A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/United States
UNITED STATES. The means and opportunities presented in the United States for musical study and improvement have been, within the past two decades, largely amplified and greatly strengthened. It is now possible for students to find institutions where nothing necessary for a thorough musical education is omitted from the curriculum. It is the purpose of this article to indicate the extent and importance of these means, without, however, attempting to name all of the establishments in the Union where the instruction is in the hands of competent professors, or which have been recognised as worthy of patronage.
I. At Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, music is an 'elective' study. The instruction, which is purely theoretical, embraces a course of three years. The degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy are conferred on worthy graduates. John K. Paine [vol. ii. p. 632] has been in charge of this department since 1862—at first instructor, raised to a full professorship in 1876. The Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, includes a College of Music, established 1872, with a faculty of thirteen professors and instructors, Eben Tourjée, dean [see p. 154]. Instruction is both theoretical and practical, and is carried to the point that admits of the bestowal of the degree of Bachelor of Music, after a three years' course. Both sexes are admitted to the College. At Boston are several private schools, liberally patronised, with pupils from all parts of the Union. The largest, the New England Conservatory of Music, established in 1867, is under the direction of Eben Tourjée. This school has a staff of instructors in every branch, numbering 90, and had in the year 1883–4, 1971 pupils, with a valuable library and other resources in full. The establishment also includes dormitories and dining-rooms for 400 girl pupils. Over 33,000 pupils have been registered here since the opening of the institution. The Boston Conservatory of Music, also established in 1867, is under the care of Julius Eichberg. It has for several years enjoyed a high reputation for the thoroughness of its violin school. At each establishment the class system is rigidly adhered to, and instruction, beginning at the rudiments, is carried to a high point in both theory and practice.
In the public schools of the city of Boston instruction in music forms a part of each day's exercises. The schools are divided into three grades, Primary, Grammar, and High. In the lowest grade the pupils, five to eight years of age, are taught the major scales as far as four sharps and four flats, to fill measures in rhythm, and the signs and characters in common use; the vocal exercises consist of songs in unison, taught by rote. This work is reviewed in the lower classes of the next grade, which include children from eight to eleven years, and instruction is continued by written exercises in transposition and vocal exercises in three- and four-part harmony. In the higher classes of the grammar schools—pupils of from eleven to fourteen years—the triads and their inversions are learned; the written exercises include transpositions of themes; and the vocal exercises consist of songs and chorales in four-part harmony, all of greater difficulty than those set before the lower classes. With very few exceptions the sexes are separated. When, as has sometimes happened, there have been found boys with tenor and bass voices, a wider range in the selection of exercises for practice and songs has been possible. Diplomas are awarded, on graduation, to all who reach a given standard at a written examination. Still greater advance is made in the High Schools, the graduates being from eighteen to nineteen years old. The exercises are increased in difficulty, and the lessons include some of the principles of harmony. All of the instruction in the primary and grammar schools is given by the regular teachers, who visit the schools in rotation, under the supervision of the special instructor in music. The lessons are mostly oral, with the aid of blackboard and charts. Four grades of text-books, especially prepared for the schools, are used, named first, second, third and fourth readers, respectively; the first being used in the primary schools, and so on. There is also an advanced reader—a collection of three-part songs—used in the girls' high school. The system is the outgrowth of seventeen years' study and experience. The department is (1880) in the charge of a musical director, Julius Eichberg, who has also the special care of the high schools; and three special instructors, Joseph B. Shadand, Henry E. Holt and J. Munroe Mason, who divide the care of the grammar and primary schools. Director and Instructors are under the control of a committee on music, consisting of five members of the school committee, appointed annually. The entire school committee serve without pay. There is an annual election to fill vacancies occurring by the expiration of the three years' term of a third of the number. Since 1879 women have been allowed to vote at this election, and women have served on the school committee since 1875. Both of these privileges have been secured to women throughout the state, by general statutes. From the official returns for 1884, it appears that the number of public schools in the city of Boston was 171; of teachers, male and female, nearly 1400; of pupils 58,788; and that the annual cost of musical instruction was about 11,000 dollars for the special instructors employed. The system herein set forth has been adopted, with modifications according to governing circumstances, in many of the cities and large towns throughout the Union.
II. The Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, was founded in 1857, by George Peabody. In pursuance of the design of the founder 'to furnish that sort of instruction, under able teachers, in the theory and higher branches of music, for which there has heretofore been no provision, and which students have been obliged to seek abroad,' a Conservatory of Music was organised, in 1868, substantially on the plan of the European conservatories. Mr. Lucian H. Southard, an American musician, was its first principal. In 1871, Mr. Asger Hamerik, a young Danish composer, was invited to become its head, a position still retained by him (1884). The Conservatory has had an average of 120 students, both sexes being represented. The requisites for admission are a knowledge of the rudiments of musical theory, to which must be allied, in the case of singers a voice, susceptible of cultivation; and the ability to play certain studies of Plaidy and Czerny and the easier sonatas of Haydn and Mozart, in the case of piano-students. The course of instruction is adapted to a high degree of musical culture, both theoretical and practical. Diplomas are granted to students who, after a three years' course, pass a satisfactory examination before the government of the Conservatory. The staff of instructors numbers six, including the director. The library of the Institute contains 65,000 volumes, about 1000 of which are scores belonging to the musical department. About 50 lectures, on literary, scientific and art topics, by the best lecturers whose services can be procured, are given yearly. The Institute is situated in a fine marble building, occupying an entire square in the centre of the city. The Peabody Concerts are given under the auspices of the Institute.
III. The College of Music, Cincinnati, Ohio, was incorporated in 1878. The business affairs of the college are administered by a directory, composed as follows in 1880:—George Ward Nichols, president; P. R. Neff, treasurer; J. Burnet, jun., secretary; J. Shillito and R. R. Springer. It is to Mr. Springer's munificent generosity that the city is largely indebted for the great Music Hall in which the college is held. Thirty-four professors of music and modern languages made up the faculty, and at their head was Theodore Thomas. The terms for instruction are very low, and students enjoy many advantages. Class instruction is pursued in theory, vocalisation, chorus-singing, and ensemble-playing, but not, as a rule, in the orchestral branches. There is a college choir of 200 voices and an orchestra of 65 musicians. During its first season the college gave, under Mr. Thomas's direction, twelve Symphony concerts and twelve Chamber concerts, the programmes being invariably of the highest order. The Music Hall contains one of the largest organs in the world (96 registers, 6,237 pipes; built by Hook & Hastings, Boston), and on this there were given two recitals in each week. The college doors were first opened for pupils Oct. 14, 1878. The enterprise has met with a success far beyond the anticipations of its projectors. During the first season (1878–79) over 500 pupils were enrolled, both sexes and nearly every portion of North America being represented. Mr. Thomas resigned his position in 1880.
IV. At Farmington, Connecticut, is found Miss Sarah Porter's school for girls, established about thirty years ago, which for a quarter of a century has been noted for the good training of its musical students. These, numbering 50 to 70, have been in the charge of Karl Klauser, who has edited over a thousand classical piano compositions in a manner which has won for him a high reputation among teachers for the critical care displayed by him. Pupils here are permitted frequent opportunities of hearing the best musicians in classical chamber-concerts.
V. Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, for girls, was established in 1865. There are generally from 125 to 150 pupils enrolled. The musical department has been, since 1867, under the charge of Frederic Louis Ritter. Eight to ten concerts of classic music are given yearly. Wells College, Aurora, New York, for girls, was incorporated in 1868. During the academic year 1878–79, the classes in music included 45 pupils, under the charge of Max Piutti. The Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, for both sexes, was established in 1871; the musical department was formed in 1877. William Schultze is in charge of this department. The pupils numbered 127 in 1879, about five-sixths of whom were girls. The degree of Bachelor of Music is conferred on deserving graduates. Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, has a Conservatory of Music. The College was established in 1834, the Conservatory was opened in 1865. Fenelon B. Rice is its musical director. The Conservatory is modelled, as nearly as practicable, on that at Leipzig. The average number of students at the College during the decade 1871–80, has been 120, some two-thirds of whom have entered the Conservatory, about 30 per cent of the latter being boys.
VI. As already intimated, it is not possible to name all of the reputable institutions, public or private, in the United States, where music is taught by trained and competent instructors. Neither has it been possible to do more than suggest the fulness of the means which, in each instance cited, are at the command of students, such as libraries, lectures and concerts. In addition to the collections of treatises and scores which are found at each of the institutions named, there exist several large and carefully made up libraries, which, being generally of a public or quasi-public character, present another means of education. At Boston there is the Public Library, open to every inhabitant of the city, without distinction, in which is a collection of rare text-books and scores. The library of the Harvard Musical Association is also of great value. At the library of Harvard University, and at the Astor Library, New York, collections of musical literature and works have been begun. The private library of Joseph W. Drexel, of New York, noted as the richest in the Union in old and rare musical works, will eventually form a part of the Lenox Library of that city.
A feature peculiar to the United States should also be noted—'Normal Musical Institutes,' held in the summer, at some seaside or mountain watering-place, by leading professors, for the purpose of giving advanced instruction to students who intend to fit themselves for teaching. Once a year, also in the summer, there is held at a place previously agreed upon, a meeting of music teachers from all parts of the Union, under the name 'The National Music Teachers' Association,' whereat matters of interest to the profession are discussed, and lectures delivered. From this has sprung (1884) an institution, The American College of Musicians, the purpose of which is to examine musicians who desire to become teachers, and to grant graded certificates of ability. The hope of the projectors is that by this means the standard of capacity among music teachers will be raised and maintained. [App. p.806 "For additional matter, see Boston, Foster, Negro Music, etc., in Appendix."]