1800-1825

In 1800 we find the first mention of the use of the bassoon. This was in Bethlehem, Pa., and it seems to complete the list of instruments for the average orchestra. Notwithstanding the record of the importation of oboes, many years earlier, and the fact that Graupner, one of the leading musicians in Boston about this time, was, or had been an oboeist, some historian has stated that even well into the nineteenth century there was only one oboe player in the United States, and he lived in Baltimore. Surely this must be an error.

In December 1800 we find the first annual concert of the Philharmonic Society in New York City. This society died in a few years, and in 1820 another Philharmonic Society was formed. This society also dwindled, though it did not die, for in 1840 it was reorganized, and has ever since taken a leading part in the musical life of New York.

Many musical societies made a beginning. Few lived long. But of those which lived perhaps the most noted is the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, formed in 1815. This society gave what was claimed to be the first complete performance of Handel’s “Messiah,” but it is also claimed that this was done in 1801 in the hall of the University of Pennsylvania.

The Handel and Haydn Society also gave what was called the first complete performance of Haydn’s “Creation,” an honor which is also ascribed to King’s Chapel in 1816, while portions had been performed in 1811 at Bethlehem, Pa. Thus it is difficult to fix definitely the first performances of many of the large works. In later days, especially in the case of Wagner’s operas, portions were given at concerts long before complete stage performances were essayed.

Another musical society which is in existence at the present day, and which undoubtedly has had much influence on the musical life of America, was the Pierian Sodality of Harvard University, established in 1808 by the undergraduates.

In Philadelphia we find the establishment of the Musical Fund Society, which, for a number of years, did much to promote good music in that city. At its first concert, on April 24, 1821, Beethoven’s First Symphony was played for the first time in America. Mr. Goepp gives us a full account of this and tells us that the whole symphony was too severe a task for an audience of that period, so the performance was broken and diversified by vocal and other solos between the movements.

New England possessed several musical societies in 1821, by which performances of oratorio were given. The Sacred Music Society was formed in New York City in 1823 and lasted till 1849. So it may easily be seen that, as the population increased, musical societies were soon established.

Theatres, while not strictly part of the musical life of the country, can hardly be separated from it because they were the home of ballad operas, and all musical stage representations. They were already in existence in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia before the beginning of the nineteenth century, but we find in 1807, the opening of “Le Theatre St. Philippe” in New Orleans with Mehul’s one-act opera, “Une Folie.” This theatre being burned in 1817, a new one, “Le Theatre d’Orleans,” was built and opened in the following year. This theatre was the finest in the country at that time and was the home of opera for a number of years. The record of opera in New Orleans is incomplete, but it is well known that New Orleans was the home of French opera in America long before it became popular in other parts of the country.

But America was gradually edging up to the time of grand opera. Singers were arriving from abroad and brought with them their ambitions. We find that an English version of Rossini’s opera, “Il Barbiere,” was given at the Park Theatre, New York City, in 1819, with Miss Leesugg as Rosina, and in 1823 an English version of Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” was presented. Again in the early part of 1825, Weber’s opera “Der Freyschuetz” was presented, in English, at the Park Theatre, with Miss Kelly and Mrs. de Luce in the leading parts. Similar performances followed in other cities, and the country was thus gradually prepared for the real thing, grand opera, in its native language.

While the record of items during the period 1800 to 1825 is not very long it still shows considerable progress. The people grew up in a country where there was little musical cultivation, where there were small communities, and where the struggle for existence had been the first consideration. They responded warmly to the efforts of the country singing teacher, the choral society promoter, and later to the producer of opera, and if history shows many failures, it may be pointed out that these failures could not have taken place if no effort had been made. Perhaps efforts in many cases were premature. Also there was much to learn in the management of masses of people. The virtues of a true democracy are nowhere more necessary than in a choral society.

1800. Bassoon used in Bethlehem, Pa.

1800. Dec 23. First Annual Concert of the Philharmonic Society given at Tontine Hall, Broadway, New York City.

1801. Handel’s “Messiah” given in the hall of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

1802. “Harmonic Society” founded in Philadelphia.

1803. Benjamin Crehore of Milton, Mass., made the first pianoforte in New England.

1807. Massachusetts Musical Society formed in Boston for improving the mode of performing sacred music. Ceased to exist in 1820.

1807. “Le Theatre St. Philippe” opened in New Orleans with a one-act opera by Mehul, “Une Folie.”

1808. The Pierian Sodality, half musical, half social club organized by the undergraduates of Harvard University.

1809. Haydn Society formed in Philadelphia.

1811. John Davis, from San Domingo, opened the “Theatre d’Orleans” in New Orleans.

1811. Haydn’s “Creation” and “The Seasons” performed in part at Bethlehem, Pa.

1813-1893. John S. Dwight, editor, critic, member of Brook Farm community, and founder in 1852 of “Dwight’s Journal of Music,” the first publication of its kind in America.

1814. Sept 14. The words of “The Star-Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key during the bombardment of Fort Henry. They were published next day as a “Broadside” and on the 20th appeared in the “Baltimore Patriot.” The tune of “Anacreon in Heaven” was adapted by the author.

1815. April 20. Handel and Haydn Society, Boston, organized with Thomas S. Webb as President. At the first concert the chorus consisted of about one hundred, of whom ten were women. Orchestra a dozen instruments, and organ.

1816. First complete performance of Haydn’s “Creation” given at King’s Chapel, Boston.

1817. Charles B. Incledon, noted English tenor singer, visited America.

1818. New Theatre d’Orleans, the finest in the United States, opened in New Orleans. The old theatre was burned in 1817. The new theatre was the home of opera for some years.

1818. Dec 25. The Handel and Haydn Society of Boston gave what is called the first complete performance of Handel’s “Messiah” in America. (Philip Goepp states that the “Messiah” was given in 1801, in the hall of the University of Pennsylvania.)

1819. “Haydn Society” formed in Cincinnati, O.

1819. Feb 16. First complete performance of Haydn’s “Creation” given by the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston. (This was claimed also in 1816 for a performance at King’s Chapel.)

1819. An English version of Rossini’s “Barber of Seville” given in New York City, with Miss Leesugg as Rosina, at the Park Theatre.

1820. Philharmonic Society organized in Bethlehem, Pa. (Originally the Collegium Musicum of 1750.)

1820. Two musical societies formed in New York City, viz., the Philharmonic, and the Euterpean.

The Philharmonic used to engage prominent artists. It gradually dwindled but was reorganized in 1840.

The Euterpean gave concerts which were usually followed by a supper and a ball. It ceased to exist about 1845.

1820. Aug 30. George F. Root, noted American song-writer. Died Aug 6, 1895.

1820. The Philadelphia Musical Fund Society established. Gave its first concert April 24, 1821, when Beethoven’s First Symphony was played for the first time in America. (Between the movements vocal and other solos were given by sundry artists.)

1821. New England musical matters on record of this year are: An oratorio given by the Psallion Society of Providence, R. I.;

A performance of music by the New Hampshire Musical Society at Hanover, N. H.;

The existence of a Beethoven Society in Portland, Me.

1823. Production in New York City of “Clari, the Maid of the Mill,” ballad opera by Sir Henry Bishop and J. Howard Payne. This opera contains the song, “Home, Sweet Home.” Was presented in London on May 23.

1823. May 23. Mozart’s opera, “The Marriage of Figaro” (Bishop’s English version), presented in New York City at the Park Theatre.

1823. The pianoforte manufacturing house of Jonas Chickering established in Boston.

1823-1849. Sacred Music Society, New York City.

1824. St. Cecilia Society formed in Philadelphia.