Harvard Musical Association
Encyclopedia
The Harvard Musical Association is a private charitable organization
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
founded by Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
graduates in 1837
1837 in music
- Events :*June 11 – Prussian Copyright Act protecting for the first time performances of concert music*Pauline Viardot makes her concert debut at the age of sixteen.- Published popular music :...
for the purposes of advancing musical culture
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and literacy, both at the University and in the city of Boston. Though initially a spin-off of the Pierian Sodality, the Association broke its ties with Harvard soon after its founding. The Association's most important notable accomplishments include the creation of the country's finest music library
Music library
A music library contains music-related materials for patron use. Collections may also include non-print materials, such as digitized music scores or audio recordings. Use of such materials may be limited to specific patron groups, especially in private academic institutions...
of the time, the sponsorship of the first professional and public chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
series in the United States, the erection of the Boston Music Hall
Boston Music Hall
The Boston Music Hall was a concert hall located on Winter Street in Boston, Massachusetts, with an additional entrance on Hamilton Place.One of oldest continuously operating theaters in the United States, it was built in 1852 and was the original home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The hall...
, and the formation of the orchestra which ultimately gave rise to the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
. The Association's library catalog may be searched on OCLC
OCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
with the initials HVDMA.
Founding
In July 1837, the Pierian Sodality, a society of musically inclined Harvard undergraduates, held its annual meeting. They proposed the organization of a new society, the chief object of which would be "...the promotion of musical taste and science in the University...to enrich the walls of Harvard with a complete musical library...and to prepare the way for regular musical instruction in the College." By general agreement, and with the help of various past members, the organization now known as The Harvard Musical Association was created at a subsequent meeting on August 30, 1837 under the name "The General Association of Past and Present Members of the Pierian Sodality". The name was shortened in 1840.The new Association, advocating the teaching of music at Harvard, sent the following series of resolutions to Josiah Quincy
Josiah Quincy
Josiah Quincy is the name of:*Colonel Josiah Quincy I , Revolutionary War soldier, built Josiah Quincy House *Josiah Quincy II , attorney, "the Patriot", newspaper propagandist, son of Josiah Quincy I...
, Harvard's president at that time.
Proposals from outsiders for the improvement of the University were considered presumptuous and Quincy never acknowledged that he had received the document. It was not until 1862, when John Knowles Paine
John Knowles Paine
John Knowles Paine , was the first American-born composer to achieve fame for large-scale orchestral music.-Life:He studied organ, orchestration, and composition in Germany and toured in Europe for three years...
was appointed Harvard's first professor of music, that music became an established part of the curriculum. In light of the College's attitude and decreasing undergraduate participation, the membership agreed not to mention Harvard at its meetings (a ban that remained in effect for twenty-four years) and turned its capacities toward the advancement of music in Boston.
Music in Boston
From 1844 to 1849, the Association sponsored a series of chamber music concerts open to the public. Though this concert series lasted only five years, it had a profound impact on music in the United States, both by increasing public knowledge of chamber music, and by helping music in general gain legitimacy as an art form.
In 1850, under the leadership of member Dr. Jabez Upham, the Association raised in sixty days the sum of US$100,000 to build a new Music Hall between Tremont and Washington
Washington Street (Boston)
Washington Street is a street originating in downtown Boston, Massachusetts that extends southwestward to the Massachusetts-Rhode Island state line. The majority of it was built as the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike in the early nineteenth century...
Streets. This hall, seating over two thousand, was dedicated by Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind
Johanna Maria Lind , better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she is known for her performances in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and across Europe, and for an extraordinarily...
in 1852. Ten years later the members of the Association raised an additional $60,000 to install in the hall an organ built in Germany by Walcker. Regarded as the largest organ in the United States, this instrument contained 5,474 pipes
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
and 84 registers and may now be heard (altered by Æolian–Skinner
Ernest M. Skinner
Ernest M. Skinner was one of the most successful American organ builders of the early 20th century.-Early years:...
) in its own hall in Methuen
Methuen, Massachusetts
Methuen is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 43,789 at the 2000 census.-History:Methuen was first settled in 1642 and was officially incorporated in 1726; it is named for the British diplomat Sir Paul Methuen. Methuen was originally part of Haverhill,...
.
On December 28, 1865, the Association began its sponsorship of public concerts by the Harvard Orchestra, conducted by Carl Zerrahn. Of these concerts, which took place in the Music Hall, King's Dictionary of Boston reported in 1883: "The greatest works of the greatest masters have been given at these concerts, the standard of whose programmes has been kept at the highest, with the view, in part, of educating the taste of the musical public in what is greatest and best without regard to fashion or popular demand." The orchestra, however, had humble beginnings. Though composed of sixty-two players, the orchestra often lacked necessary instruments. As Arthur Foote
Arthur Foote
Arthur William Foote was an American classical composer, and a member of the "Boston Six." The other five were George Whitefield Chadwick, Amy Beach, Edward MacDowell, John Knowles Paine, and Horatio Parker.The modern tendency is to view Foote’s music as “Romantic” and “European” in light of the...
said: "When a harp was needed in the orchestra..., one of us would do the best we could to replace it by playing its part on an upright piano." In 1882, after having suffered monetary losses for eight years, the Harvard Orchestra was dissolved and turned over the last of its funds, $1,000 to the Association.
Association member Henry Lee Higginson
Henry Lee Higginson
Henry Lee Higginson was a noted American businessman and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.-Family and Early Life:...
, however, sought to revivify orchestra music in Boston, and in 1881 placed an ad in the Boston newspapers, which would lead to the creation of the first professional symphony orchestra in Boston:
Although Higginson had intended for members of Harvard Orchestra to play in the new one, most were not good enough musicians to reach the level of perfection required to fulfill Higginson's hopes for the professional orchestra. After the disbanding of the Harvard Orchestra in 1882, the Association stopped all direct participation in the Boston music scene, and continued to host concerts for the pleasure of members only.
Library
The Association's library, however, remained open to the public, and is still an integral part of the Association's daily operations. With bequeaths from various members, it soon assembled many books and scores which were assessed by the Salem Register in 1843 as constituting the "largest and best musical library in the country." Today, the library has over 11,000 volumes, including many rare and notable works. A few examples:- A collection of sheet music published by the Van Hagens, the first sheet music publishers in Boston
- An archive of the complete running of Dwight's Musical Journal
- Malcom Alexander's A Treatise of Musick, Speculative, Practical, and Historical, the first history of music in the English language.
- A signed first edition of César Franck's Pièces [cinq] pour harmonium
- A first edition of Mozart's Sei quartetti per due violin, viola, e violoncello
Premiere of Parsifal
In 1880, German composer Richard WagnerRichard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
encountered difficulty in getting Parsifal performed in Bayreuth. Annoyed because of his large expenditures on the Festival Theater, the venue at which he had intended to hold the performance, and bureaucratic opposition, he said in a letter to American dentist
Dentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
Newell S. Jenkins: "It seems to me as if, in my hopes of regarding Germany and her future, my patience would very soon be exhausted." In a display of his notorious ego, Wagner proposed that if an American organization would give him $1,000,000, he would agree to come to the United States, to live there permanently, and to put on the first performance of Parsifal. Jenkins forwarded the letter to Andrew D. White—then the American ambassador to the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
—who in turn sent it to John Sullivan Dwight. Although the Association briefly considered the proposal, Wagner's difficulties in Bayreuth were resolved before any plans were finalized. Parsifal was produced in 1882, and Wagner died the following year.
Locations
"Social evenings" for members and guests were held first in CambridgeCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
and then in such renowned Boston locations as the Revere House
Paul Revere House
The Paul Revere House is the colonial home of American patriot Paul Revere during the time of the American Revolution. It is located at 19 North Square, Boston, Massachusetts, in the city's North End, and is now operated as a nonprofit museum by the Paul Revere Memorial Association. A small...
, the Tremont House
Tremont House
Tremont House , sometimes called the Tremont Hotel, was a highly influential hotel designed in 1829 by Isaiah Rogers in Boston, Massachusetts...
, and the original Parker House. Then, the Association would gather ten to twelve times a year to hear some of the leading chamber musicians of the day and to share a post-concert supper. Whether the white-tie
White tie
White tie is the most formal evening dress code in Western fashion. It is worn to ceremonial occasions such as state dinners in some countries, as well as to very formal balls and evening weddings...
-and-oyster affair of the 19th century or the baked bean, Welsh rarebit, and ale collation of the present, the social evening remains the heart of the organization.
From its beginning and through the 1880s, the Association's rooms were moved from time to time. From 1858 to 1869, its Library was placed in the Athenæum
Boston Athenæum
Boston Athenæum is one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States. It is also one of only sixteen extant membership libraries, meaning that patrons pay a yearly subscription fee to use the Athenæum's services...
. In 1892, the Association acquired the Malcolm Greenough (brother of Horatio Greenough
Horatio Greenough
Horatio Greenough was an American sculptor best known for his United States government commissions The Rescue and George Washington .-Biography:...
) house at 1 West Cedar Street. Opened with a reception for Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, this has remained the Association's residence for over 100 years. The main floor was dropped four feet in 1907, which required relocating the main entrance to Chestnut Street and taking a new number, 57A. With a bequest from Julia Marsh, widow of Charles Marsh (member Eben Jordan
Jordan Marsh
Jordan Marsh & Company was a department store in Boston, Massachusetts, which grew to be a major regional chain in the New England area of the United States. In 1996, the last of the Jordan Marsh stores were converted to Macy's. The store was formerly part of Allied Stores and then Federated...
's partner), the Association renovated the upper floors in 1913. The third floor, with its warren of lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
d rooms, was gutted and the resulting space joined to the second floor to create space for a highly-ornamented, double-height hall (designed by member architect Joseph Everett Chandler, a Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
specialist) thereafter known as the Marsh Room. The condition of Marsh's bequest was that the room in her honor be open during weekdays (provided there's no Association gathering) to local musicians for practice.
Famous members
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s in the New England region of the United States as a protest against the general state of culture and society, and in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian...
and member of the Brook Farm
Brook Farm
Brook Farm, also called the Brook Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education or the Brook Farm Association for Industry and Education, was a utopian experiment in communal living in the United States in the 1840s...
movement, who for many years published a recondite Journal of Music and was widely known as one of the nation's outstanding musicologists
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
. It was largely through his efforts that the Library was established, the Music Hall was built, and the Harvard Orchestra was organized. He served as President of the Association from 1873 until his death in 1893, at which time he was a resident in the new house of the Association.
Other significant figures in the Association's affairs include Henry Ware, Jr.
Henry Ware, Jr.
Henry Ware, Jr. was an influential Unitarian theologian, early member of the faculty of Harvard Divinity School, and first president of the Harvard Musical Association. He was a mentor of Ralph Waldo Emerson when Emerson studied for the ministry in the 1820s.The son of Henry Ware, he was born in...
, first President; Henry White Pickering, President from 1852 to 1873; Arthur Foote, the celebrated composer, who importantly reorganized the Library during his membership from 1875 to 1937; and Charles R. Nutter, historian of the Association and an active member from 1893 to 1965.
Courtenay Guild, an important figure during the first half of the 20th century, served as President of the Association for twenty-five of the sixty years he was a member. At his death in 1946, a substantial portion of his estate was bequeathed to the Association and added to its capital funds
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
.
Following the retirement of Richard Wait, a Boston lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, as President of the Association in 1979, and in light of his unprecedented thirty-one years in office, the concert hall on the first floor was named in his honor as the Richard Wait Room.
HMA Orchestra
Drawing its initial members from former players of instruments in the Pierian Sodality (now the Harvard–Radcliffe Orchestra) and later from others who in adult life continued to practice their instruments, it is not surprising that members of the Association should have participated in numerous orchestras and ensembles. Notable among these was the Harvard Alumni Orchestra which met under the direction of Jacques Hoffman in the 1920s, giving several public concerts. The current orchestra for members grew out of the efforts of John Codman in 1947. It was first directed by Malcolm Holmes, then also Director of the Pierian Sodality. Following his death in 1953, it has continued under the leadership of Chester WilliamsChester Williams
Chester Mornay Williams is a former South African rugby union rugby player. He played as a winger for the Springboks from 1993 to 2000...
, a member of the Association and former Dean of the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
. The current orchestra is substantially less active than some predecessors: its most recent public concert was in 1948.
Philanthropy and awards
Support of music by the Association in recent years has taken different forms. In the late 1950s, it offered awards for the best original compositionsMusical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
of chamber music, for which over eighty compositions were submitted. The Association has given scholarship aid to various schools of music and small grants to symphony
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, chamber music, and ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
organizations.
In 1985, the Association initiated the annual High School Achievement Awards program to reward promising classical musicians in the greater Boston area of secondary school age. Terence Hsu, New England Preparatory School pianist, won the 2007-2008 Awards and performed a recital on March 28, 2008 at the Association. The recital was attended by over 100 invited guests, and included the "Waldstein" Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven as well as notable etudes by Alexander Scriabin, Moritz Moszkowski, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Awarded a $2,000 cash prize, Terence Hsu, 16, in addition to being a prolific pianist, is also a violinist and composer. In 1990, it established the Arthur W. Foote Prize in honor of teacher, composer, and performer member Arthur W. Foote. The Foote Prize is given annually to a performer or group who is attending an East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
university and who is on the way to a successful career. Entrants are considered by the Foote Prize Committee and the winner is awarded $5,000 and gives a concert at the Association.
Events and performances
Commission (remuneration)
The payment of commission as remuneration for services rendered or products sold is a common way to reward sales people. Payments often will be calculated on the basis of a percentage of the goods sold...
of John Harbison
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
's Second String Quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
. The Association also co-sponsored the work's premiere performance by the Emerson String Quartet
Emerson String Quartet
The Emerson String Quartet is a New York–based string quartet in residence at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Previously the Quartet was in residence at The Hartt School. Formed in 1976, they have released more than twenty albums and won nine Grammy Awards. Both violinists...
. A Sesquicentennial Dinner was held at the St. Botolph Club. New works continue to be commissioned from time to time, including in the last several years compositions by John Bavicchi, Arthur Berger
Arthur Berger
Arthur Victor Berger was an American composer who has been described as a New Mannerist.-Biography:Born in New York City, of Jewish descent, Berger studied as an undergraduate at New York University, during which time he joined the Young Composer's Group, as a graduate student under Walter Piston...
, John Huggler, Thomas Oboe Lee
Thomas Oboe Lee
Thomas Oboe Lee is a Chinese American composer.- Life :He and his family left Communist China in 1949, and lived in Hong Kong for ten years until 1959, when he moved to São Paulo, Brazil. He emigrated to the USA in the summer of 1966.His musical education began in Brazil during the Bossa Nova craze...
, and Thomas McGah.
In October 1992, the Association marked the centennial of its arrival at 57A Chestnut Street by reproducing the opening of one hundred years earlier. The Wait Room was decorated with flowers, lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
shells, stuffed quail
Quail
Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, while New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae...
, and pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
s. Champagne and Cotuit oysters were followed by the congregational singing of a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
anthem written for the Association. The house's inaugural concert was performed, consisting of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Archduke Trio, Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
's "O, Ruddier than the Cherry", two songs by Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, and Beethoven's "Adelaide
Adelaide (Beethoven)
"Adelaïde" is a song for solo voice and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was written in 1795/1796, when the composer was about 25 years old, and published as his Opus 46....
". After these performances and hors d'œuvres, ninety members of the Association ascended to the Marsh Room where, over the next three hours, a seven-course candlelight feast was consumed. The seven accompanying wines came from the same regions, and in three instances the same vineyards, as those served in 1892. Dr. Richard W. Dwight (a member of the Association since 1933) and Mrs. Helen Roelker Kessler (grand-niece of an early member of the Association, Bernard Roelker, whose Fund of Convivial Impulses subsidized the Centennial gala), delivered speeches.
Renovations
Improvements to the Association's rooms both for the comfort of members and guests as well as for the safety of the building and collections have been the major undertakings during the past nine years. Kilmer McCully, president from 1994 to 1997 began the program of improvements with the design and construction of new mens’ and ladies’ rooms and a new commercial kitchen. During the presidency of Rina Spence (1997–2000) an elevator was installed to permit handicapped access to three out of five floors at 57A. Under Presidents Dr. John B. Little (2000–2003) and J. Stephen Friedlaender (2003–2006), the Association provided its building with an automatic fire suppression systemFire suppression system
Fire suppression systems are used in conjunction with smoke detectors and fire alarm systems to improve and increase public safety. Suppression systems are governed by the codes under the NFPA 13 handbook.-Types:...
as well as an archival storage area. Through a member-led effort, the recording archive of the 300 concerts from 1951 to 1971 were transcoded from magnetic tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
to CDs and the catalogue of recordings placed online. Current projects include making the HMA catalogue accessible online and evaluating the preservation needs of the collections.