive any pension. He was among the earliest publishers of music in Boston, the friend and business partner of the cele- brated Dr. G. K.Jackson, and predecessor of Graup- ner, the famous double-bass player, whose music-store was in Franklin Street." ^
Gottlieb Graupner, a German, Mr. John S. Dwight thinks, had greater influence than perhaps any one else in musical matters in Boston. Upon his arrival in that place in 1798 "there was not half a score of profes- sional musicians in town." He advertises a concert in Salem May 15, same year.
Mr, Graiciiier s Concert.
New Concert Hall, Market-Street,
MR. GRAUPNER refpeftfully informs the Ladies and Gentlemen of Salem and its vicinity that his benefit Concert is fixed for
This Evening, 15th inft.,
When he flatters himfelf the feledion of the Mufic and the abilities of the feveral performers will render the evening's amufement worthy of their patronage. 1 First Centenary of the North Church, Salem.
i68
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Part I ft.
Grand Symphony, By Pleyl.
Song: On by the fpur of ) ^^_ ^,^j,,^^ g^.^,j_ valour goaded, )
Clarinet Quartetto, Meflrs. Granger, ) Laumont, von Hagen and Graupner. ) Song : He pipes fo fweet, Mrs. Graupner. Concerto on the French Horn, Mr. Rofier. Ponton. A favourite new Song : ^
Little Sally's wooden >Mifs Solomon. Ware, J
Full Piece,
Part 2d.
Vogel. Hook.
Arnold.
Hayden.
Linly.
Quartetto : Who fhall deferve the ^
glowing Praife ? Mrs. Graupner, (
Mr. Granger, Mr. Collins and C
Mr. Mallet, )
Concerto on the Clarinet, compofed and performed
by Mr. ShafFer.
A new favourite echo Song : How do you do? Mrs. Graupner, and accom- panied on the Hautboy by Mr. Graupner.
Concerto on the Violin, Laumont.
A comic Irifti Song : Bofton news, Mr. Collins.
Concerto on the Hautboy, the compofition of the celebrated Fifher, Mr. Graupner.
Hook.
Foder.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 69
Duet, Hey Dance to the Fiddle and Tabor, from the much-admired Opera of Lock and Key, Mrs. Graupner and Mr. Collins.
Finale, Pleyl.
Number of Perfonners^ 1 2 Doors to be opened
at 6 o'clock, and the performance to begin precifely at half afterfeven . hi confequence of the advice offome friends, Mr. Graupner has reduced the price of the Tickets to half a Dollar each, which viay be had at Capt. Webb's Sun Tavern Poft-Office, Printi fig- Office, of Mr, Graupner at Mrs, Hunfs, Market- Street, and at Mr, Ofgood's Store, under the Hall. — Salem Gazette.
Cottftt\5ator^.
A/TR. STORY refpedfully informs his Friends and the Public that
TO-MORROW Evening, Nov. 6 [1801], % Concert of ^ocal anti ^fitfitrumeittal f^wm Will be given at the Confervatory-Hall,, Rowe's-Lane, FOR THAT NIGHT ONLY.
170 OLDEN-TIME xMUSIC.
PJRT I.
1. Overture to Lodo'ifka ■ - - - - -
2. Song (the Hare Hunt) ----- Mr. Story.
3. Song (Blue Bell of Scotland) - - Mrs. Graupner,
4. Harmony ---------- Rofetti.
5. Song (Sweet Maid, at whofe melodious
lay) -------- Mrs. Graupner.
6. Duet (Bid me when forty winters)
Meflrs. Story & Malkt,
7. Simphonie ---------- PleyeL'
PJRT II.
1. Overture De Chemene ----- SacchtnL
2. Song (The fweet little Girl that I Love) Mr. Story,
3. Solo Oboe ------- Mr. Graupner,
4. Song (the Fafhions) - - - - Mrs. Graupner,
5. Song (When freedom on the foaming
main) --------- Mr. Story.
6. Full Piece ---------- PleyeL
7. Triumphant Glee of the Red Crofs Knight's return-
ing from the Holy Land
Mrs. Graupner^ Mr. Story^ & Mr. Mallet.
Jl^™" The Doors will be opened at half paji 5, and the Concert commence at half paJi 6, o"* clock.
TICKETS, ONE DOLLAR EACH, To be had at Russell and Cutler's Office, Congrefs-ftreet, and at the Conservatory-Hall.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. IJl
FROM THE CENTINEL.
A correfpondent favs, Dr. Berkenhead and Co. entertained the inhabitants of Salem with a " Con- cert " on Thurfday evening. Wafhington Hall was filled. Mrs. Berkenhead, though indifpofed, fang with feeling and tafte ; Mrs. Spencer with emphafis and correclnefs ; and Mr. Spencer was loudly ap- plauded, and repeatedly enchored by the gallery boys ! The Baftile, by the Do6tor, was admirably played on an elegant Harfipchord, belonging to a refpe(?table family in that town. — Salem Gazette^ ^19^-
PANHARAIONICON.
THE public are respectfully informed that there will be a GRAND CONCERT by the PANHARMONICON every MONDAY, TUES- DAY, and THURSDAY Evening until further notice. The pieces will be performed in the follow- ing order : —
PJRT I.
1. Overture du Retour de Zephir - - Stiebelt.
2. Three Military Marches - - - Naderman.
3. Creation of the World - - - - Haydn.
4. Andante -------- Haydn.
5. Waltzes -------- Maelzer.
PAR r 11.
6. Overture la Clemenza di Tito - Mozart.
7. Military and Pastoral - - - - Rigel.
172 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
8. March and Rondo ----- March and.
9. Celebrated Echo ------ Cherubini.
10. Military Symphony ----- Haydn.
N. B. Admittance to the MUSEUM and PAN- HARMONICON 75 cents. Music to commence at 7 o'clock precisely. Admittance to the Museum through the day 25 cents. nov 27 [1816].
Franklin Music Warehouse,
JA^"^. 6, Milk- Street, UST received from Vienna, two excellent hori- zontal Grand Piano Fortes with six pedals, making a variety of tones, consisting of the Harp, Spinnet, Bassoon, Drum and Bell Stops, which are offered for sale very low for cash. Also^ lately finished, sixteen elegant upright cabinet Piano Fortes, of brilliant tones, from two to five hundred dollars. Likewise^ a very elegant upright cabinet Piano Forte of Rosewood in- laid with brass and brass mounted, a superior instru- ment in tone and workmanship, at seven hundred fifty dollars, together with a very extensive variety of London-made upright, grand, horizontal and square Piano Fortes, from Clementic & Co., forming the greatest assortment of Instruments ever offered for sale in this metropolis.
Several elegant church and chamber Organs of su- perior tones and quality, from one to twenty-five hun-
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 73
dred dollars. Lately received and just published, "The Waterloo March and Introduction, with a Finale," " Lord Wellington's grand March and Waltz," " Lord Wellington's Trumpet March," to- gether with " The Cobourg Trumpet March." The public are informed that The Franklin Music Ware- house will be generally supplied with the latest and most fashionable Music, Songs, Pieces, &c. from New-York and Philadelphia, and that the Establish- ment is constantly receiving New Music from Eng- land, which is daily reprinting by the Proprietors* AlsQ^ a few remaining copies of the Battle of New- Orleans — a few copies of Dr. G. K. Jackson's Chart Books. Just published, a new Catalogue of fifty thou- sand pages of valuable and choice Music, with a gen- eral and extensivevariety of every article in the Music line. — Columbian Centinel^ Jan i, 18 17.
ATTENTION !
Grand Musical Concert of New Invention,
THIS EVENING,
AT 8 O'CLOCK, AT THE
New-England Museum,
A^^. 76, COURT-STREET,
By SIGNIOR HELENE,
Lately from Italy, and just arrived from New- York, where he performed upwards of thirty nights.
174 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
with very great applause, being the only person in the U. States who can play on five Instruments at once. He will play on the
Italian Violin, Chinese Bells,
Pandean Pipes, Turkish Cymbols,
and Tenor Drum, at the same time. And, astonishing to relate, all in unison and perfect time. He will also occasionally accompany the Italian Violin with his mouth, in imitation of the Mocking Bird.
He will play a great variety of Marches, Waltzes, Contra Dances, and French and Italian Airs. The novelty and excellence of this performance cannot fail to please. — Columbian Centinel, August 13,
[,819].
♦ Pofitively the Laft Evening Concert,
SIGNOR PUCCI
HAS the honor to inform the Ladles and Gentle- men of Salem that by particular desire he will give another
CONCERT
THIS EVENING, Friday, August 18,
On the fashio7iable and much admired King David's
PEDAL HARP and the SPANISH GVITAR,
At Hamilton Hall — To commence at 7 o'clock.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC I 75
PART I.
Grand Overture on the Harp. General Jackson's Grand March. French Air — a Gevudire Mama, Polacha, with seven variations. Waltz, by Stabalt. Song — The Cruel Maid.
PART II.
(By particular desire) Song — Hope told a Jiatter'uig tale. Symphony, by Girowitz.
Italian Air — O Cara Ainante^ accompanied with the
Guitar. Song — Jlosanfan^ duT la Patri {^Marseilles Hymn). Several lively pieces. Copenhagen Grand Waltz. To conclude with several National Airs.
From the satisfaction he has given in the principal cities of the United States, Signor Pucci flatters him- self with the honor of such a full company as will indemnify him for the heavy expenses attending his
exhibitions Performance to commence at 7 o'clock
precisely. — Tickets to be had at the Post-Office and at Messrs. Gushing & Appleton's Bookstore — Price One Dollar. — Salem Gazette^ Aug. 18, 18 15.
176 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
VOCAL CONCERT.
THE Miss GiLLiNGHAMs, of Ncw-York, respect- fully announce to the Public that they have arrived in this city, and that they propose giving a CONCERT of VOCAL MUSIC, under the direc- tion of Mr. Paddon, of New-York, THIS EVEN- ING, at Boylston Hall.
The following is the order of the Concert :
PART I.
Grand Overture, for four hands, on the Piano Forte, by
Misses A. & L. Gillingham, Mozart.
Song, Qual Pallor — Miss Louisa Gillingham, Portogallo.
Duett, Vahhi colli — Misses A. & L. Gillingham, Winter.
Song, Adieu, thou lovely youth — Miss E. Gillingham, Arne.
Song, Sweet bird — Miss L. Gillingham, Handel.
Ballad, Kate Kearney — Miss L. Gillingham, Davy.
Duett, Ah se del mall miei — Miss L. Gillingham and Mr. Paddon, Rossini.
PART II.
Duett, Crudel Perche — Miss L. Gillingham and Mr.
Paddon, Mozart.
Song, Fly, soft Ideas — Miss L. Gillingham, Arne.
Duett, Ti veggo — Misses A. & E. Gillingham, Winter.
Song, If o'er the cruel tyrant — Miss L. Gillingham, Arne.
Trio, Lieti fiori — Misses A., L. & E. Gillingham, W^inter.
Glee, The Chough and Crow— Misses A., L. & E. Gilling- ham and Mr. Paddon, Bishop.
The ladies will be accompanied by several of the most respectable professors in the city.
Tickets may be had at Mr. Parker's, Washington- street ; at Mr. Hewitt's, Market-street ; and at the door in the evening.
Performance to commence at J past 7 precisely.
Colujnbian Centittel^ Aug. 23, 1826.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 77
EXTRAORDINARY CONCERT. I 3 LEWIS respectfully informs his Friends and -■- • the Public that his Children's Concert will take place at Boylston-Hall
On THURSDAT next, the m inst. Their respective ages are as follows : — Master P. Lewis, 8 years of age ; Master James Lewis, 7 j and Miss Ann Lewis, 4.
ORDER OF THE CONCERT,
PART I. The Hailstone Chorus, arranged as a Duet — Organ —
Masters P. & J. Lewis. Handel.
Duet — Dulce Concerto — Piano Forte, do. do. Mozart.
Lesson — Piano Forte — Miss Ann Lewis. Challoner.
Duet— Violins — Masters P. & J. Lewis. Pleyel.
Sonata — Pedal Harp — Master P, Lewis. (After seven
weeks' practice on that difficult Instrument.) Barthelemor.
Duet March — Piano Forte — Master P. and Miss Ann Lewis. Sonata — Piano Forte — Master J. Lewis. Stiebelt.
Battle of Prague — arranged as a Duet — Piano Forte ;
Masters P. & J. Lewis. Kotswara.
PART II. The Horse and his Rider — arranged as a Duet — Or- gan; Masters P. & J. Lewis. Handel. Duet March — Piano Forte — Master P. & Miss Ann Lewis. Concerto, do. do. — Master P. Lewis. Cramer. Duet — Violins — Masters P. & J. Lewis. Pleyel. Sonatina — Pedal Harp — in which are introduced the
fav rite Airs of Blue Eyed Mary and the Copenhagen
Waltz. Lesson — Piano Forte — Miss Ann Lewis. Challoner.
Solo — Violin — Master P. Lewis. Kreutzer.
Overture — arranged as a Duet — Piano Forte ; Masters
P. & J. Lewis. Mozart.
Finale — Grand Hallelujah Chorus— Organ ; Master
P. Lewis. Handel.
12
178 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Tickets of admission, at $1 each, to be had at the Franklin Music Warehouse, No. 6, Milk-street ; at Mr. Parker's Circulating Library, No. 12, Cornhill ; at Mr. Lewis', No. 15, Carver-street; and at Boyls^ ton Hall, on the Evening of performance.
Concert to commence at 7 o'clock. Apr. 2.
Boston Centitiel^ 18 19.
CONCERT,
MR. and MRS. PJPANTI Respectfully inform the Ladies and Gentle- men of Salem and vicinity that they will give a
CONCERT
Of Vocal and Instrumental Music
At Concert Hall,
TO-MORROW EVENING, Sept. i.
PART I.
1. Song — Mrs. Papanti, " Like the gloom of night retiring." Bishop.
2. Solo — French Horn. Mr. Papanti. Robin
Adair, with variations, Pinzanti.
3. Sacred Song — Mrs. Papanti. Eve's Lamen- tation. King.
4. Solo — French Horn. Mr. Papanti. Hunter's
Horn. Phillips.
5. Song — Mrs. Papanti. Love Letter. Bishop-
6. Song — Mrs. Papanti. Harp of Love. Mazzinghi.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I 79
PART II.
7. Song — Mrs. Papanti. " Go, my love." Bishop*
8. Solo — French Horn. Mr. Papanti. Tyrolese
Air, with variations. Miseria.
9. Sacred Song. Mrs. Papanti. "If e'er when
solemn stillness." Mozart.
10. Divertimento. French Horn. — Mr. Papanti. Affamati.
11. Italian Song. Mrs. Papanti. — "Una voce
poco fa," from the Barber of Seville. Rossini.
12. Finale. Horn and Piano Forte. Grand
Waltz. Mozart.
Performance to commence at 1-2 fast 7 d clock.
Tickets at 50 cents — to be had at the Book stores of Messrs. Whipple & Lawrence, J. R. BufFum, J. M. Ives, and at the door.
Aug. 31. Gazette^ 1826.
GONGSRT.
MBS. nSANGEON,
IN announcing to the Public of Salem her last CONCERT, is gratified in stating that such announcement is in compliance with the general wish of its inhabitants. She is further happy to acquaint those ladies and gentlemen who may honor her efforts with their presence that she has been successful in procuring the aid of the several performers who met their approbation on the former occasion, viz : —
l8o OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
MR. OSTINELLI, 1^ MR. MANGEON,
MR. BURROUGHS, MR. STEWARD, MRS. OSTINELLI, MISS EBERLE.
CONCERT AT FRANKLIN HALL
To-MoRROW Evening, May 26.
PART I.
Glee — "Oh Lady Fair" — Mr Burroughs, Mrs Mangeon and
Miss Eberle. Song—^'- Whilst with Village Maids I stray " — Miss Eberle. Song — "Black-eyed Susan "—Mr Steward. Sojig — " Should he upbraid " — Mrs Mangeon. Song — " Dulce Domum " — Mr Burroughs. Dtiett—''^ All's Well " — Mr Burroughs and Mrs Mangeon. Song — " Auld Robin Gray " — Mrs Mangeon. Song — " Bart'lemy Fair " — Mr Mangeon. Concertante — Piano Forte — Mrs Ostinelli.
PART II.
Glee—^'T\it Wreath"— Mr Burroughs, Miss Eberle and Mrs Mangeon.
Song — "Hunting Cantata" — Miss Eberle.
Song — " Is there a heart " — Mr Burroughs.
So7ig — "The Soldier tired" — Mrs Mangeon.
So7ig — " Rest, Warrior, Rest " — Mr Steward.
Solo — Violin— Mr Ostinelli.
Duett — " Though you think by this to vex me " — Mr Bur- roughs and Mrs Mangeon.
Song — " Truisms " — Mr Mangeon.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. l8l
Finale — (by desire), " Chough and Crow" — Mr Burroughs, Mr Steward, Mr Mangeon, Mrs Mangeon, and Miss Eberle. Mrs Ostinelli will preside at the Piano Forte.
Concert to co7nmence precisely at 8 o'clock. i^^Tickets, half a dollar each, to be had at the Bookstores of Messrs Whipple & Lawrence, and J. R. Buffum, and at the Hall on the evening of the Concert. May 25. Salem Register^ 1826.
gj^^In consequence of the Oratorio given by the Mozart Association, the Concert advertised for Tues- day Evening last is postponed to some future time, of which due notice will be given. It will take place At Pickering Hall^ LAFAYETTE COFFEE HOUSE, on which occasion Mr. and Mrs. GREENE, from the Theatres Royal, Drury Lane and Covent Garden, London, and Mr. WILLIAMSON, of the Boston Theatre, will sing several of the most fashionable and popular Songs, Duetts, Glees, &c., by the most celebrated composers. Also various Concertos, &c., on the Piano Forte, by Mr. Greene. To consist of two Parts, — viz. :
PART I. Glee. " See our Bark." Mr. and ^
Mrs. Greene and Mr. Wil- \- Stevenson, liamson. )
l82
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Song. Duett.
Song.
Duett.
Song.
Glee.
" Ellen Aureen." Williamson.
> Monroe.
}
" When thy bosom heaves the sigh," Mrs. Greene and \Braham, Mr. Williamson, (by desire) " The Carrier Pigeon." Mr. William- son, accompanied by him- self on the Piano Forte.
Words by Percival
music composed by
"All's Well." Messrs
Williamson & Greene.
" Sweet Home " (from the \
Opera of Clari, or the Maid > Bishop,
of Milan), Mrs. Greene. )
" The Bonny Boat."—
Mrs. Greene and Mr. \ Beethoven,
Williamson.
P. K, Moran, Corn,
PART II.
Concerto. Piano Forte. Mr. Greene.
New Song. " Why are you wan- dering." Mrs. G.
Trio. " Nature's self is love." \
Mr. and Mrs. Greene and > Clifton, Mr. Williamson. )
Kalkbrenna.
Anon,
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 83
Battle Song. " The last words
of Marmion." Mr. Wil- !> Dr. Clarke. liamson.
Duett. " When a little Farm we
keep." Mrs. Greene and \ Mazzinghi* Mr. Williamson.
Song. "The Mocking Bird."
(From the opera of the J- Bishop. Slave.) Mrs. Greene.
Glee. "The Chaffin Crow."
Mr. and Mrs. Greene, and J- Bishop. Mr. Williamson.
5}:^Concert to commence precisely at 7 o'clock.
■^^■^ Tickets to admit a Gentlemen and two Ladies, $1 50 ; single tickets 75 cents, — to be had at J. R. BufFum's Bookstore, Whipple & Lawrence's Book- store, and at the door on the evening of performance.
March 9.
Salem Gazette, 1826.
Mr. Henry J. Finn was a very popular comic singer in Boston for several years. He was lost in the steamer '' Lexington,'* which was burned in Long Island Sound in January, 1840. We give one or two of his songs as specimens : —
184 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
[The following appropriate Song was written by- Mr. Finn, of the Boston Theatre, and sung by him at the late benefit given to the Boston Fire Depart- ment.]
Dear Ladies, I'll sing you a song.
And I'm certain that I'm in the right of it ; It's 2i flaming affair, but not long,
Tho' the Firemen here may make light of it. One fire they like, without doubt.
Which is lit by the loves and the graces, — 'Tis the brilliancy here breaking out
From the windows — of beautiful faces !
To a fireman's calling I mean
To draw a few parallel cases ; In the course of my song 'twill be seen
What a number of folks it embraces. The ladies are firemen by trade :
When we ring all the helles round about, sirs, A Coquette often dies an Old Maid
Because she's put all the sparks out, sirs.
The duellist swears that his ire
Is any thing else than a joke, sirs ; But before he can get to the "^r^,"
The affair has all ended in smoke^ sirs. The dandy exclaims in his glory,
" I'm in love, damme, past all endurance ;
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC 185
Tho' on fire in my uppermost story ^ You see I've enough of assurance ! "
When a Fireman leaves his own fire
For the tavern, segars, and the bowl, sirs, No wonder wives feel a desire
For hauling him over the coals, sirs. To all fires, as soon as begun.
You know very well what a race he has ; There is one^ tho', from which he will run,
And that's from 2i fieri-facias.
Cold water we get, and such slops ;
Yet from one in the morning till twelve, Sirs, We've so frequently taken our drops^
We've become ardent spirits ourselves, sirs. May our children be Firemen complete,
And from fortune this boon we will beg, sirs : May they never want pumps to their feet,
And always have hose to their legs, sirs.
When Monarchy built up his crown,
Our old father-firemen took, sirs, Their Ladders to pull his house down,
And they did it by hook or by crook, Sirs. But my ditty has now been about
Long enough in all conscience to tire men ; As our Company's given to spout^
We'll all play-away like good Firemen.
[1830.]
1 86 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
SONG sung by Mr. Finn at the Public Dinner,
A BILL OF EXTRAORDINARY DUTIES
'^ Laid upon the Table.'* Mr. Chairman, we meet here, sir, to support our Constitntion, But 'tis not meat that we discuss one vaoxt joint resolution : If out of order, order me out, sir, if you see fitting ; But I'll adopt a standing rule if you'll prolong the sitting.
Fal lal de ra, &c.
Having now reported progress of our masticating movements, Appropriations also made for internal improvements, A vote of thanks ior fresh supplies I move, that we exalt 'em, And Cod fish on a Saturday we'll elevate — per saltum.
I now propose to name our Acts, which here demands no thin voice, Tho', like a catalogue of freight, I'm not exactly in voice : Our first act is to tell our Guest, when for our rights contending, We do not know an Act of his that ever needs amending.
The Question now before us, Mr. Chairman, in my view, 'tis Important, as it teaches us to know our bounden duties : Our import duties are sky-high, they are growing quite aerial, For even Cannibals, untax'd, consume the raw material.
We now see through the motive for the duty upon Glasses, And Honey Moons are rising, for we've tax'd the sweetest 'Lasses ; We may import a Slave, if he'll but shave his head and chin, sir. But there's a heavy duty on all Wool upon the Skin, sir.
The tax is light when in white lead our money is invested, But Leadm Figs, I've heard folks say, is hard to be digested. We should take off the tax on Hemp that's manufactur'd — stop, sir : As that takes off so many Rogues, we'll let the subject drop, sir.
The duties will on Iron-goo^s, I'm told, advance the prices ; If so, I guess we shall import much fewer foreign Vices. In Politicks the duty's meant to cure a party-failing. To put on Presidential roads, less Irony in railing !
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 87
To keep the thread of argument, however some may ivarp it, The question, while I have 'Ocv^ floor, is now upon the carpet. We'll pay for foreign Carpets ; 'tis our duty ne'er to cease, sir, To shake and beat the Turkey one until it's free from Greece, sir.
The duty upon Indigo will raise our Spirits too, sir : We cannot now upon the Common get the uncommon blue, sir. And next to know your se7ise upon the Wine-bill I propose, sir, To put the question to the Mouth and take the Eyes and Nose, sir.
Tho' Canvas s-s,2S[s are rated higher now than Cotton-sacks, sir, We'll pay the duty on the Duck to get the Canvass-back, sir. The duty on smok'd articles our pleasure shall not mar, sir ; We'll have, at least before we go, a draw-back on Segar, sir.
In Committee of the Whole, and I'm sure there will be plenty.
The nation soon will join us — " N'emine dissentiente."
Before the house adjourns, sir, tho' there's not a hint to budge
meant, I move a vote of *^ three times three*^ to "a DANIEL come to Judgment" [June 15, 1828.]
1 88 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XXV.
ODE TO MUSIC.
The effect of music belongs how much to the place, — as the church, or the moonlight walk ; or to the company ; or, if on the stage, to what went before in the play, or to the expectation of what shall come after. — R. W. Emerson.
"pROM the "Columbian Centinel," Aug. •^ g, 1806: —
Wtft JTount.
Mr. Russell, — The following ode was written nearly 200 years fince, and I doubt much whether during that period any thing better has been written upon the fubjeft • —
w,
MUSIC.
HEN whispering streams do softly steal With creeping passion through the heart j And when at every touch we feel Our pulses beat and bear a part ; When threads can make A heart-string quake, —
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 89
Philosophy Can scarce deny The soul can melt in harmony.
O lull me, lull me, charming air !
My sense is rock'd with wonders sweet ! Like snow on wool thy fallings are ; Soft, like a spirit's, are thy feet. Grief who needs fear That hath an ear ? Down let him lie. And slumbering die. And change his soul for harmony.
In Emerson's '' Parnassus " we find this ascribed to William Strode, with another verse, which we copy ; —
When unto heavenly joys we faine Whate'er the soul afPecteth most, Which only thus we can explain By music of the heavenly host, Whose lays we think Make stars to wink, — Philosophy Can scarce deny Our souls consist of harmony.
190 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY AT KINg's CHAPEL, 1 815.
The music in my heart I bore Long after it was heard no more.
Wordsworth.
ON Christmas evening, 18 15, an oratorio was given at King's Chapel by the Handel and Haydn Society. This concert appears to have excited a good deal of Interest. The late General Oliver, who was present on the occasion, remembered that It was common- ly considered the finest performance of sacred music that had ever been heard in Boston ; it left with him, he said, an impression that he never forgot. Probably greater preparation had been made by the new Society than usual. The " Columbian Centlnel " of December 23 thus notices the forthcoming event : —
HANDEL & HATDN SOCIETT, We are happy to see it announced in the papers that this respectable Society have appointed a time to favour
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. I9I
the public with an opportunity of hstening to their performances. If we are correctly informed of the principles upon which the Society is instituted, it is certainly entitled to public support and patronage. Among its members are almost all the principal vocal performers of Sacred Music in this and several of the neighbouring towns, and we feel confident that their powers, united with those of many of the principal professional and amateur performers of instrumental music, will furnish an intellectual repast that must prove highly gratifying to the lover of Sacred Music. 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. Their members are not entitled to any compensation for their services, and the monies that may be collected at their public performances are appropriated to the discharge of all incidental ex- pences and the surplus for purchasing scarce and valuable music. One of their most important objects is to create and cherish in the community a love of Sacred Music and to improve the style of its perform- ance ; and as their members emanate from every Society of public worshippers, each may reasonably expect to derive some benefit from the united exer- tions of the whole. We ardently wish them to per- severe in their labours, and most sincerely say, " Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces."
192 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
We give, from the ^' Centinel," the pro- gramme : —
SACRED ORATORIO,
unt/n *++* u/i'jcn
THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY
WILL PERFORM
AN ORATORIO,
Consisting of a selection of pieces of Sacred Music, cJiiefly
from the Works ^Handel ^«</ Haydn,
On Monday Evening, the 25th instant,
In the STONE CHAPEL, in School Street. g@==To commence at 6 o'clock.
UKiCn *++* coovjo
ORDER OF PERFORMANCES,
PART I.
FROM THE CREATION, BY HAYDN.
Recitative — In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth, &c. CHORUS — And the Spirit of God moved upon the
face of the waters, and God said, let there
be hght, and there was light. Recitative — And God saw the light, that it was
good, &c. Air — Now vanish before the holy beams the gloomy,
dismal shades of dark, &c. Air — Affrighted fled, &c.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 93
CHORUS — A new created world springs up at God's
command. Recitative — And God made the firmament, &c. CHORUS — The marv'lous work beholds amaz'd,
the glorious hierarchy of heaven, &c. Recitative — And God said. Let the waters under
the heaven be gathered together, ^c. Air — Rolling in foaming billows, &c. Recitative — And God said, Let the earth bring
forth grass, &c. Air — With verdure clad the fields appear, &c. Recitative — And the heavenly host proclaimed the
third dav, &c. CHORUS— Awake the Harp, &c. Recitative — And God said. Let there be light in
the firmament, &c. Recitative & Air — In splendour bright is rising
now the sun, &c. CHORUS — The heavens are telling the glory of God,
&c.
PART n.
CHORUS— They played in Air, &c. Air — I know that my Redeemer liveth, &c. CHORUS — Sing ye unto the Lord our God, &c. Air — He shall feed his flock, &c. CHORUS — Lift up your heads, &c. Air — Let the bright Seraphim, 8ic. DUET & CHORUS— By thee with Miss, O bounte- ous Lord, the heaven and earth are stored. 13
194 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
PART III. DUET — The Lord is a man of war. CHORUS — He gave them hailstones for rain. Air — 'Tis Liberty, dear Liberty alone, &c. DUET — Come, ever smiling Liberty. CHORUS— When winds breathe soft, &c. Air — O ! had I Jubal's lyre.
CHORUS — The Lord shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah ! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. — *» —
^^g^^TicKETs of admission may be obtained at the Bookstores of Munroe, Francis & Parker, and West & Richardson, Cornhill ; of David Francis, Newbury street, near Boylston Market ; Robert Fennelly, Prince street ; and G. Graup- ner, Franklin St. Tickets^ $i.
N. B. — Gentlemen who wish to take xh^xx families are informed that on purchasing y^^wr tickets they will be presented with a fifth gratis ; and those purchasing six will be entitled to two additional ones.
December 23, [18 15].
On the 27th of December the " Centinel '* speaks thus enthusiastically of the concert:
THE ORATORIO
Of Sacred Music by the Handel and Haydn Society was given on Monday evening in the Stone Chapel. We have not language to do justice to the feelings experi-
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 95
euced In attending to the inimitable execution of a most judicious selection of Pieces from the Fathers of Sacred Song. We can say that those who were judges of the performances were unanimous in the declaration of their superiority to any ever before given in this town. Some of the parts electrified the whole auditory, and notwithstanding the sanctity of the place and day, the excitements to loud applause were frequently irresistible. The performers amounted to about one hundred, and appeared to embrace all the musical excellence of the town and vicinity. We shall not particularize, but some of the Solos merited every praise. The Chorusses were sublime and ani- mating. 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 de- sirous of being present were prevented by the engage- ments of Christmas. For this cause, as well as to be indulged in a double gratification, we hope this Ora- torio will be immediately announced for repetition.
From the following notice we infer that the Philoharmonic Society aided at this concert :
HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY.
AN adjourned meeting of the Handel and Haydn Society will be holden at the Chapel Church, in School Street, this evening at half past five o'clock, which meeting the members of the Philoharmonic Society are respectfully invited to attend. Dec. 23.
196 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
The Handel and Haydn Society was organ- ized April 20, 1 8 15, with the following list of officers : —
President^ Thomas S. Webb.
Vice-President^ Amasa Winchester,
Treasurer^ Nathaniel Tucker.
Secretary^ Matthew S. Parker.
Trustees^ Elnathan Duren, Benjamin Holt, Joseph Bailey, Charles Nolan, Ebenezer Withington, John Dodd, Jacob Guild, W. K. Phillips, and S. H. Parker.
The Society occupied a hall in Pond Street. Their first performances consisted of selec- tions from the '' Lock Hospital Collection of Music " and the " Massachusetts Compiler." At their first concert, Dec. 25, 1815, the chorus numbered one hundred, of whom ten only were ladies, and they had an orchestra of about a dozen pieces, with the organ. Nine hundred and forty-five tickets were sold, of which the net proceeds were five hundred and thirty-three dollars. The performance was repeated Jan. 16, 18 16. The Society was rep- resented as "being now the wonder of the nation,"
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 97
CHAPTER XXVII.
Haydn's "creation" in boston in 1819.
Music, in the best sense, does not require novelty ; nay, the older it is, and the more we are accustomed to it, the greater its effect. — Goethe.
TN February, 1819, the Handel and Haydn ■^ Society gave the oratorio of the *' Crea- tion." This was the first time that it had been given entire in this country. The Bos- ton *' Palladium" announced the concert, with- out naming the hall in which it took place. The same paper thus afterwards spoke of the
performance : —
COxMMUNICATION.
Messrs. Editors,
On Tuesday evening last the Handel and Haydn Society^ in performing Haydn's Oratorio of the Crea- tion, gave the public a very rich musical treat. It surpassed every preceding exhibition of that very per- severing and useful Society. The numerous and highly respectable auditory were universally and greatly delighted. The Oratorio of the Creation is the most finished, learned, and sublime work of the celebrated Haydn.
1 98 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
To get up this Oratorio, the Society, I understand, have been at great expense of time and money, as it has been in rehearsal twice per week for near two months. It is the first time it has ever been performed entire in this country. And as a very small part of the lovers of Sacred Music in this metropolis and vicinity have had an opportunity of hearing this wonderful production, it is earnestly requested by many that it may not be laid aside till it is again exhibited. And the sooner it is performed, the more interest, it is pre- sumed, it will excite in the public.
A well-wisher to the Handel and Haydn Society,
A once popular piece advertised in 18 17 in the " Columbian Centinel : " —
STRIKE THE CYMBALL.
JUST Pubhshed by G. GRAUPNER & CO., No. 15, Marlboro' street, the favorite Air of Strike the Cymbal^ arranged for the Piano Forte.
Dec. 24.
Here is a letter from the Trustees of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston on certain proposals for publishing the " Crea- tion " by subscription : —
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 1 99
PROPOSALS
BY FARNHAM & BADGER to publish, by subscription, HAYDN'S CREATION, an ORATORIO; for the voice, organ, piano forte, and violin ; with the choruses in score.
The following Letter from the Board of Trustees of " the Handel and Haydn Society^'" expressing their high estimation of the CREATION, cannot fail of exciting in the Public an interest to the Work ; and coming from such authority, will serve as a strong pledge that the expectations raised will be fully rea- lized by the Amateurs of our country while they per- form the sublime strains of the immortal Haydn.
Boston^ August 8, 18 17.
Gentlemen, — The Trustees of the Handel and Haydn Society have received with great pleasure your favor of the 4th instant, announcing your intention to publish, by subscription, that sublime composition of Sacred Music, by Haydn, called the CREATION.
Were the Society in possession of sufficient funds, they would not hesitate to subscribe very liberally; but they strongly recommend it to every member of the society individually, to lend his mite, and subscribe to aid its publication.
The Trustees are sensible that the price proposed is very moderate, and does not exceed one third the price of the English copy. — They not only recom- mend this Work to the members of the Handel and
200 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Haydn Society, but are solicitous that every member of the Community who possesses musical feelings should study and enjoy the beauties of this Oratorio^ which contains some of the most delightful Melodies and some of the most sublime Chorusses ever penned by man.
The Trustees wish you may meet with the most ample success, and will subscribe in behalf of the Society for as many copies as the state of their funds will justify.
By order of the Board of Trustees.
MATTHEW S. PARKER, Secretary,
Messrs. Farnham & Badger.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 20I
CHAPTER XXVIII.
MUSICAL ANECDOTES AND CURIOSITIES.
The Power of Music. — Music is nothing else but wild sounds civi- lized into time and tune. Such the extensiveness thereof that it stoop- eth so low as brute beasts, yet mounteth as high as angels. For horses will do more for a whistle than for a whip, and by hearing their bells jingle away their weariness. — Thomas Fuller.
I
N his Memoranda of the Choir of the Nprth Church, General H. K. Oliver says: —
" Philip Frye was a most skilful inflater of the bel- lows. This in the old organ was a double apparatus with two handles, between which, in the rear of the instrument, the blower stood, alternately working one handle up, and the other down, — somewhat like the beam of a steam-engine. Dr. Holmes well describes the labor of this 'brother-player' in his humorous 'Organ-blower,* which is so exact and true that it is inserted here : —
' O brother with the supple spine, How much we owe those bows of thine ! Without thine arm to lend the breeze, How vain the fingers on the keys !
202 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
* Tho' all unmatched the player's skill, Those thousand throats were dumb and still. Another's art may shape the tone, The breath that fills it is thine own.'
" General Oliver always made it a point to thank his faithful helper at the close of service. For vv^hat were the player without the blower, — as the former was once made to feel when in the midst of playing a hymn-tune the organ ceased with a dying wail ! On running to the rear to seek the cause, he found that his helpmate, wearied with rising and sinking (the hymn was a four-verse, six-line long metre, with the thermometer at 90°, and a summer afternoon), had dropped into ' sound ' slumber, and
* In sleep serene and calmly laid, ObHvious of the needed ' blows,* With deep-drawn breath and full he played The diapason of the nose, — So full, so rich, and all so clear and strong. The echoing pipes the snorting strain prolong.' "
The Rev. C. T. Brooks thus describes this personage in some " Rhymed Reminiscences/' — a poem read at the North Church Centenary in 1872 : —
" What grave, gaunt form now stalks before my eye .? — O prince of organ-blowers, Philip Frye !
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 203
That suit of black, that sober Sunday face,
Threw o'er thee such a sanctimonious grace
That strangers sometimes have been known to
err, And take the blower for the minister. But what a change when Monday morning
came ! Can this, I often wondered, be the same, The very self-same, Philip that I meet Mincing and simpering down through Essex
Street ? The long-tailed Sunday-coat of black displaced By a blue jacket of the shortest waist ; The Sunday visage too is laid aside, The air of holy reticence and pride ; The Sabbath spell is ofF, — with common men Lo ! Philip is a man, yea, boy, again ! But soon as Sunday morn again comes round The reverend Philip at his post is found. Where in the pauses of his holy toil. As if anointed with invisible oil. He looks from out his cell complacent round. Rapt with the memory of the solemn sound. With large, contented eyes, that seem to say, * Have we not done the music well to-day ? ' "
Frequently Philip would say to members of the congregation, " How d' ye think I and Master Oliver made out in that last tune ? " or.
204 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
'' Didn't we give you some pretty good music last Sunday ? "
FATHER TAYLOR AND JENNY LIND.
When Jenny Lind was in this country she once attended the Seamen's Bethel Church in Boston, where the celebrated Father Taylor was pastor. Strange to say, on this very occasion the good pastor happened to take " social amusements " as the theme of his discourse, without in the least dreaming that the fair vocalist formed one of his congregation. In the course of his sermon the preacher strongly deprecated dancing, card-playing, billiards, theatre-going, etc. ; but, among other things, was strong in his approval of music. He paid a glowing tribute to the power of praise, to the goodness and charity of most of the great vocalists, and especially of "that greatest and sweetest of them all now lighted on these shores." Suddenly Father Taylor was interrupted by a lank and lean interloper on the pulpit stairs, who, with more wit than wisdom, inquired of the reverend gentleman whether any one who died at Jenny Lind's concerts would go to heaven. Taylor was equal to the emergency. " A Christian," he loudly replied, " will go to heaven wherever he dies j and a fool will be a fool wherever he is, — even if he is on the steps of the pulpit." — Crowest's Musical Anecdotes.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 205
Anecdote of Ole Bull from the Salem " Observer : " —
Ole Bull. It is said that Ole Bull arrived at New York on Evacuation Day, and although he by no means considered the parade to be in honor of his arrival, yet we are told a conversation took place at the Astor House something like the following: —
Ole Bull : Vat is de cause of dis display ? 'Tis not dat I arrived today ? I tink 'tis something for de Nation ?
Stetson : 'Tis what we call Evacuation !
When, after seven long years' delay, We drove old Johnny Bull away.
Ole Bull : I tink 'tis little dat you win, —
Old Bull went out, Ole Bull come in ! [New York Sun.
It appears from the- Philadelphia ** In- quirer " that Ole Bull had quite an adventure on his way from New York to that city : —
The cars stopped about ten miles from Phila- delphia, when Ole Bull, a friend, and a servant, with Bull's favorite violin in a box, asked a person who was standing; near how far it was to the citv. The reply was, " About three miles." Whereupon the great violinist laughed at the distance, and set out on foot. The cars got in hours ahead j but Ole Bull was waited for by a number of friends, and was heard
206 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
to remark, on arriving at the depot, that American miles were much longer than those of the Old World, for he had never travelled three such miles in his life.
[Dec. 9, 1843.]
An Ancient Musician. Purcell, the famed mu- sician of the 17th century, died in London in 1695, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. He was but 37 years old. It is said that his untimely death was occasioned by having been kept standing one cold night at his own door for a considerable time, in consequence of his wife's displeasure at his having staid too late at a convivial party. His monument was erected by the Lady Elizabeth Howard, Dryden's wife ; and the following beautiful epitaph inscribed on it was written by the illustrious poet himself: " Here lies Henry Purcell, Esquire : who left this life, and is gone to that blessed place where only his own harmony can be exceeded." — Observer^ 1843.
Musical Taste of the Germans. The following extract from Russell's notice of the Viennese accounts for the general taste for music which so distinguishes the German character. How must this peculiarity strike those who regard a musical performance as
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 207
one of the deadly sins, and look upon a fiddle- string as a snare set by the Evil One to capti- vate the unwary sinner ! —
Wherever cards — those sworn enemiesof everything like amusement or lightness of heart, those unsocial masks of insipidity and tedium — do not intrude upon their private parties or family circle, music is the never- failing recourse. Concert playing is their great delight, as well as their great excellence, and hence that admira- ble accuracy of ear which is so observable in the Vien- nese. So soon as a boy has fingers fit for the task he betakes himself to an instrument; and this, alas! is fre- quently the only part of his education that is followed out with much perseverance or success. From the moment he is in any degree master of his instrument he plays in concert. A family of sons and daughters who cannot get up a very respectable concert on a moment's notice are cumberers of the ground on the banks of the Danube. This practice necessarily gives a high degree of precision in execution, and to a certain extent even delicacy of ear ; but still this is in the Viennese only a habit, and a very artificial one. They may become more accurate performers than the citizens and peasantry of the South, but they will never feel the influence of " sweet sounds " with half the energy and voluptuousness which they infuse into the Italian. The enjoyment of the former is con- fined to the powers of the instrument ; the latter car-
208 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
ries the notes within himself into regions of feeling beyond the direct reach of string or voice. The one would be lost in the singer ; the other would forget the singer in the music. — Salem Observer^ Dec. 17,
1825.
♦
"YANKEE DOODLE."
From Dwight's Journal of Music. Copied from the Boston " Post," July 24, 1858.
Kossuth informed us that the Hungarians with him in this country first heard " Yankee Doodle " on the Mississippi River, when they immediately recognized it as one of the old national airs of their native land, — one played in the dances of that country, — and they began immediately to caper and dance as they used to in Hungary. It is curious that the same air should be found in old Biscay.
It has been stated, we know not upon what au- thority, that the air of " Yankee Doodle " is the same as that of " Lucy Locket," and is as old as the time of Cromwell, when it was called " Nankee- Doodle." In the time of the old French war (1755), when the New England troops commanded by Gov- ernor Shirley were encamped with the regular British troops on the Hudson, near Albany, Dr. Shacksburg, a surgeon of the British army, remodelled the old tune and called it " Yankee Doodle " as a joke, in derision of the New England volunteers, who admired
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 209
the tune J and it soon became a general favorite throughout the American camp. It was suggested, it is said, by the quaint and ludicrous appearance of the American volunteers as they came into camp, — some in black suits, some in blue, and some in gray. Some had long coats, some short ones, some had no coats at all. Some of them had long hair, some short, and some wore enormous wigs. With a great variety of accoutrements, they furnished altogether a good deal of sport for the regular British troops.
14
2IO OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XXIX.
CHOIRS.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears, and sometimes voices That if I then had waked after a long sleep Would make me sleep again.
Shakspeare.
SACRED MUSIC.
From the Boston Evening Gazette.
Mr. BuRDiCK — You not long since published some useful remarks * respecting the performance of Church Music. — Permit me to add a few hints :
Let persons who sing in the choir stand facing the pulpit. They should keep their eyes fixed on the book, except when it be proper to turn them up to- wards Heaven. — A rolling of the eyes around the church, whilst singing, is very improper.
Beating time with the hand so elevated as to be seen by the congregation has a very awkward ap- pearance.
As the place where the choir sits is very conspicu- ous, it is truly indecorous to indulge in whispering, laughing, or looking over the music during the prayer
or sermon.
[* From the Salem. Gazette. \
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 211
Persons who occupy the pews should not attempt to sing loud, unless they understand the tune. It is enough to throw a hale man or woman into a nervous fever to hear some wretched bawler in a neighboring pew literally murdering a tune. P.
[Feb. 7, 1815.]
MINISTERS AND DEACONS IN THEIR RELA- TIONS TO CHOIRS.
When music in the churches was first in- trusted to choirs, no little cause of vexation and irritation arose between the minister and deacons, and the members of the choir. As late as 1779 Deacon Chamberlain, of Worces- ter, insisted upon reading the first line in the old way, while the singers took no notice of him; and the result was "the deacon, deeply mortified," as the account reads, "at the tri- umph of musical reformation, took his hat and retired from the meeting-house in tears."
In 1785 the Parish of Rowley voted "that the singers, both male and female, be desired to sit in the gallery, and will be allowed to sing once on each Lord*s Day without reading by the deacon."
2T2 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Whenever choirs sang badly they were liable to be scolded by the minister. Dr. F. Bellamy on one occasion rebuked his choir, read another psalm, and said, *' You must try again, for it is impossible to preach after such singing."
Dr. Ritter says : " The musical taste of the chorister was often in contradiction to that of the minister." Choristers sometimes grew strong in vanity and conceit (they are some- times so in our own day), introducing "flashy anthems, boisterous fuguing choruses, and long-spun-out solos." The choirs gradually became very important, and began to claim privileges. A stranger who was once called to officiate in a New England church in absence of the regular minister, and who was not familiar with some of the rules of the choir, offended them so that they would not sing. The preacher, determined not to be put down, read the verses, —
" Let those refuse to sing
Who never knew our God ; But children of the heavenly King May speak their joys abroad."
This had the desired effect.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 213
Another minister had a difficulty with his
choir, and for a while they refused to sing.
At length, however, they appeared in *'the
seats," and the minister rose and read the
hymn, —
" And are ye wretches yet alive ? And do ye yet rebel ?"
ORIGIN OF THE HYMN-TUNE "FEDERAL STREET," ETC.
It was a part of the daily programme of the " Bos- ton Peace Jubilee" of 1872, inaugurated by P. S. Gilmore, to close each day's work with a hymn-tune. On the " President's Day " (so called because of the presence of President Grant), the Coliseum building, in which the concerts were given, was crowded with an immense multitude, — forty thousand people being in the audience, and twenty thousand in the chorus and orchestra. The well-known " Federal Street" was the tune for the day ; and when its turn came, Mr. Zerrahn, the conductor, beckoning out from the crowd of singers its composer, Henry K. Oliver, of Salem, — a man well advanced in years, — led him to the conductor's stand, and gave him the baton. At its signal the great organ gave its mighty utterance, and then chorus and orchestra and the audience (which
2 14 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
rose) took up the strain ; and never was a hymn given forth in such a sweUing volume of harmony, the mul- titude seeming thoroughly familiar with it, and pre- pared to sing its simple, artless, yet grand measures. I doubt whether a dozen persons in the whole assem- blage knew how the tune came into being. It was in this wise : The composer had, after his graduation, held various positions, from teacher to Treasurer of Massachusetts, and had been much before the public, yet he had been always from childhood devotedly fond of music. When he entered college his father, wholly unmusical, prohibited his attempting to play any instru- ment. His musical proclivities seem to have come from his mother, she being a fine singer ; and singers were all the eight children save one. But the pro- hibition of the father was ineffectual ; and the son became familiar with half a dozen instruments, in- cluding the flute and organ. He did not attempt com- position till he was thirty-one years (born in the year 1800) old, when one afternoon, in his library, he read to its close Theodore Hook's novel, " Passion and Principle," — an affecting story, terminating with the saddest results. Laying down the volume, and think- ing of what he had read, there came into his mind the last verse of Mrs. Steele's hymn, — " So fades the lovely, blooming flower." As he repeated the verse an unbidden melody came with it ; and sitting down to a pianoforte in the room, he harmonized the melody and put it on paper, with a change of the initial word
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 215
of the verse from " Then " to " See." When thus scored the composer threw the paper into the drawer of his table. There it remained a couple of years, when Dr. Lowell Mason came to Salem to teach music to classes of both young and adult. Towards the close of the course Dr. Mason asked if any pupil had ever attempted composition, and if so, he said he would be happy to examine it. The tune in the drawer at once came to the composer's mind, and it was placed in Dr. Mason's hands. On returning it, the latter asked permission to use it in his forth- comino; work, called " Boston Academy's Collection of Church Music." Assent being gladly given, it was necessary to give the tune a name. The first impulse of the composer was to give it the name of his wife, but the lack of euphony therein forbade, — " Sally " (Cook) would not answer. He tried in various forms to poetize the name, but in vain ; so he de- cided to call the tune after the name of the street in Salem in a house in which she was reared, wooed, won, and married, and from which, to the music of the same tune, she was many years afterwards buried. " Federal Street " proving an acceptable tune, it was followed by " Harmony Grove," " Morning," "Wal- nut Grove," " Merton," " Vesper," " Hudson," " Bos- worth," " Salisbury Plain," etc., several motets and anthems, and a Te Deum. The author subsequently gathered these into a book, published by Ditson & Co. (120 pp.), to which was added " Oliver's CoUec-
2l6 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
tion of Church Music " (360 pp.), by the same pub- lishers. — Abridged from Rev. S. J. Barrows in the Christian Register; the facts furnished by General Oliver.
ORIGIN OF THE HYMN-TUNE '^MERTON."
General Oliver was for twenty years the director of music and organist of the North Church in Salem, — from 1828 to 1849. One Sunday in 1843, during the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. John Brazer, the hymns for the entire day, six in number, were sent before service to the director^ that he might leis- urely select appropriate tunes. These were all fixed upon, excepting the sixth, which was to close the afternoon service, — it being Dr. Doddridge's beautiful hymn, '^ Ye golden lamps of heaven, farewell ! " All through the day the director could recall no tune which he thought well adapted to the words. The clergyman had got well on in his sermon in the afternoon, and the director had made no selection ; as, however, he was conning the words over, more intent upon them than upon the words of the preacher, a melody floated
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 21 7
into his mind, and taking paper and pencil, he secured it, adding the parts in score for his own use, and then giving to each singer his part on a slip. The singers were of rare ex- cellence, both in voice and skill ; and the new tune, given with earnestness and effect, took at once.
The next day General Oliver accidentally- met Dr. Brazer, who inquired about the new tune, its author, and where it could be found, adding that he did not remember ever to have heard it before. *' I never did myself," replied its author ; and then confessing that he had em- ployed his time otherwise than in attending to the sermon, asked the good minister to forgive his neglect. ^' Oh, yes," said Dr. Brazer; "but look a moment: have I not a right to complain that you, a member of my church, a teacher in my Sunday-school, and the leader of my choir, should have set so bad an example as to be seen by the singers writing music, in- stead of listening to my preaching ? " ''Yes, yes ; I have done evil, in that view of the case," was the reply. " But the thought came suddenly, and had I not pencilled it down it
2l8 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
would have been lost; and now, being secured, it may possibly do some good in its way. I accept the reproof; but tell me, suppose that while we v/ere leading the worship at our end of the church, and the people and their minis- ter were joining therein, either in voice or in spirit, as they should do, some new thought which had not occurred to you during your work at the sermon in your study should sud- denly suggest itself, would you not just quietly pencil it down on the margin of your notes, so that we, the people, might have the benefit of it?" ''Oh, yes," replied Dr. Brazer ; ''I have done that many times, and with good effect too." "Yes, yes," was the retort; "so I have heard. Now don't you think it wrong for the minister of the parish, seated, as he is, in open sight of all the worshippers, to be seen of all scribbling marginal notes while the choir is endeavoring to lead the people in their songs of praise? Hey, Doctor, whose notes are the more sinful, — yours of the margin or mine of the score ? So, in the way of rebuke, let's call it an even thing, and if sin it be, let 's sin no more." A hearty laugh followed
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 219
between the friends, and it was agreed that "sauce for a goose would be sauce for a gan- der." — From facts furnished by General Oliver,
GENERAL OLIVER AND DR. P-
In "old times" religious societies did not, as now, close their places of worship during the hot weather; consequently in summer afternoons the "singing seats" were apt to be rather uncomfortable places, and some of the singers occasionally "lost themselves" for a while during sermon time. On one occasion in the choir of the old North Church in Salem General Oliver, the organist, saw a well-known physician — one of the volunteers — fast asleep, and creeping stealthily up to him, gave the noise of a snore. The Doctor suddenly awoke, and exclaimed, " You lie, I did n't ! "
The old-fashioned country choir described :
CLoir Music — Josh Billings's Advice.
Deer Miss — This is an important epock into your life. The ist thing to make a good quire singer is to giggle a little.
2 20 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Put up your hair in kirl papers every Friday nite, soze to have it in good shape Sunday morning.
If your daddy is rich you can buy some store hair ; if he is very rich, buy some more, and build it high up onto your head ; then git a high-priced bunnit, that runs up very high at the high part of it, and git the milliner to plant some high-grown artafishals onto the higher part of it. This will help you to sing high, as soprano is the highest part.
When the tune is giv out, don't pay attenshun to it, but ask the nearest young man what it is, and then giggle. Giggle a good eel.
Whisper to the girl next to you that Em Jones, which sits on the 3d seet from the front, on the left- hand side, has her bunnit trimmed with the same color exact as she had last year, and then put up your book to your face and giggle.
Object to every tune unless there is a solow into it for the soprano. CofF and hem a good eel before you begin to sing.
When you sing a solow, shake your hed like you was a trying to shake the artafishels off your bunnit, and when you come to a high tone brace yourself back a little, twist your hed to one side, and open your mouth widest on that side, shet the iye on the same side jest a triphel, and then put in for deer life.
When the preacher gits under hedway with his preachin', write a note onto the blank leaf into the fourpart of your note-book. That's what the blank leaf was made for. Git sumbody to pass the note to
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 221
sumbody else, and you watch them while they read it, and then giggle.
If ennybody talks or lafFs in the congregashun, and the preacher takes any notis of it, that's a good chants for you to giggle, and you ort to giggle a great eel. The preacher darsent say ennything to you because you are in the quire, and he can't run the meetinhouse to both ends without the quire. If you had a bo be- fore you went into the quire, give him the mitten ; you ought to have sumbody better now.
Don't forgit to giggle.
CHURCH MUSIC.
Like a broken instrument,
Notes without harmony.
Shakspeare.
What has long been practised in churches is claimed as a prescriptive right ; and the palsied heads of seventy that have sung two thirds of their lives still claim the privilege of torturing their lungs into the praise of God, tho* the performance, if possible, were more excruciating to the audience than the hor- rible notes we have heard mischievous boys utter through a dried and shattered gourd-shell.
There is no class of people so sensitive as singers, and none among whom it is more difficult to preserve harmony.
When the science of musick was less cultivated, and the orchestra had to beat up for volunteers, and
2 22 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
the churches were grateful for the sound of any voice that was barely human^ there was a better excuse for "splitting the ears of the groundlings" with a kind of noise that can only be likened to the "harsh thun- der " of Milton's gates in purgatory.
Musick is one essential part of public worship ; and when the pitch-pipe is tooted in vain, and the teeth of the audience are set on edge by discords, and their patience exhausted by the delays and boltings of the orchestra, we will venture to affirm that their feelings are very ill calculated to give a serious and prayerful attention to the portion of divine revelation there is to be discovered in an eloquent sermon. — Writer in the Boston Evening Ga'Lette^ 1823.
The "Scottish American," Dec. 18, 1861, says : —
" There are sometimes ludicrous effects produced
by repetitions and suspensions of the voice. We
once heard a hymn sung, the second verse beginning
with
He careth for the fatherless, He feeds the hungry poor, And in the pious he delights,' etc.
The tune was one that repeated part of the third line. The consequence was that after ' He feeds the hungry poor,' there came, —
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 223
' And in the pi — And in the pi — ous he delights,' etc.
" We have heard of a case where the fourth line had to be sung in part by the bass voices, and then re- peated and sung by the whole choir. The result was the cry went up from all the bass singers, —
* Send down sal — Send down sal — ! *
And this singular petition was only explained when the choir took it up and finished the line, —
'Send down sal — vation.'
'' As a counterpart to that, the story is told of a stranger who was startled to hear all the women in one of our churches breaking out at the end of the third line with an earnest cry of
' O for a man — ! O for a man — ! '
and his surprise only abated when the choir chimed in, and converted this amorous song into the more spiritual prayer of
' O for a man — sion in the skies ! '
" A few Sundays ago we were amazed to hear the choir of a church proclaim that they were about to engage in an entomological pursuit, as expressed in the following line of a hymn : —
2 24 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
* And we '11 catch the flee — And we '11 catch the flee — And we '11 catch the flee — ting hour ! ' **
Dr. Hodges, in the New York '* Musical Review," said thirty years ago (and the mills are still grinding) : —
" The indefatigable men who manufacture psalm- tunes have labored hard to provide an abundant sup- ply of the raw material. They have furnished tunes for the million, and almost by the million. Judging from the quantity in the market, one would think that this is one of the greatest psalm-singing countries on earth. And yet we may truly say with Dr. Watts : —
' In vain we tune our lifeless songs,
In vain we strive to rise ; Hosannas languish on our tongues, And our devotion dies.' "
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 225
CHAPTER XXX.
SOME SACRED CONCERTS ADVERTISED IN BOS- TON, SALEM, ETC.
Thus he who hears in age some gentle strain, Though long unheard, beloved, remembered well, Feels youthful life and love his heart and brain Renew, and through his weary pulses swell ; And half-forgot time's sadder, riper lore. He roams in song through springs that are no more.
Fanny Malone Raymond, Dwig/ifs Journal of Music ^ 1S60.
/^^NE of the first organ concerts in Salem ^^ was at St. Peter's Church, Thanksgiving evening, Nov. 25, 1790: —
A Concert of f acred
Mufick^ Vocal and hiflrumental^ will he performed in ST. PETER'S CHURCH, on the ^'^.th injiant {being Thankf giving day)^for the purpoje of raifing money for repairing the Organ in f aid Church.
Mr. Selby (7« the Organ ^zuith the BAND/r^w Bofton.
Doors to be opened at 5 0^ clock in the evenings and JJmt at 6 precifely.
Tickets for the ground foor at 1/6, and for the gallery at 9<^., may he had of fohn Dabney^ Daniel Saunders^ fames King^ Benjamin Carpenter^ or fofeph Cabot.
Salem, Nov. 15.
15
2 26 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Miss Sarah Mallet, one of the children re- ferred to in the following advertisement, was for many years organist at the North Church in Salem. Her sister, afterwards Mrs. C. S. Lemon, was in the choir of the same church for years. They were well-known musical characters in Salem : —
Musical Pheiiomenon I
FRANCIS MALLET refpeafully informs the Ladies and Gentlemen of Salem that, at the folicitation of his friends, he propofes giving a CON- CERT of Vocal and Inftrumental Mufic (by fubfcrip- tion), in which he will introduce his children ; one of them a daughter, under eight years of age^ whofe cor- re6t performances have excited the admiration of connoifTeurs in Bofton.
Mr. M. flatters himfelf, from the variety of pieces to be performed, he fhall be able to give general fatisfaclion.
The Concert will take place at Concert-Hall as foon as a fufficient fubfcription is obtained to meet the expences.
j|@^Single Tickets, One Dollar; Tickets to ad- mit a lady and gentleman. One and a half dollar.
Suhfcriptions received at the Book/lore of Meffrs. CusHiNG ^ Appleton. June 14, [1806].
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 22/
CONCERT.
THE Subscriber, by the encouragement of his friends in this town, proposes to give a Con- cert of Sacred Vocal and Instrumental Music, in which the celebrated Hallelujah Chorus by Mr. Handel will be performed. — He most respectfully requests the as- sistance of the Ladies & Gentlemen who performed at his past Concert. He would have waited on the musical performers individually had it been in his power; but the difficulty of finding the residence of all will, it is hoped,- apologize for asking their assist- ance in this way. The Ladies and Gentlemen who may.be disposed to assist in the performance are in- vited to meet at the Neiv Chapel^ adjoining the New South Meeting House, To-Morrow Evening at 7 o'clock.
SAiMUEL HOLYOKE. Salem^ Sept. 17. [Salem Gazette^ 1808.]
FOR THE REGISTER.
A SECOND CONCERT
Is announced for to-morrow evening at the Baptift Meeting-houfe, when, and perhaps for the laft time, the Grand Hallejuhah Chorus will again be performed. '' One of the audience " who attended Mr. Holyoke's laft Concert, and who is perhaps as good a judge of mufical performances as can be produced, afTerted that
228 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
it was "in a ftyle at once creditable to the conductor and performers, and in a ftyle never furpafled on any occafion here, nor perhaps in the ftate." Such praife from fuch authority cannot fail to attra6t the attention of amateurs, and to reward the laudable perfeverance and unceafing endeavors of Mr. Holyoke to be ufeful, with a full houfe. N. S.
Salem Register^ Feb. 8, 1809.
Notice of a grand concert in Philadelphia, 1786: —
PHILADELPHIA, May 30.
|N Thurfday, the 4th of May, at the Reformed German Church, in Race-Street, was per- formed a GrandConcert of vocal and inftrumental muftck^ in the prefence of a numerous and polite audi- ence. The whole Band confifted of 230 vocal and 50 inftrumental performers, which^ we are fully jufti- fied in pronouncing, was the moft complete, both with refpecSl to number and accuracy of execution, ever, on any occafion, combined in this city, and, perhaps, throughout America.
The firft idea of this concert was fuggefted to the truftees of the mufical inftitution by the Commemora- tion of Handel in London, and the Sacred Concert in Bofton. It was planned in January laft, and a feries
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 229
of preparatory meafures purfued until its accomplifh- ment.
Nearly one thoufand tickets were fold, at two thirds of a dollar each, and the net proceeds, after dedu6ling for neceflary expences, have been delivered to the managers of the Pennfylvania Hofpital^ Philadelphia Difpenfary^ and Overfeers of the Poor^ to be applied by them for the ufe of faid inftitutions and unprovided poor. — Salem Gazette.
A GRAND SACRED ORATORIO
Will be performed at the STONE CHAPEL TOiMORROW EVENING,
UNDER the direction of Dr. G. K. JACKSON, assisted by the Theatrical Band and many re- spectable Vocal and Instrumental Amateurs of this town.
Leader of the Band^ - - Mr. Graupner.
PART I.
Overture^ ------- Occasional Oratorio.
Recitative^ Comfort Ye, Messiah — Mrs. Graupner. Jir^ Every Valley, - Messiah — Mrs. Graupner. Chorus^ And the Glory, - - - Messiah. Duetto^ O lovely Peace, Judas Maccabeas —
By Amateurs.
230 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Song^ Why do the nations, Messiah — Mr. Mallett Chorus^ Lift up your Heads, - Messiah. Song^ Arm, arm, ye brave, Judas Maccabeas —
By an Amateur, Chorus^ Break forth into Joy, - Messiah.
PART II.
Overture^ _ _ _ _ Sampson. Song^ Angels ever bright and fair, Jepths —
Mrs. Graupner, Voluntary on the Organ^ - .- - Dr. Jackson.
^ 7 , 7 T^ 77 r Welcome, mip;hty King;, ^ Celebrated Bell) . • j u r- o ;
< Accompanied on the L-a- > oaul.
t rilons by Dr. Jackson. )
Song^ Honor and Arms, Sampson — Mr. Mallett.
Chorus^ Happy vi'e the Star, &c.
Song^ O, Thou tellest, - - - - Messiah.
Song^ The Trumpet shall sound, Messiah —
Mr. StockwelL
C)6(?rwj, Hallelujah (with Trumpet and Kettle Drums),
Messiah.
Doors to be opened at half past 4 — Performance to
commence precisely at half past 5 o'clock.
A single Ticket, $1 — A Ticket to admit a lady
and gentleman, $1 50 — Children's Tickets, 50 cents
each; to be had at Dr. Jackson's, No. 18 Pinkney-
street, and at Messrs. Graupner & Mallett's
Music-Stores, the Bar of the Exchange Coffee House.
oct. 28 [1812.]
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 231
CONCERT OF SACRED MUSIC, VOCAL AND INSTRUMENTAL,
At the Rev. Dr. Morse's Meeting-House, Charles- town,
On TUESDAY EVENING, i8th inst.
— f— Voluntary on the Organ - Mr. Stockwell.
Grand Overture - - Pleyel, full Band.
Song — O thou that tellest / - - . Handel.
Chorus — O thou that tellest ! - - Handel.
PRAYER.
Song — Comfort ye my people - - Handel.
Chorus — Hark ! the Herald Angels sing - Arnold.
ADDRESS.
Song — O God of Creation^ as sung at the Concert at
the Second Baptist Meeting-house in Boston. Chorus — Our Lord is risen - - - Arnold.
Recitative — Already see^ iffc. - - Handel.
Chorus — If^elcome^ welcome - - _ Handel.
Chorus — Loud Hallelujahs - - - Handel.
Chorus — Not all the blood of beasts - - Arnold. To conclude with the Grand Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.
Although the getting up a Concert of Sacred Music is always attended with considerable cost and trouble, it is concluded to have tickets, in order that all those who may be desirous of attending can be accommo- dated with convenient seats at a small expence.
232
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
'Tickets for sale at Capt. Benja. Lor- ing's, Exchange-street ; Dr. Robert Fennelly's, corner of Prince and Salem-streets ; Thomas Wells', Hanover-street ; Wm. K. Phipps', 14, Court-street, Boston; and at Dr. Samuel Kidder's, Jr., Charles- town. Price, 25 cents. April 8.
Boston Patriot, April 12, 181 5
Concert of Sacred Music,
FOCAL ^ INSTRUMENTAL,
AT the Universal Meeting-House in this town, THIS EVENING, PART I. Ode — Hark ! what distant music - ~ - Holden Anthems — Behold I bring you glad tidings Williams Sinner, O why so thoughtless grown - Breillat In this world of sin and sorrow - - - Madan Behold, God is my salvation ----- Selby
Vital Spark of heavenly flame ---_-" Stand up, my soul -------- Purday
PART H. Song — Already see the daughters of the land Handel Anthem — Eternal God, enthroned on high - Mann Anthem — Arise, shine, for thy light is come Williams
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 233
Chorus — Our Lord is risen from the dead Arnold
Anthem — The Lord hath done great things for us
Cooper Messiah — Ye nymphs of Solyma Holden
Chorus — Blessed be the Lord God of Israel Williams
il^^Those who are acquainted with performances of this kind must be aware of the expence necessarily arising ; a Contribution is therefore proposed, leaving it with such as wish to promote this important branch of divine worship to assist in defraying such expence.
Performance to begin at 7 o'clock.
April 20. Salem Register, April 21, 181 5.
Concert in Boston in honor of President Monroe : —
SELECT ORATORIO.
AT the particular request of the Committee of Arrangements of the Town of Boston, the HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY will per- form a SELECT ORATORIO in presence of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THIS EVENING, in Chauncey Place Church— io commence at 5 o'clock.
ORDER OF PERFORMANCE: —
INTRODUCTION.
Grand Military movement, composed for the occasion by F. Granger, called President Monroe's March.
234 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
PART I. Duet and Chorus. Handel. Hail, Judea, happy Land.
Solo — Haydn, Now heaven in fullest glory shone. Chorus — Handel. The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.
Trio — Calcott. Desolate is the dwelling.
Chorus — Handel. He gave them hailstones.
Solo — Shaw, Love much, and be forgiven.
Recitation and Chorus — Haydn. In splendor bright is rising now the Sun. The Heavens are telling the glory of God. ,
PART 11. Chorus — Handel. Welcome, welcome, mighty King.
Ode. Wreaths for the Chieftain,
Chorus — Haydn. Achieved is the glorious work.
Solo and Duet — Handel. Come, ever smiling Liberty.
Trio and Chorus — Avison. Sound the loud Timbrel.
Solo and Chorus — Haydn, The marvelous work.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 235
Duet — Shaw. Thou art, O God, the hfe and h'ght.
Air and Chorus — Peucitta, Strike the Cymbal. To conclude with the Hallelujah Chorus by Handel.
{J:^Tickets, for the admission of one Gentleman and two Ladles^ at two dollars, and single Tickets at one dollar each, may be obtained at the Bookstores of O- C. Greenleaf, Court-street ; West & Richardson, and Munroe & Francis, Cornhill ; S. H. Parker's Circu- lating Library, No. i, Water-street ; C. Callender, Shakespeare Circulating Library, 25, School-street; Franklin Music Warehouse, No. 6, Milk-street ; and at D. Francis' Bookstore and Library, Newbury- street.
Gentlemen who intend to carry Ladies are re- quested to make early application for Tickets, as the number must be necessarily limited.
July 5[i8i7.]
236 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XXXI.
SALEM MUSICAL SOCIETIES.
Music is the universal language of mankind. — Longfellow, Outre- Mer,
TOURING the last year Mr. George M. Whipple, secretary of the Essex Insti- tute, a gentleman of musical taste and culture, has furnished that Society ^ with an interesting sketch of the musical societies of Salem, from which we make some extracts. Mr. Whipple says that considerable attention appears to have been paid to music in and near Salem previous to the year 1800 ; and although vocal music was taught in that town as early as 1772, and perhaps earlier, there is no record of any musical organization in Salem until October, 1 8 14, when the Essex South Musical Association was formed. This Societv was for sacred music, and had about sixty members. It continued six years, giving ten public performances. To
1 Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. xxiii., January to June, 1886.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 237
show what some Americans thought about music even at this time, we take the following items from Mr. Whipple. This Society (the Essex South) applied to the Legislature for an act of incorporation to enable it to hold real estate and build a music hall ; but Governor Lincoln vetoed the act, passed by both Houses, on the ground that it was not expedient to incorporate institutions of so limited a public benfit. Gov- ernor Lincoln probably only echoed the senti- ments of a great majority of the people. They thought of musicians as fiddlers, drummers, and fifers, and musical societies well enough for those interested, but not of much public utility. But the public taste was beginning to improve, perhaps through the influence of some of the societies mentioned by Mr. Whipple, — the Jews'-Harp Club, in 18 16; the Handel Society, in 1817; the Haydn Society, in 1821. The Salem '' Gazette," May 13, 1825, gives a list of the officers of the Mozart Association, then just formed. Many of the members were among the first citizens : —
President^ Hon. John Pickering, LL.D. Vice-President^ Mr. Henry K. Oliver.
238 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Secretary^ Mr. Edwin Jocelyn.
Treasurer^ Solomon S. Whipple, Esq.
Trustees^ Hon. Leverett Saltonstall, Theodore Eames, Esq., Colonel Horatio Perry, Captain Wil- liam Kimball, and Mr. Henry Hubon.
Mr. Whipple was informed by General Oliver that the greatest difficulty this last So- ciety encountered was due to the scarcity of treble voices, there being very few in town. The alto part was sung by men, — Messrs. S. Stillman West, Albert G. Barker, S. B. But- trick, and John Parnell singing this part.
About this period, in addition to those before named, the following well-known citizens took an active interest in music : George Peabody, Dr. Charles G. Putnam, Charles Lawrence, John Chadwick, Caleb Foote, David Roberts, Joseph Hale, William P. Peirce, William Micklefield, John G. King, Dr. A. L. Peir- son, Joseph A. Keller, B. F. Bugard, Edward H. Payson, and perhaps others. Persons de- siring a full account of the musical societies of Salem will do well to read Mr. Whipple's sketch, which comes down to the present time.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 239
Notices of societies, from the '' Salem Ga- zette : " —
Notice.
THE Members of " The EJfex Mufical AJoc'iation " are hereby notified that a Special Meeting is appointed to be held on the F'lrji Monday of Novem- ber next, at Parker Sp of ford's, on bufinefs of importance. A general attendance is requefted. By Order of the Truftees^
Parker Spofford, Secry.
Boxford, September 20, [1805].
SfeVDS^f^arp Club.
A stated Meeting of the Members
of the Jews'-Harp Club will be holden at the Essex Coffee House To-Morrow Evening at 7 o'clock.
A punctual attendance of all the Members is re- quested, as a rehearsal of " Handel's Hallelujah Chorus" will then take place.
Salem f Feb. 2, 1816.
240 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
HAYDN SOCIETY.
The regular Monthly Meeting of the HAYDN SOCIETY will be held THIS EVEN- ING at their Hall in Derby Square. A punctual attendance is requested.
Sept. 5, [1821].
♦
EJfex South Mujical Society,
THE Members of the Essex South Musical Soci- ety are notified that their first Quarterly Meet- ing will be held in Salem, at Pickering Hall (Essex Coffee-House), on the fourth Tuesday of January, being 24th inst., at 10 o'clock a.m.
JOHN STONE, Secretary.
Jan. 3, 1815.
♦
CONSISTING of selections from the most emi- nent composers, will be performed
BY THE MOZART ASSOCIATION,
On Tuesday Evening, March "jth, at Rev. Dr. Prince's Meeting House, commencing at 7 o'clock.
j|^°*Tickets, at 50 cents each, may be had at the Bookstores of Whipple & Lawrence and J. R. Buff"um. March 2, 1826.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 24 1
The Handel Society advertise In the Salem " Gazette '' an '* Oratorio at the Baptist Meet- ing House" on Christmas Evening, 1817, giving fifty-nine selections from the works of Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Avison, Luther Shaw, and others. Tickets at Gushing & Appleton's, Henry Whipple's, and S. West's book-stores, and at the bar of the Essex Coffee- House. Price of tickets thirty-seven and a half cents. House opened at five o'clock ; performance to commence at six.
ORATORIO.
THE MOZJRT ASSOCIATION ^xo^osQgiwing a CONCERT of Sacred Music
THIS EVENING,
AT THE SOUTH MEETING HOUSE.
Part I. Anthem — Madan — Before Jehovah's awful throne,
&c. Song — Handel — Angels ever bright & fair, &c. Chorus — Namnan — God is our King, &c. Eve's Lament — King — Must I leave thee. Paradise,
&c. 16
242 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Quartett — Rosseau — Hark, 'tis the breeze, &c. Recitative — Handel — Then Jesus went up, &c. Song — Angel of Charity. )
Chorus — Handel — Swell the full chorus. ) Chorus — Hosanna to the Son of David, &c. Air — Behold & see if there be any sorrow, &c. Recitative — He was cut ofF, &c. Air — But thou didst not leave, &c. Chorus — Lift up your heads, O ye gates, &:c.
Part H. Air — Stevenson — O Lord, our Governor, &c. Chorus — How excellent is thy name, &c. Duett and Chorus — For I will consider the Heavens,
&c. Recitative — Lord, what is man, &c. Solo — Thou madest him lower than the Angels, &c. Duett & Quintett — O Lord, our Governor, &c. Chorus — How excellent is thy name, &c. Song — Granger — When marshall'd on the nightly
plain, &c. Chorus — Lo he cometh, &c. Trivoli — See from Zion's sacred mountain, &c. Solo and Chorus — Stevenson — Go forth to the mount,
&c. Song — Let the bright Seraphim, &c. Air — The marvellous work, &c. Chorus — And through the etherial vault resounds,
&c.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 243
Recitative.
Chorus — The Heavens are telling, &c.
"Tickets, at 50 cents, may be obtained at the stores of Messrs. J. R. Buffum, Whipple & Law- rence, E. Porter, and J. M. Ives, and, on the evening of performance, at the western door of the South Meeting House.
Performance commences at 6 o'clock, Dec. 25. {Register^ 1826.]
Sacred Concert.
Jl^-POSTPONED from Thursday Evening on account of the storm.
THE MOZART ASSOCIATION will give a CONCERT of SACRED MUSIC on MONDAY Evening next, at St. Peter's Church, consisting of the following pieces, viz: —
PART I.
Voluntary.
Anthem — The Lord's Prayer — Denman, Duett — All things bright and fair. Trio and Chorus — Sound the Loud Timbrel. Avison, Recitative — When God is in his wrath re- vealed, &c. \ Handel, Air — When storms the proud, &c.
244 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Chorus — Oh Judah, boast his matchless law, &c. Song — Go, let me weep, &c. Shaw.
Anthem — -He sees, and he believes. Bishop.
Anthem — This is the day, &c. Recitative — But he shall rise victorious. Chorus — The multitude of Angels, &c.
PART II. Voluntary. Te deum — We praise thee, O God, &c. W. Jackson. Solo — Rejoice in the Lord, &c. Chappie.
Chorus — For the word of the Lord, &c. Solo—The Lord looked down, &c. Recitative — Behold the eye of the Lord, &c. Chorus — Our hearts shall rejoice, &c. Duett — The bird let loose, &c. Shaw.
Trio — Mercy, O thou son of David. Quartett— They played, in air, &c.
Dr. Stevenson. Weston. Beethoven,
Song — As down in the sunless. Shaw.
Chorus — Glorify the great Jehovah. • Haydn.
H^^'Performances to commence precisely at half- past 6 o'clock. — Tickets may be had at the Book- stores of Messrs. Whipple & Lawrence, J. R. Buffum, J. M. Ives, W. & S. B. Ives, Samuel West, at the Music Store of Mr. Elias Hook, and at the door on the evening of the Concert. Price, 50 cents.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 245
IS;:$-REHEARSAL SaiNrday mid Sabbath ci'tn- ijigs at 6 o'clock precisely. Members /iavi;ig- books in their possession belonging to the Association are requested to bring thon.
Per order^ ALFRED GREENLEAF, Secy. Nov. 17, 1827.
COMMUNICATION.
I was glad, Mr. Editor, to see last evening at the Oratorio that you are a member of the Mozart Asso- ciation. I never attended one of these musical meet- ings before, but I shall not fail to be a constant visitor hereafter ; for on no occasion have I been more highly delighted. That a Society like this should have grown up in Salem, where, if common report lies not, this delightful science has heretofore found few admirers, is exceedingly gratifying. Without pretending to that accuracy of ear which is the boast of the dilettanti^ I am a sufficient lover of the '' concord of sweet sounds'* to pronounce a most favorable opinion on the per- formance of last evening. It is seldom that so many voices are found combining so happily a great volume of sounds with so much smoothness and roundness of tone. In this respect our singers, especially the females, have heretofore been greatly in fault, and it is evident your Society has done much toward re- straining this squalliui propensity. This improvement was conspicuous in the manner of giving Avison*s
246 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Trio and Chorus, " Sound the loud timbrel," and in Stevenson's Quartette "They played in air," — both executed in a style of excellence which the hearers will long remember. But with what feeling and taste was the beautiful song, " As down in the sunless re- treats of the ocean " executed ! It was in truth a most soul-moving performance.
The company, though highly respectable and some- what numerous, was not so large as it unquestionably would have been if the attractions of the performers were more generally known and appreciated. The gentlemen who have associated for this most laudable purpose are deserving of all praise ; and it is sincerely to be hoped that on the next Oratorio the public patronage will give such aid to the funds as will enable them effectually to promote the very commendable object of the Association. H. P.
November 20th. [Salem Register^ 1827.]
Sacred Concert.
■nr'HE MOZART ASSOCIATION will perform
a selection of Pieces from the Works of Handel,
Haydn, Mozart, and other distinguished composers,
on
TUESDJT EVENING, the 20th inst.,
at the North Church, in the following order: —
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
247
PART I.
Chorus — Now elevate the sign of Judah Haydn,
Quartetto — Saints and Angels join in Concert. Quartetto & Chorus — When the vale of Death ap- pears Air — With verdure clad Chorus — The Lord gave the word Air — How beautiful are the feet of them Chorus — Their sound is gone out Duett — How beautiful are the feet Chorus — Break forth into joy Recitative — Comfort ye my people Air — Every Valley shall be exalted Chorus — Grand Hallelujah
PART II.
Chorus — Praise Him, Sun and Moon ! Duett — Who's this that on the tempest rides Shaw, Quartetto — My God, the spring of all my joy Staunton, Anthem — When winds breathe soft Wehhe,
Duett — The Roclc of our Salvation Solo & Chorus — O Praise ye the Lord Haydn,
Air — On mighty Plumes "
Duett & Chorus — Hail, Judea, happy land Handel Air — There was darkness over all the land Harrington, Trio — At the ninth hour Jesus cried "
Recitative — Now the Philistines made war Haydn, Chorus — Lo he cometh
Florio,
Haydn.
Handel,
cc
(C
cc cc cc
Staunton,
cc
248 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Performance to commence at 6 o'clock. Tick- ets may be had at the Bookstores of Whipple & Lawrence, J. R. BufFum, J. M. Ives, and at E.
Porter's. Feb. 17, [1827].
•
General H. K. Oliver, who was president and conductor of the Mozart Association, thus speaks of that Society : —
" This Association, consisting of about one hundred members, comprising the best talent of the town, de- voted itself to the study and practice of the works of Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, etc. It gave many concerts, and greatly improved the musical knowledge, taste, and skill of Salem. . . . Miss C. S. Mallet first came to Salem in 1827 as leading soprano soloist of this Society. She possessed a voice of great power, with a richness, fulness, and delicacy rarely sur- passed. Well instructed in the art, and with admirable appreciation of what she rendered, she never failed to make a deep and most favorable impression. She par- ticularly excelled in oratorio and sacred music. Most estimable in private life, she was a general favorite. She was in the choir of the North Church (of which she was a member) about thirteen years."
Miss Mallet married Mr. Henry Lemon, and subsequently removed to Newton, Mass.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 249
CHAPTER XXXII.
MUSIC-BOOKS ADVERTISED IN SALEM AND OTHER PLACES.
Music, when voices die, Vibrates in the memory.
Shelley.
TT may be of interest to some persons to •*■ read the titles of the earlier music-books, we therefore reproduce a number of the adver- tisements from the Salem *' Register " and " Gazette" : —
SINGING BOOKS.
JUST PUBLISHED,
And to be Sold by DANIEL BAYLEY, at his Houfe at Newbury-Port, and BENJAMIN LAR- KIN, in Cornhill, Bofton,
A new edition of Stickney's
SINGING BOOK S. In this edition a con- ,
fiderable part of the old mufic is left out, and forty pages added, chiefly from Harmonia Sacra, Law's, &c., with fome new pieces never before publifhed. [^7^3-]
250 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
NEW (AMERICAN) MUSIC. Juft Publifhed, and to be SOLD at the
PRINTING-OFFICE IN SALEM,
HARMONIA AMERICANA— An original compofition of Sacred Mufic, for the ufe of Schools and Mufical Societies. By SAMUEL HOLYOKE.
ALSO
THE
Federal Harmony.
[March i, 1791.]
THE Amateurs of Elegant MUSICK have an op- portunity of fupplying themfelves with diftin- guifhed extracts from Hook, Shield, Gluck, Getry, Vanhall, and Haydn. A fubfcription for that purpofe is opened : For particulars, apply to the Printer.
Salem Gazette, March 13, 1792.
Old books on music noticed in the Boston *' Transcript," March 7, 1887 : —
Note. " Burragio " mentions an old book on music belonging to the Bostonian Society, printed in 1 77 1. I have one, printed in Boston in 1764. It bears the follovi^ing title : " The Grounds and Rules of Mufick Explained ; or. An Introduction to the
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 25 1
Art of Singing by Note. Fitted to the Meaneft Capacity, by Thomas Walter, M.A. Recommended by feveral Minifters. Bofton. Printed for and fold by Thomas Johnfton, in Brattle ftreet, over againft Rev. Mr. Cooper's Meeting Houfe, 1764." There are some thirty pages of old church music, and "A Recom- mendatory Preface" is signed Boston, April 18, 1721, by Peter Thacher, Joseph Sewall, Thomas Prince, John Webb, William Cooper, Thomas Foxcroft, Samuel Checkley, Andrew Elliot, Samuel Cooper, Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, Nehemiah Walter, Joseph Belcher, Benjamin Wadsworth, Benjamin Colman, Nathaniel Williams, Nathaniel Hunting, and Charles Chauncey. c. o. e.
NEW MUSICK.
yiijl piiblifJied, a7id ready for fale, price 2f.Jingley and 2od. by the dozen, JlitcJud in blne^
THE ' AMERICAN HARMONY,' containing a fele6l number of Odes, Anthems, and plain Tunes, compofed for performance on Thankfgivings, Ordinations, Chriftmas, Fafts, Funeral and other oc- cafions : The whole entirely new : — By OLIVER H0LDEN—TG2ic\\Gr of Mufick, in Charleftown.
Books may be had of W. Carleton, at the Bible and Heart, Salem.
JH^^" Subfcribers are requefted to call for their Books.
Charleftown^ OSf. lO, 1792. [Salem Gazette. '\
2^2 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Oliver Holden composed the popular tune "Coronation."
JVew Mufic.
nPHE Evangelical Pfalmodift, an original
-*- work; confifting of plain Tunes, Fuges, and
fet Pieces, in three and four parts, fuitable for Schools
and Singing Societies — By Warwick Palfray. —
The above work is for fale at MACANULTY's, and at GUSHING b' APPLETON's Book- ftores, and at W. CARLTON's Printing-Office, Salem, and at W. RE AD's Store, Marblehead. Price 50 cents iingle, and 5 dollars per dozen.
Salem Register^ Jan. 6, 1803.
New Mujtc^ of the beji Jiyle.
JUST PUBLISHED, And for Sale by T. C. GUSHING,
I^HE ESSEX HARMONY, an original •*■ Gompofition, in three and four parts. By JAGOB KIMBALL, jun., a. b., Author of the " Rural Harmony."
Miific's bright injltieiicey thrilling thro' the breajl,
Can lull e'en raging angniJJi into rcjl ;
And oft its wildly fweet enchanting lay
To Fancy's magic heaven Jieals the i-apt thought away.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 253
ALSO,
The Rural Harmony — Village Harmony — Worcefter Collection — Holyoke's, Holden's, Bel- cher's, Billings's, Babcock's, Belknap's, Wood's, and Howe's Mufic. ALSO,
Sacred Dirges, Hymns, and Anthems, com- memorative of the Death of Gen. Washingtonj and Wood's Funeral Elegy for the fame occafion.
also,
THE Inflrumental AfTiftant, containing In- ftru6lions for the Violin, German Flute, Clarionet,
Bafs-Viol, and Hautboy. Compiled from late
European Publications.
ALSO,
A Seledlion of favourite Airs, Marches, &c., progreffively arranged, and adapted for the Ufe of Learners. — Salem Gazette^ 1801.
CLASSICAL MUSICK.
Just published, and for sale by Cashing & Appleton, by the dozen or singly,
THE SALEM COLLECTION of Chjfical Sacred Muftck ; in 3 and 4 parts ; confift- ing of Pfalm Tunes and Occafional Pieces, fele6led from the works of the moft eminent Compofers ; fuited to all the metres in general ufe. To which is prefixed an Introduction to Pfalmody. Second edi- tion, revifed and improved, [1807.]
254 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Baptist Music.
lUST Publifhed, by SAMUEL HOLYOKE, and J for Sale by Gushing ^ Appleton, a Collec- tion of Tunes adapted to Rippon's, Smith and Sleeper's, and other Hymns made ufe of in Baptift Societies.
Salem Gazette, Sept. 21, 1804,
FOR SALE,
By Mejfrs. Hudfon and Goodwin, and Mr. James
Spencer, at their refpe^live Stores in Hartford,
law's sacred music,
VIZ.
The Mufical Primer, fingle 25 Cents — by doz. 20 Cents. The Chriftian Harmony, 66 52
The Mufical Magazine, each number, 13 17
The Rudiments of Mufic, 84 67
Hartford, Conn., Courant^ 1794.
MUSIC.
MACANULTT & MAXCT offer for Jale
THE ninth edition of the Village Harmony, Rural Harmony, EiTex Harmony, Columbian Harmony, Columbian and European Harmony, Beau- ties of Church Mufic, New-England Harmony, Wor- cefter Colled^ion of Sacred Harmony, Philadelphia Harmony, Sacred Harmony, Inftrumental Preceptor, Village Fifer,and the Meiliah. — Salem Register, 1809.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 255
Rare and Valuable Mufic.
A SMALL colle6lion of very valuable and rare Mufic, imported from Liverpool^ for private ufe, is now offered for Sale at the Bookftore of ED- WARD COTTON, No, 47, Marlhorough-JlreeU confiding of
The Meffiah, an Oratorio, by Handel^ 138 pages fol. Judas Macabeus, do do 208
Acis ^ Galatea, do do 89
Pring's 20 Anthems in Score, for i, 2, 3, 4, and 5
[voices, 147 pages.
Stepheris Cathedral Mufic, publifhed by Skeats^ 140
Moxarfs 6 Anthems, publifhed by Bellamy, 33
Alcock^s Harmony of Sion, for 4 voices (o6lavo) 92
Feb. 23. [Boston Centinel^ 1807.]
Sacred Mufic.
THIS day publifhed, and for fale at MANNING & LORING's book-flore. No. 2, Cornhill^ [Price 50 cents fingle — 5 dol's per dozen] The SACRED MINSTREL, No. i— Containing an Introduftion to Pfalmody — a Practical EfTayon Mod- ulation— and a Collection of Sacred Mufic, fuitable for religious worfhip — fele6led and compofed by Uri K. Hill.
^^The EfTay on Modulation, comprifed in the above vi^ork, has been pronounced one of the mofl
256 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
ingenious and valuable produ6lions in the fcience of mufic which has appeared for many years.
Dec. 13. [Boston Centinel^ 1806.]
THIS DAT IS PUBLISHED,
PRICE 25 CENTS— An Explanation and De- scription of the ROYAL PATENT CHIRO- PLAST, with outlines of the system of Musical Education, as taught by Mr. Logier, (original inventor,) Dublin ; Mr. Webbe, London ; and now introduced by Miss BROWN, in Boston ; with different Let- ters of Approbation from the most eminent Professors in England, Scotland, and Ireland.
For sale at Mr. Callender's Shakspeare Circulating Library, School-street ; Franklin Music Warehouse, Milk-street; Mr. Dickson's Music Saloon, New- Cornhill ; Mr. Graupner's, Franklin-street ; and at Miss Brown's, Court-street. oct 4
Boston Centinel, 181 7.
Price 4d. fingle, and 3s. per dozen, Juft printed, and now felling by
Nathaniel Patten,
Ten rods north of the Court-Houfe, and dire£lly op- pofite the north Meeting-Houfe, Hartford,
The Gamut or Scale of Mufic,
containing all the necefTary rules for young beginners. Connecticut Co2irant^ Feb. 11, 1788.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 257
To be fold by HUDSON and GOODWIN,
The Chorifter's Companion,
Containing, befides the necefTary Rules of Pfalmody,
A choice and valuable Colledion of Pfalm-
Tunes, Hymns, and Anthems;
From the moft celebrated antient and modern
Authors.
The fecond Edition, corre6ted and enlarged.
Price, bound, Eight Shillings.
The principal additional xVlufic, contained in 72 Pages,
may be had, half-bound. Price Four Shillings and
Nine-pence. — Conn. Courant^ Dec. 29, 1788.
PROPOSALS FOR PRINTING BT SUBSCRIPTION.
APOLLO and the MUSE's MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS, by William Selby, Organifl of the Stone Chapel^ in Bofton, MafTachu- fetts — in Six Numbers. Dedicated (by permiflion) to Mrs. S. M ASON, of Bofton.
Confifting of Anthems in four parts, with Sym- phonies for the Organ. — Voluntaries or Fuges for the Organ or Harpficord. — Sonatas or Selfons for the Harpficord or Piano Forte. — Songs fet for the Voice and Harpficord, or Piano Forte — alfo, tranfpofed for the German Flute and Guittar. — A Piece with varia-
17
258 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
tions for the Harpficord or Piano Forte, in concert with the Violin and Guittar. — A Concerto for the Organ or Harpficord, with inftrumental parts. — A Sonata for two Violins and Violoncello. [1790]
Mufical Publications
For SALE by
THOMAS and ANDREW^S,
Fauft's Statue, No. 45, Newbury-ftreet, BOSTON,
AND BY
V^ILLIAM CARLTON,
SALEM,
T^R. ROGERSON's ANTHEM, facred "^^^ to the Memory of his Excellency JOHN HANCOCK, Efq., late Governor and Commander in Chief of the Commonwealth of Maflachufetts. For THANKSGIVING-DAT,
An ANTHEM, compofed by W. Cooper, which for two years paft has been performed with great approbation. — \\f\fingle, if per dozJ]
SACRED LINES for Nov. 7th, being Thankfgiving-Day : Written and fet to mufic by HANS GRAM, Organift to Brattle-Street Church in Bofton. To which are added feveral Pfalm-Tunes, of different metres, by the fame Compofer. — [9^. fingle, jd. by the dozen.'] [l793*J
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 259
CHAPTER XXXIII.
WILLIAM BILLINGS, THE FIRST AMERICAN COMPOSER.
The Soul of Music slumbers in the. shell Till waked and kindled by the master's spell ; And feeling hearts, touch them but lightly, pour A thousand melodies unheard before.
Rogers.
^ I ^HE first American composer of music ^ appears to have been William Billings, who was born in Boston, Oct. 7, 1746, and died there Sept. 29, 1800. He was by trade a tanner, and chalked out his first compositions upon soles of leather. He was the friend of Governor Samuel Adams and Dr. Pierce, of Brookline, both of whom were much inter- ested in music, and encouraged him in his first attempts at sacred music. He had a very pow- erful voice, which, it is said, drowned the voices of all near him ; though he was an excellent singer according to the taste of his day. He published in 1770 his first collection, entitled, *' The New England Pfalm Singer ; or, Amer-
26o OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
ican Choriftor, containing a number of Pfalm- tuneSj Anthems, and Canons. In four and iive Parts (Never before publifhed). Com- pofed by William Billings, a Native of Bofton, in New England. Matt. xii. i6 : * Out of the Mouth of Babes and Sucklings haft thou per- fected Praife.* James v. 13 : ' Is any Merry ? Let him fing Pfalms.'
' O praife the Lord with one confent ! And in this grand defign Let Britain and the Colonies Unanimoufly join [jine !] *
Bofton : New England. Printed by Edes & Gill."
Billings was altogether an original character. In his Introductions and Prefaces his language is very quaint. We copy the following from one of them : —
" Great art thou, O Music ! and with thee there is no competitor. Thy powers by far tranfcend the powers of phyfic, and the reception of thee is far more grateful than the naufeous drugs of the Apothe- cary ; thou art as early as the Creation : for when the foundation of the earth was laid, the morning ftars sang together and fhouted for joy. . . . Thou art able to extrad: the poifon from the venomous
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 26 I
bite of the Tarantula, which baffles the fkill of the Phyfician. . . . Thou canft make ftammering people pronounce diftindtly and without hefitation."
Dr. Ritter thus describes Billings : —
" He was altogether a very original being, and in some sense the prototype of the Yankee psalm-tune music-teacher as he existed at the end of the last century, — a mixture of ludicrous, eccentric, common- place, smart, active, patriotic, and religious elements, with a slight touch of musical and poetical talent. To this side of the tanner-composer's moral nature his personal appearance and habit formed a harmoni- ous sequel. He was somewhat deformed, blind of one eye, one leg shorter than the other, one arm somewhat withered ; and he was given to the habit ot continually taking snuff. He carried this precious article in his coat-pocket, made of leather, and every few minutes would take a pinch, holding the snuff between the thumb and clenched hand. To this picture we must add his stentorian voice, made no doubt rough as a saw by the effects of the quantity of snuff that was continually rasping his throat."
Dr. Ritter further says of him that —
"The motto on the title-page of his opus^ 'Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou per- fected praise," can be applied to him as a harmonist. He remained with regard to the theoretical rules of
262 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
composition all his life long ' a babe and suckling,'
— 'an awkward harmonist and a worse contrapun- tist/ his harmony ' at times most distressing ; ' ' instead of sweet concords, we experience startling discords.' In his elaborate pieces chords and harmo- nies tumble upon each other without order and euphony, playing carnival in the hearer's ears."
Billings himself thus speaks of this kind of music : —
*' It has more than twenty times the power of the old flow tunes, each part {training for maftery and victory, the audience entertained and delighted, their minds furpaffingly agitated and extremely fluctuated, fometimes declaring for one part, and fometimes for another. Now the folemn bafs demands their attention, next the manly tenor ; now the lofty counter, now the volatile treble. Now here, now there ; now here again, — O ecftatic ! Rufh on, you fons of harmony ! '*
Billings composed the tune of '^Jordan,**
— once a great favorite with many persons. Mr. Crowest gives the following anecdote
of Billings : —
" On one occasion a wag sent a note to him requesting an interview to consult with him about a difficult question in music, which, said the wag, no other man in Boston could answer. Billings was at
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 263
the appointed place to the moment, and said: 'What- ever your question may be, I pledge myself to answer it, as there is nothing connected with the science which I have not mastered.' ' My question,' re- joined the wag, with the most serious face imaginable, 'is an important one, — indeed, it affects the whole world, and has never yet been answered.' ' Let me hear it,' said Billings, growing excited. 'It is this,' was the reply : ' When a man snores in his sleep through two octaves, so that the whole house can hear it, do you consider the sounds produced to be vocal or instrumental music?'
From the " Massachusetts Magazine/' Au- gust, 1792: —
To the P U B L I C K.
A large Committee having been fele6led by the fev- eral Mufical Societies in Bofton and its vicinity, beg leave to folicit the attention of the publick to the following
PROPOSALS
For Publiihing a Volume of Original
AMERICAN MUSICK,
COMPOSED BY
WILLIAM BILLINGS, of Boflon.
264 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
THE intended Publication will confift of a number of Anthems, Fuges, and Pfalm Tunes, calculated for publick focical Worfhip, or pri- vate Mufical Societies. — A Dialogue between Master and Scholar will preface the book, in which the Theory of Harmony, grounded on Queflion and Anfwer, is adapted to the moft moderate capacity. — Alfo an elegant FRONTISPIECE, reprefenting the Areti- NiAN Arms, engraved on Copperplate.
CONDITIONS.
I. The Book fliall contain about 200 pages, typo- graphically printed, on good paper.
II. It {hall be put to the Prefs as foon as a fuffi- cient number of copies are fubfcribed for, to indemnify a6i:ual expenfes.
III. The price to fubfcribers fhall be 5y! fingle and 4^6. per dozen, one half to be paid on the fubfcribing, the other on the delivery of the books.
ADDRESS to the Benevolent of every Denomination.
THE diftreffed fituation of Mr. Billings* family has so fenfibly operated on the minds of the committee as to induce their affiftance in the intended publication.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 265
The Infpedion and Revifion of the whole is fubmitted by Mr. Billings to the aforefaid committee, many of whom are deemed ot approved knowledge in the fcience of Mufick, and nothing will be offered to the publick but what they recommend and approve of.
" The composer of the Ninth Symphony/* says Dr. Ritter, "was born the same year that the Boston tanner-composer, William Billings, published his first crude production."
266 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
AMERICAN ORGANS AND PIANOFORTES.
THE ORGAN.
•* Then swelled the organ : up through choir and nave
The music trembled with an inward thrill Of bliss at its own grandeur : wave on wave
Its flood of mellow thunder rose, until The hushed air shivered with the throb it gave,
Then, poising for a moment, it stood still, And sank and rose again, to burst in spray, That wandered into silence far away.
Deeper and deeper shudders shook the air,
As the huge bass kept^athering heavily. Like thunder when it rouses in its lair,
And with its hoarse growl shakes the low-hung sky."
J. R. Lowell.
CURIOUS MECHANISiM.
Every friend to his country, to fcience, and the lib- eral arts, muft feel the moft pleafurable fenfations in obferving the rapid improvements which are made in the various branches of mechanick arts. — It is with pleafure we announce that our countryman and townf- man. Dr. Josiah Leavitt, has lately conftrud:ed and completed an Organ under a Harpficord \ a piece of mechanifm fo curious was never before attempted or executed in America. Either inftrument may be
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 267
played upon feparately, or with the greateft eafe be conne6led together. The tones are exceedingly fweet, and when combined, afford a moft rich and pleafing variety. Thofe Ladies and Gentlemen of tafte and knowledge who have feen and heard it have not hefitated to exprefs their approbation ; and Mr. Selby, whofe luperiour knowledge is too well known to be doubted, has pronounced as his opinion that it is fuperiour to any inftrument of the kind he ever faw. It was built by defire of, and is now owned by, Mr. Abiel Smith, of this town. Dr. Leavitt has begun another, to be put under a FortePiano, to be completed in two months. A Harpficord alone is truly pleafing, and a FortePiano alone extremely agreeable; but when combined with an Organ, and touched by the fingers of the Fair, are truly rapturous and tranfporting. — Massachusetts Cen- tinely May 26, 1790.
From the '' Columbian Centinel," Feb. 8, 1792 : —
AxMERICAN ORGAN.
We never feel more happy than when it Is in our power to do juftice to the genius and induftry of our countrymen. We therefore with pleafure inform the publick of the proficiency made in the art of con- ftruaing ORGANS, by Dr. Leavett. One of thefe inftruments, made by this gentleman, has lately
268 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
been purchafed by the TJniverfal Religious Society in this town, and erefted in their houfe of worfhip. For compafs and fweetnefs of found, and elegance of conftru6lion, it is exceeded but by few imported
Organs.
«
From the "Columbian Centinel," 1793:
JoSIAH LeAVITT, ORGAN-BUILDER, BOSTON,
TTAVING a Church-ORGAN nearly com- pleted (except the Cafe and Pipes), and where- as the price of faid Organ when finiflied will be greater or lefs in proportion to the number of pipes, and elegance of the cafe which ftiall be made for the fame, he begs leave to inform any Church or Society that may wifh to contra6t with him for the faid Or- gan that it fhall be finifhed, in the above refpe6l, as may be moft agreeable, provided timely application be made.
He likewlfe informs the public that he has com- pleted, and for fale, an elegant House-Organ, with a Mahogany cafe, and which might be fufficient for a fmall Church or Society; which fhould it be purchafed, and found not large enough to anfwer their expe6lation, will be received by him, at any time within the courfe of one year from the delivery, in part pay for one of a larger fize.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 269
He greatfully acknowledges the feveral favours he has received from the public, by employing him in his line of bufinefs ; and aflures them that he fhall ftill en- deavour to give the utmoft fatisfaction to thofe who have occafion to employ him. Dec. 14.
T'
From the " Connecticut Courant," Hart- ford, Nov. 5, 1792 : —
ORGAN.
'HE public are hereby notified that Mr. Jofiah Leavitt, of Bofton, Organ-Builder^ hath lately been employed to conftru6t an ORGAN for Worth- ington parifh, which is completed and fet up in the Meeting-Houfe. The Organ will be opened by faid Leavitt on Thurfday the 8th of November inftant, at which time a Sermon will be preached on the occafion, and Mufic will be performed. After the exercifed there will be a colle6tion for the benefit of faid builder. J|^°" The exercife will begin at one o'clock P.M. Worthington, Nov. i, 1792.
Babcock, Appleton, Pratt, and Goodrich were some of the names of well-known organ and piano makers in New England early in this century.
270 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Elias Hook removed from Salem about 1830, and associated himself with his brother, George G. Hook, and they subsequently be- came celebrated organ-builders.
We find Jonas Chickering, who became the most noted manufacturer of pianos in this country, advertising about 1830.
NoncE
IS hereby given that the copartnership here- tofore existing between the Subscribers was dis- solved by mutual consent on the 26th May, 1815. — All business relating to said firm will be settled by Charles Hayt^ No. 6, Milk- street.
CHARLES HAYT, ELNA HAYT, ALPHEUS BABCOCK, THOMAS APPLETON.
The same establishment will be continued by Charles Hayt and Thomas Appleton^
Who have now for sale, at their Organ^ Pianoforte Manufactory and Music Store^ No. 6, Milk-street^ Opposite the Old South Church,
A number of the first rate square Pianofortes and an elegant large Chamber Organ, just finished.
k
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 27 I
A number of excellent toned London made Piano- fortes, and a large assortment of other Wind and Stringed Instruments of their own make, and im- ported. Strings and Reeds of the first quality, and other appendages, for all Instruments.
A good collection of the latest and most approved Music for the Pianoforte.
Organs and Pianofortes repaired and exchanged.
Umbrellas and Parasols of their own make.
N. B. Church Organs made, and warranted to be as good in every respect as the imported.
All Instruments made by them will be warranted and sold conditionally that if at any time they should prove defective in any respect they may be returned, and the money refunded. tf May 31
The ordinary piano of 1829 : —
A
PIANO FORTE TO LET. FIRST RATE Piano Forte may be hired on application to g^IAS HOOK.
Salem Gazette^ October 13.
272 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
Dr. B. Lynde Oliver, before referred to, speaks of a new organ made by Mr. Appleton, of Boston, for the Barton Square Church in Salem, in 1826.
From the Boston Centinel. Extract of a letter from Doctor B. Lynde Oliver, of Salerriy to a correspondent in this city, " I have the pleasure of informing you that the Organ built by Mr. Appleton for the Rev. Mr. Cole- man's church, has been opened and gives great satis- faction. The instrument has a very fine base and most beautiful swell. This part of the organ excels any one that I remember to have heard.
"The exquisite touches of Mr. Heinrich still play in my ear : His masterly execution on the Piano af- forded me a musical feast that was truly enchanting. His deep knowledge of counterpoint enables him to produce uncommon effect, and makes me long to hear him again.'' * *
An early advertisement of Jonas Chickering :
J. CHICKERING,
MANUFACTURER of Harmonia Cabinet Grand and Square Piano Fortes, 416 Wash- ington street.
From cover of Netu Etigland Magazine, 1830.
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 273
The Salem ''Register" of 1829 notices the Mozart Association ; also a new organ made by Mr. Hook for the Tabernacle Society.
COMMUNICATION.
A delightful Oratorio was given at the Tabernacle church last Friday evening. It was gotten up by the members of that society, and a gratuitous distribution of the tickets of admission was made to their friends and acquaintances in a very handsome manner. The Mozart Association brought forward their best talents on the occasion, and acquitted themselves in a very satisfactory manner to the audience generally, and to the several amateurs of music who were present. The solos and duetts were excellently well sung, and so were the trios. We observed an evident improve- ment in the modulation of the best voices, and the chorusses were given in good time, and with con- siderable effect. It is in this part of such perform- ances that great power, both instrumental and vocal, is required to give a full expression of the composer's idea ; and it is in this part precisely where our efforts fail for want of numbers and instrumental power. The new Organ, made by Mr. Hook, of this town, had a fair trial, and elicited the praise of every one.
2 74 OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
CHAPTER XXXV.
CONCLUSION.
And music too, dear music ! that can touch Beyond all else the soul that loves it much, — Now heard far off, so far as but to seem Like the faint exquisite music of a dream.
Moore.
'T^HE Rev. H. R. Haweis says that "the ■^ English were never a musical people." Their musicians were either French or Ger- man, and the common people cared only for ballads, — which is the case to a great extent to this day. The composers wrote, not for the masses, but for the cultivated few. We suppose Mr. Haweis is an authority on this point ; and if he is correct, how could our Puritan ancestors in America, far removed from foreign aid and influence, have been ex- pected to show any musical taste or attainment whatever, especially when their leaders frowned upon good music as the "work of the devil," and looked upon organs and other musical
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC. 275
instruments as '' popish," tending to subvert all true religion ?
Strange indeed is it, but nevertheless true, that when the simple psalmody of the early settlers of New England had touched a very low ebb ; when only two or three tunes could be sung in any of their congregations, and those only by rote, — the Puritan ministers started and led the way to a reform in the music. Many of these ministers were not only ready but anxious to have better singing, introducing note-books, and using other means to promote a change ; but the people appear not to have been so ready, and strongly re- sisted any attempts at reform ; and this resis- tance lasted for many years. Gradually, as we have seen, prejudices died away, and even in- struments were introduced in the houses of worship.
We are told that there are at present In use in the British Islands at least four hundred thousand pianos, and that about one million people play upon that instrument alone. We have no statistics to introduce with regard to our own country, but Dr. Ritter says : *' From
276
OLDEN-TIME MUSIC.
the crude form of a barbarously sung simple psalmody there rose a musical culture in the United States which now excites the admiration of the art-lover, and at the same time justifies the expectation and hope of a realization at some future epoch of an American school of music."
INDEX OF NAMES.
Adams, Governor S., 259. Adams, John, 70, 71. Alison, Richard, 12. Appleton, 269. Appleton, Thomas, 270. Arbuthnot, 5. Arne, Dr., 125, 166. Arnold, Dr., 125. Arnold, Mrs., 162, 163. Arvine, K., 43, 44. Ascham, Roger, 7. Ashmore, Miss, 159. Astor, John Jacob, 138. Astor & Co., 137. Attwill, 122.
Augusta, Princess, 126, 128. Avery, John, Si.
Babcock, 269, 270. Bach, 93. Bacon, Dr., 98. Bailey, J., 123, 196. Bailey, William, 159. Balfour, Miss, 10. Ball, J., 145. Barker, A. G., 23S. Barren, Joseph, 93. Barron, Oliver, 152. Barrows, Rev. S. J., 216. Bartlett, 134. Barton, Jolin, 81.
Barton, Margaret, 132.
Bates, 127.
Bates, Joah, 129.
Bayley, 249.
Belcher, Joseph, 251.
Bellamy, Dr. F., 212.
Berkeley, Rev. George, 52, 57.
Berkenhead, Dr., 171.
Berkenhead, Mrs., 171.
Bernard, Rev. Thomas, S;^.
Biglow, W., Ill, 118.
Billings, Josh, 219.
Billings, Richard, 84.
Billings, William, 259, 260, 261, 262,
263, 264, 265. Bird, Joseph, 10, 41. Bird, Nathaniel, 64. Bird, William, 8, 12. Blan chard, Amos, 115. Blodget, 116.
Blyth, Dr. S., 130, 131, 132. Bond & Bryant, 123. Boullay, M., 160. Bours, Samuel, 62. Bowen, 102. Bowman, 123. Braddock, General, 71. Bradford, 61, 62. Brattle, Thomas, 49. Brazer, Rev. Dr. John, 216, 217,
218.
278
INDEX OF NAMES.
Breck, Samuel, 93.
Brenton, Samuel, 64.
Brewer, 95.
Bridge, Ricardus, 53.
Britton, Thomas, 26.
Broadvvood, 138, 141.
Bromfield, Edward, Jr., 32.
Brooks, Rev. C. T., 202.
Brown, Gavin, 88.
Brown, Miss, 256.
Brown, Tom, 16.
Brownlow, Earl of Exeter, 129.
Bruce, Prof. W. J., 68.
Buffum, J. R., 179, 181, 183,
243, 244, 248. Bugard, B. F,, 238. Bull, Dr. John, 5, 6, 7, 10, 35. Bull, Ole, 205. Burdick, 210. Burke, 89. Burke, Edmund, T^^. Burkenhead, John L., 56. Burley, W., 96, 97. Burney, Dr., 125. Burroughs, 180, 181. Buttrick, S. B., 238. Byles, Mather, 36, 1%. Byord, 6. Byrd, 2. Byrne, J., 159.
Caeot, Joseph, 225. Caldwell, Josiah, iii. Calef, Captain, '^Z. Calhoun, Miss Floride, 55. Callcott, 125. Callender, 235. Cantelo, Miss, 127. Carey, Henry, 7. Carey, J. W., 115. Carlton, William, 98, 258. Carpenter, Benjamin, 225. Chadwick, Gilbert, iii.
240,
Chadwick, John, 238. Chamberlain, Deacon, 211, Champness, 127. Channmg, George G., 57. Chappell, W., 13. Chardon, Peter, 70. Charles II., 4. Chase, Thomas, 85. Chauncey, Charles, 251. Checkley, Samuel, 251. Chickering, Jonas, 270, 272. Claggett, Mr., 112. Clark, Dr., 134. Clark, John, 65. Clark, Rev. Mr., 127. Clarke, 5.
Clementi, B., 138, 139, 145. Collins, 168, 169. Colman, Rev. Benjamin, 251. Colman, Rev. Henry, 114, 272. Congreve, William, 72. Cook, Nathan, 112. Cook, Sally, 215. Cooke, Silas, 64. Cooper, Rev. Dr., 85. Cooper, Rev. Mr., 251. Cooper, Samuel, 251. Cooper, W., 2:51, 258. Cotton, E., 255. Cowan, Robert, 132. Cowley, Mrs., 59, 60, 61. Cox & Berry, 158. Cramer, 127. Cranch, Mrs., 121. Croft, Dr., 125. Cromwell, Oliver, 208. Crook, Catharine, 134. Crowes t, 26, 204, 262. Crowninshield, Jacob, 81. Cuming, Miss, 158. Curtis, Mrs., 119. Curwen, George R., 65. Cashing, T. C, 164, 252.
INDEX OF NAMES.
279
Cubhing & Appleton, iii, 114, 133, 175, 226,241, 252, 253, 254.
Dabney, John, 98, 225.
Dalmer, 125.
Danforth, Joseph, 112.
Dawes, Thomas, 93.
Day, John, 11.
Doloney, 4.
Derby, E. Hersey, So.
Derby, Elias Haskett, 80.
Derby, John, 80.
Derby, Richard, 80.
Deverell, 8g, 152.
De Warville, J. P. Brissot, 105,
106. Dickson, 146, 256. Dipper, 8^, 85. Dodd, John, 196. Doddridge, Dr., 216. Dodge, Benjamin, 145. Dolliver, AmeUa, 102. Dolliver, Peter, 102, DouvilHer, Madam, 160. Dowland, 2, 10, Drake, S. G,, 49. Dry den, 206.
Duchess of B , 27.
Duren, Elnathan, 196. Dwight, John S., 167, 208. Dyer, Joseph, 56.
Eames, Theodore, 238.
Eberle, Miss, iSo, iSi.
Edes & Gill, 260.
Eliezer, Isaac, 64.
Eliot, George, 30.
Elizabeth, Princess, 126, 128.
EHzabeth, Queen, i, 2, 3, 12, 30,
Elliot, Andrew, 251. Emerson, Rev. Brown, 113. Emerson, R. W., 189.
Endicott, Governor John, 23, 44. " Eurus," 47.
Falkland, Lord, 15.
Farnham & Badger, 199, 200.
Fay, 95.
Felt, Mrs., 113.
Felt, Rev. J. B., 31, 76.
Fennelly, Robert, 194, 232.
Field, Samuel, no.
Finn, Henry J., 1S3, 184, 186.
Flagg, Dr., 107, 108.
Foote, Caleb, 238.
Foucard, M., 160.
Fox, C. J., 73.
Foxcroft, Thomas, 251.
Francis, D., 194, 235.
Franck, W., 42.
Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, 20, 58.
Franklin, James, 58.
Frazer, John, 56.
Frye, Philip, 201, 202, 203.
Furniss, Captain, 163.
Galen, 8.
Garnet, Horatio, 155.
Geib, John, S^.
George, Daniel, 155.
George HI., 128.
Geyer, Frederick William, 89.
Giardini, 125.
Gibbons, Orlando, 2.
Gibbs, Miss Sarah, 55.
Gilbert, Elias, 62.
Gillingham, Misses, 176.
Gilmore, P. S., 213.
Glaan, B., 117.
Glover, Jona., 112.
Goodell, A. C, Jr., 33, 36, 44.
Goodrich, William, 269.
Gould, N. D., 113.
Grafton, Mrs., iig.
Gram, Hans, 258.
28o
INDEX OF NAMES.
Granger, 165, 168, 233.
Grant, President, 213.
Graupner, G., 137, 165, 166, 167, 168,
169, 170, 194, 198, 229, 230, 256. Graupner, Mrs., 165, 168, 169, 170,
229, 230. Gray, Mrs., 163. Gray, William, Jr., 81. Green, Joseph, 36, 49. Green & Russell, 83, 84. Greene, Mr. and Mrs., 181, 182, 183. Greenleaf, Alfred, 245. Greenleaf, O. C, 235. Greenleaf, William, 88. Grelca, John, 55. Guild, B., 97, Guild, Jacob, 196.
Hale, Joseph, 238. Hancock, John, 258. Handel, G. F., 28, 50, 90, 93, 95,
125, 126. Haraden, Jonathan, 80. Harris, John, 88, 134. Harris, Joseph, 134. Harrison, 127. Hartley, Zj, 88. Haweis, Rev. H. R., 274. Hawkins, Sir John, 26. Haydn, 197. Hayt, Charles, 270. Hayt, Elna, 270. Heinrich, Mr., 272. Helene, Signior, 173. Henderson, Joseph, 93. Henry VII., 5. Henry VIII., 2, 3, 12. Henry, Earl of Uxbridge, 129. Henshaw, Samuel, 93. Hewitt, 176. Hill, Uri K., 255. Hodges, Dr., 224. Hodgkinson, 164.
Holbome, Anthony, 15. Holbome, William, 15. Holden, Oliver, 251, 252. Holmes, O. W., 140, 141, 201. Holt, Benjamin, 196. Holyoke, 118, 227, 228, 250, 254. Honeyman, Rev. James, 52. Hood, George, 17, 30, 40, 42. Hood, Jacob, 109. Hook, Elias, 244, 270, 271, 273. Hook, George G., 270. Hook, The Messrs., 66. Hook, Theodore, 214. Hopkins, Rev. Daniel, 112. Howard, Lady Elizabeth, 206. Hubon, Henry, 238. Hudson & Goodwin, 254, 257. Hunt, Mrs., 117, 169. Hunting, Nathaniel, 251.
Ives, 113, 179,243, 244, 248.
Jackson, Dr. G. K., 167, 173, 229,
230. James I., 5. Jarvis, Dr. Charles, 93. Jebb, Sir R., Bart., 129. Joan, James, 85. Jocelyn, Edwin, 238. John, Earl of Sandwich, 129. Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 73. Johnston, Thomas, 50, 65, 66. Jonson, Ben, 6, 15, 16. Jones, Mrs. 166. Jones, Phillip, 134.
Keith, James, 64.
Keller, Joseph A., 109, 120, 238.
Kelly, Lord, 158.
Ken, Bishop T., 13.
Kenny, William, iii.
Kidder, Dr. Samuel, 232.
Kimball, Jacob, Jr., 252.
INDEX OF NAMES.
281
Kimball, William, 115, 238. King, James, 225. King, John G., 238. Kirldand, Rev. J. T., 51, loi.
Knoetchel, 63, 64. Kossuth, 208.
Lafayette, 167. Lander, Peter, 80. Larkin, 249. Lauderdale, 4. Laumont, 168. Laurence, Abel, 80. Lawrence, Charles, 120, 238. Lawton, John, 62. Leavitt, Dr. Josiah, 266, 269. Leighton, Sir William, 10. Lemon, Henry, 248. Lemon, Mrs. C. S., 226. L' Estrange, Sir Roger, 28. Lewis, 177, 178. Lincoln, Governor Levi, 237. Lind, Jenny, 204. Lockhart, 125. Logier, 256. Loring, Captain, 232. Louis XVI., T06. Louvrier, P. C, 118, 119. Luther, Martin, 29, 30, 121. Lyly, 15.
Macanulty, II r, 164, 252. Macanulty & Maxcy, 254. Madan, Dr., 125. Mallet, 102, 103, 160, 165, 166, 168,
170, 226, 230, 248. Mangeon, 179, 180, 181. Manning & Loring, 25;. Mara, Madam, 127. Mason, Dr. Lowell, 109, 215. Mason, INIrs. S., 257. Mason, Thomas, 80. Mather, Cotton, 251.
Mather, Increase, 251.
Mauran, James E., 134.
Maurice, 118.
Micklefield, William, 238.
Milgrove, 125.
Milton, John, 29.
Monroe, President, 233.
Moore, John W., 23.
Morgan, 158.
Morley, 2.
Morse, Rev. Dr., 231.
Munroe & Francis, 194, 235.
Munson, no.
Murray, Rev. Mr., 124.
Nashe, Thomas, 15. Nolan, Charles, 196. Norris, 127, 131. Nunns, R. and W., 146.
Oliver, Andrew, 81.
Oliver, B. Lynde, 66, 67, 80, 272.
Oliver, Henry K., 36, 82, 114, 12-', 166, 190, 201, 202, 203, 213, 215, 216, 217,219,237, 238,248.
Oliver, Thomas Fitch, 78.
Orne, William, 79.
Osgood, 169.
Ostinelli, 180, 181.
Paddon, 176. Palfray, Warwick, 252. Papanti, Mr. and Mrs., 178. Parchbel, Charles Theodore, 52. Parker, 176, 178. Parker, Martin, 14. Parker, Matthew S., 196, 200. Parker, S. H., 196, 235. Parnell, John, 238. Patten, Nathaniel, 256. Payson, Edward H., 238. Peabody, George, 120, 238. Peabody, Mrs., 121.
282
INDEX OF NAMES.
Peel, George, 15. Peirce, W. P., 238. Peirson, Dr. Abel L., 238. Perkins, John, 89. Perry, Horatio, 116, 238. Petit, M., 160. Phillips, Stephen, 81. Phillips, W. K., 196. Phipps, William K., 232. Pichell, 160. Pick, M., 99, 160, 163. Pickering, Col. T., 161. Pickering, John, 81, 237. Pierce, Rev. Dr. John, 259. Pitt, William, 'j'^. Pleyel, 99, 100, T25. Pomroy & Danforth, 114. Porter, 243, 248. Potter, Ichabod, 62. Powell, 99. Pratt, 269.
Prescott, William, 79. Prince, Rev. Dr., 240. Prince, Rev. Thomas, 32. Prince, Thomas, 251. Prince of Wales, 7. Princess Royal, 126, 127, 128. Proms, John & Samuel, 64. Pucci, Signor, 174, 175. Pulling, Edward, 81. Purcell, 206. Putnam, Dr. C. G., 120, 238.
Ravenscroft, Thomas, 40, 41,
42, 44. Rawscn, Dr. Eliot, 70. Rea, 95.
Read, Nathan, 81. Reinhold, 127. Remsen, Abraham, 60. Reynolds, Edward, 159. Richardson, Jacob, 59. Kiker, Barlow, & Co., 1^4.
Ritter, Dr. F. L., 2, 40, 41, 212,
261, 265, 275. Rivington, James, 6t,. Roberts, David, 238. Robespierre, 106. Rochambeau, 61. Rogers, 135, 137. Rogerson, Dr., 95, 258. Ropes, Nathaniel, 81. Rosier, 168.
Russell, B., 96, 97, 98, 206. Russell & Cutler, 170.
Sacchini, 125, 165, 170.
Saltonstall, Leverett, 238.
Sanders, Thomas, Si.
Sandys, George, 40.
Saunders, Daniel, 225.
Schaffer, 165, 168.
Selby, 63, 64, 89, 90, 93, 158, 160,
225, 257. Sewall, Joseph, 251. Shacksburg, Dr., 208. Shaler, Mrs., 71. Shirley, 4.
Shirley, Governor William, 208. Simpson^ 127. Smith, 143, 144. Smith, Abiel, 267. Smith, Jesse, 131. Solomon, l\Iiss, 168. Spencer, James, 254. Spencer, Mrs., 171. Spofford, Parker, 239. Steele, Mrs., 214.
Sternhold and Hopkins, 18, 38, 39. Stetson, C. A., 205. Steward, 180, 181. Stickney, 249. Stieglitz, 158.
Stiles, Rev. Ezra. D.D., 60, 76. Stockwell, 230, 231. Stone, 100, 160.
INDEX OF NAMES.
283
Stone, John, 240. Story, 166, 169, 170. Strode, William, 189. Swan, James C, 52. Symes, Daniel, 163.
Tallis, Thomas, 2, 12.
Tansur, 89.
Tasca, Signior, 127.
Tate and Brady, 38.
Taylor, Rev. E. T., 204.
Templeman, 96, 97, 98.
Thacher, Peter, 50, 251.
Thomas & Andrews, 123, 258.
Towne, 112.
Trajetta, 165.
Tucker, Nathaniel, 196.
Tufts, Rev. John, 40, 43.
Von Hagen, 100, loi, 104, 117, 138, 144, 145, 164, 16S.
Wadsworth, Benjamin, 251. Wadsworth, Samuel, no- Wait, 135, 137. Walter, Nehemiah, 251. Walter, Thomas, 18, 231. Ward, 27.
Washington, 61, 89, 94, 104. Watts, Dr. Isaac, 46, 224.
Webb, 71, 98, 117, 138, 169, 196, 251.
Webbe, 166, 256.
Weelkes, 10.
Wells, Thomas, 232.
West, Nathaniel, 8r.
West, S. Stilman, 238, 241, 244.
West & Richardson, 194, 235.
Whipple, George M., 236, 237.
Whipple, Henry, 114, 241.
Whipple, S. S., 238.
Whipple & Lawrence, 179, 181, 1S3,
240, 248. Whitefield, Rev. George, 'z^- Wickham, Samuel, 64. Wigglesworth, Michael, 48. Wilbye, 10.
Williams, Nathaniel, 251. Williams, Samuel, 81. Williamson, 181, 182, 183. Winchester, Amasa, 196. Winship, Dr., 95, 98. Withington, Ebenezer, 196. Worgan, 125. Wright & Co., 150. Wynne, Sir Watkin W., 129.
Young, 116.
Zerrahn, Carl, 213.
University Press : Jolin Wilson & Sen, Cambridge.
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 9999 05500 837 7
*-
Ffee jublic Uim^ dommijgion
3
7MTKSSKOHUSETTS
TTj/s Volume is the gift of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the town of
Cpnssboroug!).
to form a part of its Public Library for the free use of all its citizens, in accordance with the pro- visions of Chapter 2^=,, of the Acts of i8g2.
C. B. TILLINGHAST,
■ VC'EL SWETT cT^^^TV^,
" • NOUR'^E, ELIZABETH P. SO HIE R, ANNA E. TICKNOR, Boston, i8gj. Co7it77iissioJters.
-EL
|
w*-'** '■' ^''"t-* |
|
|
^':'N?- |
•v-?';"^;*;;' |
|
;^':+iS^' |
■ -!^i^>?"'-'' |
|
.'^■'".J-^-.'lv''*'* |
|
|
."./.') |
', '"lit ;.'^''j ■-!',*•■,■■-, |
|
,, :■ ' : ' '^.v'; |
r-t' *'^I '•*"' ■'if"\ij |
|
.t.'S*^-'.- .\\ -, |
|
|
, ■ 7>y |
^^^m |
|
'-■ '-V, |
'■■'^"''.i^'^'''\ |
|
.■■■•■i^.',C-l\-' |
|
|
.'- ^ -''■ |
>■■.,-Sri'^'»^, |
|
'■'.'t''^ |
;'4t ^'iM'^^H |
|
-V'-j ' -> |
-ir^i'^ii-^ |
|
.'; >vv'' |
:'-:>:;-.:,■■''>; |
c;vv --•... .^•,:^-y-;-;.r..-.V^';'>N
■■ ■ ■.■•-■. - .-. •■V.J-'SU'- J
■ ■:^^•'^Ti'^<•^'^irl.^i•i■ : ■■'■^-.•^..■^i.'v>''rv^4iJ
'' r *■ ■ i*'' TU?' .- 1 * V '- -5 !•
r.jJ^:i>»(t3
<..•■, r;--:.". ■'''^■J•'■^;•^:i•^-<:;:.';;.^l■v •