American Orchestras in the Nineteenth Century

504 Pages·2012·3.779 MB·English

by  John Spitzer

American Orchestras
in the Nineteenth Century

American
Orchestras
in the
Nineteenth
Century
edited by John Spitzer
Th e University of Chicago Press
chicago and london
john spitzer is professor of music history at the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music.
Th e University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
Th e University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2012 by Th e University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2012.
Printed in the United States of America
Publication of this book was supported by a grant from the
H. Earle Johnson Fund of the Society for American Music.
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978-0-226-76976-9 (cloth)
isbn- 10: 0-226-76976-3 (cloth)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
American orchestras in the nineteenth century / edited by John
Spitzer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn-13: 978-0-226-76976-9 (cloth : alkaline paper)
isbn-10: 0-226-76976-3 (cloth : alkaline paper) 1. Orchestra—
United States—History. 2. Music—United States—History.
I. Spitzer, John, 1945–
ml1211.4.a44 2012
784.20973—dc23
2011030079
o Th is paper meets the requirements of ansi/ niso z39.48-1992
(Permanence of Paper).
Th is book is dedicated to the memory of Adrienne Fried
Block, whose enthusiasm and insights into American music
informed, inspired, and delighted her colleagues and many
fr iends.

contents
List of Illustrations · ix
Introduction: Toward a History of American Orchestras in the
Nineteenth Century · Deane L. Root · 1
i. ubiquity and diversity
Th e Ubiquity and Diversity of Nineteenth- Century American
Orchestras · John Spitzer · 19
i.1. Building the American Symphony Orchestra: Th e Nineteenth-C entury
Roots of a Twenty- First- Century Musical Institution
Mark Clague · 25
i.2. Modeling Music: Early Organizational Structures of American Women’s
Orchestras · Anna-L ise P. Santella · 53
i.3. American Orchestras and Th eir Unions in the Nineteenth Century
John Spitzer · 78
ii. the orchestra and the american city
Orchestras: Local versus National · John Spitzer · 103
ii.1. Invisible Instruments: Th eater Orchestras in New York, 1850– 1900
John Graziano · 109
ii.2. Beethoven and Beer: Orchestral Music in German Beer Gardens in
Nineteenth- Century New York City · John Koegel and
Jonas Westover · 130
ii.3. Performances to “Permanence”: Orchestra Building in Late Nineteenth-
Century Cincinnati · Karen Ahlquist · 156
ii.4. Critic and Conductor in 1860s Chicago: George P. Upton, Hans Balatka,
and Cultural Capitalism · James Deaville · 175
ii.5. Amateur and Professional, Permanent and Transient: Orchestras in
the District of Columbia, 1877– 1905 · Patrick Warfi eld · 194
viii contents
iii. conductors, promoters, patrons
Marketing the American Orchestra · John Spitzer · 219
iii.1. Bernard Ullman and the Business of Orchestras in Mid- Nineteenth-
Century New York · Bethany S. Goldberg · 225
iii.2. John Sullivan Dwight and the Harvard Musical Association Orchestra:
A Help or a Hindrance? · Mary Wallace Davidson · 247
iii.3. Th e Leopold Damrosch Orchestra, 1877– 78: Background,
Instrumentation, Programming, and Critical Reception
Ora Frishberg Saloman · 269
iii.4. Gender and the Germanians: “Art- Loving Ladies” in Nineteenth-
Century Concert Life · Nancy Newman · 289
iv. america and europe
Orchestras: American and European · John Spitzer · 313
iv.1. “A Concentration of Talent on Our Musical Horizon”:
Th e 1853– 54 American Tour by Jullien’s Extraordinary Orchestra
Katherine K. Preston · 319
iv.2. Ureli Corelli Hill: An American Musician’s European Travels and the
Creation of the New York Philharmonic · Barbara Haws · 348
v. orchestral repertory
Orchestral Repertory: Highbrow and Lowbrow · John Spitzer · 367
v.1. Orchestral Programs in Boston, 1842– 55, in European Perspective
William Weber · 373
v.2. Th eodore Th omas and the Cultivation of American Music
Brenda Nelson-S trauss · 395
v.3. Th inking about Serious Music in New York, 1842– 82
Adrienne Fried Block · 435
Aft erword: Coming of Age · Ronald G. Walters · 451
Bibliography · 459
Contributors · 479
Index · 481
illustrations
figures
i.1.1. Advertisement for fi rst Chicago Philharmonic in the Chicago Tribune,
October 4, 1851 32
i.1.2. Chicago Tribune advertisements for Philharmonic and Th omas
Orchestras at Farwell Hall, November 1869 40
i.2.1. Josephine Amann- Weinlich conducting the Vienna Lady Orchestra at
Steinway Hall, New York, 1871 59
i.2.2. Sample program from the Vienna Lady Orchestra’s fi rst American tour:
Paul Falk’s Popular Concerts, New York, March 29, 1872 61
i.2.3. Th e Los Angeles Women’s Orchestra, Harley Hamilton, conductor 67
i.2.4. Caroline B. Nichols and the Fadett es Woman’s Orchestra of Boston,
publicity fl yer 71
i.3.1. Baltimore Price List, 1872. Peabody Archives, Baltimore, Maryland 88
ii.2.1. William Allen Rogers, “Th e Musical Exchange, 4th Street near 3rd
Avenue,” pen- and- ink drawing, also published as a lithograph in Harper’s
Weekly, August 4, 1888 133
ii.2.2. A German Wirthschaft , Illustrated London News, December 3, 1864 138
ii.2.3. William Glackens, “A Typical New York Beer- Garden,” Harper’s Weekly,
July 21, 1900 143
ii.2.4. Atlantic Garden Lady Orchestra. John Jennings, Th eatrical and Circus
Life, 1882 145
ii.2.5. Atlantic Garden Sacred Concert program, 1877 146
ii.2.6. Atlantic Garden Sacred Concert program, 1896 148
ii.2.7. Atlantic Garden Orchestrion 149
iii.1.1. Portrait of Musard in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper 235
iii.3.1. Dr. Damrosch’s Saturday Matinees, Arcadian, November 1, 1877 276
iii.4.1. Germania program, March 5, 1853, Boston 291
iii.4.2. Germania Musical Society, 1852 294
iii.4.3. Germania program, June 5, 1849, Worcester, Massachusett s 297