supplied with a notable array of dignified concerts, often arranged in annual series. In general, the amount of this public musical life is greatest in the East, the two chief foci being New York and Boston, but the area of activity has rapidly extended westward, radiating especially from Chicago and Cincinnati, and is now reaching the South and the Far West as well.
Coincident with this energetic concertistic life are other efforts. Some kind of church music is a practical necessity everywhere, though the absence of any dominant type of service precludes uniformity. For a long period, except in Catholic and Episcopal churches, small choirs (usually quartets) have been common, bringing into prominence a type of sacred music somewhat diverse from any form elsewhere. The use of choral music, however, is steadily increasing. Private teachers, especially of piano-playing and singing, are scattered everywhere, constituting a profession more and more held in honor. Yet, since no system of examination and certification is possible, many pass for musicians without much breadth of training. Musical clubs of amateurs are frequent and often exert useful influence.
Music-schools of various grade have multiplied in the chief cities and towns. Most of these are independent business ventures, but some exist as parts of the educational system of colleges and universities. Ever since the time of Lowell Mason (d. 1872), working in Boston from 1828, elementary music has found place in some of the public schools. Of late years, owing to the able efforts of several advocates in different sections, this line of effort has been greatly extended, so that now it affects the schools in hundreds of places. Energetic work is in progress to standardize school instruction and to bring it into relation with the courses offered in higher institutions. Several colleges accept musical attainments as qualifications for admission and many give credit for musical courses as for other subjects. Musical pedagogy along routine lines seems likely to be increasingly affected by this institutional work.
Among national societies one of the most efficient is the American Guild of Organists (incorporated in 1896), which confers certificates on examination, holds musical services in several cities and encourages composition by prize contests. The aim of the Manuscript Society (formed in 1888) is to foster original composition in all styles. The Music Teachers' National Association (founded in 1876) was designed to band together private teachers for mutual benefit. At times it has succeeded in exerting useful influence, though its original function has been chiefly transferred to the ten or more state associations, most of which were formed at its instigation. At present the Association is serving as a useful clearing-house for the discussion of practical questions regarding system in musical pedagogy. With it is loosely affiliated the small circle of members of the Internationale Musik-Gesellschaft, who look forward to establishing an active American branch of that society.
Several of the great libraries, notably the Library of Congress in Washington, the Public Libraries of New York, Boston, Chicago and many other cities, and those of several universities, have given attention
