Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/787

* CHORAi SOCIETIES. 689 CHORAL SOCIETIES. aside. Meanwhile the number bf Fa.sch's pupils had increa.<ed considerably. Among these were the daughter and stepdaughter of the Privy Councilor von Milow. who were so much inter- ested in their teacher that they persuaded a number of fellow-students to form a little chorus for the purpose of performing Fasch's mass. This was in the autumn of ITflO. During the winter the meetings were discontinued: but when, in the following spring, a meeting was called, twenty-seven members were present. A record of the meetings was then kept, and from the date of the first of these (May 27, 1791) the foundation of the Singakademie is reckoned. Thesa singers entered heart and soul into the task they had undertaken, and when the mass had been successfully performed they did not di.sband. but decided to remain together under the able leadership of Fasch. In 1793 the so- ciety numbered forty-three members, and per- mission was obtained to hold their meetings in the Koyal Academy of Science and Art. Fasch then formally organized the society. He retained absolute control over all musical affairs, while the administrative duties were vested in a board consisting of three men and three women. Each member paid twelve groschen a month, while the professional instrumentalists were exempt from dues in consideration of their ser'ices. At first the meetings of the society were strictly private. On April 8, 1794, a limited number of persons were invited, who were so much im- pressed with the excellence of the work done that a demand for public concerts was created. Accordingly, several concerts were given every season. Admission was only by invitation. When, in 1800, Zelter succeeded Fasch. a regular scale of admission prices was adopted. By that time the chorus of the society had increased to 115 voices. In 1802, the memljership was 200: in 181.3, .300; in 1827, 400: in 1833. 500. At present the membership is about 600. Among the proudest achievements of the Singakademie is the performance of Bach's Saint ilntthetc Passion, under the direction of Mendelssohn, in 1829. In spite of the great success of the Berlin Singakademie, the other cities of Germany were slow to follow in the establishment of choral societies. Thirty years after the foundation of the Berlin institution only ten such societies were in existence. But a,fter that one city fol- lowed another, so that to-day there is scarcely a single town which does not boast its choral society. In England choral culture was widely diffused through the growth of music festivals. Although originally the chorus at such festivals was recruited from the regular choruses of the churches, it was not long before the number of singers was considerably increased by the addi- tion of amateur voices. To-day England sur- efficiency of its choral societies. The history of English choral .societies is practically that of the English Music-Festival, to which article the reader is referred. In the United States choral societies enjoy the popular favor as much, and are cultivated almost as extensively, as in England. When the Pilgrim Fathers first landed they opposed the use of any kind of music in church : but gradu- ally a more liberal spirit gained ground, so that not onl}' was music introduced into the services, but schools of singing also were estab- lished. The aim of these was merely to teach the singing of simple hymns, but in 1724 a ■sacred singing school' was founded at Stough- ton, 5Iass., and this, on Xovember 7, 1780, be- came the Stoughton Musical Society. Now that a beginning had been made, other choral socie- ties came into existence. Up to 1820 the choral societies in the United States exceeded in num- ber those of Germany, but could not compare with them in the quality of the work done. With increased facilities of communication with the Old World, musical culture in America advanced step by step, so that in 1815 the Ilandcl and Haydn Society was established in Boston. This institution became to the development of music ill America what the Singakademie was in Ger- many — a model for all similar organizations. At its first concert, on Christmas Day, 1815, the chorus of the Handel and Hadyn Society consisted of one hundred members. Until 1847 the president of the society acted as conductor, and consequently the performances were rather crude, although marked by a spirit of earnest- ness. In that year a professional musician was elected as regular conductor. When, in 1852, Carl Bergmann assumed the leadership, the per- formances rose to a high level. But the present excellence of the society is due to the untiring and efficient labors of Carl Zerrahn, who directed the destinies of the organization from 1854 to 1895. Shortly after the establishment of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, a choral society bearing the same name was organized in New York. This, however, was short-lived, and in 1823 branched out into two rival societies — the New- York Choral Society and the New Y'ork Sacred !Music Society. The former of these began its career on a very ambitious scale, and soon was disbanded : whereas the latter rose to great im- portance, though it, too, came to an end in 1849. But as soon as one society disbanded another sprang up, so that New Y^ork was never withovit performances of choral works. This continued imtil 1873, when Dr. Leopold Damrosch founded the Oratorio Society. The first concert took l>laee December 3, 1873, at which occasion the chorus numbered about sixty members. When Dr. Damrosch died, in 1885, his son Walter suc- ci-edcd him as conductor. Under his direction the chorus increased to six hundred members. Another choral society of importance is the Musical Art Society, founded by Frank Dam- rosch in 1896. This organization is unique in- asmuch as it consists exclusively of profes- sional, trained singers. The purpose of this society is the performance of older church music of the Palestrina style. The People's Choral Union is a society founded by Frank Damrosch in 1892. It consists of over three thousand mem- l>ers, recruiting themselves from among the laboring classes. The organization has three classes of members — those constituting the ele- mentary class, the advanced class, and the choral union i)roper. Any .self-supporting man or wo- man may join the elementary class, where thor- ough instruction as to the proper use of the voice and the rudiments of music is given. From this class the piipils are promoted to the ad- vanced class, whence, upon graduation, they pass to the choral union. The attendance at the vari- ous classes numbers about 2500, 450, and 1200 re-
 * )asses all other countries in the e.xcellence and