Finding Their Voices - Amherst College

More documents

Recommendations

Info

tunes, as being poorly constructed and rendering the words incomprehensible. New American composers arose, building their reputations in part by denigrating the composers that had come before them. Andrew Law, a member of this new wave, bluntly wrote: “a considerable part of American composition is in reality faulty”; while Samuel Holyoke, another young composer, specifically targeted fuguing tunes: “the parts, falling in, one after another, each conveying a different idea, confound the sense, and render the performance a mere jargon of words.” 192 John Hubbard, a professor at Dartmouth, gave perhaps the most damning condemnation: Almost every pedant, after learning his eight notes, has commenced author; with geniuses generally as sterile as the deserts of Arabia, has attempted to rival the great masters of music. On the leaden wings of dullness he has attempted to soar into the regions of science never penetrated but by real genius. The unhappy authors, after torturing every note of the octave, have fallen into oblivion, and have generally outlived their insignificant works. To the great injury of true religion, this kind of music has been introduced into our places of public worship. Devotion, appalled by its destructive presence, has fled from the unhallowed sound. 193 The advocacy for change spurred by this new generation found purchase within the New England clergy, and fuguing tunes quickly fell out of favor. Faced with this sudden musical vacuum, clergymen scrambled to find suitable replacements. The solution, as it came about, was to replace “fuguing tunes” with music by European composers who had a reputation both for faith and for musical genius. Two composers in particular fit the bill, namely, At first Handel, and, as soon as his works reached the United States, Haydn. Both musicians were regarded to have been almost certainly divinely inspired. Handel in particular was held up as the standard to which all music !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 192 Andrew Law, The Musical Primer (Cheshire, Connecticut, 1793); Samuel Holyoke, Harmonia Americana (Boston, 1791). 193 John Hubbard, An Essay on Music pronounced before the Middlesex Musical Society, Sept. 9, 1807, at Dunstable, (Mass.) (Boston: Manning & Loring, 1808), 17. ! 136!
should aspire, his Messiah and other oratorios representing the closest man could come to musical and spiritual perfection. To encourage these changes, musical societies dedicated to advocating for such “worthy” music began appearing all over the east coast. Considering the movement’s sacred and intellectual orientation, it is not surprising that several of these societies came into being in American colleges, institutions dedicated to exploring and expanding the intellect in a Christian manner. Among the very first of these societies was the Handel Society, formed in Dartmouth <strong>College</strong> in 1807 by Professor of Mathematics and music advocate John Hubbard. Modeling the group on an earlier example given by the Middlesex Musical Society, formed two years earlier in New Hampshire by Hubbard’s friend and fellow musical reformist Nathaniel Gould, the Dartmouth society professed in its founding constitution to “promote true and genuine music, and discountenance trifling, unfinished pieces.” 194 The society gave public concerts , arranged guest lectures, and published its own collections of sacred music. Its constitution lay out an inclusive list of worthy composers, including (as listed): “Handel, Arne, Boyce, Madan, Croft, Lockhard, Giardini, Worgan, Purcell, Burney, Arnold, Busby, Williams, Clark, Cobb, Miller, Millgrove, Calcott, Bononcini, Pepusch, and others, who have written finished and correct music.” 195 None of these composers were American. It is interesting to note which European composers were missing. There is no mention of J. S. Bach, as this was !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 194 John King Lord, A History of Dartmouth <strong>College</strong> 1815-1909 (Concord: The Rumford Press, 1913), 553. 195 Ibid., 8. Full names for these composers are George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), Thomas Arne (1710- 1778), William Boyce (1711-1779), Martin Madan (1726-1790), William Croft (1678-1727), Charles Lockhard (1745-1815), Felice Giardini (1716-1796), John Worgan (1724-1790), Henry Purcell (1659- 1695), Charles Burney (1726-1814), Samuel Arnold (1740-1802), Thomas Busby (1755-1838), Aaron Williams (1731-1776), Thomas Clark of Canterbury (1775-1859), John Cobb (fl. 1638-48), Edward Miller (c.1731-1807), [Millgrove unidentified], John Wall Calcott (1766-1821), Giovanni Battista Bononcini (1670-1747), and Johann Christoph Pepusch (1667-1752). ! 137!
Page 1 and 2:
Finding their Voices: Student Activ
Page 3 and 4:
Figures and Musical Examples All Am
Page 5 and 6:
A Beginning: The Doctor and the War
Page 7 and 8:
Seelye was convinced that in Bigelo
Page 9 and 10:
whenever Bigelow was on steady fina
Page 11 and 12:
the official curriculum. Fortunatel
Page 13 and 14:
the development of music education
Page 15 and 16:
on this scare source material, it i
Page 17 and 18:
Henry Ward Beecher, who would later
Page 19 and 20:
elow their titles. 18 This collecti
Page 21 and 22:
years. The impermanence of these gr
Page 23 and 24:
! Figure'1.1'*'Amherst'College'Banj
Page 25 and 26:
College Orchestra 1860-1862 Instrum
Page 27 and 28:
Delta Kappa Epsilon Glee Club 1876-
Page 29 and 30:
One final disclaimer is necessary b
Page 31 and 32:
grant a request of the Beethoven So
Page 33 and 34:
and vocal scores; planned scenery a
Page 35 and 36:
Orchestra, inaugurated in late 1871
Page 37 and 38:
Association was eventually able to
Page 39 and 40:
deemed an enormous success, and the
Page 41 and 42:
It is rumored that President Seelye
Page 43 and 44:
music and how they viewed the respo
Page 45 and 46:
would not be able to pay, Zuchtmann
Page 47 and 48:
in late 1883 in the student newspap
Page 49 and 50:
performances. With one single excep
Page 51 and 52:
Somehow the college authorities fai
Page 53 and 54:
student, but when the organ arrived
Page 55 and 56:
of his material from the 1869 New A
Page 57 and 58:
Figure 1.2 - Old Doc with his cello
Page 59 and 60:
involved with his students. 91 He r
Page 61 and 62:
The Board of Trustees began address
Page 63 and 64:
singing schools or even provide pri
Page 65 and 66:
I intend to fill in some of these a
Page 67 and 68:
The most difficult part of such a p
Page 69 and 70:
Ritter from 1867-1891), who gave le
Page 71 and 72:
accepted as an equivalent for some
Page 73 and 74:
wrote an essay on the subject in 18
Page 75 and 76:
e reconciled, —a proper subordina
Page 77 and 78:
into the art they profess the disti
Page 79 and 80:
Figure 2.1: Mount Holyoke Banjo Clu
Page 81 and 82:
sighted view of music as an entirel
Page 83 and 84:
oard agreed with Taylor, and the ch
Page 85 and 86:
performances, where they would play
Page 87 and 88:
a group well represented in the adm
Page 89 and 90: The evening was passed with pleasur
Page 91 and 92: ody. The president had constant tro
Page 93 and 94: highly involved in the group’s ac
Page 95 and 96: Figure 2.3 - The first issue of Dwi
Page 97 and 98: are not now prepared to state. A sy
Page 99 and 100: accumulations during its twenty yea
Page 101 and 102: chorus pieces by Mendelssohn, as we
Page 103 and 104: Mr. Paine to place high Music on it
Page 105 and 106: “neither Guido nor his immediate
Page 107 and 108: Music is a science, and Music is a
Page 109 and 110: influence need be limited to the in
Page 111 and 112: numbers seem to have somewhat overw
Page 113 and 114: Paine’s training many of these co
Page 115 and 116: Chapter Three Music in America We n
Page 117 and 118: throne. Under his rule Henry’s re
Page 119 and 120: the use of music between the two th
Page 121 and 122: Wherefore, although we look far and
Page 123 and 124: entirely by the congregation. Every
Page 125 and 126: Ravenscroft’s The Whole Booke of
Page 127 and 128: a series of Biblical examples and p
Page 129 and 130: By the late seventeenth century som
Page 131 and 132: World.” 184 The old style had cle
Page 133 and 134: Figure 3.1 - Examples of notation i
Page 135 and 136: HUMAN HORROR, Secretary. Billings c
Page 137 and 138: Feminine and Trivial: American Perc
Page 139: instrument was convenient for many
Page 143 and 144: and Haydn Society. What might today
Page 145 and 146: Upon Mason’s arrival in Boston in
Page 147 and 148: Perhaps indicative of the prominenc
Page 149 and 150: Woodbridge’s lecture alone did no
Page 151 and 152: unification of the country’s 39 d
Page 153 and 154: Following this concert, the orchest
Page 155 and 156: thousand springs that the Giver of
Page 157 and 158: Looking back to Amherst College, we
Page 159 and 160: Afterword William Bigelow’s trial
Page 161 and 162: practice or ensemble work should co
Page 163 and 164: Appendix A. Dictionary of Amherst C
Page 165 and 166: Amherst” and “The Senior Song,
Page 167 and 168: Years Active: 1885-1929 In late 188
Page 169 and 170: Cinyrea Years active: c. 1856? - 18
Page 171 and 172: “‘Beauty’s’ Immense Octoqui
Page 173 and 174: perfect imitation of the bagpipes.
Page 175 and 176: Figure'A.1'-'The'serpent'used'by'th
Page 177 and 178: Figure'A.3'-'The'Amherst'College'Or
Page 179 and 180: Figure'A.5'-'Calliopean'Quartette,'
Page 181 and 182: Figure'A.7'+'The'Amphion'Sextette,'
Page 183 and 184: Figure A.9 - The Amherst College Gl
Page 185 and 186: Figure A.11 - The Glee Club at Lake
Page 187 and 188: Appendix B. Summary of Amherst Coll
Page 189 and 190: art of Music given in Amherst Colle
Page 191 and 192:
Appendix D. Edward Hitchcock Jr., P
Page 193 and 194:
of his glory with the English Peopl
Page 195 and 196:
known as the “Mysteries,” and i
Page 197 and 198:
shepherds abiding in the field, kee
Page 199 and 200:
exciting majestic a work as Handel'
Page 201 and 202:
Committee [4] and received by a maj
Page 203 and 204:
institution to the President's hous
Page 205 and 206:
On commencement day the band perfor
Page 207 and 208:
C.B. Pratt - Assos. Master W.P. Pai
Page 209 and 210:
The instruments were examined and f
Page 211 and 212:
Friday morning, July 4 th [35] The
Page 213 and 214:
Chas. K. Whipple [Charles King, 183
Page 215 and 216:
E.P Russell - Ass. Master A.R. Thay
Page 217 and 218:
April 27th 1830 - The Band met in t
Page 219 and 220:
Mortimer Blake - Secretary Daniel L
Page 221 and 222:
Band met and played quite well cons
Page 223 and 224:
Amherst College, Oct. 13, 1834 Coll
Page 225 and 226:
Appendix G. Religious status of the
Page 227 and 228:
Appendix H. Report by the Harvard P
Page 229 and 230:
those of Homer, and Plato, and Newt
Page 231 and 232:
4. The next thing to be secured, is
Page 233 and 234:
Appendix I. Melody and original wor
Page 235 and 236:
Boston Musical Gazette 1, nos. 1-7
Page 237 and 238:
Ryan, Thomas. Recollections of an O
Page 239 and 240:
Leaver, Robin A. Luther's Liturgica
show all

Finding Their Voices - Amherst College

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?