Church’s Musical Visitor, 1871–1897: Class, Nationalism, and Musical Taste

A dissertation submitted to the

Graduate School
of the University of Cincinnati
in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

in the Division of Composition, Musicology, and Theory

of the College-Conservatory of Music

2014

by

Nell Stemmermann

BA, Hawaii Loa College, 1986

MA, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1992

Committee Chair: bruce d. mcclung, PhD

 UMI Number: 3641355

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 ABSTRACT

The John Church Company in Cincinnati published Church’s Musical Visitor

from October 1871 to December 1897. From February 1883 it was known as The Musical

Visitor. The monthly journal printed music by contemporary American and European composers

as well as earlier works. The editors, Frank H. King, Charles A. Daniell, Frank N. Scott, and

James R. Murray, commented on composers, music, and issues of the day in both Europe and the

United States. The Visitor reprinted and commented on articles of interest from other journals

and newspapers, such as the London Musical Times, Chicago Inter-Ocean, Appleton’s Journal,

and Scribner’s. Correspondents included Louis C. Elson of Boston and Frederick J. Crowest

from London, and unnamed writers from various U.S. cities. Noted composers and educators of

the day, such as George F. Root and Frederic W. Root, contributed series of articles. The Church

Company included advertisements from music teachers in the Cincinnati area and for its

published works, in addition to works from other music publishers.

The Visitor is an important source of information about musical life and attitudes in

post-bellum America, but it has been underutilized as a source of information about musical life

and culture during this time. It overlapped Dwight’s Journal of Music (1852–1881) by ten years

and The Etude (1883–1957) by fourteen years. Unlike Dwight’s Journal, which promoted the

music of such Europeans as Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Rossini, the

Visitor promoted the music of both Americans and Europeans. Whereas The Etude focused on

piano technique and music for the piano, the Visitor provided vocal and instrumental music for

the family, and music for church services from January 1886 until September 1895. It has been

underutilized as a source of information about musical life and culture during this time. This

study provides an examination of attitudes toward class, nationalism, and musical taste in the

Visitor during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The Visitor was a sounding board for

ii
people from various parts of the country and abroad. Appendices include a chronological listing

of music printed in the Visitor and an alphabetical list of composers with their dates and the

number of their vocal or instrumental works appearing in the journal.

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First I want to thank my adviser, Dr. bruce mcclung, for helping me to find my topic. His

Special Topics course on Cincinnati’s Musical History introduced me to Church’s Musical

Visitor. As a result of an assignment to find a subject in the journal and follow its course through

a few issues, I found it to be a compelling source that was yet to be explored. His guidance,

careful reading, and patience have been invaluable. Committee members Dr. Edward Nowacki

and Dr. Karin Pendle provided helpful input.

I wish to thank the librarians and staff of several institutions: the University of

Cincinnati’s Albino Gorno Memorial Music Library (Mark Palkovic and David Sandor), the

Langsam Library (interlibrary loan department, especially Mikaila Korday), the Public Library

of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Genealogy and Local History Department (James Mainger

and Jeanne Strauss-DeGroote). The Newberry Library of Chicago generously supplied missing

copies of the Visitor as did the Cincinnati Historical Society. Helen Bridge of the Little Compton

Historical Society was most gracious and forthcoming with materials.

I am grateful to my colleagues and divas Dr. Sandra Johnson, Dr. Jewel Smith, and

Dr. Kristy Swift for their encouragement and support. I also thank Mike Wagner for his

assistance with computer issues.

My family has been most patient and supportive during this process. I am especially

grateful to my late beloved husband, Grant N. Stemmermann, whose support made all things

possible.

July 2014
Cincinnati, Ohio

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ii

Acknowledgments iv

List of Figures viii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 John Church and His Editors 16

The Church Family: History and Background 19
The Editors of the Visitor 35
Examples of the Work Ethic and Moral Code in the Visitor 58

Chapter 2 Issues of Class in the Visitor 67

Rural vs. Urban Dwellers 68
Audience Behavior and Etiquette 80

Chapter 3 Conflict and Compromise: American Nationalism and European Influence 111
Brass Bands, Presidents, and Commercialism 113
European Training, the Star System, and Performances of
American Musicians 132
Comments Regarding Dvořák’s Time in the United States 154
Artists Visiting Cincinnati and Portraits in the Visitor 158
Chapter 4 Composers Represented in the Visitor 174
Pseudonyms and Initials 175
Winners of the Visitor’s 1876 Poll of Most Popular Instrumental
and Vocal Composers 176
Women Composers in the Visitor 207
Composers Residing in Cincinnati 211
Composers Born or Residing in the United States 220
European Composers Who Were Not Poll Winners 242
Chapter 5 Music in the Visitor 260
Church Music 264
Dedications and Commemorative Works 274
Sacred Vocal Music 275
Keyboard Voluntaries for Church Service 279
Secular Vocal Music 282
Music for Piano or Organ 293
Chamber Music 305

Conclusion The Visitor in Context 311

v
Bibliography 321

Appendix A Chronological Listing of Music Printed in the Visitor 335

Appendix B Alphabetical Listing of Composers in the Visitor 408

vi
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 Church Family Memorial, Little Compton, Rhode Island 20

Figure 1.2 John Church Sr. (1794–1882) 21

Figure 1.3 “Oldacre” built by John Church Sr. 23

Figure 1.4 “Oldacre” today 28

Figure 1.5 Painting of John Church Jr. by Sydney Burleigh 31

Figure 1.6 Reverse side of the Church Family Memorial 32

Figure 1.7 John Church’s headstone 32

Figure 1.8 Frank King and Julia Rive-King’s Gravesite, Spring Grove Cemetery,
Cincinnati 39

vii
 COPYRIGHT PERMISSION

All images pertaining to the Church family and homestead are reproduced by permission
of the Little Compton Historical Society.

viii
 INTRODUCTION

The thirty-five years between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the century marked
a period of economic expansion in the United States. An increasing proportion of U.S. citizens
were the children of European immigrants. First generation Americans shared cultural tastes with
their parents, but also acquired a gloss of the American culture that had developed in the two
hundred years since the establishment of Jamestown and the Plymouth colony. Differences in
education, occupation, religion, and economic status produced a variety of lifestyles, each with
its own cultural preferences. Nowhere was this variety more conspicuous than in musical taste.
Church’s Musical Visitor catered to the whole spectrum of these tastes, and its life span
coincides with this period of the country’s cultural development.
John Church and Company of Cincinnati published Church’s Musical Visitor: A Journal

Devoted to Music and the Fine Arts, a monthly journal, from October 1871 to December 1897.

The first issue laid out the guiding principles and intended audience for the periodical. Directed

to the family circle, with an ample record of events in the musical, dramatic, and fine arts worlds,

Church’s Musical Visitor (hereafter, the Visitor) claimed its tone would be neither too high nor

too low, attractive to the professional, the amateur, and the masses at large. The editor and

publisher had separate departments, and the Visitor prohibited advertising in its editorial

columns. Its democratic policy ensured that “all men and all interests” were considered equal; its

aim was not limited to promoting home or local interests. The issues, measuring 9½ in. by 12 in.

(24 cm by 31 cm), initially contained twenty-four pages, but expanded by 1881 to thirty-two

pages, devoted to musical art and literature, and commissioned compositions, poetry, and

serialized fiction. Continuous page numbering within a volume began with Volume 5 in 1875.

The number of issues had increased from twelve to fifteen (October 1881 to December 1882) in

order to make subsequent January issues number one. Commissioned engravings accompanied

articles on visiting artists. The Visitor sought correspondents from both the United States and

1
Europe.1 The first editor, Frank H. King, claimed that the value of the music printed in each issue

was worth more than the annual subscription cost of one dollar.2 Church’s targeted audience or

subscribers comprised music teachers, school principals, and professional musicians, including

church organists, choristers, and ministers, who received discounts on music and book

purchases.3 Church solicited subscribers from across the United States and Canada. Special

terms were made available to clubs of five or more from January 1886 until August 1896.4

The title and subtitle of the journal changed three times during its twenty-six year

history. The Visitor announced in October 1875 that the subscribers and “all of the old

attractions” of the Song Messenger of Chicago would be added to the Visitor, which would

henceforth include “more than double the amount of music.”5 This increase was evident with a

notice on the bottom of the music pages: “From The Album of the Chicago Musical College.”6

In November 1875 the Visitor was subtitled An Independent Journal of Music. [With which is

Incorporated “Root’s Song Messenger,” Established 1862]. In many ways the Visitor was a

continuation of that journal. Frederic W. Root would continue as editor and contribute a monthly

column “Feuilleton from Chicago.” Root invited publishers to send sheet music and music books

to him for review, and continued to report on conventions in the country. In September 1876 the

Visitor announced that Dr. George F. Root would contribute a monthly column entitled “Normal
1
Frank H. King, ed., “All Aboard!,” “To Our Friends and Patrons,” “A Peep into the Future,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 1, no. 1 (1871): 4–6.
2
Frank H. King, ed., “Editors Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (1871): 9. The
subscription cost increased to $1.50 per year beginning with the second volume; announced the previous month.
Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 12 (September 1872): 6.
3
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 1 (October 1871): 12.
4
“Important Information for Choirs, Choral Unions and Other Singing Societies,” The Musical Visitor 15,
no. 1 (January 1886): 10. The Visitor was going to provide “Anthems and Choir Pieces” for opening, closing and
occasional use, and Organ Voluntaries. Clubs of five or more would pay $1.00 per year instead of the usual
subscription cost of $1.50. The Musical Visitor 25, no. 8 (August 1896): 227.
5
Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 1 (October 1875): 8.
6
The Album of the Chicago Musical College was a collection of music published by Chicago’s Chandler
and Curtiss in 1874.

2
Corner,” and “this important addition . . . will be welcomed by all.”7 Beginning in February 1883

the journal was known as The Musical Visitor: An Independent Journal of Music. [With which is

Incorporated “Root’s Song Messenger,” Established 1862]. The January 1894 issue is entitled

The Musical Visitor: A Magazine of Musical Literature and Music (copyright by the John

Church Company).

According to Bonny H. Miller, “American magazine publication of music for readers to

perform at home remains a little-known branch of the sheet music industry,” the heyday of

which fell between 1820 and 1920.8 The majority of music published in household magazines

came from musicians who were significant performers and teachers in their regions who were

active as composers of published songs, solo piano works, hymns, and pedagogical works.9

Music-making in the home was believed to contribute greatly to the morality of the family. 10 She

claims that the music published in magazines in the United States during the nineteenth

century clearly reflects the development of taste in popular music.11 This study reinforces

Miller’s findings, although its focus is a music periodical rather than a household magazine.

Dissertations on American music periodicals includes Mary Davison’s American Music

Periodicals, 1853–1899, which surveyed 296 periodicals and mentions Church’s Musical

Visitor, along with Brainard’s Musical World (Cleveland, 1864–1895), Orpheus (New York,

1865–1880), and The Folio (Boston 1869–1896), as having “relatively long lives” indicating “a

substantial readership. An interesting sidelight is that two of these successful periodicals were

7
“Editor’s Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 12 (September 1876): 317.
8
Bonny H. Miller, “Household Periodicals: An Unstudied Source of American Music,” Fontes artis
musicae 42 (1995): 311–12.
9
Ibid., 312.
10
Ibid., 318.
11
Ibid., 313.

3
published in what was then regarded as the West.”12 Her listing of the editors for the Visitor

is incorrect, and does not include Charles A. Daniell, who served during two different time

periods.13 In her master’s thesis, Vera Flandorf examined the history of American music

periodicals and how they served music professionals and readers. Flandorf noted changes in

ownership or editorship, and changes in content or format of the periodical. She considered size,

price, frequency, index, and content. The most long-lived music journals were those founded by

music dealers and were associated with musical centers with schools, teachers, and performers.

Monthly journals that contained music, portraits and illustrations, biographies, editorials, concert

reviews, articles on music history, news of music and musicians, music teaching materials, book

reviews, and calendars of events contributed to longevity. The Visitor met all of these

requirements. Flandorf errs, however, in concluding that the Visitor was edited by John Church

and ceased publication at his death in April 1890, and that Church’s music publishing business

was continued by his son-in-law R. B. Burchard.14 Church’s daughter did not marry Mr.

Burchard until June 19, 1897. According to editor James R. Murray, Church’s business partner,

John B. Trevor, was manager of the John Church Company at the time of Church’s death; in

May 1891 Murray referred to Trevor as president and manager of the company.15

Marcia Lebow’s dissertation on Dwight’s Journal of Music deals largely with its editor,

John Sullivan Dwight, and his background and role as critic and musicologist. Unlike the

Visitor, Dwight’s Journal was initially published weekly, then bi-weekly. For Dwight, music was

12
Mary Veronica Davison, “American Music Periodicals, 1853–1899” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota,
1973), 199.
13
Ibid., 355.
14
Vera S. Flandorf, “Music Periodicals in the United States: A Survey of Their History and Content” (MA
thesis, University of Chicago, 1952), 129. According to Ernst C. Krohn, Church’s son-in-law R. B. Burchard
became president of the Church Company at Church’s death. Ernst C. Krohn, “Church,” in The Grove Dictionary of
American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2:263.
15
“City Notes,” Musical Visitor 20, no. 5 (May 1891): 122.

4
not “mere entertainment,” but an “expression of ‘pure art’” with a social mission.16 When

Dwight announced the end of publication in 1881 because of lack of support in subscriptions and

advertising, the Visitor responded: “So ends the career of another musical paper. It could hardly

be called a ‘peoples’ paper,’ yet it doubtless had a use . . . . Whatever may have been its

influence . . . from the first it has nobly held to its convictions . . . . Peace to its ashes, and rest

and recuperation to its honored editor.”17

In his dissertation Travis Suttle Rivers discusses the pedagogical intent of The Etude

magazine. Its first editor, Theodore Presser, was interested in bringing “high culture––the genteel

tradition” to piano teachers and their students.18 The Visitor reviewed The Etude in December

1883, describing it as “a monthly publication for teachers and pianists. Edited and published by

Theodore Presser, Lynchburg, Va. It is a new venture in a field but little worked as yet, and if the

plan has any chance of success, and we think it has, it is in the right hands now to make a ‘sure

thing of it.’”19 The Visitor carried advertisements for The Etude and reprinted some of its

articles. Presser’s focus changed in 1888 from “a strictly technical journal” and over time added

departments for voice, choir and organ, and violin.

This study provides an examination of attitudes toward class, nationalism, and

musical taste in the Visitor during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. I intend to

demonstrate that the Visitor was a sounding board for people from various parts of the country

and abroad.20 It has been underutilized as a source of information about musical life and culture

16
Marcia Wilson Lebow, “A Systematic Examination of the Journal of Music and Art edited by John
Sullivan Dwight: 1852–1881, Boston, Massachusetts” (PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1969), 22.
17
The Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 298.
18
Travis Suttle Rivers, “The Etude Magazine: A Mirror of the Genteel Tradition in American Music” (PhD
diss., University of Iowa, 1974), 33–34.
19
“Books and Magazines,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): 324.
20
Many correspondents used pseudonyms, for example, “Musicus” wrote from St. Louis in January 1872;
the March 1872 Visitor printed correspondence from “Murillo” in Boston, “Arion” in New York, “Orpheus” in

5
during this time. Whereas Dwight’s Journal of Music in Boston (1852–1881) has been

reprinted21 and is frequently quoted, the Visitor is scarcely mentioned. According to Marcia

Lebow, the reprint of Dwight’s Journal in 1968 facilitates research “within this treasury of

information about American musical history.”22 What does the Visitor tell us about what

American historian Lawrence Levine has called the development of “highbrow/lowbrow” music

in the late nineteenth century?23 An investigation of the advertisements and announcements,

anecdotes, articles, and music printed in the Visitor sheds light on several topics, such as

attitudes regarding class, audience behavior and etiquette, and nationalism. Whose music was

being commissioned and printed in this periodical and what does this reveal about the editors’

biases?

Chicago, “E.C.T.” in Indianapolis, “Mignon” in Philadelphia, and “Delta” in New Orleans. A writer from
Columbus, Georgia, describes Theodore Thomas’s concert at the Opera House, with pianist Marie Krebs, on
February 12, 1872. Many in the audience had anticipated “having their nerves disagreeably disturbed by the
combination of so many instruments; their surprise can be better imagined than described, when the deliciously soft
and melodious strains produced by the orchestra greeted their ears.” Miss Krebs performed “Home, Sweet Home” as
an encore, “which will ever be remembered by all present.” A letter from a Kansas reader in April 1873 commented
on the term “segue.” A letter from “Lawe” in Milan, Italy, in May 1873 provided information on American students
studying in the city. A regular column, “Music in London,” from “C.,” Frederick J. Crowest, began in 1878.
21
Dwight’s Journal of Music: A Paper of Art and Literature (Reprint: New York, Arno Press, Johnson
Reprint Company, 1968).
22
Lebow, “A Systematic Examination of the Journal of Music and Art edited by John Sullivan Dwight,” iv.
23
Lawrence W. Levine, Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988). Ralph Locke takes issue with Levine’s development of
“highbrow/lowbrow” music as an oversimplified portrayal of the concert as “an event created and controlled by a
small social elite . . . assuring themselves with a pleasant evening’s entertainment . . . and lording it over the lower
classes.” Locke makes the point that Levine gives “inadequate consideration” to the “musicians’ and music lovers’
desire for an intense aesthetic experience.” Ralph P. Locke, “Music Lovers, Patrons, and the ‘Sacralization’ of
Culture in America,” 19th-century Music 17, no. 2 (Autumn 1993):150, 158. Levine decried the bifurcation of
American culture into highbrow/lowbrow in the late nineteenth century. But according to Joseph Horowitz,
“Levine’s perspective is skewed by his populist bias.” Horowitz points out that during the Seidl era (1885–1898),
the “mixed audience of Germans, genteel intellectuals, and Seidl Society-types hushed the shareholders” at the
Metropolitan opera. In 1891 the box holders rebelled against German opera, “after which the house was flooded
with Italians. Renewed German pressure forced the Met to take Wagner and Seidl back.” Joseph Horowitz,
“Sermons in Tones: Sacralization as a Theme in American Classical Music,” American Music 16, no. 3 (Autumn
1998): 334.

6
 Standard histories of American music have largely overlooked Cincinnati.24 When music

in Cincinnati is discussed, the focus is usually on the May Festival, which began in 1873 with

conductor Theodore Thomas, or the beer-drinking German choral societies. Historian Robert

Vitz has written that New York, Boston, and Chicago have received ample attention as cultural

centers; yet, Cincinnati contributed significantly to the country’s cultural development during

much of the nineteenth century. The city supported and trained painters, sculptors, actors

and musicians who achieved success in the eastern United States and Europe. Vitz considers

Church’s Musical Visitor to be “one of the nation’s most important music journals, and it

provided the West with a serious journal comparable to the leading Boston publications. It also

provided Cincinnati with an important voice in support of its own activities.” Church was

Cincinnati’s largest dealer in musical instruments and had “an extensive reputation as a publisher

of sheet music and music books.” He was a board member of the Music Festival Association and

participated in “most of the community’s musical enterprises.”25 Church was elected treasurer of

the Harmonic Society in 1872.26

William Osborne’s Music in Ohio is the first study to treat the state as a whole and

Cincinnati receives ample coverage, including a chapter on Cincinnati’s pre-Civil War musical

24
Richard Crawford, America’s Musical Life: A History (New York: W. W. Norton, 2001); Charles Hamm,
Music in the New World (New York: W. W. Norton, 1983); David Nicholls, ed. The Cambridge History of American
Music (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Gilbert Chase, America’s Music: From the Pilgrims to
the Present (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1987).

25
Robert C. Vitz, The Queen and the Arts: Cultural Life in Nineteenth-century Cincinnati (Kent, OH: Kent
State University Press, 1989), ix, 75. Vitz includes the Visitor as one of his primary sources.
26
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 5 (February 1872): 9. The Visitor reported
in December 1891 that a pipe organ for the new YMCA building was a gift of the John Church Company and W. H.
Doane. Arrangements had been made prior to Church’s death in April 1890. The Musical Visitor 20, no. 12
(December 1891): 316. The Harmonic Society, founded in 1864, was an English-language singing society largely
consisting of Anglo-rather than German-Americans. L. C. Hopkins served as the society’s first president; Carl Barus
directed the singing. Vitz, The Queen and the Arts, 64.

7
activities, societies, and teachers.27 He covers the founding of Clara Baur’s Conservatory of

Music, the May Festival, and the College of Music. Of the city’s publishers, Osborne considers

John Church to have had the widest influence and mentions The Musical Visitor as “a

monthly musical paper of national reputation,” edited by James R. Murray (from May 1881 to

December 1897) on the fifth floor of their new building at 72–74 West Fourth Street. Osborne

describes the company’s new headquarters in 1878 and activities on each of its five floors.28

Osborne does not document the information for Frank A. Lee’s leadership of the company after

Church’s death in 1890.29 According to the Visitor, Church’s business partner, John B. Trevor,

did not retire until November 1892, when his shares were sold to five stockholders, including

Frank Lee and William Hooper. Lee was managing the company when Hooper, president of the

company, died in July 1894. Lee was elected president and general manager on March 7, 1895.30

Specialized studies, such as Katherine K. Preston’s Opera on the Road, document

traveling opera troupes who visited Cincinnati up to 1860. Vernon Paul Schroeder’s master’s

thesis, “Cincinnati’s Musical Growth, 1870–1875,” marks 1870 as a turning point in its

musical history: there was an emerging middle and upper class to support the arts as patrons, and

a large enough population with educational centers to demand all the different forms of music,

professional and amateur.31 Larry Robert Wolz’s dissertation, “Opera in Cincinnati: The Years

before the Zoo, 1801–1920,” covers the history of opera productions, theatres and opera houses

in Cincinnati prior to the first season of Cincinnati Summer Opera in 1920. Wolz gleaned

27
William Osborne, Music in Ohio (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2004). Osborne includes
Church’s Musical Visitor in the index but not in the bibliography.
28
Ibid., Music in Ohio, 514–16.
29
Ibid., 516.
30
“The John Church Co.,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 11 (November 1892): 308; “Death of William
Hooper: President of the John Church Company,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 8 (August 1894): 205; “City Notes,”
The Musical Visitor 24, no. 4 (April 1895): 98.
31
Vernon Paul Schroeder, “Cincinnati’s Musical Growth, 1870–1875” (MM thesis, University of
Cincinnati, 1971), 125.

8
information from period newspapers and memoirs but did not utilize the Visitor. R. Allen Lott’s

From Paris to Peoria covers touring European virtuosi who performed in Cincinnati between

1846 and 1876. Lott did utilize the Visitor, but it can tell us even more about music making in

late nineteenth-century Cincinnati. Historian Michael Cahall in his dissertation discusses

Cincinnati’s economic, social, and political background in the late nineteenth century. He

emphasizes the patronage of individuals and groups in building high culture in the city and

focuses on the histories of the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the

city’s art and music schools, and the cultural festivals.32 According to Cahall, Vitz’s approach in

The Queen and the Arts relied “too heavily on the economic explanation for Cincinnati’s cultural

development” at the expense of “other social forces at work in the city.” Rather, Americans saw

the arts as helping to solve issues of class conflict and morality, and “nineteenth-century

Americans read avidly and benefited from a proliferation of newspapers and national journals,

which further expanded the dissemination of values and ideas.”33

Why should we consider Cincinnati an important center in nineteenth-century America?

It was Charles Dickens’s favorite American city, and Longfellow’s 1854 poem “Catawba Wine”

refers to Cincinnati as “the Queen of the West.” In 1854 such cities as Cincinnati, Louisville,

Chicago, and Minneapolis were considered part of the American West.34 Harriet Beecher Stowe

based Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) on information gathered while living in Cincinnati from 1832

to 1850. Stephen Foster’s Cincinnati years (1846 to 1850) left a permanent imprint on his music.

Cincinnati was the sixth largest city and the third largest center of manufacturing in the United

32
Michael C. Cahall, “Jewels in the Crown: The Fine and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1865–1919”
(PhD diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1991). Cahall relied on the Visitor as one of his primary
sources.
33
Ibid., 7, 15, 19.

34
Crawford, America’s Musical Life, 284.

9
States in 1852 with a substantial population of German immigrants.35

A survey of the music printed in the journal in terms of style, genres, and level of

difficulty indicates musical preferences in the late nineteenth century and targeted audience for

sheet music sales. Dedications of songs to women or choral works to men reveal gender norms.

Did the music published in the journal change over time, for example, as to level of difficulty,

bilingual song texts, and titles of works? Church sometimes provided grade levels for musical

works printed in the journal, which can be used as a yardstick to determine the pedagogical

focus. A chronological listing of the works by composer, title, and genre, and an alphabetical

listing of composers, tell us how many musical works were printed in the Visitor and how many

were transcriptions of larger works (see Appendices).36

John Church apparently took to heart Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1837 essay titled “An

American Scholar,” which called for American independence from European cultural models.

Beginning with the first issue, the Visitor called for American artists and performers to be

considered equal, if not superior to, their European counterparts. Conversely the Visitor made

frequent mention of European musical experience and training of American singers and

instrumentalists, a boon to a concert career.37 The support for American nationalism is further

complicated by the fact that European immigrants remained connected to their ancestral lands.

The influx of Germans mid-century was important to the growth and development of the city’s

cultural institutions. For example, Clara Baur based her Cincinnati Conservatory of Music on the

35
For more on Cincinnati’s musical history, see bruce d. mcclung, “Cincinnati,” in The Grove Dictionary of
American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2:271–77.
36
Thomas Christensen has shown how transcriptions of symphonies, chamber music, choral works, and
opera for piano enabled nineteenth-century music lovers to become familiar with large-scale works in their homes,
making them known to a wider audience, and moving these works from the public to the private sphere. Thomas
Christensen, “Four-hand Piano Transcription and Geographies of Nineteenth-century Musical Reception,” Journal
of the American Musicological Society 52 (1999): 255–98.
37
Elam Douglas Bomberger, “The German Musical Training of American Students, 1850–1900” (PhD
diss., University of Maryland, 1991).

10
Stuttgart Hochschule für Musik where she had studied,38 and the rival College of Music of

Cincinnati established in 1878 employed European faculty. Thus, American nationalism in the

arts was often tempered by expedience.

The Visitor contains articles by such late nineteenth-century musical luminaries as

George F. Root, W. S. B. Mathews, and Louis Charles Elson of Boston. Other correspondents,

writing from Chicago, New York, St. Louis, New Orleans, and London, attest to the journal’s

widespread circulation and influence.39 Correspondence came from across the United States,

Canada, England, Germany, and France. In June 1876 the Visitor printed correspondence from

Montreal, Canada.40 In March 1880 “Foreign Notes” came from Germany about such topics as

the Leipzig Gewandhaus Concerts, a Dresden theater for operetta, and the Berlin opera.41 In

April 1880 readers were informed about opera offerings, and attitudes toward Berlioz and

Wagner in “Parisian Musical Pickings.”42 The May issue provided more information on operas,

and American singers such as Marie Van Zandt.43

The Visitor’s distribution was widespread. The Publishers Department announced in

April 1876 that the Visitor had agents available in towns on the East Coast, and in Port Ryerse,

Ontario, as well as in such states as Tennessee, Texas, and Iowa.44 According to the editor in

March 1877, the publisher was printing nine thousand copies of the Visitor each month. It was

38
“Our Music Schools,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 10 (July 1874): 7. The article mentions that Clara
Baur’s Conservatory was established in December 1867. Carolyn Livingston incorrectly claims Clara Baur founded
the school in 1868. Carolyn Livingston, “Baur, Clara” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed.
Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 1:381.
39
Circulation figures, except for those printed in the Visitor itself, are unavailable.
40
“Canadian Correspondence,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 9 (June 1876): 235.
41
“Foreign Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 6 (March 1880): 164.
42
“Parisian Musical Pickings,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 7 (April 1880): 186.
43
“Parisian Musical Pickings,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 8 (May 1880): 215.
44
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 7 (April 1876): 180.

11
sent “into every State and Territory.”45 In the same issue Eastern readers were advised that the

publisher had opened an office in New York City, at 805 Broadway, “for the convenience of

their friends and themselves.”46 The editor announced in June 1880 that “Music in the Southern

Hemisphere is at last to have a journalistic representative.” The Visitor had received a request

for an “exchange” with the Colonial Musical Monthly published in Melbourne, Australia.47

A letter to the editor from a reader in South Africa appeared in the September issue. C. T. Varley

was following a discussion of the term “natural” being carried on by George Root and others.48 It

was reported in November 1881 that the mailing list included regular subscribers in Japan, South

Africa, Spain, and England.49 Subscriptions to the Visitor increased when the journal was

adopted as the official organ of the Chautauqua Musical Reading club in 1883.50 According to

Lebow, estimates for the circulation of Dwight’s Journal range from 500 to 2,000.51 The Etude’s

circulation in 1897 was 19,380; it had merged with Brainard’s Musical World in 1895. The

Etude’s circulation peaked in 1917 with 228,554 subscribers; circulation had dropped to 53,000

45
Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 6 (March 1877): 150. In August 1876, however, the Visitor polled its
“thirteen thousand readers,” for their favorite composers. “Who Is Your Favorite Composer?” Church’s Musical
Visitor 5, no. 11 (August 1876): 289. In March 1877 Chicago editor Frederic W. Root, “our Chicago Feuilletonist”
inquired affirmatively that “The circulation of the Visitor is pretty large now, isn’t it, Mr. Editor,” and C. A. Daniell
responded that “probably the number printed of this journal reaches a figure higher than the aggregate of all the
other music journals combined, leaving but two out of the count. Very few of the musical papers reach a circulation
of more than 3,000 copies–very few have ever reached that point. The Visitor prints three times that number of
copies, which represents a large circulation indeed for a musical monthly.” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 6 (March
1877): 150. The difference in numbers may refer to the number of readers within households rather than subscribers.
46
Ibid., 149.
47
“Short Visits,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 9 (June 1880): 248.
48
C. T. Varley, “From South Africa,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 12 (September 1880): 330.
49
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 2 (November 1881): 44.
50
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 10 (October 1883): 262.
51
Lebow, “A Systematic Examination of the Journal of Music and Art edited by John Sullivan Dwight,”
46–47.

12
at its demise forty years later.52 According to a poll of its readers in 1876, the Visitor’s

circulation was thirteen thousand.53 According to the editor in March 1877, the Visitor was

printing nine thousand copies each month.54

The Visitor is available on microfilm and online through the Proquest American

Periodical Series. Ninety-one copies were unavailable through these sources. The Public

Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County owns hard copies, as does the Cincinnati Historical

Society; the Newberry Library of Chicago also provided copies. I have been able to locate all but

three issues: September 1887, August 1893, and September 1894. The Historical Society of

Little Compton, Rhode Island, provided background information on the Church family and

photographs of the homestead and the family. I was unable to locate subscription records for the

Visitor, any of Church’s personal letters, or a diary. Church’s catalog was sold to Theodore

Presser in 1930,55 and Presser’s firm was acquired by Carl Fischer in 2004.56 I have been unable

to obtain information on Church’s business because of changes in ownership.

A systematic reading of the Visitor helped to discern the names and tenures of the editors,

along with investigating Williams’ Cincinnati Directory. Although John Church was a private

person, I gleaned information on him from the Visitor as to his travels and membership in

different organizations in Cincinnati. Given his New England Puritan connection, David Hackett

52
Rivers, “The Etude Magazine,” 94, 107, 176, 231. According to Davison, Presser served as editor until
1907 with associate editors Eugene E. Ayres (1888–1893), Arthur L. Manchester (1893–1895), Theodore Stearns
(1895–1896), and Winton J. Baltzell (1897–1907). Davison, “American Music Periodicals, 1853–1899,” 107.
According to Rivers, the following served as editors after 1907: James Francis Cooke (1907–1949), John Briggs
(1950–1951), and Guy McCoy (1951–1957). Rivers, “The Etude Magazine,” 47.
53
“Who Is Your Favorite Composer?,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 11 (August 1876): 289.
54
Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 6 (March 1877): 150.

55
Ernst C. Krohn, “Church,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi
Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2:263.
56
W. Thomas Marrocco, Mark Jacobs, Warren Storey Smith, and Leah Branstetter, “Presser,” in The Grove
Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013),
6:594–95.

13
Fischer’s cultural study was beneficial.57 M. Leslie Petteys’ dissertation on Julie-Rivé King was

helpful in finding information on Frank H. King.58 Information for C. A. Daniell and Frank N.

Scott came from the Visitor or from other dissertations.

Appendix A is a chronological listing of the music printed in the Visitor with the

composer’s name, if known, title of the work, genre, and page numbers. In some cases, the

music did not have complete information as to composer or original title. When the Visitor

included music for church services from January 1886 until September 1895, I used a collection

of organ music compiled and arranged by editor James R. Murray in order to help identify

composers. In several instances the surname of the composer was available but not the

original title. It was often necessary to check the music against the composer’s thematic

catalogue to determine the opus number and title, such as for Robert Schumann’s keyboard

works.

Identification and dates for the composers listed in Appendix B has come from a number

of sources, including the Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia, rev. and ed. Deems Taylor; Baker’s

Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, ed. Nicolas Slonimsky; Brainard’s Biographies of

American Musicians, ed. E. Douglas Bomberger; Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: The

Firm of Root and Cady 1858–1871 by Dena J. Epstein; A Handbook of American Music and

Musicians, Containing Biographies of American Musicians and Histories of the Principal

Musical Institutions, Firms, and Societies, ed. F. O. Jones; The Universal Handbook of

Musical Literature by Franz Pazdirek; The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, ed.

Julie Ann Sadie and Rhian Samuel; The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd

ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell, and The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed.

57
David Hackett Fischer, Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1989).
58
M. Leslie Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King, American Pianist” (DMA thesis, University of Missouri-Kansas
City, 1987).

14
Charles Hiroshi Garrett. The Visitor published a series of columns titled “Memoranda of

Musical Events,” and “How to Pronounce Musicians’ Names,” which were also helpful.

E. Douglas Bomberger’s Index to Music Published in The Etude Magazine59 served as a model

for my chronological and alphabetical listings of music and composers in the Visitor. A

comparison of composer’s names and works with those in Bomberger’s Index assisted in

identifying names and dates as well as revealing works which had been reprinted in The Etude.

A study of Church’s Musical Visitor documents Cincinnati’s musical history and its place

in the musical development of the United States during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

Changes over time in content and purpose of the journal reveal changes in cultural attitudes. The

longevity of the Visitor may also be partly ascribed to its ability to reinvent itself. Columns came

and went and a variety of topics were presented, ranging from organ grinders to music education

and church services. News and opinions regarding art and drama under such columns as “Chisel

and Brush” or “Sock and Buskin” were eventually dropped in favor of more space devoted to

music and musicians. The Visitor’s music, articles, advertisements, and announcements

encompass a wide range of topics, with correspondents far and near, letters to the editor, and

anecdotes about European and American artists. In sum, John Church tried to provide something

for everyone.

59
E. Douglas Bomberger, An Index to the Music Published in The Etude Magazine, 1883–1957, Music
Library Association Index and Bibliography Series 31 (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004).

15
 CHAPTER 1

JOHN CHURCH AND HIS EDITORS

In America there are but few wealthy persons; nearly all Americans have to take a
profession. Now, every profession requires an apprenticeship. The Americans can devote
to general education only the early years of life. At fifteen they enter upon their calling,
and thus their education generally ends at the age when ours begins. If it is continued
beyond that point, it aims only towards a particular specialized and profitable purpose;
one studies science as one takes up a business; and one takes up only those applications
whose immediate practicality is recognized.

In America there is, strictly speaking, no adolescence: at the close of boyhood the man
appears and begins to trace out his own path.
—Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

In his study of political institutions and the legal system during his visit to the United

States in 1831–1832, Tocqueville also described the customs and culture that contributed to

America’s economic success in the early nineteenth century,1 namely the Puritan work ethic and

moral code:

Public opinion . . . gently represses that love of wealth which promotes the commercial
greatness and the prosperity of the nation, and it especially condemns that laxity of
morals which diverts the human mind from the pursuit of well-being and disturbs the
internal order of domestic life which is so necessary to success in business. . . . The
Americans . . . adapt themselves to orderly habits; and . . . they make it a matter of honor
to live chastely. . . . In a democracy like the United States, where fortunes are scanty and
insecure, everybody works, and work opens a way to everything . . . . I have sometimes
met in America with young men of wealth . . . who had been compelled to embrace a
profession.2
Historian David Hackett Fischer elaborates: the Puritan work ethic contributed to the New

England economy and consisted of two callings—a duty to live a godly life and a duty to one’s

vocation. Puritans believed that success in one’s calling was a way of serving God in the world.3

1
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 2 vols, with an introduction, notes, and bibliographies by
Phillips Bradley (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945). The first volume was published in 1830, the second in 1835.
2
Ibid., 2:237. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines “work ethic” (1951) as a noun: “a belief in
work as a moral good.”
3
David Hackett Fischer, Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1989), 6–9, 155–56. The first “folkway” deals with Puritans from the east of England who settled in

16
Cultural historian Richard Tarnas has described the Protestant work ethic as that of Calvinist

Christians who pursued their worldly vocations “with spiritual and moral fervor in order to

realize the Kingdom of God on earth.”4 The Calvinist Christian could find himself among the

elect if he unceasingly and successfully applied himself to disciplined work. The resulting

material productivity, combined with “ascetic renunciation of selfish pleasure and frivolous

spending, readily lent itself to the accumulation of capital.”5

John Church (1834–1890) came from a long line of ancestors who exemplified

Tocqueville’s description of Americans’ predilection for a profession and helped to establish

what we today call the Puritan work ethic. Church moved from Boston to Cincinnati in 1859 and

developed a successful music publishing business and music dealership with branches in

Chicago and New York.6 From October 1871 to January 1883 his company published a monthly

journal entitled Church’s Musical Visitor; from February 1883 through December 1897 the title

was shortened to The Musical Visitor (hereafter the Visitor).

Church’s ancestors can be traced back to Richard Church, who immigrated to

Massachusetts in 1630. Puritans—including Congregationalists—followed a stricter than usual

moral code, conforming to a standard of right and wrong behavior. Tocqueville noted, “Although

Massachusetts from 1629 to 1640. The second folkway follows the Royalist elite and indentured servants from
southern England to Virginia; the third folkway deals with those moving from the North Midlands of England and
Wales to the Delaware Valley; the fourth refers to those moving from the northern borders of Britain and Ireland to
Appalachia. Fischer defines “folkway” as “the normative structure of values, customs and meanings that exist in
any culture.” He discusses, among other things, family ways, naming ways, food ways, work ways, and time ways.
According to Fischer, “strong echoes” of the four British folkways are still heard in dialects of American speech,
and in patterns of life, politics, and ideas of freedom. His central thesis is that “the legacy of four British folkways in
early America remains the most powerful determinant of a voluntary society in the United States today.”
4
Richard Tarnas, The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas That Have Shaped Our World
View (New York: Ballantine Books, 1993), 245.
5
Ibid., 246.
6
Walter Sutton, The Western Book Trade: Cincinnati as a Nineteenth-century Publishing and Book-trade
Center (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1961), 82. Sutton includes the “long-lived” John Church Company
as one of the leading music publishing houses before the Civil War. William Osborne considers John Church’s firm
“the Cincinnati publisher with the widest influence.” William Osborne, Music in Ohio (Kent, OH: Kent State
University Press, 2004), 514.

17
the puritanical strictness which presided over the establishment of the English colonies in

America is now much relaxed, remarkable traces of it are still found in their habits and laws.”7

He included an appendix dealing with a law promulgated in Massachusetts in 1792 regarding the

observation of the Sabbath. One could not open a store or a workshop, or attend a concert, a

dance or a show, nor hunt or fish or play games without being subjected to a fine. Inn-, store-,

and tavernkeepers were not to serve anyone unless they were from out of town, lest they be

subjected to a fine and possibly lose their licenses. Travel deemed unnecessary was also subject

to a fine. Tocqueville noted that similar laws were enacted in New York in 1827 and 1828.8

Fischer discusses how certain offenses were punished by various forms of public humiliation.

For example, a dishonest baker might be forced to stand in the stocks with a lump of dough on

his head. Criminals were often required to wear “a badge of shame” in a contrasting color on

their clothing, such as the letter “A” for adultery, “B” for blasphemy or burglary, “D” for

drunkenness, “R” for roguery—“an entire alphabet of humiliation.”9 Richard Crawford

considers the Puritans as Reformed Protestants. They were “fueled by a perpetual burning desire

to be better,” and their judgments were as hard on themselves as they were on others.10 The

Puritans’ emphasis on hard work and moral behavior is a recurring theme in the Visitor and in

the lives of the people who created it.

7
Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 2:339.
8
Ibid., 2:339–40. In New York no one was allowed to frequent houses where liquor was sold, and travel
was allowed only when necessary.
9
Fischer, Albion’s Seed, 195. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a romance published in 1850,
immortalized the scarlet letter “A” for adulteress.
10
Richard Crawford, America’s Musical Life: A History (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2001),
29.

18
The Church Family: History and Background

Richard Church (1608–1668) established the family in New England. He was a carpenter,

born in England, who immigrated to Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1630. A year later he

relocated to Plymouth. In 1635 or 1636 he married Elizabeth Warren (d. 1670), daughter of

Richard Warren, one of the heads of families and signers of the Compact made on the

Mayflower in 1620. They had fourteen children.11 There followed seven fecund generations of

Churches, each with three to eleven children. With the exception of Richard, the family

memorial manifests the Puritans’ practice of using biblical forenames within the family, often

passed on to the next generation, and the importance of “the innermost nuclear ring.”12 “John”

and “Joseph” were especially favored (see Fig. 1.1).13

11
Bureau of Military and Civic Achievement, Washington, DC, Mayflower Descendants and Their
Marriages for Two Generations after the Landing, including a Short History of the Founding of the Church of the
Pilgrim Founders of New England (Baltimore: Genealogical Publications, 1972; originally published as 2nd ed.
Washington, 1922), 3, 7, 33–34. One of their sons was named “Caleb,” and another was named “Joseph.” See
Figure l. l. It seems unlikely that Richard Warren would have allowed his daughter to marry a man who was not a
Puritan.
12
According to Robert Charles Anderson, Richard Church married a daughter of one of the Mayflower
passengers in 163l. Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1633 (Boston: New
England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), 360–64; Benjamin Franklin Wilbour, comp., “The Church Family” in
Little Compton Families (Little Compton, RI: Little Compton Historical Society, 1974), 166–86. Wilbour refers to a
“myth” (180–81) that the renowned Colonel Benjamin Church of King Philip’s [also called Metacom, Wampanoag
Indian chief, ca. 1638–1676] and other Indian wars was an ancestor of Ebenezer Church. Thus, John Church was not
a descendant of Colonel Benjamin Church as reported by editor James R. Murray in The Musical Visitor 18, no. 10
(October 1889): 261, and in George F. Root’s autobiography, The Story of a Musical Life (Cincinnati: John Church,
1891; repr., New York: Da Capo Press, 1970), 209.
13
For “naming ways,” see Fischer, Albion’s Seed, 8, 70, 94–96.

19
Figure 1.1. Church Family Memorial, Little Compton, Rhode Island. Courtesy of the Little
Compton Historical Society.

The family moved to Little Compton (now in Rhode Island) late in the seventeenth century. John

Church’s grandfather Joseph (1764–1840), a soldier in the Revolutionary War, volunteered for

service at the age of twelve in place of his father, Ebenezer (1725–1825), who had been drafted.

Having survived this experience, Joseph married and fathered eight children. John (1794–1882),

hereafter identified as Sr., the oldest of Joseph’s children, was born on the family’s large estate

where he was “trained in all rural labors and virtues, blessed with rich family lore and

20
examples”14 (see Fig. 1.2).

Figure 1.2. John Church Sr. (1794–1882). Courtesy of the Little Compton Historical Society.

Early in the century “he learned many and valuable lessons of industry, economy, and probity.”15

In 1812 he moved to Providence where he founded the firm of Church and Sweet and became a

successful builder and developer whose interests extended far beyond that city. He is credited

14
The obituary for Church’s father by “F. D.” was reprinted from the Providence, Rhode Island Journal
dated November 21, 1882. “Col. John Church,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 15 (December 1882): 408.
15
Ibid.

21
with building churches in Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina. Colonel

of the second regiment of the Providence infantry, Church escorted General Lafayette when he

visited Providence in 1824. Returning to Little Compton in the 1840s, he “built a beautiful home

on land that had been in his family since 1687.”16 He was a “lifelong member of the

Congregational Church.”17 A prosperous man, Church actively engaged in politics, and served

as a director of several banks and an insurance company.18 Yet his son, John (1834–1890),

hereafter identified as Jr., a future advocate of the arts in Cincinnati, did not receive a college

education. Instead, at the age of fourteen, he went to Boston to work for music publisher Oliver

Ditson.19

John Church Jr. had been born in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 9, 1834. Six years

later the family moved to Little Compton, Rhode Island, where his father purchased for his own

use three hundred acres of land which had been in the family since 1674, and built a homestead

(see Fig. 1.3).20

16
Wilbour, “The Church Family,” 184.
17
Ibid.
18
Ibid.
19
Much of the information on John Church Jr. comes from his obituary. “The Death of John Church,” The
Musical Visitor 19, no. 5 (May 1890): 120.
20
Ibid.

22
Figure 1.3. “Oldacre” built by John Church Sr. Courtesy of the Little Compton Historical
Society.

Church spent eleven years in Boston (1848–59) learning the music business under Oliver Ditson

(1811–1888). His apprenticeship there would later be recalled in the Visitor.21 He learned “how

to take down shutters, build furnace fires, and sweep out two hundred feet of store before

breakfast.”22 The apprentices were grateful when it was someone else’s turn on a cold morning.

“A willing boy got lots of healthy exercise at Ditson’s . . . and a good business education that

enabled him to ‘paddle his own canoe’ as he got older.”23 According to Church’s obituary in the

Visitor: “He applied himself so closely to his duties that his health became affected so seriously

that in 1854 it was thought that he was threatened with quick consumption. He started on a
21
“A Benefit,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 6 (March 1874): 8–9.
22
Ibid., 9.
23
Ibid.

23
voyage to South America for rest and change, hoping to arrest the dreaded disease. He returned

in six months fully restored to health and resumed his place in Ditson’s store” until April 1859.24

In April 1859 Ditson sent Church to Cincinnati to straighten out the affairs at the music

publisher Truax and Baldwin, of which “Mr. Ditson took possession in order to save what was

due him.”25 Church bought one-half of the assets from Ditson on April 21, 1859, and changed

the name of the firm to John Church, Jr.26 In December 1864 he married Carrie Corwin (1843–

1878), daughter of Daniel W. Corwin (1812–1886),27 with whom he would have three children:

Corwin 1866–1873, Edith Russell 1868–1942, and Alice 1870–1876.28 On March 1, 1869, he

purchased the remaining half of the business from Ditson and Company and associating himself

with his former bookkeeper, J. B. Trevor, changed the firm’s name to John Church and

24
“The Death of John Church.” Oliver Ditson’s obituary in the Visitor recalled a similar education. His life
and career are traced, beginning with his apprenticeship under a Boston bookseller at age thirteen. A lack of formal
education meant “his position was one of unceasing drudgery.” However, after nine years of hard work, honesty,
and frugality, “he became a member of the firm.” Ditson relied on his own judgment in the selection and preparation
of the music for publication. “Intelligence, energy, and system were shown in himself, and required in all associated
with him.” “Oliver Ditson,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 1 (January 1889): 10. The obituary goes on to describe
Ditson’s appearance and demeanor in flattering terms. Osborne, however, presents a different view, based on one of
Ditson’s dealings with Benjamin R. Hanby (1833–1867). Ditson was apparently a shrewd businessman; John
Church and editor James R. Murray seemed to be unaware of some of his practices. Osborne, Music in Ohio, 422–
24.
25
“The Death of John Church.”
26
Ibid.
27
Apparently Daniel W. Corwin was a man of some influence in Cincinnati. Charles Theodore Greve,
Centennial History of Cincinnati and Representative Citizens (Chicago: Biographical Publishing, 1904), 1: 706,
745, 1020. A list of managers for the Buckeye Ball on April 8, 1844, included Daniel Corwin; he was a member of a
committee formed in October 1844 to settle a dispute between the rail companies and city officials—crowding on
the streets was interrupting the flow of goods and people. Corwin had been an early director of the Franklin Bank, in
1834 (incorporated February 9, 1833). For the timing of his marriage, see Fischer, Albion’s Seed, 163–64. Many
Puritans married during the months of November and December, contrary to the Anglican prohibition against
marriage during the period before Christmas. Corwin, along with John Church, Jr., was a member of the Finance
Committee of a proposed musical festival in Cincinnati, “The Cincinnati Musical Festival of 1873,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 2, no. 2 (November 1872): 6.
28
“The Death of John Church”; Wilbour, “The Church Family,” in Little Compton Families, 186; “The
Burchard Family,” ibid., 128–29. Edith Russell Church was named after her paternal aunt Susan (Mrs. Edward
Russell). Puritans also used biblical names for women, such as Susanna; names were passed down to the next
generation and in this case it was a married name within the family. Fischer, Albion’s Seed, 70, 94, 96. Edith Russell
Church continued the tradition when she married Roswell B. Burchard: her oldest son was named John Church; one
of her daughters, Edith Russell Church; and another, Susan Church.

24
Company.29 On February 23, 1872, Church purchased the book catalog of the Chicago firm Root

and Cady, which had suffered crippling losses following the Great Fire on October 9, 187130

Church was elected treasurer of the Board of Directors of Cincinnati’s Harmonic Society (an

English-language singing society) in 1872.31 That same year, in Boston, he was chosen to be

Vice President of the Board of Trade of the Music Publishers at their June 19 meeting.32 A year

later Church was elected President of the Board of Music Trade of the United States at their

annual meeting, held in Newport, Rhode Island.33 On November 1, 1883, the Everett Piano

Company was organized in Boston with John Church as president.34 John Church and Company,

and subsequently the John Church Company, marketed Everett pianos. Advertisements began

appearing regularly in the Visitor for the Everett Piano, available in Cincinnati beginning in May

1883,35 and later at the Chicago branch of Root and Sons and in New York.

Church also brought relatives to Cincinnati and Chicago to work in the music business.

His nephew Albert T. Church died on May 26, 1865, in Cincinnati at the age of eighteen.36

29
“The Death of John Church.”
30
Dena J. Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: The Firm of Root and Cady 1858–1871
(Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1969), 81.
31
Frank H. King, “Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 5 (February 1872): 9.
The Society had been formed in 1864 but dissolved in 1880 when the May Festival Association decided to establish
a permanent chorus which attracted members of local societies. Osborne, Music in Ohio, 210; Robert C. Vitz, The
Queen & the Arts: Cultural Life in Nineteenth-century Cincinnati (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1989),
64, 122.
32
Frank H. King, “Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 11 (August 1872): 10.
33
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 11 (August 1873): 9.
34
“The Death of John Church.” According to an article reprinted from the Boston Globe dated September 7,
1887, the Everett Piano Company had been organized in 1884. John Church was president, Colonel William Moore
treasurer and manager; and directors were J. B. Trevor, E. T. Russell, and E. V. Church. E. V. Church was his
nephew and Russell was likely Church’s brother-in-law Edward T. Russell. “Everett Piano Company’s Factory: A
Full Description of the Most Complete Manufactory in the World,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 10 (October 1887):
262–63. The article includes a history of the company and a description of the factory.
35
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 5 (May 1883): 140.
36
Wilbour, “The Church Family,” in Little Compton Families, 186. I have been unable to locate a record of
his nephew’s death.

25
Another nephew, Edmund V. Church, managed the Root and Sons Music Company in Chicago

from 1881 until his death in 1910.37 He had been one of the incorporators of the Musical

Merchandise Board of Trade, organized “to protect the trade from unjust exactions, to gather

information as to the standing of merchants, with a view to prevent fraudulent failures, to bring

about uniformity in the customs of the trade, and to promote friendly feeling among the

members.”38 In 1894 Church was elected President of the Chicago Music Trade Association.39

James R. Murray, editor of the Visitor from May 1881, provides an occasional glimpse

into John Church’s life and character. Church summered in the East. An entry in the Visitor of

October 1882 notes that he had returned to Cincinnati on September 18 but had been

immediately recalled due to “the serious illness of his father” in Little Compton.40 We learn in

the December 1884 issue that Church had returned from his summer vacation on the East Coast

with mackerel and Cape Cod turkeys for Murray and another dozen or more Cincinnati

families.41 Church must have remained on good terms with Oliver Ditson. Murray reprinted a

clipping from an unnamed source in the December 1885 issue of the Visitor: “Our Mr. John

Church, one of Mr. Ditson’s ‘boys,’ dined with the veteran publisher” on the occasion of his

seventy-fourth birthday.42 A notice in the August 1888 issue reveals that Church had been

37
It was announced that Church, manager of the Chicago branch and a director of the John Church
Company, died February 1, 1910. “John Church Co. Meeting,” The Music Trade Review, February 19, 1910, 27.
Murray claims that E. V. Church, manager of the Chicago branch, had been in Cincinnati for the annual
stockholders meeting of the John Church Company. “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 3 (March 1894): 68.
38
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 11 (November 1885): 292.
39
“Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 3 (March 1894): 69.
40
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 11, no. 13 (October 1882): 353. His father’s obituary in the
Providence, Rhode Island Journal, dated November 21, 1882, was reprinted in the Visitor. “Col. John Church,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 15 (December 1882): 408.
41
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 12 (December 1884): 320. Presumably the turkeys were for Thanksgiving,
one of the festivals instituted by the Puritans in lieu of Christian feasts and saints’ days. See Fischer, Albion’s Seed,
138, 163–64, 166.
42
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 12 (December 1885): 320. The first issue of the Visitor to have The John
Church Company on the cover was April 1885.

26
entertaining a number of Cincinnatians and other friends at his “elegant colonial mansion at

Little Compton, RI.”43 Apparently Church also had a congenial relationship with his long-time

business partner, John B. Trevor. Murray includes an account of a day trip from Naples to

Pompeii with the two men and their daughters, as recounted in a letter from Jennie N. Trevor.

Church is referred to as “Mr. C.” and Trevor as “Mr. T.”44

In 1886 Church moved from Cincinnati to Boston to take care of his business interests in

New York and Boston (not mentioned in the Visitor until his obituary) and possibly to be close

to his family. Murray visited “Little Compton by the sea” for a few days during the summer of

1889. He enjoyed the hospitality of Church and his daughter, who spend the summers “at the

palatial family mansion (see Figure 1.4).”45 According to the Little Compton Historical Society,

“Oldacre” underwent a major renovation by Edith Church, Church’s daughter, in the late

1800s.46

43
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 8 (August 1888): 206.
44
A portion of a private letter from Jennie N. Trevor in Naples appeared in the Visitor. “A Visit to
Pompeii,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 5 (May 1889): 115.
45
The Musical Visitor 18, no. 10 (October 1889): 261. The 1864 Williams’ Cincinnati Directory lists John
Church boarding at the Burnett House. After his marriage in December of that year his address is given as a house at
71 West 8th Street. Thereafter his address changes frequently: in 1866 to 138 Smith; in 1867 to 144 Elm; in 1868 to
E. Walnut Hills; in 1869 to Woodburn; in 1873 to a house at 428 West 6th; in 1874, to a house at 359 West 4th; in
1876 to boarding at the Grand Hotel, apparently until he moved to Boston in 1886. These frequent moves were not
uncommon at the time. M. Leslie Petteys reports that the Cincinnati-based Rivé family moved almost yearly
between 1871–1882. M. Leslie Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King, American Pianist” (DMA thesis, University of Missouri-
Kansas City, 1987), 24. According to Steven J. Ross, “the introduction of inclined planes and electric cable cars in
the 1870s and 1880s” and expanded railroad routes and omnibus lines enabled people to relocate to hilltop areas for
the cleaner air and more open spaces of such areas as Walnut Hills, Clifton, Mount Adams, or Avondale. Steven J.
Ross, Workers on the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788–1890 (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1987), 237–39. The Rivés and Churches may have moved, of course, for other reasons.
“The expansion of streetcar systems and . . . regional railroad networks dramatically increased residential
instability” between 1840 and 1900 in U.S. cities. “Movement between cities paralleled the frantic residential shifts
within cities” (emphases original). Mobility and change represented the norm, as “rich and poor alike freely changed
residences and jobs” in search of happiness and success. Paul S. Boyer et al., The Enduring Vision: A History of the
American People, Concise 2nd ed. (Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and Company, 1995), 406, 407.
46
E-mail to author from Helen Bridge, May 22, 2007.

27
Figure 1.4. “Oldacre” today. Courtesy of the Little Compton Historical Society.

Church died from pneumonia on April 19, 1890, at the home of his sister Susan (Mrs.

Edward Russell). His sister’s home had been his base of operations when he was in Boston, and

his daughter lived there as well. Church was buried in Little Compton “beside his father and

mother whom he so loved and revered.”47 John Church had strong family ties, typical of the

Puritan families described by Fischer. He was survived by his daughter, Miss Edith Russell

Church.48

47
“The Death of John Church.” Wilbour incorrectly gives Little Compton as the place of death, an error
verified by Helen Bridge of the Little Compton Historical Society, e-mail to author, May 30, 2007. Wilbour, “The
Church Family,” Little Compton Families.
48
Ibid.; Jeffrey G. Herbert, Index of Death Notices and Marriage Notices in the Cincinnati Daily Gazette
1827–1881 (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1993), 76–78. Carrie Church died January 1, 1878; Alice died March 10,
1876. Corwin’s death notice appeared on November 26, 1873, but no death date is given. It is unclear why Church’s
obituary in the Visitor does not include his wife’s name or the names of his two children who had pre-deceased him.
According to Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery records, Alice Church died of diphtheria in Boston; Corwin
Church died of scarlet fever in Cincinnati. Daniel W. Corwin, Carrie Corwin Church, Corwin Church, and Alice
Church are buried in a family lot for the heirs of David Loring in Spring Grove Cemetery in Section 42, lot 19,
spaces 27, 21, 18, and 20, respectively. Carrie Corwin Church’s ancestors had come from the East: David Loring
(1784–1849) had been born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts; his wife, Maria Lowey Loring (1786–1868), had been
born in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The cause of death for Carrie Church on New Year’s Day was given as “nervous
shock.” According to the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, “nervous shock,” disease, or grief could account for

28
 John Church had been one of the founders of the Cincinnati May Festival and had served

on every Board, except one.49 Granville Howe credits Church with the financial success of the

second Festival, held in 1875.50 Church had made arrangements to attend the 1890 May Festival,

spending the month of May in Cincinnati along with his daughter. According to Murray,

business partner John B. Trevor had been the manager of the John Church Company at the time

of Church’s death. Murray later refers to Mr. Trevor as president and manager of the John

Church Company. 51 The May 1890 issue of the Visitor contains testimonials to Church from the

“more or less non-moral acts of self-destruction.” Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (New York: C. Scribner’s
Sons, 1925), 23:22. Her residence and place of death was given as McMillan Street; her husband had been boarding
at the Grand Hotel since 1876, according to Williams’ Cincinnati Directory. Mrs. Church had filed for divorce,
alimony, and custody of Edith on May 24, 1877. “Church vs. Church: A Divorce Suit in High Life,” Cincinnati
Enquirer, May 25, 1877, 8. The details of their domestic life and her move back to her parents home on McMillan
Street in 1874 were retold. “A Mother’s Woe: Brief Sketch of a Sad Domestic Life, Mrs. John Church, Jun., Dies of
Grief,” Cincinnati Enquirer, January 2, 1878, 4. The Enquirer provided another account on January 3 with details of
their separation and legal matters, and that Mr. Church had been told by Mrs. Church’s physician that her condition
had been improving. “Mrs. Church: The Other Side of a Painful Story,” Cincinnati Enquirer, January 3, 1878, 4.
The account also mentioned that John Church’s store had been closed on January 2. The Enquirer followed up with
a five-column account. “Husband and Wife: The Church Affair as It Stands To-Day,” Cincinnati Enquirer, January
4, 1878, 8. Mrs. Church’s funeral was conducted by the Reverend R. H. Goddard at the residence of an aunt, Mrs.
George Carlisle, 319 West Sixth Street, followed by a private burial. “At Rest: Funeral Services Over the Remains
of Mrs. John Church, Jun.,” Cincinnati Enquirer, January 5, 1878, 8. The Chicago Daily Tribune reprinted an
account from the Cincinnati Commercial. “Crime: A Cincinnati Tragedy,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 6, 1878,
2.
49
According to American historian Michael Cahall, John Church and four other members resigned from the
Cincinnati Musical Festival Association following the 1878 May Festival in a dispute over the proceeds. President
George Ward Nichols wanted to give $15,000 to pay off the Music Hall organ, whereas Church and the majority of
the board members wanted to create an endowment fund for the chorus. Thus, Church was not a member of the
board for the 1880 festival. In March 1880 the chorus refused to perform for the upcoming festival unless Nichols
resigned, which he did. Michael Cahall, “Jewels in the Queen’s Crown: The Fine and Performing Arts in Cincinnati,
Ohio, 1865–1919” (PhD diss., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1991), 254, 256.
50
Granville L. Howe and W. S. B. Mathews, eds., A Hundred Years of Music in America (Chicago: G. L.
Howe, 1889), 314.
51
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 5 (May 1891), 122. According to Ernst C. Krohn, at Church’s
death his son-in-law, R. B. Burchard, became president. Ernst C. Krohn, “Church,” in The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001),
5:823. This does not seem possible, however, since Church’s daughter did not marry Roswell B. Burchard until June
26, 1897. Editor James R. Murray was invited to the wedding at Oldacre, but it is unclear if he was able to attend.
“Current Notes and News,” Musical Visitor 26, no. 7 (July 1897): 193. Burchard served as Speaker of the House of
Representatives of Rhode Island from 1907 to 1909 and as Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island from 1913 to 1915.
He was a correspondent for the New York Herald, New York Mail and Express, and Forest and Stream; he was also
editor of the American Canoeist and yachting editor of Outing magazine. Carlton C. Brownell, ed., Notes on Little
Compton, From Records Collected by Benjamin Franklin Wilbour (Little Compton, RI: Little Compton Historical
Society, 1970), 269.

29
May Festival Association and the Clough and Warren Organ Company, and the music therein

dedicated to his memory serves as further evidence of the high esteem Church enjoyed in the

community and the music trade. George F. Root found it hard to believe Church was gone:

“Ever since the dark days after the great fire, when the strong house, of which Mr. Church was

the chief, took hold of and sustained us in the crippled state in which the great disaster left us, he

has been a true friend—kind without pretention [sic] and generous without ostentation; a wise

counselor and a safe guide”52 (see Fig. 1.5).

52
“The Death of John Church.” Root was referring to the great Chicago Fire of October 1871, and John
Church and Company. He wrote more about Church in his autobiography, The Story of a Musical Life.

30
Figure 1.5. Painting of John Church Jr., late nineteenth century, by Sydney Burleigh. On
permanent display at the Wilbor House Museum, headquarters of, and courtesy of, the Little
Compton Historical Society.

31
The reverse side of the Church family memorial represents John Jr. as the last surviving male

member of the family; his headstone, however, is not adorned (see Figs. 1.6 and 1.7).

Figure 1.6. Reverse side of the Church Family Memorial. Photograph courtesy of the Little
Compton Historical Society.

Figure 1.7. John Church’s headstone. Photograph courtesy of the Little Compton Historical
Society.

32
 After Church’s death there were changes in the firm. The New York Times published an

announcement from Cincinnati on September 24, 1892, that the John Church Company had

incorporated the Everett Piano Company of Boston, Root and Sons Music Company of Chicago,

the Harvard Piano Company of Boston, and the Royal Manufacturing Company of Cincinnati,

with a capital interest of $5,000,000. Five men were involved in the new venture: William N.

Hobart, Edward Rawson, A. Howard Hinkle, Frank A. Lee, and William Hooper. Mr. Lee was

then vice president of the John Church Company. Mr. Hooper would probably be president

of the new company with Mr. Lee its general manager. John B. Trevor was then president of

the Everett Piano Company; Col. William Moore was its secretary and treasurer. The Royal

Manufacturing Company produced instruments such as the violin, guitar, mandolin, banjo, and

drums.53 The Visitor announced John B. Trevor’s retirement in November 1892 and the sale of

his shares to stockholders Lee, Hooper, Rawson, Hobart, and Hinkle.54 William Hooper was

president of the company at the time of his death on July 18, 1894; Frank A. Lee was managing

the company at that time.55 At the company’s annual election on March 7, 1895, Lee became

president and general manager, Rawson vice president, and Hinkle treasurer.56 Frank A. Lee had

also been a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Association Company in 1894.57 Part

53
“Musical–Instrument Combine: John Church and Co. Arrange to Consolidate Their Business,” New York
Times, September 24, 1892. Col. William Moore died on March 13, 1895. “Death of Col. Wm. Moore,” The
Musical Visitor 24, no. 4 (April 1895): 97.
54
“The John Church Co.,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 11 (November 1892): 308. According to William
Osborne, Frank A. Lee led the company after Church’s death in 1890. However, it is more likely that John B. Trevor
was in charge until his retirement in 1892. Osborne, Music in Ohio, 516.
55
“Death of William Hooper: President of the John Church Company,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 8
(August 1894): 205.
56
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 4 (April 1895): 98. It was announced in 1897 that Lee had also
been elected president of the Manufacturers’ Club of Cincinnati, “one of the most important clubs in the city,” for it
influences the regulation and extension of the city’s business interests. “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 4
(April 1897): 108.
57
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra: Centennial Portraits (Cincinnati: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra,
1994), 8.

33
of the John Church Company was reportedly sold to Theodore Presser in 1898.58

In 1918 the John Church Company had elected Joseph Rawson a director following the

death of Edward Rawson. The Board reelected Frank A. Lee as president and August Beall as

secretary.59According to The Music Trades in March 1919, the John Church Company had

elected a new board of directors at its annual meeting held in Cincinnati on March 3. The board

consisted of Joseph Rawson, R. B. Burchard, James C. Hobart, W. L. Gibson, and Graham P.

Hunt. Hunt was elected vice president and August Beall remained secretary. The office of

president was left vacant at the time. Frank A. Lee would continue to serve as advisor and

consultant. Reportedly the stockholders’ meeting had been the largest in years. The company

was coming out of the difficulties “occasioned by war times.”60 R. B. Burchard became president

in 1920.61 In 1921 he was introduced to the Chicago Piano Club and gave a talk on the trade as a

union of commercialism with art. “In all of my years of political and business associations, I

have never known a body of men that sized up any better than the piano crowd at the

conventions. I believe that the mission which is ours is a wonderful mission, and one that we

shall be proud of as the years go on.”62 Burchard resigned as president in 1926 and was

succeeded by W. L. Gibson.63 The Church Company was sold to Presser in 1930.

58
Travis Suttle Rivers, “The Etude Magazine: A Mirror of the Genteel Tradition in American Music” (PhD
diss., University of Iowa, 1974), 42–43.
59
“Men and Matters,” Cincinnati Enquirer, February 20, 1918, 13. Frank A. Lee was still serving as
president in 1909. “Offer From Church Company For Norwood Plant of Smith and Nixon Piano Company,”
Cincinnati Enquirer, June 15, 1909, 5.
60
“John Church Co. Elects,” The Music Trades 57 (March 8, 1919): 9.
61
“Good Advertising in Cincinnati,” The Music Trade Review, March 6, 1920, 21.
62
“From Our Chicago Office,” The Music Trade Review, May 21, 1921, 32. It was noted that Col. R. B.
Burchard had served as Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island.
63
“New Stores and Changes Among Retail Music Dealers During the Past Month: Ohio,” The Music Trade
Review, May 1, 1926, 19.

34
The Editors of the Visitor

The editors of the Visitor were Frank H. King, Charles A. Daniell, Frank N. Scott, and

James R. Murray.64 A paucity of biographical information exists for them; what little is known

can be found in the Visitor. The editors and their writings exemplify the Puritan work ethic and

moral code. Concern with moral issues and family life is evident in their writings. I have been

unable to find any information regarding a denominational affiliation for Charles A. Daniell or

Frank N. Scott. Frank H. King’s marriage service was performed by a Presbyterian minister.

James R. Murray was apparently baptized in the Congregational church but may have converted,

under George Root’s influence, to the Swedenborgian Church of the New Jerusalem.

In many instances in the Visitor, an author’s name does not appear for an article. If

material was borrowed from another source, it was the policy of the journal to give credit to the

writer or journal. It may be safe to assume, however, that it was adapted or written by the editor

at that time. It was advantageous for the current editor to have his music printed in the Visitor.

Neither Frank King nor Frank Scott had any music printed in the journal. A perusal of Appendix

A (Chronological listing of music appearing in the Visitor) reveals that Charles A. Daniell’s

music appeared during his tenure; James R. Murray’s was published mostly after May 1881

when he became editor.

FRANK H. KING

From October 1871 through December 1872, the first editor for the Visitor was

Franklin Homer King (1838–1900). According to M. Leslie Petteys, King had been born in Ohio,

had served in an Ohio regiment during the Civil War, and had been a prisoner of war in

64
American Periodicals, 1741–1900 gives the editor’s name as J. R. Murphy. American Periodicals: An
Index to the Microfilm Collections: American Periodicals 18th Century, American Periodicals 1800-1850,
American Periodicals 1850–1900, Civil War and Reconstruction, ed. Jean Hoornstra and Trudy Heath (Ann Arbor:
University Microfilms International, 1979), 149.

35
Libby prison in Richmond, Virginia, and the Andersonville prison in Georgia.65 Little is known

about his early life and education; however, after his death Musical America described him as a

good musician, a “hard-working man, who was one of the pioneers in the musical industries, and

certainly did a vast deal to spread musical culture, in the early days throughout the Western

country.”66 King was further described as “a big man,” who weighed about three hundred

pounds.67

Writers to the Visitor provided testimonials to King’s competence. In June 1872 a New

York correspondent, writing under the pseudonym of “Arion,” reported that Frank King had

previously written a correct and graphic description of the Engel organ.68 Another writer,

“Scudo” from Yellow Springs, Ohio, praised King for his critical prowess and independence.69

Prior to his employment by the Church Company, King had edited the Commercial and the

Musical Monthly in Mitchell, Indiana.70

King became the tour manager for Cincinnati-born pianist Julia Rivé, possibly in 1874,

and married her on June 28, 1877.71 Most likely it was King who had favorably reviewed her

performance on October 16, 1871, at a benefit concert organized by her mother, Caroline Rivé,

for the victims of the Chicago Fire. Julia Rivé had performed Chopin’s “Polonaise in A-flat
65
The best source of information on Frank H. King is Petteys, “Julie Rivé–King.”
66
“Mephisto’s Musings,” Musical America 8 (June 13, 1908): 13, quoted in ibid., 57.
67
Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King,” 58. Photos of Frank King can be found in the Helen King Boyer Collection,
Special Collections, University Library, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.
68
Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 9 (June 1872): 2.
69
Frank H. King, “Sifting the Wheat from the Chaff,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 11
(August 1872): 6.
70
Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King,” 59–60.
71
Ibid., 61, 63. The ceremony was performed by a Presbyterian minister. Julia Rivé was also referred to
under the less formal “Julie.” Their marriage was reported in August 1877. Miss Julia Rivé “is now Mrs. Frank H.
King.” “Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 11 (August 1877): 285. The Visitor announced in
1879 that Frank H. King “has been appointed to an important position on the staff of manager Haverly.” That month
Rivé-King was beginning a series of concerts with the “well-known contralto,” Miss Anna Drasdil of New York.
“Musical People,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 1 (October 1879): 14.

36
major,” Litolff’s “Spinning Song,” and Liszt’s “Wedding March.” King had called her “one of

the most promising young pianists in the West.”72

King was also a composer: Root and Cady published his temperance song “The Happy

Daughters” in 1869.73 The words were by Robert Morris, LLD. The song and chorus (SATB)

are prefaced with a brief description of a man who gives up drinking after his wife dies. He

becomes a temperance worker, and a passerby hears the song as it was sung by the happy

daughters. The song is in B-flat major with a waltz tempo. The daughters’ misery is depicted

with a shift to the relative minor, chromaticism, softer dynamic levels, and tempo changes. The

chorus concerns the daughters, who create a happy domestic scene for their father, who no

longer stumbles nor slurs his speech when he returns home early. John Church and Company

published three more of King’s songs in 1866. Petteys credits King with thirteen published

compositions, but notes that he also contributed to music published under his wife’s name. Julie

Rivé–King wrote to her sister-in-law on March 27, 1907, that Frank wrote the themes while she

helped him with the passage-work.74 Though Church had published some of King’s

compositions, none of them were reprinted in the Visitor.

Some moral issues attracted King’s attention: in music criticism, in music education, and

in the power of music. One of the problems with music criticism is that it can affect public

morals if, for example, a critic is paid by the performer for a good review. “A lie is a lie,”

whether it is told for a penny or for a dollar.75 King urged parents who were not musical to

educate their children in the art. Music is a potent influence when made around the family hearth.

72
Frank H. King, “Madame Rive’s Concert,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 9.
Petteys credits Rivé-King with a single performance of Litolff’s “Spinning Song” in 1872, but this is either a
misprint or an additional performance. Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King,” 356.
73
Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871, 120, 155, 172.
74
Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King,” 86, 337–38.
75
Frank H. King, “Musical Criticism,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 2 (November 1872): 5–6.

37
Sweet sound soothes irritable nerves, and “banishes impure and idle thoughts, and greatly

diminishes its innate tendency.”76 In “Popular Fallacies Properly Harmonized,” King writes that

music is not merely a fashion of the day, it is a necessity of human life and a requisite for

“Christian civilization.”77 Music is heard in nature, in the home in a mother’s lullaby, or when

the voices of the family blend in evening hymns of praise and thanksgiving. Sacred music gives

pleasure on Sunday. He ends by pointing out that “the moral power of music” has a positive

influence on the community by increasing “the bonds of affection.”78

Frank King died on February 9, 1900, in New York; Julie Rivé-King died on July 24,

1937, in Indianapolis. In accordance with her wishes, she was buried with her husband in

Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Cemetery.79 Whereas Rivé-King enjoyed more public renown during

her lifetime than her husband, who had been content to live in her shadow, her ashes were buried

at his feet in an unmarked grave (see Fig. 1.8).80

76
Frank H. King, “Value of Musical Instruction,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 3 (December 1872): 6.
77
Frank H. King, “Popular Fallacies Properly Harmonized,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 1 (October
1872): 10.
78
Ibid.
79
Mary Hubbell Osburn, Ohio Composers and Musical Authors (Columbus, OH: F. J. Heer, 1942), 158;
Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King,” 127. According to Spring Grove Cemetery records, Frank King is buried in Section 73,
lot 143, space 9, his wife in space 9c, with her ashes placed at the foot of his tomb. The lot was owned by Rivé-
King’s maternal aunt, Henrietta Staub Kitchell (d. 1903), who is buried in space 10. Kitchell’s sister, Caroline Rivé
(died October 31, 1882), is buried in space 7. Kitchell placed advertisements in the Visitor as a teacher of vocal and
instrumental music until May 1891. There seems to be some confusion as to the identity of Henrietta Kitchell.
According to Petteys she was a cousin and former student of Rivé-King, Mrs. Robert I. Blakeman (née Henrietta
Kitchell), who came to her assistance in 1937 before her death in Indianapolis.
80
James R. Murray, “Music and Musicians,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 3 (March 1883): 71. For example,
Murray does not present King as a former editor but rather as Julia Rivé’s husband: “Frank King, husband of the
celebrated pianist, Julia Rivé King, paid us a brief visit recently. Mrs. King is to make a tour across the continent
with the Thomas orchestra this spring.” Perhaps this is not surprising since King wrote, for example, that he favored
the idea of women reporters in an August 1872 editorial. “‘Lady’ Reporters,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 11
(August 1872): 7. W. S. B. Mathews credits King with ensuring that critics attended his wife’s concerts in order to
write meaningful reviews, not just an obligatory sentence or two. W. S. B. Mathews, “Editorial Bric-a-Brac,”
Music 19 (December 1900): 154–55. King accomplished this by making the acquaintance of managing editors and
business managers throughout the country. Julia Rivé-King returned to Cincinnati as soloist with Theodore Thomas
and his Chicago Orchestra on March 1, 1892. She performed “a new” Fantaisie de Concert by Tschaikowsky. Frank
King is not mentioned as having visited the Church Company offices at that time. “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor
21, no. 4 (April 1892): 101–2. This performance by Rivé-King is not mentioned in Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King,” or in

38
Figure 1.8. Frank King and Julie Rivé-King’s Gravesite, Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati (see
foreground of photo). Photo courtesy of Peggy Grant.

Following King’s tenure the name of an editor does not appear again at the head of the

Visitor’s editorial columns until January 1892. At that time James R. Murray, editor since May

1881, added his name.81 Music bibliographer William Weichlein suggests that following King’s

tenure, John Church served as editor from January 1873 through April 1881.82 According to

Ezra Schabas, Theodore Thomas: America’s Conductor and Builder of Orchestras: 1835–1905 (Urbana and
Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989).
81
The Musical Visitor 21, no. 1 (January 1892): 8. “J. R. Murray, Editor,” is added without comment.
Petteys writes that after King’s tenure, “no editor was listed in subsequent issues of Church’s Musical Visitor.”
Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King,” 60, n70. This is technically correct, since the journal was renamed The Musical Visitor
in February 1883.
82
William J. Weichlein, A Checklist of American Music Periodicals, 1850–1900 (Detroit: Information
Coordinators, 1970), 29.

39
Mary Davison, Frank N. Scott was the editor during 1873, and Frank H. King again from

January 1874 through January 1884, with James R. Murray filling the position from February

1885 through the last issue of December 1897.83 Vera Flandorf opined that John Church was

the sole editor of the Visitor.84 According to items in the Visitor, however, Frank N. Scott was

the editor from September to December of 1873. The September 1873 issue announced, “The

editorial pages have been trusted to new and efficient hands” but no name was given.85 In

January 1874 a terse notice appearred—suggestive of an unpleasant parting—that “Mr. F. N.

Scott, who has had charge of the Visitor for several months,”86 was no longer connected with it

or Church’s publishing company. The Visitor was now supervised by “his successor, who was

also his pre-decessor,”87 referring to Charles A. Daniell (see below). Possibly Church himself

ended with the comment, “But so long as the Visitor is a good musical paper, its readers do not

care who makes it so.”88 One is reminded, perhaps, of the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain––it

matters not who performs the good works so long as they are done.

FRANK N. SCOTT

According to Vera Flandorf, Scott had been a voice teacher and director of the Caecilian

Glee Club in Indianapolis, and had edited Benham’s Music Review until the Baldwin Music

83
Mary Veronica Davison, “American Music Periodicals, 1853–1899” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota,
1973), 355. According to Petteys, Frank King was apparently affiliated with the Decker Brothers Piano Company
prior to 1874 and about this time became Rivé’s manager; they married in 1877 and resided mainly in New York
after their marriage. Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King,” 61, 66.
84
Vera S. Flandorf, “Music Periodicals in the United States: A Survey of Their History and Content” (MA
thesis, University of Chicago, 1952), 129. Flandorf also wrote that the journal was discontinued after John Church’s
death on April 19, 1890, and that his son-in-law, R. B. Burchard, continued the music publishing business.
85
“Our Future,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 12 (September 1873): 8.
86
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 4 (January 1874): 10.
87
Ibid.
88
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 4 (January 1874): 10.

40
Company purchased the Benham firm and moved it to Cincinnati.89 He began writing articles for

the Visitor in February of 1872 with “American Choral Societies,” signed “F. N. S.” The article

has a nationalistic bent, asserting that American choral societies are formed in order to perform

works of the masters and are “inferior to none among the family of nations.” We are “essentially

a singing people.”90 The essay was continued in the April issue. Scott cited as evidence of his

assertion that church choirs, community choral societies, and county musical conventions had

been the result of music education taught in public schools as instituted by Lowell Mason in

Boston.91

In September 1873 Scott made the business of seating at Pike’s Opera House a moral

issue. During a season of the English Opera Company, which included Clara Louise Kellogg,

ushers may have taken bribes from men wishing to be smuggled into $2 seats, having paid the $1

admission fee, thus defrauding the theater owner. The issue had been addressed in the

correspondence column of the local papers, and Scott felt the question to be of “considerable

importance” to his readers. For him it was a question of morality and equity. In the same column

he complained about the current literary offerings to the public, with “sickly sentimentality,

raving romance, mawkish memoir, and hysteric history.”92 A good book, with soul, intellect,

teachings, and divine brain-power, had moral worth and intellectual force. In the October 1873

issue Scott complained that contemporary organists strove too much for effect. They treated the

organ as a secular orchestra, and “the music performed in the churches is purely and simply

89
Flandorf, “Music Periodicals in the United States,” 53. Flandorf does not give a date for the move.
Benham’s Musical Review published in Indianapolis from January 1870 until June 1879. The name of the journal
was changed to Baldwin’s Musical Review and was published in Cincinnati from July 1879 until June 1883.
Davison, “American Music Periodicals,” 317.
90
F. N. S., “American Choral Societies,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 5 (February 1872): 5. See, for
example, the diverse history of choral music in the Queen City. Cincinnati Musical Festival Association, A City That
Sings: Cincinnati’s Choral Tradition 1800–2012, ed. Catherine Roma (Wilmington, OH: Orange Frazer Press,
2012).
91
F. N. S., “American Choral Societies–No. 2,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 1 (April 1872): 6.
92
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 3 (December 1873): 8–9.

41
theatrical.”93 Though Scott’s tenure as an editor of the Visitor was brief, he, like King, addressed

moral issues.

In the same issue of the Visitor, Scott began a series of articles on composers titled

“Gleanings from Musical History.”94 “The writer––or perhaps it were better to style him the

editor––of this series, is well known as a musical writer; having, for a number of years past, been

connected with the press (more latterly with the musical press), in which field he is somewhat

well known as a writer upon musical matters.”95 According to Mary Davison, Scott served as the

editor for several journals: Western Musical Review (October 1866–December 1869); Benham’s

Musical Review (January 1870–December 1874); Church’s Musical Visitor (January–December

1873); the Folio (July 1887–January 1888); Gatcomb’s Banjo and Guitar Gazette

(January/February 1891–June 1896), and the Leader (December 1891 until sometime in

1894).96 The latter three were published in Boston.

In the October 1873 issue of the Visitor, Scott took aim at his immediate predecessor.

Daniell had reprinted an entry from the Sunday Sentinel in the September issue of the

Musical Echo. The Sentinel had considered the August issue of Church’s Musical Visitor (and

Brainard’s Musical World, published in Cleveland) not to be first-class publications, but to

contain “a good deal of music, such as it is.”97 Scott agreed with “Bro. Daniell” that “the

article is ‘unkind’ to him [emphases original], and the full force of the ‘unkindness’ lies in the

fact that he was in charge of the editorial columns of the Visitor for some months prior to

August, at his door must needs rest much of the responsibility if the Visitor was, indeed, ‘not a

first-class publication.’” Scott continued his attack on Daniell in the editorial column. The
93
Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 1 (October 1873): 2.
94
F. N. S., “Gleanings from Musical History,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 1 (October 1873): 3
95
“Our Musical Articles,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 1 (October 1873): 6
96
Davison, “American Music Periodicals,” 317.
97
“Unkind,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 1 (October 1873): 7.

42
September Echo “contains a delicious lump of editorial coolness, almost as refreshing as Arctic

soda . . . . It was our intention to have this number of the Echo illustrated, but rather than delay

the issue we postpone the idea, etc., etc.”98 Since the issue apparently arrived on schedule, Scott

“would really like to know our friends [sic] real idea (confidential) concerning a ‘delayed’

issue.” In the same column Scott again referred to the September issue of the Echo and our

“esteemed friend Daniell.” The Visitor’s August issue related the salary of Cincinnati organists

as ranging “from $2,500 to $3,000.”99 Daniell had printed the amount as $2,000 in the Echo, and

Scott advised him not to “go down and blow up poor Walters for not following copy, as we both

know you wrote it as published.” Furthermore, he beseeched Daniell to be more careful in his

quotations, “as accuracy is a vital element in journalism.” Daniell had also mentioned in the

Musical Echo that Boston had three theaters, “where once the puritan hub had seven”; Scott

Responded, “Please name the seven.”100 Scott’s more or less personal attacks on Daniell may

have been partly responsible for his departure from John Church and Company. The reason for

these attacks is unclear.

CHARLES A. DANIELL

Charles A[ddison] Daniell’s name appeared as editor of Church’s Musical Visitor in

Williams’ Cincinnati Directory of June 1879.101 In the June 1873 and June 1874 Directories his

name had appeared as a clerk at 66 West Fourth Street (John Church and Company). By the

printing of the 1875 Directory, Daniell had been promoted to editor of the Visitor and was so

98
“Editor’s Notes & Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 1 (October 1873): 9.
99
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 11 (August 1873): 10.
100
“Sock & Buskin,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 1 (October 1873): 11.
101
Williams’ Cincinnati Directory, 213.

43
listed through 1881.102 Thus, Daniell may have served as editor from January through August of

1873, and from January 1874 through April 1881, though he was not cited as such in the

Visitor.103 When Daniell visited the Church Company while in Cincinnati during the summer of

1895, Murray mentioned him as his predecessor on the Visitor staff.104 According to Davison,

Daniell had edited the Musical Echo, published in Milwaukee from 1873 to 1875, as well as

Musical People, published in Cincinnati and New York, from May 1880 to 1884.105 Apparently

Daniell had been editing the Musical Echo while he was employed by John Church and

Company. Some of Daniell’s music was printed in the Visitor under the pseudonym of D. C.

Addison.106

Daniell was also interested in moral issues. He took a New York minister to task for

wanting local authorities to ban performances of sacred oratorios in public theaters.

Daniell countered with “the Apostolic command––the scriptural order to teach in song” and

questioned whether the minister was qualified to preach.107 He included a “Service of Songs”

with a history of the hymns and their authors by Hezekiah Butterworth in the Visitor’s February

1881 issue.108 Daniell reprinted part of the chapter “New England Psalmody” from J. S.

Curwen’s then-new Studies in Worship Music, regarding Dr. George Root’s efforts to reform

102
Ibid., 1873, 230; 1874, 249; 1875, 76; 1880, 266; 1881, 277.
103
Daniell mentioned in the December 1880 issue: “During eight of these nine years it has been under the
present editorial management.” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 3 (December 1880): 70.
104
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 8 (August 1895): 210.
105
Davison, “American Music Periodicals,” 128–29, 223, 369, 440.
106
Daniell also contributed articles under the initials D. C. A. William Cushing, Initials and Pseudonyms: A
Dictionary of Literary Disguises (1885; repr., Waltham, MA: Mark Press, 1963), 403, cited in Sandra Jean Graham,
“Reframing Negro Spirituals in the Late Nineteenth Century,” in Music, American Made: Essays in Honor of John
Graziano, ed. John Koegel (Sterling Heights, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 2011), 620, n35.
107
“Musical Topics of the Month,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 4 (January 1881): 95.
108
“Service of Songs with Connected Readings: The Religious Experiences of Writers of Hymns,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 5 (February 1881): 123–26.

44
church music, so that both the choir and the congregation joined in the psalmody.109 Daniell also

suggested that a “true use of the Sabbath is the culture of the mind.” Libraries and museums

should be “thrown open to business men, clubs, and others who have often nothing but a bare

bedroom to go to.” It would provide opportunities for self-education. Great numbers of people

who work six days a week were “practically debarred from enjoying the great libraries and art

collections in the cities.” Contemplating great works of art would create a desire “to live for

something higher and better.” Daniell concluded that the Sabbath should be a day of spiritual

culture for those who do not lack opportunities of physical and mental culture during the week.

They could rightly devote it entirely to their religious feelings, and would be the better and holier

for it.110

Daniell’s poem in memory of Dr. George F. Root appeared in Chicago’s Presto on

August 8, 1895; Murray reprinted it in the September Visitor.111 In November 1896 Murray

109
“Studies in Worship Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 6 (March 1881): 162.
110
“Sunday a Day of Spiritual Culture,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 6 (March 1881): 162.
111
C. A. Daniell, “Dr. Geo. F. Root,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 9 (September 1895): 230.

The song of birds, the silver flow

Of ripping rills; the summer breeze
That sighs through woodlands, soft and low,
Like loving whispers of the trees––
These were the songs he loved to hear,
And then repeat them o’er again,
That all who heard them, far and near,
Might know and sing the sweet refrain.

Love was the spirit of his song

And Peace his favored theme,
And Music but the pinions strong
On which to float and dream.
The shock of war, the dread alarms
Of strife and fearful shriek of death––
The stricken nation’s call to arms––
Red battle’s flaming breath!
And then his watchful muse again
Awoke his soul to sing
The Battle Cry, whose stirring strains
Made vales and mountains ring.

45
defended his predecessor. When Daniell inadvertently credited Lefébure-Wély for composing

“The Maiden’s Prayer” in a sketch appearing in Presto, he had corrected the error

“almost immediately,” but musical papers continued to reprint it.112 Murray questioned the

musical intelligence of editors who used the article uncritically: “Of Mr. Daniells’ [sic] high

musical and general culture and education we have personal knowledge and can readily see how

in the hurry and bustle of office work a slip of the pen like this might occur, but it does not ‘let

out’ those who have copied the article after his prompt correction.”113 The last reference to

Daniell appears in the February 1897 issue of the Visitor, where Murray agreed with Daniell’s

opinion, published in a recent issue of Presto, on the current state of music criticism––that more

is written about the performer’s appearance than about the music.114

JAMES R. MURRAY

In May 1881 the teacher, composer, and writer James Ramsey Murray (1841–1905)

became chief director of publications and editor of the Visitor. He remained in that position until

the last issue in December 1897. Murray had been born on March 17, 1841, at Ballardvale, a tiny

village in Andover, Massachusetts, to Walter and Christine Morrison Murray, members of the

South Parish Congregational Church.115 His parents had immigrated to the United States in 1840

Love was the spirit of his song,

Though days be good or ill,
In Storm or calm, for right ’gainst wrong,
And Peace his burden still.
112
The Musical Visitor 25, no. 11 (November 1896): 312.
113
Ibid. Murray had apparently misremembered the correct spelling of Daniell’s surname.
114
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 2 (February 1897): 51–52.
115
J. H. Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914;
repr., New York: AMS Press, 1971), 209; e-mails to author from Leslie Baskin, July 14 and July 23, 2009. Vital
Records to 1850 uses the dates in the South Parish Congregational Church records. James Ramsey Murray is first
mentioned in July 4, 1841, which may be his christening date.

46
from Roxburgh, Scotland. Murray had received his early education in Andover’s public school;

George Root’s autobiography tells us that Murray had also attended his North Reading,

Massachusetts, Normal School for teachers (in that location from 1856–1859).116 According to F.

O. Jones, Murray had “studied music with Dr. [George F.] Root, Lowell Mason, [William B.]

Bradbury, [George J.] Webb, and Eugene Thayer.”117 Murray wrote that as a boy, he had been

offered the position of organist at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

The organ, installed in 1817, had formerly been at St. Paul’s Church in New York and had been

“played on the occasion of Washington’s inaugural in 1789.”118 Like Frank King, he had served

in the Union Army during the war,119 after which he had been employed as an editor in Chicago

for Root and Cady’s Song Messenger of the Northwest from January 1867 until the Fire in

October 1871. He had married Isabel Maria Taylor, whom he had known since childhood, in

116
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 209; George F. Root, The Story of a Musical Life,
120–21. Murray dedicated his hymn “Unto Him That Loved Us” to the Free Church Choir, Andover, Massachusetts.
The Musical Visitor 19, no. 7 (July 1890): 184–85.
117
F. O. Jones, A Handbook of American Music and Musicians, Containing Biographies of American
Musicians and Histories of the Principal Musical Institutions, Firms, and Societies (Canaseraga, NY, 1886; repr.,
New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), 104. Thayer is quoted in the Visitor regarding the power of music to sustain the
soul. “Why Music Exists,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 7 (July 1883): 181. In Thayer’s obituary, Murray provides
information about his organ teacher, who had recently shot himself. He described Thayer as “of a peculiar
temperament,” inclined to pessimism, “easily elated, and as easily depressed.” Apparently Thayer had fewer
students of late than usual. Murray could not believe that the act was premeditated: “He was doubtless in a state of
mental aberration when the fatal shot was fired.” He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son, for whom
William Sherwood gave a benefit concert. The Musical Visitor 18, no. 8 (August 1889): 205. Douglas Bomberger
notes that Thayer had been plagued by depression for several years and had resigned his position at Holy Trinity
Church in New York the year prior to his suicide. E. Douglas Bomberger, ed., Brainard’s Biographies of American
Musicians, Music Reference Collection 79 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999), 266. William Osborne does not
mention suicide, William Osborne, “Thayer, W[hitney] Eugene,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd
ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 8:167–68, but John Ogasapian relates
that Thayer’s declining health forced him to retire in May 1885, and was at Sherwood’s summer music school in
Burlington, Vermont, when he committed suicide. John Ogasapian, “Thayer, W[hitney] Eugene,” in The New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2001), 25:340.
118
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 9 (September 1891): 232.
119
Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871, 43. While serving in the army, Murray composed
“the widely successful sentimental ballad ‘Daisy Deane,’” published by Root & Cady in 1863.

47
1868.120 Murray had returned to his birthplace after the Fire; his friends had arranged a benefit

concert and found pupils for him.121 George Root had again offered the editorship of the Song

Messenger to Murray in 1873, but Murray had declined, responding from Andover that he would

write an occasional column for the paper. Since the Chicago Fire he had been “teaching, writing,

conducting, etc.,” and working in the public schools of Andover and Lawrence.122 Jacob Hall

mentioned that Murray had also been active as a temperance worker during this time.123

In June 1881 Church apparently broke with his long-standing tradition of not naming his

editor with the announcement that James R. Murray had assumed editorial management of the

Visitor in May:

Mr. Murray was for many years the editor of the Song Messenger of the Northwest (now
incorporated with the Visitor), and is widely known as the author of musical works of
great merit . . . . Mr. Murray will also hereafter write exclusively for our house, in all of
the departments of musical composition in which he has become so deservedly successful
and well known.124

A statement from the Boston Times dated July 3 appeared in the August 1881 issue: “Ever since

Mr. James R. Murray has assumed the editorial management of Church’s Musical Visitor, this

able journal of music has taken on a new lease of life and each department has been improved

and its scope enlarged. We congratulate Mr. Murray and his readers.”125 In the same issue, a

120
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 210.
121
Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871, 81. Murray’s song about the Fire, “Pity the
Homeless; or Burnt Out,” was published in Boston in 1871 by White, Smith and Perry. It was dedicated to Root and
Cady. The Visitor’s Chicago correspondent described Root and Cady’s office before the Fire as a place “where used
to congregate the popular composers of songs, and book compilers. In the little room many desks were crowded,
together with a small cabinet organ. At one of the desks Mr. J. R. Murray corrected proofs and wrote his regrets
upon rejected MSS; at another, Dr. Root himself presided; while composers whose works were going through the
press occupied the other seats.” P. N. Phoebus, “Chicago,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 4 (January 1880): 107.
122
G. F. R., “Some Items,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 7 (July 1891): 172–73. Root provides information he
had omitted from his biography.
123
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 210.
124
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 6 (June 1881): 242.
125
“Publisher’s Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 305.

48
reader from Davenport, Iowa, provided another testimonial for the new editor. The Visitor “has

always been edited with scrupulous and pains-taking, as its well-furnished pages have testified;

but the announcement of Mr. J. R. Murray as the future editor, is the sure pledge that . . . these

pages will not only maintain their high character, but will grow in every feature of

excellence.”126

Murray continued to enjoy an excellent reputation as an editor. The February 1883 issue

included quotes from other papers, including New York’s Spirit of the Times that the Visitor

“not only contains a vast amount of music, but the editorials are spicy and full of instruction.

They take the place of a music teacher.” The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote of the Visitor: “Its

editorials are well written and spicy, it contains much of the current musical news, and has in

addition well selected musical compositions.”127 Murray quoted another testimonial that had

appeared in the Buffalo Times on December 6, 1891: “The Musical Visitor is one of the

handsomest and best edited musical papers that reaches the Times office.”128

Murray was the first to issue an editorial disclaimer for the Visitor in August 1881: “The

Editor wishes it to be remembered that he does not hold himself in any way responsible for the

opinions advanced by contributors. He invites discussion on all musical topics likely to be of

practical use to the public at large and believes in a thorough discussion of both sides of a

subject, provided the discussion be free from personalities.” Murray would not tolerate

“vituperation” or “personal flings” at those who held opposing views.129 At that time the issue of

126
D. E. J[ones], “Correspondence,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 302. The writer
was identified in the next issue as the Reverend Darius E. Jones (1815–1881) in an obituary. “Gone Home,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12 (September 1881): 327. He had been a representative of John Church and
Company for the last four years. Murray had known him in Chicago, where Root and Cady had published Jones’s
hymn-tune book, Songs for the New Life (1869).
127
“A Little Egotism,” Church’s Musical Visitor 12, no. 2 (February 1883): 40.
128
James R. Murray, “As Good as a Christmas Gift,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 1 (January 1892): 10.
129
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 298.

49
tonic sol-fa was heating up, with contributions from both sides. The tonic sol-fa method of

teaching sight singing to Sunday School children had begun in England with Congregationalist

minister the Reverend John Curwen. A problem had arisen when Curwen failed to link his

system with the ability to read staff notation. In 1870 had Curwen introduced hand signals as an

aid to instruction, and by the late nineteenth century Curwen’s defenders mistakenly advocated

the method as superior to staff notation.130 The August 1881 issue also contained an article on

Curwen’s system. “The attempt to introduce the Tonic-sol-fa notation into America, is very

much like bringing coal to Newcastle.” More attention should be given to “the study of

underlying principles, rather than to new-fangled methods of representation,” which would save

time and money.131 The Visitor printed a lengthy letter from H. E. Holt of Boston to the editor of

the London Musical Times which had been refused. Mr. Holt gave his reasons and opinions as to

“why the Tonic Sol-fa notation should not be used in public schools,” citing his long experience

in teaching children. Holt took exception to John Stainer’s complaint that he could not teach

the “old notation” unless the student was trained to an instrument.132

Apparently Church had changed his mind in January 1874 that readers did not care

who edited his paper. In December 1882 a subscriber had asked, “Will you please tell me who

edits the Visitor now,” and “Can we have his portrait in the paper sometime?” Murray coyly

responded to the first question with “We do,” and humorously to the second: “Cincinnati is full

of superior engravers, but they one and all . . . refuse to entertain for a moment the proposition to

out our portrait . . . . One artist excused himself on the ground of wishing to remain in Cincinnati

130
See Bernarr Rainbow, “Tonic Sol-fa,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed.,
ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 25:603–7.
131
“Once More,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 299.
132
“A Reply to a Reply,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 7 (July 1883): 174–75.

50
in business, but that he would be obliged to leave the city if he undertook the job.”133 Murray

later described himself as a man of “colossal proportions.” He reprinted an article regarding

“great men of history . . . of short stature” to discourage any one from looking “down on little

men with disdain.”134

A full-page advertisement for the December 1883 Visitor announced that its

thirteenth volume would begin in 1884 and singled out thirteen contributors for its “Galaxy of

Talent,” many of whom wrote exclusively for the journal: George F. Root (“The Greatest

American Teacher and Composer”), William F. Sherwin (“Of the New England Conservatory of

Boston, unexcelled in his specialties”), Frederic W. Root (“The Great Voice Teacher”), Orlando

Blackman (“Superintendent of Music, Chicago Public Schools”), E. P. Andrews (“A well-known

Composer and Teacher”), Paul Pastnor (“Whose essays are always extensively copied as soon as

they appear”), Louis C. Elson (“One of Boston’s Best Critics”), Edmond E. Ayres (“Lecturer on

Musical History at Chautauqua, and Secretary of the Chautauqua Musical Reading Club”), Eben

E. Rexford (“The Musical Poet”), George S. Gordon (“Whose Reminiscences of European

Travel are so much admired”), John Howard (“The Musical Philosopher”), Theodore Presser

(“Originator of the Music Teachers’ National Association”), and James R. Murray (“Editor of

the Visitor”).135 George F. Root and his son Frederic were also among the winners in the

133
James R. Murray, “The Question Box,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 15 (December 1882): 412. A
portrait of Murray can be found in Howe and Mathews, eds., A Hundred Years of Music in America, 407, and in
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 208. Murray’s portrait also appeared on the sheet music cover
for his “Carl Pretzel Waltz,” published in 1871 by Root and Cady. Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before
1871, 129, 175.
134
“Little Men,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): 180.
135
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): iv. Boston correspondent Louis Elson wrote under the
pseudonym “Proteus” (Greek god of the sea, who had the gift of prophecy; also known as the shepherd of the seals);
George S. Gordon wrote under the pseudonym of “Scythian” (belonging to an ancient nomadic people who
inhabited Scythia). Gordon was identified as a lawyer from Huntsville, Alabama. Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no.
15 (December 1882): 408. John Howard critiqued performances and wrote several articles on the voice and
physiology, which included information obtained from autopsies. He also placed advertisements in the Visitor for
his voice method and advertisements as a teacher. Eben E. Rexford contributed poems, short stories, and articles on
song form. He had been appointed postmaster at Shiocton, Wisconsin. Since his annual salary was only $242, the
Visitor hoped it would be able to continue to purchase his poems and stories. The Musical Visitor 14, no. 8 (August

51
Visitor’s 1876 poll for most popular vocal composers. The advertisement mentioned that

“the Musical Visitor is the official organ of the Chautauqua musical reading club.” It appears that

the advertisement was directed toward both current and future subscribers.

Murray was well respected within the musical community. He was invited to present

papers for various state music teachers’ associations and for local gatherings in Cincinnati. A

letter from “J. S. B.” in May 1884, under the heading “The Indiana Music Teachers State

Association,” announced that a meeting that would take place in Shelbyville from June 23 to 26,

in which gentlemen from adjoining states who possess national reputations would take active

part. The list included James R. Murray, editor of the Musical Visitor.136 A report on the “Ohio

Music Teachers” annual meeting in Columbus on December 30 and 31 mentioned Murray’s

paper“Stray Shots,” which had criticized the teaching profession “from various points of

view.”137 His stated purpose had not been to find fault but to stimulate “more careful and

intelligent work.”138 At the Columbus meeting of the Ohio M.T.A. (June 27–29, 1888), President

Blumenschein recommended that Mr. Karl Merz of Wooster and Mr. James R. Murray of

Cincinnati be made life members of the association: “Their services have been of inestimable

benefit to our cause, and should meet their just reward at the hands of this convention.”139 The

1885): 206. Rexford wrote the words for H. P. Danks’s “Silver Threads Among the Gold” (1872). More information
about Rexford can be found in Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 257–60. In 1881 the Visitor
announced that William F. Sherwin would be in charge of the Church Company’s Sunday School Department.
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 5 (February 1881): 130. According to Howe, Sherwin’s specialties included the
reform and improvement of music for Sunday school. Howe, A Hundred Years of Music in America, 392–94. He left
Cincinnati in late 1883 to direct the chorus at the New England Conservatory. “W. F. Sherwin,” The Musical Visitor
12, no. 11 (November 1883): 291; “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): 321. Sherwin
continued to contribute articles; his obituary appeared in the Visitor. The Musical Visitor 17, no. 5 (May 1888): 120.
Theodore Presser began publishing and editing The Etude in October 1883.
136
“The Indiana Music Teachers State Association,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 5 (May 1884): 124.
137
“Ohio Music Teachers,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 2 (February 1885): 40.
138
Ibid.

139
“The Ohio M.T.A.,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 8 (August 1888): 205.

52
article does not mention if the recommendation passed. According to Granville L. Howe,

Murray “gained no slight reputation as a musical journalist” as editor of the Visitor.140 Murray

was also apparently invited to present a paper at the World’s Columbian Exposition, held in

Chicago in 1893, but he failed to mention it. John Howard reported that he was sorry to have

missed hearing Murray’s address there.141

As to his activities in Cincinnati, Murray revealed that he conducted a church

choir in an article promoting unison singing,142 and later announced that on April 11, 1888, he

would speak on “English Music” to the Young People’s League of the New Church at the corner

of Fourth and John Streets.143 England had been the theme of a series of papers and musical

entertainments given for the League. Murray reported that he also had the pleasure of

giving an address on “Foundational Art Principles and Methods of Study” to Miss Grace Mayo’s

piano class on January 18, 1890.144 Mrs. John B. Trevor (wife of John Church’s business

partner) had loaned “her beautiful and spacious parlors” in her Mt. Auburn home for the

recital.145 In 1896 Murray announced that he would address the Men’s Club of Mt. Auburn at

Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church on March 3. His topic would be “The Power of Music; What It

Is and How It Acts.”146 He admitted that his views would be quite different from those

commonly accepted, but he did not reveal what those views were.
140
Howe and Mathews, eds., A Hundred Years of Music in America, 408. Howe incorrectly gives 1842 as
Murray’s birth year.
141
John Howard, “Chicago Experiences,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 12 (December 1893): 308. I have
been unable to determine the subject of Murray’s paper.
142
“Unison Singing,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 7 (July 1887): 177–78. Murray was likely choir director
at the Mt. Auburn Baptist Church. He dedicated works to the choir. See Appendix A: April 1886 and November
1890.
143
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 4 (April 1888): 93.
144
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 2 (February 1890): 37.
145
Ibid.
146
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 3 (March 1896): 88–89. Murray repeated the address for the
Lyceum Club by special request. “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 6 (June 1896): 174.

53
 Murray not only edited the Visitor but also contributed music and poems to its pages.

Advertisements for his compositions, method books, or edited collections published by Church

appeared in the advertising pages. A conflict of interest, however, may be observed in

comments or testimonials regarding his works. For example, an ad for a new Christmas cantata

with a text by Hezekiah Butterworth and music by Murray titled The New Santa Claus, or, The

Good Old Candy Man began appearing in November 1888.147 On an editorial page of the

December issue, Murray claimed: “Our new cantata for Christmas has seemingly fallen into kind

and welcoming hands. Many have spoken favorably of it, and some whose opinions we highly

prize have sent us flattering notices of it. It will be given in several places in this vicinity, and we

shall be pleased to hear of its performances elsewhere.”148 An advertisement for the work

appeared on the first page of the same issue. Hence the editorial comment, while not violating

the paper’s principle of keeping advertising material out of the editorial columns, could be

considered a conflict of interest. A claim had been made in the October issue that testimonials, if

unsolicited, were of value to the public.149

According to F. O. Jones, Murray was known as a composer of songs and light vocal

pieces and a compiler of various collections for schools and Sunday schools. His Pure

Diamonds, Heavenward, and Royal Gems for Sunday school had been very successful; Pure

Diamonds alone had sold more than a half million copies.150 Granville Howe opined, however,

that Murray’s best compositions for children had been written “since he went to Cincinnati in

147
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 11 (November 1888): i.
148
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 12 (December 1888): i, 316.
149
“Publisher’s Notes,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 10 (October 1888): 262.
150
Jones, A Handbook of American Music and Musicians, 104. All three collections were published by S.
Brainard’s Sons: Pure Diamonds: A Choice Collection of New Words for the Sunday School, Praise Meetings,
Prayer Meetings, and the Social Circle (1872); Heavenward: A Choice Collection of Sacred Songs, Adapted to the
Wants of Sunday Schools, Praise Meetings, the Home Circle (1877); and Royal Gems: A New and Choice Collection
of Sunday School Songs ,Composed, Selected and Adapted by Jas. R. Murray (1880).

54
1881.”151

George Root remembered Murray with fondness in his autobiography. He

credited Murray with introducing his “Battle Cry of Freedom” to his unit during the war. Murray

had written a poem in honor of George Root’s seventieth birthday and printed it in the Visitor in

1890. Root reprinted the poem in his autobiography and noted, “Of all the communications” he

had received on that occasion, the poem by Murray printed in the Visitor “moved” him the

most.152

151
Howe and Mathews, eds., A Hundred Years of Music in America, 408. This would possibly include his
“Away in a Manger,” which appeared in Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses: For Use in the Kindergarten,
School and Home, published by the John Church Company in 1887. Marilyn K. Stulken writes that this hymn is
frequently called “Luther’s Cradle Hymn,” but the tune is by Murray and initialed “J. R. M.” The blame for long
being unrecognized as the composer lies with Murray himself, since in the collection the hymn was labeled
“Luther’s Cradle Hymn. Composed by Martin Luther for his children, and still sung by German mothers to their
little ones.” Marilyn K. Stulken, Hymnal Companion to the Lutheran Book of Worship (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1981), 67.
152
James R. Murray, “To Dr. Geo. F. Root, on His Seventieth Birthday,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 11
(November 1890): 283; Root, The Story of a Musical Life, 141, 220–21.

Dear Master and friend, I salute you!

The sapling bends low to the oak-tree,
And I am but one in a forest
Of those who would fain do you homage.
Your years have been many and blessed,
Though mingled with sunshine and shadow,
The life spent in service for others
Dwells not in the regions of darkness.

How grand are the gifts of the singer,

Whose voice tuned to thoughts that are noble
Sends out to the world in its sorrow
The music that lightens its labor.
How brightens the eye of the lover
When song in sweet notes tells his story.
How firm is the tread of the soldier
When song nerves his soul for the battle.
So far o’er the wastes of the waters
The wanderer sings of his homeland,
And cheered by the music of childhood,
Forgets all the pain and the toiling.

Thus up from the labor of earthland

He gazes whose home is in Heaven,
And sings as he works, as he wanders,
Of those who await his home-coming.

55
George Root died on August 6, 1895, at his summer cottage on Bailey’s Island near Portland,

Maine; his portrait graced the cover of the Visitor’s September “Memorial Number” in his honor.

Clara Louise Burnham contributed a loving tribute to her father, including the comment that

work was his greatest enjoyment and that he never took an absolute vacation from it. Root was

buried alongside his parents (as had been the case with John Church) in North Reading,

Massachusetts.153

All these, dearest master, salute you,

And hosts of the sweet little children,
Whose studies your music made easy,
As climbing the hill of Parnassus
They leaned on the staff you provided.

How noble, how grand was the mission

The Master of Music assigned you,
To tune all the tongues of the people
To strains that were helpful and holy.
To guide like a voice in the darkness
The feet of the lonely and straying,
To cheer the forlorn and the weary,
To sing away tears from the weeping.

And what shall the end be, and guerdon,

For years full of blessing and beauty?
“Well done, faithful servant, come higher;
Come up to the music eternal!”

Pass on to the Land of the Singers,

O sweetest of all the Musicians.
Afar from the Valley of Shadows,
Up, up to the Brightness and Glory.
Away o’er the Mountains of Beauty,
Whose tops all aglow with the shining
And sheen of the Gates of the City,
Make light all the way of the journey.
Sing on to the close of the journey,
Sing ever when it shall be ended,
For they who have lessened earth’s sorrows
Have songs in their hearts through the ages.

Dear Master and friend, I salute you!

153
Clara Louise Burnham, “Dr. Root’s Last Days,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 9 (September 1895): 231–
32. She wrote that Root’s “children were with him” when he died, which implies that son Frederic was there.
P. H. Carder, George F. Root, Civil War Songwriter: A Biography (Jefferson, NC, McFarland, 2008), 194.
According to Frederic Root’s colleagues at the Root Summer School of Music, Silver Lake Assembly, New York,
however, Frederic Root was at the summer school when “the blow” came. “Resolutions of Condolence,” The

56
 Some of Murrays’s poems that appeared in the Visitor combined religion and nature. “A

Night Cap” (November 1885) was a bedtime prayer for safe passage through the night. “En

route” (January 1888) was a reassurance that angels watch over us. “Geduld” appeared in March

1884 and was prefaced with quotes from “an invalid friend” and Milton. It called for patience

and reminded that one can still do good in the world in spite of physical ailments or

limitations.154 His “Singers of the Mystic Clime” were angels, some of them deceased loved ones

who guide with their song. The poem had first appeared in January 1883 and was reprinted by

special request in June 1884.155

Murray referred to his family in various ways. In April 1890 he wrote a poem honoring

his recently deceased mother, Christine Murray: “1811 C. M. 1890.”156 In the same issue,

“Winthrop, the editor’s son,” provided a riddle involving scales, strings, keys, and stout legs. An

advertisement in the March issue revealed the answer—the Everett Piano.157 Murray commented

on the practical aspects of life missing from Carl Reinecke’s new set of eighteen piano pieces

depicting “the whole story of life—birth, christening, childhood . . . family joys, death”; to them

Murray added “measles, toothache, losing an umbrella, missing the train, or editing a musical

paper.”158 Because a poem entitled “Green Apples” by Thomas Culiar, printed in September

Musical Visitor 24, no. 9 (September 1895): 259. Perhaps Clara Burnham was anxious to preserve an image of
family unity.
154
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 11 (November 1885): 283; The Musical Visitor 17, no. 1 (January 1888): 3;
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 3 (March 1884): 59.
155
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 1 (January 1883): 3; The Musical Visitor 13, no. 6 (June 1884): 149.
156
James R. Murray, “1811 C. M. 1890,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 4 (April 1890): 87. This poem is also
religious in tone.
157
“Musical Hopper,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 4 (April 1890): 95; The Musical Visitor 19, no. 3 (March
1890): 85. Murray’s son had been born February 14, 1877 (Spring Grove Cemetery records), so he would have been
thirteen at the time.
158
“Musical Hopper,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 3 (March 1890): 68. Murray is likely referring to
Reinecke’s op. 202, From the Cradle to the Grave, a set of sixteen fantasy pieces for piano published in 1888.
Murray apparently misremembered the number of pieces as eighteen.

57
1885, was not related to music, Murray added a footnote: “This poem is indirectly

appropriate to this magazine, as the subject of it effects [sic] musicians directly as it did Billy, as

recorded in these sententious lines. The Editor of the Visitor has ‘been there.’”159

Examples of the Work Ethic and Moral Code in the Visitor

The Puritan ethic found its way into the pages of the Visitor, where success in music was

not due to genius or European study, and keeping oneself busy also kept one out of trouble.

Miss Laura B. Woolwine of Cincinnati (who took the stage name Laura Bellini) was held up as

an example of success achieved not just due to study in Europe, but through hard work. She had

recently enjoyed “a remarkably successful debut” in Europe and had learned that “genius is only

another name for toil.”160 In the same issue Jules E. Perkins of Boston had been considered

incapable of singing in tune, but following six years of “earnest hard work” with Signor Perini in

Milan, he had been engaged by Mapleson for the Drury Lane Theatre in London.161 Editor

Charles A. Daniell began a series of condensed biographies of eminent musicians in April 1875.

He prefaced the list with the comment that art was not a matter of race, nationality, or creed.

“But it must be remembered, and the fact is ever prominent in the lives of all the following great

ones, that there is no excellence without labor” (emphasis original).162 A few years later Daniell

praised one of the “eminent song mistresses” Miss Emma Abbott (born in Bloomington, Illinois):

“Only by hard study, and a real love of her profession, she gained her present high place.”163

James R. Murray reiterated the work ethic. He included Beethoven, Mozart, and Felix
159
Thomas Culiar, “Green Apples,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 9 (September 1885): 238.
160
“Milan, Italy,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 5 (February 1874): 6.
161
“Jules E. Perkins,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 5 (February 1874): 9–10.
162
“Condensed Biographical Chronology of Eminent Musicians,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 7 (April
1875): 7.
163
“The Musical Month,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 1 (October 1879): 3.

58
Mendelssohn in a list of composers who “may have had more than usual talent in their

specialties, but the greatest gift they each possessed . . . was the gift of hard work.” The

penultimate paragraph assumed readers’ familiarity with Dickens’s David Copperfield: “The

thoroughly gifted are the hard workers. Mediocre talent holds back, waiting, Micawber-like, for

something to turn up, that will place it high above its fellows.”164 In “Advice to a Young Man,”

Murray repeated the work ethic: “Don’t be afraid of killing yourself with over-work. . . . The

busier you are the less devilry you will be apt to get into,” including “editing a paper.”165 In May

1885 he advised young music pupils that persistence pays: Most “great masters of the art . . .

did not rely so much on their superior talent for advancement and fame, as upon hard work and

plenty of it.”166 In “A Short Preach” in January 1891, Murray instructed: “Strict attention to

duty . . . is of more importance to you than to your employer,” lest one lose his self-respect,

honesty, and character, which are of more value than money. This applied to everyone in all

walks of life. For Murray it was a moral issue: “We should do right because it is right, and not

because we are fully paid for doing it . . . . [W]e serve our Creator most and best through faithful

service to our fellow-men.”167 A year later Murray continued in this vein: “Sound work should

be the watchword of every music-teacher and pupil. Character expresses itself in work. . . . An

honest man does his whole work honestly, not because it is to be supervised and examined, but

because he is incapable of doing it in any other way.”168 In the same editorial column, Murray

164
James R. Murray, “Genius—Hard Work,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 299. Mr.
Wilkins Micawber was a likeable but impecunious and impractical man who was always waiting for something to
turn up.
165
James R. Murray, “Advice to a Young Man,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 1 (January 1884): 14.
166
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 5 (May 1885): 122.
167
James R. Murray, “A Short Preach,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 1 (January 1891): 9. According to
Fischer, the Puritans did not glorify what we might call “capitalist enterprise,” and “they condemned the pursuit of
wealth for its own sake.” Fischer, Albion’s Seed, 156.
168
The Musical Visitor 21, no. 3 (March 1892): 64.

59
referred once again to the work ethic and genius: “Having a talent does not excuse laziness. The

more genius, the more hard work.”169 He used Mozart, whose practice reportedly wore the piano

keys to wood, and Bach, who sat up all night to copy scores, as role models.170 Murray disabused

his readers of the popular idea recently conveyed by a writer that geniuses are born and things

just come to them. Murray considered it an act of “kindness to undeceive” any such person and

to impress upon him that “industry is the sole secret of excellence.”171

Murray continued to promote the work ethic through the Visitor’s final issue. The

last installment in a series of articles on teaching and studying concludes: “One can always

endure drudgery and hard work if it can be shown him that the end of it all compensates. Let the

teacher. . . [inspire] the student to high ideals above and beyond them, inciting him to reach them

at any cost to himself of time and labor. Finis coronat opus [The end crowns the work].”172

Music, morals, and the hearth were combined in a description of a concert held at a

church. “The most delightful concert of the month was that given for the benefit of the Church of

Our Savior, Mt. Auburn. . . . The stage was beautifully arranged, and made to look like a cosy

[sic] home parlor. . . .”173 Murray also suggested that a home orchestra, created by adding such

orchestral instruments as the violin and flute to the music of the piano, enhanced the music. It

also kept “your boy” out of the saloon and beer garden.174 The concern for domestic music-

169
Ibid., 65.
170
Murray reinforced J. S. Bach’s work ethic in a series of composers’ biographies, which he wrote using
the Socratic method: “Q. What was the chief characteristic of his youth? A. Indefatigable industry in the study of
music.” Murray claimed that Bach had copied by moonlight over a period of six months a music book that had been
withheld from him. James R. Murray, “Musical Catechism for Young Students, I – Bach,” The Musical Visitor 26,
no. 5 (May 1897): 116.
171
The Musical Visitor 25, no. 10 (October 1896): 283.
172
James R. Murray, “Closing Hints,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 12 (December1897): 331–32.
173
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 1 (January 1890): 9–10.
174
“Give the Fiddle a Chance,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 10 (October 1888): 261.

60
making expressed in the Visitor bolsters musicologist Bonny H. Miller’s findings: music in

the home was believed to “contribute greatly to the morality of the family.”175

The Visitor also advocated attending orchestral concerts to promote moral behavior.

Murray reported on the season of Sunday afternoon concerts by the Cincinnati Orchestra which

had begun on October 20, 1889:

These concerts certainly do draw from less desirable surroundings those who really prefer
to listen to music in a decent place . . . . Last year several fathers and mothers came to
Mr. Ballenberg to thank him for inaugurating these concerts, as they had been the means
of weaning their children from the beer-garden and questionable concert room, and . . . an
opportunity to gratify a love for music in a place free from temptation, and in the
company of respectable men and women.176

Murray also promoted the moral benefits of music festivals: to the communities where

they were held; to the composers who were commissioned to write choral works; and to the

singers who performed them. Murray made the point that festival rehearsals provided a moral

benefit to the community and to the family. Young people did not seek “amusements of a

questionable character” and families looked forward to the “practice hour” in the home circle. In

addition, there were neighborhood group “sings” for further practice.177

175
Bonny H. Miller, “Household Periodicals: An Unstudied Source of American Music,” Fontes artis
musicae 42 (1995): 318.
176
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 11 (November 1889): 289–90. William Osborne suggests that
the Sunday afternoon popular concerts during the 1889–1890 season at Music Hall, underwritten by Ballenberg and
conducted by Michael Brand, survived until 1895 because they were “inexpensive.” Osborne, Music in Ohio, 213.
Robert Vitz expresses a similar opinion, in that the orchestra revived by Brand and Ballenberg deserted “serious
music for more profitable popular concerts.” Vitz, The Queen and the Arts, 125. It seems, however, that venue and
audience were more important than ticket price to at least some of those in attendance. This entry in the Visitor
called attention to the tension between the Anglo and German communities in nineteenth-century Cincinnati. Ross,
Workers on the Edge, 172–74. The Germans who immigrated to Cincinnati following the 1848 political revolutions
settled in an enclave known as “Over-the-Rhine,” where they established German businesses, newspapers, beer
gardens, churches, and theaters. Their “fondness for drink and their tendency to violate the sanctity of the Sabbath”
caused nativist resentment. William L. Downard, The Cincinnati Brewing Industry: A Social and Economic History
(Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1973), 11, 25, 28. Prior to 1850, Cincinnati’s brewing industry was “decidedly
non-German” in character; the brewers were generally English or Scots. The new brewers of the 1850s, however,
were predominantly German. Between 1860 and 1890, Cincinnati’s beer output tripled, with 1,200,000 barrels
produced by 1890.
177
James R. Murray, “Musical Festival Associations,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 3 (March 1885): 66–67.

61
 Music education in the schools provided another means of promoting morality.

Murray chose to reprint an article from the Journal of Education regarding the moral force of

vocal music and how it functions: “. . . when a child learns some truth expressed in the words of

a favorite song, its influence goes with him at all times.” The impressions learned in childhood

were considered to be the most lasting, and thus vocal music was one of the most influential

agents in forming and molding character. Songs containing moral precepts developed the

sentiments in the children who sang them.178

Murray’s article “Stage Reform” revealed him to be a conservative who supported

censorship. Apparently “purification of the stage, both musical and dramatic” was then a current

issue.179 Murray approved of plays and operas that have “a noble purpose, above that of

entertainment alone.”180 At issue was a letter written by New York manager P. Harris, who had

given notice that anything offensive to his audience (mostly of women and children) would not

be permitted and subject to a $20 fine for each offense, for words such as “God, Devil, Damn, or

Lord, or any double entendre [emphasis original].”181 If the company manager was uncertain of

any possible offending words or acts, “refer them to the Management who will decide.”182

Harris’s letter had been ridiculed in an unnamed New York musical paper, and Murray

castigated its writer for not being “capable of seeing the difference between a proper use of the

above words and a profane one.”183 Murray expressed a similar concern in the April 1889 issue,

lamenting the decline of opera from the French opéra comique and the operettas of Gilbert and

178
James R. Murray, “Music in Education,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 7 (July 1897): 173.
179
James R. Murray, “Stage Reform,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 7 (July 1885): 179.
180
Ibid.
181
Ibid.
182
Ibid.
183
James R. Murray, “Stage Reform,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 7 (July 1897): 173.

62
Sullivan to burlesque. According to Murray, the latter was calculated to showcase the singer with

“little regard for the sentiment of the situation or sustaining the unity of the story,” with “a stage

picture . . . and . . . unrestricted license to the comedians.”184 However, Murray could show a

lighter side, when in March 1891 he noted that traditionally during Lent it was wrong to attend

theater productions where performers spoke their parts, but in most operas, as they were usually

performed, it was nearly impossible to understand the words. Thus, they “can do no harm . . . as

things are now, it is perfectly safe to hear any kind of music in Lent.”185 The question of

appropriate entertainment, however, returned in 1892. At issue was “what kind of life, what part

of nature, what grade of emotions should be depicted before an audience of respectable

people.”186 Murray wrote that latter day comic operas are debasing—their only reason for being

is to display a woman’s form. Managers could entertain and amuse the public, however, and

make more money by providing an improved class of entertainment. He provided a list of

appropriate plays, such as “The Old Homestead,” “Men and Women,” “Esmeralda,” and

Willard’s “Middleman,” which had apparently been successful in other cities.187

Murray added biographical information as it related to the Puritanism of his New

England childhood. As late as thirty or forty years ago, New England boyhood days had

“retained the flavor and influence of earlier puritanism.”188 Its “stern teachings” and “strict

184
James R. Murray, “Degenerating Comic Opera,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 4 (April 1889): 90–91.
185
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 3 (March 1891): 65.
186
James R. Murray, “The Theater and Comic Opera,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 4 (April 1892): 101.
187
According to The Oxford Companion to American Literature, 6th ed., The Old Homestead (1886) was “a
homely rural drama of Yankee life” by Denham Thompson (1833–1911). Thompson was a Pennsylvania-born
itinerant actor and dramatist. The play was popular for more than twenty years. Edward S. Willard (1853–1915)
performed in H. A. Jones’s “now-familiar play” Middleman (1889) in New York in November 1892. “Mr. Willard
Home Again,” New York Times, November 22, 1892, 5. Henry Arthur Jones (1851–1929) was a conservative
English playwright who contributed to Victorian “Society” drama. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. “Jones,
Henry Arthur.”
188
James R. Murray, “Some First Impressions,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 11 (November 1893): 293.

63
observance of law and custom” no doubt resulted in “sturdy, fearless men and women,” but it

had been difficult for a boy to endure.189 Murray expressed interest in Miss Earle’s The Sabbath

in Puritan New England published in 1891.190 According to her, children had been subjected to

strict supervision during the church service and some had rebelled in various ways, such as

whittling or cutting the woodwork and benches of the meeting houses. They had been fined for

smiling or laughing if caught, or had received raps or blows from a watchful constable or

tithingman for disruptive behavior.191

Murray’s “last great labor” for the John Church Company was “seeing through the press

five volumes of Wagner’s music dramas,” in full score with the original German text and “a

smooth and excellent English translation.”192 According to Spring Grove Cemetery records,

Murray died of Addison’s disease on March 10, 1905, at his home, 2342 Auburn Avenue, one

week before his sixty-fourth birthday. His death notice appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer on

March 13, 1905, and indicated that a service was to be held at the New Jerusalem Church at the

corner of Oak and Winslow.193 His ashes were buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, along with the

189
Ibid. Murray’s description of Puritan practices accords with Crawford’s comment that the Puritans were
as hard on themselves as they were on others. Crawford, America’s Musical Life, 29.
190
Alice Morse Earle, The Sabbath in Puritan New England (New York: Scribner, 1891). Miss Earle
(1853–1911) was a Massachusetts scholar whose works also include Customs and Fashions in Old New England
(1893), Colonial Days in Old New York (1897), Child Life in Colonial Days (1899), and Two Centuries of Costume
(1903). The Oxford Companion to American Literature, 6th ed.
191
James R. Murray, “Puritan Boys in Church,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 3 (March 1892): 62–63.
192
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 211. An unexpected finding regarding personnel
comes from a student report from a local school’s field trip to Church’s firm in 1896. A student commented on the
“many bright, young ladies busily engaged in putting music on metal plates; there were also several men engravers,
all under the direction of an accomplished artisan from Leipzig, Germany.” This was apparently another field of
employment available to musically educated women. May Hoban, “A Visit to ‘Church’s,’” The Musical Visitor 25,
no. 4 (April 1896): 116–17.
193
Murray was likely raised as a Congregationalist, but his subsequent membership in the Church of the
New Jerusalem may have been influenced by George Root. Root and his wife joined the Chicago Society of the
New Jerusalem in 1864. Carder, George Root, Civil War Songwriter, 223, n125. Carder also notes that George Root
was baptized on September 8, 1822, in the Congregational Church, Sheffield, Massachusetts. Ibid., 211, n12.
Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871, 20.

64
remains of his wife, who died in 1920, and his son, Winthrop (1877–1934).194

The editorial page of the last issue of the Visitor announced that it would make its new

plan available to the public at a later date.195 The John Church Company made at least part of

this plan known through the Music Trade Review in March 1898. Because the catalogue of their

publications was now sufficiently strong, they could devote their time and capital, which

had been partly invested in outside publications, and all their energies to the sale of their own

goods.196 The same issue of the Review included an advertisement by the John Church Company

for discounts on music publications to music dealers.197

For twenty-six years, from October 1871 through December 1897, the Visitor had

educated and entertained its readers. The editors had been Frank H. King, October

1871–December 1872; Charles A. Daniell, ca. January 1873–August 1873; Frank N. Scott,

September 1873–December 1873; Charles A. Daniell, January 1874–April 1881; and James R.

Murray, May 1881–December 1897. For the home circle, the editors linked music and morals,

and actively advised music students to work hard. Historian Michael Cahall has claimed that the

post-Civil War elite patrons of the arts in Cincinnati, including the editors of the Visitor, were

overwhelmingly Protestant. “Primary documents reveal that patrons viewed the arts as a means

of improving the community,” and music made the greatest contribution. Their efforts were

motivated by a desire to elevate the city’s moral tone, which they felt was threatened by

194
Spring Grove Cemetery records. For some reason Murray’s ashes were not interred at Cincinnati’s
Spring Grove Cemetery until October 6, 1905.
195
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 12 (December 1897): 331.
196
“John Church Co’s Announcement: Will in Future Push Exclusively Their Own Goods–A Rare
Opportunity Afforded to Dealers–The Church Co. Intend to Be in the Lead in All Branches,” The Music Trade
Review, March 19, 1898, 17.
197
“Act Quickly,” The Music Trade Review, March 19, 1898, 12. Discounts were not applicable, however,
to John Church Company publications. Church’s Company was no longer going to wholesale books and sheet music
that it did not publish.

65
industrialization and urbanization.198 Apparently Tocqueville did have his finger on the

American pulse.

198
Cahall, “Jewels in the Queen’s Crown,” 426, 429, 431, 435–37.

66
 CHAPTER 2

ISSUES OF CLASS IN THE VISITOR

According to historian Hal S. Barron, “Different rural reactions to the restructuring of

U.S. society” began during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The emergence of large-

scale business on a national level, the growing centrality of cities, and the rise of a consumer

culture threatened traditional sources of authority, “the social and cultural primacy of local

communities.” These changes represented “a second great transformation of American society

equal to the spread of industrial capitalism earlier in the century.” The history of rural experience

between 1870 and 1930 is “a story of change and continuity [emphasis original], and of

accommodation as well as resistance. . . .” Northern farmers saw themselves as essential to the

country’s well-being (agrarianism) and shared with urban workers the producers’ ethic, of “those

who actually made or grew things”; however, they also emphasized “the superiority of country

life over city life.” Farmers initially resisted changes in road administration and educational

reform because of concerns about cost, school location and consolidation, loss of self-

government, and “animosity toward the pretensions of nearby villagers and the arrogance of

outside experts.” Rural northerners “reacted to the changing role of the village which mediated

between an urban society that was on the rise and the surrounding countryside that was not.”1

Consumer and popular culture also arrived in rural America during this period, initially through

mail-order catalogues.

Writers to the Visitor expressed attitudes, sometimes cloaked in humor, regarding rural

versus urban dwellers and audience behavior and etiquette in the United States versus Europe.

They included topics such as the demand for encores, disturbances during performances, and

1
Hal S. Barron, Mixed Harvest: The Second Great Transformation in the Rural North, 1870–1930 (Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997), 8, 11–14, 44, 77.

67
concert fashion. Some articles on these topics had previously appeared in other journals or

newspapers. The Visitor promoted an educated musical public by publishing opinions on issues

of the day from critics, conductors, performers, and educators, and from paid correspondents at

home and abroad. In September 1872 editor Frank H. King wrote that the Visitor’s “earnest

efforts to instruct and entertain have been duly appreciated” by our readers.2

According to Katherine Preston, much research remains to be done on American music of

the nineteenth century. Issues such as continued interaction between American and European

musical cultures and audience behavior need to be addressed.3 This chapter will explore how

audiences in the United States and Europe behaved and dressed during the last third of the

nineteenth century in order to demonstrate how the Visitor participated in defining class structure

and audience deportment. The Visitor also sheds light on such issues as what did Americans

know or imagine about European audience behavior?; what was expected of the concert, opera,

or oratorio audience?; was there a bias against the rural population?; and was rivalry displayed

between different ethnic groups?

Rural vs. Urban Dwellers

Stereotyped differences between rural and urban populations found their way into the

Visitor, including the choice or use of musical instruments, genres, education, church choirs, and

advertising. Some of the advertisements and music printed in the Visitor addressed rural

subscribers, such as piano pieces with “Granger” [farmer] in the title, instruction books for

tuning the piano or the organ, and self-instruction on instruments. Writers expressed both

positive and negative views of these different communities, occasionally using dialect to mock

2
Frank H. King, “The Past and Future,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 12 (September 1872): 6.
3
Katherine K. Preston, “American Musical Life of the Late Nineteenth Century,” American Music 21
(2003): 255.

68
the rural dweller.

Poking fun at the rural population

An anecdote regarding a country girl’s naïveté poked fun at her for not knowing the

difference between [Carl Maria von] Weber, the composer, and the New York City piano

manufacturer. A “laughable incident” reportedly occurred when Mr. [Albert] Weber was asked

by “a blooming young miss of about sixteen, evidently from the rural districts,” to play his

famous “Last Thought Waltz.” He played the waltz but added a variation of his own at the

conclusion. The girl thanked him and mentioned that she had not heard that part of it before but

admired it very much. She departed to tell her friends that “she had heard the great composer

play his favorite waltz.”4 In the same issue, a writer claimed that the melodeon could be found

only in rural districts, whereas the piano or organ would be heard in respectable homes in our

leading cities,5 in other words, a more advanced population. Several years later, a columnist

described a rural woman thus: “An old lady from the rural districts called at the Emerson piano

warerooms the other day and wanted ‘one of the best pianos made by Ralph Waldo Emerson.’

She was told that ‘the philosopher did not make pianos, but that his ideas, only, were like the

4
Frank H. King, “Weber’s Last Thought Waltz,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 3.
The author apparently did not know that the waltz was not by Weber, but, by Carl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798–1859),
Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia. A manuscript copy was found among Weber’s papers. John Rutter and Manfred
Fensterer, “Reissiger, Carl Gottlieb,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed.,
21:170–72. The fifth of Reissiger’s Danses brillantes pour le pianoforte, op. 26 (1822), known as “Webers letzte
Gedanke,” enjoyed widespread popularity. Weber conducted the premiere of Reissiger’s opera Didone abbandonata
at Dresden in 1824. Correspondence regarding how the waltz got its name appeared in Dwight’s. Dwight’s Journal
of Music 29, no. 23 (January 29, 1870): 178. A response from A. W. T[hayer] in Trieste, “Weber’s ‘Last Waltz’
Again,” appeared later that year. Dwight’s Journal of Music 30, no. 2 (April 9, 1870): 219.
5
Frank H. King, “Musical Instruments,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 7. George F.
Root mentioned in his autobiography that pianos were rare in country towns as of 1838. George F. Root, The Story
of A Musical Life (Cincinnati: John Church, 1891; repr., New York: Da Capo, 1970), 10. During the last third of the
nineteenth century, mail-order magazines and catalogues marketed music and musical instruments, among other
things, to rural women as “a way to achieve a more stylish and genteel way of living.” The parlor piano was the
costliest symbol of the new sensibility. Barron, Mixed Harvest, 160, 162–63.

69
Emerson piano.’ She purchased and went home happy.”6 Such anecdotes likely made the

Visitor’s urban reader feel superior to the rural subscriber.7

The first issue of Church’s Musical Visitor contained an article on church choirs. The

unnamed author recounted past urban church practices regarding the choir and its leader and

compared them to contemporary rural settings. Formerly, the leader of the choir had been

required to be a member of the church in which he sang. He had to be able to sing without a

score or perform any of the four parts; rehearsals had been considered a “waste of time and lamp

oil.” These ideas were evidently still held in many rural districts. A “city ‘professor’ would be

laughed in the face were he to apply to one of your old backwoods deacons for such a position.”

Pastors had asserted, as recently as ten or fifteen years ago, that they had more trouble with the

choristers than anyone else in their church. They could be “fretful, ignorant, and in some

instances, profane” during rehearsals. Pastors were then hired to conduct services while the

choirmaster had charge of the choir. They are both under the control of the church’s trustees or

wardens.8

Two months later the Visitor reprinted an article about village choirs by George P. Upton,

music critic for the Chicago Tribune, who wrote under the pseudonym “Peregrine Pickle.” Upton

stereotyped the members of the choir as follows: the alto dressed in blue always sings the

loudest, followed by the soprano dressed in white, then the young grocery clerk who sings tenor

and is engaged to the soprano, and finally the deacon. Upton pointedly ridiculed the old deacon

who sings bass, but weakly, having long been “hallooing at the oxen,” and described the choir’s

6
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 5 (February 1882): 135. William P. Emerson
began manufacturing pianos in Boston in 1849; he died in 1871. Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers (Covina,
CA: Covina Publishing Company, 1911), 292–93.
7
John Church and Company advertised and sold Weber and Emerson pianos; the manufacturers were likely
the source of this stories.
8
“Choir Leaders,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 1 (October 1871): 4–5.

70
performance in terms of a horse race: “And away go the four––alto leading, soprano a neck

behind, tenor a length, and bass distanced when they come in on the last measure––the old

deacon gets lost in the maze of flats, sharps, and naturals. . . . He manages, however, to get in

before the organ.” At the conclusion of the choir’s “heterogeneous and suspicious praise to

God,” the deacon sits down, covers his head with a bandanna to keep the flies away, falls asleep,

and dreams of how much money the broomcorn will bring in.9 About twenty years later, editor

James R. Murray quoted from Miss Alice M. Earle’s recently published The Sabbath in

Puritan New England regarding country church practice. She had heard an aged deacon singing

countertenor who shrieked above the other choir members, but “did not at all discontent their

accustomed ears.” The practice had continued until women were admitted to the Puritan choir.10

Comments such as these were not used in discussions of urban choirs. Thus, the country church

choir did not measure up to city standards in the opinion of urban musicians.

Writers sometimes used dialect to mock the country dweller. Editor James R. Murray

chose to reprint an account from the Boston Transcript regarding “Fogg” and his uncle from the

country, “the bucolic relation,” who did not understand that the conductor’s baton was not being

used to threaten the players in the theater orchestra.11 New England dialect underscores locale

and the uncle’s lack of education, substituting “wal” for well, “warn’t” for wasn’t, “orchestree”
9
Peregrine Pickle, “Village Choirs,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 3 (December 1871): 5. According to
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, broomcorn refers to any of several tall cultivated sorghums whose stiff-
branched panicles are used in making brooms and brushes. Since Upton mentioned “oxen,” “flies,” and raising
“broomcorn,” he was referring to a rural choir.
10
James R. Murray, “Singing ‘Counter,’” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 3 (March 1892): 65. Alice Morse
Earle (1853–1911) was a Massachusetts scholar; five of her works were published between 1891 and 1903. The
Oxford Companion to American Literature, 6th ed. Edward Dickinson refers to Earle’s book as a source of “rich
gratification” regarding the conflict between “puritanic tradition and the growing perception of the claims of fitness
and beauty.” Edward Dickinson, Music in the History of the Western Church (New York: Haskell House, 1969),
391.
11
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): 183. Coincidentally, a cartoon of “Hans von Bülow
Conducting” by Hans Schliessmann appeared in Le Figaro in 1884, which could be seen as threatening to the
orchestra. Richard Leppert and Stephen Zank in Piano Roles: Three Hundred Years of Life with the Piano, ed.
James Parakilas, et al. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999), 267. It is unknown whether this cartoon
inspired the account in the Boston Transcript.

71
for orchestra, and “sot” for sat.12

Eben E. Rexford, a popular nineteenth-century poet and author residing in a small

Wisconsin town, used rural dialect in a short story to make a moral point: there should be no
squabbling among the choir members. He likened the trouble between members of the choir to a
yoke of oxen. “One ox ‘ud brace his feet an’ pull to’rd his side, an’ that ‘ud make the other one
mad, an’ he’d brace hisself an’ pull his way, an’ while they was doin’ that they never got ahead
none, an’ it had to be licked out of ‘em. Of course we couldn’t go to work and lick it out o’ the
quire, but they did act so contrairy, sometimes, I wish’t we could.”13

Urban concerns regarding rural education

In addition to mocking the rural musicians and church choirs, the Visitor also took the

needs and tastes of rural musicians seriously. In a short article regarding the need for ministers to

be musically educated, the author deemed that the necessity was greatest in rural churches.

Editor Frank H. King noted that the issue was being discussed in England but was also worthy of

consideration in this country. Ministers should be able to lead their congregations in singing such

familiar hymn tunes as the OLD HUNDREDTH, SHARON, or CORONATION. The need was not great

in cities but rather in country villages and rural areas where congregations were less able to pay

12
“Local color” in fiction emphasized dialect and landscape to portray a district such as that found in
“Down East humor.” The Oxford Companion to American Literature, 6th ed. The local-color movement came into
special prominence in the United States following the Civil War. For information on New England dialect, see
David Hackett Fischer, Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America (New York: Oxford University Press,
1989), 58–62.
13
Eben E. Rexford, “The Trouble in Our Choir: And How It Was Settled. As Told to the Visitor by Deacon
Green,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 2 (February 1885): 31–32. Rexford (1848–1916) was an organist for more than
twenty years for the Congregational Church in Shiocton, Wisconsin. He also contributed short stories to several
eastern journals. J. H. Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company,
1914; repr., New York: AMS Press, 1971), 257–60; Frank Luther Mott, A History of American Magazines, 1865–
1885 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1967), 416, 511. I am indebted to my adviser for pointing out that Rexford’s
story is also a Biblical metaphor from the Acts of the Apostles in the chapters regarding Saul’s conversion. Saul
worked against the apostles until he was brought down, the scales fell from his eyes, and he thereafter worked in
concert with them.

72
for musical expenses.14

According to noted soprano and teacher Madame Hermine Rudersdorff (1822–1882),

rural audiences were more likely to prefer ballads to florid arias. She distinguished between a

cultivated audience and the mass of people who constituted audiences in country towns.15

Rudersdorff’s claim was partially substantiated by Walton Perkins, who in 1890 wrote a short

essay on the style and functions of ballads to express feelings or to preserve history. The “simple

ballad will touch more hearts than will the most intricate aria. Many of the world’s greatest

artists are remembered more for their singing of some simple song than for the most difficult aria

which took years of study to accomplish.”16 Editor James R. Murray reported four years later

that foreign opera and instrumental music had become a fad. He noted, however, that audiences

reacted more positively to a ballad sung in English since it was more easily understood and

appreciated.17 These comments suggest that ballads could please an audience for a variety of

reasons, regardless of class.

The Visitor directed some of the music printed in its pages toward the farmer. “Grangers’

Waltz,” a piano solo by H. D. Sofge, was “Dedicated to the ‘Grangers’ of the West by John

Church and Company.”18 Frank Howard’s “The Grange Polka” was another solo piano piece

14
Frank H. King, “The Musical Education of Ministers,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 8 (May 1872): 6.
15
“Madame Rudersdorff,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 12 (September 1872): 4, reprinted from the
Boston Post, n. d. For more information on Rudersdorff, see E. Douglas Bomberger, ed., Brainard’s Biographies of
American Musicians, Music Reference Collection 79 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999), 243–45, and F. O.
Jones, A Handbook of American Music and Musicians (Canaseraga, NY, 1886; repr., New York: Da Capo Press,
1971), 149. Her pupils included Emma Thursby, Carlotta Patti, and Minnie Hauk. An article regarding Rudersdorff
ends: “With the woman and her frailties the Visitor has nothing to do, neither has anybody else, and we would
advise a cultivation of that charity and good taste which will leave her and her faults with her Maker.” “Recent
Deaths Among Musicians,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 7 (April 1882): 186. No hint of scandal was mentioned
in Brainard’s Biographies or in A Handbook of American Music and Musicians.
16
Walton Perkins, “Ballads and Ballad Singing,” Musical Visitor 19, no. 7 (July 1890): 179. Perkins also
wrote for the Chicago InterOcean. Ezra Schabas, Theodore Thomas: America’s Conductor and Builder of
Orchestras, 1835–1905 (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 240.
17
James R. Murray, “Sing in English,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 1 (January 1894): 8.
18
H. D. Sofge, “Grangers’ Waltz,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 12 (September 1873): 17–20.

73
intended for rural subscribers.19 In the same issue an ad appeared for “A Song Book for the

Grange and all Farmers’ Associations,” The Trumpet of Reform, a collection of songs, hymns,

chants, and set pieces by George F. Root, “For All Industrious and Reform Organizations.” The

book contained words and music especially prepared for mass meetings, picnics, and

celebrations, including songs on temperance, patriotism, Thanksgiving, funerals, the New Year,

and anniversaries. “Up to this time no good Farmer Song Book has been issued,” and while it

was intended for general use by the Grange and club, “many pieces will be found appropriate for

the entertainment of the Family Circle.”20 John Church and Company promoted music in a

domestic setting, including rural households, and gatherings such as those mentioned.

Rural pianists needed to be able to tune their instruments. A review in the Visitor for

“The True Piano-Tuner” referred to it as “an instructive little pamphlet for pianists, and

especially those who live distant from the cities, where good tuners are not accessible.”21 An

advertisement appeared in January 1883 for a manual entitled Organ Voicing and Tuning sold by

John Church and Company, which was intended, as emphasized in bold print, for rural use.22

Advertisements for Ryan’s True Instructor, for students” with or without a master” for fifteen

different instruments, could be used in rural districts for directed or self-study, including the

piano, violin, melodeon, guitar, German accordion, and banjo.23

19
Frank Howard, “The Grange Polka,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 9 (June 1874): 16–17. Frank
Howard was a pseudonym for Delos Gardner Spalding (1833–1884). Dena J. Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago
before 1871: The Firm of Root and Cady, 1858–1871 (Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1969), 154.
20
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 9 (June 1874): 12. John Church and Company
published The Trumpet of Reform in 1874. P. H. Carder, George F. Root, Civil War Songwriter: A Biography
(Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2008), 186–87. Carder substitutes the term “industrial” for industrious in
her discussion of unions. Barron quotes a song from The Trumpet of Reform, “The Middle-Man,” for whom the
farmers had no use. The Grange opposed monopolies such as the railroads and promoted cooperatives in order to
eliminate middlemen as a way of saving money for their members. Barron, Mixed Harvest, 166.
21
“New Music Books,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 7 (April 1881): 189.
22
Church’s Musical Visitor 12, no. 1 (January 1883): 27.
23
Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 1 (October 1874): 26.

74
 The Visitor called upon touring artists to aid music instruction and cultivate an elevated

taste in rural areas. John C. Fillmore of Ripon, Wisconsin, wrote an article titled “Travelling

Concert Troops as Educators,” which had appeared in Dwight’s Journal of Music on May 12,

1877. Fillmore had requested that pianists, violinists, and vocalists from the eastern United States

perform “artistic renderings of the best music” for the audiences’ edification because teachers

and their pupils in the West lacked the opportunity to hear great music performed well. The

“conscientious teacher” depended on the visiting artist to reinforce his teaching and kindle

enthusiasm for the best music. Fillmore had implored the travelling artist to “be above the vulgar

temptation of stooping to claptrap. . . . The travelling musician plays to miscellaneous audiences,

composed largely of uncultivated people, totally ignorant of good music. . . .”24 Visiting

virtuosos were welcome, but some members of the local community did not want to be merely

humored.

Four years later the Reverend Cyrus Thomas of New Lisbon, Wisconsin, reported to the

Visitor that he perceived vocal music in rural communities to be in a low state of affairs and

offered six remedies: 1) Traveling musicians should perform a better grade of music rather than

catering to the base demand. 2) There should be more songs and choruses of a moderate range.

3) Music should be taught regularly in our public schools, and greater care should be taken in the

selection of teachers. 4) Parlor concerts should be given more frequently since they provide

opportunities for skilled amateurs to present their choice pieces before small, select, and

appreciative audiences. In our villages it is “more difficult to get an appreciative audience than

skillful performers of good music.” 5) “We need greater musical conscientiousness. By this I

mean . . . there should be the highest regard for the highest success” such as that wrought by

24
Irving Sablosky, What They Heard: Music in America, 1852–1881, From the Pages of Dwight’s Journal
of Music (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1986), 196–200. John Comfort Fillmore was on the
faculty of Ripon College (founded in 1851) from 1868–1878. Sue Carole de Vale and Michael V. Pisani, “Fillmore,
Charles Comfort” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2013), 3:282–83.

75
Jenny Lind [emphases original]. 6) All of these can be brought about through honest and

persistent agitation by pastors, teachers, musical periodicals, and instruction books.25 An

advertisement in 1897 for A Music Reader for Ungraded Schools, Village Schools, and

Teachers’ Institutes by A. J. Gantvoort, published by the John Church Company, indicated an

ongoing need for up-to-date instruction books in rural areas.26

However, rural music teachers came under scrutiny. In 1881 teacher Warren Walters

accused piano teachers, especially those in rural areas, of concentrating on pieces and technique

while neglecting music theory, history, and biography.27 Two years later in an article on Paganini

Walters again expressed a negative view of the rural population: “The rustics, the unlearned in

art, could only account for his wonder-working by declaring they saw the evil one, with his

traditional horns and tail, standing behind the violinist directing his bow.”28 According to

musicologist Mary Veronica Davison, while city residents in the 1870s were able to indulge in

more cultural activities than their rural counterparts, many individuals living in the remoter

sections were vitally interested and actively engaged in musical pursuits such as were

possible under the circumstances. “Many of the smaller places were fortunate enough to

have a musically trained individual nearby to guide and teach.” Evidence of increased interest in

music appeared in the purchase of musical instruments, sheet music, and instruction books.29

25
Cyrus Thomas, “Musical Needs of Our Western Villages,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 9 (June
1881): 240–41. We do not know if he had read Fillmore’s correspondence previously published in Dwight’s
Journal. Jenny Lind toured the United States from 1850 to 1852.
26
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 6 (June 1897): 168.
27
Warren Walters, “Not Right,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 10 (July 1881): 266. Walters was
subsequently identified as a retired teacher. “Cui Bono?,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 4 (January 1882): 101.
His death in Philadelphia was also covered in The Musical Visitor 12, no. 9 (September 1883): 234. Walters also
contributed short stories, advice to piano teachers and students, and music criticism to the Visitor.
28
Warren Walters, “The Wizzard [sic] of the Violin,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 6 (June 1883): 149.
29
Mary Veronica Davison, “American Music Periodicals, 1853–1899” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota,
1973), 94. Dale Cockrell implies that rural areas did not have music teachers, “who were necessarily located in
population centers.” Dale Cockrell, “Nineteenth-century Popular Music,” in The Cambridge History of American
Music, ed. David Nicholls (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 184. The Visitor supported

76
Walters remained unimpressed with the efforts or progress made by rural music teachers.

Lila Moore wrote, sometimes pejoratively, about the difficulties facing the country music

teacher. She considered the majority of rural patrons to be ignorant and unappreciative of the

teacher’s efforts, and to have a “low standard of popular taste.” Peer pressure was apparently

another obstacle, since pupils “cannot reasonably be expected to desire anything more than to

play as well as their acquaintances.” The teacher, according to Moore, needed to induce pupils to

procure suitable music for study purposes. The rewards appeared, however, when one sees “the

healthier tastes of one’s pupils” when they “tire of the vapid and common.” Moore proposed that

Europe and America could achieve equality: “Those who labor patiently to develop a spirit of

true music in the highways and hedges play an important part.”30 By way of contrast, the Visitor

reprinted an article from the New York Sun regarding challenges facing the piano teacher of “the

fashionable girl,” who is busy with social engagements, making it difficult to set a day for the

lesson. She arrives late “from a shopping expedition or a luncheon” and must prepare herself for

“a five o’clock tea.” The girl has not practiced and plays badly, after which her “languid mother

comes drooping in, wrapped in a fur-bordered velvet arrangement, to talk about her daughter’s

progress and ask if she isn’t very musical. . . .”31 Irrespective of class and locale, the music

teacher could face difficulties.

Positive views of and from the rural population

On the other hand, a letter from H. B. R. in East Saginaw, Michigan, reported excellent

concerts given by amateurs who had performed works that had been presented at Cincinnati’s

Davison’s statement cited above. During the past year, so much attention had been paid to music education that
“every village, hamlet, and cross-roads in the country, has its teachers of music, while cities are well supplied with
competent instruction in all departments of this ennobling science.” The article goes on to say that a good musical
education is available to “every youth in the land.” “Musical Instruction,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 2
(November 1872): 8.
30
Lila Moore, “The Country Music Teacher,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 9 (September 1888): 234.
31
“How Some Girls Study Music,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 5 (May 1889): 119.

77
first May Festival in 1873. The writer invited [John] Church to “come up and see us, and witness

what is being achieved for music in the ‘rural districts.’”32 In the subsequent issue the new editor

Charles A. Daniell reiterated the invitation for music news from city or country.33 Similarly,

Frank H. King had solicited correspondence and contributions “from any locality.”34 A few years

hence teacher John Howard recounted his early experience as a piano teacher in rural Vermont.

He described the expenses and difficulties of travel, especially during the winter months.

Howard referred to one of the farmers as “one of nature’s noblemen. Hearty, liberal, capable, and

above all, warm-hearted, he gradually inspired me with respect and admiration, as well as

affection.” Bankruptcy forced Howard to give up the effort, but he would “never forget the

kindnesses and hospitalities of the Vermont farmer.”35 William F. Sherwin conducted

conventions, and his report of November 1883 reads: “Wisconsin has musical talent in rich

abundance, not alone in the larger cities, but scattered throughout all the towns and hamlets.”36

Frederic W. Root’s ninth annual concert held at Chicago’s Central Music Hall on
February 10, 1892, provided a positive remembrance of rural life. One of his works, “The Old
Melodeon,” had been sung by eight young ladies and “attracted a great deal of attention.” The
old farm house and the melodeon were fondly remembered.37 Pianist and music critic Arthur

32
Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 3 (December 1873): 5.
33
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 4 (January 1874): 10.
34
Frank H. King, ed., “Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871):
9.
35
John Howard, “The ‘Professor’ in Rural Vermont,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 3 (December 1879):
61–62. Howard gives an account of a lady’s performance of The Battle of Buena Vista. He was startled by her shrill
exclamations, “Charge of the light brigade” and “Rattle of the musketry.” The lowest keys were pounded along with
a shrill “Roar of the cannon.” He discovered that “these explanatory remarks were written above the notes of the
music and were supposed to belong to the performance.”
36
W. F. Sherwin, “Music in Wisconsin,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 11 (November 1883): 292. William
Fisk Sherwin (1826–1888) had been in charge of John Church and Company’s Sunday School Department since
about February 1881. In the December 1883 issue, he was included in a list of the Visitor’s “Galaxy of Talent” (“Of
the New England Conservatory of Boston, unexcelled in his specialties”).
37
“Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 3 (March 1892): 68.

78
Loesser described the melodeon as “The American Piano’s Little Country Cousin.” Intended for
domestic use by the lower class and costing less than a piano, the melodeon’s niche market
consisted of residents of small towns, villages, and rural settings.38
According to James R. Murray in 1891, the Harvest and Thanksgiving service was

rapidly gaining in popularity. “This service should not be confined to the farming districts or

country churches.”39 Thus Murray promoted a positive influence from rural to urban. In 1897

Murray made the point that both rural and urban teachers and pupils had need of a musical

dictionary, such as the one edited by W. S. B. Mathews and Emil Liebling. Murray cited an

example of a city teacher whose pupil did not understand what Ten. [tenuto] meant, assuming the

indication meant to play the notes ten times.40

Both negative and positive views of the rural population appeared in the Visitor and at

times in close proximity. It seems incongruous that the house organ of a music publishing

company would have fun at the expense of some of its subscribers and potential customers; thus

John Church and his editors walked a fine line. Humor may have been employed in an effort to

cloak stereotypes. By the end of the century, however, the cultural gap between rural and urban

subscribers appears to have narrowed, at least as depicted in the Visitor, aided by the marketing

of mail-order sheet music, instruction books, instruments, and music journals. The industrial

revolution had helped to connect rural and urban communities. Trains delivered farm goods to

the cities, and mass-produced instruments could be delivered by rail to rural customers. Music

journals printed and promoted the sales of sheet music, instruction books, and instruments

which could be delivered by mail.41

38
Arthur Loesser, Men, Women, and Pianos: A Social History (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954),
518–20.
39
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 10 (October 1891): 260.
40
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 2 (February 1897): 51.
41
Davison, “American Music Periodicals,” 47, 94–95, 140–42, 199, 207–8.

79
Audience Behavior and Etiquette

While Visitor columnists often did not include first-hand accounts of rural audiences,

writers on audience behavior and etiquette included foreign correspondents and Americans who

had traveled to Europe and related their experiences. Articles frequently addressed complaints

about encores, or disturbances during performances, such as talking, laughing, loud whispers,

humming, latecomers, or early departures. Reports of beer drinking and fashion included critical

comments for readers’ benefit. The critic and columnist encouraged the audience to influence

fellow members’ behavior as well as programming and ticket prices. Venues discussed include

theaters, concert halls, churches, and occasionally schools. Critics, editors, conductors,

performers, and fellow audience members attempted to reform audience behavior.

Frank H. King reprinted, possibly from the Boston Transcript, an entry regarding

complaints that had been sent to Boston newspapers about concert nuisances, such as humming

and loud talking, which were silenced by writing a note to the offender. King prefaced the entry

with a note claiming that Boston still suffered from some barbaric practices and made the

following point at the end: “Out West here, among the savages, the recording of such incidents

would not astonish our supposed-to-be-prim and always decorous friends of the East.”42 King’s

comment reveals a musical rivalry between Cincinnati and the cities and journals of the east. The

rivalry was mutual. Six years later, the cover of Puck’s magazine featured Theodore Thomas in

Cincinnati conducting the orchestra for an audience of swine. In other words, Thomas had

moved “from the Metropolis to the Porkopolis.”43

George P. Upton considered concert talkers to be nuisances. He hoped that heavenly

concerts would be free from “earthly concert nuisances” in order to hear the best singers and

composers. He did not want to be “annoyed by a garrulous angel” sitting behind him,

42
“Concert Room Nuisances,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 4 (January 1872): 6.
43
Puck 4, no. 83 (October 9, 1878): cover.

80
commenting on an angel’s wings or the way another angel made the way to her seat. Upton

concluded with the thought: “It would be horrible to think of an eternity of music with an

eternity of nuisance.”44

George S. Gordon reported on the rude behavior of the upper class in Naples.45 He and

three others had attended Verdi’s La Traviata at the Mercadante Theater and had been seated in

“orchestra chairs, the best seats in the house.” According to Gordon, members of the lower

classes, in the “pea-nut” gallery, had been more attentive and appreciative than the majority of

the other listeners. On the other hand, two men seated in front of them were fine specimens of

the “Italian jackass.” They had stood, “opera glasses in hand, with their backs to the stage,

sweeping the rows of faces with an air of imperturbable impudence,” which seemed to be their

greatest pleasure. After intermission they had returned late to their seats with impatient sighs.

When they started “humming all the familiar airs with a nasal emphasis and imbecile falsetto,

and . . . ruining the effect of a pleasant solo by improvising a prelude to it,” Gordon could not

restrain an indignant hiss. He made the point that his comments applied to Italian women also,

who “hold levees in their boxes” and pay the least possible attention to the stage.46 Another

report to the Visitor concurred that humming was a problem with Italian audiences. The

complaint referred to those Italians “who have good ears” and hum along with the singers. The

writer recalled an incident in Milan where the offended party had complained to the hummer that

he could not hear him because the tenor was too loud.47 A bit of sarcasm had succeeded in

44
Peregrine Pickle [George P. Upton], “Concert Nuisances,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 8 (May 1873):
4.
45
Gordon was identified in Church’s Musical Visitor as a lawyer from Huntsville, Alabama. Church’s
Musical Visitor 11, no. 15 (December 1882): 408. A year later he was included in the list of the Visitor’s “Galaxy of
Talent,” for his much- admired reminiscences of European travels. The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883):
iv.
46
Geo[rge] S. Gordon, “Some Musical Experiences in Naples,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 6 (March
1881): 152–53.
47
“The Humming Nuisance,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12 (September 1881): 332.

81
silencing the hummer.

Previously in 1880 the Visitor had praised American audiences. The nuisance of

conversing during a musical performance was becoming a thing of the past; such “vulgarity was

no longer common.” In France and Italy, however, “where music is prettily supposed to be

essential to life itself, it seems to be considered a sign of knowledge to gabble during the

uninteresting portion of familiar operas.” The lack of attention supposedly proved “that one

knows the opera by heart, and silence is resumed only when some favorite air is being sung.”48

Charles A. Daniell reprinted a paragraph from the London Musical World regarding

recent regulations at the Imperial Opera House in Vienna forbidding artists to acknowledge

applause or accept recalls during an act. Herr [Georg?] Müller apparently had ignored the rule

when he stepped forward and bowed his gratitude during the performance of Auber’s Fra

Diavolo. When Müller left the stage he was fined forty-five florins, equal to about three percent

of his month’s salary. Daniell opined that this would be “a worthy reform” in the United States,

“to check the vanity of singers and actors, who do not hesitate to mar the symmetry of a

performance by thus stepping out of the artist into the individual.” He named Christine Nilsson,

Pauline Lucca, and Clara Louise Kellogg as offenders who bow and smile at the audience even if

the applause happens in the “mad scene” from Lucia or in the “superb” love scene in Act 4 of

Les Huguenots.49

H. S. Perkins wrote from Europe about the “disgusting” claque system in the theaters of

Paris and other cities. The claque is “attended to by a squad of uncouth-looking customers,

occupying a special place in the theater, who are employed to ‘do’ the applauding, led by a

horny-handed chap, who gives the signal at the proper time and place, looking most wondrous

48
Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 9 (June 1880): 245.
49
“A Stage Nuisance,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 5 (February 1875): 7. For an interesting list of
regulations imposed on the audiences on November 8, 1897, see Marcel Prawy, The Vienna Opera (New York:
Praeger Publishers, 1970), 214.

82
wise and self-satisfied.”50 As the articles about the rural dwellers made urban musicians feel

superior, these articles seem destined to make the American feel superior to the European.

Ethnic tensions could also lead to uncivil audience behavior both abroad and at home. In

December 1885 editor James R. Murray reprinted a dispatch from Vienna regarding the unruly

audience for the first night of Dvořák’s opera Šelma sedlák. Dated November 19, the dispatch

read: “The Czechs in the audience kept up an incessant applause, which provoked counter

storms of hissing, the excitement finally culminating in an uproar. Many arrests were made

before order was restored.”51 Editor Frank N. Scott’s report on the Harmonic Society’s benefit

concert, given during the past winter for Miss Emma Cranch before she left for Europe, evinced

tensions between Cincinnati’s English-speaking residents and its German counterparts:

During the evening a party of ladies and gentlemen “from over the Rhine” came into the
hall and seated themselves quite ostentatiously. After looking at the audience, hearing a
chorus and solo, one of the gentlemen, holding a programme before him, said quite
loudly: “Who is this Miss Crank, anyway?” “Why,” replied another, “don’t you know?
She is a crack singer that goes about the country, and that’s her troupe sitting behind
there!”52

According to historian Steven J. Ross, the “massive wave” of German immigrants to

Cincinnati in the late 1840s and early 1850s “chose to isolate themselves geographically,

economically, socially, and politically.” They moved to the northern perimeter of the city known

as “Over-the-Rhine” where they established German businesses, newspapers, beer gardens,

churches, theaters, schools, and musical and literary societies. The Germans’ desire to preserve

their way of life caused the native-born English-speaking residents to view them as “a single and

50
“Correspondence: Notes by the Way––from London to Paris,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 3
(December 1875): 63.
51
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 12 (December 1885): 320.
52
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 1 (October 1873): 9.

83
highly suspect body.”53 Music and beer at Saengerfests had apparently become an issue within

the German community as reported in the first issue of the Visitor:

Many of the leading Germans of late are complaining strongly of the present character of
the German singing societies of the country. They are concerned because the societies are
not what they once were. . . . Instead of laboring for music’s sake alone, their attention is
occupied partially in calculating the number of kegs of beer that will be required to stand
a musical siege of a certain number of days. Until this matter is rectified, our German
friends must expect to meet with a less degree of success than fell to them when they
were more wholly devoted to music and its superior charms.54

Class seems to have been an issue as well.

A reader of the Visitor in 1881 might have formed the opinion that audiences in Germany

were better behaved than those in other countries. Organist and theorist Edward M. Bowman

described in copious detail Wagner’s Ring in Berlin, including audience behavior: “A late comer

or anyone who made the least noticeable noise was at all times unceremoniously hissed. And to

have heard anyone talking, or whispering, or a young couple doing their courting . . . would have

been monstrous! Alas! Alas! When will we in America imitate such a worthy example?” There

had been no applause until the final curtain at the end of each of the four nights. He continued:

“You can scarcely imagine the almost terrific demonstration of the enthusiastic audience. I had

always considered Italians or Irish audiences to be the most demonstrative, but I have never seen

either of them more so than were the Germans on this occasion.” Bowman explained that there

had been nothing to provoke applause during the course of an act, or a delay in the progress of

the story, since neither the prima donna nor anyone else came to the front of the stage to sing to
53
Steven J. Ross, Workers on the Edge: Work, Leisure, and Politics in Industrializing Cincinnati, 1788–
1890 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1985), 172–73. The Harmonic Society, founded in 1864, consisted
largely of Anglo-Americans. Edward P. Cranch, Emma Cranch’s father, had been a member of Cincinnati’s Semi-
Colon Club, where “the spirit of New England permeated.” Robert C. Vitz, The Queen and the Arts: Culture Life in
Nineteenth-century Cincinnati (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1985), 19–20, 64, 279 n53.
54
“Music vs. Beer,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 1 (October 1871): 6. Editor Frank H. King accused the
editor of the Folio in Boston of plagiarizing the article in its December issue. “Our Exchanges,” Church’s Musical
Visitor 1, no. 4 (January 1872): 9.

84
the audience.55

In 1891 Murray reported a notice of restrictions on audiences and performers in

Germany. The Munich government had abolished the claque; artists had been forbidden to

acknowledge applause except for first performances or on benefit nights. Loud talk had been

prohibited in all German theaters. The government had mandated that all lights be turned off

except for the stage area while the act is in progress. Women’s hats were not allowed to obstruct

the view in Berlin’s theaters.56 Murray applauded a new rule at the Munich Opera House:

performers would not acknowledge applause either during or at the end of an act. “Now when

they are killed they stay killed, and do not come before the curtain after death, bowing

acknowledgments.”57 A few months later the topic of recalls on the German operatic stage again

appeared on the Visitor’s pages. Munich had taken the lead in “proscribing recalls, encores, and

bouquets,” followed by theaters in Dresden, Weimar, Karlsruhe, and Stuttgart. Count Hochberg

in Berlin had issued a manifesto expressing the wishes of the artists of the royal theaters that

no more recalls will be heeded except by the authors and composers who were not present for the

first performance. Curiously, the article mentioned that the old system would be revived the next

season in Munich, in order to keep “the artists in direct touch with the public.”58

Bouquets

During the late nineteenth century, the practice of presenting bouquets to performers in

America and in Europe could occur at any time during a performance. “An habitué of opera and
55
E. M. Bowman, “Wagner’s Trilogy,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 7. Bowman’s
account of the Ring cycle had been written for the St. Louis Spectator but was sent to the Visitor by its editors. “Our
Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 303. See also the entry for Bowman in
Bomberger, Brainard’s Biographies of American Musicians, 43–44.
56
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 8 (August 1891): 203.
57
Ibid., 204.
58
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 12 (December 1891): 315.

85
other musical entertainments” requested that the Visitor protest the “ridiculous custom of

breaking in upon the performance by sending up flowers and boxes of candy from the front, for

the conductor or ‘double bass’ to hand over to the intended recipient.”59 An article reprinted from

the London Times reported that encores had been on the decline, which the author considered to

be a good thing. Bouquets thrown during opera performances, however, remained an evergreen

problem. The singers had to stop and pick them up from the stage, which interrupted the action,

as did an encore; if the bouquet landed between two lady singers, for whom was it intended?

This could lead to jealousy later in the green room. The columnist in the Times had been

delighted to hear that the practice had been abolished at the Royal Theater in Munich and hoped

that other establishments would follow suit. The audience should show its appreciation at

appropriate times, such as curtain calls at the end of an act. Throwing a bouquet was not a

spontaneous tribute and was “a positive offence to all real music-lovers.”60 In 1886 the Visitor’s

London correspondent reported on Clara Schumann’s performances as follows: “At her rentrée

the audience in the orchestra [section] threw flowers at her in accordance with the German plan,

first introduced in England at the last Norwich Festival, where Mr. A. C. Mackenzie suffered

some slight inconvenience when the thorn of one of the roses stuck in his scantily protected

head.”61

Americans who attended debuts of their compatriots also bestowed bouquets during a

performance. Three-fourths of the audience members who attended the debut of American

soprano Gertrude Griswold in Faust at London’s Royal Italian Opera consisted of U.S. citizens.

The practice of passing flowers to the singers via the orchestra, condemned in the Visitor, was

described as follows: “A large number of bouquets, the offering of the artist’s American friends,

59
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 5 (May 1884): 122.
60
“Encores and Bouquets,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 11.
61
“Music in England: Madame Schumann,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 5 (May 1886): 115.

86
were from time to time in the course of the evening handed across the orchestra by the ushers.”

Despite such displays, however, the audience was reportedly not too warm in its applause for

their young compatriot.62

The following month the Visitor reprinted a short entry from Life magazine that had

informed readers what had happened to the floral offerings given to some of the prima donnas. In

one case, the flowers had been immediately sold. A great prima donna “disposes by contract of

all the bouquets she receives.” Many fine singers had excellent business qualifications and knew

how to look after their own interests. By contrast, Pauline Lucca had sent her flowers to the local

hospitals.63

Despite such recriminations, the practice of presenting bouquets to singers during the

performance did not cease. At the 1891 Chicago premiere of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana,

“the nuisance of floral offerings during the play was very manifest.” When Minnie Hauk was

lying at the steps of the church door, “a long line of ushers rushed down the aisles burdened with

huge baskets and bouquets of beautiful roses. The prima donna had the good sense not to notice

them, and the tributes of admiring friends were handed to her during the intermission.”64

In 1894 the Visitor reported that impresario Maurice Grau of the Metropolitan Opera had

forbidden the gifts of flowers to performers on stage. Apparently there were doubts about the

source of many of the floral pieces being handed over the footlights.65 Had the artists or their

62
“Music in London,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 203–4. For more information on
Griswold, see Jones, A Handbook of American Music and Musicians, 68. Griswold was “an American singer who
had given promise of good things in Europe.” Henry E. Krehbiel, Chapters of Opera (New York: Henry Holt and
Company, 1908), 160–61. Beginning in November 1887, ads for the faculty at the National Conservatory included
Griswold as a teacher of voice. Emanuel Rubin, “Jeannette Meyer Thurber (1850–1946): Music for a Democracy” in
Cultivating Music in America: Women Patrons and Activists since 1860, ed. Ralph P. Locke and Cyrilla Barr
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), 149.
63
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 9 (September 1884): 234.
64
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 11 (November 1891): 288.
65
James R. Murray, “Editorial Notes,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 1 (January 1894): 10. The Visitor was
likely referring to an article in the New York Times. Mr. Grau had ordered that no more flowers were to be “passed

87
managers been responsible for the flowers? This prevalence of this activity could be inferred by

a previous article in the Visitor that had reported that members of a theatrical company in

Portland, Oregon, did not purchase bouquets to be delivered to themselves by the ushers during

the performance.66

Encores/Excessive applause

The issue of encores and excessive applause also received much attention. They could

interrupt the action of an opera or lengthen a concert program. Many columnists considered it

improper to repeat sections of an oratorio or Requiem. According to the Visitor, the audience’s

role is to listen to, rather than applaud or interrupt, the performer. Distractions like these could

not be tolerated in church, where some oratorios were performed. Soloists could feel appreciated

without applause, and the same could apply at the opera.67

The first appearance of an eminent European artist in the United States could elicit an

overly enthusiastic, even “alarming,” response from the audience. Stamping and yelling greeted

distinguished newcomers, which “must cause them to pray for deliverance from their friends.”

Furthermore, there was no good reason for an artist to have to do more than was published in

the program. The New York debut of Theresa Tietjens was reported in the Visitor:

Thrice the fair singer returned in obedience to the applause of the multitude, and thrice
she bowed her acknowledgement of the honor. But this was not sufficient. . . a noisy part
of the audience insisted that she should sing once more there and then. Very gracefully,

across the footlights, no matter who the artist may be.” The article described the “massive fragments of this floral
breastwork” that were carried down the aisle at different times during the performance, and the trophy “lifted with
infinite care over the footlights, and handed to Mlle. Eames, the Reszkes, and other artists.” While some members of
the audience appreciated the beauty and scent of the flowers, others were irritated by the interruption. It was
suggested that the “singers pay for the flowers, and the cards affixed to them are mere fancy inventions.” “No
Flowers for Opera Stars: Enforcement of A New Rule at the Metropolian. By Manager Grau’s Edict No More floral
Trophies Are to Be Passed Over the Footlights––Mmes. Calve and Melba Opposed to the Custom, but Other Singers
Are Indignant—An Episode of Mr. “Toff” Mapleson’s Husbandly Adulation.” New York Times, December 5, 1893,
9.
66
“A Chinese Theater,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 2 (October 1880): 9.
67
“Inaudible Sympathy,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 8 (May 1881): 211.

88
 she complied. Afterward, the same compliment had to be paid to two other performers,
notwithstanding the warning hisses of a large number of people. The consequence was
that the performances were lengthened an additional half hour, and when the intermission
arrived at least one-third of the house left, not to return. When Tietjens again sang, her
eyes rested on row after row of empty seats.68

In December 1879 the Visitor reported that the encore system was becoming “more and

more of a nuisance” as the season progressed. Encores “prolong the entertainment to an

unreasonable hour.” Managers and performers were called upon to educate the audience. The

problem was especially “out of order” in opera, hindering the progress and enjoyment of the

production.69 A subsequent Visitor article added to the list of reasons to curb the encore nuisance

as had been discussed in the London Musical Standard. The encore not only tested the patience

of some audience members but taxed favorite singers, whose voices “are not to be trifled with.”

The Musical Standard compared the dishonest expectation of an encore to the “purchaser of a

bun at a confectioner’s, who enjoys the edible delicacy so much that he calls for another without

any intention of paying for the second. . . .” The singers should agree among themselves to

decline, and conductors of concerts should “strike boldly into the next item in the programme.”

Some “vain vocalists,” however, brought “encore songs” with them, which encourages the

wrong-doing.70 Apparently some of the Visitor’s readers took the issue to heart. The report of a

concert given on February 27, 1880, at Wilmington, Pennsylvania, mentioned a notice posted on

the bottom of the program: “No encores will be permitted.”71 However, other performers

continued the practice. Later that year a correspondent reported that Ole Bull and Emma Thursby

had given a concert at the Academy in Baltimore. The house had been crowded and while Miss

68
Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 2 (November 1875): 36.
69
Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 3 (December 1879): 72.
70
Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 4 (January 1880): 97.
71
“The Musical Union: Concert and News Notes, Compiled from Our Correspondence and Exchanges,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 7 (April 1880): 192.

89
Thursby “sustained her reputation,” the great violinist began “to show the effects of age. He was

very obliging, playing four encores. He was down for one solo only.”72

The Visitor’s London correspondent, Frederick J[ames] Crowest (1850–1927),

contributed a lengthy article on the continuing problem of encores in England. He bemoaned not

only the repetition of numbers in operas or oratorios, such as “He was despised” from Messiah,

but of whole scenes as well. According to Crowest: “We are the laughing stock of musical

Europe, and I doubt not of America, too.” He placed the burden of changing the system on solo

vocalists or instrumentalists. If “leading musical artists . . . will exercise their power . . . a serious

stain upon this country’s musical reputation” could be wiped away. He described the crowds as

“capable of growing excited and making things unpleasant . . . whistling, shouting, cat-calling,

howling, barking, kicking, stamping, and knocking . . . which convert our theaters and concert-

rooms into perfect pandemoniums.”73 In the subsequent issue another columnist reported on a

similar incident for the opening concert of Cincinnati’s fifth May Festival (1882). The “Dies

Irae” from Mozart’s Requiem “was given with such tremendous power and effect that the

audience forgot the proprieties of the occasion and vociferously demanded an encore.”74

Theodore Thomas had a policy of not allowing encores at the May Festival. After the

performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the sixth May Festival, soprano Christine

Nilsson had been recalled four or five times, but she did not perform any encores, which Thomas

72
Columbus, “Baltimore, Md.,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 9 (June 1880): 246–47.
73
Frederick J. Crowest, “Encores, or No Encores?,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 8 (May 1882): 209–
11. Steven Baur refers to Crowest as “an 1882 commentator.” Steven Baur, “Music, Morals, and Social
Management: Mendelssohn in Post-Civil War America,” American Music 19 (Spring 2001): 88. Crowest’s
comments were restricted to audiences in England. Baur furthermore claims that during the second half of the
nineteenth century “music journalists launched a print campaign to ban the only convention that granted audiences
any role in influencing the content of musical performances––the encore.” Baur, “Music, Morals, and Social
Management: Mendelssohn in Post-Civil War America,” American Music 19 (Spring 2001): 87. Editors, columnists,
and performers writing in the Visitor afforded the audience more influence than that singular role.
74
“The May Festival,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 9 (June 1882): 233–35.

90
forbade.75 Murray later reported that at the eighth May Festival, the audience recalled celebrated

British tenor Edward Lloyd four times after singing “Cujus animam” from Rossini’s Stabat

Mater. This time the reason that Theodore Thomas refused a solo encore was that it had been

forbidden by the rules of the Musical Festival Association.76

The Visitor reprinted a quote from British tenor John Sims Reeves in the Graphic

regarding “the encore fiend.” Reeves considered the encore-monger to care nothing about

symmetry, or cohesiveness, whether oratorio, lyric stage, benefit, or ballad concert. If his

demand was not met, “He will hoot, and bray, and hiss when an attempt is made to perform the

next piece.”77 Unlike Reeves, British critic Joseph Bennett opined: “Encores are not the fault of

the public, but of the artists, who love them. There is guilt on both sides. Love of praise and

greed of gain.”78 Murray quoted a British writer on the problem of encores, noting that the same

situation exists in the United States. The concert singer must give three or four songs when paid

for only two. He witnessed an absurd sight when the prima donna of the opera suddenly changes

from a mad lady, to acknowledge vociferous applause and bouquets, then quickly returns to her

state of distraction. After a magnificent performance of the finale, the instrumentalist must repeat

it, demanded by three-fourths of the audience.79 Murray responded to the current issue of pianist

Rafael Joseffy’s refusal to play an encore after performing a Brahms concerto. Joseffy was

“quite right” to refuse. The encore business was overdone.80

Charles A. Daniell discussed the relationship between an audience and the virtuoso in a

75
“The Sixth May Festival,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 6 (June 1884): 143–45.
76
“The Centennial May Musical Festival,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 6 (June 1888): 144.
77
The Musical Visitor 19, no. 3 (March 1890): 64. It is unknown which Graphic was quoted.
78
The Musical Visitor 23, no. 5 (May 1894): 120.
79
“The Encore Fiend,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 1 (January 1895): 3.
80
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 3 (March 1896): 189.

91
positive light provided the encore performed was a simple melody. The virtuoso, “after a

prolonged display of bewildering skill, condescends to perform some simple, familiar selection

that all his listeners are familiar with.” Daniell then suggested that the simple melody, frequently

performed in a bungling manner, “becomes so purified . . . that he begins, through the simple

medium, to be comprehended and relished.”81 Thus, the encore could serve a useful purpose for

the virtuoso.

In 1882 Murray commented on the “very wise rule” that at the London Royal Academy

of Music concerts, no encore or recall was allowed; this was printed at the top of each program.82

He later suggested that if an encore is performed, the performer should announce the title of the

piece. This will enhance the listeners’ enjoyment, especially if the audience does not have to

guess at the meaning of the words.83 On the Visitor’s next page, however, encores, especially if

overdone, were portrayed not only as a nuisance that lengthened the program, but as unfair to the

performer, even a form of extortion.84 Humor was also enlisted in the cause of reform when

Murray provided a definition of the encore: “A fiendish invention, which, while it apparently

flatters the performer, is really devised to procure for an audience more than its money’s worth,

and to keep suburbans from catching their trains.”85

Excessive applause also enlisted condemnation. “Old Colony” complained in 1882

that the “childishness which seems to characterize musical audiences in the matter of applause,”

which he described as “pronounced and excessive,” “strikes us as eminently shallow, not to

81
Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 6 (March 1875): 8.
82
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 6 (March 1882): 162. Presumably Murray was
differentiating between a performer being called back to the stage by the audience for a bow, not necessarily for an
encore.
83
The Musical Visitor 22, no. 6 (June 1893): 152.
84
James R. Murray, “Too Much Encore,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 6 (June 1893): 153.
85
James R. Murray, “Definitions Up to Date,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 11 (November 1894): 294.

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say stupid, especially when a phlegmatic American audience explodes itself like a mob of

excitable Italians or Spanish bull fighters.” He also considered it mean for an audience to “insist

on having every other piece repeated.”86 On the other hand, in a brief report on Madame [Emma]

Albani in New York, a writer mentioned that her opera performances had included singing by the

audience between acts since applause was insufficient to verify their enthusiasm.87

Talking, laughing, and other nuisances

Theodore Thomas used various means to embarrass talkers during performances, such

as a continued drum roll or laughter from the orchestra. Music-loving neighbors would applaud

emphatically until the “ill-bred chatter” ceased or Thomas stopped the performance. According

to the Tribune, Thomas had said, “He would wait until the ladies and gentlemen had quite

finished.”88 In the same issue, the Visitor announced Theodore Thomas’s expectations for

Cincinnati’s first May Festival (1873): latecomers would not be seated until the end of a

movement, and noise would not be allowed.89 Thomas was not, of course, the first to attempt to

impose these standards of behavior, but one of the most ardent supporters of such reforms.90

Disturbances could also be problematic at school performances, as observed in the

following program for a concert at the music school of Mrs. Josephine C. Neave in Salibsury,

86
“Why? Where? Who?,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 22 (August 1882): 300.
87
James R. Murray, “Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 3 (March 1892): 68.
88
“Theo. Thomas as a Reformer,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 10 (July 1873): 9. The likely source for
this information is the New York Daily Tribune. Thomas had been in New York for his series of summer concerts at
Central Park Garden beginning May 14, 1873. Ezra Schabas, Theodore Thomas: American Conductor and Builder
of Orchestras, 1835–1905 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 52, 58.
89
“Having It Well Done,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 10 (July 1873): 5, reprinted from Lakeside
Monthly.
90
In 1570 Baïf and Thibault drew up statutes for their Academy of Poetry and Music, so that listeners
would be educated and purged of any “barbarities” that might remain. Listeners were not allowed to talk or make
noise; the door would be opened at the end of each performance to admit latecomers. Leo Treitler, gen. ed., Strunk’s
Source Readings in Music History, rev. ed. (New York: Norton, 1998), 338–41.

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North Carolina in 1877:

The unceasing conversation of the thoughtless at concerts, besides annoying the more
attentive portion of the audience, disconcerts the performers, rendering it impossible for
them to do their best; therefore silence is respectfully requested from all during the
music.91

Apparently the problem continued as seen in the program for the closing concerts of the Neave

Music School on July 2 and July 3, 1884:

N.B. The too common practice of loud chattering and giggling at Concerts, by the
thoughtless, is extremely discourteous and irritating to the more attentive of the audience,
as well as to the young performers. It distracts attention, ruins the proper rendition of the
music and dramatic colloquy, and is an abomination that cannot be sufficiently
reprehended. Therefore, with this grave remonstrance, silence is respectfully requested
and expected from all, during music and dialogue.92

Some writers disagreed on the issue of keeping time to the music. In 1884 Ruth Chandler

wrote from Evansville, Indiana, suggesting that audiences audibly mark time:

There is nothing even in nature so sublime as a symphony of Beethoven’s with the pulse
of a great audience to beat time to its measure. . . . There is no act or science on which . . .
we find so much transparent ignorance. Many persons affect emotional sensitiveness and
ostentatiously exhibit all the violent symptoms of an emotion it is clearly impossible for
them to feel or appreciate. . . . There are some people who are so indifferent to music that
they are almost annoyed by the slightest mental strain required to follow it. There are
others who . . . derive very little real pleasure . . . about the same delight they would from
eating a favorite dish. Music belongs to the high and the low, the rich and the poor, and,
with the latter, it often fills the void of an empty life and lightens the burdens of toil and
poverty which would be hard to endure without its influence.93

Chandler had an unusually democratic view of who constituted an audience. On the other

hand, the Visitor printed a notice of a humorous skit performed in Liverpool, England, on how

not to behave at a concert had poked fun at humming and other concert nuisances. Be sure to

arrive late, and do not apologize for crushing toes. Beat time with your foot, and hum along with

91
“Editor’s Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 9 (June 1877): 236.
92
“Concerts and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 208.
93
Ruth Chandler, “Written Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 7 (April 1882): 183.

94
the melodies.94

In 1881 Orlando Blackman addressed what he considered to be two major problems in

Chicago and elsewhere. First, undue demands were made on soloists who were not paid by clubs

and churches. This set a bad example for the young by making music seem an unworthy art.

Second, talking during performance showed a lack of appreciation and was “a crying evil in

church meetings of a social nature . . . indulged in by all classes, from priest, music committee,

first families, down to the last families.” Talking created “discordant tones” while music was

being performed [emphases original]. According to Blackman, the problem could be solved

through training in day schools by having students hear the discord, then removing it, leaving

only musical sounds. Blackman went so far as to criticize and to label Theodore Thomas “that

bad man” for not addressing the situation, despite the conductor’s efforts.95 In the subsequent

issue Blackman complained about noisy audiences, including performers, while praising the

recent Saengerfest in Chicago as a potent force in the formation of the country’s musical

character through the training of local talent. A large number of people had walked, talked, and

laughed during performances, and sometimes included choir members when not performing.

Blackman’s solution: no one should buy a ticket unless he lives up to the rule or law that when

music is being performed, no other sounds should be heard; signals could be used to alert the

audience a minute or so before music is resumed as they do for opera. Covering up the defects of

a performance by walking or talking only prolongs the existence of mediocre talent. Blackman

concluded by advising the members of the Saengerbund to frown upon all things that hinder a

94
“Philharmonic Etiquette,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 6 (June 1884): 147.
95
O. Blackman, “A Criticism of Chicago Musical Matters, with a Backhanded Whack at Other Cities and
Towns,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 10 (July 1881): 266. Blackman, part of the Visitor’s “Galaxy of Talent,”
was described in December 1883 as superintendent of music in the Chicago public schools; his given name was not
revealed until 1893. “Music-Teachers at the World’s Fair,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 3 (March 1893): 68.

95
successful performance, “though railroads, shop-keepers and beer sellers reap a rich harvest.”96

For Blackman, rude behavior was not indicative of class, but it could be corrected through

education.

Others wrote about church or oratorio audiences. In 1882 Murray commented that he was

pleased to see that the tradition of standing for the Messiah’s “Hallelujah Chorus” was beginning

to take hold in America, as a display of “good taste.”97 He must have wondered, however, at the

correspondent from England who included comments on Madame Albani’s rendering of

“Angels ever bright and fair” at the Handel commemoration in Westminster Abbey on July 14,

1885. Her singing caused “many of the congregation, who, forgetting they were in a sacred

edifice, mounted the chairs, and tried to spy the prima donna through opera-glasses.”98 Dwight

had reprinted an article from the New Nation of May 14, 1864, that included a reference to the

breach of etiquette in using lorgnettes or opera glasses outside opera or theater performances.99

A New York critic in 1874 tried to influence audience behavior by threatening to publish

the portraits of the leading idiots in each town of the country. He was referring to opera or

theater-goers who spend the whole evening in a loud whisper criticizing a singer who sings flat,

or who is unable to distinguish between a tragedian, a burlesque actor, a clown, or a comedian.

In these instances the critic fled, lest he commit “justifiable homicide and be made an object of

public sympathy and admiration.”100 Ten years later, another example of using humor in service

96
O. Blackman, “The Chicago Saengerfest, with a Few More Whacks at Concert Audiences, etc., etc.,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 293–94.
97
Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 5 (February 1882): 131. George II reportedly began the custom of
standing for the “Hallelujah chorus” at the first London performance of Messiah in 1743. However, neither the King
nor any member of the royal family is recorded as having attended the Messiah during Handel’s lifetime. Richard
Luckett, Handel’s Messiah: A Celebration (London, UK: Victor Gollancz, 1992), 175–76.
98
“Musical Events in England,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 9 (September 1885): 230.
99
Sablosky, What They Heard, 55–57.
100
“The Theatrical Idiot,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 5 (February 1874): 6, reprinted from the New
York Graphic.

96
improving audience behavior appeared in the Visitor:

The practice of carrying on a continuous conversation, so vigorously practiced by certain

individuals during . . . musical and other entertainments, ought to be put a stop to. The
other evening at a concert a gentleman exclaimed: “What a nuisance!” as a young fop in
front of him kept talking in a loud voice to a lady by his side. “Did you refer to me, sir?”
threateningly demanded the youthful swell. “Oh no, I meant the musicians there, who
keep up such a noise with their instruments that I can’t hear your conversation,” was the
sarcastic and prompt reply.101

Frank White frequently addressed the nuisance of talking, but it continued. White called

upon the audience “as a body,” to make “a determined stance” against the “human magpies.”

Thus far the problem had mostly been dealt with by musicians and performers with the “requisite

moral pluck.” Theodore Thomas had conducted the first performance of Lakmé at the Academy

of Music. White reported:

A young lady who occupied a proscenium box with a party of friends carried on a loud
and lively conversation to the great annoyance of both performers and audience. Mr.
Thomas sent an attendant to her with the message that if she continued he would rise and
ask the audience to decide by vote whether they preferred to hear her conversation or the
music. This had the desired effect, and for the rest of the evening there was not a quieter
person in the house than she.102

White then related a story of Ole Bull when he played in Lucca for the Duke and the Queen

Dowager of Naples, and an audience of other nobles and musicians. The introduction had

been played by the pianist but the lively conversation had continued, with the Queen Dowager

taking a prominent part, so Ole Bull placed his violin under his arm. The Duke inquired as to

whether he desired anything. He responded that he was quite ready but did not want to interrupt

the conversation. Thereupon the Duke whispered a few words to her and “the spirited young

101
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): 180.
102
Frank White, “Talkative Auditors,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 2 (February 1888): 34–35. White must
have been referring to the American premier of Lakmé at the New York Academy of Music on March 1, 1886,
conducted by Thomas. David Ewen, Encyclopedia of the Opera, 2nd ed. (New York: Hill and Wang, 1963), 251,
509.

97
artist was not annoyed by conversation again.” White continued with other examples and ended

with an appeal to audiences and artists to cooperate in ending the nuisance.103 He likely

mentioned the Ole Bull incident to address a long-standing problem of audience behavior that

transcended class.

Columnists also addressed another form of disruptive behavior: leaving before the end of

a performance. Boston correspondent Louis Elson complained about the audience at a Cecelia

[sic] Club concert at Music Hall on May 15, 1884, which had featured Mendelssohn’s Athalie

and the last part of Schumann’s Faust. The latter was Elson’s favorite since it “truly reflects the

spirit of Goethe’s poem.” Elson reported that its finale had been “accompanied by creaking

boots, slamming doors, and other evidences of a departing audience.” This caused Elson to

complain: “Alas for the culture and appreciation of Boston audiences.”104

Editor Frank H. King commended a Cincinnati audience for not leaving a performance

before it ended. A “strange occurrence took place” during Miss Jane Coombs’s engagement at

Pike’s Opera House in 1871. “The usual noise, confusion, and rushing for the door before the

curtain fell at the close of the play was unobserved . . . and all of us were astonished. . . . It is to

be hoped that the habit of marring the entire evening’s entertainment by making a grand

stampede for the door before the end” will come to an end. “It ought to be hissed until no one

dare attempt it.”105

Murray noted that rudeness in public seemed to prevail in France and England, and

quoted the Musical Times. Mr. [Charles] Lamoureux had “stopped the band” during the

performance of an overture when a man was noticed leaving the concert room. The conductor

103
White, “Talkative Auditors,” 34–35. This incident took place when Ole Bull visited Lucca during the
summer of 1834. Sara C. Bull, Ole Bull: A Memoir (Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Company, 1886; repr., New
York: Da Capo, 1981), 61, 63–64, 254.
104
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): 181. Louis C. Elson was a member of the Visitor’s “Galaxy of
Talent” as “One of Boston’s Best Critics.” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): iv.
105
Frank H. King, “Commendable,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 7.

98
turned around and gestured as if to say, “Do as you like.” The Musical Times reporter hoped that

“the French conductor will not have imitators in England. Outrages on the liberty of the

subject . . . are not to be tolerated in this happy land. It is one of the dearest prerogatives of the

free-born Briton to annoy his neighbors.”106 This report accords with a previous account in the

Visitor regarding an incident in the English provinces. The manager had evicted a male member

of the audience who hissed a performer. The judge had decided in favor of the “right of the

public to hiss.” When a performer puts herself or himself before the public, they are liable to

disapproval.107 British visitor Joseph Hatton, who had attended theaters in various U.S. cities in

1881, concluded that American audiences were better behaved than the English: “They are more

respectful to the actors. However bad the play they never hiss. . . . If it is particularly bad they

leave before the last act. . . . They are dignified and quiet.”108 Hatton’s report is further evidence

of the English preference for free expression.

Apparently New York papers had been congratulating themselves on the improved social

atmosphere of the opera house during the 1889–1890 season. More people had not put on their

coats until the music had ended and there was “less talking at the front of the boxes.” Murray

commented that critics may soon be relieved from the necessity of pointing out that it is a sign of

“good breeding to appear quietly interested in the opera.”109 This note of optimism, however,

was short lived. In the subsequent issue, a New York reporter complained about box holders at

the Metropolitan Opera House in a performance of Il Trovatore on December 6 with Julius

Perotti: “The first four acts . . . were sung to an ad libitum of conversation and loud laughter

106
The Musical Visitor 19, no. 2 (February 1890): 36.
107
“Gleanings,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 15 (December 1882): 410.
108
Joseph Hatton, “American Audiences and Actors,” Theatre 3 (May 1881): 257, quoted in Lawrence W.
Levine, Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1988), 194.
109
The Musical Visitor 18, no. 12 (December 1889): 316.

99
from chatter boxes 9 and 11. Even Perotti, who brought down the house, failed to disturb the

conversation of these gabblers, and their voices could be heard even above the crash of the

orchestra and the crescendo of the tenor’s high C.”110 Murray continued his campaign against

noisy box holders at the Metropolitan Opera House. Apparently the box patrons of the Met, “the

select 400,” had been continuing their “loud and constant conversation during performances.”

Murray commented that rudeness in public indulged in by anyone is not mistaken for culture.111

Murray’s editorial page in March 1892 included a reference to a writer who had described “the

conduct of the upper 400 of New York,” in the boxes at the opera in terms of disgust. Their

“loud laughter, uplifted voices, and a degree of décolleté transgressing the bounds of decency”

would not be tolerated elsewhere.112 The Visitor’s New York correspondent reported: “The opera

at the Metropolitan still attracts large audiences, despite the incessant chatter and laughing in the

boxes whose occupants should know how to behave in such places, but don’t.” The only operas

mentioned were Wagner’s Tannhäuser and Lohengrin conducted by Anton Seidl.113 A notice

appeared in their boxes on January 15, 1891: “Many complaints having been made to the

directors of the Opera House of the annoyance produced by the talking in the boxes during

performance, the Board requests that it be discontinued. By order of the Board of Directors.”114

The noisy box holders at the Metropolitan were apparently rivaled by the audience for

Walter Damrosch’s Roof Concerts at Madison Square. Damrosch addressed the “Ladies and

Gentlemen of the Audience: This is not a brass band. You will all enjoy the softer portions of the

110
“New York Notes,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 1 (January 1890): 12.
111
The Musical Visitor 19, no. 2 (February 1890): 36.
112
The Musical Visitor 21, no. 3 (March 1892): 64.
113
“Music in New York,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 1 (January 1891): 10.
114
Irving Kolodin, The Metropolitan Opera: A Candid History of America’s Foremost Lyric Theater from
Its Opening in 1883 to Its Removal to Lincoln Center in 1966 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1966), 53. According to
Kolodin, the rude behavior of the box holders was due in part to Siegmund and Sieglinde’s incestuous relationship
and the audience’s overexposure to German opera.

100
music much better if you will assist in keeping your neighbors quiet.”115

According to cultural historian Lawrence W. Levine, the elites of nineteenth-century

America transformed public spaces (including theaters, music halls, opera houses, and parks)

through “rules, systems of taste, and canons of behavior,” and “left behind them––firmly planted

on high ground––enclaves of culture that functioned as alternatives to the disorderly outside

world and represented the standards, if not the total way of life, they believed in.”116 Evidence in

the Visitor suggests that the middle class also contributed to the transformation.

Programming

Issues of programming found in the Visitor included the audience’s demand for variety,

type of music presented, and influence it was encouraged to wield. A St. Louis correspondent

wrote in 1872 that theater managers understand the public demand for variety, whether for a new

singer or for a new opera.117 Later, in 1883, George F. Root reported on Theodore Thomas’s

“Wagner Night” concert series in Chicago. Root considered 10 percent of the audience to be

connoisseurs, who “seem to fill the eye of the conductor far more than the 90 per cent, who

cannot get beyond music of a medium grade.” Root quoted from a letter to the editor of the

Chicago Herald from what he considered to be a member of the “long suffering” audience who

had been present at a recent “Wagner Night” concert. The writer had complained of “disjointed

sound, under the pretense that it is music . . . unflagging Wagner Weariness. Crash, bang,

squeak, drone . . . which would have frightened the rocks that listened to Orpheus out of their

senses.” Root had attended one of these concerts and found nothing to say against the program or

performance. He recommended that those who do not understand Wagner’s music should not

115
The Musical Visitor 21, no. 9 (September 1892): 248.
116
Levine, Highbrow/Lowbrow, 176–77.
117
Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 1 (October 1872): 3.

101
attend the next “Wagner Night” concert.118

Occasionally the issue of programming and beer made its way into the Visitor. Elson

announced that in Boston, Mr. Adolph Neuendorff had added a new feature, “Composer’s

Nights,” featuring works of a single composer, great or little, “from Suppé and Strauss to

Mozart.” Elson noted: “There is a difference in the audiences on the different nights. The

German element is strongest on the Mozart and Weber nights.” He credited the management for

maintaining absolute order: “People in Boston, prim, puritanical Boston, thought that the

moment beer was permitted to mingle with music, everything would go to the demnition bow-

wows in the art and social world. Instead of this they find not only that a heavy police force is

not needed, but that audiences are not much different from those at symphony concerts. . . .”119

In the same issue Elson contributed “Beer and Boston Music” regarding the promenade concerts

held nightly at Music Hall, where “refreshments are sold. Mirabile Dictu! [Wonderful to tell!]

Beer also flows there. I never thought to see Gambrinus wedded to the muses in staid old

Boston.” Music Hall had been “transformed into a summer garden, with flowers, shrubbery and

electric lights. The Aladdin who has done this is named Higginson.” In 1881 businessman Henry

Lee Higginson had founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the popular and promenade

concerts so that the “musicians who desire it can have employment the year round.” Some of the

orchestra members did not care to play dances, marches, or light overtures, but “the public flood

to the concerts and enjoy them hugely. Neuendorff is conductor.”120

Elson’s attitude toward Germans and beer was different from that expressed previously
118
G. F. R., “Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 9 (September 1883): 230. According to Joseph
Horowitz: “By the 1890s, Wagner’s genius had become an American article of faith.” Joseph Horowitz, Wagner
Nights: An American History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), 46.
119
Proteus [Louis Elson], “Music in Boston,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 9 (September 1885): 237.
120
Proteus [Louis Elson], “Beer and Boston Music,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 9 (September 1885): 238.
Gambrinus is the patron saint of beer. Following the closure of his Germania Theater in New York City in 1883,
Adolf Neuendorff conducted the promenade concerts in Boston from 1884 to 1889. John Koegel, “The Development
of the German Musical Stage in New York City, 1840–1890,” in European Music and Musicians in New York City
1840–1900, ed. John Graziano (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2006), 159.

102
in a letter dated December 16, 1872, from the Visitor’s New York correspondent. “Arion” had

complained that Sunday concert audiences were dwindling. He had blamed “the music and the

jingle of glasses in the lager-beer saloons” where people chat and drink “they hear Beethoven,

such as it is, for fifteen or twenty cents, unless they are highly educated, they will be apt to stray

in that direction.” Sunday concerts did not draw out the wealthy and fashionable of New York,

and “any element outside this is never very reliable regarding its patronage of entertainments not

identified with the sock and buskin.”121 For Arion in New York, ethnic rivalry played itself out

with regard to class and type of entertainment enjoyed by the German community. In September

1872 editor Frank H. King had discussed Cincinnati’s free summer concerts in the parks and beer

gardens. King had mentioned that some “first-class bands” participated, such as the Newport

Barracks, Currier’s, and the Germania. “The beer-garden concerts have grown into favor largely

this summer, with various classes of people, including some of the wealthy families.”

Cincinnati’s band concerts had attracted a mixed audience. King further promoted the city: “No

city west of New York enjoys as much public amusement in this line as does Cincinnati.”122

Murray reported on the issue of operas being sung in different languages by different

characters. For example, Faust had been performed in New York with two characters singing in

Italian and the rest in German. One of the singers forgot his part, so he had mumbled “baby

talk.” Murray blamed both the performers and the audience for being “at fault” for these

“incongruities.” He also reported that in Brussels Amalie Materna had sung Die Walküre in

German while everyone else sang in French.123

Murray commented on the approaching concert and opera season in November 1891.

Patti, Lehmann, Paderewski, Joseffy, and others would be “landing in this country by the

121
Arion, “Correspondence,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 4 (January 1873): 4.
122
Frank H. King, “Home Amusements,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 12 (September 1872): 10.
123
The Musical Visitor 18, no. 7 (July 1889): 176.

103
wholesale.” As long as people were curious to see and hear the celebrities, it would pay for them

to come. Murray hoped that the presence of “so many song-birds” in the country would have the

“effect of putting prices to see and hear them at reasonable rates.” Once the novelty wore off,

Murray believed that it would be difficult to get “good audiences for them all.”124 In Murray’s

opinion music critics, unless they enjoyed a “world-wide reputation and proven mental power,”

were not as influential as the audience in determining an artist’s career because its members were

more numerous, and listeners drove ticket sales.125

The Visitor encouraged the audience to study the scores before attending the May

Festival concerts. “A party of sixty of the first people of Grand Rapids, Mich., are not only

coming to the [fifth] festival, but have sent to John Church and Company for all the music, and

are holding weekly soirees to study it, in order to appreciate it the better.”126 The issue of

preparation by Cincinnati audience members was also stressed.

Performers could also make requests of the audience. The Visitor reprinted a portion of a

performer’s plea to the audience from the July 1892 issue of Music. Blind American pianist

Edward Baxter Perry had requested that the audience leave thoughts of daily care at home in

order to help establish rapport with the performer. Avoid audible disturbances during the

performance. Arrive on time, as a common courtesy to the artist and the audience. If you

must leave before the final number, do so before it commences.127 An actress had some of the

same advice for the audience, whether theater, opera, or concert. Dress well but do not wear a

hat. Do not talk during the performance. It is “ill bred” to read aloud for the benefit of those

around you. Arrive on time. Modest behavior will show your good breeding. Others did not

124
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 11 (November 1891): 290.
125
“The Critic,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 4 (April 1897): 88.
126
“May Festival Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 8 (May 1882): 208.
127
“Courtesy between Artist and Audience,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 8 (August 1892): 238.

104
come to see you or your dress––they came to see the performance.128

Pianist, teacher, composer, and writer Emil Liebling described his ideal concert with an

audience of four to five hundred sincere music lovers, who pay a respectable ticket price and are

promptly seated by 8:00 p.m. Invited “brother artists of standing” grace the occasion. Musical

editors of leading papers should know the works to be performed and will not sit by the door in

order to slip out at the earliest convenience. The audience will leave with a sense of being

temporarily lifted from the everyday into a higher realm. As to encores, Liebling contended that

they were usually “an imposition on the artist, or a questionable compliment by overzealous and

injudicious friends” to whom the artist bowed his acknowledgment. There were towns where the

worst member of the audience would be the leading music teacher who has no use for you. He

wanted no outside influence or eye-opener. If he did come to the concert he was likely to sit

where he would be seen and heard, delivering “such oracular utterances sotto voce as: bad touch,

too much pedal, still arm, not enough devitalization, no soul.” In the case of a singer, the

whispers were “slightly varied to: bad breath, indistinct enunciation, faulty use of glottis, etc.”

Liebling continued his diatribe. The local teacher’s wisdom would be reflected in the next day’s

paper, invariably in his favor, and “by that time the artist has left, and, as the French say, ‘The

absent are always wrong.’”129 Liebling brought a different slant to the requests of traveling

musicians made previously by John C. Fillmore and Cyrus Thomas. Whereas they had been

128
The Musical Visitor 23, no. 1 (January 1894): 8.
129
Emil Liebling, “An Ideal Concert,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 5 (May 1897): 116–17. Liebling’s
portrait was included on the cover of the June 1896 issue of the Visitor, and his biography appeared on pp. 151–52.
The advice from Perry and Liebling suggests that American audiences were not yet fully respectful of the pianist
and committed to an aesthetic experience, following the earlier tours of European virtuosos in the 1840s through
1876. R. Allen Lott, From Paris to Peoria: How European Piano Virtuosos Brought Classical Music to the
American Heartland (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), ix, xi, 283, 291–92. A list of “Prominent Pianists
and Teachers who are or have been identified with the American Pianoforte,” included Sigismund Thalberg,
Leopold de Meyer, Anton Rubinstein, Hans von Bülow, and Emil Liebling. Daniel Spillane, History of the American
Pianoforte (New York: n.p., 1890; repr., New York, Da Capo Press, 1969), 363. Liebling’s teachers included Kullak
and Liszt, and his repertoire included works by Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. Jones, A Handbook of American
Music and Musicians, 86–87.

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concerned with bringing “the best music” to rural audiences for their edification and as an aid to

local teachers, Liebling seemed to be addressing a later and presumably more sophisticated

audience including music editors, pianists, and rival music teachers.130

Although John Church and Company advertised and sold pianos, the editor did not censor

criticism of the instrument, such as the following example. While the pianoforte was the most

widely used instrument, the most important in the dissemination of musical culture, it “is not

very popular as a concert instrument. The attention of an audience easily falls away from piano

playing whether in the parlor or in the concert room.” This indifference had led to “making

conversation during piano playing common among people who would deem such conduct rude

in the case of violin playing or singing.”131 The problem mentioned here does not appear to be

one of class, but suggests that variety in instruments could aid in maintaining the audience’s

attention. This may have contributed to Perry’s and Liebling’s requests for a more respectful

audience.

In one of the last issues of the Visitor, editor James R. Murray agreed with Louis

Lombard’s recent article, “Music for the People,” regarding programming. A performance

consisting exclusively of Bach or Wagner would not be wise. An audience demands variety. If

light and heavy numbers were combined in a program, many listeners who are now repelled

could be coaxed into attending. “The public should be led by gradual steps to the Parthenon.”132

130
According to Levine, by the turn of the century, “Performers and audiences had to submit to creators and
become mere instruments of the will, mere auditors . . . of the artist.” Levine, Highbrow/Lowbrow, 184–85.
Liebling’s “Ideal Concert” in 1897 suggests otherwise.
131
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 206.
132
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 7 (July 1897): 191. In 1880 the Visitor printed a song adapted from one of
Chopin’s “most pleasing melodies” and permitted us “to prove how full of the ‘popular’ element even the classics
may be.” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 5 (February 1880): 132. The comment suggests that people can appreciate
both popular and classical music.

106
Fashion

The Visitor frequently addressed the problem of women’s large hats in various venues,

but columnists also addressed other issues. In an early issue of the Visitor, editor Frank H. King

recommended proper concert dress for guest conductors. He hoped that the next time Max

Maretzek came to Cincinnati to conduct he would remove his cape and don his gloves. He would

also be pleased to see Mr. Adolph Neuendorf in gloves for his next appearance.133

Historian Joseph E. Holliday has written that for Cincinnati’s opera festivals an item of

fashion in the 1880s was the “bonnet,” which caused a reporter to complain that it was “a serious

drawback to the enjoyment of people whose seats are in the parquet.” Holliday also mentioned

that an “unusual social practice was the champagne and oyster lunch served during intermissions

to the numerous callers at the box of Mr. and Mrs. Bugher.” Mr. A. Hamilton Bugher had been

chairman of the Citizens Committee for general arrangements for the opera festival.134 Women’s

hats had also been an issue as early as the 1870s. In 1873 an item appeared regarding high

bonnets worn at concerts, lectures, and theatrical performances. In some Chicago venues, women

were apparently required to take back seats. When the complaint centered on the church, both

men and women were scrutinized for having “no higher purpose than to see high hats and

bonnets.”135

Fashion and the opera received much attention, occasionally suggesting that dress was

more important than the opera itself. A Boston “Hubbite” reported: “Fashion marts are busy

preparing for the opera season . . . as the immensity of opera-going carries with it the all-

important question, What shall I wear? . . . Lovers of new dresses and other pretties will find

133
Frank H. King, “Home Amusements: Matinee,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 6 (March 1872):
8–9. Maretzek had conducted for the Strakosch Italian Opera Company as had Neuendorf for Wachtel’s German
Opera Company during the most recent winter opera season.
134
Joseph E. Holliday, “Cincinnati’s Opera Festivals During the Gilded Age,” Bulletin of the Cincinnati
Historical Society 24, no. 2 (April 1966): 135, 139.
135
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 7 (April 1873): 11.

107
plenty to tempt them.”136 In some instances, criticism regarding fashion and the opera was

mentioned in its particular: “White ermine capes, which were once so fashionable, have once

more made their appearance at the opera, and promises [sic] to become quite the rage.”137 Notice

was given in 1878 that “some elegant mits for opera come as high as $30 a pair.”138

In preparation for Cincinnati’s fifth May Festival, the Visitor reported: “The leaders of

fashion have decided that it will not be ‘the thing’ for ladies to wear large hats at the Festival.”139

Apparently it was not considered courteous to voice complaints regarding hats. A reprint from

the Musical Times in 1879 regarding “pyramidal and colossal bonnets” had condemned wearing

hats as an “an outrage.” However, this “feeling is not openly avowed, courtesy forbidding its

open utterance, but it nevertheless is strong.”140 Some years later, James R. Murray noted that

beginning November 1, 1893, ladies would not be admitted into the orchestra stalls of the Paris

Opera unless they removed their hats.141 He wished that such a requirement could be universal.

The problem of large hats was not restricted to theaters or opera houses. The program for the first

concert held in the new building for the Neave Music School in Salisbury, North Carolina, also

included a reference to women’s hats. It would be impossible to see the performers if women

wore “daytime, outdoor head-dresses.” The principal suggested a light scarf for the night air,

which could be removed when seated.142

Elson provided insight into Boston’s audience behavior. “It is a strange fact that the

136
“Boston,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 12 (September 1873): 5.
137
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 4 (January 1873): 10.
138
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 3 (December 1878): 79.
139
“May Festival Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 8 (May 1882): 208.
140
“The Battle of the Bonnets,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 2 (November 1879): 41.
141
The Musical Visitor 22, no. 11 (November 1893): 292.
142
The Musical Visitor 23, no. 4 (April 1894): 92–93.

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public rehearsals of the orchestra on Friday afternoons are far more fashionable than the

concerts . . . on Saturday evenings.” The concerts are better “but it is a society fad (and Boston is

the home of fads) to be present on Friday afternoons.”143 Elson referred to women who attended

the matinee rehearsals as he addressed the situation again in his next correspondence. The Friday

afternoon rehearsals were “feminine” and more fashionable than the Saturday evening concert.

The ticket price for the rehearsal was more than twice that of the concert. He concluded by

mentioning that the audience for grand opera in Boston had not been cultivated for this “best of

musical forms.” The audience for the symphony and opera were “entirely different in their

composition.”144

Women’s couture on stage also came under close scrutiny. Contralto Annie Louise Cary

expressed anxiety about appearing in tights: “I don’t suppose I’ll ever get over stage fright. I

don’t like to appear in tights either. I suppose it’s because I’m an American girl.” Cary admitted

that she never put on tights without thinking of a story told about her by “a wicked

newspaperman” some years ago. “It said that a party of ladies were [sic] praising me up in a

parlor one morning, and saying how modest and nice I was in dress and actions. ‘So unlike the

general run of these opera singers,’ said one of the ladies, and, turning to a gentleman, she said:

‘By the way, Mr. Jones, were you at the opera last night; how was Miss Cary dressed?’ ‘In

tights,’ was the answer, and the conversation changed.”145 In December 1885 Murray gleaned the

following from another source: “Mme. Nevada is hardly to blame for displaying her wedding

trosseau [sic] upon the stage, as there is a certain demand for this sort of thing among women of

143
Proteus [Louis Elson], “Music in Boston,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 11 (November 1890): 291. The
Boston Symphony Orchestra still offers Friday matinees.
144
Proteus [Louis Elson], “Music in Boston,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 12 (December 1890): 318–19.
145
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 9 (June 1881): 247. Cary was popular as
Siebel, a trouser role, in Gounod’s Faust. Krehbiel, Chapters of Opera, 92.

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fashion, but it is not art and is in very bad taste.”146

Men’s concert fashion was rarely mentioned, but the dangers of a ready-made coat were

illustrated in the following report. While Heinrich Zoellner had been conducting the chorus, his

“ready-made” coat had begun to rip up the back until it was nearly torn in half. This had caused

much amusement for the audience and surprise to the chorus at a concert of the Seventeenth

National Saengerfest held in 1894 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. “When he

turned his back to the singers a mighty roar shook the building to the foundation.” When he

returned he had “exchanged the wrecked garment for a whole coat.”147

Columnists for the Visitor encouraged a reverential attitude of the audience whether for

opera house, theater, or church, and regardless of class. It was considered bad form for anyone to

disrupt the performance and others’ enjoyment of it, and was disrespectful to the performers. The

problem of thoughtless behavior extended to school concerts as well, and silence was requested

of all in attendance at Mrs. Neave’s music school in North Carolina. In much of the reporting in

the Visitor, upper-class audience members, whether in the United States or Europe, were not, for

the most part, singled out as exemplary. Lawrence Levine’s theory of the “sacralization of

culture” has exaggerated the influence of the elite at the expense of the majority. His emphasis

on social control overlooks, for the most part, audience behavior. The issue of proper behavior

was not restricted to class or locale, and ethnic tensions surface in reports. In addition, the

audience was called upon to help control ticket prices and to influence programming. The Visitor

reported on the proceedings and the humor, even sarcasm, used in an attempt to bring about

changes both at home and abroad.

146
“Gleanings,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 12 (December 1885): 324. Nevada’s real name was Emma
Wixom. The soprano’s surname was taken from her home town near Nevada City, CA. Baker’s Biographical
Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed.
147
“Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 8 (August 1894): 207. The marketing of men’s clothing
had been “dominated by ready-to-wear goods since the standardization of sizes and the conversion of uniform
manufactures” following the Civil War. Barron, Mixed Harvest, 173.

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 CHAPTER 3

CONFLICT AND COMPROMISE: AMERICAN NATIONALISM AND EUROPEAN

INFLUENCE

Scholars conducting research on American music of the nineteenth century are

continually fascinated, energized, and––occasionally––somewhat dismayed by the huge
amount of research that remains to be done. . . .[W]e do not yet know enough about the
music written by Americans of the period, or about the various important roles that music
(in general) played in the lives of the people who inhabited North America during the
century.
–––Katherine K. Preston1

Nationalism is defined as loyalty and devotion to a nation: a sense of national

consciousness exalting one nation above all others, and placing primary emphasis on promotion

of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups.2 Richard

Taruskin defines nationalism as “the doctrine or theory according to which the primary

determinant of human character and destiny, and the primary object of social and political

allegiance, is the particular nation to which an individual belongs.” Taruskin’s introduction to the

term ends with “nationalism is an attitude.”3 Studies in American nationalism in music have

most often focused on Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s arrival in New York in the fall of 1892

to direct the National Conservatory of Music and the reception of his Symphony no. 9, “From the

New World,” both topics of controversy.4

The interaction between the United States and Europe also figured prominently in the

1
Katherine K. Preston, “American Musical Life of the Late Nineteenth Century, American Music 21
(2003): 255–59.
2
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, s.v. “nationalism,” a noun dating from 1844.
3
Richard Taruskin, “Nationalism,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed.
Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 17:689.
4
Charles Hamm, Music in the New World (New York: W. W. Norton, 1979), 410–16; Richard Crawford,
America’s Musical Life: A History (New York: W. W. Norton, 2001), 383–84.

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pages of the Visitor from its inception in October 1871 to December 1897. In the Visitor,

Cincinnati publisher John Church and his editors promoted American musicians and artists as

equal, if not sometimes superior, to their European counterparts.5 On one hand, an 1874 article

on songwriters mentioned the prominence of the English language, “but ingrafted [sic] upon that

language are words and phrases which sprung up in our American soil. They may not always be

refined, classical, or elegant, but they sprang forth because they were needed, like plants

indigenous to the soil.”6 Perhaps the author was mindful of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1837 lecture

entitled “The American Scholar,” which advocated American independence from European

cultural models.7 On the other hand, the Visitor also made frequent mention of European musical

experience and training of American singers and instrumentalists, a boon to an operatic or a

concert career. E. Douglas Bomberger has studied the German musical training of nearly five

thousand American students in Germany from 1850 to 1900. He has concluded, “The high

numbers suggest that Americans assumed the professional training for musicians in Germany

was superior to anything available in their own country at that time, and . . . many of them

received a thorough technical basis during their student days in Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Berlin.”8

Thus, expedience tempered American nationalism in the arts. This chapter will address music for

5
“A Gratifying Innovation,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 1 (October 1871): 5; “The Advent of European
Artists,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 6.
6
“The Song-Writer,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 12 (September 1874): 9.
7
Emerson visited and lectured in Cincinnati five times between 1850 and 1867. Robert C. Vitz, The Queen
and the Arts: Cultural Life in Nineteenth-century Cincinnati (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1989), 54–55.
According to Dale Patrick Brown, Emerson presented three lectures for the Mercantile Library Association:
in 1852 on “The Anglo Saxon,” in 1857 on “The Conduct of Life,” and in 1860 on “Manners.” Dale Patrick Brown,
Brilliance and Balderdash: Early Lectures at Cincinnati’s Mercantile Library (Cincinnati: The Mercantile Library,
2007), 18–23, 131, 144, 149. The Visitor editor James R. Murray quoted Emerson on music and rhyme in 1889.
James R. Murray, “Editorial Notes,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 2 (February 1889): 36.
8
Elam Douglas Bomberger, “The German Musical Training of American Students, 1850–1900” (PhD diss.,
University of Maryland, 1991), 38–39. Bomberger suggests, however, that given the “lure of European travel” some
of the students who attended the Dresden and Stuttgart Conservatories “may have used a music conservatory to give
some structure to what was really more of a sight-seeing or cultural visit.” Bomberger, “The German Musical
Training of American Students,” 219.

112
presidents and election campaigns amid lingering tensions in the post-bellum period, European

versus American training and performance, and issues surrounding touring artists and the “star”

system, as well as music criticism, in order to demonstrate the Visitor’s role in a bourgeoning

American nationalism.

Brass Bands, Presidents, and Commercialism

The Visitor’s advertisements, articles, and music provide a window on the contemporary

musical scene and on such national concerns as unity following the Civil War, the temperance

movement, and domestic prosperity. Brass bands, popular in the late nineteenth century, were a

useful part of presidential campaigns. According to author Irwin Silber, “From 1840 to 1916,

campaign music was an indispensable part of every presidential election.”9

Composer and author Mary Hubbell Osburn has noted that American campaign songs

have “frequently centered in Ohio” since many presidents had been born there.10 Five of the

seven Ohio-born presidents were elected during the Visitor’s run (October 1871–December

1897). In addition, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was formed on November 18,

1874, in Cleveland, Ohio. Its goal was to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol. The single-

issue Prohibition Party fielded candidates in the presidential elections of 1888 and 1892, and

John Church and Company published and advertised temperance songs for various candidates.

The first issue of the Visitor included an advertisement for brass band music published by

Church and instruments sold by his company, along with this notice: “ATTENTION BRASS

BANDS. In view of the approaching Presidential Campaign, we take this method of calling the

9
Irwin Silber, Songs America Voted By (Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1988), 18.
10
Mary Hubbell Osburn, Ohio Composers and Musical Authors (Columbus: F. J. Heer Printing Company,
1942), 10, 146–47. Presidents born in Ohio include Ulysses S. Grant (in office 1869–1877), Rutherford B. Hayes
(1877–1881), James A. Garfield (1881), Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893), William McKinley (1897–1901), William
Howard Taft (1909–1913), and Warren G. Harding (1921–1923). Hayes had served as governor of Ohio from 1868
to 1876; McKinley had been Ohio’s governor from 1892 to 1896.

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attention of Military Bands, Amateurs, Musicians and the public generally to our extensive stock

of really First Class Brass and German Silver Band Instruments.”11 The following year Ulysses

S. Grant ran for a second term against Horace Greeley, editor of the New-York Tribune,

nominated at a convention held in Cincinnati in May 1872. The main issue continued to be

Reconstruction, and Grant’s prestige as a war hero helped to carry the day for Republicans.12

Advertisements for music published by John Church and Company usually appeared

under the “Publishers Department” or “Monthly Bulletin of New Music.” Church published and

advertised (Oskar?) Pape’s “Greeley Campaign March” for piano as “Brilliant and Stirring.”13

Some campaign music and song texts were also printed in the journal. Pape’s “Campaign:

Grand March” for piano appeared in the July issue.14 Generic piano pieces were useful for

any candidate’s campaign, regardless of party affiliation. A reelection song for Grant, “Four

Years More,” a quartet for men’s voices (TTBB) with a tempo indication of “Con Electo,” and

words and music by Philip P. Bliss, appeared in the June 1872 issue. Addressed to men of the

North and South, East and West, it indicated a desire for peace in the land and for farmers

11
Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 1 (October 1871): 24.
12
William A. DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 3rd ed. (New York: Barricade Books,
1991), 267. Horace Greeley’s What I Know of Farming had been published in 1871. In a Cincinnati performance of
Balfe’s Bohemian Girl in November, bass Edward Seguin as Devilshoof “took the audience by storm” when he
departed from the text. When he entered Arline’s apartment, he exposed “his want of familiarity with civilized life
by using face powder on his shoes, and looking curiously at the books and other articles in the room. Taking a book
he advanced to the footlights, looked at the pages a moment, and read the title, ‘What I Know about Farming.’ It was
so irresistibly droll, so delicate and timely a suggestion of a popular humor, that, in spite of the artistic sin, there was
no technical goose present to rebuke it. Everybody laughed, and laughed again. Horace Greeley himself would have
laughed at it.” “Home Amusements,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 3 (December 1872): 8–9. Greeley died on
November 29, 1872, prior to electoral balloting; the Visitor’s deadline for publication had been November 20.
Presumably many in the audience would have voted for their Ohio native Grant, who carried the state of Ohio.
According to Dale Patrick Brown, Greeley had attended the convention held in Cincinnati. Brown, Brilliance and
Balderdash, 6. However, biographer James Parton claims that Greeley was in New York at the time. He responded
to the nomination by telegram on May 3. Greeley’s nomination was greeted with caricature and burlesque. During
one of his campaign tours of New England by train, he observed a scarecrow with a sign that read “what I know
about being defeated.” James Parton, The Life of Horace Greeley: Editor of the New-York Tribune, from his Birth to
the Present Time, 7th ed. (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1885), 544–45, 549.
13
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 9 (June 1872): 21.
14
Oskar Pape, “Campaign: Grand March,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 10 (July 1872): 16–19.

114
and a concern for national unity, noting in the third stanza that the “sons of the Southland fall in

line.”15 Keyboard accompaniment made the song accessible for domestic settings. In November

1872, however, editor Frank H. King faulted Grant for a slow response in providing funds for

exhibits at the upcoming Vienna Exposition. Artisans and instrument makers would be rushed,

resulting in less than perfect workmanship from the country that plays “second fiddle” to none.16

Grant’s death in 1885 brought forth the following message from the Reverend Dr.

Newman who had been at his bedside: “Gen. Grant can lie down to his everlasting rest as

peacefully and fearlessly as befits the greatest Christian soldier the world has ever known.” The

obituary continued: “The South and the North unite to do honor to his memory. The East and

15
Pro Phundo Basso [Philip P. Bliss], “Four Years More,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 9 (June 1872):
18–20. The three stanzas for the song were printed under the “Publishers Department,” in the same issue on p. 21.
Grant, in his inaugural address delivered on March 4, 1873, stated that he would work toward “the restoration of
good feeling between different sections of our common country.” James M. McPherson, gen. ed., “To the Best of My
Ability”: The American Presidents, rev. ed. (New York: DK Publishing, 2004), 377.

Stand by the Union, soldiers true, Four years more, Four years more;
Stand by the old Red, White and Blue, four years more!
Peace to the Nation, East and West; peace to the land we love the best;
Peace to the “Farmer,” let him rest, four years more!

List’ to Columbia’s earnest call, Four years more, Four years more!
GRANT her the favor, voters all, four years more!
Tell to the world that men are true, tell to the world both old and new,
Tell to the world that GRANT WILL DO, four years more!

Men of the Northland all combine, Four years more, Four years more!
Sons of the Southland fall in line, four years more;
U. S. A. for government, U. S. N. for armament;
U. S. G. for President, Four years more!

In a related vein, a letter to the editor of the Visitor from a writer in New Orleans in February 1872 read in part: “I
observe that you publish entertaining correspondence from Boston, New York, and other cities, East and West, but
have so far left New Orleans out in the cold. While it is true that we are (unfortunately, perhaps), a long way from
the ‘finished edge,’ it is also true that we have theaters, and concerts, and opera occasionally here, so I venture to
creep in uninvited, with the implied understanding that you thrust me out if I am not wanted.” The writer goes on to
report on activities at theaters, the Academy of Music, and the Opera House, ending with “if you publish this, expect
to hear again from Delta.” Delta, “New Orleans,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 5 (February 1872): 5.
16
Frank H. King, ed., “The Vienna Exposition,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 2 (November 1872): 8. An
editorial in 1879 faulted the “more prominent” American piano manufacturers for their poor showing at the 1878
Paris Exposition. The controversies “growing out of their contest at the Centennial Exhibition” resulted in fewer
exhibits. “Surely this is not a record for the country that produces the best pianos in the world to be proud of.”
Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 10 (July 1879): 272.

115
West rival each other in appropriately recognizing the great loss that has come upon the nation.”

Editor James R. Murray reminisced about his first glimpse of General Grant in the wilderness, on

May 5, 1864, less than an hour prior to the battle. Murray had subsequently seen him again: “Our

last interview with him was in Chicago just before his elevation to the Presidency. After a

pleasant evening spent on the porch of his brother’s house which adjoined ours, he gave us a

hearty grasp of the hand, and a kind good night, leaving us with a pleasant impression . . . of

greatness allied to humility, of dignity combined with gentleness.”17 A funeral march for piano

by “Winthrop” (likely a pseudonym of James R. Murray), dedicated to the memory of General

Grant, appeared in the same August 1885 issue.18 Clearly Murray remembered Grant as “simple

and unpretentious,” as read an advertisement for the funeral march published by the John Church

Company.19 The Visitor made no reference, however, to his time in office. According to historian

Michael Les Benedict, “Ulysses S. Grant is commonly considered a great general who made a

terrible president . . . and it’s likely that many of Grant’s contemporaries would have agreed with

this assessment.” Grant was “blasted for his partisanship and for winking at corruption all around

him.”20

The theme of reform dominated the hotly contested Centennial year presidential

campaign between Ohio’s Republican Governor Rutherford B. Hayes and New York’s

multimillionaire governor Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. The Republicans had nominated Hayes at

a convention held in Cincinnati in June 1876.21 That month the Visitor had advertised two

17
“General Grant. Died, July 23, 1885,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 8 (August 1885): 206–7. The Battle of
the Wilderness [in Virginia] took place May 5–12, 1864; the most famous of Grant’s war horses was named
“Cincinnati.” Jean Edward Smith, Grant (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001), 303, 316–33.
18
“The Nation Mourns,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 8 (August 1885): 212–14. The trio of the march is
based on an “Air by P. P. Bliss.” I have been unable to identify it.
19
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 8 (August 1885): i.
20
Michael Les Benedict, “Ulysses S. Grant,” in McPherson, “To the Best of My Ability,” 132.
21
DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 284.

116
marches for the campaign: “Gov. Hayes’ Grand March” and “Gen. Bristow’s Grand March,”

both by (Sidney?) Ryan.22 Benjamin H. Bristow had served as Secretary of the Treasury from

1874 to 1876 under President Grant. Bristow had “purged corrupt officials and exposed the

Whiskey Ring scandal” and was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.23

Hayes’s heroism as a Civil War general and “his record as a reform governor” made him an

attractive candidate.24 In July the Visitor advertised five vocal and three instrumental works for

the Republican candidate. The Publishers Department Bulletin ended with the notice:

“Democratic Campaign Music will be announced in this journal as soon as the Candidates are

known.”25 The following month Church advertised ten works for the Republican ticket and three

for the ticket of Tilden and Hendricks.26 In the same issue the editor commented on the

campaign:

It is not well to mix art with politics; the pure atmosphere of the one must not be tainted
with the corruption of the other. . . . But if there is a possibility of politics being in any
degree purified by the injection of a little art into its diseased corporosity [sic], there is
reason to hope for reform during the present campaign; that is, if there is any of the purity
of art in the “hurrah” songs that are pouring in such a flood from the music presses.
Never before has there been so many as now, and no one will dispute the influence of

22
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 9 (June 1876): 236. The bulletin read that “both
of the eminent men . . . have a good and equal chance for achieving victory.” Campaign songs could be composed
for the nomination process as well.
23
DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 269.
24
James A. Rawley, “Rutherford B. Hayes,” in McPherson, “To the Best of My Ability,” 141.
25
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 10 (July 1876): 264. Two of the works for
Hayes were composed by Asa Hutchinson of the Hutchinson Family. “See the People Turning Out” was sung at the
nomination of Hayes and Wheeler at Cincinnati on June 16. The fifth verse of “For Hayes, a Blaze of Golden
Days!” includes “Freedom for whites, blacks, women, and all!” Like the Hutchinson family, Lucy Webb Hayes was
well known for her political views on slavery, suffrage, and temperance. Dale Cockrell, “Hutchinson,” in The Grove
Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013),
4:287–88; DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 282–83.
26
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 11 (August 1876): 292, 307.

117
 these hastily made songs in forming the popular opinion and shaping the final result of
the campaign.27

A new advertisement for Hayes in September for a “stirring quartet” by Philip P. Bliss

referred to the Civil War: “Stand by the union, soldiers true––Vote for Hayes; Stand by the old

Red, White, and Blue––Vote for Hayes! Vote for Hayes!”28 Tilden won the popular vote but lost

the election. Hayes’s congressional supporters agreed to remove the remaining Federal troops

from the South, ending Reconstruction, in exchange for allowing the Hayes victory to stand. In

his inaugural address, Hayes assured the citizenry that he would tend to their needs regardless of

color and that he earnestly desired a “united country.”29

An advertisement for band instruments appeared in the August 1880 Visitor “For the

Presidential Campaign”30 between Union Generals James A. Garfield and Winfield S. Hancock.

The same issue advertised three works for each candidate. In September the Visitor advertised

thirteen works for the Republican ticket and eight for the Democrats.31 The Democrats had

27
“Editor’s Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 11 (August 1876): 290.
28
“Campaign Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 12 (September 1876): 334.
29
McPherson, “To the Best of My Ability,” 378–79. A letter to the editor from “a valued correspondent”
and “an earnest musician” in Louisiana complained about “[Gen.] Sheridan’s premature and false statement that we
are a set of ‘banditti.’ God knows we wish to blot out all memory of the late bitter feud, and to feel there is ‘no
North no South,’ and are trying to have ‘good will to all men.’” The editor responded that the Visitor had no wish to
soil its hands with the dirt of “political quagmire.” However, it could feel “for the unpleasant condition of its
Southern friends, and know when a cowardly blow has been leveled at the defenseless. It is unfortunate that in time
of peace we can not revere our warriors in peaceful retirement, and give the statesmen the reins of politics.” The
stories of “‘protection against domestic violence’” could not conceal the “outrages of unconstitutional, unauthorized
military interference on the part of the administration in the South.” “Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 4, no. 5 (February 1875): 10. Reference was made to an article in Appleton’s Journal that General
Robert E. Lee had “died of a broken heart, on account of the sufferings of the Southern people he could not relieve.”
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 5 (February 1875): 11. President Hayes attended the
Seventh Industrial Exposition in Cincinnati in September 1879. A parade included music from “a dozen brass
bands,” and streets were crowded with people and “vehicles of every description.” Hayes, and other distinguished
guests, gave speeches at Music Hall on opening night, September 10. “The Seventh Industrial Exposition,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 9, no. 1 (October 1879): 12.
30
“New Political Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 11 (August 1880): 305, 318.
31
Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 12 (September 1880): 346.

118
nominated Hancock at their national convention held in Cincinnati in June 1880.32 Apparently

voters could tire of campaign music and activities as described by a writer from Boston:

The election happily is over, and the noisy bass-drum, as it guides the sinuous steps of the
returning torch-bearer, no more assails the affrighted midnight air. Now that peace and
tranquility have once more asserted themselves, and pandemonium is hushed, there will
be an increased attention to the commoner affairs of life.33

Grant’s death in 1885 provided an opportunity for the nation to heal, as had the music for

Garfield’s assassination in 1881. H. R. Palmer’s song and chorus with piano accompaniment

“Peace, Be Still” had been intended to calm the nation after the shooting.34 Charles Guiteau had

shot Garfield on July 2, 1881, but the president did not die until September 19. The following

interpretation of the events appeared in the Visitor:

In expression of just indignation at the awful crime and in profoundest sympathy with
General Garfield and his family there is no North, no South, no East, no West . . . .
Political diplomacy could not have accomplished in years, the fusion which this attempt
upon the life of the President has evidently brought about in these few weeks. The South
especially has been profuse in expressions of love for the victim and disgust and
contempt for the thing called Guiteau. A Southern Governor was the first to propose and
appoint a day of prayer and supplication for the President’s recovery.35

This entry was followed by a quote from the Atlanta Constitutionalist: “If the President recover,

he must visit his Southern friends. We of the South have learned to love him. He would love us if

32
DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 300.
33
Clifford, “Boston,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 3 (December 1880): 73. Garfield, a moderate social
drinker, “rejected pleas from temperance groups” to take the pledge of abstinence. DeGregorio, The Complete Book
of U.S. Presidents, 296. John Church and Company published and advertised the House of Rechab, a Temperance
Cantata by A. C. Gutterson, promoting total abstinence. The publisher consigned the work “to the temperance
organizations which are striving to reform the dissipated, this Cantata is respectfully dedicated, with the hope that its
representation may not only afford profit and pleasure, but also be an assistant in the cause of reform.” Church’s
Musical Visitor 9, no. 2 (November 1879): 56.
34
H. R. Palmer, “Peace, Be Still,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 298, 310–12. The
text, by Miss M. S. Baker, is in the form of a prayer.
35
“Our President,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 298–99.

119
he knew us better.”36 The Visitor described “God Save Our President!” and “The Nation’s

Prayer” by editor James R. Murray as having “strong, stirring melodies, pleasing harmony and

choice words. They fittingly express the sentiments and prayers of the people at this time, both

for the safety of the nation and the recovery of its honored head.”37

Garfield’s obituary in the October 1881 Visitor refers to him as “our second martyr” and

reprints his words, uttered at the time of Lincoln’s assassination, to comfort and “lighten the

gloom” felt in the country. The obituary ends: “Now cracks a noble heart; Good-night, Sweet

Prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,”38 which presumed readers’ familiarity with

Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Hamlet, Act 5, scene 2. Garfield’s burial took place on September 26,

1881. That evening a large audience attended a rehearsal of the May Festival chorus led by

Arthur Mees. Selections from Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum were

rehearsed on the solemn occasion.39 Three of the four works printed in the October 1881 issue

were a response to Garfield’s death. Thomas P. Westendorf dedicated “Furl the Old Flag, There

Will Be No Rejoicing” to General Garfield’s memory, and James R. Murray composed “Mother

in the Doorway Waiting,” and arranged and partly composed “President Garfield’s Requiem

March.”40

36
Ibid.
37
J. R. Murray, “God Save Our President!” and “The Nation’s Prayer,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12
(September 1881): 318; “Publishers Department: Two Timely National Songs,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12
(September 1881): 333.
38
“James A. Garfield,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 10. For more information on
Garfield’s assassination, see James W. Clarke, American Assassins: The Darker Side of Politics (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1982), 204–12. According to Lawrence Levine, Shakespearean drama was parodied in
minstrel shows, thus the American public must have been familiar with his works. Lawrence Levine,
Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1988), 3–4, 13–14, 27.
39
“Home Musical Record,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 2 (November 1881): 39. Both works were
programmed for the 1882 May Festival.
40
Thomas P. Westendorf, “Furl the Old Flag, There Will Be No Rejoicing”; James R. Murray, “President
Garfield’s Requiem March” and “Mother in the Doorway Waiting.” Murray prefaced the latter with a scenario:
“President Garfield’s aged mother is stopping with her niece at Hiram. She receives frequent messages from

120
 The Visitor first printed George F. Root’s “No Section Lines” in January 1884

and promoted it as a national anthem.41 “We believe it will prove to be the long-sought-

for National song, which America has been looking for so long.”42 The song had been “the

prominent feature of the War Concert held last month at Akron, O[hio]. Dr. Root has written the

national anthem of America.”43Apparently the solo and chorus received insufficient support as a

national anthem; in July of that year it was advertised for campaign use. Like Bliss’s song for

Grant, Root’s number stressed post-Civil War unity.44 C. C. Case’s “Our Nation Forever,”

printed in the October 1883 Visitor, likewise expressed a desire for national unity.45

As late as 1892, Root’s concern for unity included his desire to change the wording of the

last stanza and chorus of his Civil War song “The Battle Cry of Freedom.” He considered

Washington, and spends much of her time at the front door of the house anxiously waiting for the messenger who
brings her the dispatches. She is much agitated by fears of the worst, yet she clings tenaciously to hope.” Church’s
Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 17–25. According to Wayne Shirley, Garfield’s assassination produced the
greatest outpouring of music during the period 1870–1885, rivaled only by the music written to mourn Grant’s
death. Wayne D. Shirley, “Music Published in America, 1870–1885: Music for Public Occasions,”
http://memory,loc,gov/ammem (accessed May 26, 2007).
41
Geo. F. Root, “No Section Lines,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 1 (January 1884): 16–18.
42
“Publishers Department, New Music, Vocal,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 1 (January 1884): 15.
43
“Concerts and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 1 (January 1884): 12.
44
The text for Root’s “No Section Lines” reads:

No section lines, no North, no South,

No East, my boys, no West;
’Tis one and undivided now,
This land, to us, the best.

North, south, east, west, as compass-points

Are good enough, no doubt;
But when they sever hearts and hands,
Why then we cast them out.

“Publishers Department,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 1 (January 1884): 15. According to Carl Dahlhaus, the most
important element in a national anthem is “the expression of national pride and emotion.” Furthermore, the “national
significance . . . of a musical phenomenon is to no small degree a matter of the way it is received by audiences . . . .”
Carl Dahlhaus, Between Romanticism and Modernism: Four Studies in the Music of the Later Nineteenth Century,
trans. Mary Whittall (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980), 86–87. Apparently not everyone who heard
“No Section Lines” was convinced that the song would be appropriate as a national anthem.
45
C. C. Case, “Our Nation Forever,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 10 (October 1883): 274–76.

121
changing the last stanza from “And we’ll hurl the rebel from the land we love the best” to “And

if need be we will die for the land we love the best.” In the chorus Root’s “Down with the

traitor, up with the star” would become “Bright in its glory shines every star!”46 Editor Murray

responded: “The old soldiers on both sides have long ago shook hands and made up . . . and we

do not believe that either Union or confederate want the old songs changed one iota from the

way they sang them . . . .”47

Humor and the portable barrel organ also came into play in regard to presidential

elections. An article appeared in June 1884 regarding the use of the barrel organ and popular

tunes. The Irish were targeted with “St. Patrick’s Day,” which “has to be put on almost every

barrel. This is not a revival but is to prevent the musician being mobbed in Irish communities for

daring to come around without it.” Of the dances to be included, the jig was the most important.

The rural resident was similarly disparaged. Something from Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S.

Pinafore would need to be included: “There are folks who live so far up country that Pinafore is

just beginning to be whistled by the young men who affect metropolitan ways.”48 Thus, the

Visitor article demeaned the Irish-American, rural Americans, and Italian-Americans with the

barrel organ. According to Irwin Silber, the 1880 campaign was the first to use Gilbert and

Sullivan, specifically a parody of “When I Was a Lad” from H.M.S. Pinafore, on behalf of a

46
George F. Root, “The Grand Central, New York,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 10 (October 1892): 272.
47
“The Battle Cry of Freedom,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 10 (October 1892): 277. The Civil War was
remembered in art and sculpture as well. Artistic renderings were in demand for veterans’ clubs, soldiers’ homes,
and public buildings. James Hope, for example, painted three views of the Battle of Antietam ca. 1892. Harold
Holzer and Mark E. Neely, Jr., Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: The Civil War in Art (New York: Orion Books,
1993), ix, 12–13. It was noted in 1873 that an equestrian statue of Major-General George H. Thomas was to be
erected in Washington, “and eighty-eight condemned cannon will be melted down for it.” The Society of the Army
of the Cumberland was scheduled to meet in Pittsburgh in September to expedite completion of the project. “Chisel
and Brush,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 11 (August 1873): 11.
48
“What They Are Loaded With: Facts about the Barrel Organs to Be Used in the Campaign of 1884,”
Musical Visitor 13, no. 6 (June 1884): 154. The Republicans were confident of winning over thousands of
traditionally Democrat Irish-American voters. David Saville Muzzey, James G. Blaine: A Political Idol of Other
Days (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1934), 308.

122
political candidate.49

Most of the subsequent month’s advertisements for the 1884 election were for the

Republican ticket of Blaine and Logan.50 An advertisement for band instruments reads:

Music plays a most important part in all Presidential Campaigns. New bands must be
organized, and old ones thoroughly refitted with the Best Instruments. . . . In order to
secure profitable engagements, and plenty of them, leaders and members of bands should
prepare themselves now! The best bands having the best instruments and latest music will
find plenty to do during the campaign.

The Blaine and Logan Campaign Songster, published by John Church and Company, included

biographical sketches of the 1884 nominees and a constitution for campaign clubs. “The aim of

this little work is to supply the Republican party with songs that are worth singing. . . .”51

Apparently presidential campaigns could also be useful for promoting piano sales, as

the following entry demonstrates:

Hon. James G. Blaine, the Republican candidate for the Presidency, is one of the many
celebrities of national fame who have chosen Knabe pianos. The Plumed Knight selected
a Cabinet Grand rosewood Upright. President [Chester A.] Arthur purchased a Knabe
Grand for the White House not long since. The Knabe pianos should thus play an
important part in restoring harmony among the factions of the grand old party.52

49
Silber, Songs America Voted By, 119.
50
According to Wayne Shirley, there are more campaign songs for James G. Blaine in the Library of
Congress Music Division’s collection than for any other candidate for the 1884 election, but he lost anyway. Shirley,
“Music Published in America, 1870–1885. Union General John A. Logan (1826–1886) founded Decoration Day, or
Memorial Day, when he had flowers placed on the graves of soldiers on May 30, 1868. Encyclopædia Britannica,
15th ed., s.v. “Logan, John A(lexander).”
51
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): i, ii.
52
“Musical Hopper,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): 182. Blaine (1830–1893) became known as
the “Plumed Knight” for his eloquence and leadership as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Muzzey,
James G. Blaine: A Political Idol of Other Days, 62–63, 71–72, 110. Reformist Republicans who bolted from the
party, known as “Mugwumps,” were unhappy with the choice of Blaine as the presidential candidate; instead they
supported the nomination of Democrat Grover Cleveland. Chester A. Arthur, who succeeded Garfield after his
assassination in 1881, was not supported by “patronage-hungry Stalwarts” in the Republican party. McPherson, “To
the Best of My Ability,” 384. President Arthur ordered a new Knabe rosewood grand piano, which was delivered to
the White House on December 13, 1882. Elise Kirk, Music at the White House: A History of the American Spirit,
Music in American Life (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986), 126. The Baldwin Piano Company of
Cincinnati presented first lady Helen Taft, a Cincinnati native and graduate of Cincinnati’s College of Music of with

123
John Church and Company advertised and sold Knabe pianos.

A notice appeared in the August Visitor that “campaign music, of all descriptions, for

voices, piano, or brass bands, may be had of our publishers, who were first in the field this

year with music of this character.”53 Eight works were advertised for the candidates: seven for

the Republican ticket of Blaine and Logan, one for Democrat Grover Cleveland, and two

unspecified quicksteps and a march for brass band. Thomas P. Westendorf composed a song and

chorus for Blaine and Logan, and a song and chorus for Cleveland.54 Ohio native William H.

Pontius contributed two generic solo piano works for the 1884 campaign: “We Shall Win

Quickstep” and “Campaign March.”55 The 1884 campaign was focused more on the morality of

the candidates than on political issues. Blaine was accused of profiting from railroad interests as

a member of Congress; Grover Cleveland accepted responsibility for fathering a son out-of-

wedlock.56

John Church and Company published Richard Stahl’s celebratory “Grand Inauguration

March,” op. 246. The march was to be performed by the Marine Band for Cleveland’s

inauguration on March 4, 1885. Stahl dedicated the work to then President-elect Cleveland, who

accepted the dedication in a letter to the composer dated December 20, 1884:

Executive Mansion, Albany, N.Y.

a parlor grand soon after she moved to the White House in 1909. Kirk, Music at the White House, 188; DeGregorio,
The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 396.
53
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 209.
54
“Stirring Campaign Music” and “Publishers Department,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): i,
211.
55
W. H. Pontius, “Campaign March,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): 188–91. “We Shall Win
Quickstep,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 212–14. William H. Pontius, active in Ohio, especially in
Mansfield, conducted choral festivals. He composed choral works, and sacred and secular songs. Osburn, Ohio
Composers and Musical Authors, 153.
56
DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 322, 325–26.

124
 Dear Sir: It gives me great pleasure to comply with your request, and consent to the
dedication to me of the “Grand Inauguration March” mentioned in your letter of the 18th
inst.

Yours Truly,

Grover Cleveland.57

Church also published the work in arrangements for piano or full orchestra.

For the 1888 campaign, the John Church Company published and advertised three

campaign songbooks: Republican Campaign Songster, with sketches of Benjamin Harrison and

Levi P. Morton; Democratic Campaign Songster, with sketches of Grover Cleveland and Allen

G. Thurman; and the Prohibition Campaign Songster (for candidates Clinton B. Fisk and John

A. Brooks). Each contained songs and music, and a plan for forming campaign clubs. Of the

sheet music advertised, seven pieces were for Republicans, three for Democrats, and four for the

Prohibition Party, for which Church also published temperance songs.58 William A. May

composed “Prohibition’s Blue and Grey” and dedicated it to Major General R. E. Hudson, of the

“new order” of the Army of the Blue and the Grey.59 This seems to have been an effort aimed not

only at reconciliation, uniting the Union blue with the Confederate gray, but also presenting a

57
“Gleanings: Cleveland Inauguration March,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 2 (February 1885): 42. Richard
Stahl also composed a “Grand Inauguration March,” op. 46, for President Garfield.
58
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 8 (August 1888): i.
59
“Monthly Bulletin of New Music,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 8 (August 1888): iii. This is likely Ralph
Erskine Hudson, publisher and hymn-writer of Alliance, Ohio. His “Roll Away the Stone” had been dedicated to the
Women’s Christian Temperance Union in 1883. Osburn, Ohio Composers and Musical Authors, 104–5. His hymns
can still be found in such hymnals as Na Himeni Haipule Hawaii, Sesquicentennial ed., (Honolulu: Hawaii
Conference United Church of Christ, 1972). The temperance movement, in particular, “called forth much lyrical
effort.” Arthur Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos: A Social History (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954), 504. A
brief, humorous entry in the 1885 Visitor is sympathetic with the temperance movement: “A camel will work seven
or eight days without drinking. In this he differs from some men who drink seven or eight days without working.”
“Musical Hopper,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 7 (July 1885): 182. The camel became the animal mascot of the
Prohibition Party in 1908. The democrats were donkeys and the Republicans were elephants. The camel was the
original water wagon, and it could travel faster than the donkey or the elephant. Lisa M. F. Andersen, The Politics of
Prohibition: American Governance and the Prohibition Party, 1869–1933 (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University
Press, 2013), 2.

125
combined front in the temperance movement.60 Editor Murray commented that music plays “an

important part in all political campaigns.” He qualified the statement by noting that “those who

furnish the inspiring sounds for a party organization” are not necessarily themselves of the same

political persuasion.61 There follows an account of a German band leader who had responded to a

query as to whether he was playing for Harrison or Cleveland: “I blays dis year for

Steigenheimer, dot’s me.”62

The tariff issue dominated the 1888 campaign. Cleveland pledged a reduction and

made it clear that he opposed absolute free trade, while Harrison promised a strong protective
60
Religion was an aid to the temperance cause, but churches in the South had little to do with the
temperance movement “until long after the Civil War, for it was too inextricably linked with abolitionism.” George
W. Ewing, The Well-tempered Lyre: Songs and Verse of the Temperance Movement, Bicentennial Series in
American Music, no. 5 (Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1988), 31. Journalist Gail Collins points out
that before the Civil War, temperance movements had been led by men with the goal of reforming drunkards,
“moderation was the byword,” and some members were simply asked to drink nothing stronger than wine.
Beginning in the 1870s, however, the movement emerged as a woman’s issue with the goal of shutting down
saloons and driving all alcoholic beverages out of the country. In December 1873 about eighty women “marched up
to the saloons in Hillsboro, Ohio, demanding that they close forever.” The demonstrations continued for months and
attracted national attention. A reporter from Cincinnati interviewed a Hillsboro man who recounted that he and some
friends had walked into a bar and ordered drinks, when “the rustle of women’s wear attracted their attention,” and
when they looked up, “they saw what they thought was a crowd of a thousand ladies entering.” One of the men saw
his mother and sister, another saw his future mother-in-law. Soon thereafter women in small towns all over the state
were “kneeling in the snow before the town tavern, singing hymns and sometimes taking an ax to the bartender’s
wares.” These ostensibly “spontaneous” attacks on saloons were frequently “urged on by male temperance
lecturers,” occurring in roughly a thousand communities, and “involving tens of thousands of women” for nearly six
months. Gail Collins, America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines (New York:
HarperCollins, 2003), 316–17.
61
Murray had composed “Don’t Give Up the Flags, Boys” and advertised it as “a spirited song and chorus
inspired by the recent order of Mr. Cleveland to send the captured flags back to their original owners. It is
pardonable in an old soldier to boil over at this sycophantic act of a non-combatant, and the author, who, as a boy
musician, was in all the engagements of the Army of the Potomac, from the Wilderness to Petersburg, does not
mince matters in discussing the situation in this song. All the old soldiers and Grand Army Posts should have a
copy.” “Monthly Bulletin of New Music: Vocal,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 7 (July 1887): iv. Murray placed his
advertisement first in the “Bulletin of New Music”; he was apparently upset about the situation and took the
opportunity to remind readers that Cleveland had not served in the military during the Civil War. According to Dena
Epstein, Murray “volunteered and served in the Union throughout the war.” Dena J. Epstein, Musical Publishing in
Chicago before 1871: The Firm of Root and Cady, 1858–1871, Detroit Studies in Music Bibliography (Detroit:
Information Coordinators, 1969), 43. Cleveland had been drafted in July 1863, but had opted to pay a substitute. In
June 1887 Cleveland ordered the return of captured Confederate flags to the South. Some found the order offensive
so Cleveland looked further into the matter. When he learned that the flags were national property, not subject to
executive order, and could only be returned by an act of Congress, he ordered them to be inventoried and preserved.
Allan Nevins, Grover Cleveland: A Study in Courage (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1966), 51–52,
332–34.
62
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 9 (September 1888): 232. The “Monthly Bulletin of New Music” for
September advertised an additional six songs for the campaign. I have been unable to identify Steigenheimer.

126
tariff as a safeguard to domestic industry. The contest was extremely close.63 An advertisement

in the July 1888 issue offered vocal and instrumental music for piano, orchestra, or bands, for

“campaign meetings and processions.”64 Another entry in the same issue suggested an

invigorating campaign season. The John Church Company “will have on hand for the coming

great political campaign, all necessary material for its vigorous prosecution. Songs, marches,

with portraits of the candidates, campaign songsters, drums, fifes, and everything in the musical

line needed in a lively presidential campaign.”65 The Visitor advertised two songs for the

candidates that month: one for Cleveland and another for his running mate, Thurman.66 Murray

added further comments on the musical scene during the campaign of 1888 regarding

instruments, genres, and settings: “Piano shipments must stand aside” in favor of fifes, drums,

and other band instruments. “So also must the sentimental ballad and classic selection give

place . . . to party songs and campaign choruses. If, as the scientists say, every sound produced

sets an air wave in motion, what an invisible hullabaloo will be going on in the mystic ether this

fall.”67 The Visitor also reprinted a testimonial for Church’s decision from the American Art

Journal: “The John Church Company’s list of music for the Presidential campaign is larger than

that offered by any other house. They are having a great run on their marches, quicksteps,

campaign songs and arrangements for orchestra, brass and reed bands.”68 Thomas P. Westendorf

63
DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 337.
64
“Music for the Presidential Campaign of 1888,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): i.
65
“Musical Hopper,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): 179.
66
“Monthly Bulletin of New Music,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): iii.
67
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 8 (August 1888): 204.
68
Ibid., 208. Benjamin Harrison’s inaugural address on March 4, 1889, mentioned that the country’s “center
of population” in 1880 was “found to be near Cincinnati.” McPherson, “To the Best of My Ability,” 387.

127
composed one song each for the Democrats and for the Republicans, as did “Winthrop.”69 As

Irwin Silber has noted, it was common practice for composers to produce pieces for both

candidates towards the end of the nineteenth century.70 Cleveland won the popular vote by ninety

thousand votes but Harrison won a majority of the electoral vote.

Advertisements for the 1892 presidential campaign began in May and ended in

November. The foremost campaign issue continued to be the protective tariff. Harrison had

signed the McKinley Tariff of 1890, “which sent consumer prices rocketing,” and Cleveland

campaigned for a reduction in the tariff.71 A song titled “David and Goliath, or ‘I’m a

Democrat’” was advertised as the “First gun of the Presidential campaign of 1892, for tariff

reform, fired from the musical pen of Frank L. Bristow.”72 Church’s advertisements invited

bands and campaign singers to examine new music being prepared for the fall meetings. Drum

corps for the presidential campaign were advised to organize promptly. The Visitor advertised

Church’s new catalogue of drums, fifes, and bugles as “ready, and will be mailed FREE upon

69
“Campaign Song Books,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 8 (August 1888): i, iii. One of Westendorf’s songs,
“What’s the Matter with Harrison, He’s All Right,” is described as “A spirited campaign song founded on the saying
so popular at the Chicago Convention.”
70
Silber, Songs America Voted By, 18.
71
DeGregorio, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 339, 346, 349; Catherine Clinton, “Benjamin
Harrison,” in McPherson, “To the Best of My Ability,” 171.
72
“Monthly Bulletin of New Music,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 5 (May 1892): 148B. I have been unable
to locate a copy of the song. Frank L. Bristow, identified as Professor of Music at the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Female
Seminary, conducted a musical convention in Petersburg, Kentucky, and spent his summer vacation with friends in
Covington, Kentucky. “Personal Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 11 (August 1874): 11. He was also
mentioned as President of the Kentucky State Music Teachers’ Association. The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July
1888): 176. In 1891 Bristow was identified as musical director in the public schools of Covington, Kentucky, and
had purchased grounds and buildings for concerts and assemblies during the summer in High Bridge, Kentucky.
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 9 (September 1891): 233. An advertisement for Bristow’s Calisthenic
Exercises and Marches with Pleasing Drills and Music, published by the John Church Company, appeared in the
Visitor. The Musical Visitor 21, no. 5 (May 1892): 148A. Later Bristow is referred to as “the popular Superintendent
of Music in the Covington, Kentucky, Public Schools” and a well-known writer of characteristic pieces for school
exhibitions. A letter from M. Farley in New Iberia, Louisiana, thanked John Church and Company for publishing
Bristow’s “The Jolly Little Waiters,” which had been staged and performed by sixteen children. “City Notes,” The
Musical Visitor 22, no. 7 (July 1893): 181.

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application.”73 Democrat Grover Cleveland defeated Benjamin Harrison to serve a second term.

The Prohibition candidate had been John Bidwell of California who garnered only 2.2 percent of

the vote.74

The controversial issue of maintaining the gold standard or adopting a silver standard

dominated the 1896 campaign. According to historian Morton Keller, “McKinley became the

leading exponent of the most powerful theme of the late nineteenth-century Republican party:

American nationalism.” McKinley endorsed the gold standard and advocated high tariffs on

foreign goods to “assure prosperity for workingmen, lucrative domestic markets for farmers, and

a united and prosperous people.” Those who supported the gold standard were dubbed

“goldbugs.” William Jennings Bryan’s “call for unlimited coinage of silver carried with

it the promise of monetary inflation that would ease farmer indebtedness.” The Republicans

argued that Bryan’s plan “would create a ‘57-cent dollar’ that robbed workingmen of their just

wages.”75 The John Church Company covered both bases with “Bryan and Free Silver March”

(for piano) and “Gold is the Standard to Win” (song and chorus).76 McKinley won the election

with a sizable electoral majority.77 His inaugural address on March 4, 1897, referred to the

North and the South as no longer divided “along the old lines, but upon principles and policies,”

and he pledged that it would be his “constant aim to. . . permit nothing. . . that will arrest or

disturb this growing sentiment of unity and cooperation, this revival of esteem and

73
The Musical Visitor 21, no. 7 (July 1892): i.
74
Paul S. Boyer, et al., The Enduring Vision: A History of The American People, Concise 2nd ed.
(Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and Company, 1995), 456.
75
Morton Keller, “William McKinley,” in McPherson, “To the Best of My Ability,” 175, 176, 178, 393.
Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago in which he said “You
shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of
gold” is hailed as “perhaps the most memorable address ever delivered before a political convention.” De Gregorio,
The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, 360.
76
“Monthly Bulletin of New Music,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 9 (September 1896): iii.
77
McPherson, “To the Best of My Ability,” 393.

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affiliation. . . .”78 McKinley was reelected in 1900 but assassinated on September 6, 1901.

In addition to campaign music, the Visitor provided information regarding public

concerts by the U.S. Marine Band on the White House grounds. “An old resident, a former

attaché of the White House,” compared the gatherings of several presidents, from Franklin

Pierce to Chester A. Arthur. The anonymous author opined that the gatherings held by

Democratic Presidents Pierce and James Buchanan had been the “most fashionable.” Their

invited friends had listened to the music from the South Portico. Guests had been served light

refreshments during the afternoon. Though the concerts had been held irregularly during the war,

“President Lincoln enjoyed them very much.” President Grant “looked on usually, but took no

interest in the music.” He described the concerts under the Republican Hayes administration

as being attended by a “mob.” Republican President Arthur, however, had “raised their tone”

during the past two summers in the White House.79 According to the account of retired music

teacher Warren Walters a few years earlier, American presidents had not been “distinguished for

musical gifts.” Thomas Jefferson, however, had been the closest to being a musician with his

love of the violin, including playing for “dancing feet.” John Quincy Adams and General Grant

had not been musically inclined; likewise Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan could not be

classed as musical. Martin van Buren’s fondness of opera was thought to be “a fashionable

affectation” rather than a genuine love of music. James Madison and James Monroe had been

students of music but took no pleasure in it. Andrew Jackson, “Old Hickory,” had displayed “no

musical tendencies,” but he reportedly “loved to hear the negroes sing.” President Polk had been
78
Ibid., 396.
79
“Music for Presidents,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 1 (January 1886): 12. For the most part, Elise K. Kirk
confirms this account, although she makes no mention of a “mob” attending concerts during the Hayes presidency.
Kirk, Music at the White House, 72–74, 88–89, 103, 108, 131, 136. In 1881 six bound volumes of autographs of
“representative men and women in all departments of American business and professional life” were presented as a
testimonial to Mrs. Hayes. President and Mrs. Hayes were honored for their “exceptionally home-like life . . . while
residents of Washington, and their fondness for home music and sensible concerts.” George Root was in charge of
the musical department and his address appeared in the Visitor, along with the announcement that the volumes were
on exhibition in Chicago. “Autograph Album for Mrs. Hayes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 10 (July 1881):
270.

130
“too grave and dignified to enjoy the wooing of sweet strains; yet he was not insensible to

music.” Lincoln had been fond of “old-fashioned” or simple music, while Hayes and his wife

had preferred the gospel music of Bliss and Sankey. Then-President Garfield had “no decided

musical taste, his mind, doubtless, never having been turned in that direction.”80 In a March 1882

article regarding President Arthur and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, editor Murray began by shaming

“the despicable conduct of some of the hotel managers of Washington” in contrast to that of “our

cultured and manly President in his reception of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers” as had been

presented in a Washington paper. President Arthur had welcomed them in the library and their

agent explained: “We have called to pay our respects, not only because you are President of the

United States, but from the fact that we know you to be a warm and earnest friend of our race,

and that you have espoused our cause in early life; and we look upon you as our friend. If it

would please you, sir, we would only be too happy to sing one of our selections.” When they

sang “Steal Away to Jesus” and “the rich notes swelled and reverberated through the library,” the

President had been “deeply moved, and endeavored to brush away the tears with his hand, but

the fountain which had broken forth under the touching song refused to be staid, and taking from

his pocket his handkerchief he burst into tears and wept like a little child.” After the president

had dried his eyes, “He warmly shook each one by the hand” and said to the Reverend Dr.

Rankin: “Doctor, I have never in my life been so much moved.” President Arthur had cordially

80
Warren Walters, “White House Musicians,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 8 (May 1881): 208–9.
Walters died in Philadelphia in 1883 and had contributed short stories and articles to the Visitor. The Musical Visitor
12, no. 9 (September 1883): 234. According to Kirk, Grant preferred military music and musicians; he had “little
eye for art and less ear for music.” Lincoln was moved most by music associated with the Civil War; he was also
fond of opera. Hymns were frequently performed for President and Mrs. Hayes. Walters was likely correct in his
observation regarding Garfield. There is no evidence to suggest that he was musically minded. Kirk differs in her
opinion of John Quincy Adams in that he was fond of music: “Music to Adams had a special power and message”
and adds that First Lady Dolley Madison added “a touch of pomp” to musical proceedings. Kirk, Music at the White
House, 35–39, 41–42, 78, 80, 86, 103, 113, 115. According to historian Carl Wittke, Lincoln “was very fond of
Negro minstrelsy.” His first hearing of “Dixie” was likely in Chicago in 1860 when he reportedly “applauded
violently” and shouted twice “Let’s have it again!” Wittke points out that by 1861 this “walk-around” became the
battle cry of “half of a disrupted nation.” Carl Wittke, Tambo and Bones: A History of the American Minstrel Stage
(Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1930), 209.

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invited them to call on him whenever they were in Washington.81

Music played an important role in presidential campaigns or during times of national

grief, and the public was apparently interested in the musical tastes of its leaders. Prior to the

advent of the radio, songs, marches, and band music filled the air in support of a candidate

or a movement. Music had also been enlisted in an effort to reunite the country after the Civil

War. John Church and Company helped to provide the music as well as the instruments for

political gatherings, and families could gather around the piano and enjoy the latest offerings.

Partisanship was not openly expressed by the Visitor, but overall there were more campaign

songs advertised for Republican candidates than for Democratic ones. This is not surprising,

given that five Ohio-born Republican presidential candidates were elected during the

Visitor’s run.

European Training, the Star System, and Performances of American Musicians

Rivalry with Europe over the training of American musicians and competition from

imported leading performers were important issues in the Visitor. Despite the claims that native

musicians could get a musical training in the United States equal, if not superior, to that in

Europe, most American musicians needed to succeed in Europe in order to be appreciated at

home. A variety of related issues were discussed in the Visitor, among them audience reception,

the lack of a standard for music criticism, morals, and difficult and costly European teachers.

81
“President Arthur and the Jubilee Singers,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 6 (March 1882): 162.
According to Kirk, they sang several melodies, including “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” (text by Fanny Crosby and
music by W. H. Doane), which moved the President to tears. Kirk, Music at the White House, 117, 135. In
November 1881 the Visitor had reported glowing accounts of concerts by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in papers from
Toronto, Canada. But the refusal of some narrow-minded hotel managers to furnish accommodations had served to
draw attention to the singers in a way that was likely to give them “crowded and enthusiastic houses” whenever they
appeared. “Music and Musicians,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 2 (November 1881): 40.

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The star system

The American tour of soprano Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale,” in 1850–1851 was

important because “it points dramatically to the new, audience-oriented economics of music in

which the star performer, rather than the composer, reaps the greatest rewards.”82 Twenty years

later an unsigned article in the Visitor disparaged the influx of foreign singers, attributed possibly

to the Franco-Prussian War, to the detriment of native-born performers. The author of the Visitor

article considered Clara Louise Kellogg equal to her Old World counterpart but undervalued: “A

Scandinavian songstress [Christine Nilsson] is able to sing to us at five dollars a head, while our

own prima donna, her equal in every respect, appears before a Boston audience at twenty-five

cents per head. No wonder that foreign journals ridicule us as tow-heads, dupes, etc.!” In some

cases, according to the Visitor, Americans overpay for “the rare privilege of hearing Europe’s

second and third-rate artists.” There were those, of course, that Americans should heartily

welcome and honor, but not, according to the author, to the exclusion of native-born artists.83

Kellogg had been born in South Carolina in 1842 and had trained in the United States.84

According to the Visitor’s New York correspondent, Kellogg could not compete with

foreign talent in the Lucca opera season at the Academy of Music. When Austrian soprano

Pauline Lucca sang, “The house was crowded to the doors by one of the most fashionable and

enthusiastic audiences that I have ever seen here.” But when Miss Kellogg appeared: “To the

82
“P. T. Barnum Brings the Swedish Nightingale to America,” in Music in the Western World: A History in
Documents, Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, eds. (New York: Schirmer Books, 1984), 385–88.
83
“The Advent of European Artists,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 6. The first issue
of the Visitor had reprinted an entry in the American Register from “Stanley Thorne” who complained that
“Americans pay double to hear the poorest singers of Europe,” who are “thoroughly worn out elsewhere” but are
promoted as prime donne. “Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 1 (October 1871): 10. In
December 1871 the Visitor reprinted a report in the Boston Traveller that “some brainless lunatic” had been paying
$25 “for one of Nilsson’s hair-pins picked up in her room.” The chambermaid claimed it was Nilsson’s, but the
writer suggests that it could belong to the chambermaid or perhaps to the lady who stayed in the room prior to
Nilsson. Hair-pins “are so much alike, you can’t always tell.” “Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1,
no. 3 (December 1871): 9.
84
H. Wiley Hitchcock and Katherine K. Preston, “Kellogg, Clara Louise” in The Grove Dictionary of
American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 4:596.

133
disgrace of the New York, American element, neither performance was well patronized . . . a

source of the deepest mortification to the fair and gifted cantatrice. It is, however, a fact

universally admitted, that native artists seldom draw, and hence, the constant and growing

demand for foreign talent.”85 A report from the Philadelphia correspondent paints a

different picture, however, regarding Annie Louise Cary’s performance with the Strakosch

Concert Troupe in a program that included Italian soprano Carlotta Patti: “Probably no American

singer, except Miss Kellogg, has won so enviable a position in the hearts of our people, and she

will always be sure of a cordial welcome whenever she may return.” The correspondent,

however, referred to Patti as “peerless.”86 Previously the same year Kellogg had sailed to London

for an opera season. According to the report: “It is . . . peculiarly gratifying to Americans, that

one of their artists is called across the ocean to compete with such artists as Lucca, Nilsson, and

others equally as famous, who will be in London simultaneously contending upon the operatic

stage.”87 Even so, New York audiences were apparently insufficiently impressed with Kellogg in

November. A year later the editor of the Visitor, Charles A. Daniell, encouraged Cincinnatians to

give Kellogg a warmer welcome than she had received in New York. It had been a “national

disgrace” and “humiliating to our republicanism to toady to foreign importations.” He ended

with an admonition:

Let the people of Cincinnati, who have been the leaders in establishing an advanced
musical standard in the West, be leaders in this also; and when our “peerless Kellogg”

85
Arion, “Correspondence: New York,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 2 (November 1872): 3.
86
Mignon, “Correspondence: Philadelphia,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 2 (November 1872): 4. The
Visitor reprinted an engraving and biography of Carlotta Patti from Watson’s Art Journal. Church’s Musical Visitor
1, no. 11 (August 1872): 1.
87
“Clara Louise Kellogg,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 8 (May 1872): 6. A dispute between Cary and
Kellogg surfaced in a Visitor editorial in 1878. They had been drawn into a controversy over the rendering of a duet.
Their tempers had not cooled off and “journalistic scandal-mongers and the public gossips laid in wait for them.”
Excitement ran high before their appearance in Chicago. The editor concluded, “If they were strange birds from a
foreign clime there might be some sense and reason in it, but under the circumstances it is senseless fuss and folly.”
Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 5 (February 1878): 126–27.

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 arrives among us, let us show her that in our city, at least, she is duly appreciated, and
that we, as Americans, are proud of our home song-bird.88

Daniell seized the opportunity to not only promote an American talent but to disparage New

York audiences.

In March 1874 Daniell wrote, “In this age of railroads, telegraphs, and musical

monthlies,” we are “hankering to taste of fruits that grow not in our own clime . . . to regale the

ear with wonderful melodies, sweeter than fancy can conjure up.” He cautioned the reader,

however, that “although this desire to hear and see the great artists may be laudable,” the

difficulties, expenses, and short season available to hear them, made it apparent that Americans

must look closer to home for permanent sources. The interchangeability of artists, however, was

seen as beneficial in providing “broader views, greater confidence in judgment, and an

opportunity for a more just comparison of our American artists by well-known standards.”

Daniell hoped thereby that by hearing foreign artists as a basis for comparison, Americans would

come to appreciate their own “native song-birds.”89 At the same time, he added a moral slant to

the issue of visiting artists and nationalism. “It is an expansion of self-love” to foster the

institutions and talent of a man’s own nation. By contrast, the selfish man sought immediate

pleasure and gratification. If he attended a concert, “his ears must be tickled with the music of

foreign artists. He becomes pompous and conceited, and prides himself upon being very

fastidious, intolerant of anything but the very best.” And ultimately, “the interests of the people

88
“Encourage Our Home Artists,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 2 (November 1873): 6. Kellogg had not
trained in Cincinnati but was touted as an American.
89
“Seeing Stars,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 6 (March 1874): 9. In 1872 the idea of songbirds had not
always been seen as a positive. Editor Frank H. King had taken a local minister to task: “A certain minister of this
city is making himself odious by railing at the theater and opera. Calling Patti, Parepa, Nilsson, and Cushman, a
‘nest of unclean birds,’ thus exhibiting himself as an ignorant ass and a graceless maligner. . . . It looks very much as
though there was either a dearth of ideas in his cranium, or that he is a seeker after notoriety, and adopts this course
to advertise himself.” “Concerning the ‘Nest of Unclean Birds,’” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 5 (February 1872):
8.

135
are nothing to him.”90

The Visitor’s New York correspondent blamed critics in that city’s dailies for the

poor reception of native singers. “Arion” felt that there was no standard of music criticism “upon

which a correct and pure taste can be founded.” The dailies were “almost invariably at sixes and

sevens upon the merits of any individual singer or performance.” It had become “an established

fact here, that no native artist, whatever her or his genius or education, will ever draw in this city

for any lengthened period.” In Arion’s opinion, Kellogg was the foremost American soprano at

that time: “[I]t is absolutely refreshing to listen to her after hearing many of those who have

elbowed and bawled their way into higher public favor.”91

A decade later Frank Marling, a writer to the Visitor, complained that the “American

nation” had made insufficient progress with regard to musical literature, referring “not to musical

compositions” but musical history, biographies of composers, and “a thorough knowledge of the

general principles of musical criticism” through acquaintance with its best exponents.92 He

praised the “sound judgment and taste” of such writers as Henry Chorley, John Pyke

Hullah, John S. Dwight, Dr. Franz Hueffer, and the Reverend Hugh Reginald Haweis.93 Of

the writers mentioned, only Dwight was an American.

The issue of biased music criticism continued unabated: in 1888 Frederic W. Root read

his essay “An American Basis of Musical Criticism” before the Chicago Literary Club,

which was serially published in four issues of the Visitor. Root advocated “a new and broader

basis of criticism” of American musical culture. His basis for criticism included “recognizing our

present position in art” without a sense of inferiority but “with a kind of self-reliance for the
90
Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 6 (March 1874): 10.
91
Arion, “Correspondence: New York,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 3 (December 1872): 3. The
complaint was not new. We read in Matthew: “A prophet is not without honour save in his own country, and in his
own house.” Matthew 13:57 Authorized (King James) Version.
92
Frank Marling, “The Literature of Music,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 2 (February 1884): 37.
93
Frank Marling, “The Literature of Music, Part II,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 3 (March 1884): 63–64.

136
future which our American philosopher has preached to us.” Root likely referred to Emerson’s

1837 lecture calling for less dependence on European cultural models.94 Root was against “the

alien idea,” the European “tendency toward bigotry and exclusiveness,” in favor of American

“tolerance and universality.” While he believed that Americans revere European art, it could not

“speak for humanity everywhere and at all times,” nor impose its tradition of education

“unmodified upon the rest of the world.” Root maintained that the germ of American music was

in English psalmody, with the singing school as “a tributary of democratic church music.” That

music had been based on simplicity for the masses, not just for the privileged few. Root

promoted the singing school as the beginning of “a musical culture distinctively American.”95

The music of the singing school had been used for musical conventions, the home circle, and

later modified for public schools. According to Root, the other germ of American music came

from France, “nurtured first by the Creoles, and then blossomed among the negroes in fantastic

forms and colors. . . . the music, like the words, maintains traces of its French origin. The new

species becomes fully evolved from the old in the songs of the negroes. These have been

generally recognized as constituting a special and peculiar feature of American music.” Root also

asserted that “they are the only distinctively American music.” In anticipating a rebuttal to

Dvořák’s ideas, argued that “the idea of using so fantastic an element as this in the foundations

of a national school of music will hardly commend itself to anyone, and it is probable that there

is very little permanence in this species.”96

He continued the following month, accusing “the alien idea” of trying to “fit

everything to the procrustean bed of European method, . . . it enters our concert halls, and, as far
94
Frederic W. Root, “An American Basis of Musical Criticism (Continued),” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 8
(August 1888): 201–2.
95
Frederic W. Root, “An American Basis of Musical Criticism: An Essay Read before the Chicago Literary
Club by Frederic W. Root,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 4 (April 1888): 87–88.
96
Frederic W. Root, “An American Basis of Musical Criticism (Continued),” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 5
(May 1888): 117–18.

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as possible, banishes the simple melody and plain, comprehensible harmonies to introduce

instead the most involved effort of musical scholasticism. . . . in the name of education.” With

regard to church music, the influence of “the alien idea” had opposed the gospel songs of

Moody. Root maintained that “the quartet choir, a highly satisfactory expedient to some, but

much criticized by others, has been rendered indispensable by the dominance of the alien idea.”

He opined that the professional quartet was “often forced to sing” music beyond their ability.

The alien idea “may be studied to advantage in our drawing-rooms, where pupils of the

conservatories and private teachers give immature and unintelligent performance of what is too

advanced for their attainments.”97 Root had been upset by “a speaker at a convention of the

musical profession of the United States” who dishonored Lowell Mason, without naming him.

Mason’s memory had been “insulted and his work specifically held up to derision” by “those

who plant themselves upon the alien basis of criticism.” Root addressed “our musical leaders, the

able and scholarly foreigners, who minister to certain classes of our people so efficiently, have

not the acquaintance with our entire people necessary to make their leadership final.” He offered

his “suggestions for a new basis of criticism, . . . to supplement and correct what is now accepted

in the musical centers.”

The star system and rivalry with Europe was not strictly a one-way street. Cincinnatian

Marie Van performed the role of Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto in Rome, and critics predicted

“a wonderful career” for her. Reportedly audience applause interrupted her September 18, 1880

debut and recalled her to the stage. This was considered all the more remarkable since “Italians

are notoriously opposed to foreigners coming upon their stage and carrying off the laurels.”

97
Frederic W. Root, “An American Basis of Musical Criticism (Continued),” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 6
(June 1888): 145–46. The “quartet choir” consisted of paid singers who replaced the full choir for service music.
Dudley Buck’s “important achievement was to combine the traditions of the solo quartet and full choir. His anthems
and service works contain extensive solo passages interspersed with less demanding choral sections.” Thus, the
same anthem could be sung by a talented choir or vocal quartet.” N. Lee Orr, “Democracy Comes to the Choir Loft:
Dudley Buck and the Popularization of American Sacred Music,” in Music, American Made: Essays in Honor of
John Graziano, ed. John Koegel (Sterling Heights, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 2011), 654, 666.

138
Miss Van had studied in Cincinnati under voice teacher Signor A. C. Alfisi and in Rome with

maestro (Emanuele?) Muzio.98

Boston correspondent Louis C. Elson castigated Mapleson’s Italian opera troupe’s

performance in that city. Though the season had been successful, Elson complained of the “evil

effects of the ‘star’ system. . . . He gave us all the old worn-out operas from ‘Trovatore’ to

‘Lucia de Lammermoor,’ with a weak orchestra, a poor chorus, careless mounting, weak tenors,

but famous prime donne.”99 Impresario Max Maretzek similarly denounced the system. He

opined that they should not be called “stars” but rather “from their eccentric and erratic courses,

from their nebulous surroundings, from their doubtful ages, and the uncertainty of their keeping

the exact time of their appearance, ought to be termed musical ‘comets,’ who, after having

reached their perihelion, take, along with their long train of gaseous followers, a downward

course and disappear from public view.”100 In 1884 the Visitor employed humor with regard

to the star system and Adelina Patti: “No, ‘Matron,’ no; Patti has no babies. The family can’t

afford ’em. When they realize that it would cost the youngster in the crib $2,000 every time he

wanted his mother to sing him to sleep, cash up at the door or no concert, they decided that no

baby could stand it unless he mortgaged the nursery.”101

The same year Frederic W. Root explained the star system of Italian opera as a necessity.

98
“Home Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 2 (November 1880): 40. Signor Alfisi placed ads in the
Visitor for cultivation of the voice, and English and Italian singing. Maestro Muzio is possibly Emanuele Muzio
(1821–1890), composer, conductor, collaborator of Verdi, and active later as a singing teacher; he had conducted
Rigoletto in 1851. Gustavo Marchesi, “Muzio [Mussio], (Donnino) Emanuele” in The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001),
17:566–67. Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, Verdi: A Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 299. Marie
Van should not be confused with Marie Van Zandt, whose name appears later in this chapter.
99
Proteus [Louis C. Elson], “Music in Boston,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 2 (February 1885): 41.
100
The Musical Visitor 19, no. 4 (April 1890): 96.
101
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 10 (October 1884): 265. According to John Rosselli, Patti was probably the
highest paid opera singer in history. “Her doll-like looks and pure, even vocal emission masked a notable
competence in running her career and a will of iron.” John Rosselli, Singers of Italian Opera: The History of a
Profession (1992; repr., Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 116.

139
At any one time, according to Root, there were only about a dozen such singers available who

could meet the “enormous requirements” that opera places on the prima donna. Those

requirements include the “gifts of voice, intelligence, talent, face, figure and vigor.” A high

demand and short supply had resulted in high prices. The best staging, a fine chorus and

orchestra were not enough to fill the opera house. Rather than condoning the practice, Root

explained that he was simply reporting on the “status quo.”102

Concert managers also faced pressure from subscribers with regard to singers. A writer

from Baltimore reported on an orchestral concert given on February 16, 1885. The vocal

numbers had been rendered poorly by Miss Geraldine Ulmar. The writer placed the blame not on

the singer, but rather on “the management that could afford Patti” but put Ulmar “upon their

subscribers” instead.103

Clara Louise Kellogg compared European managers with those in the United States.

She claimed that American managers expected “an artist can do equally well under all

circumstances.” Too often the manager took more account of the audience and the box office

than the prima donna’s reputation. In Europe, according to Kellogg, managers demanded less of

a singer “in respect to quantity, though more perhaps in respect to quality.”104

The Visitor’s London correspondent, Frederick J. Crowest, addressed the problem of

foreign talent and audience reception. Murray prefaced the report of “just criticism” of the

musical public as applicable to American audiences as well. The issue in London was the

preference, on the part of all classes, for foreign artists and foreign art to the detriment of

established institutions, such as the loss of Henry Leslie’s choir, “the fairest choir in the world.”

102
Frederic W. Root, “The ‘Star’ Question,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 9 (September 1884): 238.
103
Lacq, “Music in Baltimore,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 3 (March 1885): 70. Geraldine Ulmar had been
a fellow member of the Boston Ideal Opera Company with Adelaide Phillips. E. Douglas Bomberger, ed.,
Brainard’s Biographies of American Musicians (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999), 222–24.
104
Clara Louise Kellogg, “Thorns in a Singer’s Career,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 7 (July 1885): 173.
Kellogg goes on to discuss Adelina Patti as “a brilliant example of what may be done by care and training.”

140
The audience ran “after every new musical thing, especially if it be foreign, and . . . turn our

eyes from . . . our own established musical societies,” which cannot exist without patronage.

Crowest called on the public to “not withhold support from those institutions which . . . hope to

continue to give us . . . unsurpassable renderings of oratorio and other choral works.”105 He

seemed hopeful a few years later:

The prima donna craze seems to have passed its crisis in Europe, and if stars want
engagements they must accept what managers can afford to pay. For instance at the St.
Petersburgh Opera the most expensive stars were once engaged. Now the most successful
season for many years is being carried on with the American soprano Miss [Marie] Van
Zandt as chief artist, at the modest salary of $250 per night.106

The euphoria, however, was short-lived. Six months later the Visitor compared the

system of the current Royal Italian Opera in London with that of 1805: “the difficulty of gaining

admission will be preserved, and this will undoubtedly make Italian opera once more a

fashionable entertainment.” It was questionable, though, whether the aristocratic classes would

be able to “support a thing of this sort, now that prime donne demand ten times the annual salary

of a Lord Chancellor . . . .”107 Six years later the Visitor again reported on the decline of the

prima donna in London. The downfall of such stars as Adelina Patti, Giuditta Pasta, and

Christine Nilsson had been reportedly due to their high pay as well as their “extravagant

demands and caprices.” Primi uomini, such as tenor Jean de Reszke, were now receiving more

105
Frederick J. Crowest, “Music in London,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 8. Henry
Leslie took charge of what became known as the celebrated a cappella choir in 1855. The ensemble took first prize
at the Paris Exhibition in 1878. H. C. Colles and D. Mackerness, “Leslie, Henry (David)” in The New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2001), 14:586–87.
106
“Music in England,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 3 (March 1885): 61. Jennie Van Zandt, Marie’s mother,
had changed her surname to Vanzini. F. O. Jones commended Miss Marie Van Zandt as having “sound common
sense, which was manifested in her refusing to Italianize her name.” F. O. Jones, A Handbook of American Music
and Musicians, Containing Biographies of the Principal Musical Institutions, Firms and Societies (Canaseraga, NY,
1886; repr., New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), 169–70. Léo Delibes composed the title role of Lakmé for Marie Van
Zandt. Herman Kline and John C. Ottenberg, “Van Zandt, Marie” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 26:270.
107
“Quality Opera,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 9 (September 1885): 230.

141
acclaim than previously. And a style change had been made from florid opera to Wagner’s

declamatory music drama.108 Likewise, Louis C. Elson reported on his interview with Ferdinand

Hiller in Cologne in 1884, who had “inquired especially as to the standing of opera in America.

He hoped that we did not use the ‘Star System’ in German opera, as every part ought to be

perfect.”109

As editor of the Visitor, Murray also touched on the issue of foreign conductors. When

Theodore Thomas resigned as leader of the New York Philharmonic Society in 1891, a reporter

had noted that apparently the new director would “come from abroad.” Murray posed the

question: “Is it necessary to go so far from home for a new leader?”110

Later that year the Visitor reprinted an article from the Chicago Inter-Ocean regarding

the upcoming World’s Columbian Exposition. Questions had been raised regarding the

involvement of American artists, musicians, composers, conductors, and teachers. The writer

pleaded let us not send to Germany for a conductor of Beethoven’s symphonies or for foreign

teachers of piano and voice. He took special issue with the Philadelphia committee for

commissioning the Centennial March from Wagner in 1876. If any of our “high-class

composers” such as Paine, Buck, Bristow, Gleason, or Chadwick had composed “such a piece of

cacophony it would have destroyed his reputation.” The author pointed out that “our worthy

Americanized musicians” were not an issue. “All who have won a position by fair and intelligent

means are cordially welcome.” Presumably the author would have included Thomas who was

coming to conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the music for the Exposition.111 The

author’s fears were groundless: programs included works by such American composers as

108
“Decline of the Prima Donna,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 9 (September 1890): 231. Reprinted from the
St. James Gazette (London).
109
[Louis C. Elson], “Proteus at Home,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 10 (October 1884): 259.
110
“Music and Musicians,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 2 (February 1891): 40.
111
“A Hit from the Shoulder,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 9 (September 1891): 231.

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George W. Chadwick, Arthur Foote, Edward MacDowell, and John Knowles Paine. A concert by

African American performers included violinist Joseph Douglass (grandson of Frederick

Douglass), Scott Joplin, Sissieretta Jones, and Harry T. Burleigh, one of many performances

heard in Festival Hall not officially sponsored by the Bureau of Music. Attendees also heard

excerpts from Will Marion Cook’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.112

Foreign study and performance

The issue of going abroad for a music education or performance in order to be successful

at home persisted in the Visitor. In 1891 the Visitor reported that American teachers were

ignored, though they had trained “many musical artists” who do not achieve success here unless

they undergo training under “Herr, Signor, or Mons. Blank,” or have had a successful

performance in Europe.113 Twenty years earlier, the Visitor had reported that a good musical

education was available to every child in the country. “All that now remains to be done,

in order to place the United States above the derisive insinuations of European countries, is to

keep alive and stimulate this growing taste for advancement in the art of music now prevalent

throughout the country.”114

The Visitor often linked musical education, progress, and nationalism: “That we, as a

people, are rapidly achieving a foremost position in musical taste and culture, and that this fact is

daily being more and more conceded, at home and abroad, is become a demonstrated truth.”

Questions were raised as to how to retain what has been achieved and how to add to past

achievements. The answer, according to the Visitor, was to make “musical science” a standard

112
Ezra Schabas, Theodore Thomas: America’s Conductor and Builder of Orchestras, 1895–1905, Music in
American Life (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 195–212; E. Douglas Bomberger, “A Tidal Wave of
Encouragement”: American Composers’ Concerts in the Gilded Age (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002), 127–42.
113
“The Alien Spirit in Music,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 9 (September 1891): 228.
114
“Musical Instruction,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 2 (November 1872): 8.

143
branch in the common schools. Thus, “We shall achieve, in the future, still nobler––still grander

triumphs.”115

Yet in the same issue the Visitor reported that two of Cincinnati’s “most promising young

lady musicians, whose attainments prior to availing themselves of the benefit of foreign

instruction, . . . now return to us with greatly enhanced abilities.” Emma Cranch, who had

studied voice in Milan for a year, would now “devote herself to oratorio and concerts.” Pianist

Julia Rivé described a week in Weimar where she played several times for Liszt. Such news was

welcomed by “all friends of musical progress.”116

A few months later, however, the Visitor reported that foreign study was unnecessary. Its

New York correspondent encouraged native talent:

We have the very best voices in the world, requiring only patient development to place
them foremost. What Clara Louise Kellogg has attained through her own indomitable
perseverance, others can also achieve, with proper encouragement. All honor to her, for
she owes not one iota of her glorious talents to foreign teaching. She is emphatically a
home song-bird, her musical education having been gained entirely at home.117

In the same issue, however, the Visitor praised the work ethic of local talent studying abroad

(Josie Jones and Laura Woolwine) as well as those who study at home (Kellogg) for their energy

and perseverance “in the name of musical progress.”118

In January 1877 the Visitor’s editor, Charles A. Daniell, asserted that with the music

education provided in American public schools and conservatories, it was unnecessary to

send “a large number” of students to Europe. In the case of young women, especially, there were

other considerations than “mere economy against foreign study.” Daniell asserted that schools of
115
“The Necessity of the Hour,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 12 (September 1873): 6.
116
“Cincinnati’s New Musical Artistes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 12 (September 1873): 7–8.
117
“Correspondence: New York,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 3 (December 1873): 4.
118
“Cincinnati Talent Abroad,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 3 (December 1873): 7. An announcement
had appeared in August 1872: “Miss Josie Jones, in company with Mrs. T. D. Lincoln and daughters, left for
Europe, June 30. Miss Jones will complete her musical education at Milan.” “Cincinnati Personals,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 1, no. 11 (August 1872): 9.

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music in Boston, Chicago, New York, and Cincinnati were fully equal, if not superior, to

“facilities abroad.” The editor predicted that the number of students going to Europe would

diminish each year until the exodus came to an end.119 By way of example, Daniell claimed that

the student performances at the latest concert of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music showed a

proficiency “seldom excelled” by professionals.120 A year and a half later the editor reported,

“Italy, the sunny land to which our American song birds do so long to fly . . . has five celebrated

academies of music,” for training professional singers and teachers. During the 1876–1877

season, there were reportedly 890 pupils: of these, 271 in Milan, 241 in Naples, and 228 in

Florence. However, Daniell believed that “It is a plain truth that our best native artists have

acquired most of their skill at home.”121

But three years later a Chicago writer bemoaned the fact that America lost its best young

singers to study in Europe, while “ordinary talent finds its best teachers at home: O Tempora! O

Mores!” C. W. Sykes apparently distinguished between voice training and educating composers.

He mentioned that two promising composers in Chicago, Frederick Grant Gleason and Silas G.

Pratt, “have passed through the highest musical schools of Europe.” Sykes suggested that “we

leave the study of orchestral music to the Germans.” He was encouraged, however, by the fact

that there is “a vast amount of brass-band music study going on in our country. So we shall soon

see a new order of things.”122 Sykes seemed hopeful that American composers could compete

119
Douglas Bomberger has written that an indication of the extent of opportunities for music students in
pre-World War I Berlin is given in a six-volume annual guide for students, Was muss der Musikstudierende von
Berlin wissen? [What must the music students of Berlin know?] published from 1909 to 1914. The guide lists
hundreds of music schools and private teachers with addresses, phone numbers, and subject areas, along with
advertisements for instruments, repair shops, and advice on how to find lodging. Bomberger, “The German Musical
Training of American Students,” 121. It appears that Daniell’s prediction was not fulfilled until 1914.
120
Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 4 (January 1877): 94.
121
Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 11 (August 1878): 290.
122
C. W. Sykes, “Chicago as a Musical Center,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 4 (January 1881): 95–96.
Sykes had recently been identified as a “well-known musician” who moved from Buffalo to Chicago. “Personal
Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 2 (November 1880): 42.

145
with Europeans in vocal and band music.

Another short essay that year recommended that foreign music study was unnecessary.

The author mentioned that first-class teaching could also be obtained at home, because of the

importation of foreign talent or the education of American teachers abroad. According to Amy

Fay, America had teachers who were as able to train pupils for the technical demands of the

concert-room as any masters who were to be found abroad. But the Visitor added that America

had few “well-drilled musical organizations” to listen to and learn from, one of the advantages of

study abroad.123 About six months later, editor James R. Murray discussed William Wallace

Gilchrist’s prize-winning composition for the 1882 May Festival. Murray made the point that

Gilchrist had been born and trained in the United States and had won several prizes for his

compositions.124

Theodore Thomas weighed in on the issue of vocal study in Europe. He contended that it

was beneficial to learn technique in the United States and then go to Italy for the sake of

experience, and to learn of other schools and methods. He advised that many American singers

learn operatic airs for which there is no demand and are excluded from appearing in concerts

because they have no repertoire. To send them to Europe is a waste of money and often results in

a “dreadful ruin of moral character.”125 A related comment subsequently appeared in the Visitor.

Three years of “constant study in Italy will make an American girl know too much to sing

in church, and not enough to be useful in opera.”126

Thomas’s reference to the “ruin of moral character” was addressed more fully in an

123
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 10 (July 1881): 270. Amy Fay’s Music Study in Germany had been
published in 1880.
124
“The Prize Winner,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 5 (February 1882): 128–29.
125
Theodore Thomas, “Musical Possibilities in America,” Scribner’s Monthly, reprinted in Church’s
Musical Visitor 10, no. 6 (March 1881): 155–56.
126
“Musical Hopper,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 11 (November 1883): 295.

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account by Clara Louise Kellogg upon return from a recent tour in Europe. She had found

“hundreds and hundreds” of American girls studying in Italy, and many of them were “in the

direst distress.” Kellogg had apparently received “piteous letters asking for assistance, pecuniary

and influential,” and she sought out the writers to see what could be done. She investigated the

truth of what they said about the music schools and theatrical agencies. Kellogg mentioned that

some teachers would tell the students they have no chance of a career and tell them to go home.

Not wanting to give up, some pupils would fall into the “hands of less scrupulous masters.” She

“finds herself penniless in Milan . . . often set upon by a certain unscrupulous set of men,

infesting these cities, who will do all in their power, under promise of engagements, to lead her

away where her associations will be such that she will be morally destroyed.” Kellogg advised

mothers to keep their daughters at home, unless they are protected by watchful friends and have

an independent income. After your daughters are trained at home, Kellogg advised, they can be

sent “to Italy for a short period to receive the finishing touches, and to learn roles, and then to

return.” Do not think that “average merit will open the stage doors of Italian opera houses.” She

reportedly helped to send more than fifty American girls back to their homes in the United

States.127

Another reason that the Visitor’s columnists cautioned readers to avoid foreign study was

that celebrated teachers could be difficult with which to work. “Music is said to have a soothing

and quieting effect upon mankind in general. If this is so . . . how is it that . . . the most

celebrated musicians and teachers are, or have been, cross, crabbed, irritable . . . insolent, when

in the act of imparting instruction in the art divine to others?” The author goes on to say that this

is borne out by those who have studied under European masters. Some of them have described

127
Clara Louise Kellogg, quoted in “Young American Girls in Italy,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12
(September 1881): 322–23. According to Louis C. Elson, Dr. Eben Tourjée, founder of the New England
Conservatory of Music in 1867, soon saw the need to modify the European system, “especially in the matter of
careful protection of female students coming from a distance to a strange city.” Louis C. Elson, History of American
Music, rev. ed., ed. Arthur Elson (New York and London: Macmillan, 1925), 340.

147
fuming and raging by the teacher “when a pupil who is honestly and earnestly trying to master

difficulty chances to make a mistake, or misinterprets a phrase.”128 The Visitor’s next issue

contained a response from a reader defending the role of the teacher, since “the peculiar

temperament” of musicians of high attainment is necessarily due to their ability to be “easily

moved by passion and emotion.” But the Visitor stood by its position that “thundering down on

the head of a pupil” reveals a lack of self-control which is “lamentable, to say the least.” The

Visitor cited Karl Tausig as an example of a great pianist, but as a teacher “he was a wild

animal.”129 Yet another response to the “irritable” teacher appeared in the same issue. An English

cathedral organist, a Mr. Garrett, had flogged a choir boy for making “a slight mistake in his

singing.” A scandal resulted when the boy’s friends appealed to the authorities. The master’s

defense was that he was following the practice in other cathedrals. The editor hoped the

“inhuman practice” would be investigated and corrected.130

Novels were also employed in the cause against foreign influence and study. The Visitor

reprinted a chapter from Hezekiah Butterworth’s Up from the Cape: A Plea for Republican

Simplicity recently published by Estes and Lauriat in Boston.131 The book had been intended for

summer reading material; Butterworth’s focus was the moral and political principles of New

England’s past. He was upset by the “aping” of Europeans “in dress, politics, religion, music and

art.” In one instance a Harvard-trained Boston minister claimed he had never heard of P. P. Bliss

and did not know him because he was an American composer.132 The novel includes complaints

about the lack of American music at a classical concert held in Boston; the city was full of

128
“Great but Irritable,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 10.
129
Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 2 (November 1881): 38.
130
“Flogging Up to Pitch,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 2 (November 1881): 39.
131
Hezekiah Butterworth, Up from the Cape: A Plea for Republican Simplicity (Boston: Estes and Lauriat,
1883).
132
Butterworth, Up from the Cape, 11, 68–70.

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foreign music teachers who taught only the music of their home country. Butterworth suggested

that some of the problems could be remedied by a school for the development of American

music in Boston.133 Editor James R. Murray defended the book, which had “drawn the fire” from

New England critics:

Its author, who is well known to the Visitor readers, can stand the criticism, for he is
conscious that he is right, and it does seem as if the assaults of the pen-warriors are
induced by the fact that he has told an “o’er true tale.” If the critics don’t like it they can
mend their ways as well as their pens.134

A book review promoted Up from the Cape as “true and aggressive,” and “it is little wonder that

the attempt is being made to cry it down. It is too late for that, however, for the book is having a

large sale.”135 According to Butterworth, “that music is the best which proves most helpful to

human experience.” Murray added, “The idea is quite the opposite of that held by the utterly

too-too aesthete who claims that art should be loved for art’s sake alone, and that it becomes

degraded when made practical and subservient to human needs.”136 A letter to George F. Root

from Hezekiah Butterworth had illuminated some of the issues addressed in the novel.

Butterworth reported on a recent War Song Concert held in Boston. Root’s music still leads in

popularity, and the concert was “a reaction” to foreign music and teachers over our own.137

Soprano Blanche Roosevelt’s book Stage-Struck, or The Would be Opera-Singer, had

133
“At a Boston Classical Concert,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 9 (September 1883): 227–28. The original
title of chapter 24 was “The Clio Club–Aunt’s Narrative.”
134
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 9 (September 1883): 234.
135
“Books and Magazines,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 9 (September 1883): 238. Though unidentified in
the Visitor, the author was Hezekiah Butterworth.
136
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 9 (September 1883): 234.
137
H[ezekiah] B[utterworth], “The Music of the War,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 6 (June 1883): 154. An
advertisement for Oliver Ditson’s newly published War Songs reads “the love for the old songs has revived . . . . It
contains all the songs recently given at the most successful Grand Army concert in Mechanics’ Grand Hall, Boston.”
“War Songs,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 8 (August 1883): 197. War Song Concerts were popular in the 1880s and
1890s as reported in the Visitor; this was the first indication that at least some of the concerts may have been
functioning as a response to foreign influence. I have been unable to locate a review of the concert.

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been considered by “Labouchere, the well-known editor of London Truth,” as a story “well

told,” with pointed dialogue and truth underlying the fiction. A friend of his living in Milan

spoke of a city filled with American and English students hoping to become opera singers, but in

reality they were “never likely to ever get an engagement in the chorus of the most insignificant

opera-house.”138 The book was discussed again in the subsequent issue of the Visitor as having

the aim of “persuading American girls who go in high hopes to study music in Europe that they

would do far better to stay at home.” The author expressed concerns over squandered money, a

Bohemian life style in European capitals, despair, and even death. The “graphic description of

different systems of vocal training under the great singing masters of London, Paris, and Milan is

full of interest . . . [Manuel] Garcia . . . tells the girls some things which evidently the authoress

has heard from living lips . . . .” Garcia spoke of his sister, Maria Malibran, whose voice had

little to do with her success, rather “she worked like a slave.”139 A letter to the Visitor a year later

138
“Studying Abroad,” Church’s Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): 181. The book was to be issued in
New York by Fords, Howard and Hulbert. Blanche Roosevelt Tucker had been born in Sandusky, Ohio. Her father,
W. H. Tucker, became Wisconsin’s first senator to Congress. Accompanied by her mother, Roosevelt went to
Europe for vocal study. Stage Struck describes the American colony in Milan: “their poverty, hopes for careers and
preparations for debuts.” Roosevelt also relates “the exaggerated methods of some of the famous teachers of the
epoch, such as Lamperti and his method based on the theory that the voice comes from the stomach.” Charles Matz,
“Blanche Roosevelt,” Opera News 27, no. 20 (March 23, 1963): 26–28. The Visitor noted in 1876: “Miss Blanche
Rosavella (née Tucker), from Chicago, has entered into an important Italian Opera engagement with Mr. Gye, at
Covent Garden, London.” “Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 8 (May 1876): 207. Frederic W.
Root reported the following month on her debut at Covent Garden. Though Miss Tucker, or Bianca Rosavella, her
nom de theatre, was favorably reviewed, critics recommend continuing her studies a while longer. According to her
teacher in Paris, Madame Viardot, she was not ready to debut. Root mentioned that during the past two or three
years, “the young lady” had written letters to the Chicago Times and “showed the savoir faire of the writer, and
convinced us that she was one of the kind who manage to command success.” “Feuilleton from Chicago,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 5, no. 9 (June 1876): 230. Blanche Roosevelt appeared as Josephine in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S.
Pinafore in New York in December 1879. Deane L. Root, American Popular Stage Music, 1860–1880, Studies in
Musicology, no. 44 (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1981), 168–69.
139
“Stage Struck,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 209. According to a review of Stage-
Struck, or the Would be Opera-Singer in the London Daily News, the book was “one of the cleverest, freshest, most
original novels” that had recently appeared. The plot revolves around Annabel, who leaves her peaceful, friendly
home in Wisconsin to travel to Milan to study music. “Books and Magazines,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8
(August 1884): 211. The Visitor had reported the deaths of American students in Milan in 1871 and 1873. William
N. Perkins of Illinois, an “American singer of promise,” died in Milan on October 30, 1871. “Our Musical Hopper,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 4 (January 1872): 10. Miss Clara A. Rice of Lowell, Massachusetts, died on
September 10 in Milan, Italy, where she had studied voice for a year. “Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical
Visitor 3, no. 2 (November 1873): 11. A letter to the editor in January 1875 from “A Cincinnatian, at present
sojourning in the ‘hotbed of vocalization,’ Milan, Italy,” reported, “There are too many artists here for the theaters

150
agreed with Roosevelt’s novel. “A pupil of [Salvatore] Marchesi” finds that he, as well as most

other European voice teachers, “is very much overrated, and that better teachers than most of

them can be found in America.”140 Thus, these two novels helped promote a sense of national

community. American students could be well trained at home and avoid the expense and perils of

foreign study as depicted in the novels.

Charles Holman Black of Indianapolis wrote about financial concerns for Americans who

planned to go to Europe for vocal training. Black was a student in Europe at the time and opined

that most victims of unscrupulous teachers were women. He blamed both the pupils and the

teachers, “the thousands (not an exaggerated number) of charlatans that, like vampires, live upon

the Americans who bring their money to Europe . . . .” A teacher could afford to have his

“charity pupil” because “he charges his American pupil enough to pay for the two.” Most often,

when time and money were spent after one, two, or three years, all the while “being told she is

not quite ready for her debut,” the girl was “cast adrift, hopeless, helpless.” Black claimed that an

exception to this practice was Madame Viardot.141 He offered additional advice the following

month. If you “intend to sing in concerts or the light operas, stay at home and learn your

profession from the artists in your own country––there is at least one in every large city in the

United States . . . and it is not necessary to go to New York or Boston to get the best.”142

that are open this winter.” She knew of a young lady from New York who paid “three thousand francs for the
opportunity of singing” in two operas. “Correspondence: A Dear Debut,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 4 (January
1875): 6. An editorial in the same issue, quoting the Milan Gazette in praise of Miss Laura Woolwine of Cincinnati,
adds that “there are some two thousand artists in Milan awaiting engagements” [emphasis original]. “Editor’s Notes
and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 4 (January 1875): 10.
140
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 10 (October 1885): 262.
141
Charles Holman Black, “Studying Music Abroad: Valuable Advice from Large Experience to Those
Contemplating Foreign Study,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 10 (October 1888): 255.
142
“Studying Music Abroad: Valuable Advice from Large Experience to Those Contemplating Foreign
Study (Concluded from Last Month),” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 11 (November 1888): 286. Black’s father, Prof. J.
S. Black, of Indianapolis, was “one of the most successful vocal teachers in the West.” “Personal Notes,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 1, no. 4 (January 1872): 10; “Musical Notes,” and “Music in Indianapolis,” The Musical Visitor 18,
no. 11 (November 1889): 290, 291; “Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 5 (May 1892): 131.

151
 Shortly after Black’s advice to students, the Reverend J. C. Fernald advocated that vocal

teachers instruct in their native language. English song should be “taught by those for whom it is

their mother tongue.” The same is true for French, German, or Italian, or the words become

ambiguous or unintelligible. Foreign teachers, furthermore, insist on correct pronunciation: “The

German or Italian must not be murdered. Only English speech may be innocently immolated.”143

The Visitor’s Boston correspondent, Louis Elson, related conversations with

composers and American singers while he was in Paris. Emma Eames, an American prima

donna from Boston, who was performing the role of Marguerite in Faust, had told Elson that “all

the important part of her study was achieved in America . . . and believes that an artist can gain

all the essential points of a musical education without crossing the water.” Ambroise Thomas,

head of the Paris Conservatoire, had spoken of the fine voices produced in America. Both Jules

Massenet and Thomas had agreed: “You Americans must form your composers at home. Your

great scenery, your beautiful women, must be your inspiration.” Elson concluded: “America has

arrived at a point where it is possible to educate all her musicians at home,” mentioning, of

course, the New England Conservatory of Music where he taught.144

Foreign study remained an issue. According to Mr. George W. Pepper, the U.S.

Consul at Milan, only one student out of hundreds “received an honest verdict from the master

to the effect that the quality of her voice did not justify her in commencing lessons.” Mr. Pepper

was aware of three students who had been taking lessons to enrich only the teacher. Many

hopefuls would like to enter the Royal Conservatory, where the tuition was low, but few

Americans succeeded.145 In 1897 the Visitor advised potential students of the requirements

143
Rev. J. C. Fernald, “Foreign Teachers of English Song,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 1 (January 1889):
4–5.
144
“Music in the Paris Exposition” [by our Boston Correspondent], The Musical Visitor 18, no. 10 (October
1889): 262–63. Miss Eames was born in Shanghai to American parents. Her first teacher, at the age of five, was in
Bath, Maine. Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia, 136.
145
The Musical Visitor 22, no. 7 (July 1893): 180–81.

152
of M. Jacques Bouhy, a singing teacher in Paris:

He imposes a three years’ course, three lessons a week of half an hour, price five dollars
each; after three years, two lessons a week are allowed. Every pupil has to arrive ten
minutes before his lesson. The board and lodging of the students costs fifteen dollars a
week, to which must be added daily lessons in French at one dollar a lesson, opera class
extra, phonetic lessons (on the fifteen French vowels) six or seven dollars a week,
coaching by the head of the opera class, etc., and the etceteras are as expensive as the
regular items. Judging from results, does this sort of thing pay? 146
American singers who assumed stage names also came under attack in the Visitor. In

1875 the editor complained that it was fashionable to adopt Italian names, while “there is a great

degree of rusticity about the singer who warbles simple English.” Our native talent “ranks among

the very highest” to place English or American opera as high as Italian, “if only our singers

would be true to themselves.”147 The Visitor reported in February 1883 that Margaret Johnston of

Cincinnati, who had spent the past two years studying in Italy, made her operatic debut there

under the name of Signorina Giollini.148 The next year a notice appeared that Miss “Margherita”

Johnston of Cincinnati had “made another success in operatic work abroad. Her stage name is

‘Giollini.’ Why do not American singers stick to American names?”149 In a related vein, Murray

took his “old Friend, Willie Pape,” to task for adopting a foreign spelling and pronunciation of

his name to “Pä-pěh.” When he was court pianist to Queen Victoria, he was still just Willie Pape.

Murray used Pape as an example of American musicians who study abroad and adopt foreign

146
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 7 (July 1897): 101. According to Elizabeth Forbes, Belgian baritone Jacques
Bouhy (1848–1929) “founded and directed the National Conservatory of Music in New York.” He returned to Paris
in 1890. Elizabeth Forbes, “Bouhy, Jacques-(Joseph-André)” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,
2nd ed., ed, Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 4:93–94. However,
Jeannette Thurber appointed the Bouhy as the Conservatory’s first director, a post he held from 1885 to1889.
Emanuel Rubin, “Jeannette Meyer Thurber (1850–1946),” in Cultivating Music in America: Women Patrons and
Activists since 1860, ed. Ralph P. Locke and Cyrilla Barr (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), 148.
147
“Dare to Be What You Are, as Applied to Art,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 5 (February 1875):
9–10.
148
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 2 (February 1883): 40.
149
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 11 (November 1884): 291. According to Nicolas Slonimsky,
“Because Italians are proverbially associated with excellence in opera,” many non-Italian singers assumed Italian
names in order to make an opera career. Nicolas Slonimsky, Lectionary of Music: An Entertaining Reference and
Reader’s Companion (New York: Anchor Books, 1990), 392.

153
names and influences, rather than “depending upon real merit to win their way” and sailing

“under their own colors.”150 Murray advised that American singers should retain their own

names and not be ashamed of them.

In addition to the issues surrounding foreign study and the star system, readers could

follow the controversy of importing a foreigner to New York to develop an American school of

music. The controversy found its way into the pages of the Visitor.

Comments Regarding Dvořák’s Time in the United States

Music patron Jeannette Thurber succeeded in bringing Antonín Dvořák to New York to

direct the National Conservatory of Music from fall 1892 until spring 1895.151 However, the

mood expressed in an August 1887 Visitor article on American composers did not bode well for

Dvořák’s arrival. The author claimed that much had been written about “encouraging native art,

and our musical people are being appealed to so frequently to assist in aiding musical enterprises

on patriotic grounds, that it seems proper to inquire what constitutes an American composer.” No

poet or author has claimed to be an American who has not been “born and bred in this country.”

In music a different condition exists, and “one finds persons posing as American composers

whose language plainly betrays their foreign birth and whose customs indicate a cheap European

education. In New York one reads of performances of American authors’ works, but fails to find

a single name but that of foreigners, whose only claim to American citizenship is a few years’

150
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 11 (November 1897): 303. Born in Mobile, Alabama, on February 27, 1850,
William Barnsmore Pape was an American composer and pianist. “How to Pronounce Musicians’ Names,” The
Musical Visitor 26, no. 10 (October 1897): 257. Jones, A Handbook of American Music and Musicians, 128.
151
Dvořák in America, 1892–1895, ed. John C. Tibbetts (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1993). The January
1892 issue of the Visitor noted that the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York desired to
emphasize its engagement of Dr. Antonín Dvořák as director by announcing a competition for the best opera, opera
libretto, piano or violin concerto, symphony, oratorio, suite or cantata. The composer or librettist must be native
born and age thirty-five or younger. The prize money ranged from $200 to $1,000. “Notes and Gossip,” Musical
Visitor 21, no. 1 (January 1892): 10. Emanuel Rubin’s account mentions that in 1892 Mrs. Thurber established a
$500 prize for “American” compositions. Emanuel Rubin, “Jeannette Meyer Thurber (1850–1946): Music for a
Democracy,” in Cultivating Music in America: Women Patrons and Activists since 1860, ed. Ralph P. Locke and
Cyrilla Barr (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), 154.

154
residence in this country.” Our composers “must not be forced to feed on husks by the patriotic

American philanthropists, who now have no money to lavish on any aspirant for fame who was

born with the English language on his tongue.”152 Given the recent difficulties of the American

Opera Company, renamed the National Opera Company, the writer may have been referring to

Jeannette Thurber’s efforts.153 Dvořák’s role at the National Conservatory to develop an

American school of music, and the description of his Symphony no. 9 became issues of

controversy.154 A review of the symphony in the New York Times on December 17, 1893, ends:

The negroes gave us their music and we accepted it, not with proclamations from the
housetops, but with our voices and our hearts in the household. Dr. Dvorak has
penetrated the spirit of this music, and with themes suitable for symphonic treatment, he
has written a beautiful symphony, which throbs with American feelings, which voices the
melancholoy of our Western wastes, and predicts their final subjection to the tremendous
activity of the most energetic of all peoples. We Americans should thank and honor the
Bohemian master who has shown us how to build our national school of music.155

Louis C. Elson sent Dvořák’s statement regarding American music, which was published

in the June issue. Dvořák called for an American school of music to be based on Negro

152
“Encouraging Native Talent,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 8 (August 1887): 207.
153
Rubin, “Jeannette Meyer Thurber (1850–1946): Music for a Democracy,” 134–63. In February 1887
Boston correspondent Louis C. Elson reported on the performances of the National Opera Company. There were
“some noticeable defects in its vocal department” while the “instrumental work is very prominent.” Proteus [Louis
C. Elson], “Music in Boston,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 2 (February 1887): 39.
154
For Dvořák’s interview with the New York Herald, see John Clapham, Dvořák (Newton Abbot, UK:
David and Charles, 1979), 119, 197–203; Letter to the New York Herald, “Antonín Dvořák on Negro Melodies,”
May 28, 1893; “For National Music,” Chicago Tribune, August 13, 1893; “Dvořák on His New Work,” New York
Herald, December 15, 1893. According to Robert P. Morgan, during the rise of nationalism in the nineteenth
century, the folk and ethnic music of their own lands was drawn upon principally by composers in countries on the
edges of Europe. Robert P. Morgan, Twentieth-century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and
America (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1991), 6. The centennial year, 1876, had brought forth a call for
native music. The writer had referred to patriotic songs such as “America” and “The Star Spangled Banner,” but
they were sung to foreign tunes. We have “the plucky soldiers’ songs called forth by the mighty upheaval between
the North and South. But new times demand new music.” Who will “confer upon his native land a new national
song, that the whole people may rapturously sing, and be proud to own?,” “Our Native Songs,” Church’s Musical
Visitor 5, no. 8 (May 1876): 205.
155
“Dr. Dvorak’s Latest Work,” New York Times, December 17, 1893. The reviewer was most likely
W. J. Henderson, music critic for the New York Times from 1887 to 1902. Ramona H. Matthews and Davide
Ceriani, “Henderson, William James” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi
Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 4:127–28.

155
melodies.156 Elson countered that Dvořák had “not yet had time to make himself familiar with

the entire field on which he is commenting.” There are many different types of folk music and

regions in the country, such as the music of the prairies, plantation, or the New England hills,

which are local, not national. He referred to Theodore Baker’s dissertation on North American

Indian music, which presented “little that is likely to inspire the composer,” and does not present

a “definite picture of any mode of existence to the auditor.”157 Elson conceded that the Negro

music of the South was the mostly likely to inspire American composers, but it could not

represent the whole country. He ended with the following thought:

Nevertheless, much of it is music that has grown from natural causes, and many of the
tunes in their pathos speak of the consolation which the oppressed sought in tones, while
others in their hearty rhythms speak of jovial merrymakings, or show how music has
lightened toil. Of such a folk-song it can be most truly said, Musica lætitiae comes,
medicina dolorem [Music is a companion to joy and a medicine for pains].158

Murray reprinted remarks made by W. S. B. Mathews in Music regarding Dvořák and

“the American school.” Since Dvořák spoke little English and was “Bohemian and German to

the core,” Mathews did not believe that Dvořák could “produce anything essentially different

here from what he would while living in Prague,” though new scenes and friends “may serve to

give him a fresh incitation.” Mathews compared Dvořák to Mendelssohn and expressed irritation

that a foreigner was imported and paid handsomely to head the National Conservatory in New

York:

The genial Mendelssohn was no more a Scotchman in writing a symphony bearing that
designation than he was an Italian when writing the next. . . .This is the case with Dr.
Dvorak. And while every new work from his pen will be received with pleasure and

156
The Musical Visitor 22, no. 6 (June 1893): 151. Dvořák later included Native American melodies as well.
157
Theodore Baker, Űber die Musik der nordamerikanischen Wilden (PhD diss., University of Leipzig,
1882).
158
Louis C. Elson, “The Negro Melodies Again,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 7 (July 1893): 177.

156
 admiration, American composers and an American school are not to be imported at
$15,000 a year, or any other sum, but must grow up here native to the soil.159

The Visitor followed this with an anonymous essay on “The American Symphony.” The

author claimed that Dvořák’s “From the New World” is “not American in any sense of the

word.” The true American Symphony has not yet been written. It will be composed by “men of

musical culture” and “inspired by American subjects.” The songs of the southern Negroes and

the distinctive music of the North American Indians cannot be considered national. American

music must be like “our States, e pluribus unum, one formed of many.”160 In the same issue,

however, a composer advised American composers to imitate Dvořák by finding inspiration in

nature. The composer, “deeply moved” by the beauty of Minnehaha Falls, proposed to write a

composition entitled “Minnehaha.”161

Editor James R. Murray quoted Dvořák: “American men are quite wanting in musical

enthusiasm, and that is one reason why music here is so poor and scarce. The women are better;

they love it, and have talent. But the men only want it for pastime. They want always money,

more money.” Murray asks what brought Dvořák to these shores, was his advent “a purely

missionary one, or does the $15,000 salary guaranteed him by Mrs. Thurber have some influence

in the matter?”162

Apparently it was rumored in 1897 that Dvořák would be returning to New York that

159
W. S. B. Mathews, quoted in The Musical Visitor 24, no. 2 (February 1895): 36–37. Douglas Bomberger
notes that Edward MacDowell may have regretted turning down an offer by Mrs. Thurber to teach at the
Conservatory, “for his letters from the early 1890s reflect a certain amount of resentment over the high salary and
enormous attention showered on Dvořák.” E. Douglas Bomberger, “A Tidal Wave of Encouragement”: American
Composers’ Concerts in the Gilded Age (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002), 167.
160
“The American Symphony,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 2 (February 1895): 37.
161
The Musical Visitor 24, no. 2 (February 1895): 36. The second movement of Dvořák’s Sonatina for
Violin and Piano, op. 100, apparently uses a theme inspired by his visit to Minnehaha Falls in September 1893. John
C. Tibbetts, “Sonatina for Violin and Piano, Opus 100,” in Dvořák in America, 1892–1895, ed. John C. Tibbetts
(Portland: Amadeus Press, 1993), 279–81. In 1889 the Visitor had advised native-born composers to use English,
rather than French or German, for titles of works and to find inspiration in American subjects and nature. “American
Composers and their Music,” Musical Visitor 18, no. 9 (September 1889): 233.
162
The Musical Visitor 24, no. 10 (October 1895): 283.

157
autumn. The Visitor posed the question, “Will he bring with him an American symphony written

in his native land, as most of his first American symphony was?”163 The issue shifted to whether

the symphony might be American or Czech.

The Visitor reported later that year that Dvořák was working on an opera based on the

subject of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The response in the Visitor was unfavorable:

He evidently is impressed with the idea that negro music is the characteristic American
music, but he is very much mistaken. We venture the prediction that an opera on the
above subject will not be a success for many reasons.164

Will Marion Cook, one of Dvořák’s American students, had begun an opera based on Uncle

Tom’s Cabin but did not complete it.165

Artists Visiting Cincinnati and Portraits in the Visitor

Initially the performers whose portraits appeared in the Visitor had been foreign born.

Many hailed from Germany, Austria, Italy, or England. Cincinnati had a large German

population likely appreciative of German artists. By 1840, nearly 30 percent of the population

was German.166 Celebrities performing at Cincinnati’s May Festivals were frequently honored

with portraits in the Visitor. Later, notably beginning in 1894, more Americans were represented,

whether performer, composer, teacher, or theorist. In addition, portraits of musicians born

163
“Current Notes,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 2 (February 1897): 55.
164
“Currrent Notes and News: General,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 10 (October 1897): 277. The Visitor
had reported in January 1892 that Dvořák proposed to write “an opera to an American libretto if he can find one
suitable.” “Dvořák and his American Engagement,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 1 (January 1892): 10.
165
Adrienne Fried Block, “Dvořák’s Long American Reach,” in Dvořák in America, 1892–1895, ed. John
C. Tibbetts (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1993), 173. Excerpts from Cook’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin were performed at the
World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, though it and works by other composers were not officially sponsored by
the Bureau of Music. Bomberger, “A Tidal Wave of Encouragement,” 167. According to John Clapham, there was
a rumor that Dvořák was working on an opera based on Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but it was apparently unfounded. John
Clapham, Antonín Dvořák: Musician and Craftsman (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1966), 282. Clapham does not
mention the issue regarding the opera in his 1979 biography of Dvořák.
166
bruce d. mcclung, “Cincinnati,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles
Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2:271.

158
elsewhere but who had relocated to the United States or had become naturalized citizens also

appeared in the Visitor. Dvořák’s arrival in New York in 1892 and the controversy surrounding

his Symphony no. 9, “From the New World,” no doubt influenced this change.

The first visiting artist to have an engraved portrait appear in Church’s Musical Visitor

was German-born pianist Marie Krebs.167 Editor Frank H. King announced: “Other portraits will

be presented occasionally, so that their publication may be considered one of the features of the

Visitor.”168 Krebs had performed with Theodore Thomas’s orchestra in Cincinnati in a

concert series that began on October 30, 1871.169 A portrait of British pianist and composer

James M. Wehli appeared in the January 1872 issue, having performed with Christine Nilsson

and Clara Louise Kellogg.170 John Church and Company advertised two of Wehli’s works

published in 1871.171

The Visitor reprinted a biography of Italian soprano Carlotta Patti from Watson’s Art

Journal along with a portrait in August 1872. Although she and her sister Adelina had been born

167
“Miss Marie Krebs,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 1. Born in Dresden in 1851,
Krebs died there in 1900.
168
Frank H. King, ed., “Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871):
9.
169
“The Theodore Thomas Orchestra,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 1 (October 1871): 6.
170
Wehli performed at Kellogg’s Cincinnati concerts in December 1870. “City Matters: The Kellogg
Concerts,” Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, December 24, 1870. Christine Nilsson arrived in New York for a series of
concerts beginning on September 19, 1870. James M. Wehli, accompanist and pianist, was among her company of
artists. “Christine Nilsson: Arrival of the Queen of Song––Demonstrations at the Pier––Her Concert Troupe––
Precautions Against Speculation––First Concert on Monday, September 19,” Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, September
17, 1870 [reprint from the New York Herald, September 15]. The Strakosch Opera Company brought Nilsson to
Cincinnati for a short season at Pike’s Opera House in January 1872. Wehli was known to Cincinnati audiences
since at least 1865. He performed “a novel and enjoyable piano-forte interlude” between the acts of Der Freischütz.
The theme was based on Faust; a “rapturous encore produced “Home, Sweet Home” played upon one [the left]
hand.” “Amusements: Pike’s Opera House,” Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, December 7, 1865.
171
“Mr. James M. Wehli,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 4 (January 1872): 1; “Publisher’s Department of
New Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 12. Wehli’s “Tyrolienne, Morceau brillante” for
piano, and a song, “The Little Blue Shoes,” can be found at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem (accessed August 18,
2011). A short article in the Visitor derides excellent performers, including Wehli, who played their “third-rate”
compositions to the exclusion of the masters. “Good Performers as Composers,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 8
(May 1872): 7.

159
in Italy, they were “bred up in New York,” and “with all their Italian prestige, America’s claim

to them has never been forgotten here, nor denied by them. . . .” Since the Patti sisters trained in

New York, America was also claiming them.172 Another portrait of Carlotta Patti appeared in the

Visitor in December 1879 after her farewell concert in Cincinnati, along with the comment: “The

Patti sisters began their musical careers in this country––Carlotta in concert, and Adeline in

opera; and both have ever since filled a prominent place in the interest of the musical world.

America has always felt a pride in their triumphs in the old world, and it is with regret that we

have heard them both probably for the last time.”173

The Visitor informed its readers in October 1875 that German-born soprano Theresa

Tietjens, currently touring the United States, would likely visit Cincinnati before returning to

Europe. The Visitor reported that her brother “at one time played the violin in a Cincinnati

beer-garden ‘over the Rhine.’”174 Her portrait, along with an interview, appeared in November

1875.175 Tietjens, however, did not arrive in Cincinnati as scheduled. She had been bothered by

the “varying climate” since arriving in New York and postponed her concerts.176 When she did

appear, her reception was not what it might have been a few weeks earlier. The two concerts,

however, were well attended. As to her singing, “in times agone it was as nearly perfect

as anything can be. . . .” It was expected that Tietjens would sing in Italian opera before the

172
“Carlotta Patti,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 11 (August 1872): 1. For a brief obituary, see “Carlotta
Patti,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 8 (August 1889): 203.
173
“Home Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 3 (December 1879): 74. According to the editor, the
illustrations in this issue were “expressly prepared for the Visitor.” Ibid., 72.
174
“Coming Events,” “Personal Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 1 (October 1875): 9, 11,
respectively.
175
“An Hour’s Talk with Tietjens,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 2 (November 1875): 29–30. It is
unclear where the interview took place.
176
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 3 (December 1875): 66.

160
season was over.177

The Visitor featured an engraving of “The Hungarian Nightingale,” Etelka Gerster,

in the February 1879 issue. She was slated to sing with the Mapleson Opera Company in

February at Cincinnati’s Pike’s Opera House. A brief biography of Gerster in the January Visitor

told of her rapid progress during the past three years after Verdi had been overheard to say that

“she will go far, that girl.”178 Her performance as Lucia was “the chief event” of the week of

Italian opera; the Visitor considered her the “true successor of Jenny Lind.” It described

Gerster’s voice as “not so characteristic of power or grandeur as of lovely, soulful tenderness,”

and her skill in using it stamps her as a complete artist.179

American soprano Emma Thursby gave three concerts at Pike’s Opera House in February

1880. No portrait appeared in the Visitor but it praised Miss Thursby: “Her voice is of bright,

clear quality, never harsh, and powerful enough for all demands without screaming. She sings

with grace and ease, and with finished method and consummate control of the powers of

expression.” Regrettably the audiences for her Cincinnati performances were “uniformly small.”

On the other hand, she sang for “crowded houses in Chicago.” The Visitor complained: “Europe

can furnish us with no better or more charming concert singer than Miss Thursby, and yet our

people seem insensible to her true merits, while they throng the concert-halls to hear worn-out

177
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 5 (February 1876): 122. In the same issue
there is a report of her meeting at the Burnet House with Mr. William Geisselbrecht who had conducted her 1849
debut in Hamburg. “Mlle. Tietjens’ Debut,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 5 (February 1876): 119.
178
“The Hungarian Nightingale,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 4 (January 1879): 105. “Mme. Etelka
Gerster,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 5 (February 1879): 133. She was described as “a blonde as fair as Nilsson”
and “a pupil of the celebrated [Mme. Mathilde] Marchesi school.”
179
“The Musical Month in Cincinnati,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 6 (March 1879): 162. An ad for
Charles Kunkel’s Gerster Polka, which included her likeness on the title page, appeared in April. “Publisher’s
Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 7 (April 1879): 195. Gerster returned in February 1881 for the Opera
Festival. She “sang and acted charmingly in Lohengrin, Lucia, and Sonnambula.” “Home Notes,” Church’s Musical
Visitor 10, no. 7 (April 1881): 187.

161
Patti, or some other artist of phenomenal name and questionable talents.”180

The February 1877 issue featured American composer Paul P. Bliss who had died on

December 29, 1876. His engraving appeared on the first page and his four last gospel songs

served as the frontispiece. George F. Root, Frederic W. Root, and others contributed memorials

with details of Bliss’s life, character, and some of his works.181

In 1879 the Visitor recognized nine leading conductors of conventions and song

composers in the United States. The circular arrangement of portraits featured George F. Root’s

slightly larger one in the center, surrounded by H. R. Palmer, C. C. Case, Eben E. Tourjée, J. A.

Butterfield, A. N. Johnson, H. S. Perkins, S. Wesley Martin, and James McGranahan.182

According to a brief editorial, interest in convention and normal music school work was at its

peak during the summer. McGranahan was considered to be Bliss’s successor as a composer of

gospel songs.183

Later that year a full-page illustration of five European composers, “The Great Tone-

180
“Home Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 6 (March 1880): 162. Adelina Patti made her stage debut
in 1859; she had been performing for twenty-one years at that time.
181
G. F. R[oot], “In Memoriam,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 5 (February 1877): 117. According to
Frederic W. Root, Bliss had a wide range for a bass voice. This may account for Bliss’s pseudonym of “Pro Phundo
Basso.” Frederic W. Root, “Feuilleton from Chicago,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 5 (February 1877): 122.
Details of the accident that took the lives of Bliss and his wife are given on editorial page 124. In March the Visitor
printed Bliss’s eight-measure Lord, Come Away! with five stanzas. Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 6 (March 1877):
143.
182
“Successful Convention Conductors and Song Composers of America,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no.
10 (July 1879): frontispiece. Conventions could include those for Sunday Schools. I have been unable to determine
if S. Wesley Martin was born in the United States. J. A. Butterfield was born in England but served as bandmaster in
the Union Army during the Civil War. The Musical Visitor 20, no. 8 (August 1891): 204. Butterfield edited The
Musical Visitor from March 1865 to March 1867 and Butterfield’s Musical Visitor from April to November 1867,
published by J. A. Butterfield and Company in Indianapolis. Mary Veronica Davison, “American Music Periodicals,
1853–1899” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota, 1973), 312. The Visitor had advertised Butterfield’s Ruth, the
Gleaner as an “American opera,” by an “American composer,” remarkable for its historical accuracy and musical
excellence. Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 1 (October 1877): 28. Butterfield was elected secretary of the M.T.N.A.
at its meeting in July 1878; he chaired the meeting in the absence of President Eben Tourjée. H. W. F., “The Second
Meeting of the National Music Teachers’ Association,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 11 (August 1879): 284–85.
Butterfield died in Chicago in 1891. The Musical Visitor 20, no. 8 (August 1891): 204. At that time his Ruth, the
Gleaner was referred to as a cantata.
183
Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 10 (July 1879): 272. George F. Root was considered the father of the
National Normal Music School. “Editor’s Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 9 (June 1877): 236.

162
Poets,” Weber, Mozart, Gluck, Beethoven, and Haydn appeared in the Visitor.184 Composer,

poet, and writer D. C. Addison contributed an account of various portraits done of Beethoven,

Handel, and Haydn.185 John Church published and advertised Frederic Crowest’s The Great Tone

Poets, which was serialized in the Visitor.186 Another portrait of Beethoven appeared in the

January 1880 issue, “drawn for the Visitor from the most admired of all the master’s portraits in

steel plate.” The editor commented that there had been “some trouble in securing a satisfactory

portrait of Beethoven . . . , and although the one produced last month was considered excellent,

we offer still another impression this month, which many will prefer.”187

Celebrity soloists for the Cincinnati May Festival in 1884 were primarily Wagnerian

artists. The Visitor honored Austrian Amalie Materna with a portrait in April; and Austrian bass

Emil Scaria, German tenor Hermann Winkelmann, and German-born music director Theodore

Thomas honored with portraits the following month.188 Although Swedish soprano Christine

Nilsson performed at the 1884 Festival, the Visitor did not include her portrait.

Engravings of the soloists for the subsequent May Festival, sopranos Helene Hastreiter

184
“The Great Tone-Poets,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 3 (December 1879): 60, 72.
185
D. C. Addison [C. A. Daniell], “Portraits of the Tone-Poets,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 3
(December 1879): 65–67.
186
“Publishers Department, A New Book for Students of Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 3
(December 1879): 77. A series on “The Great Tone Poets” commenced in the Visitor in April 1875. “The Great
Tone Poets: Bach,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 7 (April 1875): 1–2.
187
“Beethoven,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 5 (January 1880): 97, 104.
188
“Materna,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 4 (April 1884): 86; “Theodore Thomas,” The Musical Visitor 13,
no. 5 (May 1884): 114; and “Wagner and the May Festival,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 5 (May 1884): 115–16. The
latter included a portrait of Herr Hermann Winkelmann. The same issue incorporated a portrait of Herr Emil Scaria.
H. E. Krehbiel, “The Festival,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 5 (May 1884): 116–17. His death in 1886 was blamed
on Wagnerism, and “Whether the music of the future had any influence on the illness of the late King Ludwig, of
Bavaria, is a disputed point.” Scaria’s “insanity and subsequent decease were undoubtedly due to Wagner’s
music. . . . his mania took the form of howling scraps from the parts of Wotan and Hans Sachs at all hours of the
night.” “Death of Scaria,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 9 (September 1886): 234. In 1882 Scaria suffered a
breakdown during a performance of Die Walküre and in 1886 another “mental breakdown and soon after died
insane.” Elizabeth Forbes, “Scaria, Emil” in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1997) 4:199–200. Soprano Amalie Materna earned a worldwide reputation for her role as
Brünnhilde in the Ring at Bayreuth. Robert W. Gutman, Richard Wagner: The Man, His Mind, and His Music (New
York: Time Incorporated, 1968), 376.

163
(born in St. Louis) and Emma Juch (born in Vienna of naturalized American parents) and

German-born soprano Lilli Lehmann, appeared in the May 1886 issue.189 A less formal likeness

of Lehmann had been included in the April issue along with American-born tenor William

Candidus. The Visitor provided a brief biography for each. Candidus had performed at the

1882 May Festival.190

The Visitor’s editor James R. Murray hoped that the directors for the 1892 May Festival

would select American soloists: “Our singers are so much sought for abroad it would seem

as if some attention should be given them at home.”191 Murray repeated his call to the May

Musical Festival Association to hire American singers for the upcoming festival. Our singers

“are not easily excelled by any of the foreign make. Give them a try.”192 The directors chose

some local performers but no portraits of soloists appeared in the Visitor for that year’s Festival,

189
“Helene Hastreiter,” “Emma Juch,” “Lilli Lehmann,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 5 (May 1886): 115,
117, and 119, respectively. Emma Juch was currently prima donna of the American Opera Company in New York
and had performed at the 1884May Festival with Materna and Nilsson. According to the Music Lovers’
Encyclopedia, however, Helene Hastreiter had been born in 1858 in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1897 the Visitor
reported that Helen [sic] Hastreiter had been with the American Opera Company and would tour the country the
coming season with her own company. She was once a pupil of Frederic W. Root. “Current Notes and News:
General,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 10 (October 1897): 277. For more information on Hastreiter, Juch, and
Candidus, all of whom performed with the American Opera Company, see Schabas, Theodore Thomas, 150,
151,154,157,161. An entry in the Visitor reported that Dvořák was to conduct his Mass with the Brooklyn Choral
Society. Allegedly Mrs. Thurber declined permission because Emma Juch’s name was on the program. “Notes and
Gossip, The Musical Visitor 22, no. 4 (April 1893): 98. According to John Clapham, “If Mrs. Thurber had not had a
quarrel with Emmy Juch, the solo singer, he would probably have directed” the Brooklyn Choral Society’s
performance of the Stabat Mater at the end of February 1893. Clapham, Dvořák, 117.
190
“Lilli Lehmann,” “William Candidus,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 4 (April 1886): 89. According to the
Visitor entry, Candidus had been born in 1840; according to F. O. Jones, he was born in 1845. Jones, A Handbook of
American Music and Musicians, s.v. “Candidus, William.” He offered to sing, without pay, for the next Festival. “I
would like, if you will accept it as a token of my appreciation and respect, to come to your next Festival and sing my
part without any charge. I feel that I should enjoy doing it for the love of you all.” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 6
(June 1886): 148. Apparently the directors did not accept his offer. He was a member of the American [National]
Opera Company and performed the role of Lohengrin in January 1886. The Musical Courier “unreservedly praised
William Candidus––brother-in-law of William Steinway, one of the journal’s biggest advertisers––as Lohengrin,
even though he was a modest tenor at best.” Theodore Thomas and William Candidus received salaries of $1,000
per week; Emma Juch received $800. Schabas, Theodore Thomas, 151, 161.
191
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 1 (January 1892): 9.
192
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 2 (February 1892): 38. One of the works performed at the 1892
Festival was Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3. The second movement, “Marche Funèbre,” was associated not with
Napoleon but with Lincoln, “as it followed him from Washington to Springfield, and with Grant’s last march from
Mt. McGregor to Riverside.” “The May Festival,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 6 (June 1892): 151–52.

164
perhaps reflecting Murray’s frustration with the Festival Association.193

The Visitor’s cover in May 1896 featured Hungarian dramatic soprano Katharina Lohse-

Klafsky, a Festival soloist. An article in the same issue described the dissimilarity between

her “imposing, tensely strung stage presence and the modest, housewifely, ingenuous bearing” of

her home life. She died four months later in Hamburg, Germany.194 From 1886 to 1895, Klafsky

had been the principal soprano of the Hamburg Opera. She had also performed at other leading

European opera houses. After her marriage to the conductor Otto Lohse, she had come to the

United States and sang the principal Wagnerian roles for the Damrosch Opera Company with her

husband as conductor. They returned to Hamburg where she made her last performance on

September 11, 1896.195

A portrait of Massachusetts native George F. Root had appeared in the January 1892

issue, not as a visiting artist, but because his “writings are familiar to all musical people.” His

portrait had also been featured on the cover of the September 1895 issue, “Memorial Number in

Honor of Dr. Geo. F. Root,” following his death on August 6, 1895.196 The portrait of his son

Frederic W. Root had appeared in the January 1893 issue, as director of Root’s School of Music

in Chicago, along with a list of some of his publications.197

Despite the Visitor’s emphasis on American artists, it also featured portraits of European

193
“Cincinnati May Festival,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 5 (May 1892): 130–31. Ida M. Smith, Corinne
Moore-Lawson, and Albert Maish were chosen to sing solos. They did not participate, however, in the “Opera
Night” concert or in Dvořák’s Requiem. “The May Festival,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 6 (June 1892): 151–52.
194
“Katharina Lohse-Klafsky, One of the Soloists of the May Festival,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 5 (May
1896): cover, 122. The image inside the frame is dark; face not discernible. The Visitor noted that she died in
Hamburg, Germany, on September 22; a few months later it was reported that her husband was suing a German
paper for suggesting that his wife committed suicide. “Current Notes,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 10 (October
1896): 285; “Current Notes,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 12 (December 1896): 342.
195
David Ewen, Encyclopedia of the Opera, new enl. ed. (New York: Hill and Wang, 1963), 242. Klafsky
had been born on September 19, 1855, so she would have just turned forty-one.
196
“Geo. F. Root,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 1 (January 1892): 1B; “Dr. Geo. F. Root. 1820–1895,” The
Musical Visitor 24, no. 9 (September 1895): cover.
197
“Frederic W. Root,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 1 (January 1893): 3.

165
composers. Johannes Brahms merited two portraits in the Visitor. The first appeared in

November 1894, courtesy of The Outlook. The Visitor included a discussion of some of his

works, current reputation, and comparison with Richard Wagner in the same issue.198 The Visitor

reprinted the portrait because of an increased interest in Brahms and his music since his death on

April 3, 1897.199 Wagner was also honored with two engravings in the Visitor. A full-page

likeness had appeared in January 1877, intended as an accompaniment to his “Centennial

March,” which had been included in the previous issue.200 The Visitor reprinted Wagner’s

portrait following his death on February 13, 1883. The issue also included a biography, reception

history, and “On, Romans, On!” from Rienzi for treble voice and piano.201

An engraving of Frédéric Chopin and the manuscript of his Prelude, op. 28, no. 14, had

been produced “expressly” for the Visitor’s December 1878 issue. Chopin’s biography had

begun appearing in the Visitor in February.202 Franz Liszt’s portrait and a facsimile of his letter

to Otto Singer dated August 30, 1878, appeared in the same issue. Singer conducted his Festival

Ode for the dedication of Cincinnati’s Music Hall and Liszt’s Missa Solemnis at the 1878 May

Festival. The Visitor reported that Liszt wished to thank Singer for conducting his Mass and for

198
“Johannes Brahms,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 11 (November 1894): cover, 287.
199
“Johannes Brahms,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 5 (May 1897): cover, 135, 138. The Visitor included a
brief obituary and a description of his funeral.
200
“Richard Wagner,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 4 (January 1877): frontispiece, 94–95. The march
had “afforded to the critics such a meaty bone of musical contention, and to the people an excellent opportunity for
advanced study.” Theodore Thomas arranged and abridged the march for piano. “The Work and Mission of My
Life” by Wagner was printed in the Visitor. Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 11 (August 1879): 295–97. The Visitor
extracted the article from the August 1879 issue of North American Review. “Wagner and His Work,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 8, no. 11 (August 1879): 301–2.
201
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 3 (March 1883): 58, 62, 66–67, 73–75. Editor Murray appended a preface to
“A Last Letter of Richard Wagner,” written to Mr. Fritzsch in 1882, which appeared on pages 59–60.
202
“Frederic Chopin: His Life, Letters and Works,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 5 (February 1878):
119–21, 126. Elise J. Allen translated Moritz Karasowski’s biography for the Visitor. Church’s Musical Visitor 8,
no. 3 (December 1878): frontispiece, 72.

166
dedicating to him the cantata The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.203

After 1892 portraits of several long-term resident musicians of European origin appeared

in the Visitor. Pianist, composer, and writer Emil Liebling’s portrait graced the cover of the

June 1896 issue. Born in 1851 in Pless, Silesia, Liebling came to the United States in

1867.204 Neapolitan Eduardo Marzo had moved to the United States at the age of fifteen. He was

active as a singing teacher, composer, and served as an organist at various New York City

churches. Knighted by the King of Italy in 1884, ten years later Marzo found his portrait on the

cover of the August issue.205 Composer and conductor Julian Edwards, born in Manchester,

England, moved to the United States in 1888 and became an American citizen in 1900. A

reception history and cover portrait appeared in the February 1897 Visitor.206

After 1892 many of the portraits and brief biographies were of American-born theorists,

composers, conductors, teachers, and performers. A number of them also contributed articles to

the Visitor. Ohio-born “A. J. Goodrich, The Theorist,” was the first to have a portrait appear on

203
“Autograph Letter of Franz Liszt,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 3 (December 1878): 70. An
engraving of Cincinnati’s Music Hall appeared in the February 1878 issue. The Visitor promoted it as “the largest
Music Hall in the world, and in point of acoustics and details of construction it has no equal anywhere.” “The
Cincinnati Music Hall,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 5 (February 1878): frontispiece. The same issue included an
analysis of Otto Singer’s Ode “prepared by one of the best musical authorities in the country” writing for the
Chicago Tribune. “May Musical Festival: Otto Singer’s Ode,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 5 (February 1878):
124. The May Festival of 1878 represented “the most majestic, elaborate, and intensely difficult succession of works
ever attempted anywhere.” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 9 (June 1878): 240.
204
“Emil Liebling, Pianist and Composer,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 6 (June 1896): cover, 151–52.
Liebling resided in Chicago from 1872 until his death in 1914. He contributed articles to the Visitor, and revised and
fingered piano works printed therein. Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia, compiled Rupert Hughes, rev. ed. Deems Taylor
and Russell Kerr (New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1939), 261.
205
“Chevalier Eduardo Marzo,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 8 (August 1894): cover, 203; Music Lovers’
Encyclopedia, 281.
206
“Julian Edwards: A Composer of Light Operas Who Has Recently Become Famous,” The Musical
Visitor 26, no. 2 (February 1897): 52. Eric Blom and Jonas Westover, “Edwards, Julian” in The Grove Dictionary of
American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 3:87–88.
According to the Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia, Julian Edwards was “(rightly D. H. Barnard).”

167
the cover in April 1894, as well as a biography and reference to his writings.207 In a spirit of

agreement, the Visitor reprinted an article on Goodrich from Godey’s Magazine in September

1897. The author praised Goodrich for quoting “freely from the thoughtful and original works of

his contemporary fellow countryman to prove his points,” and putting them on a par with foreign

writers.” Furthermore, he was “recognized among scholars abroad as one of the leading spirits of

his time. His success is the more pleasing since he was not only born but educated in this

country.”208 Another Ohio native, voice teacher and conductor D. A. Clippinger, appeared on the

Visitor’s cover in October 1894. After studies in the United States, he had completed his voice

training in Europe. Clippinger was also a faculty member at Root’s Summer Music School in

Silver Lake, New York.209 Composer, pianist, and organist Wilson G. Smith, also born in Ohio,

was portrayed on the cover of the November 1895 issue. The Visitor subsequently announced

that Smith, as director, had reorganized the Conservatory of Music in Bay View, Michigan,

placing it on “a solid foundation of musical excellence.”210 The Visitor also featured Dr. J. W.

207
“A. J. Goodrich,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 4 (April 1894): 90–91. Alfred John Goodrich was self-
taught, except for a year’s instruction from his father. Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia, 177.
208
“A. J. Goodrich and American Music,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 9 (September 1897): 251. Reprinted
from Godey’s Magazine (July 1897). The Visitor announced that Goodrich had “taken a studio in Steinway Hall,
Chicago, and began teaching there September 1.” “Current Notes and News: General,” The Musical Visitor 26, no.
10 (October 1897): 277.
209
“D[avid] A[lva] Clippinger,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 10 (October 1894): cover, 263; Osburn, Ohio
Composers and Musical Authors, 43. Clippinger contributed an article on Puritan church music for the July issue.
He compared the seventeenth-century Puritan church service with current practice and claimed that some of the
Psalms are ridiculously long and could take up to a half-hour to line out and sing while the congregation stood.
Apparently he believed that the Puritans had been ahead of their time in allowing an orchestral instrument, the bass
viol, into the church choir. This was a common error since the music in the Bay Psalm Book, ninth edition (1698),
contained thirteen tunes and their basses taken from John Playford’s Breefe Introduction to the Skill of Musick,
1679. I am indebted to my adviser for bringing this to my attention. Clippinger did not approve of using operatic airs
in hymnbooks because of the difficulty in disassociating them from their original context. “Puritan Church Music,”
Musical Visitor 23, no. 7 (July 1894): 173–74.
210
“Wilson G. Smith: Abridged from an Article by Rupert Hughes,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 11
(November 1895): cover, 293–94; “Current Notes and News,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 6 (June 1897): 165. A
number of Smith’s articles appeared in the Visitor, some as reprints from the Song Journal or from the Pianist and
Organist. The John Church Company also published some of Smith’s works. Smith also coined the phrase “A Tidal
Wave of Encouragement” to characterize the wave of all-American concerts across the country in the 1880s.
E. Douglas Bomberger, “Smith, Wilson G.” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles
Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 7:566–67.

168
Bischoff, born in Chicago to German parents, who had been blind from infancy. Bischoff was

not only a composer and teacher, but also “the well-known organist of the First Congregational

Church in Washington D.C.,” a position he had held for the past twenty years.211 A portrait of

Chicago contralto Miss Margaret Goetz in the June 1894 Visitor accompanied her critique of the

American premiere of Massenet’s Werther in Chicago. The issue included a brief biography and

testimonial to her talents.212 The Visitor honored fellow Chicagoan W. S. B. Mathews with a

portrait and biography in October 1896.213

The Visitor published a portrait of composer Robert Coverley, born in Portugal but a

naturalized citizen of the United States, on the cover of the January 1895 issue. Bandmasters

Patrick S. Gilmore and Carlo Cappa had made several of Coverley’s marches familiar to the

public through their extended tours.214 Gilmore’s successor was American-born John Philip

Sousa. His portrait appeared on the cover of the January 1897 issue, in addition to a

biography and a notice that he was coming to Music Hall on January 26 with his band and

211
Elsie M. Bond, “Dr. J. W. Bischoff: Organist, Teacher, and Composer,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 12
(December 1895): cover, 326–27. One of his songs published by the John Church Company, “Mistaken,” appeared
in the same issue on pages 331–33.
212
“Stories of the Operas––No. 3. Massenet’s Grand Opera ‘Werther.’ A Critique by Miss Margaret Goetz,”
The Musical Visitor 23, no. 6 (June 1894): 145–46; “Supplement to the Musical Visitor: Miss Margaret Goetz,
Contralto,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 6 (June 1894): 146A. The article mentions that Miss Goetz studied for “four
years with the best American teachers” before continuing her training in Europe. The Visitor later announced that
she was to give a concert at the College of Music on February 9, “on her way south to fulfill concert engagements.
We advise all who love good singing to go and hear her.” “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 2 (February
1895): 37. The Visitor subsequently announced that a concert consisting wholly of compositions by women was
given at Handel Hall in Chicago on November 15, by Miss Margaret Goetz (mezzo soprano); Miss Minna Wetzler
(pianist) of Cincinnati, Francis Walker (baritone), and A. Yunker (violin). “Music in Chicago,” The Musical Visitor
24, no. 12 (December 1895): 359.
213
J. R. M[urray], “W. S. B. Mathews,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 10 (October 1896): cover, 265–66.
Mathews contributed a number of articles to the Visitor. The John Church Company also published some of his
works.
214
“Robert Coverley,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 1 (January 1895): cover, 1.

169
soloists (Elizabeth Northrop and Swedish violinist Martina Johnstone).215

The Visitor also honored faculty members of Cincinnati’s College of Music with cover

portraits. Arnold J. Gantvoort, born in Amsterdam in 1857, came to the Unites States in the

summer of 1876. He held positions at other schools before coming to the College of Music in the

fall of 1894 and served as Principal of the Public School Department. He was also President

of the Ohio Music Teachers Association from 1891 to 1894.216 The Visitor announced that Ohio

native Armin W. Doerner, a faculty member at the College from its inception, was leaving to

establish his own piano school and featured his portrait.217 The final cover portrait, of Ohio

native Edwin W. Glover, appeared in October 1897. Trained in the United States and a graduate

of the College of Music, Glover had served as a member of its faculty from 1883 until 1894 but

had resigned to open his own music school. Glover had recently been appointed as musical

director of the May Festival chorus.218

Faculty member Theodore F. Bohlmann of Clara Baur’s Conservatory of Music

215
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 1 (January 1897): cover; “John Philip Sousa,” 24; “City Notes,” 24. Murray
announced in November 1893 that Sousa had signed a five-year contract to compose exclusively for John Church
and Company. “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 11 (November 1893): 294.
216
“Arnold J. Gantvoort,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 7 (July 1897): cover, 173; Osburn, Ohio Composers
and Musical Authors, 80–81. He taught at Oxford College in Piqua, Ohio, before coming to Cincinnati. “City
Notes,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 7 (July 1894): 178. The John Church Company published and advertised
Gantvoort’s The High-School Ideal, a collection of vocal works arranged for use in high schools, amateur choral
societies, and quartet clubs. The Musical Visitor 24, no. 6 (June 1895): ii. It was announced later that year that
Gantvoort had a class of sixty day-school teachers at the College of Music. “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 24,
no. 11 (November 1895): 320–21. The John Church Company also published and advertised Gantvoort’s Music
Reader, for Rural Schools, Village Schools, and Teachers’ Institutes. The Musical Visitor 26, no. 10 (October 1897):
iii.
217
“A. W. Doerner,” “Armin W. Doerner: His Artictic Career,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 9 (September
1897): cover, 249. An advertisement for his “Doerner Piano School,” opening September 1, 1897, also appeared in
the Visitor. The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): ii. The John Church Company also published and
advertised two of Doerner’s works: Doerner’s Technical Exercises for the Piano, Revised and Improved (Musical
Visitor 16, no. 1 [January 1887]: iii) and Tone, Touch, Technic, the Three Essentials in Piano-Playing (The Musical
Visitor 23, no. 12 [December 1894]: iii). Doerner also placed advertisements in the Visitor as a teacher under
“Professional Cards.” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 4 (January 1881): i; Osburn, Ohio Composers and Musical
Authors, 60.
218
“Edwin W. Glover,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 10 (October 1897): cover, 276. Glover was chorus
master of the May Festival in 1884, 1898, 1900, 1902, and 1904. Osburn, Ohio Composers and Musical Authors,
84–85.

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merited a cover portrait in March 1896. Born in Germany in 1865, Bohlmann began his duties at

Baur’s Conservatory in September 1890. Although he had received “the most flattering offers

from many institutions in America and abroad,” Bohlmann had decided to remain in

Cincinnati.219 The Visitor featured another German-born member of Clara Baur’s piano

department, Georg Krüger, on the cover of the December 1896 issue. Reportedly the attendance

for Krüger’s recitals at the Conservatory had become so large that future recitals would be

accommodated at the Scottish Rite Hall.220 Bohlmann and Krüger revised and fingered

a number of piano works that appeared in the Visitor. Italian violinist and composer Pietro

Adolfo Tirindelli had joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1895. He moved to Cincinnati in

1896. He taught at and led the orchestra at Clara Baur’s Conservatory until leaving for Italy in

1922.221

By the Visitor’s final issue, portraits of native-born musicians, or naturalized or American

residents of European origin, took precedence over foreign nationals who did not reside
219
“Theodor Heinrich Frederic Bohlmann,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 3 (March 1896): cover, 61–62.
According to the Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia, at some point Bohlmann opened a school in Memphis, Tennessee; he
died there in 1926. Bohlmann had continued to provide articles to the Visitor until the final issue in December 1897.
“How to Study Bach” appeared in March, April, and June of 1896. “Piano Concert Music as Played by Theodor F.
Bohlmann: A Valuable Reference List of Pieces for Teachers and Pianists” includes a list of works Bohlmann had
performed in Cincinnati since 1890, thirty-seven of which were reported as first performances in the city. The
articles ends with the comment: “In the musical history of Cincinnati the work of Theodor Bohlmann will always
remain a most prominent feature.” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 4 (April 1896): 96–97. In May 1896 the Visitor
announced that Bohlmann would report on the twentieth anniversary of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The Musical Visitor
25, no. 5 (May 1896): 143. “Bayreuth and Wagner I,” is a letter dated August 10, 1896, reporting on his medieval
lodgings, Das Rheingold, critical of the costumes and Frau Wagner’s influence. The Musical Visitor 25, no. 10
(October 1896): 261–62. “Bayreuth and Wagner II” includes information regarding Cosima Wagner’s coaching of
singers and leitmotifs for Die Walküre. The Musical Visitor 25, no. 11 (November 1896): 289. “Bayreuth and
Wagner III” covers Siegfried. The Musical Visitor 25, no. 12 (December 1896): 319–20. “Bayreuth and Wagner IV”
reports on Göttderdämmerung and refers to Cosima as “she who must be obeyed,” the audience, size of the
orchestra, and suggests that art patron A. Howard Hinkle erect “an American Bayreuth in Cincinnati.” The Musical
Visitor 26, no. 1 (January 1897): 1–2. Theodor F. Bohlmann, “Studying with Hans von Bulow,” The Musical
Visitor 26, no. 12 (December 1897): 309.
220
“Georg Krüger, Pianist,” “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 12 (December 1896): cover, 340–41.
Krüger had been introduced to readers previously that year. “George Krüger, Pianist,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 7
(July 1896): 181.
221
“P. A. Tirindelli,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): cover, 221–22. His song for treble voice
and piano titled “My Flower” appeared on pages. 217–18. “A Souvenir of Liszt” in the same issue on page 201
concerns Liszt’s commentary on two of Tirindelli’s compositions. For more information, see the entry for Tirindelli
in the Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia.

171
stateside. All told, the Visitor published portraits of nineteen foreign-born performers and

thirty-one portraits of native, naturalized American musicians, or long-term resident musicians of

European origin. Nineteen of the thirty-one portraits appeared in the Visitor in 1892 or after.

The trend coincided with Dvořák’s tenure in the United States. Thus, the Visitor’s decision to

provide more portraits of American-born or naturalized citizens than European artists does not

seem coincidental.

The final issue of the Visitor reprinted without comment the following resolutions passed

by the College of Music of Cincinnati on November 14, 1897:

Whereas, A great movement has been started for the purpose of waking a universal
musical spirit throughout the country with special reference to encouraging musical
composition, as far as practicable, on American subjects, the establishment of various
musical centers, the proper elevation and direction of public entertainments, giving the
best music to the millions of our people at the lowest possible cost, the enlargement and
unification of our musical course of study, and the general advancement of American
musical interests, music students and musicians, therefore––

Resolved, (1) That while the College of Music of Cincinnati gratefully recognizes our
National indebtedness to foreign music-teachers, conductors, and composers, it considers
it a duty to wake up the National musical spirit, in order to bring about the most favorable
condition for the development of a National School of American Music and Musicians.

Resolved, (2) That it is our duty to seek the advancement of American musicians by
encouraging musical composition, as far as practicable, on American subjects.

Resolved, (3) That we, as an institution, heartily endorse the “American Patriotic Musical
League,” in seeking to encourage such high musical aims and ends.222

While the resolution acknowledged the contribution of foreigners, likely referring to, in part,

Dvořák, it was time to establish a permanent American School of Music. Jeannette Thurber had

had good intentions in establishing the National Conservatory of Music of America, but bringing

222
“Current Notes: Local,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 12 (December 1897): 333. The American Patriotic
Musical League had been founded in 1897 with Frederick Grant Gleason as president. Many of America’s
professional musicians, including some who had trained in Germany, were seeking an escape from the Teutonic
domination of America’s musical life. The objective of the League was the “nationalization of music in its various
forms of activity.” Many of the most prominent musicians in the country endorsed the movement. Travis Suttle
Rivers, “The Etude Magazine: A Mirror of the Genteel Tradition in American Music” (PhD diss., University of
Iowa, 1974), 120.

172
in a foreigner at a handsome salary to direct it had struck a sour note. The resolution of the

College of Music to establish a National School of American Music and Musicians obliquely

referred to both Thurber’s failure at establishing a uniquely National Conservatory of Music and

to Cincinnati’s long-held competition with eastern musical establishments.

Divergent opinions had been expressed in the Visitor on America’s relationship with

Europe and how to limit its influence on American culture. Visiting stars had been both pilloried

and praised. Writers had warned of the potentially damaging moral and financial costs of foreign

study, especially to young women. At the same time, the advantages of foreign study and

performance had once been considered beneficial to one’s career. Humor had been used to

describe star performers, tyrannical teachers, and to lighten the mood during the course of

presidential campaigns. The country strove for unity yet post-bellum tensions lingered, as

witnessed in song texts and inaugural addresses. By the journal’s end, however, Emerson’s idea

of “The American Scholar” had been defended and at least partially fulfilled. The country, and

Cincinnati in particular, was beginning to flex its musical muscle.

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 CHAPTER 4

COMPOSERS REPRESENTED IN THE VISITOR

Many of the 604 composers whose music appeared in the Visitor (see Appendix B) used

pseudonyms or initials, making nationality or gender often difficult to ascertain. According to

Nicolas Slonimsky, literary pseudonyms were common at this time. Women often assumed

men’s names to facilitate publication of their works, and professional composers of popular

songs also often wrote under assumed names.1 Some composers in the Visitor employed “Mrs.”

or “Miss” but other women composers did not. In any case, men outnumbered women. It is

impossible to discuss all of the composers whose music appeared in the Visitor since little

information exists for many of them. Several composers also contributed articles, short stories, or

poetry to the Visitor. Articles on composers came from various sources and for various reasons,

such as having their music performed at the Cincinnati May Festival or having toured in the

United States. Some were known for their Civil War songs. A number of composers also had

collections and/or method books published and advertised by John Church and Company.

A survey of these composers will tell us whose music was being printed in the Visitor.

How many of the composers represented in the Visitor were Americans, and how many were

known to have been women? This chapter will address composers’ gender, nationality, and

what subscribers learned about them through items in the Visitor in order to determine the

Visitor’s audience. I discuss the composers who won the Visitor’s 1876 poll of readers’ favorite

vocal and instrumental composers first, followed by women composers, composers residing in

Cincinnati, other composers born or residing in the United States, and European composers who

were not poll winners. Much of the information comes from the journal itself and is
1
Nicolas Slonimsky, Lectionary of Music: An Entertaining Reference and Reader’s Companion (New
York: Anchor Books, 1990), 392. According to Sloninsky, pseudonyms in music are rare, “except where a dignified
composer writes undignified music.” “Professional composers of popular songs often wrote under pseudonyms.”

174
supplemented as needed. A few of them were selected for the Visitor’s “Galaxy of Talent”

announced in December 1883.2

Pseudonyms and Initials

Several composers and correspondents to the Visitor used pseudonyms. For example, P.

P. Bliss wrote under “Pro Phundo Basso,” which is also the title of one of his comic songs

published by Root and Cady in Chicago.3 George F. Root was also known as “Wurzel” (German

for root). George W. Persley was actually George W. Brown. Michael Maybrick used the

pseudonym of Stephen Adams. Franz Behr used three pseudonyms: William Cooper, Ch.

Godard, and Francesco d’Orso. Joseph Leopold Roeckel also wrote under the name of Edouard

Dorn. Jean Louis Gobbaerts reversed the letters of his surname to become L. Streabbog. Delos

Gardner Spalding used the name of Frank Howard and may also have used the pseudonym of

“Delos.” James Frederick Swift published under the name of Godfrey Marks. George S. Gordon

also wrote under the nom de plume of Scythian. D. C. Addison, or D. C. A., appeared as Charles

Addison Daniell. He also contributed articles and poetry, and edited the Visitor from January to

August 1873 and again from January 1874 through April 1881. James R. Murray may have used

the clever pseudonym of “Raymur,” and possibly “Winthrop”; they did not appear in the Visitor

until after he became editor in May 1881.4 Music by Daniell and Murray in the Visitor coincided

with their tenures as editor.

2
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): iv.
3
Dena J. Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871: The Firm of Root and Cady, 1858–1871,
Detroit Studies in Music Bibliography, no. 14 (Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1969), 110.
4
For example, both James R. Murray and Winthrop are credited as arrangers of works from Edmond
Audran’s opera-bouffe La Mascotte, printed in the Visitor in February 1882.

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Winners of the Visitor’s 1876 Poll of Most Popular Instrumental and Vocal Composers

In August 1876 the Visitor polled its subscribers for their favorite composers. As early as

1872 a reader had queried the Visitor as to which American composer was considered the most

popular songwriter.5 The purpose of the 1876 poll was to familiarize readers with the names of

“the most popular song-writers and composers” of modern music and to help them to remember

to “mention the composers’ names” when ordering music by mail. Church’s thirteen thousand

subscribers were asked to vote for “his or her favorite writer of vocal and instrumental music.”

The Visitor promised to print a list of the winners and to publish “a song and piece by the two

composers receiving the largest number of votes.” The subsequent issue would contain music by

the two composers coming in second place in each category.6

Two months later the Visitor announced the thirty-two winners. At that time an additional

reason was given for the poll: to assist the Visitor in its “selection of music for the volume just

beginning, and [to] enable us to give greater pleasure to subscribers than ever before.” Seventeen

composers of vocal music were chosen and ranked as follows: Dr. George F. Root, George W.

Persley, Philip P. Bliss, H. Millard, Franz Abt, J. R. Thomas, H. R. Palmer, H. P. Danks, F. W.

Root, Will S. Hays, D. C. Addison, James McGranahan, J. P. Webster, Rossini, Robert

Schumann, William Howard Glover, and Verdi. The fifteen composers of instrumental music

were ranked as follows: Johann Strauss, Beethoven, Wagner, C. Kinkel,7 Ryan, A. P. Wyman,

Chopin, S. G. Smith, F. M. Davis, Grobe, Brinley Richards, Wely, Mack, Merz, and Mrs. Clara

H. Scott.8 The Visitor’s subscribers preferred vocal music written by native composers and in

5
“Letter Box,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 10 (July 1872): 5.
6
“Who Is Your Favorite Composer?,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no 11 (August 1876): 289.
7
I have been unable to determine if C. Kinkle is Charles Kinkel, born in 1832 (see Appendix B).
8
“The Chosen Composers,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 1 (October 1876): 8–9. Glover was born in
England in 1819 and died in New York in 1875. Joseph A. Bomberger, “Glover, William Howard,” in The Grove
Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013),

176
English, while the Europeans were favored for instrumental music. The winning composers

whose music appeared that month were George F. Root, Harrison Millard, and Johann Strauss

(see Appendix A). Harrison Millard’s single work in the Visitor appeared as a result of the poll.

His song “Kiss Me, Good Bye” had been published by John Church and Company in 1862 but

was reprinted as a piece by one of the poll winners.9

Music by the following nine poll winners never appeared in the Visitor: J. R. Thomas,

Will S. Hays, J. P. Webster, William Howard Glover, A. P. Wyman, F. M. Davis, Charles Grobe,

E. Mack, and Karl Merz.10 Thus their music must have been known to subscribers through other

means. For example, Karl Merz edited Brainard’s Musical World from May 1873 through

March 1890.11 According to Deane Root, “some of the best-known sentimental song composers

3: 519. Will S. Hays was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1837 and died there in 1907. Dale Cockrell, “Hays,
Will(iam) S(hakespeare),” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 4:105. Harrison Millard was born in Boston in 1830 and died in New York in
1895. Nicholas Tawa, “Millard, Harrison,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles
Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 5:492–93. J. R. Thomas was born in Wales in 1830 and
died in New York in 1896. He came to the United States in 1849. Nicholas Tawa, “Thomas, John Rogers,” in The
Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press,
2013), 8:186. Joseph Philbrick Webster was born in New Hampshire in 1819 and died in Wisconsin in 1875. Aaron
Appelstein and Jeffrey Green, “Webster, J. P.,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2013), 8:448. John Church published and first advertised S. G. Smith’s The Class and School for
Day Schools, Singing Classes, Institutes, Conventions, Etc., Etc. in 1890. The Musical Visitor 19, no. 7 (July 1890):
i, iv. Bonny Miller has provided a list of “male composers whose works appeared frequently in household
magazines,” including some of the poll winners plus a few found in Appendix B: Charles E. Horn, Henry Bishop,
Michael Balfe, George Root, Franz Abt, Arthur Sullivan, and Hart Pease Danks; Bonny H. Miller, “Ladies’
Companion, Ladies’ Canon? Women Composers in American Magazines from Godey’s to the Ladies’ Home
Journal,” in Cecilia Reclaimed: Feminist Perspectives on Gender and Music, ed. Susan C. Cook and Judy S. Tsou
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994), 181.
9
For more information on Harrison Millard, see Deane L. Root, American Popular Stage Music,
1860–1880, Studies in Musicology, no. 44 (Ann Arbor: UMI Press, 1981), 21–21, 216, 226, 232, 238, or E. Douglas
Bomberger, An Index to Music Published in The Etude Magazine, 1883–1957, Music Library Association, Index
and Bibliography Series 31 (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004), 65, 363. Another of Millard’s vocal works
appeared in The Etude in October 1911.
10
Karl Merz (1836–1890) was born in Germany and died in Ohio. He was an educator, composer, theorist,
and became the editor of Brainard’s Musical World in 1873. Merz spent the last thirty years of his life in Ohio.
Mary Hubbell Osburn, Ohio Composers and Musical Authors (Columbus, OH: F. J. Heer, 1942), 136–38. Merz’s
The Last Will and Testament, a comic operetta for amateurs, was advertised in the Visitor. Church’s Musical Visitor
10, no. 3 (December 1880): 91.
11
Mary Veronica Davison, “American Music Periodicals, 1853–1899” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota,
1973), 307.

177
of the mid-nineteenth century” included Hays,12 and Webster.13 Grobe’s death in Philadelphia

was later reported in the Visitor in January 1880. His published works ran into the thousands, and

he was probably responsible for more “brilliant variations” than any other composer.14

Some of the winning composers’ works had previously been published by Root and Cady

in Chicago, such as Thomas, Webster, Grobe, and Merz.15 In January 1880 the Visitor’s Chicago

correspondent reminisced about the town “before the fire” of October 1871. He mentioned the

firm of Root and Cady and the composers whose works they published. P. P. Bliss was referred

to as “the ‘Gospel Singer,’ as generous and happy-hearted as he was handsome.” A. P. Wyman

was “the lamented Wyman.”16 He had been born in New Hampshire in 1832 and died in

Pennsylvania in 1872. He composed mostly for the piano, and some of the works had “attained a

wonderful popularity, which is not yet exhausted.” His “Silvery Waves,” published by S.

Brainard’s Sons, sold nearly one million copies.17 George F. Root had composed thirty-seven

songs related to the Civil War, including one each for Abraham Lincoln and General Grant,18

which probably contributed to his popularity, at least in the Northern states.

12
Arthur Loesser, Men, Women and Pianos: A Social History (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1954), 561.
An advertisement for Hays as a music dealer at 168 Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky, and agent for Church’s
Musical Visitor appeared in November 1871. Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 22.
13
Root, American Popular Stage Music, 1860–1880, 159.
14
“Musical People,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 4 (January 1880): 103. An advertisement for “Grobe’s
Variations of I’m Waiting, My Darling, for Thee,” published by M. Gray in San Francisco, California, appeared in
the Visitor. Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 2 (November 1872): 24.
15
Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871, 153, 157, 162, 163.
16
P. N. Phoebus, “Chicago,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 4 (January 1880): 107.
17
“Wyman, Addison P.,” in F. O. Jones, ed., A Handbook of American Music and Musicians (1886; repr.,
New York: Da Capo Press, 1971), 178–79.
18
Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871, 167–71.

178
Poll Winners for Vocal Music

The seventeen poll winners for vocal music will be discussed according to their

placement order. Although George F. Root was best known for his Civil War songs, he was also

admired for his works used in normal music schools. The Visitor considered him “the father of

this style of musical emulation” in the country.19 In 1879 the Visitor reprinted part of an article

from the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser regarding Root. After moving to Chicago, he

encouraged and introduced “many young men of promise” to the public, including H. C. Work,

P. P. Bliss, and H. R. Palmer. The Visitor claimed, “Their influence has been greater upon the

people at large, than has that of Schubert or Mendelssohn. . . . P. P. Bliss has more admirers in

this country than has Beethoven.”20 Root was promoted as “the people’s composer.” Europe was

represented by Strauss as the “Waltz King” and Sir Arthur Sullivan. In the United States, the

distinction belonged to George F. Root, “whose songs are sung in every nook and corner of the

land, from the populous East to the most remote settlement on the broad Western plains.”21 Root

also contributed to the Visitor a series of articles under different titles, such as “Here and There”

and “The Normal Corner,” with information on musical terms, or letters from his travels to

England.22

Following Root’s death, an effort was made to erect a monument in his memory.

Francesco Fanciulli, then leader of the United States Marine Band, suggested that small

donations could be raised from bandsmen and other musicians throughout the country. The idea

19
“The Normal Music Schools,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 12 (September 1874): 6. Richard
Crawford, The Civil War Songbook: Complete Original Sheet Music for 37 Songs, Selected and with an Introduction
by Richard Crawford (New York: Dover Publications, 1977).
20
“Pioneers in Musical Culture,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 1 (October 1879): 13. It was reported in
November that Henry C. Work was “temporarily deranged on account of great family afflictions. We hope this is
not true; but the popular song-writer has had a larger share of trouble than usually falls to the lot of one man.”
“Musical People,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 2 (November 1879): 39.
21
“The People’s Composers,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 9 (June 1880): 245.
22
For example, G. F. R., “Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 3 (March 1887): 59–60. Root was
in London at the time.

179
had been endorsed by the musical press, including the Visitor.23 Root was eulogized at the annual

dinner of the Chicago Music Trade Association. As a composer he had written for “the great

mass of the American Republic”: he had composed songs for their homes, their schools, and

their churches. His war songs had “by turns calmed and stirred the mighty heart of the American

people” at a crucial time.24 The site chosen for Root’s monument was Chicago’s Lake-Front

Park. Funds were raised through Chicago’s women’s clubs, War Song concerts, the Grand Army

of the Republic, the music trade, and an appeal for funds would be made through the Associated

Press. Church was secretary of the Root Monument Association. He turned subscription funds

over to Mr. Lyman J. Gage, president of the First National Bank of Chicago, and

treasurer/custodian of the fund.25 According to James R. Murray, the memorial would

be placed in Chicago, “where all of his war songs were written.” It was deemed preferable to

have many small contributions rather than a few large ones, as evidence of a grateful country

rather than a gift from the city of Chicago. The Memorial Committee asked Murray to invite the

help of convention and singing class teachers to acknowledge the help they received from Root.

Conventions could devote one day to Dr. Root’s music, and the various “Chautauquas” could do

likewise.26

23
The Musical Visitor 24, no. 11 (November 1895): 319. Fanciulli succeeded Sousa as leader of the Marine
Band in 1892. Frank J. Cipolla, “Fanciulli, Francesco,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed.
Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 3:237.
24
“Tribute to Dr. Root,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 12 (December 1895): 328–29.
25
“The Site Chosen for Dr. Root’s Memorial Monument,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 4 (April 1896): 119.
In January the Visitor had announced that the Music Trade Association of Chicago would arrange for a monument to
Dr. Root, which was estimated at $50,000. The committee in charge consisted of I. N. Camp, P. J. Healy, D. L. Fox,
E. V. Church, and E. S. Conway. The Musical Visitor 25, no. 1 (January 1896): 23. The same entry claimed that
Root’s patriotic cantata Our Flag [with the Stars and Stripes] would appear soon. It would be given under Frederic
W. Root’s direction, “who supplied the last four numbers left unwritten by Dr. Root.”
26
“The Root Memorial,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 8 (August 1896): 228. The Visitor did not follow up
with a report on the monument. There is a memorial monument to Root at Harmony Vale Cemetery in North
Reading, Massachusetts. On the front is inscribed George Frederick Root, Poet, Teacher, Singer, Patriot”; on the
other sides are “Born August 30 1820 Died August 6 1895”; “His gentle memory is the heritage of his kindred,” and
“He loved God and man and was beloved of both.” P. H. Carder, George F. Root, Civil War Songwriter: A
Biography (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2008), 195. According to Julia Bachrach, Planning and

180
 Root was also included in the Visitor’s “Galaxy of Talent” in 1883 as “The Greatest

American Teacher and Composer.”27 Many of George F. Root’s collections of music and

methods were published by John Church, including Model Practice Lessons: A Thoroughly

Graded Elementary Course for Singing Classes, first advertised in December 1891.28 Not

surprisingly, Root had the largest number of works (206) printed in the Visitor (see Appendix B).

A number of works by George W. Brown (pseud. George W. Persley), had been

published in the Visitor and by Root and Cady prior to the 1876 poll. The Publisher’s

Department had compiled a list of some of their “most successful and desirable of our

publications issued during 1873.” The list had included seven works by Persley; “Far Away

Where Angels Dwell,” printed in the April 1873 issue, was then in its eleventh edition.29 The

Visitor had announced in August 1875 that two of Persley’s songs had been performed at the

commencement exercises of the Institute of the Immaculate Conception in Oldenburg, Indiana,

on June 29. The program had included “popular modern works and some of the standard older

ones.” Persley’s “Among the Happy Angels” and “Far Away Where Angels Dwell” had been

accompanied by piano and harp.30 According to the Visitor’s Publishing Department, Persley’s

songs had been among the most popular “since the days of S. C. Foster. They are all good,

Development, Chicago Park District, there is no George F. Root memorial monument in Chicago’s Lakefront Park.
Email to author dated May 27, 2014. It may be that any monies raised for Root’s memorial were given to the family
for the memorial that stands in North Reading, Massachusetts.
27
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): iv.
28
“Model Practice Lessons: A Thoroughly Graded Elementary Course for Singing Classes,” The Musical
Visitor 20, no. 12 (December 1891): 344. This book is not mentioned in Root’s autobiography published by John
Church the same year. See Appendix to George F. Root, The Story of a Musical Life: An Autobiography (1891,
repr., New York: Da Capo Press, 1970), 223–24.
29
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 4 (January 1874): 12.
30
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 11 (August 1875): 11. “Among the Happy
Angels” was published in the Visitor in August 1874, and “Far Away Where Angels Dwell” appeared in April 1873.

181
without exception.”31 Prior to the 1876 poll, sixteen of Persley’s songs had been published in the

Visitor. Between the time that the poll was announced and the winners were revealed, the Visitor

had published Persley’s “The Little Log Cabin is Gone. Answer to The Little Log Cabin in the

Lane,” with text by Thomas P. Westendorf. When Persley died in 1894, Westendorf wrote a

tribute to his memory. They had first met in Chicago in a music store in 1870. He had listened to

a few of Westendorf’s songs and had encouraged him to complete them for publication.

According to Westendorf, Persley’s compositions were “catalogued by every publisher in the

United States, and many of them have been reprinted in foreign countries.” Persley had been a

minstrel, and many of his songs were performed by minstrel troupes. His “Barney, Take Me

Home Again,” published in the November 1875 Visitor, refers to Westendorf’s famous “I’ll

Take You Home Again, Kathleen.” During the past year Persley had arranged over nine hundred

works, including the overtures to Semiramide, Fra Diavolo, and the Caliph of Bagdad. He

reportedly had worked until a few hours prior to his death. He had suffered from “an incurable

disease” and had been housebound for the past year. He died at home in Chicago on April 3. His

parting words to his wife and daughter were reportedly, “You and Winnie stay here for a little

while, and then come to me.”32

Philip Paul Bliss had a sense of humor as evinced by his pseudonym of “Pro Phundo

Basso.” His male quartet “Music of Memory” included some creative and humorous instructions.

The interlude after the first stanza was to be played with the “mouthonacomb.” Or, if preferred, it

could be “whistled or played on flutes, violins or piano.”33 His songs gained a wide influence not

only in the United States but in England and Scotland where Moody and Sankey introduced

them. A Scottish paper declared that Bliss’s songs exceeded the “influence and popularity” of

31
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 4 (January 1874): 12. The list included his
“Far Away Where Angels Dwell.”
32
Thomas P. Westendorf, “George W. Persley,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 6 (June 1894): 153–54.
33
P. P. Bliss, “Music of Memory,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 4 (January 1874): 19–21.

182
Robert Burns. Bliss’s “great genius” rested in his ability to “adapt happily the thoughts and

ideas” of daily life in simple, sincere songs.34 In 1875 Bliss reported with tongue-in-cheek from

Pittsburgh that “2,500 or 3,000 young men exclusively!” attended his gospel meeting at the opera

house. He also sang to “600 unfortunates” in the penitentiary and to “300 attentive listeners” in

the jail.35 The same year the Visitor reprinted an article from Zion’s Herald regarding the success

of Moody and Sankey in Scotland, attributed in part to singing Bliss’s gospel songs, including

“Hold the Fort,” “More to Follow,” “Jesus Loves Even Me,” and Almost Persuaded.” The Visitor

added, “Scotland is thawing and resolving into pleasant dew, under the beautiful melodies of

Mr. Bliss,” and away from its prejudice against gospel music.36 Church had published and

advertised Bliss’s Gospel Songs for Revivals, Praise Meetings and Sunday Schools in December

1874.37 Bliss’s last letter to the editor of the Visitor had mentioned that he had given up his work

at conventions in order to concentrate on “evangelistic duties.”38 Bliss’s death in December 1876

brought forth an outpouring of remembrances. George Root, William Sherwin, and Frederic

Root all contributed articles in Bliss’s memory. George Root recounted their initial contact

and activities as composers and friends, and how Bliss had been humble and grateful to friends

who helped him in his work.39 Sherwin praised Bliss for his works, character, and integrity. His

wife had been a real helpmeet to him. She had a good contralto voice and “supplemented her

34
“Popular Songs,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 2 (November 1874): 10. The Visitor reprinted from the
London Daily News an incident regarding Bliss’s Hold the Fort. Bliss’s song in the Moody and Sankey collection of
Gospel Hymns had been sent to an American missionary in Armenia, but had been excised by the Turkish governor
general’s “factotum,” Bukhsheesh Effendi. He had recently inadvertently allowed the passing of a book of letters
from a writer in the New York papers who had “roundly denounced the mis-government he had witnessed in
Armenia during the campaign of 1877.” Effendi thought the hymn referred to “an intended insurrection.” The
Musical Visitor 12, no. 9 (September 1883): 234.
35
“Correspondence: Gospel Meetings in Pittsburgh,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 4 (January 1875): 6.
36
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 6 (March 1875): 10.
37
Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 3 (December 1874): 27.
38
The Musical Visitor 13, no. 2 (February 1884): 38.
39
G[eorge] F. R[oot], “In Memoriam,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 5 (February 1877): 117.

183
husband’s labors most admirably.”40 Frederic Root discussed Bliss’s “Hold the Fort,” which had

been inspired by an incident during the Civil War. He praised Bliss’s character and physical

appearance, the wide range of his bass voice, and his devoted wife.41 Bliss’s wife, whose “Rock

of Ages” had been printed in the Visitor’s December 1872 issue, died with him in the train

derailment and fire at Ashtabula, Ohio.42 A monument to his memory was dedicated in Rome,

Pennsylvania, on July 10, 1877. The Visitor provided a detailed description of the monument

unveiled by Mr. Moody. The front reads: “Erected by the Sunday Schools of the United States

and Great Britain in response to the invitation of D. L. Moody, as a memorial to Philip P. Bliss,

author of ‘Hold the Fort’ and other gospel songs.” The back of the monument describes how

Bliss and his wife “met their death at Ashtabula, Ohio, Friday evening Dec. 29, 1876, by the

falling of a bridge, by which a train of cars was broken into fragments and consumed by fire,

some eighty persons being killed. It is believed that the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Bliss were

consumed to ashes, since nothing recognizable as belong to their earthly tabernacle has ever been

discovered.”43 Soloists, quartets, and children’s choruses performed at a Bliss memorial concert

held at Pike’s Opera House in Cincinnati on February 5, 1878. The concert program included

information on Bliss’s upbringing as well as stories behind some of his gospel songs, including

“Hold the Fort.”44 The Visitor reported that some of his “earlier concert songs of a secular nature

40
Wm. F. Sherwin, “Reminiscences of Mr. Bliss,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 5 (February 1877):
117–18. Mrs. Bliss was also his accompanist. J. H. Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers (New York:
Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914; repr. AMS Press, 1971), 179.
41
Frederic W. Root, “Feuilleton from Chicago,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 5 (February 1877):
122–23. Perhaps the wide range of Bliss’s voice accounted for his pseudonym.
42
Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 3 (December 1872): 19, 27. Mrs. Bliss’s sacred song had been included in
The Charm, a collection for Sunday Schools. An advertisement in the same issue for the collection, published by
Church, had mentioned that Bliss was superintendent of the Sunday School at Chicago’s First Congregational
Church.
43
“The Sweet Singer––A Description of the Monument Erected to the Memory of the Late P. P. Bliss,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 12 (September 1877): 311.
44
“Musical Month in Cincinnati,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 6 (March 1878): 154–55.

184
are worthy of the attention of real artists.” The John Church Company published and advertised

P. P. Bliss’ Most Popular Gospel Melodies, six works transcribed for the piano by Berthold

Marks, in 1885.45 In 1897 the Visitor advertised Gospel Hymns, familiarly called the “Moody

and Sankey,” available separately or all six volumes in one.46

Harrison Millard’s first work in the Visitor appeared in October 1876 after the poll; John

Church had published the song in 1862. Root and Cady had published his “Happy Dreams” in

1864.47 Deane Root discusses Millard’s The Silver Threads of Song published in 1875. Millard’s

“original idea” was to combine a vocal-class text with a children’s operetta, Little Red

Ridinghood, and a musical charade, Excellent. The book includes “well-known tunes with piano

accompaniment, drawn from traditional and popular repertories” with works by other composers

such as Glover and Danks,48 also poll winners.

Franz Abt is one of several European composers represented in the poll. His sole work in

the Visitor prior to the poll had been a song, “Sweetheart, Good Night,” in August 1872. The

Visitor had announced in December 1871 that “the great German song-writer, Franz Abt,” was

going to visit the United States. Abt reportedly wanted “to know personally the German singing

unions of America.”49 The Visitor reported on concerts to be held in his honor in New York,50

45
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 12 (December 1885): 311. The works were of “moderate difficulty.”
46
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 2 (February 1897): 56.
47
Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871, 98, 157.
48
Root, American Popular Stage Music, 1860–1880, 20–21.
49
“Franz Abt Coming,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 3 (December 1871): 6. Root and Cady had
published five of Abt’s works. Epstein, Music Publishing in Chicago before 1871, 149.
50
Arion, “Correspondence: New York,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1 no. 9 (June 1872): 2. A concert was to
be given at Steinway Hall by the Liederkranz Society in Abt’s honor. He conducted several of his works with such
performers as pianist Marie Krebs, violinist Pablo Sarasate, and organist Henry C. Timm.

185
Boston,51 and a report from Philadelphia52 prior to his arrival in Cincinnati in 1872. He arrived

on June 5 from Pittsburgh and was greeted by “delegations from the Mænnerchor, Orpheus, and

other German singing societies.” His host “had decorated his house lavishly, the exterior being

covered with German and American flags,” and every room filled with flowers and garlands. The

Visitor concluded that Abt’s introduction to “the society of the Queen City” had been “a decided

social success.” That evening’s festivities at Inwood Park included a welcome address, music

furnished by the Germania Band, and dancing. A grand Concert, given at the Exposition Hall on

June 6, was attended by “nearly three thousand people.” The Visitor described Abt’s person and

dress in some detail. The orchestra performed the overtures to Rienzi, Robespierre, and Fidelio.

The Harugarl, St. Cecilia, Druiden, Odd Fellows, Turners, Gemischter, and Gesammte Societies

performed choruses. The only chorus mentioned was the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s

Messiah. Conductors for the evening were Professors Barus, Groscurth, and Abt. When Abt and

the soloist, Mrs. Mueller-Kuntz, began to perform his popular “When the Swallows Homeward

Fly” [Wenn die Schwalben heimwärts ziehn], the audience responded with “a roaring round of

applause.”53 A brief obituary in 1885 mentioned that Abt had been destined to become a

clergyman like his father, but after his father’s death “he gave up the study of theology for that of

music.” A prolific writer, “his melodies were graceful and pleasing, though not always

original.”54

A hint of scandal touched the inclusion of J. R. Thomas in the Visitor’s list of vocal

51
Murillo, “Correspondence: Boston,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 9 (June 1872): 2–3. Abt’s popular
song “When the Swallows Homeward Fly” was conducted by Abt with the first stanza reportedly “sung by the five
thousand sopranos, the second by the five thousand tenors, and the full chorus of twenty thousand in harmony.”
52
“Mignon, “Correspondence: Philadelphia,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 9 (June 1872): 4. Several
choral societies performed at the Academy on May 17; Abt conducted the opening chorus with the combined
societies and accompanied a soprano soloist in one of his songs.
53
“Home Amusements: Herr Franz Abt,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 10 (July 1872): 9.
54
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 5 (May 1885): 122.

186
winners. He was accused of misrepresentation in the February 1880 Visitor. Mrs. Mary E.

Mannix of West Walnut Hills (a suburb of Cincinnati) had sent the manuscript of a song to the

Visitor in 1870 titled “Presentiments,” in which the last line of the first and fourth stanzas end

“The day you will forget me.” At that time she learned that her poem had been set to music by

J. R. Thomas, with the words by “Morgan” and titled “The Day When You’ll Forget Me.” The

Visitor’s editor sent letters to Thomas regarding the charge but there was no response. Thus, it

was presumed that he was guilty of “misrepresentation,” or plagiarism.55

Horatio Richmond Palmer’s songs had been published in the Visitor beginning in 1872.

Advertisements for his collections of music for singing classes and notices of his convention

work also appeared frequently. Editor C. A. Daniell had noted in 1874 that he was fortunate to be

“present at the closing exercises” of the musical convention directed by Palmer at

Middletown, Ohio, the previous month. Some of the most complicated part-songs from Palmer’s

Concert Choruses had been “rendered in a most creditable manner.” Daniell had added that the

Visitor “cannot withhold just commendation when it is eminently fitting.”56 The Visitor

continued to report on Palmer’s activities. “Dr. H. R. Palmer’s mammoth free sight-reading

music class in New York City” in 1895 comprised nearly one thousand participants. He was

presented with a gold watch at the closing concert on February 4, following which he left to

conduct the Florida Chautauqua Assembly. Palmer was also scheduled to conduct a music

festival in Savannah, Georgia, on March 24.57

At the time of the 1876 poll, only two songs by Hart Pease Danks had appeared in the

Visitor. From July 1877 through the Visitor’s last issue in December 1897, his music was
55
Mary E. Mannix, “The Day When You’ll Forget Me,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 5 (February 1880):
136. This is likely John Rogers Thomas; six of his works were published by Root and Cady. Epstein, Music
Publishing in Chicago before 1871, 162. Thomas was born in Wales in 1830 and died in New York in 1896.
Nicholas Tawa, “Thomas, John Rogers,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi
Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 8:186.
56
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 2 (November 1874): 10.
57
“Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 3 (March 1895): 67.

187
frequently presented. Advertisements for Danks’s Ideal Anthems, a collection of anthems

selected by the composer and published by Church, began in January 1887.58 In 1893 Church

published Danks’s Anthem Crowns, a collection of anthems, canticles, and sentences.59 Interest

in Danks extended to his family. In 1889 the Visitor’s New York correspondent wrote that

Danks’s daughter, Gertrude, made her New York debut at Chickering Hall on December 1. The

correspondent predicted “a most promising future” for the talented young singer and referred to

Danks as “the well-known song writer.”60 The subsequent issue provided a quote from

the Keynote regarding Gertrude: she “possesses a mezzo-soprano voice of a very large

compass; she uses it with rare intelligence, and sings with fine feeling and expression.” She was

also evidently an excellent pianist.61

Frederic W. Root, eldest son of George Root, contributed articles on singing, vocal

methods, and music criticism. Root was also a member of the Visitor’s 1883 “Galaxy of

Talent” and described as “The Great Voice Teacher.”62 A report in 1885 on one of his

concerts in Chicago, with an intermediate class of ninety women, included a reference to his

father. Root had closed the evening by introducing his father, who had been in the audience. He

had begun the introduction by playing a few notes of some of his father’s songs, including his

war songs, and had concluded by saying that his father “is a better singer than composer.”

George had obliged and had sung for the crowd but apparently had not commented on his son’s

opinion regarding his skill as a composer.63 In 1893 Frederic and his family sailed from New

58
“Ideal Anthems,” Church’s Musical Visitor 16, no. 1 (January 1887): iv.
59
The Musical Visitor 22, no. 12 (December 1893): i.
60
“Music in New York,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 1 (January 1889): 10.
61
“Concerts and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 2 (February 1889): 38.
62
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): iv.
63
C., “Music in Chicago,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 3 (March 1885): 69.

188
York for Europe where they would remain for about a year.64 A letter to the editor from Root

mentioned that a charity concert had been given onboard for orphaned children of sailors.65

Root’s travelogue continued from Germany, reporting that music in the churches in Paris, Berlin,

and Munich differed from that in the United States. Brass bands play marches and operatic

potpourri during Mass. But in a vast cathedral with a marble floor, the Hallelujah chorus or a

chorale by Luther played by a military band of forty was “impressive to a degree that cannot

easily be described.” Root reported that he had heard Palestrina’s music either in his own works

or music composed in his style.66 A biographical sketch of Root, condensed from The Voice,

appeared in the April 1891 Visitor.67

C. A. Daniell contributed serialized fiction, articles, and poetry in addition to music

under the pseudonym of D. C. Addison. Some of his articles were identified by initials only, such

as his brief biography of Goethe.68 Daniell’s “Side by Side, or Almost an Heir” was serialized by

the Visitor. The story begins with a nationalistic bent: the protagonist is an artist who cannot

afford training in Europe but asks, “Why should I? Is there not grandeur and majestic beauty in

our own land?”69 Addison also contributed an article on vocal music that began “it is too late

now to ignore the influence of the song-writer in forming the tastes and shaping the sentiments of

64
“Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 9 (September 1893): 238.
65
F. W. Root, “A Concert in Mid-Ocean,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 11 (November 1893): 287–88.
66
“Drawing Comparisons: A Letter from Germany by F. W. Root,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 1 (January
1894): 2–3.
67
“Frederic W. Root,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 4 (April 1891): 90. Church published several of his
methods: F. W. Root’s School of Singing (1873); The Song Era (1874); F. W. Root’s Special Edition, No. 2 (1887);
Root’s New Course in Voice Culture and Singing for the Female Voice (1891) and in 1897 as “Newly Revised by
the Author”; Root’s New Course in Voice Culture and Singing for the Male Voice (1891); and F. W. Root’s
Condensed Vocal Method (1897).
68
D. C. A. [C. A. Daniell], “Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Author of Faust,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 5
(February 1875): 5. Cushing describes Daniell/Addison as “an American poet of the day.” William Cushing, Initials
and Pseudonyms: A Dictionary of Literary Disguises (1885; repr., Waltham, MA: Mark Press, 1963), 403.
69
D. C. Addison [C.A. Daniell], “Side by Side, or, Almost an Heir,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 11
(August 1872): 2–3.

189
the people.” Once the song is sung in the theater or concert hall, it is “caught up by the thousands

of gallants and gallery-gods, and spread like wild-fire, until it is drummed upon every piano in

the parlors, and whistled, and hummed and hooted at every street corner” and has more power

than “the heaviest article from the editorial pen.” Daniell granted that the power of the composer

is not much greater than that of the writer of the words. However, it had become “a rule to credit

the musician with all there is of merit in the production.” In many cases, however, Daniell

believed that the character of the words may conceal poorly composed music. Addison also

wanted to give credit to the unnamed printer, who Addison claimed did a considerable amount of

the work.70

Most of James McGranahan’s music that the Visitor reprinted is sacred. McGranahan

and his wife visited the editor of the Visitor while in Cincinnati in December 1884 to sing at “the

Moody meetings. Their singing gave great satisfaction and was a prominent feature of all the

services.”71 George Root mentioned McGranahan in his autobiography as a pupil and later

working with him in publishing The Song Messenger and in teaching music education in normal

school sessions.72

Rossini’s sole work did not appear in the Visitor until 1890, a brief funeral march for

keyboard.73 In 1882 a brief article had recounted Rossini as “a very superstitious man.” King

Louis Phillipe evidently had given the composer a magnificent repeater which he carried in his

pocket for six years. One afternoon when he was showing the watch to some friends in a Parisian

café, a stranger approached him and asked if he knew the secrets of his watch. Rossini handed

the watch to him and upon touching a hidden spring, the back of the watch flew open revealing
70
D. C. Addison [C. A. Daniell], “Brief Talks on Musical Topics: Song Literature and Song Music,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 1 (October 1879): 6.
71
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 1 (January 1885): 12.
72
Root, The Story of a Musical Life, 145, 160.
73
I have been unable to identify the source for the funeral march.

190
a miniature portrait of the composer surrounded by enameled Arabic characters. The stranger

declared that he had made the watch but refused to reveal the meaning of the words. Thereafter

Rossini would not wear the watch for fear of an “evil spell.”After Rossini’s death the watch was

reportedly found hidden away.74

Though Robert Schumann was a winner in the vocal poll, only instrumental pieces were

reprinted in the Visitor. His Musical Rules at Home and in Life (Musikalische Haus- und

Lebensregeln), translated by Frédéric Louis Ritter, were reprinted in the Visitor.75 In 1890 some

of Schumann’s Rules were reprinted as an aid to learning “how to listen and to judge” and useful

to the “concert attendant,” music lovers, and music students.76

None of Verdi’s music had been reprinted in the Visitor until 1879 when the Agnus

Dei from his Manzoni Requiem, published by John Church, was performed for the first time at

Cincinnati’s Saengerfest.77 The Visitor had reported in 1874 that the Requiem had attracted

large audiences in Milan and Paris. Verdi had conducted the early performances and was

reportedly “overwhelmed with honors.”78 In 1872 editor Frank H. King had favored Wagner

over Verdi with respect to “knowledge of the orchestra, coupled with the ideal gift of nature” and

74
“Rossini’s Watch,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 9 (June 1882): 243. A repeater is a watch with a
striking mechanism that upon pressure of a spring will indicate the time in hours or quarters and sometimes minutes.
The same article, “Rossini’s Watch,” appeared in the Cambridge Chronicle 38, no. 29 (July 22, 1882): 7. It may
have been copied from the Visitor, or perhaps the article was being circulated at the time. As Marcia Lebow pointed
out regarding reprints, “many a paragraph . . . has been passed round abroad as common property.” Marcia Wilson
Lebow, “A Systematic Examination of the Journal of Music and Art, edited by John Sullivan Dwight: 1852–1881,
Boston, Massachusetts” (PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1969), 386.
75
“Robert Schumann’s Rules for Young Musicians,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 1 (October 1872): 2.
The first installment of numbers 1 through 38 was printed in October; numbers 39 through 68 were printed in
November. “Robert Schumann’s Rules for Young Musicians,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 2 (November 1872):
2.
76
The Musical Visitor 19, no. 6 (June 1890): 148.
77
“The Musical Month in Cincinnati,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 8 (May 1879): 218. Root and Cady
had published some of his works. The Agnus Dei, accompanied by commentary, had been printed in January and
February 1879. Church advertised the full orchestral score of the Requiem in October 1880. The Requiem was not
given its first May Festival performance until 1890.
78
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 11 (August 1874): 11.

191
had credited Theodore Thomas with Wagner’s increased acceptance over the past three years.79

A few months later it was reported that the audience had called for Verdi thirty-eight times

during the first performance of Don Carlos in Naples. His latest opera, Aida, was to be

performed at the San Carlo Theater in Naples during the Carnival season.80 An enthusiastic

review of Aida gleaned from New York papers opined that the prelude dies away “in a true

Wagnerian phrase as the curtain rises upon the first act.”81 A lengthy cablegram reporting on

Falstaff in Milan was favorable. This time “suggestions of Mozart are among the noticeable

features of the opera”; thus, Verdi had returned to the style of his youth.82 The same issue

reported on an interview with Verdi. He suffered initial poverty and disappointment in Busseto.

Workers at La Scala in Milan reportedly stopped their work during the rehearsal of Nabucco to

listen when the choir began to sing “Va pensiero.” The workers had broken out into noisy

applause and cried “Bravo, Bravo, viva il maestro!” At that moment, Verdi “knew what the

future had in store” for him.83 “Verdi’s Triumph at Eighty” was his comic opera Falstaff,

recently performed in Milan. After the performance he reportedly had gone to his hotel “as a

conqueror.” People would not leave the crowded street until “once and yet again he had appeared

79
“Home Amusements: The Thomas Concerts,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 2 (November 1872): 9.
This may have been King’s opinion and that of other critics. According to Larry Wolz, enthusiasm for local
productions of German opera waned after 1870. Verdi won in the vocal category of the Visitor’s 1876 poll while
Wagner won in the instrumental category. When Pike’s Opera House had opened in 1859, the public had been
outraged that their new opera house opened with Flotow’s Martha, a “non-Italian opera by a less-than-great
composer.” The audiences had been “especially enthusiastic about the Verdi operas” that season. However, the critic
for the Cincinnati Enquirer had been appalled at their lack of taste and called Verdi a “hackman.” Larry Robert
Wolz, “Opera in Cincinnati: The Years before the Zoo, 1801–1920” (PhD diss., University of Cincinnati College-
Conservatory of Music, 1983), 77–78, 292.
80
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 5 (February 1873): 10.
81
“Aida,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 4 (January 1874): 4.
82
“Verdi’s New Opera,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 3 (March 1893): 63.
83
“An Interview with Verdi: The Story of a Rehearsal,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 3 (March 1893): 68.
During Verdi’s memorial service on February 27, 1901, Arturo Toscanini had conducted a chorus of 820 voices in
“Va pensiero” from Nabucco. Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, Verdi: A Biography (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), 765.

192
on the balcony to bow his acknowledgments in the capacity of a popular hero.”84 Reportedly

Verdi gave the autograph score of Falstaff to Ricordi’s daughter. All instrumentalists who

participated in the Milan premiere had “received a photograph and autograph” of Verdi.85

Readers of the Visitor were treated to a description of Verdi’s Villa Sant’ Agata, near his

birthplace. The article describes his early training, his patron “the dealer in drugs” Antonio

Barezzi, whose daughter he married, and the contents of the home. Verdi apparently had

considered “the crowning work of his life” to be the “hospice at Milan for superannuated Italian

musicians and singers.”86

Poll Winners for Instrumental Music

The fifteen winners for instrumental music will be discussed below according to their

placement order in the 1876 poll. Europeans were favored in this category. An article on poll

winner Johann Strauss II had appeared in July 1872; he had come to Boston to conduct some of

his works at the World’s Peace Jubilee and International Musical Festival. The Visitor’s editor

claimed that Cincinnati would not feel slighted if he could not visit since he did not bring his

orchestra with him.87 Strauss was then considered the wealthiest composer in Europe; his (and

his father’s) waltzes had made him the best-known and appreciated European composer in the

United States.88 The Thousand and One Nights, op. 346, for solo piano was reprinted three times

in the Visitor: November 1871, “As Performed by Theo. Thomas’ Orchestra”; October 1876; and

May 1881. In a June 1880 article on waltzes, he was called “the greatest of all dance-music
84
“Verdi’s Triumph at Eighty,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 4 (April 1893): 97.
85
“Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 4 (April 1893): 98. According to Mary Jane Phillips-
Matz, Verdi sent the autograph score to Casa Ricordi. Phillips-Matz, Verdi: A Biography, 718–19.
86
“Verdi at Home (The Review of Reviews),” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 11 (November 1893): 288.
87
The Visitor had previously announced that “the great Strauss” was about to visit the country “with his
orchestra of sixty-two musicians.” “Personal Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 3 (December 1871): 10.
88
“Johann Strauss,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 10 (July 1872): 5–6.

193
composers.” His most widely known and popular waltz, “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,”

appeared in the November 1880 Visitor in an arrangement for piano.89 Readers were also

provided with a synopsis of his 1881 operetta The Merry War [Der lustige Krieg] and a report

that its one-week run in Baltimore by Charles E. Ford and Company had played to “crowded

houses.”90 A brief entry in December 1886 reported that Strauss had a piano “specially arranged”

so that he could “improvise and try his compositions almost inaudibly.” The reason given was to

prevent “piratical neighbors from appropriating his new themes for waltzes and operettas.”91

By 1883, the Visitor published an opinion on Strauss’s three marriages, divorce, and

changes in denomination and nationality. The author claimed that he deserved the title of the

“waltz king” because “he must have done some very lively waltzing to get so completely mixed

up as to his religion and nationality.” Anti-Semitism emerged in telling the tale. Strauss had to

convert to Protestantism and become a naturalized Hungarian citizen “in order to marry a

Hebrew widow, who, in turn, had to become a Christian, he now finds himself . . . step-father to

a little Jew boy, and about to return to the Austrian nationality and the ‘true faith.’”92

Five of Beethoven’s works were presented at Cincinnati’s first May Festival in 1873,

including his Symphonies no. 5 and 9. According to a Visitor article titled “The Ninth at the

Festival” reprinted from Brainard’s Musical World, the adagio possibly represented his

89
“Waltz Writers,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 9 (June 1880): 243. Both waltzes were also printed in
The Etude. Bomberger, An Index to Music Published in The Etude Magazine, 1883–1957, 403.
90
Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 14 (November 1882): 277; Columbus, “Music in Baltimore,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 11, no. 14 (November 1882): 384.
91
The Musical Visitor 15, no. 12 (December 1886): 315.
92
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 8 (August 1883): 206. Strauss’s first wife had died, and he was divorced from
his second wife, but the Pope did not consent to the divorce. Both Strauss and his third wife, Adèle Strauss (née
Deutsch), converted to Protestantism; they did not marry until August 1887, after Duke Ernst of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
had dissolved Strauss’s second marriage in July 1887. Strauss had relinquished his Austrian citizenship and enrolled
“on the nationality register of the dukedom of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.” Peter Kemp, “Strauss II, Johann,” in The New
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001),
24:481–83.

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mourning over deafness or the neglect he suffered. The author rehearsed the myth that his death

had been accompanied by thunder and lightning.93 The same issue contains a fictionalized

account of the creation of “The Moonlight Sonata.” It quoted Beethoven as saying: “No one

understands me. I have genius, but am neglected; I have a heart, but no one to love. I am

miserable!”94 In April 1881 C. A. Daniell placed Beethoven’s piano music on a pedestal.

Schumann and Chopin had been “poets of the piano,” but “lighter” composers than Beethoven,

who had composed for all instruments. Readers were advised that the spirit and humor of the

master could not be understood unless his works were studied conscientiously, “even

religiously.” There is no mere “pyrotechnic display as in the works of Liszt and others.”95

The March 1882 Visitor included several items on different works by Beethoven in honor

of the fifty-fifth anniversary of his death. Eben E. Rexford contributed his poem “A Sonata of

Beethoven’s,” apparently in response to hearing the “Moonlight” sonata.96 Lady Benedict, wife

of Sir Jules, gave advice on “How to Play Beethoven’s Sonatas.”97 And Warren Walters

considered “Beethoven’s Heroic Symphony” to be his greatest work.98 Likely, it was James R.

Murray who wrote of Beethoven as “The Great Tone Poet,” who had suffered at the hands of his

contemporaries.99

Two years later Mr. J. A. Homan of the Commerical Gazette interviewed Dr. Emmert,

93
“The Ninth at the Festival,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 10 (July 1873): 9. Reprint from Brainard’s
Musical World, no date given.
94
“The Moonlight Sonata,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 20 (July 1873): 2–3.
95
“Beethoven’s Piano Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 7 (April 1881): 186.
96
Eben E. Rexford, “A Sonata of Beethoven’s,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 6 (March 1882): 151.
97
Lady Benedict, “How to Play Beethoven’s Sonatas,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 6 (March 1882):
151–53.
98
Warren Walters, “Beethoven’s Heroic Symphony,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 6 (March 1882):
154–55.
99
“The Great Tone Poet,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 6 (March 1882): 158.

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former Coroner of Hamilton County. Dr. Emmert had reportedly become acquainted with

Beethoven when he was a medical student at the University of Vienna in 1826–1827. Homan

asked Dr. Emmert five questions. The first was, “When and how did you become acquainted

with Beethoven?” One of Emmert’s relatives had been a friend of Beethoven’s and introduced

him to the composer. Homan’s first impressions had been that his hair was unkempt but, contrary

to suppositions, he found Beethoven to be “one of the most social and pleasant men that I have

ever met.” The second question related to “his domestic situation at that time.” Dr. Emmert had

visited Beethoven at his house several times. The housekeeper had been old and ungainly, but a

good cook, and never complained of Beethoven’s “eccentricities.” She had prepared one of his

favorite dishes, Kalbsbraten (roast veal with sauce); Emmert claims he had witnessed “the relish

with which Beethoven punished both meat and sauce.” Third, “Did Beethoven in the years of his

physical decline pay much attention to the subject of music?” Beethoven had been fond of

improvising at the piano, but “it was not agreeable to hear him play. His piano was an old box;

what the Germans call a ‘Rumpelskasten.’” However, his genius for composing had continued to

the end. Homan then asked about Beethoven’s “political tendencies.” Emmert responded that he

had been a “thorough Republican” with little respect for the monarchy. But he had been too

much engaged with music for any activism. Emmert claimed that he had been an eyewitness to

the incident with Goethe when the two passed by members of the Imperial Court. Goethe “made

a very low, respectful obeisance” but “Beethoven hardly lifted his cap, nodded his head very

curtly, and immediately passed on.” Last, “What were Beethoven’s religious tendencies?”

Emmert replied that Beethoven had been “educated a Catholic . . . but religious subjects and

observances caused him very little trouble.” Homan concluded by observing how much pleasure

Dr. Emmert derived from having “conversed and eaten at the same table with the greatest of all

196
musicians––Ludwig van Beethoven.”100 Perhaps Homan meant written communication? Seven

of Beethoven’s works were performed at the 1884 May Festival, including Ah, Perfido!, scene

and aria for soprano and orchestra; Leonore Overtures, nos. 2 and 3; “Twine ye the garlands,”

march and chorus from The Ruins of Athens; minuet and finale from the third Razumovsky

Quartet, and Symphony no. 9.

Richard Wagner’s works were represented at every May Festival in Cincinnati during the

Visitor’s run.101 With one exception, transcriptions of his works for keyboard were reprinted in

the Visitor. Interest in his operas/music dramas was exhibited in various ways, such as debates

over the virtues of his works versus Italian opera, accounts of performances, his libretti, and his

letters. Some of the accounts are humorous. When the Visitor mentions his second wife, Cosima,

it is usually in a negative sense.

An unsigned article on Lohengrin in 1874 was pro-German and anti-Italian. Wagner had

been accused by opponents of writing music that was too advanced. Those who sought melodic

forms or memorable tunes would, according to the author, have to look to the Italian lyric drama.

But in Wagner they would find “an eloquently grand dramatic poem, eloquently painted in

musical language” that may require more than one hearing before the listener falls under the

spell of the “music of the future.”102 A subsequent article a few months later heralded his

100
“A Cincinnatian’s Reminiscence of Beethoven,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 4 (April 1884): 91. It was
announced in January 1885 that Dr. Frederic Louis Emmert, whose reminiscences of Beethoven had appeared in the
April 1884 Visitor, had died at the age of seventy-seven. “He came to America in 1840 and has been a resident of
Cincinnati since that time. He was perhaps the only man in this country who could boast of an intimate personal
acquaintance with Beethoven, and had a fund of anecdotes about the great musician.” “City Notes,” The Musical
Visitor 14, no. 1 (January 1885): 12. This account seems highly unlikely. According to Maynard Solomon, by 1822
Beethoven was considered “not merely deaf, but a misanthrope, a recluse, and mentally unbalanced.” Maynard
Solomon, Beethoven, 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Schirmer Books, 1998), 331. For accounts of “quest narratives” of
people who visited Beethoven, see K. M. Knittel, “Pilgrimages to Beethoven: Reminiscences by His
Contemporaries,” in Music and Letters 84, no. 1 (February 2003): 19–54.
101
“Wagner’s Funeral,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 3 (March 1883): 71. A cablegram from Bayreuth dated
February 18 gave an account of the funeral.
102
“Lohengrin,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 7 (April 1874): 5. It was reported in 1893 that Louis
Barwolf of Brussels had just completed a mass with themes taken from Lohengrin. He substituted religious texts for

197
dramatic theories and claimed that his ideas were tied to progress.103 In the same issue, editor

C. A. Daniell discussed The Flying Dutchman.104 Daniell considered the discussion of the merits

of Wagner’s works and theories “the most important musical event of the age.”105

In 1882 Louis C. Elson reviewed works by Wagner and Brahms that the Boston

Symphony Orchestra had performed. He preferred Brahms’s Serenade to Wagner’s Prelude to

Parsifal. According to Elson, Brahms combines “the intellectual with the emotional in the

highest degrees, and he doesn’t think it necessary to bolster up his music with any theories or

dogmas whatever.” Elson wanted to “test the effect of Wagner” with an “unprepared mind,

without a guide-book,” and went to the concert “in ignorance of what the meaning of the prelude

was. I came away in precisely the same state.” It was “repeated later in the program, in order that

the work might be more thoroughly understood. Alas for the vanity of human hopes!”106

A book review recommended Richard Wagner’s Poem, The Ring of the Nibelung, by

George T. Dippold, published by Henry Holt and Company in New York City. The reviewer

claimed that it is “a very complete account of ancient Teutonic gods and goddesses, giants,

dwarfs, water-sprites, norns, Valkyries, traditions of the Nibelung Myth, etc., etc.” Anyone

interested in the “music of the future” cannot afford to be without this book.107

In 1881 composer E. M. Bowman provided a detailed description of the reception of

those of the drama. “It is thus that a fragment of the melody of the Holy Grail has become the Kyrie” (according to
Le Mènestrel). “Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 10 (October 1893): 266.
103
“Richard Wagner and the Tone-Language,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 10 (July 1874): 8.
104
D. C. A. [Charles A. Daniell], “The Flying Dutchman,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 10 (July 1874):
5. Both Wagner and Daniell were poll winners.
105
“Editor’s Notes and Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 10 (July 1874): 10.
106
Proteus [Louis C. Elson], “Correspondence: Boston, Nov. 15,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 15
(December 1882): 412–13. Elson does not specify which Serenade was performed.
107
“Books and Magazines,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): 179.

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Wagner’s Ring Cycle in Berlin.108 After the audience had been seated, a trumpeter, behind the

curtain, had announced the beginning of the performance, at which time Wagner’s family, then

Wagner, had entered their box in the dress circle. This had been the signal for a fanfare from the

orchestra, conducted by Anton Seidl, and loud calls of “Wagner! Wagner!” from his enthusiasts,

to which he had “responded by coming to the front of the box and bowing toward all quarters of

the audience.” Bowman opined: “It is not necessary to be a Wagner enthusiast to be willing to

join in the ‘Bravo! Bravo! Wagner hoch! Wagner hoch!’ as we did” at the end of each night, or

“to uncover our heads and shout again ‘Wagner hoch!’ as he drove off the last night” with his

carriage filled with laurel wreaths and flowers. Bowman cautioned, however, that not everyone

had been “so excited” by Wagner’s music. He recalled an incident of two men who had been

sitting side by side in the galleries. One man had “shouted himself hoarse and blistered his hands

in his demonstration of approval, while the other had sat through act after act with stolid

indifference or sullen disapproval.” Finally the latter had lost patience and blurted out, “What in

the world do you applaud so for? . . . What would you do if you only heard Mozart? Why, man,

you’d kill yourself, you’d fall down dead!”

As to the music, Bowman pointed out differences between opera and music drama: the

orchestral preludes are short, no “hodge-podge overture of the principal themes, but rather a

prelude suited to place the audience in the peculiar Stimmung or frame of mind” to follow the

story. Bowman considered this an improvement over “the old school.” He was impressed by the

voice parts, which did not fall into a developed rhythm; there was little or no repetition of words

in the Ring. The orchestra did not simply accompany the voices, rather, the voices become part

of the orchestra. The orchestra illustrates the text, and voices and instruments move on “in one

108
John Church and Company published and advertised Bowman’s Harmony: A Treatise of Historic Points
and Modern Methods of Instruction, calling it “a scholarly essay . . . of interest to all music students and amateurs.”
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12 (September 1881): 343. The Visitor announced that the London Royal College
of Organists had conferred the title of A.C.O. upon Mr. E. M. Bowman; reprinted from the Weekly Register. “Music
and Musicians,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 12.

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richly varied whole.” The Leit-motiven “typify the different characteristics or features of the

opera,” either in their original form or through transformations. According to Bowman, this

allows one to “almost follow the story without understanding the words of the libretto.”109

Some of the reactions to Wagner’s works published in the Visitor were humorous. An

1882 account claimed that the Wagner opera season in London had not been well received, partly

because “no local talent whatever was employed”; the scenery and costumes had been brought

from Bayreuth and left much to be desired. The staging had been comical: “the scene of the

Rhinedaughters in the fish tank, was tolerably well managed.” The dragon split his sides and

proved to be stuffed with straw. “Brünnhilde’s horse . . . was not comfortable at all, and was

immensely enjoyed by the audience, but scarcely so by Woton’s [sic] warrior daughter.”

Complaint was also made that “Herr Naumann [Angelo Neumann] has pulled his wires well. We

were promised Wagner ‘to conduct,’ and we have never even seen the tip of his nose.” It was

“generally conceded that a large portion of the . . . Ring . . . may be missed with profit to those

attending.” Only about half of the music heard during the four evenings was “really

interesting.”110 The Visitor noted: “The letter of congratulations upon the success attending the

Wagner cycle in London received by Herr Neumann from Richard Wagner covered three pages,

and was all in one sentence.”111 An 1883 account of Tannhäuser at Covent Garden had included

two animal supernumeraries. On hearing the beginning of the goatherd’s song [“Frau Holda kam

aus dem Berg hervor”], they had begun to bleat. Mlle Cottino had set them free. One had made

“a hasty and undignified exit” while the other had delivered a “ludicrous solo” at the footlights,

109
E. M. Bowman, “Wagner’s Trilogy,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 7; “Bowman,
E. M.” in Brainard’s Biographies of America Musicians, ed. Bomberger, 43–44.
110
“Wagner Opera Season in London,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 10 (July 1882): 272.
111
“Notes from Abroad,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 10 (July 1882): 267.

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“as unmelodious as the most ardent admirer of the music of the future could hope to hear.”112

Wagner’s reception in Paris had been guarded after the Franco-Prussian War. Parisian

audiences habitually disliked Wagner’s music. However, the Visitor reported that they had

adored the “Ride of the Valkyries,” which M. [Edouard] Colonne, director of the Châtelet

Concerts, had introduced in a recent program. The piece had to be repeated at the next concert.113

His Lohengrin was to be given its first performance in Paris on February 1, 1882, at the Théâtre

des Nations and would be presented in Italian. The owner of the house was “demanding security

from the manager against any damages that may be done to his property. Evidently he anticipates

an anti-Wagner riot.”114 Ten years later the Visitor reprinted from the Sunday Times an account

of a staging mishap at the Paris Opéra during a performance of Die Walküre. The steampipe used

for the fire scene had loudly burst, followed by a deafening hiss of steam. Brünnhilde, Mlle

Bréval, had rushed off the stage and Wotan, M. Fournets, had “jumped into the orchestra on top

of the musicians.” The audience had headed for the doors, but one of the managers had been able

to restore confidence and the performance continued.115

In 1888 the Visitor reported that Francis Hueffer was translating Wagner’s letters into

English. According to a letter to Liszt written in 1855, Wagner had praised Queen Victoria and

Prince Albert for their courage in speaking up for him, known at the time as “a political outcast

accused of high treason, and with the police at his heels.” Wagner had been grateful for their

support.116 More excerpts from the Wagner-Liszt correspondence appeared in November

112
“A Goat Solo in ‘Tannhäuser,’” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 6 (June 1883): 149. According to Harold
Rosenthal, Tannhäuser was performed at Covent Garden on May 23, 1882. Harold Rosenthal, Two Centuries of
Opera at Covent Garden (London, UK: Putnam, 1958), 206. I have been unable to identify Mlle Cottino.
113
“Foreign Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 7 (April 1881): 189. No dates were provided for the
concerts.
114
“Foreign Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 5 (February 1882): 133.
115
The Musical Visitor 22, no. 11 (November 1893): 293.
116
“English Notes: Wagner’s Opinion of the Queen,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 5 (May 1888): 125.

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1888.117 The Visitor quoted the Musical Standard regarding the publication of Wagner’s

correspondence by Breitkopf and Härtel. Volume One would not contain explanatory notes or an

index because Mme Wagner had forbidden them.118 Reportedly a letter written by Wagner in

April 1862 regarding the Parisian reception of Tannhäuser had recently been sold at the Hotel

Drouet. The letter did not exhibit “those rancorous feelings” against the Parisian public which he

cherished and “manifested later on.”119

Editor James Murray had previously commented on the Chicago audiences for Thomas’s

“Wagner night” summer concerts. He noted that there had seemed to be a relationship between

music and gastronomy, quoting a restaurateur in Chicago:

On Wagner nights we sell five times the amount of beer sold on any other night, and the
number of pretzels and seed cakes consumed is enormous. On Mendelssohn nights there
is a notable falling off in the demand for ham sandwiches. I make a profit of 85 percent
on every ham sandwich I sell. This man Mendelssohn does not strike me as being very
much of a musician, anyway. Strauss is the best friend I find in my business, for he
creates a demand for wine. There’s nothing like a Strauss waltz to make a man feel rich,
and to reconcile a woman to the utmost limit of human vanity.120
The restaurateur referenced Mendelssohn’s Jewish heritage, which evidently cut into his profits.

At times Murray defended Wagner. In response to a discussion on “Wagner and the

future of the opera” held before the Nineteenth Century Club of New York “as to whether the

mission of music was merely to give pleasure,” Murray defended Wagner’s music as

corresponding to the situation. Even if one does not like the character or passion being depicted,

he should “accept the situation and applaud the good intention of the composer.”121 In the same

117
“Wagner’s Struggles,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 11 (November 1888): 283.
118
The Musical Visitor 18, no. 3 (March 1889): 64.
119
The Musical Visitor 18, no. 4 (April 1889): 96.
120
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 11 (November 1885): 290. Joseph Horowitz mentions that beer and
refreshments were served at Thomas’s New York’s Central Park Garden summer concerts beginning in 1868; the
first “Wagner night” at Central Park Garden was held September 19, 1871. Joseph Horowitz, Wagner Nights: An
American History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), 57–58.
121
“The Mission of Music,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 4 (April 1889): 93.

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issue, the Visitor included a summary of a discussion held in the assembly rooms of the

Metropolitan Opera House on March 13, 1889. Participants had included W. J. Henderson,

Professor Luigi Monti, and H. E. Krehbiel. Henderson had taken a middle ground approach to

“the question now agitating the musical world.” He approved of Wagner’s theories but

questioned them in practice. Henderson had prophesied a fusion of Wagnerism and Italian forms

of opera. Professor Monti had championed Italian opera and had accused Wagner of “spoiling

the human voice.” Monti had cited Bellini’s Norma as an example of uniting the dramatic and

the melodious. According to Monti, Wagner’s operas could be “improved by the elision of all the

vocal parts, and the substitution of pantomimic action to the accompaniment of Wagner’s

splendid orchestration.” Mr. Krehbiel had defended the New German School even though he was

“not an extreme Wagnerian.” He did not subscribe to the theory that “mere beauty” constitutes

the art of music since there is nothing more fleeting than the ideal of beauty. In response to

Monti, Krehbiel had stated that singers were adapting to Wagner’s works; the human voice was

not being spoiled. Italian opera no longer has a voice for the people of the nineteenth century and

“certainly not for a people Teutonic in their origin, like the Germans, the English and the

Americans.”122

In September 1892 H. E. Krehbiel predicted in the New York Tribune that Bayreuth

would fail unless Cosima Wagner and her associates in the administration manifested “less greed

and more art feeling.”123 According to conductor Walter Damrosch, the 1891 Wagner Festival at

Bayreuth had been “a sad disappointment” for genuine music-lovers. Madame Wagner “has

some strange ideas,” which had made the Bayreuth performances inferior to those in other

places. The role of Elisabeth in Tannhäuser had been “attempted by an entirely untutored

amateur” who was not equal to the role. Madame believes that “the movements of the

122
“Discussing Wagner and His Operas: The Nineteenth Century Club Listens to the Opponents and Friends
of the Great Composer,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 4 (April 1889): 96.
123
The Musical Visitor 21, no. 9 (September 1892): 249.

203
performance should be made in time to the music and with its rhythm.” This had given the acting

a mechanical effect. There had been “much dissatisfaction among the pilgrims at Bayreuth,”

which Krehbiel felt had been justified.124 It was subsequently reported that Cosima had

instituted stiff rules at rehearsals, which had resulted in the withdrawal of a prima donna.125 As

early as 1876 it had been noted that “Richard Wagner’s wife, the late Mrs. Von Bülow, has

already made many enemies for the great composer by her overbearing manners.”126 It was

reported in 1893 that she had postponed the Wagner Festival at Bayreuth, fearing that the

Chicago World’s Fair would negatively affect attendance.127

The Visitor also questioned Wagner’s sense of morality: “Wagner was certainly a great

musician, but his ideas of morality, if we may judge by the plots of some of his operas, were

such as would bring a blush to the cheek of Leadville, Col.”128 Murray called Wagner “an

inveterate beggar” who was “always importuning Liszt for money in most cringing, and

sometimes most insulting, ways.” Murray quoted from one of his letters to Liszt asking him to

give a benefit concert for an artist in distress” and above all, to send money soon.129

The Damrosch Opera Company presented five of Wagner’s works (Die Walküre,

Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Die Meistersinger, and Tristan und Isolde) beginning on November 12,

1895, at the Walnut Street Theater in Cincinnati. The general impression was “one of much

124
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 9 (September 1891): 232.
125
“Eccentric Cosima,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 4 (April 1893): 100.
126
Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 5 (February 1876): 123. Not only was she overbearing, she was also a
divorcée.
127
“Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 6 (June 1893): 154. According to Frederic Spotts,
Cosima produced Wagner Festivals in 1891 and 1894. Frederic Spotts, Bayreuth: A History of the Wagner Festival
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994), 110.
128
“Musical Hopper,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 3 (March 1890): 68. This is likely a reference to Horace
Tabor, his Opera House, and his Matchless Mine in Leadville, Colorado. He abandoned his wife for an attractive
young opera singer, which became the subject of Douglas Moore’s 1956 opera The Ballad of Baby Doe. She sings a
lullaby, known as the “Leadville Liebestod,” to her dying husband.
129
The Musical Visitor 19, no. 12 (December 1890): 316.

204
satisfaction.” Likely it was Murray who considered it a week of “great strain, mentally and

physically, however much there is to admire in his wonderful works.” He believed that to make

Wagner’s works “wholly acceptable” the “long, dreary recitatives and dialogues must be

shortened.”130 The Visitor’s treatment of Wagner was even-handed. Both negative and positive

comments appeared in its columns.

The Visitor published Elise J. Allen’s translation of Moritz Karasowski’s biography of

Chopin beginning in February 1878.131 Chopin’s letters to his friend Titus Woyciechowski,

written between 1828 and1831, were reprinted in the Visitor between October 1883 and March

1884.132 The Visitor’s October 1884 issue includes Maria Hyde’s translation of Henry Blaze de

Bury’s reminiscences of Chopin in the Revue des deux Mondes. Included among them are

Chopin’s first success in Paris, and his trip to Majorca with George Sand.133 Romantic

speculation on the cause of Chopin’s death surfaced in 1882. “Chopin . . . died at 39, but music

didn’t kill him. The god of love did that. He died of a broken heart––the victim of the

philosophical speculations of George Sand, the woman of many loves.”134

Pianist George Schneider performed Chopin’s works at his Cincinnati College Hall

recital on November 18, 1884. Likely it was editor James R. Murray who admitted: “We

never admired Chopin much until we heard Mr. Schneider interpret him.”135

Little is known about instrumental poll winner Henry Brinley Richards. According to

the Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia, he was born November 13, 1817, in Carmarthen, Wales, and

130
“The Damrosch Opera Company,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 12 (December 1895): 358.
131
Elise J. Allen, “Frederic Chopin; His Life, Letters and Works by Moritz Karasowski,” Church’s Musical
Visitor 7, no. 5 (February 1878): 119–21.
132
“Chopin’s Letters: Eight Letters to Titus Woyciechowski,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 10 (October
1883): 260–61.
133
“Frederic Chopin,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 10 (October 1884): 260.
134
“Does Music Shorten Life?,” The Musical Visitor 11, no. 5 (February 1882): 130.
135
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 12 (December 1884): 322.

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died in London on May 1, 1885. He was a popular composer and pianist.

In 1871 the Visitor credited Brinley Richards and Sterndale Bennett with discovering “a

young composer of promise,” Joseph Parry, who had worked in an iron foundry in the United

States and had composed a competitive chorus for the Eisteddfod at Swansea. Parry entered the

Royal Academy of Music and received a musical degree from the University of Cambridge. He

was reportedly returning to the United States to pursue his career.136 The Visitor did not publish

any of his music.

The only woman in the Visitor’s list of winners, Mrs. Clara H. Scott, was praised in 1874

for her “beautiful contributions” to H. R. Palmer’s Songs of Love.137 Four of her piano works had

been published in the Visitor prior to the poll. Her works had also been published by Root and

Cady. Mrs. Scott served as a correspondent to the Visitor from Clinton, Iowa. In 1875 she

reported on the annual festival of the Mendelssohn Society held in Elgin, Illinois.138 The

following year the Visitor reported that Mrs. Scott had been engaged as conductor of the Clinton

Musical Association, and “A better selection could not have been made.” The report went on to

praise her many accomplishments:

Mrs. Scott is not only a musician of rare ability, but a composer of uncommon excellence
and versatility. Those who are familiar with the pages of “Songs of Love” have enjoyed
the singing of her Sabbath-school songs, and those who are familiar with recent church
music-books have been delighted with her anthems. She is also the writer of some
excellent and popular songs, and young players on the piano will thank her for her “Four-
leaved Clover,” recently published. . . . Mrs. Scott has opened a “School of Music” at
Clinton, and is already doing capital work.139
The Visitor reported in 1882 that Scott, “a musician of fine attainments, a successful
136
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 3 (December 1871): 9; Peter Crossley-Holland
and Nicholas Temperley, “Parry, Joseph,” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley
Sadie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 19:159.
137
“The Normal Music Schools,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 12 (September 1874): 6.
138
“Correspondence: Musical Festival at Elgin, Illinois,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 3 (December
1875): 63.
139
“Musical Items in Iowa,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 11 (August 1876): 291. The Visitor reprinted
the four piano works in the collection in November and December 1875, and February and July 1876.

206
teacher and composer,” had joined its “reportorial staff” from Minneapolis, Minnesota.140 A
letter to the editor from Scott in December 1882 concerned preparations for an upcoming May
Festival to be held there and directed by Theodore Thomas. She ended by warning Cincinnati to
“look well to your laurels, for when this great North-west speaks, she means ‘business.”141 In
February 1883 the Visitor reported that Minneapolis had been suffering from an epidemic,
causing opera, concert, and other troupes “to give it a wide berth.” Its correspondent had not
sent any “advices.”142

Women Composers in the Visitor

In addition to Scott, a winner in the Visitor’s poll, other women contributed

music to the Visitor. Many of them are of unknown origin and contributed one or two

compositions (see Appendix B).143 For the most part, they contributed vocal works, and some

served as church musicians and educators.

Carrie B. (née Wilson) Adams was born in Oxford, Ohio, in 1859 and died in

Portland, Oregon, in 1940. In 1897 the Visitor noted that Adams had directed the Treble Clef

Club in Terre Haute, Indiana, which consisted of seventy-five women. The Club was in its fifth

season and would give its usual Fall Concert. Mrs. Adams was also organist and choir director of

140
“Personal Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 7 (April 1882): 185.
141
C[lara] H. S[cott], “Minneapolis, Dec. 18, 1882,” Church’s Musical Visitor 12, no. 1 (January 1883): 14.
Mrs. Scott did not follow up with a report. Apparently the Festival took place as part of Thomas’s Festival Tour of
1883 of twelve cities, from Memphis to Minneapolis and from Baltimore to San Francisco. The Locke brothers of
California were in charge of arrangements; they turned to Frank King for help as business manager and to his wife,
Julie Rivé-King, as the tour soloist. The tour began April 26 and ended on July 7. The largest choir of the tour was
the Mormon Choir of Salt Lake City with 3,000 voices and the smallest was the Minneapolis choir of 380. Ezra
Schabas, Theodore Thomas: America’s Conductor and Builder of Orchestras, 1835–1905 (Urbana: University of
Illinois Press, 1989), 125–26. Rivé-King performed at six concerts in Minneapolis and St. Paul between May 28
and May 31, 1883. M. Leslie Petteys, “Julie Rivé-King, American Pianist” (DMA thesis, University of Missouri-
Kansas City, 1987), 67, 69–70, 376.
142
“Musical Notes,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 2 (February 1883): 41.
143
For information on Johanna Kinkel, Loïsa Puget, and Constance Faunt Le Roy Runcie, see The
Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers, ed. Julie Anne Sadie and Rhian Samuel (New York: W. W. Norton
and Company, 1995), 249–50, 378–79, 397.

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the First Congregational Church in Terre Haute. The Church Quartet had presented a ballad

concert under her direction, which was “received with marked favor.”144 The Visitor had

previously reported that the Club had studied Henry Thomas Smart’s cantata King René’s

Daughter “and other minor works” under Allyn Adams, who had also directed a similar club in

Paris, Illinois. The two clubs united in May 1896 for a concert in Illinois and were engaged “for

an evening during the I.M.T.A. in June,” forming a chorus of sixty to seventy voices.145 Adams

served as the associate editor for the Choir Music Journal in Logansport, Indiana, from 1891 to

1900, and edited church music for The Musical Mirror in Lafayette, Indiana, from 1898 to

1901.146 John Church published and advertised her operetta, The National Flower, in July 1893.

At that time the Visitor noted that she was with the Department of Music, Indiana State Normal

School.147 The Etude published one of her vocal works, “Honey Chile,” in November 1910.148

James Murray referred to Emma Louise (née Hindle) Ashford as “a prominent musician”

of Nashville, “a composer of real merit, whose compositions have often appeared in the Visitor,”

and the organist at one of the city’s largest churches. She was scheduled to take a trip in 1894 to

England and the Continent for study and pleasure.149 Ashford reported from Stockport, England,

that she had met J. S. Curwen of “Tonic Sol-Fa fame” and had heard results of his work at the

Fleet Road School, a public school in London. She was favorably impressed with the results of

144
“Current Notes: General,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 12 (December 1897): 333.
145
“Concerts and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 6 (June 1896): 175.
146
Davison, “American Music Periodicals, 1853–1899,” 219, 532, 602.
147
“The National Flower,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 7 (July 1893): i. For more information on Mrs.
Adams, see Osburn, Ohio Composers and Musical Authors, 369–71, and Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn
Writers, 15.
148
Bomberger, An Index to Music Published in The Etude Magazine, 1883–1907, 61.
149
“Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 4 (April 1894): 96.

208
the system.150 Ashford had been born in Delaware and received her first music instruction from

her father; her mother reportedly had “a beautiful soprano voice.” She had sung “even before she

could speak plainly” and studied piano, organ, and guitar. After marriage she had moved to

Chicago where she sang alto in the quartet of St. James Church during Dudley Buck’s tenure as

director and organist. She and her husband had subsequently moved to Nashville, where they

“had charge of the music in a Presbyterian Church and the Jewish Temple simultaneously.”

Ashford studied “advanced harmony, counterpoint, canon and fugue” with Dr. R. H. Peters and

other teachers.151 Her secular works were printed in The Etude152 while her works in the Visitor

were sacred, including such works as “I Will Praise Thee” and “He Leadeth Me.”

The Visitor considered Hannah Atkins one of Cincinnati’s creative musical talents, who

had “recently published a waltz of decided excellence” in 1878.153 According to Williams’

Cincinnati Directory, she resided on Symmes Avenue, Riverside, Cincinnati, in 1878. The

Visitor published her “Wandering Star Waltz” in December 1877.

The Visitor published a gospel song by Lucy Young Bliss, wife of Philip P. Bliss, in

December 1872. It came from her husband’s collection of Sunday School songs, The Charm,

published by John Church and Company. Both she and her husband were born in Pennsylvania.

According to J. H. Hall, “Mrs. Bliss was his constant companion, and greatly assisted him in his

work.”154

The Visitor published “Swedish Song: From a Daleklarian Dance” by Amalie

150
“A Visitor Friend in England,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 10 (October 1894): 264–65. Congregational
minister John Curwen developed a system of musical notation and sight singing in the mid-nineteenth century based
on Guidonian solmization. Curwen’s failure to integrate his system with staff notation led to tonic sol-fa falling into
disrepute. Bernarr Rainbow, “Tonic Sol-fa,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed.
Stanley Sadie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 25:603–7.
151
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 289–92.
152
Bomberger, An Index to Music Published in The Etude Magazine, 1883–1957, 281.
153
“The Musical Month in Cincinnati,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 4 (January 1878): 100.
154
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 181.

209
(née Schneeweiss) Joachim in April 1897. She had been born in Marburg, Styria, in 1839 and

died in Berlin in 1899. She had married violinist Joseph Joachim in 1863. The Music Lovers’

Encyclopedia describes her as an “eminent concert and operatic soprano; then contralto and

teacher.” Joachim was reputedly “among the first to sing complete cycles.” Clara Schumann

appeared on her recital programs as accompanist.155 The Visitor announced in March 1892 that

“Frau Amalie Joachim is going to make a concert tour through the United States, when the gifted

singer proposes to repeat the highly interesting interpretations illustrative of the development of

the German Lied, which have attracted so much attention in German concert-rooms.”156

Fanny Morris Spencer studied piano with Alexander Lambert, and organ and composition

with Samuel P. Warren in New York City. She served as organist at various churches and held

positions in professional associations. She taught at Miss Spence’s School for Girls in New York

City, and the Holbrook Military Academy and Miss Fuller’s School for Girls, both in Ossining,

New York. Spencer was a founding member of the American Guild of Organists in 1896

and a charter member of the Manuscript Society. Her works were published by such firms as

Schirmer, Novello, Ewer and Company, James H. Rogers, and Phelps Music Company. Spencer

was considered one of the leading organists in the country.157 She was referred to as a “hymn

composer” in Elson’s History of American Music.158 The Visitor reprinted her “Tell the Story” in

February 1894.

155
“Joachim, Amalie,” in Karin Pendle and Melinda Boyd, Women in Music: A Research and Information
Guide, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2010), 574.
156
“Foreign Notes,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 3 (March 1892): 67. I found no record of Amalie Joachim
appearing in Cincinnati.
157
William Howard Benjamin, Biographies of Celebrated Organists of America (Albany, NY: Benjamin
Publishing Company, 1908): 130–31. Spencer’s photograph appears on page 130. The Visitor mentioned the
founding of the group and its prospectus. Dudley Buck was honorary president. “The American Guild of
Organists,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 7 (July 1896): 182.
158
Louis Charles Elson, The History of American Music, rev. ed., ed. Arthur Elson (New York: Macmillan,
1925), 398. Five of Spencer’s songs were performed during a series of Public Meetings of the Manuscript Society
of New York, 1890–1901. E. Douglas Bomberger, “A Tidal Wave of Encouragement”: American Composers’
Concerts in the Gilded Age (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002), 203, 212.

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 Elizabeth Stirling was a renowned English organist and composer. She studied piano and

organ with William B. Wilson and Edward Holmes, and music theory with James Alexander

Hamilton and George A. Macfarren. Stirling was elected organist in 1839 at All Saints’, Poplar;

in 1858 she competed for and won the post of organist at St. Andrew Undershaft. She married

organist, lecturer, and conductor Frederick A. Bridge in 1863.159 One of her choral works,

“Autumn,” appeared in the Visitor’s December 1874 issue.

The only information available for Nettie Vernon is that she was from Clinton,

Wisconsin, according to a note on the music, to her “Jesus Loves Me,” published in The Visitor

in April 1875.160

The coverage of women composers in the Visitor was uneven. It is difficult to say why

some women were noticed in the Visitor and others were not. Hannah Atkins lived in

Cincinnati and that may help to account for her inclusion. Scott also served as a

correspondent to the Visitor. Attention was primarily focused on female instrumentalists and

“stars” who performed in opera or at the May Festivals.

Composers Residing in Cincinnati

A number of composers living in Cincinnati were also active as teachers, organists, choir

directors, and writers. The Visitor provided ample coverage of “home town” musicians.

The Ohio Music Teachers’ Association held its annual meeting in Cincinnati in 1891.

Members were invited to an afternoon of sight-seeing as well as a ride and refreshments on the

Ohio River via the chartered steamer Bostona, compliments of the John Church Company.

159
Judith Barger, Elizabeth Stirling and the Musical Life of Female Organists in Nineteenth-century
England (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007), 70, 101, 111–12.
160
Nettie Vernon, “Jesus Loves Me,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 7 (April 1875): 23.

211
Herman Bellstedt provided the music.161 At the same time it was announced that Bellstedt had

been prevailed upon to publish “his celebrated Indian War Dance.” Noted Cincinnati artist Henry

Farny created a design for the title page; the work was published by Church for solo piano

and for full orchestra.162 The following month the Visitor mentioned that the work “has caused

great commotion at the concerts of the Cincinnati Grand Orchestra.”163

Andrew J. Boex, born in Eindhoven, Holland, left Cincinnati for a summer visit to

Holland in 1891.164 Boex was the organist at St. Xavier’s Church where he led a recent musical

program; his wife was a soprano soloist.165 The June 1891 Visitor shed more light on Boex. His

Press Gavotte had been performed at the Burnett Woods concert on May 21; he was now in

charge of the Enquirer’s music department following J. A. Homan’s resignation. “Our dailies are

moving in the right direction, in selecting capable musical men for such positions.”166 His

advertisement as a teacher of music mentioned that he was also Director of the St. Caecilia

Mænnerchor.167 He organized a boy’s choir of 120 members at St. Xavier’s College; editor

161
“The Ohio Music Teachers’ Meeting,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 8 (August 1891): 206. Bellstedt
moved to Cincinnati in 1872. He was a prodigy cornetist by age fifteen. From 1889 to 1891 Bellstedt had been a
soloist with Patrick Gilmore’s band; from 1904 to 1906 he was a soloist with John Philip Sousa’s band. Raoul F.
Camus, “Bellstedt, Herman” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 1:422–23.
162
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 8 (August 1891): 205. Artist Henry F. Farny was active in
Cincinnati in the 1890s. Robert C. Vitz, The Queen and the Arts: Cultural Life in Nineteenth-century Cincinnati
(Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1989), 179, 236. The Visitor reported that Mr. Farny had just returned from
a trip to the Sioux Indians in December 1881. He brought back with him, among other things, several musical
instruments. Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 3 (December 1881): 74.
163
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 9 (September 1891): 233.
164
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 8 (August 1891): 205.
165
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 1 (January 1887): 9.
166
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 6 (June 1891): 150.
167
“Professional Cards,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 6 (June 1891): ii.

212
James R. Murray advised Boex to “look out for wrinkles and gray hairs.”168 Boex’s Cincinnati

Light Infantry March was performed for Governor-elect McKinley’s inauguration in 1892.169

Boex’s advertisement under “Professional Cards” in April 1893 added, “Revision and correction

of Authors Manuscripts, and Musical settings to Poems a specialty.”170 The Visitor published his

Easter anthem “Hallelujah! Christ Is Risen!” in April 1886.

In 1889 Signor H. B. Fabiani was welcomed as “a teacher and composer of note,” who

had moved to Cincinnati. He was in charge of music at the Wesleyan College and would also

“preside at one of the large organs of the city.” The same column noted that the pupils’ recital at

the college on January 25 was of a “high order.”171 Fabiani recalled for the Visitor Rossini’s last

years in Paris; Parisians preferred Rossini’s William Tell because “it was written among them,

for them, and in their language.”172 The Visitor reported in June 1890 that Fabiani had moved to

Detroit.173 He contributed an article on Molière in 1891 referring to his comédie-ballet Le

Malade imaginaire and Lully’s march for the Procession des Apothecaires, which are

performed every year at the Théâtre Français on January 15, Molière’s birthday. The Visitor

reprinted Lully’s “March,” to be repeated ad libitum, in the January 1891 issue and repeated it in

February, with the claim that it had “never before been printed in America.”174

168
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 1 (November 1891): 289. The Visitor reported that Boex’s
overcoat had been stolen while he was “playing a mass at St. Xavier’s one morning” recently. If the thief so desires,
he can “attend the Bellstedt concert on the 21st, as there were five dollars worth of tickets for it in one of the
pockets.” “City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 2 (February 1892): 38.
169
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 1 (January 1892): 9. McKinley was Ohio’s governor from
1892 to 1896. He served with the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, rising from private to
brevet major in March 1865; his commander was Rutherford B. Hayes. William A. DeGregorio, The Complete Book
of U.S. Presidents, 3rd ed. (New York: Barricade Books, 1991), 358.
170
“Professional Cards,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 4 (April 1893): ii.
171
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 2 (February 1889): 37.
172
“Rossinian Reminiscences,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 3 (March 1889): 61–62.
173
“Concerts and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 6 (June 1890): 149.
174
H. B. Fabiani, “Molière,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 2 (February 1891): 34.

213
 J. Winchell Forbes of Cincinnati composed an opera on Irish history, which he

titled Robert Emmett. The Coleman Opera Company was slated to rehearse it in early

September 1888. Mr. Coleman and others had examined the opera and spoke of it “in warm

words of commendation.”175 Between January and March of 1885, Forbes wrote a series of

articles on “What Will Be the Classic Music of the Future?” Forbes admitted that he did not

know what it would be, but he did not consider the music of the future, “the erratic flights of

Wagner and Berlioz,” to be an advancement in art. Forbes also contributed short stories, some in

dialect.

In September 1880 the Visitor announced that opera impresario Max Maretzek would

arrive in Cincinnati the end of the month to head the opera department at the College of

Music.176 Maretzek, “the latest important acquisition to our ranks of resident musicians,” arrived.

His duties included “vocal culture and deportment.”177 Madame Maretzek was also added

“to the long list of teachers” at the College of Music. She would teach stage deportment in the

opera classes and also give lessons on the harp.178 The same column included a story about

Maretzek told by Jerome Hopkins; therefore, it “must be true.” When Maretzek had been

surrounded by creditors some years ago, “a poor young man paid him forty dollars for singing

lessons. But after half a quarter was up, Maretzek frankly assured his pupil that he would never

make a singer,” and he gave the forty dollars back. The editor added: “Such instances are

175
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 8 (August 1888): 206. I can find no evidence that the work was
performed.
176
“Home Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 12 (September 1880): 330.
177
“Home Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 1 (October 1880): 12.
178
“Home Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 3 (December 1880): 72. According to Ruth Henderson,
Maretzek succeeded Theodore Thomas as musical director of the College of Music in September 1880, but resigned
in March 1882 after a dispute with College president Col. George Ward Nichols, who was also owner of a local
pork-packing business. Thomas had resigned under similar circumstances. Mme Maretzek and their son also taught
at the College. Max Maretzek, Further Revelations of an Opera Manager in 19th Century America: The Third Book
of Memoirs by Max Maretzek, edited and annotated by Ruth Henderson, Detroit Monographs in Musicology/Studies
in Music, no. 48 (Sterling Heights, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 2006), 104–5.

214
altogether too rare among our best music teachers.”179 A correspondent from Baltimore related

that Maretzek and his orchestra had been popular there. He had given summer concerts at the

Academy of Music. “He has done his best to give us music that pleases and he has succeeded. It

is useless to speak in his praise. You have stolen him from the East and know what he is.”180

The Baltimore correspondent also referred to the performers, among them a cornetist,

Miss Anna Teresa Berger. The playing of the solo cornetist “is not what her friends claim––

superior to that of Levy and Arbuckle. Yet it must be acknowledged that she is a fine performer,

and for a lady, first class. Her tone is pure, and her double tonguing fine; but she should not use

the latter where the composer has marked triple tonguing.”181 The following month the Visitor

praised Berger for her appearances at Maretzek’s series of summer concerts at the Highland

House: “[S]he is already well known to the musical world as a successful performer . . . the

talented cornetist will return to the Highland House September 12.”182 A report regarding

Maretzek’s concerts at Cincinnati’s Highland House included a performance of Haydn’s

“Farewell” Symphony as “one of the interesting and effective pieces” performed during the

summer. Apparently he played a joke on the audience. The musicians leave one by one until “the

astonishment of the conductor is complete, and he too is about the leave the stage to seek an

explanation . . . when a musician returns and begins playing.” They return one by one until all

are in their places. This account is followed in the Visitor by a portion of Heribert Rau’s

179
“Home Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 3 (December 1880): 72.
180
“Taking the Lead: The College of Music of Cincinnati,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 1 (October
1878): 8. This is similar to the response from Eastern cities when Theodore Thomas came to Cincinnati in 1878. The
Visitor quoted papers from Boston and New York on their loss and Cincinnati’s gain. The Boston Advertiser wrote,
“While we begrudge to Cincinnati her acquisition, we can not help congratulating her.” The New York Mail opined,
“The loss of Theodore Thomas to New York is the greatest musical calamity that has ever happened to the
metropolis.”
181
Columbus, “Baltimore,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 302.
182
“Home Musical Record,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12 (September 1881): 328.

215
biographical romance titled “Mozart.”183

Maretzek resigned from the College of Music in March 1882 “on account of difficulties

with the President [George Ward Nichols]. This makes the eighteenth withdrawal for the same

cause. Surely the fault can not all be on one side.” Editor James R. Murray raised the question:

“Is not this a matter worthy of investigation by the Trustees of the School?”184 The Visitor

183
“The Musicians’ Strike: A Story of Haydn’s Farewell Symphony,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12
(September 1881): 320–21. According to The Oxford Companion to German Literature, 3rd ed., Heribert Rau, a
German clergyman, wrote a series of novels about poets and composers which he described as “kulturhistorische
Romane.” His three-volume Mozart, ein Kunstlerleben was published in 1858.
184
“Home Musical Record,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 7 (April 1882): 185. According to Henry
Krehbiel, who called on Maretzek at the Burnet House in Cincinnati before he left for New York, Maretzek had
sided with Theodore Thomas in the “split with the business management of the college because of charlatanry in its
business methods.” Henry Edward Krehbiel, Chapters of Opera, Being Historical and Critical Observations and
Records Concerning the Lyric Drama in New York from Its Earliest Days Down to the Present Time, with Over
Seventy Illustrations (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1908), 55–56. The conflict between musical director
Thomas and President Nichols and Thomas’s resignation from the College effective March 1880 deeply affected
Cincinnati’s musical community. “Animosities of the most bitter kind were enkindled. Trivialities were taken up
and harped upon by the friends of both sides with equal mendacity and each one hugged his prejudices close, as
though in fear that in an unguarded moment he might be made the victim of mediation.” It also led, for example, to
the resignation of faculty members B. W. Foley, George Schneider, and Arthur Mees in 1880; they subsequently
formed the Cincinnati Music School. Vincent A. Orlando, “An Historical Study of the Origin and Development of
the College of Music of Cincinnati” (EdD diss., University of Cincinnati, 1946), 57, 200. The Visitor reported that
the College’s 1881 opera festival had been a success, making $7,000 in profit for the school, but at the same time,
“the College of Music continues to be the scene of occasional jarrings and strife, as all institutions occupying a
quasi-public position . . . seem destined to be. The latest move, not suggestive of peace and harmony, was the
departure of Miss Emma Cranch” who resigned from the faculty. “Home Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 7
(April 1881): 187. According to Ezra Schabas, Maretzek resigned on March 10, 1882, for the same reason as
Thomas had two years earlier, “he could not get along with Nichols.” Schabas, Theodore Thomas, 113. According to
Michael Cahall, the reason for Maretzek’s departure was that “Nichols had interfered with Madame Maretzek’s
classes by switching a student from her tutelage to that of Otto Singer.” The opera department also charged Nichols
with “running the school for profit at the expense of its artistic advancement and claimed that there had been a
conspiracy to oust him from his contractual duties as chorus master of the May Festivals.” Michael Charles Cahall,
“Jewels in the Queen’s Crown: The Fine and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1865–1919” (PhD diss.,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1991), 363–64, 366. Vincent Orlando does not mention Maretzek or his
wife among the College faculty, but does write that “a few who chafed at the drudgery of teaching had but a brief
career with the College.” Orlando, “An Historical Study,” 184. According to Frank E. Tunison “Nichols was known
to be domineering and a good hater. There is no desire to hold George Ward Nichols up to view as a perfect man.”
F. E. Tunison, Presto! From the Singing School to the May Musical Festival (Cincinnati: E. H. Beasley and
Company, 1888), 69, quoted in Orlando, “An Historical Study,” 42. By way of contrast, students at Clara Baur’s
Conservatory of Music, founded in 1867, were “assured of a well-supervised and even homelike atmosphere in
which to pursue their studies.” For decades, women outnumbered men at the Conservatory. “This congenial
atmosphere formed the background for the careers” of three Cincinnati musicians: Julie Rivé-King, Ethel Glenn
Hier, and Marguerite Melville Liszniewska. Karin Pendle, “Cincinnati’s Musical Heritage: Three Women Who
Succeeded,” Queen City Heritage 41, no. 4 (Winter 1883): 41–55. The College of Music and the Conservatory
merged in 1955 and became part of the University of Cincinnati in 1962. bruce d. mcclung, “Cincinnati,” in The
Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press,
2013), 2:273.

216
published Maretzek’s song “The Broken Rose” in March 1881.

The Visitor first advertised Carl Pallat, a teacher of piano and singing at 338

Vine Street, in December 1871.185 He spent the summer of 1872 in “his native city of

Wiesbaden,” where he assisted at the celebrated “subscription concerts.” The Visitor hoped that

he would make Cincinnati his permanent residence.186 He evidently did so since he was among

the faculty members of Clara Baur’s Conservatory who performed at a concert on February 18,

1873; Pallat performed Liszt’s “Rigoletto.”187 Pallat’s piano solo “with orchestral

accompaniment,” was “magnificently performed” at the Cincinnati Orpheus Society concert on

March 7, 1874.188 The Visitor published his ballad “Gut’ Nacht, ihr Blumen,” with English and

German text, in November 1871.

W. T. Porter was the president of the St. Paul M.E. Church Choral Society and had

“again taken charge of the church organ” in 1878.189 Editor James Murray subsequently

described Porter as “a well-known lawyer-musician, of this city, whose church solos have gained

for him an enviable reputation as a composer.” He was also organist of the Mt. Auburn Baptist

Church.”190 In 1893 he was reported to be organist and choir director of Mt. Auburn Baptist

Church.191 The Visitor published several of his sacred works, including “Glory to the Lamb” and

“Baptismal Hymn.”

Otto Singer conducted Cincinnati’s May Festival chorus from 1873 to 1880. He was

185
Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 3 (December 1871): 22.
186
“Cincinnati Personals,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 3 (December 1872): 7.
187
“Home Amusements: Cincinnati Conservatory of Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 6 (March
1873): 9.
188
“Music of the Month in Cincinnati: The ‘Orpheus’ Concert,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 8 (May
1874): 10.
189
“Musical Matters in Cincinnati,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 2 (November 1878): 43.
190
The Musical Visitor 21, no. 10 (October 1892): 276.
191
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 11 (November 1893): 294.

217
listed among the faculty of Clara Baur’s Conservatory in July 1874.192 A brief

biography appeared in the Visitor for the second May Festival in 1875.193 The May Festival

Association invited Liszt, one of Singer’s former teachers, to come to Cincinnati for the third

Festival in 1878. Liszt responded that he was “much too old” to make the journey and reported

that he spent his time between Pesth and Weimar, but sent his thanks to Theodore Thomas for

performing his works, which were “often much criticized and even scorned” elsewhere. The May

Festival performed Liszt’s Missa solemnis and his song Die Loreley that year.194 A portion of

Singer’s Festival Ode, commissioned for the dedication of Cincinnati’s new Music Hall in 1878,

appeared in the Visitor in March. The “Interludium” is for organ or two pianos. The Visitor

reprinted an analysis of the Ode from the Chicago Tribune in February 1878.195 The Visitor’s

report on the Festival included a critique of the Ode and summarized it as “a work deserving of a

longer life than it will probably enjoy, as such things are generally laid aside and forgotten soon

after the occasion for which they were written has passed. It contains so much that is good that

we dislike to think that it will be consigned to oblivion now that the great hall has been so well

‘dedicated.’”196

Singer had publicly criticized Theodore Thomas over the College of Music debacle,

siding with George Ward Nichols; Thomas dismissed Singer as chorus director of the May

192
“Our Music Schools: The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, no. 87 West Seventh St., Miss Clara Baur,
Directress,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 10 (July 1874): 7.
193
Kate Field, “Otto Singer,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 9 (June 1875): 7. His biography in F. O.
Jones’s Handbook was reprinted in 1887. “Otto Singer,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 8 (August 1887): 206–7.
194
“From Franz Liszt,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 9 (June 1874): 6.
195
“May Musical Festival: Otto Singer’s Ode,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 5 (February 1878): 124.
196
“The Third Cincinnati Musical Festival,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 9 (June 1878): 233–34.

218
Festival in 1880.197 “At the last concert of the [1880] May Festival,” Thomas introduced Michael

Brand to the chorus as “the musician who would do duty for him” during his trip to Europe. The

Visitor reported, “This action has created some feeling in musical circles, many believing that

Mr. Singer should be permitted to continue as chorus director, in which capacity he has done

such good work for all of the Festivals thus far.”198 The Cincinnati Enquirer also weighed in on

the situation:

Mr. Singer has done the hard work preliminary to all the Festivals held in this city. To
him was allotted the work, because he had the ability, even more than Thomas himself, of
training the choruses. The results of the chorus work are his crown of glory. . . . When
such critics as Carl Zerrahn, Mr. Hassard, Mr. Upton and dozens of others, celebrated and
known as great musicians, say, “This chorus is the best ever heard in America, and
perhaps never excelled in the world,” which they do say, they place a chaplet around the
brow of Mr. Otto Singer that will be fresh and green long after his kind and benevolent
face has ceased to smile upon pupil and friend, and that will bloom when his baton is laid
away never more to be taken up by the soft and gentle hand that has so often led the
Festival chorus through the masses of the glorious choruses of the great religious
composers of a century to two ago.199
Notice was given in 1882 that Singer’s cantata Landing of the Pilgrims would be

performed by the Philharmonic Society of Pittsburgh during the coming season.200 A letter from

Boston correspondent Louis Elson, dated March 19, 1888, reported that he had

looked over “a great work,” the Symphonic Fantasie by Otto Singer:

It is a strange work, and shows the influence of both Liszt and Wagner; the latter in its
rich modulations, the former in its very peculiar shape, reminding of [sic] Liszt’s great
piano sonata. I admire the skill with which almost everything is evolved from the
introduction, and the two fine fugatos introduced in the later portions of the work; also

197
Robert C. Vitz, “Introduction,” Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Centennial Portraits (Cincinnati:
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, 1994), 13. According to Ezra Schabas, Singer said publicly that Thomas was
jealous of him, “thus leaving Thomas with no alternative but to dismiss him.” Schabas, Theodore Thomas, 102.
198
“Home Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 9 (June 1880): 246.
199
“The Climax of the Fourth May Festival: Otto Singer,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 22, 1880, 8.
200
“Personals,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 14 (November 1882): 381.

219
 the transformation of the motive into the chief theme of the Scherzo. I only hope our
public will appreciate the work, but that may be difficult upon a first hearing.201
The next month Elson reported: “Mr. Singer’s Symphonic Fantasie did not arouse the

public to enthusiasm; all the same, I think it a great work, and one that will gain by repeated

hearing. Its shape, however, with the four regular movements fused into one, is not one that is

very practicable for popular enjoyment.”202

Singer’s obituary appeared in the February 1894 Visitor. He had died at his home in New

York City on Wednesday, January 3. He had been ill for about a week but had not given up his

duties. On Tuesday evening he had “played Mozart’s Requiem” before going to bed, where he

was found dead the next morning. The Visitor noted that his arrival in Cincinnati eighteen years

earlier had “created something of a sensation, and one after another he became the director of the

principal choruses of the city,” including the Philharmonic Society, the Musikverein, and the

Grand Opera Festivals. He had been a professor in the College of Music for nearly fifteen years,

teaching theory and piano, and in the former, “he is said to have no superior on the continent.”

While at the College, Mr. Singer was “noted for his strictness, pains-taking, energy, cordialty

[sic], and promptitude, his learning in all that pertains to music being acknowledged.”203

Composers Born or Residing in the United States

Composers born in Europe who immigrated to the United States and remained for an

extended time, as well as those who were born here, will be considered below. As much as

possible, information on them has been taken from the Visitor.

Frederick Archer was born in England and died in Pittsburgh. The Visitor reported on his
201
Proteus [Louis C. Elson], “Music in Boston,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 4 (April 1888): 94.
202
Proteus [Louis C. Elson], “Music in Boston,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 5 (May 1888): 122.
203
“City Notes: Otto Singer,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 2 (February 1894): 39. A brief notice regarding
Otto Singer, Jr., appeared in July 1897. He was formerly of Cincinnati and had been living in Germany for several
years. He was now in a “fix”; he had to serve two years in the army or leave the country. “City Notes,” The Musical
Visitor 26, no. 7 (July 1897): 192.

220
series of lecture-recitals in Cincinnati in June 1881204 and followed that up with a brief

biography. His “Organ Method” had been universally adopted in England; unusually long fingers

allowed him to play on two or three manuals simultaneously with the same hand. In 1881 Archer

was the organist at Henry Ward Beecher’s church in Brooklyn, New York. President Nichols of

the College of Music had apparently hired him for another series of recitals in Cincinnati the

coming fall.205 In April 1894 it was reported that Archer, “the well-known organist of Chicago,”

would direct the chorus for a musical jubilee to be held in Hutchinson, Kansas, May 8–11.206

Church published Archer’s Organ Book and Archer’s Second Organ Book, a Collection of Short

Pieces for Church or Reed Organs, with or without Pedals in 1885 and 1893, respectively.207

E. H. Bard wrote a series of articles on elocution in 1894 and one in 1895. He also

conducted schools in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.208 Church published and

advertised Bard’s vocal method The A-B-C of Musical Elocution in 1893.209

Maro L. Bartlett presented an essay on “Voice Culture” to the Indiana State Music

Teachers’ Association at Indianapolis on June 23, 1886, which was published in the Visitor in

September and October 1886.210 Barlett discussed vocal methods, the diaphragm, use of the

tongue, phrasing, registers, song selection, and the differences between the German and Italian

204
“Home Musical Record,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 10 (July 1881): 272.
205
“Frederick Archer: England’s Most Distinguished Organist,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 10 (July
1881): 268.
206
“Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 4 (April 1894): 96.
207
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 12 (December 1885): 340; The Musical Visitor 22, no. 3 (March 1893): i.
208
E. H. Bard explains the term and refers to examples in his book, Musical Elocution, The Musical Visitor
23, no. 1 (January 1894): 5; The Musical Visitor 23, no. 3 (March 1894): 62; The Musical Visitor 23, no. 5 (May
1894): 125; The Musical Visitor 23, no. 7 (July 1894): 175; The Musical Visitor 23, no. 10 (October 1894): 266; The
Musical Visitor 24, no. 3 (March 1895): 61–62; “Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 10 (October 1894):
262.
209
The Musical Visitor 22, no. 7 (July 1893): i.
210
“Voice Culture,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 9 (September 1886): 229–30; Musical Visitor 15, no. 10
(October 1886): 257–58.

221
schools of singing. The Visitor subsequently announced in 1886 that he had moved from

Chicago to Des Moines, Iowa, where he would have charge of the music at St. Paul’s Church and

also conduct that city’s Philharmonic Society.211 The Visitor announced an 1887 Des Moines

musical festival, directed by M. L. Bartlett and L. S. Gerberich, to be held on May 17, 18, and

19. Many of the performers were coming from Chicago. Governor Larrabee would give a

welcoming address on opening night followed by Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise.212

Johann M. Blose opened a Conservatory of Music in Franklin, Nebraska, in 1887.213 He

wrote in 1888 that his choir sings the music in the Visitor “with cheerful hearts.” Language was

inadequate to “fully express” his admiration for such pieces as the Lord of Hosts (O God of

Hosts, arranged by Paolo Campiglio) in the February issue.214

C. C. Case’s initials were humorously identified as possibly standing for “Considerably

Corpulent, or Conscientious Christian, or Capital conductor” by W. F. Sherwin, head of

Church’s Department of Sunday School and Church Music.215 Charles Clinton Case had

been born in Pennsylvania; when he was about four years of age his family moved to Ohio. He

attended singing school and later studied in normal schools with George F. Root, William

Mason, and others. His wife served as accompanist during conventions.216John Church and

Company published collections by Case, usually in collaboration with others. Church

published The Harvest of Song in 1878, a Collection of Sacred and Secular Music for Elementary

211
“Musical People,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 11 (November 1886): 292.
212
“Musical Notes,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 5 (May 1887): 122.
213
“Musical Notes,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 11 (November 1887): 290.
214
“The Visitor in Nebraska,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 4 (April 1888): 95.
215
W. F. Sherwin, “Summer Meanderings,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 3.
216
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 213–16.

222
and Advanced Singing Classes, by Case and James McGranahan.217 Church published another of

Case’s collections, Pyramid of Song, in 1889.218 Church Anthems, by Case and C. C. Williams,

contained works by such composers as W. F. Sherwin, Philip Bliss, and Clara Scott.219 Case

collaborated with Williams again in The Prince of Song, a collection for singing schools, which

the Visitor advertised in 1894.220 Case conducted several Chautauqua assemblies and

conventions around the country. He conducted the national Chautauqua Assembly in

Washington, DC, in 1891, which reportedly had a chorus of over eight hundred members.221 He

moved his headquarters from Akron to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1885.222

William Howard Doane was born in Connecticut and died in New Jersey. He began

composing at the age of sixteen; by twenty he was the conductor of the Norwich (Connecticut)

Harmonic Society. He moved to Cincinnati in the 1860s as managing partner of J. A. Fay and

Company, manufacturers of wood-working machinery. The music room of his home on Mount

Auburn contained a pipe organ and a collection of instruments from various parts of the world.223

Church advertised Doane’s Silver Spray, a collection of Sunday School songs, in March 1875.224

Luther Orlando Emerson was born in Parsonsfield, Maine, in 1820 and died in

Hyde Park, Massachusetts, in 1915. The Visitor noted that he conducted the annual convention

217
“The Harvest of Song,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 10 (July 1878): 267.
218
“Pyramid of Song,” The Musical Visitor18, no. 4 (April 1889): iv.
219
“Church Anthems,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 9 (June 1880): 263.
220
“The Prince of Song,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 1 (January 1894): ii.
221
“Musical Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 8 (August 1891): 207.
222
“Concerts and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 7 (July 1885): 180.
223
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 77–81; Osburn, Ohio Composers and Musical
Authors, 58–59; William Osborne, Music in Ohio (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2004), 323–24; Mel R.
Wilhoit, “Doane, William Howard,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi
Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2:672.
224
Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 6 (March 1875): 25.

223
of the Rensselaer County (New York) Musical Association, which began on January 19, 1880.225

Emerson compiled several collections of music for churches, singing schools, public schools,

and choral societies, most of which Oliver Ditson published in Boston. He conducted over three

hundred conventions in all parts of the country and Canada.226

H. W. Fairbank of Flint, Michigan, was scheduled to present an essay at the Music

Teachers’ National Association meeting held in Cincinnati in July 1879. His topic was “Our

Church Music: Its Past, Present, and Future.”227 The Visitor published six of his works for

cabinet organ between February 1877 and January 1878.

According to historian Colleen McDannell: “Perhaps the most enduring legacy of

Protestant iconography in Victorian households was the parlor organ. . . . After the Civil War the

simple organs evolved into elaborately carved instruments, which still cost less than half the

price of a piano. The production of parlor organs peaked between 1870 and 1885, and owning a

parlor organ became a symbol of middle-class achievement.” The main purpose of the

instrument was to accompany the singing of hymns and popular songs. By the 1880s more

Catholic homes could afford a parlor organ, and they were advertised in diocesan newspapers.228

The Visitor reprinted Stephen C. Foster’s ’Tis My Father’s Song (The Little Ballad Girl)

225
“Concert and Convention Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 5 (February 1880): 135; Jones, ed., A
Handbook of American Music and Musicians, 54; Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 45–49.
226
Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 45–49; Jones, A Handbook of American Music and
Musicians, 54; Robert M. Copeland and Dale Cockrell, “Emerson, L(uther) O(rlando),” in The Grove Dictionary of
American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 3:134–35.
227
“Programme of the Teachers’ National Association,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 9 (June 1879): 251.
228
Colleen McDannell, The Christian Home in Victorian America, 1840–1900 (Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1994), 43–44, 58. The cabinet organ, harmonium, melodeon, and parlor organ are all reed organs
which could be used in homes and small churches in the nineteenth century. Barbara Owen, “Reed Organ,” in The
Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press,
2013), 7:68–70.

224
in 1880.229 The editor wondered: “Why has this pretty ballad, by America’s greatest song-writer,

been so long overlooked? It is as full of Stephen C. Foster’s characteristic melody as “O Boys,

Carry Me ’long,” or “Old Folks at Home.”230 A curious report on Foster’s music appeared in the

Visitor’s June 1882 issue: “Madame [Etelka] Gerster so overcame a society young man in

Washington with her singing of ‘S’wanee River’ that he rushed out of the opera-house and

bought all the flowers he could lay his hands on, not waiting for the florist’s twine, but tying

them up in his new silk handkerchief, to delight the songstress.”231 In December 1883 the Visitor

announced that Prof. W. C. E. Seeboeck had composed variations on the universally popular

song “Swanee River,” and that Amy Fay would play them at all her concerts.232 Foster’s

popularity continued to be addressed in the Visitor. “Music among Jack Tars” was based

on an interview with a music dealer and printed in the New York Mail and Express. The dealer

mentioned that sailors “like songs connected with the sea, . . . But they have their sentimental

side as well, and many a time I have seen an old salt rub a tear out of the corner of his eye when

he heard . . . ‘the Suwanee River,’ [sic] or some other good old song.”233 In July 1897 the Visitor

announced that July 4 would be the seventy-first anniversary of Foster’s birth, “America’s

sweetest and most original song-writer. The event will be celebrated in Pittsburg, Pa., his native

city. A fund has been started for the purpose of erecting a monument to his memory.” A statue

was erected and dedicated in Pittsburg on September 12, 1900.234 James R. Murray explained in

August that he had recently received many requests for a biographical sketch of Foster, the

229
Stephen C. Foster, “’Tis My Father’s Song,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 9 (June 1880): 250–52.
230
“New Music: Vocal,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 11 (August 1890): 305.
231
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 9 (June 1882): 244.
232
“Chicago Notes,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): 323.
233
“Music among Jack Tars,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 9 (September 1885): 236. Reprint from the New
York Mail and Express.
234
“Current Notes and News,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 7 (July 1897): 192–93. John Tasker Howard,
Stephen Foster: America’s Troubador (1934; repr. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1953), 359.

225
composer of “Old Folks at Home.” This was followed by a reprint about Foster from a

recent issue of the Register of Springfield, Illinois.235

George S. Gordon, a lawyer from Huntsville, Alabama, contributed articles (occasionally

under the nom de plume of Scythian) and music to the Visitor.236 He was included in the list of

contributors in the Visitor’s 1883 “Galaxy of Talent” for his much admired reminiscences

of European travels.237 For example, his report on “A Song Service at the London Foundling

Hospital” appeared in July 1879,238 and “The People’s Music in Southern Italy” in July 1881.239

In September 1881 Gordon provided a detailed description of services, with musical examples, at

All Saints Church in London and another song service at the Foundling Hospital.240 He

recounted his “rambles about London with Dickens in hand” in December 1882. Gordon referred

to several of Dickens’s novels and characters, for example looking for the White Hart Inn from

The Pickwick Papers.241 The Visitor extended its sympathies to Gordon on “the death of his

estimable wife” in 1885.242 Several months later he wrote about two churches in Rome: the

Church of the hermit St. Paul and the Church of the Egyptian hermit St. Onofrio.243 The Visitor

235
“Stephen C. Foster,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): 223.
236
Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 15 (December 1882): 408.
237
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): iv.
238
George S. Gordon, “A Song Service at the London Foundling Hospital,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8,
no. 10 (July 1879): 268–69.
239
Scythian [George S. Gordon], “The People’s Music in Southern Italy,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10,
no. 10 (July 1881): 264–65. An arrangement for piano of one of the songs he heard in Sorrento appears in the same
issue on p. 284. Gordon also wrote about “Some Musical Experiences in Naples.” Church’s Musical Visitor 10,
no. 6 (March 1881): 152.
240
Geo. S. Gordon, “Musical Services at All Saints Church, and Another Song Service at the Foundling
Hospital,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12 (September 1881): 319–20.
241
Scythian [George S. Gordon], “Christmas Notes from Dickens’ Rambles,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11,
no. 15 (December 1882): 403.
242
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 3 (March 1885): 66.
243
Geo. S. Gordon, “Two Hermit Churches,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 11 (November 1885): 284.

226
reported Gordon’s death in August 1886 at the age of thirty-five but provided no information

regarding his early demise. He had accompanied John Church to Europe some years earlier.

Gordon was a lawyer, a graduate of the University of Virginia, and sang in the choir of the

Church of the Nativity.244 The Visitor published “Bello Sorrento” which Gordon had transcribed

from the singing of a street minstrel in Sorrento. According to Gordon, it was an example of a

song performed at the conclusion of the tarantella, accompanied by guitar or mandolin.245 The

Visitor had also published his sacred song “Prayer of Mary, Queen of Scots” in May 1883.

German-born Waldemar Malmene, a musician, critic, and poet, was peripatetic. In

August 1879 the Visitor reported that he was residing in St. Louis.246 In 1886 he organized an

amateur orchestra in Cincinnati, the “Haydn Orchestra,” consisting of twenty-three

“gentlemen.”247 Malmene announced a concert to be given at Cincinnati’s Musikverein Hall on

May 16, 1887. Several local musicians had volunteered their assistance, including Henry

Schradieck and Charles Baetens of the College of Music. Malmene’s friends suggested that only

his compositions be performed in order that he would “become more widely known.”248 The

following month the Visitor announced that Malmene had been engaged as organist at the First

Baptist Church on Wesley Avenue, where he would “bring talent and good sense to the musical

portion” of the services. Two other entries appeared in the same column, one chastising

Malmene for a “tiresome ‘wait’” of half an hour before the scheduled concert began, along with

244
The Musical Visitor 15, no. 9 (September 1886): 232.
245
Scythian [George S. Gordon], “The People’s Music in Southern Italy,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10,
no. 10 (July 1881): 264.
246
“The Musical Month in Cincinnati: Music Teachers’ National Association,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8,
no. 11 (August 1879): 302.
247
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 11 (January 1886): 11.
248
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 5 (May 1887): 121–22.

227
a critique of the concert.249 The Visitor announced in April 1887 that Malmene was providing the

musical notices and critiques appearing in Graphic Notes.250 His review of Dr. Hector Chomet’s

book The Influence of Music on Health and Life appeared in November 1887.251 The Visitor

quoted from Malmene’s report on the 1888 May Festival for the Commercial Gazette.252

Malmene was later reported to be in Greenville, Missouri, where he had charge of the choirs at

St. James Episcopal Church and at the Hebrew Synagogue.253 In July 1890 the Visitor noted that

he would return to his former home in St. Louis, to take charge of the Music Department at the

Asylum for the Blind.254 Three years later he moved to Chicago.255 The Visitor published some

of his vocal works to be used for church services, including “Abide with Me” and “Just As I

Am.”

Oscar Mayo, Director of the Evanston (Illinois) Conservatory of Music, transcribed

Wagner’s “Hymn of the Pilgrims” from Tannhäuser for the Visitor. He was asked to give an

opinion on F. W. Root’s School of Singing, published in 1873. He responded that his school used

the method, and one reason was that “prima donnas are not made with instruction-books.”256

The John Church Company published M. L. McPhail’s Anthems in 1885, designed for use

by chorus or quartet choirs. The collection included selections and arrangements of works by

Mozart, Concone, Bellini, Tours, Barnby, Smart, and Costa, in addition to original compositions.

249
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 6 (June 1887): 149–50.
250
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 4 (April 1887): 94.
251
Waldemar Malmene, “The Influence of Music on Health and Life,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 11
(November 1887): 283–84. Malmene praised Mrs. Laura A. Flint’s translation of the book (published by Putnam in
1875).
252
“The Cincinnati May Musical Festival,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 6 (June 1888): 144.
253
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 5 (May 1889): 121–22.
254
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 7 (July 1890): 177.
255
“Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 10 (October 1893): 266.
256
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 4 (January 1875): 12.

228
 In 1887 Church published The Crown of Song, a New Collection of Music for Choirs,

Conventions and Singing Classes by McPhail, with Special Contributions by Dr. Geo. F. Root. It

contained glees, anthems, hymn tunes, and choruses.257 McPhail, from Canton, Ohio, contributed

a series of articles to the Visitor on chord structure in September and November of 1886 and

February 1887.258

The Visitor published M. J. Munger’s sacred song “Not Alone” in the August 1876 issue.

Editor Daniell considered it “one of the very best that we have seen from an American

composer.”259 Oliver Ditson published White Robes for the Sunday School: A Choice New

Collection of Songs, Quartets, and Choruses for Sunday-Schools, Devotional Meetings and the

Home Circle by A. J. Abbey and M. J. Munger in 1879.

Editor Murray had the second largest number of works printed in the Visitor

after George F. Root. Murray contributed sacred and secular music, such as his quartet for men’s

voices in the July 1883 issue, Where Art Thou?.

Tulius Clinton O’Kane was born in Fairfield County, Ohio. He attended Ohio Wesleyan

University in Delaware, Ohio, and received the AB in 1852 and AM in 1855. He served as a

principal in the Cincinnati Public School system from 1857 until 1864.260 John Church and

Company published O’Kane’s Every Sabbath, hymns for Sunday School, in 1874.261 He was

chairman of the Executive Committee of the Ohio Music Teachers’ Convention held in

257
The Musical Visitor 16, no. 1 (January 1887): iv.
258
M. L. McPhail, “A Talk about Chords,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 9 (September 1886): 231; idem, “A
Further Talk about Chords,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 11 (November 1886): 286; idem, “Talk about Chords, III,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 16, no. 2 (February 1887): 33–34.
259
“Editor’s Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 11 (August 1876): 290. I have been unable to identify
Munger’s dates or place of birth.
260
Osborne, Music in Ohio, 325; Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers, 59–63; Osburn, Ohio
Composers and Musical Authors, 144–45.
261
“Every Sabbath,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 8 (May 1874): 27.

229
Delaware, Ohio, December 26–28, 1876, where he was then residing.262

The editor of the Visitor asked Vermont native Silas Gamaliel Pratt to comment on the

1878 May Festival performance of selections from Wagner’s music dramas. Pratt touched on

“the fitness” of presenting the aural without the visual in opera, noting for example that “the

audience was not in sympathy with the composition” during Siegfried’s funeral march.263 Pratt

asserted that vocal selections from the Ring “are inappropriate to concert use.” He disagreed with

the New York Tribune’s correspondent that Thomas’s presentation was “finer and more perfectly

given than at Baireuth” [sic]. Critiques of Pratt’s own music also appeared in the Visitor. The

London Figaro, after fully quoting Pratt’s description of his second symphony, Prodigal Son,

added some harsh criticism: “The middle movement is, it is stated, by far the best, and Mr. Pratt

has been awarded special praise for the marvelous manner in which he has illustrated in the

orchestra the grunts of the swine which the prodigal son tended. While Mr. Pratt was about it, he

might as well have ‘depicted’ in music the indigestion to which the husks that the swine did eat

gave rise.”264 Two years later the Visitor quoted a recent lecture by Pratt on outdoor music. He

had taken the opportunity to voice his support for temperance. The city should “provide a band

of musicians to feed the souls of our people, and thus furnish a healthy occupation for the minds”

of those who are unemployed, rather than leaving them to “brood over their misfortunes, and

congregate in saloons where they rub the itch of their opinions until they have become

communistic sores on the body politic.” Pratt had argued that money spent by the city on evening

outdoor concerts would then not be needed for building prisons or houses of correction or for

prosecuting and arresting criminals. The masses could “spend their evenings in a healthful moral

262
“The Music Teachers’ Convention,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 3 (December 1876): 67.
263
S. G. Pratt, “The Meistersinger and Walküre Selections at the May Festival,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7,
no. 9 (June 1878): 239. Pratt was in Bayreuth during the fall of 1875 for rehearsals of the Ring Cycle and for the
performance in 1876. Bomberger, ed., Brainard’s Biographies of American Musicians, 229–33.
264
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 303.

230
atmosphere,” and dens of vice and “free concert saloons would perish in the rivalry of good

music versus vice.” Pratt had ended with a challenge: “Music, then, challenges the support of

the church on moral grounds, of the commercial interests on grounds of economy, and of the

political interest for both these reasons.”265

Fourteen years after the quote from the London Figaro, editor Murray noted that some

English musical papers had announced that Pratt, the composer of the opera Zenobia, had

secured a hearing in London for some of his works:

A special concert of much interest is to be given at the Crystal Palace to-day, October
10th, when works by the American composer, Mr. S. G. Pratt, will be performed. These
will consist of the anniversary overture dedicated to General Grant, and performed here
in his honor during his visit in 1877; an elegy to the General, a symphony titled “Prodigal
Son,” and the overture and vocal excerpts from the opera “Zenobia,” a work which is
duly appreciated across the Atlantic. Misses Griswold and L. Little, Mr. O Harley, and B.
H. Grove, will be the solo vocalists, and the Crystal Palace choir and orchestra will
cooperate in the performances, which will be conducted by Mr. Manns and Mr. Pratt. The
occasion will be a manifestation of the quality of transatlantic musical composition of the
present day.266
A few years later the Visitor reported on Pratt’s recent presentation of “a very enjoyable

event.” For his “Musical Metempsychosis” he had taken one of Stephen Foster’s plantation

melodies, “My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night” as the subject and passed it through all

compositional styles, from Pan to Wagner. The lecture and music had been accompanied by a

series of beautiful pictures, prepared expressly for Mr. Pratt and under his direction. The musical

entertainment had been “unique and gave much satisfaction.”267 In July 1891 the Visitor reported

that Pratt’s “Allegory of the War in Song,” presented for the benefit of the Grant Monument

Association, had been a great success. It would be repeated in October, in addition to a battle

265
“Out-door Music,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 8 (August 1883): 210. The Visitor did not give the
location of the lecture.
266
The Musical Visitor 14, no. 11 (November 1885): 290.
267
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 4 (April 1889): 93. Pratt likely used the stereopticon in his
presentation. Robert Stevenson and Douglas W. Shadle, “Pratt, Silas (Gamaliel),” in The Grove Dictionary of
American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 6:586–87.

231
symphony which Mr. Pratt was then composing.268 The Visitor published one of his songs and

three works for piano, including “Melody,” op. 31, dedicated to Herr Alwin Stahr in Berlin. The

Publishers Department described it as “somewhat in the style of Schumann’s Traumerei.”

The Visitor announced in 1879 that George H. Rowe, “a popular Boston pianist and

teacher,” had moved to Zanesville, Ohio, and was securing a large class.269 Some months later,

the Visitor noted that the opera The Doctor of Alcantra had been presented at Zanesville under

Rowe’s direction.270 He contributed an article to the Visitor on choosing the right music teacher

from the start; in the same issue the Visitor informed readers that Rowe was doing good musical

work at the Sedalia University in Missouri.271 The next year the Visitor reported that Rowe had

“taken charge of the musical interests of Baylor College” in Belton, Texas.272 A concert report in

1888 reads: “One of the best concerts ever given in the South, was that at Baylor College, March

16th, under the direction of Prof. G. H. Rowe. . . . A feature of the concert was the playing of the

Allen Quartet, the first of its kind ever organized in the South. Its members are the Misses

Cooper and Smith, violins, Miss Arta Bright, viola; Mrs. H. A. Rowe, ’cello.”273 A few months

later, Baylor’s commencement concert on June 5 included Miss Arta M. Bright’s piano recital

“with selections from Bach, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Raff, Liszt, Beethoven, etc.” The

Music Department at Baylor College had made “wonderful progress of late under the direction of

268
“Musical Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 7 (July 1891): 178. The editor must have been
referring to The Civil War in Song: A Military and Musical Allegory. He does not mention where it was performed.
269
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 12 (September 1879): 334.
270
“Convention and Concert Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 10 (July 1880): 275. This likely refers
to Julius Eichberg’s comic opera published by Oliver Ditson in Boston ca. 1862.
271
Geo. H. Rowe, “Begin Right,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 9 (September 1885): 231–32; idem, “Concerts
and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 9 (September 1885): 235.
272
“Musical People,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 11 (November 1886): 292.
273
“Concerts, Conventions, Etc.,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 4 (April 1888): 94.

232
Mr. G. H. Rowe.”274 The Visitor also reported that Rowe’s activities as a lecturer and leading

Normal Schools in Texas was having a good impression on “Southern Musical culture.”275 He

also directed the San Marcos, Texas, Chautauqua Music School, which closed with “a grand

concert” on July 26, “which reflected much credit upon the management and all concerned. Mr.

Rowe is a hustler.”276 In 1895 Rowe was teaching at various schools and colleges in Texas and

had his own school in Dallas, Rowe’s Conservatory of Music. He was President of the Texas

Music Teachers Association and Vice President for Texas in the National Association.277 The

John Church Company published Rowe’s The Young Folks’ Musical History Club in 1896. The

Visitor reprinted one of the subjects from the book, “Musical Notation,” in July 1896 and

advertised it as “an attempt to give the outlines of Musical History in story form.”278

Franz Xaver Scharwenka toured the United States beginning in 1891 but stayed until

1898, opening a music school in New York.279 The Visitor included a biography of him in

February 1891.280 In 1893 Scharwenka gave his former pupil Benjamin Guckenberger, director

of the Orpheus Club, the scores of some of the choruses from his new opera, Mataswintha. A

sneak preview of the opera was given in Cincinnati in December, at a “Scharwenka Evening.”

The program included Scharwenka’s Concerto no. 1 for Piano and Orchestra in B-flat Minor, op.

32; the Prelude to the opera; the Grand Duet in act 2, scene 4; the Church Scene in act 3, scene 4;

274
“Musical Notes,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): 178. Miss Bright must have been an
accomplished pianist.
275
“Concerts and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 6 (June 1889): 150.
276
“Musical Chat,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 9 (September 1889): 235.
277
“Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 2 (February 1895): 39.
278
“Musical Notation,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 7 (July 1896): 179–81; “The Young Folks’ Musical
History Club: A Story,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 7 (July 1896): ii.
279
Charles Suttoni, “Scharwenka, (Franz) Xaver,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,
2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 22:439–40.
280
“Xaver Scharwenka,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 2 (February 1891): 34.

233
and Mataswintha’s Bridal Song in act 2, scene 5.281 A review of the Music Hall concert on

December 28 appeared in the Visitor’s February issue. The performance by “Xaver Scharwenka

and Mr. Guckenberger’s Cincinnati Orpheus scored a distinct success” and there have been

“many urgent requests for a repetition of the concert,” which Mr. Guckenberger will try to

arrange.282

The Visitor reprinted a review from the American Art Journal of twelve new

compositions by Scharwenka published by the John Church Company. The works mentioned

were a barcarolle, the “Liebesliedchen,” and a Scherzo in D major.283 A surprise party was given

for him on January 7 at New York’s Steinway Hall on his forty-fifth birthday.284 Scharwenka

was among a list of seventeen composers under contract to the John Church Company for first

right of publication for a period of years.285

William Fisk Sherwin, born in Massachusetts, was included in the Visitor’s 1883 “Galaxy

of Talent” as a member of the New England Conservatory, “unexcelled in his specialties.”286 The

Visitor announced in 1881 that he would be in charge of Church and Company’s Sunday School

and Church Music Departments. Sherwin was an experienced Sunday School worker and

conductor of conventions and institutes. He had long been associated with the annual assemblies

at Lake Chautauqua and was most welcome in Ohio.287 Sherwin was not stationary; his work in

281
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 22, no. 11 (November 1893): 294.
282
“City Notes: Mataswintha,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 2 (February 1894): 38. Guckenberger opened a
Conservatory of Music in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1896. The first year’s enrollment was eighty; in 1897 the
number had increased to 165. “Current Notes and News: General,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897):
221.
283
“Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 1 (January 1895): 11–12.
284
“Scharwenka’s Surprise Party,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 2 (February 1895): 42.
285
The Musical Visitor 25, no. 1 (January 1896): ii.
286
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): iv.
287
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 5 (February 1881): 130. “Improved Plans,” Church’s Musical Visitor
10, no. 5 (February 1881): i.

234
the West showed that he was the “right man in the right place.” He was engaged to conduct

Sunday School conventions and lectures in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode

Island, and Nebraska.288 A reprint from the Herald in Grand Rapids, Michigan, described him as

“a genial, witty man, and a most successful leader of a choir, or chorus. A good singer himself,

he has rare power in controlling and bringing out all the vocal power of a large choir and

congregation.”289 He contributed an article, anti-Puritan in tone to the Visitor, on “the early days”

of Sunday School music. They allowed no instruments and children only sang slow-moving

tunes on Watt’s hymns; there was little to excite the interest or stir the emotional nature,

especially in New England. A reaction set in which went too far with the introduction of “secular

airs set to religious words; . . . Wesley’s saying the ‘the devil ought not to have all the good

music’ was travestied.” Sherwin’s answer was “heart-power acting in harmony with evangelical

truth”290 as demonstrated by the collection Heart and Voice, edited by Sherwin and published by

John Church and Company in 1881.

Two months later Sherwin reported that there had been “much complaint concerning the

deportment of choirs.” His somewhat amusing solution to prevent choristers from taking naps,

reading the paper, whispering sentimentalisms, or passing notes on “the blank leaf” of a hymnal,

was to place them at the front of the church. He blamed the misbehavior on the Roman Catholic

Church for having placed the choir in a gallery at the back of the church. Sherwin further

recommended that churches not treat the singers as “mere hirelings.”291 In June 1883 he again

displayed a sense of humor with his rules guaranteed to ruin a volunteer choir, for “he has

often seen the working of this plan, with varied modifications, and has never known it to fail.”
288
“Here and There,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 8 (May 1881): 218.
289
“Personal Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 9 (June 1881): 245.
290
W. F. S[herwin], “Reactions in Sunday School Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 8 (May 1881):
215–16. One of his hymns from Heart and Voice appeared in that month’s issue on p. 231.
291
W. F. S[herwin], “Position and Deportment of Church Choirs,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 10
(July 1881): 271–72.

235
The church leaders should keep themselves aloof from the choir; tell them they are too sensitive

and more quarrelsome than others, which may be cured by scarification and frequent blisterings;

keep them singing the same old pieces; criticize them freely; do not invite them to social

functions unless you are going to use them [emphasis original], and when the pastor prays for the

church, he should omit the choir and especially the leader or organist.292 Another problem

Sherwin addressed was “literary piracy.” He railed against borrowing hymns and tunes without

credit in compiling hymn collections. He also decried teaching a hymn by rote from a single

copy, solicited free of charge as an introduction.293

Sherwin apparently felt the need to describe the Chautauqua gatherings for the Visitor’s

subscribers; he and C. C. Case were Musical Directors. It was not “a big Methodist Camp

Meeting” as many suppose it to be. Rather it is nondenominational, where religion, science,

literature, and art “walk hand in hand” to promote education of the people. Sherwin included the

programs for July and August. In discussing the 1878, 1879, and 1880 Chautauqua gatherings,

Sherwin mentioned that the Fisk Jubilee Singers had been “conspicuously popular” and were

engaged for the current season.294

Sherwin also provided a little cultural context for readers. He assured them that “Western

life” is not “devoid of all culture and the refinements of civilized society,” since many of the

residents who crossed the Mississippi River came from the Eastern states. Wisconsin “boasts a

large number of vocal societies.” The chorus of over one hundred at the Sunday School assembly

in Ottawa, Kansas, displayed “devotion to hard work” and promptly responded to the suggestion

that it would be a good thing to subscribe to the Musical Visitor.295

292
W. F. Sherwin, “How to Discourage a Choir,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 6 (June 1883): 144–45.
293
W. F. Sherwin, “Literary Piracy,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 4 (April 1883): 88–89.
294
W. F. S[herwin], “Music at Chautauqua,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 6 (June 1883): 153; idem, “Music
in S. S. Conventions and Institutes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 294–95.
295
W. F. Sherwin, “Western Echoes,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 9 (September 1883): 237.

236
 Sherwin explained the difference between institutes and conventions for in the East

the two had begun to mingle. The original purpose of the Sunday School Convention was to

kindle enthusiasm, whereas institutes teach and give practical information through specialists and

conductors to parents, teachers, and superintendents. He summed up the difference: “The

Sunday-school convention is mainly used for generating enthusiasm and promoting Christian

fellowship, while the institute is a training school for educating workers.”296

The Visitor announced in November 1883 that Sherwin was leaving Cincinnati. He had

been engaged as the New England Conservatory of Music’s Chorus Director. He would

continue to conduct musical conventions, Sunday School institutes and give lectures on music.

Sherwin would maintain his cordial relationship with John Church and Company and would

continue to contribute articles to the Visitor.297 Writing from Boston, he reported that the best

church music he had heard was at “the Ruggles Street Baptist, where a superb male quartet,

chorus choir, and trained congregation are mingled in harmonious proportions.”298 The Visitor

informed its readers of Sherwin’s death on April 14, 1888. According to the obituary, he had

been born March 14, 1826, in Ashfield, Massachusetts, where he was interred on April 17. “He

gained considerable reputation as a teacher, composer and conductor of conventions.” Sherwin

edited alone, or with others, several collections of choir music, Sunday School singing books,

and composed a large number of songs and anthems. “He was especially successful in

conducting large choruses at Chautauqua, Framingham, and other Assembly gatherings.” For

five years Sherwin had been associated with the New England Conservatory of Music as

Chorus Director. Most of his life had been spent in Albany and New York City, but he had
296
W. F. S[herwin], “Sunday-School Conventions and Institutes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 6
(March 1882): 155–56.
297
“W. F. Sherwin,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 11 (November 1883): 291. In February 1883 the Visitor
printed “Rock of Ages” as Sherwin performed it. The lines in italics and quotation marks were sung while the other
lines were recited. His “peculiar rendering” of it was apparently very popular, and the Visitor received “constant
inquiry” for it. “Rock of Ages,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 2 (February 1883): 31.
298
“W. F. Sherwin,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 5 (May 1884): 125.

237
resided in Cincinnati from 1881 to 1883 while employed by John Church and Company. Mr.

Sherwin was survived by his wife and three children.299

Only one work by Joseph Paul Skelly, “Visitor, Speak a Kind Word When You Can,”

appeared in the Visitor in April 1879. Skelly had been born in Ireland and had come to New

York City about age four.300 Skelly had begun composing at the age of fifteen and some of his

works had become “very popular.” His death was noted in August 1895 “in the charity ward” of

St. Francis Hospital in New York.301

The Visitor featured a cover portrait of Pier/Pietro Adolfo Tirindelli in August 1897. He

was a well-known violinist currently residing in Cincinnati. A Visitor article titled “A Souvenir

of Liszt” concerns a Tirindelli mazurka which he had composed in 1880, which he had sent to

his protectress Baroness Helene von Augusz, who in turn had forwarded the work to Liszt, a

close friend of her father. Thus, the manuscript contained Liszt’s comments and signature. The

Visitor reprinted a letter from Liszt to the Baroness, a Sister of Mercy in Graz, dated

September 1, 1880, from the Villa d’ Este in Rome in the same issue.302 The Visitor also

announced that Tirindelli would be in charge of the violin department at the Graninger School of

Music in the Odd Fellows’ Building; he would not go to the College of Music as previously

reported.303 His biography appeared in the same issue. He had been born in Conegliano in 1858,

299
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 5 (May 1888): 120. According to William Brooks and Christopher Mehrens,
Sherwin was born in Buckland, Massachusetts. William Brooks and Christopher E. Mehrens, “Sherwin, William
F(isk)” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2013), 7:485.
300
William Brooks, “Skelly, Joseph Paul,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed.
Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 7:534.
301
“Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 8 (August 1895): 211.
302
“A Souvenir of Liszt,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): 201.
303
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): 220. The College of Music was “in a state,” and the
outcome was unknown. “We hope to see the school put on a sound financial and musical basis, and its old-time
vigor and popularity regained, and shall note with pleasure any movement that will help to that desirable end.”
“Current Notes and News: Local,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): 220–21.

238
had studied at the Milan Conservatory, had continued his studies in Vienna, and had gone to

Paris, after which he had concertized in various cities on the Continent. He had returned to

Venice and had been elected Director of the Conservatory for three years, during which time he

had been made a Knight of the Crown of Italy. He had come to the United States in 1895, had

joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and had arrived in Cincinnati in 1896. He became a

member of the Cincinnati Orchestra and director of the Violin Department at the Auditorium

School of Music. The Visitor reported that his “compositions are many and varied,” including an

opera, L’Atenaide, first performed in Venice in 1893. Since arriving in Cincinnati he had

published a set of Studies for the Violin, eight songs, and his Nocturne Venetienne, a chorus for

men’s voices, recently performed at an Orpheus Club concert. The John Church Company issued

his “Morceaux pour violin.”304 A few months later the Visitor announced that Tirindelli had

resigned from the Cincinnati Orchestra to work full time at the Graninger School of Music and

on composition. The Visitor lamented, “The orchestra has thus lost its best violinist.”305 The final

issue of the Visitor announced that Tirindelli’s latest opera, Blanc et Noir, would be presented on

December 15 at the Auditorium School of Music; a synopsis of the work was provided. The

libretto by Mme Fredin, wife of the local French Consul, included commedia del l’arte

characters.306 Tirindelli returned to Rome in 1922, where he died on February 6, 1937.307 The

Visitor published his song “My Flower” in August 1897.

Virginia native Thomas P. Westendorf wrote in the Visitor about the power of music to

reform and described his activities at the House of Refuge in Louisville, Kentucky. Music

helped to shape character and kept the boys’ minds busy. There was a “motto song,” sung

304
“P. A. Tirindelli,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): 221–22.; Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia,
437.
305
“Current Notes and News: Local,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 11 (November 1897): 304.
306
“A New Opera,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 12 (December 1897): 333–34.
307
Music Lovers’ Encyclopedia, 437.

239
by the boys at the House of Refuge, that Westendorf claimed does “work that would put many a

hard studied sermon in the shade.” Comic songs also do their part, such as “Old Thompson’s

Mule” with a donkey refrain. There was a daily song service plus regular concerts during the

year to introduce “music of a higher order” to the children.308 Westendorf reported that the

House of Refuge has a “full brass band composed of boys” ranging in age from eight to sixteen

years. Music was not used as a reward but to elevate and reform. A boy from the slums could be

taught to play an instrument and perform for an admiring and sympathetic audience. He “feels,

for the first time in his life, that there is something within himself that can be developed and

improved, and that will win for him a place among men.” Westendorf asserted that in many

cases, “music as used in the Louisville House of Refuge had a powerful reformatory

influence.”309 Westendorf visited Cincinnati in December 1885 and brought with him “a large

number of new songs,” which would be published over time. He published a poem, “Going to

Hear Cappa’s Band,” in the Visitor.310 “The New Year’s Frolic” at the House of Refuge

consisted primarily of vocal and instrumental music performed by the children and was “a most

enjoyable affair.” They sang twenty-two works, most of them composed by their music teacher,

T. P. Westendorf. The Visitor reported, “Some of the songs are now in process of publication,”

presumably by the John Church Company.311 The boys gave concerts outside the

House of Refuge, such as a concert at Louisville’s Knights of Honor Temple. “The local papers

speak very highly of the entertainment, and have warm words of praise for Mr. Westendorf, who

308
[Thomas P.] Westendorf, “Music as a Pastime,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 2 (February 1885): 34–35.
The John Church Company published “Old Thompson’s Mule.” It was advertised under the “Publishers
Department,” with a note that “The minstrels will take hold of it this fall, and beyond doubt it will prove a good card
for them.” “Publishers Department,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 211.
309
Thomas P. Westendorf, “Music and the Bad Boy,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): 177.
310
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 1 (January 1886): 11; Thomas P. Westendorf, “Going to Hear
Cappa’s Band,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 1 (January 1886): 12.
311
“Concerts and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 2 (February 1885): 40.

240
is well known to the readers of the Visitor.”312 He contributed a lengthy article about the church

services at the House of Refuge; he had “a chorus of about two hundred and fifty boys and fifty

girls.” He relied “largely on the potent influence of music” to help “in our endeavors to reclaim

the wayward youth.”313 Like P. P. Bliss, Westendorf believed in the power of music to influence

behavior.

In 1888 The Visitor reported that Westendorf would leave Louisville in February;

he had been elected Assistant Superintendent of the State Reform School in Pontiac, Illinois. He

was “doing a great and good work in the Reform Schools and we wish for him . . . the same and

greater success than that which has attended his efforts in the past.”314 In 1891 Westendorf was

appointed superintendent of the State Reform School in Chehalis, Washington. According to

Westendorf, “It is the grandest country in the world, though it seems to be almost out of it.”315

Apparently Westendorf’s efforts were supported by the public and the press: “His gift of music is

put to good use in the school, and is having a grand effect upon the inmates.” A Washington

paper reported: “The State Reform School . . . will accomplish the results for which it was

intended. It will make good citizens.”316 Westendorf’s daughter, Jennie M. Westendorf, sent a

composition titled “Dream Shadows Gavotte” to the John Church Company. “The young lady is

to be congratulated upon the success of her first piece.”317

An article reprinted from the Intelligencer in Seattle predicted that Westendorf would be

remembered for “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen.” It ranked with “Home, Sweet Home”

312
“Musical Hopper,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 6 (June 1885): 155.
313
T. P. Westendorf, “Sunday Services at the House of Refuge,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 11 (November
1886): 285–86.
314
“Musical Notes,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 2 (February 1888): 38.
315
“Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 10 (October 1891): 262.
316
The Musical Visitor 21, no. 6 (June 1892): 156.
317
“Here and There,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 4 (April 1894): 95.

241
and “Annie Laurie.” Like many writers of popular songs, Westendorf was not a professional

songwriter, but a man of deep feelings. He had composed many other songs but like John

Howard Payne, known for “Home, Sweet Home,” Westendorf “will always be associated with

the beautiful song he wrote in an idle hour.”318 The Visitor published sixteen of Westendorf’s

songs and three instrumental works. The Visitor printed “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen”

in March 1876, and an arrangement of it for flute or violin and piano in February 1883.

European Composers Who Were Not Poll Winners

The Visitor printed articles and published music by European composers who were not

winners in its 1876 poll.

Thomas Attwood had been a pupil of Mozart. One of his sacred works, “Come, Holy

Ghost,” appeared in the February 1886 Visitor.

The Visitor reported that Edmond Audran, the composer of Les noces d’Olivette and

other popular operettas, was “a tenor singer in the Paris Opera House.”319 According to the

Music Lover’s Encyclopedia, Audran’s La Mascotte was given over seventeen hundred times;

James Murray arranged the “Mascotte Polka” for violin or flute and piano, and it appeared in the

Visitor in February 1882.

The Visitor mentioned Sir Jules Benedict in connection with the 1882 Birmingham

Festival, “notable for one or two peculiar personal events.” (See also Charles Gounod, below.)

Lucy Hooper reported that conductor Benedict had wavered, swayed, and finally sank into the

arms of soloist Marie Roze, while “his alarmed young wife arose from the audience and hurried

318
“Wrote a Great Heart-Song: Thomas P. Westendorf’s Words and Music on Many Lips,” The Musical
Visitor 24, no. 8 (August 1895): 214.
319
“Short Visits,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 7 (April 1881): 187.

242
to the platform. . . . Sir Julius muttered himself from between his blanched lips––overwork.”320

“Eily Mavourneen,” a ballad from Benedict’s opera Lily of Killarney, appeared in the March

1875 Visitor.

The Visitor provided a description of how Gaetano Donizetti came to compose a duet for

the Elixir of Love and part of the servants’ chorus in Don Pasquale in twenty-five minutes while

his host, Luigi Lablache, and Fanny Persiani and Thalberg waited.321 The Visitor’s London

correspondent provided information that “Donizetti’s skull, on show at the Bologna Exhibition,

had aroused some discussion, and elicited an explanation from the composer’s nephew.”

Apparently after the autopsy in 1848, Dr. Carcano kept the composer’s skull for study. When

Donizetti’s remains were reinterred at Bergamo in 1877, the skull was discovered to be missing

and the body was buried without it. When Dr. Carcano died his goods were sold at auction and

the skull was purchased by “a pork-butcher, who used it as a money bowl.” The butcher agreed

to sell the relic at a profit, and the skull was placed in the library at Bergamo.322 “Salut à la

France” from Donizetti’s opera Daughter of the Regiment, arranged for violin and piano,

appeared in the February 1881Visitor.

The Visitor predicted in 1883 that the recently deceased Friedrich von Flotow would only

be remembered for his “pretty opera” Martha, though he had composed many (eighteen) operas

and various kinds of compositions.323 In January 1883 the Visitor reported that Flotow had

320
“Benedict, Costa, Gounod,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 14 (November 1882): 382.
321
Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 10 (July 1874): 7.
322
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): 176. According to Mary Ann Smart, an autopsy was
performed and his remains were interred in Bergamo cemetery, but moved to the Cathedral of S. Maria Maggiore in
1875. Mary Ann Smart, “Donizetti, (Domenico) Gaetano (Maria)” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 7:471–97.
323
The Musical Visitor 12, no. 3 (March 1883): 66.

243
become blind from “cataract of the eyes.”324 The Visitor reprinted only one of his vocal works,

“O Holy Savior,” in September 1888.

The Visitor informed its readers of Charles Gounod’s activities as a conductor of festivals

and performances of his works. He had led his oratorio The Redemption at the 1882 Birmingham

Festival and had declared it to be “the greatest work of his life.” The Visitor included an account

of his “evil genius.” Mrs. [Georgina] Weldon had “tried to force her way into the hall where he

was conducting, but at Gounod’s express desire she was ejected.” According to writer Lucy

Hooper, “when the story of their relations comes to be dispassionately written, it will prove one

of the strangest episodes ever connected with the life of a great composer.”325 In the same issue

the Visitor reported that Theodore Thomas had secured control of the orchestral score of The

Redemption for two years, and it would be “the first work given by the New York Chorus

Society this season.”326 The New York correspondent reported that Thomas had conducted one

performance of The Redemption and two more were to be given.327 Thomas, who had “Exclusive

right of production for the time agreed upon,” later sued J. G. Lennon of Boston for having the

work scored by someone “intimately acquainted with Gounod and his style.”328 Boston

correspondent Louis Elson commented, “Gounod’s Redemption may be harmonious, but its

324
“Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 12, no. 1 (January 1883): 13. Flotow died on January 24,
1883.
325
“Benedict, Costa, Gounod,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 14 (November 1882): 382–83; Steven
Huebner, “Gounod, Charles-François,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley
Sadie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 10:215–36.
326
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no 14 (November 1882): 385. The Redemption was
performed at the 1884 Cincinnati May Festival.
327
K., “Correspondence: Music in New York,” Church’s Musical Visitor 12, no. 1 (January 1883): 13. “K.”
was Alice M. Kellogg, wife of New York publisher of educational journals E. L. Kellogg. Frank Luther Mott, A
History of American Magazines, 1741–1930 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, ca.
1958–1968), 3:177. Kellogg signed her correspondence from New York as Alice M. Kellogg in January 1881.
328
The United States Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction against Lennon, preventing him from
performing the work. Schabas, Theodore Thomas, 123.

244
working in Boston thus far has not been so.”329 It was rumored in 1889 that Gounod would be

visiting the United States but the contract had not yet been settled. The plan, however, did not

come to fruition. The scandal regarding Mrs. Weldon continued to dog Gounod: “A gentleman

who knows Gounod well is authority for the explanation that Gounod has denied the contract for

family reasons, since it is well known that the composer of ‘Faust’ is kept closely guarded by the

female members of his household, who fear to let him do anything at all on his own

responsibility. . . . Since Gounod’s escapades with Georgina Weldon, his family has kept guard

over his movements.”330 The Visitor published two of Gounod’s vocal works and seven of his

instrumental works, including “Marche funèbre d’une marionette” for piano in August 1876 and

an anthem for Easter, “Blessed Is He Who Cometh in the Name of the Lord,” in March 1886.

In 1891 the Visitor announced that Alfred Grünfeld, court pianist to the Emperor of

Germany, was coming to the United States and provided a brief biography. He had begun piano

studies at the age of five and had given his first concert at age twelve, performing Mendelssohn’s

C Minor Trio, Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp Minor, and Liszt’s Fantasia on Themes from

Lucretia Borgia. His teachers had been Theodore Kullak and Franz Liszt. Moszkowski had

reportedly praised him as a “piano hero” of the “highest rank.”331 For his U.S. tour, Grünfeld was

accompanied by his brother Heinrich, a ’cellist. The brothers gave a concert at Cincinnati’s

Odeon on March 11, 1892, having just returned from a tour of the West. The Visitor reported that

this was one of the most enjoyable concerts of the season. “Each is unique in his way, and

aroused in turn the enthusiasm of the audience to the highest pitch.”332 Alfred Grünfeld’s “Little

Serenade” for piano appeared in the February 1892 Visitor. His “Romanza,” op. 45, no. 1,

329
“The ‘Redemption’ Difficulty,” Church’s Musical Visitor 12, no. 2 (February 1883): 39; “Proteus”
[Louis C. Elson], “Boston,” Church’s Musical Visitor 12, no. 2 (February 1883): 41.
330
“Gleanings,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 6 (June 1889): 152.
331
“Grünfeld, the Pianist,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 2 (December 1891): 320.
332
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 4 (April 1892): 101.

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appeared in The Etude in March 1914.

The Visitor initially presented Georg Friederich Handel as “a plagiarist” in a reprint from

the London Orchestra in 1872.333 Thirteen years later the London correspondent pointed out that

six numbers of Saul were “undoubtedly borrowed” from Francesco Antonio Urio’s Te Deum.334

On the other hand, readers were reminded that Handel composed more than just Messiah. He

also composed operas, instrumental music, cantatas, and anthems, and he had the following

inscribed on the cover of his harpsichord: SIC TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI.335 As to Handel’s

voice, it had been “described by one of his contemporaries as ‘simply awful.’ He generally had

the good sense to refrain from singing, but when anything went wrong in the chorus he was

conducting he was very apt to chime in with that awful voice and set the teeth of all hearers on

edge with its roughness.”336 The Visitor reprinted two of his vocal and six of his instrumental

works, including a “Menuet” from Samson in September 1893 and “I Know that My Redeemer

Liveth” from Messiah in December 1878.

An 1883 Visitor article on Franz Joseph Haydn referred to “a celebrated English

picture” of Haydn deriving inspiration for The Creation from “a wild hurricane on the Channel.”

It claimed that nature cannot elicit a “suitable response in a soul that is intellectually and morally

dead.” Genius is also required.337 A few months later a report of a chamber concert mentions that

the best part of the evening was a Haydn quartet, “perhaps because of our special fondness for

333
“Handel a Plagiarist,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 4 (January 1872): 3. Reprint from the London
Orchestra. The first May Festival in 1873 included the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah; it concluded the evening
concert on May 9. “Although it has been so often heard, the splendid old choral was listened to in breathless silence
to-day by the many thousands.” “Our Musical Feast,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 9 (June 1873): 8–9.
According to the 2000 May Festival program booklet, the audience stood and joined in the “Hallelujah Chorus” in
1873.The chorus had been performed at “All Festivals”; however, it was not performed in 1888. May Festival
program booklet, 166, 209.
334
“Music in England: ‘Saul,’” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 4 (April 1885): 89.
335
“Handel,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 4 (January 1882): 103.
336
“Notable Voices,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 7 (July 1895): 177.
337
“Haydn and Mendelssohn, Pupils of Nature,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 7 (July 1883): 182.

246
Haydn’s compositions of this kind.”338 The May 1896 issue refers to an 1808 book on Haydn,

Letters on the Celebrated Composer Haydn, and gives a list of keys and their “precise meaning

and color.”339 The Visitor reprinted his “Austrian Hymn” in June 1889; otherwise his works were

mostly arranged to serve as keyboard voluntaries.

The Visitor followed Franz Liszt’s activities. In 1871 his oratorio Christus was to be

performed in Vienna and its fourteen scenes were mapped out for readers.340 Liszt’s biography

appeared in May 1882; his Symphony to Dante’s Divine Comedy was being performed on

May 19 at a May Festival matinee. The Visitor claimed that he was widowed in 1865, though

he had never married, and had taken “orders as a priest,” perhaps to make him more acceptable

to its readers.341 The Visitor subsequently announced that Liszt’s piano method was to be

published in Leipzig in three volumes. He “has spent many years in perfecting” it.342 However, it

did not appear. Editor Murray respected Liszt as a pianist but not as a composer. He quoted

Rubinstein’s opinion in that he “esteemed him” as a “performer-virtuoso,” but not as a composer.

Further ammunition came from Henry Krehbiel in the New York Tribune: “His works do not root

in the things which are stable, perennial and of universal acceptance in art.”343 The Visitor

reprinted Liszt’s “Jesus, Give Thy Servants” in October 1886.

An “arrangement” of the Intermezzo from Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana

(1890) did not appear in the Visitor until January 1896. A critique of the work by H. E. Krehbiel

appeared in November 1891. He claimed that it was “easier to account for the popularity”

of the work than to “point out any signs of great and original genius in its score. The opera’s
338
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 12 (December 1883): 321.
339
The Musical Visitor 25, no. 5 (May 1896): 125.
340
“Listz’s Grand Oratorio ‘Christus,’” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 8.
341
“The Abbe Franz Liszt,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 8 (May 1882): 209.
342
“Gleanings,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 1 (January 1884): 9.
343
The Musical Visitor 19, no. 12 (December 1890): 316–17.

247
chief charm lies in its naïve forcefulness.” He went on to discuss other aspects of the work and

the influence of other composers.344 The Visitor reported that Queen Victoria saw a performance

of the opera at Windsor Castle, and that this was the first opera she attended after the death of her

husband thirty-one years earlier.345 The Minnie Hauk Opera Company had a week-long

engagement in October 1891 at Pike’s Opera House; Hauk sang in the Cincinnati premiere of

Cavalleria Rusticana. It did not seem to arouse a great amount of enthusiasm.346 The Visitor

reprinted a biography of Mascagni from the London Musical Standard in December 1891.347

The Visitor perpetuated the romantic myth of Felix Mendelssohn’s death from

overwork.348 Though Mendelssohn’s works were frequently mentioned in the Visitor, and

eight of them, including Elijah, had been presented at the first two May Festivals, he was not a

winner in the Visitor’s 1876 poll. The twenty-fifth anniversary of his death (November 4, 1872)

had been “celebrated throughout the towns of Germany by performances of his works.”349 The

Visitor reprinted Ferdinand Hiller’s biography and serialized it as “Mendelssohn” from May to

December 1874. A short article in 1896 recounted incidents from the premiere of Elijah, which

had been conducted by Mendelssohn at Birmingham’s Festival of 1846. His countenance had

changed according to the sentiment of the words. For example, he had been in tears during the

aria “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in their heavenly Father’s realm.” The day

had been cloudy but sunlight suddenly broke through the clouds at these words, lighting

344
“Cavalleria Rusticana: H. E. Krehbiel’s Estimate,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 11 (November 1891):
290–91.
345
“Foreign Notes,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 1 (January 1892): 12.
346
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 11 (November 1891): 290.
347
“Pietro Mascagni,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 12 (December 1891): 314.
348
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 9 (June 1872): 11. According to physician John
O’Shea, Mendelssohn died from a stroke, “the curse of the Mendelssohns.” John O’Shea, Was Mozart Poisoned?:
Medical Investigations into the Lives of the Great Composers (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990), 118–23.
349
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 4 (January 1873): 10.

248
Mendelssohn’s face. The writer, a member of the chorus, recalled: “The incident made a deep

impression at the time on the minds of those who witnessed this somewhat mysterious and

startling phenomena.”350 The Visitor also reprinted negative comments about Mendelssohn’s

works and his heirs. For example, the Visitor reported in 1881 that Mendelssohn’s heirs were

exacting a license fee “for every performance of Elijah in England.”351 In a letter from Boston

dated January 17, 1891, Louis Elson reported on the Wagnerites versus Mendelssohn, and was

glad to see that

Mr. Nikisch is not averse to giving Mendelssohn’s works occasionally. We have had the
Italian symphony, the Scotch symphony, and the “Midsummer Night’s Dream” music
recently. This is as it should be, for Mendelssohn has suffered too long from the
animadversion of the rabid ultra-Wagnerites. Wagner may have proved Meyerbeer to
have been a quack, (although one might say that he was a talented man who deliberately
chose a base, ear-tickling and sensational method,) but he has by no means proved
Mendelssohn to be a compound of drawing-room respectability, kid gloves, white cravat,
and milk-and-water.352
Later that year Mendelssohn’s reception was reportedly “having a set-back.” One writer
classified his “Songs Without Words” as without interest to serious musicians, but editor
Murray defended Mendelssohn on the grounds of his oratorios and orchestral works.353 Likely it
was Murray who referred to Mendelssohn as “the prince of euphony and orderly sweetness,”
who always asked whether or not his new compositions sounded good.354 The Visitor reprinted
an excerpt from Harper’s magazine on Mendelssohn by Rev. H. R. Haweis. It was an admirable
account of Mendelssohn’s character as told to him by the sister of Charlotte Sainton-Dolby, for
whom Mendelssohn wrote the contralto role in Elijah.355 The Visitor reprinted eighteen of
Mendelssohn’s works, a number of them for church service.
350
The Musical Visitor 25, no. 9 (September 1896): 259.
351
“European Echoes: Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 4 (January 1881): 106.
352
Proteus [Louis C. Elson], “Music in Yankeeland,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 2 (February 1891): 39.
353
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 6 (June 1891): 148.
354
“Music as a Human Environment,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 11 (November 1896): 312.
355
“Mendelssohn and the Alto,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 9 (September 1897): 229.

249
 The Visitor related that such was Giacomo Meyerbeer’s anxiety to secure favorable

criticism for his works that he expended a large proportion of his income in purchasing the

opinions of public writers. The Visitor claimed that the publishers of Meyerbeer’s operas aver

that of the millions of francs brought by the several works he himself never had as much as

150,000 francs (£ 6,000).356 Dr. Adolph Kohut’s biography of Meyerbeer “contains much of

interest . . . many incidents and anecdotes . . . hitherto unknown to the public.”357 The Visitor

published marches for keyboard from two of Meyerbeer’s operas: the “Coronation March” from

Le Prophète and “Grand March” from Les Huguenots.

The Visitor’s London correspondent covered the debut of Moritz Moszkowski’s

symphonic poem Joan of Arc (1876) in England, which had been attended by several members

of the royal family. A description and critique of the work was less than enthusiastic. The work

was ambitious, but it showed crudity and “other faults of youth.” The mixture of old and new

forms resulted in the composer suffering “the fate of those who sit between two stools.” The

first movement was “far too long” while the fourth movement was “the best of the four.” The last

movement was intended to portray, among other things, Joan’s “apocryphal death on the

battlefield,” and her apotheosis, “or, as it was irreverently termed, the transformation scene.”358

The Visitor published Moszkowski’s “Berceuse,” op. 38, no. 2, in August 1896.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was not a poll winner, but Cincinnati did have a Mozart Club

with membership limited to twenty and directed by Charles Coleman. The chorus members were

356
“Gleanings,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 14 (November 1882): 382.
357
“Meyerbeer,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 4 (April 1891): 91. I was unable to find this biography listed in
the entry for Meyerbeer in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. Editor Murray must have
been referring to Vol. 12 of Adolf Kohut’s Musiker-biographien published in 1890. The “Prayer and Barcarolle”
from his L’Etoile du nord was scheduled to be performed at the 1873 May Festival. However, soloist Mrs. H. M.
Smith changed her mind and substituted Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi’s “Gratias Agimus Tibi” instead. “Our
Musical Feast: Second Day, May 7th,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 9 (June 1873): 8.
358
“Music in England: Moszkowski’s ‘Joan of Arc,’” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 7 (July 1885): 172.

250
rated as first-class amateur voices; attendance at public rehearsals was by invitation only.359 In

1881 the Visitor included Mozart, along with Beethoven and Mendelssohn, in a list of composers

who “may have had more than usual talent in their specialties, but the greatest gift they each

possessed . . . was the inestimable gift of hard work.”360 Editor Murray once again portrayed

Mozart and Beethoven as having to work at their art, since “young students” had the impression

that these great musicians “never needed instruction or study, and that because of the gift of

genius, they escaped all the drudgery of practice.” The Visitor quoted Mozart as reportedly

saying: “People are mistaken if they think that I had no difficulty in mastering my art. No one

has taken more trouble with studying composition than I. There is scarcely a single celebrated

composer whom I did not study earnestly and repeatedly.”361

In preparation for the performance of Mozart’s Requiem at the 1882 May Festival, the

Visitor printed Heribert Rau’s story of its composition and Süssmayr’s involvement. It included

several myths: Mozart was composing it for himself; Süssmayr sat by his bedside taking

dictation; waking after a half-hour nap, Constanze and others were sitting by his bedside; letters

with job offers and requests for compositions were coming in; the dying Mozart sang alto, and he

died at midnight.362 The Requiem was subsequently performed in Boston in 1888. Louis C.

Elson commented on Mozart, “having been starved to death (very nearly) by Vienna,” and the

Requiem as “the flower of funeral music.” He was unconcerned whether Mozart or Süssmayr

composed certain numbers, but was “content to enjoy the whole, believing its beauty to be

sufficient evidence that the mind (and directing hand) of Mozart was present in nearly every

359
Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 2 (November 1871): 8.
360
“Genius––Hard Work,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 11 (August 1881): 299.
361
“Editorial Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 18, no. 2 (February 1889): 36. The source for the quote was
not given.
362
H. Rau, “Requiem Eternam: A Story of Mozart’s Last Composition, and His Death,” Church’s Musical
Visitor 11, no. 8 (May 1882): 205–6. Heribert Rau, Mozart: A Biographical Romance, trans. E. R. Sill (Boston:
Oliver Ditson and Company, 1876).

251
part.”363 The Visitor published nineteen of Mozart’s works for keyboard, some arranged from his

operas or sacred compositions.

An 1873 Visitor article defended Jacques Offenbach against condemnation by

“professors” for being too popular; such enormous success deserves at least recognition. The

writer considered Orphée aux Enfers to be Offenbach’s first important work and La Grande

Duchesse de Gérolstein his most famous.364 After his death in 1880, an obituary in the Visitor

was less kind: “A great deal of his music is set to librettos as vile and indecent as anything that

has been heard upon the stage, and yet, under cover of the music, these operas have attracted

every-where audiences of respectability.”365 A piano arrangement/potpourri of selections from

La Fille du tambour-major appeared in the December 1880 Visitor.

The career of Anton Rubinstein continued to be followed at home and from abroad after

his tour of the United States in 1872–1873, and his compositions continued to be popular. The

Visitor promoted America’s amateur pianists as having made much progress since the 1850s, and

audiences had eagerly attended Rubinstein’s recitals in Cincinnati in 1872 and 1873 because they

were “desirous of catching his style and emulating it.”366 On the other hand, after acknowledging

to piano teachers and pupils that “true progress is necessarily slow” and “patience is a jewel,”

the focus turned to details:

It is a lamentable fact that our concert pianists are not overburdened with care in this
direction. Many of these public performers . . . care more for making “points” here and
there . . . to gain a little brief applause, than for doing artistic work . . . . We have heard
Rubinstein make blunder after blunder . . . and while it may be said that his blunders were

363
Proteus [Louis C. Elson], “Music in Boston,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 5 (May 1888): 122.
364
“Offenbach,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 6 (March 1873): 3.
365
“Jacques Offenbach,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 2 (November 1880): 32–33.
366
“Twenty Years of Musical Culture,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 9 (June 1874): 4; R. Allen Lott,
From Paris to Peoria: How European Piano Virtuosos Brought Classical Music to the American Heartland (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2003)., 215–30.

252
 more acceptable than von Bulow’s cold but perfect mechanism, yet they were blemishes
on what otherwise might have been perfect performances.367
A few years later editor Murray quoted from Bettina Walker’s memoirs with regard to

Rubinstein. Her teacher, English composer and pianist Sterndale Bennett, “could not admire

Rubinstein either as an artist or as a composer.” Yet Walker related that she “was always carried

away and transported with delight” whenever she heard him play. She never missed an

opportunity to hear him since she was “enchanted with Rubinstein’s exuberant flights and warm

glow.”368

In 1844 the Visitor announced that Rubinstein’s Tower of Babel would be given during

the Third Biennial Festival of the Cleveland Vocal Society on May 13–15.369 The 1888

Cincinnati May Festival included three works by Rubinstein: “Täglich eilen wir im Fluge,” aria

from The Demon; Paradise Lost; and Russia, for orchestra and organ. Editor Murray disagreed

with Henry Krehbiel’s assessment of Paradise Lost as “weak and commonplace.” According to

Murray, “this evening brought out an audience that was an inspiration in itself. The work is

“powerful,” and “we confess . . . surprise that the Russian composer could have written such

an effective sacred composition, if what we have heard of his lack of religious belief is

true . . . . The orchestration is very effective and is indicative of a master mind.” Giulia

Valda sang “Täglich eilen wir im Fluge” at the Saturday matinee. The Visitor reported that she

had been “the favorite lady singer of the afternoon, and did a wonderful piece of vocal

execution” in this selection. The other female vocalist that afternoon had been Lilli Lehmann.

Russia “is really a medley on a huge scale, introducing characteristic Russian airs, with that

367
“To Teachers and Pupils,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 207.
368
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 3 (March 1891): 65; Bettina Walker, My Musical Experiences (London:
Richard Bentley and Son, 1890), 30.
369
“Concerts and Conventions,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 5 (May 1884): 125.

253
effective orchestration for which Rubinstein is so justly famous.”370 The 1894 May Festival

presented two scenes from his sacred opera Moses. Murray explained that Rubinstein was fond

of writing music on “sacred subjects,” but he did not like the way scenes were usually rendered

in oratorio. His Biblical operas were “designed to be performed with suitable costumes and

scenery.” Reportedly when Rubinstein would hear and see “the sublime characters of the Old

and New Testaments sung by gentlemen in black frocks, with white neckties and yellow gloves,

and a notebook before their faces, or by the ladies in the most modern, often the most

extravagant, toilet,” he was too disturbed to have “any pure enjoyment.”371 The two scenes from

Moses were critiqued: the first one (Scene 3, “Come, daughters of Midia”) was not so bad; at

least it was “singable.” The second (Scene 4, “Cold and Dark”) “is just a conglomeration of

sounds quite as terrifying as the plague of Egypt which it is intended to portray.” The writer,

likely Murray, was “devoutly thankful” that only two of the tableaux were given.372

On November 14, 1889, Julie Rivé-King performed Rubinstein’s Piano Concerto no. 4

with the Cincinnati Orchestra under Michael Brand. The Visitor crowed, she made “a great hit”

and “seems to manage the lion of Russia” as well as she does Chopin.373 Boston correspondent

Louis Elson later compared Rubinstein’s “individualization” to that of the new Boston

Symphony Orchestra conductor Arthur Nikisch. Rubinstein’s individualized interpretations do

370
“The Centennial May Musical Festival,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 6 (June 1888): 144–45. The
Rubinstein family was baptized in July 1831. Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. Giulia Valda
was the stage name of Boston native Julia Wheelock, the daughter of Mr. J. B. Wheelock. She was married to “Mr.
Ewen Somerled Cameron, of Balcardine, Argyllshire, a Scotchman of good family and of wealth.” A lengthy sketch
of her career appeared in the Visitor. “The Soloists of the Centennial Musical Festival: Giulia Valda,” The Musical
Visitor 17, no. 5 (May 1888): 122. According to Henry Krehbiel, Valda (Miss Julia Wheelock), prima donna of the
Angelo Grand Italian Opera Company, chose to get “a hearing in her native land” as a Deus ex machina in 1886.
Krehbiel, Chapters of Opera, 162.
371
The Musical Visitor 23, no. 6 (June 1894): 149.
372
“The Eleventh May Music Festival,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 6 (June 1894): 151.
373
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 12 (December 1889): 318.

254
“no harm” and have “never seemed a defect to any right-minded auditor.”374

Apparently Rubinstein had a sense of humor. The Visitor repeated an anecdote regarding

a matinee recital at St. James’s Hall in London. He had supposedly been “accosted by an old

lady in the entrance-hall” who told Mr. Rubinstein that she was not able to purchase a ticket and

asked, “Have you a seat you could let me have?” He had responded that she could have the one

seat at his disposal. The lady had thanked him and asked, “Where is it?” The smiling Rubinstein

had retorted, “At the piano.”375

According to a correspondent in the New York World who interviewed Rubinstein, his

pessimism was due to his habit of shutting himself up in his room for several days. When asked

if he would come to the United States again in 1893, he responded that he would not and hoped

“to be dead before that date.” Rubinstein also planned to resign as director of the St. Petersburg

Conservatory in 1891 because he could not stand “those fearfully annoying examinations.”376

He did resign from the Conservatory and moved to Germany.377 The August 1891Visitor

reported that the Emperor of Germany had conferred the Cross of the Order of Merit on

Rubinstein.378 The Visitor published his Barcarolle, op. 30, no. 1, in July 1897.

A bizarre item concerning Rubinstein’s brother Nikolai appeared in the Visitor. He had

died in Paris and his coffin had been sent by train to Moscow where he had been buried with

“extraordinary pomp.” Three days later it was learned that a young lady of Lithuanian nobility

had also recently died in Paris. On inspection in Vilnius, however, the coffin had contained the

374
Proteus [Louis C. Elson], “Music in Boston,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 11 (November 1889): 290.
375
“Musical Hopper,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): 179.
376
The Musical Visitor 19, no. 12 (December 1890): 315.
377
Rubinstein did not return to the United States after his tour of 1872–1873; he resigned from the St.
Petersburg Conservatory and moved to Berlin in 1891. He did not return to Russia until 1894. Nicolas Slonimsky,
Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed. (New York: G. Schirmer, 1994), 374.
378
“Musical Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 8 (August 1891): 207.

255
body of a man “somewhat past the prime of life.” The coffins had been switched, and it was

quietly arranged to set things right.379

In 1895 the Visitor reported that Camille Saint-Saëns’s new work “of a humorous

character,” Le Carnaval des animaux, grande fantaisie zoologique, includes movements devoted

to the lion, tortoise, kangaroo, rooster, elephant “and other creatures.” It was expected that “the

work should be of a high order of originality and genuine humor.”380 Though the work had been

composed in 1886, it was not performed, except for “Le Cygne,” until after his death. Two of his

symphonic poems had been performed at the May Festival, Danse macabre in 1878381 and

Phaéton in 1880. The Carnival of the Animals was not performed at the May Festival until 1958.

A transcription of his Danse macabre for piano was published in the September 1876 Visitor.

Franz Schubert’s serialized biography appeared in the Visitor from December 1876

through March 1877. The Visitor reprinted it from London correspondent Frederick J. Crowest’s

The Great Tone-Poets: Being Short Memoirs of the Greater Musical Composers. Subsequently

the Visitor reported that a “dream story,” regarding his family and difficult relationship with his

father, had been found among Schubert’s papers after his death. The unknown author

described Schubert as impractical and a dreamer.382 Two years later the Visitor credited Schubert

379
“A Strange Incident,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 2 (November 1881): 42. I have been unable to
verify the anecdote.
380
“Notes and Gossip,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 8 (August 1895): 211. His Symphony no. 3 for
Orchestra and Organ, op. 78, was scheduled for the first matinee on Thursday of the 1888 May Festival, but it was
not performed. By the editor [James R. Murray], “The Centennial May Musical Festival,” The Musical Visitor 17,
no. 6 (June 1888): 143–45.
381
Danse macabre was not reviewed in the Visitor but George P. Upton referred to the work as “ghostly,
infernal.” The critic for the Cincinnati Enquirer commented: “By hearing this frequently, one becomes reconciled to
the eccentricities which the composition contains. These same peculiarities are prominent, to a greater or less extent,
in the numerous masterly compositions for orchestra which have come from his pen, or that they are to be looked at
as idiosyncrasies rather than straining for effect. The difficulties, especially for wind instruments were, of course,
easily overcome.” “The Second Day: “The Matinee,” and “Mr. G. P. Upton to the Chicago Tribune,” Cincinnati
Enquirer, May 16, 1880.
382
“Schubert’s Strange Story,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 6 (March 1881): 153.

256
with creating the “German artistic song.”383 The Visitor published nine of Schubert’s works for

keyboard.

Irish bass-baritone Plunket Greene sang Sir Charles Villiers Stanford’s “My Love’s an

Arbutus” at the 1896 May Festival; the Visitor reprinted the song in the July 1896 Visitor.384 A

Visitor article on Stanford’s 1884 comic opera, The Canterbury Pilgrims, pointed out similarities

to Wagner’s Die Meistersinger. For example, the prelude, based on “Sumer is Icumen In,” is

used as a sort of leitmotif. There is also a patter song à la Rossini. The author singled out the love

duet between Hubert and Cicely in the second act: “This duet, even if he had written nothing

else, would justify Dr. Stanford to a claim to be included among the foremost composers of our

day.”385 Stanford’s other opera from 1884, Savonarola, was also considered to exhibit

Wagnerian influence in its use of leitmotifs suggested by the love duet in Tristan und Isolde, and

the funeral march in Götterdämmerung.386 Both articles may have been submitted by the

Visitor’s London correspondent.

In 1874 Cincinnati’s Clifton amateurs presented Sir Arthur Sullivan’s operetta, Cox and

Box, or The Long-Lost Brothers “to the entire satisfaction of a first-class and critical

audience.”387 By 1889 the Visitor considered Sullivan “at the head of English musicians” who

had made more money from his compositions than even Meyerbeer. His operettas were very
383
“‘Popular’ and Artistic Songs,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 6 (June 1883): 145. Schubert’s lied “Das
Wanderer” was performed by J. F. Rudolphsen at the 1873 May Festival, though unscheduled. “Our Musical Feast:
Fifth Day, May 10th,” Church’s Musical Visitor (June 1873): 8–9.
384
“Stanford wrote many of his finest songs for Greene, whose remarkable powers of interpretation,
particularly the beauty of his enunciation, made him one of the leading exponents of English song. He believed
passionately that songs should be sung in the language of the audience.” Desmond Shawe-Taylor and Alan Blyth,
“Greene, (Harry) Plunket” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2001), l0:365.
385
P. B., “The Canterbury Pilgrims, the New English Opera,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884):
177. According to Grout, Stanford “attempted to create an English Meistersinger” in The Canterbury Pilgrims.
Donald J. Grout, A Short History of Opera, 3rd ed. with Hermine Weigel Williams (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1988), 576.
386
“The New Opera ‘Savonarola,’” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 199.
387
“Music and the Drama in Cincinnati,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 5 (February 1874): 7.

257
popular in England and the United States and are having “an even greater success in Germany.”

However, the Visitor claimed, Sullivan has composed “much more ambitious work.” Especially

remarkable is his Love of the Wrens, “an attempt to transplant into England the German system

of connected sets of songs.” The work is little known but “exceptionally beautiful . . . and

thoroughly liked whenever it is heard.”388 The London correspondent provided a synopsis of

Ivanhoe, produced at the Royal English Opera House on January 31, 1891.389 The Visitor

published two keyboard works arranged from Ivanhoe, and four of Sullivan’s vocal works.

It is not possible, or even desirable, to discuss all 604 composers whose works appeared

in the Visitor. What is evident is that many of the Americans did more than compose. They were

also writers, critics, poets, editors, performers, choral directors, and teachers, who traveled to

conduct singing schools and conventions, or moved from place to place for employment. The

Visitor kept readers informed of their activities and accomplishments. Opinions were freely

expressed, sometimes spiced with humor.

The Visitor’s 1876 poll revealed that subscribers preferred instrumental music composed

by Europeans and vocal music in the English language by Americans. The Visitor included

coverage of Europeans who toured the United States or visited Cincinnati. After the Visitor’s

merger of the Song Messenger in November 1875, the Visitor became a “medium of

communication with the musical public” for George F. Root,390 and Frederic W. Root

contributed amply as well. American composers included lawyers, such as W. T. Porter and

George S. Gordon, or businessmen such as Robert L. Fletcher and George W. Doane. Composers

who provided sacred works and collections for singing schools and conventions were well

represented in the Visitor. Some of the same music and same composers appeared in The Etude

388
The Musical Visitor 18, no. 8 (August 1889): 203. The full title of the song cycle is The Window, or the
Songs of the Wrens based on Tennyson and composed in 1871.
389
“The Story of ‘Ivanhoe,’” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 3 (March 1891): 60–61.
390
Root, The Story of a Musical Life, 161–62.

258
following the Visitor’s demise in December 1897. In nineteenth-century America, music for the

home or church was an important part of people’s lives. The behavior of choirs and their

repertoire received ample attention. The Visitor kept readers informed of composers’ works and

lives, personal and professional, at home or abroad.

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 CHAPTER 5

MUSIC IN THE VISITOR

The Visitor’s approach to music was democratic: the journal included music of well-

known European composers as well as lesser-known Americans, and music of varying degrees of

difficulty. German and English influence can be seen in bilingual song titles and texts. The

journal included music from collections, sometimes with a number but without the name of

composer or the title of the collection. Music performed at Cincinnati’s May Festivals or by

Theodore Thomas’s orchestra also influenced the choice of music printed in the Visitor. The

editorial page frequently offered commentary on the musical contents of the issue. Critiques on

choirs and choral music also appeared in the Visitor and occasionally reveal distinctions between

Protestants and Catholic practices. The Visitor published and reprinted music to meet the needs

of the home in general and for church services in particular, from January 1886 to September

1895, nearly a third of the journal’s twenty-six year run. Otherwise the music consisted of

dances, marches, instrumental ensembles, choral works, and works for voice and piano.

According to editor Frank H. King, the music was “new” and “carefully selected” to suit

all tastes and capabilities.1 However, he included music of Bach and Mozart as well. Later editor

C. A. Daniell reported that a survey of the music printed in the Visitor, about one hundred fifty

pieces, during the past three years represented all grades of character and difficulty. The Visitor

tried to please everyone but Daniell deemed that “a mistake.” If the music is simple it is “trash”;

if it is brilliant and poetical it is “not popular.” Daniell concluded that trying to please both

classical and popular tastes was like riding two horses at the same time. He proposed to offer

1
“The Visitor,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 3 (December 1871): 6.

260
“better music” [emphasis original] in the next volume (no. 5), which would be both pleasing and

“graded to meet the requirements of the advanced technique and musical cultivation” of our

subscribers.2 The Visitor promoted its liberal supply of music from the John Church Company as

useful for “special practice” or sight reading, especially for those in rural areas who may not

have access to many choices.3 Grading of works was often found in the “Publishers Department”

for new music. The description of grade levels changed over time, likely because of the change

in editors. In August 1874 the Visitor considered grade 3 to be moderately difficult and levels 1

to 4 to be “popular grades.”4 In December 1876 the Visitor provided “A List of Standard Piano

Music for the use of Conscientious Teachers” for grades one to six.5 In January 1883 the

“Publishers Department” described grades 1, 2, and 3 as “popular” or easy grades and grade 4 as

not very difficult.6 As late as March 1897 the Visitor rated grades from 1 to 7, with 1 as “easiest”

and 7 “most difficult.” If two numbers were given, the first was for the voice part and the second

for the piano.7 In addition, the grade level for the same work could be assigned different grades

over time, but usually within a half-grade or one grade level higher.8 The grading of musical

works evinces the Visitor’s pedagogical aim.

2
“The Visitor Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 2 (November 1874): 9. Daniell introduced two
works at grade level 5, in November 1874 and Mach 1878, and one at grade level 8 in November 1879.
3
“Reading at Sight,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 7 (April 1881): 187. Many small or rural towns did
not have a music store to supply music or instruments.
4
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 11 (August 1874): 12; “Selected Popular
Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 11 (August 1874): 23.
5
Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 3 (December 1876): 89.
6
“Publishers Department,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 1 (January 1883): 15.
7
“Monthly Bulletin of New Music,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 3 (March 1897): 84.
8
Douglas Bomberger found the same discrepancy with grade levels for music in The Etude. E. Douglas
Bomberger, An Index to Music Published in The Etude Magazine, 1883–1957 (Lanham, MD: Music Library
Association, 2004), xiv.

261
 Daniell made no apologies for including “popular music” in the journal. A paper

presented at the 1876 Delaware, Ohio, Convention had “created some excitement” on the

subject.9 The author, George W. Chadwick, had attacked popular music as a “dreadful and

almost undefinable product of a depraved modern taste,” though his audience had consisted of

“not a few of whom were the very ones” who were providing this “false idol.” Daniell’s response

was that it was fine for musicians to adhere to “the higher and purer standards of music” and to

promote the elevation of public taste, but parents wanted music for the home circle, for “the

relaxation and bond of love which it is intended to be.” He concluded, “The short of it is that

music must be to a great extent ‘Popular,’ or the people will not have it at all.”10 Four months

prior to his departure as editor, Daniell noted that while the music printed in the Visitor had

“been ‘popular,’ often it has been of a high character, representing the greatest masters of

composition, past and present.”11

Daniell discussed “Music of the Sabbath” in the July 1874 Visitor. He referred to “our

Puritan forefathers” who had thought it a sin “even to smile” and “a musical instrument was an

abomination” on the holy day. At present there are still some who regard “a piano as something

not to be used on the Sabbath.” Daniell asked what could be “more pleasing, beneficial, and

inducive to the improvement of mind and heart, than music?” Every family that delights in music

“should have a collection of music ready, on purpose, for Sunday use.” He recommended not

9
The paper referred to was mentioned the previous month: “A Brief History of the First Meeting of the
Educational Convention of Music Teachers, at Delaware, Ohio, Dec. 26, 27 and 28, 1876,” which included George
Whitefield Chadwick, professor of music in Olivet College, Michigan, on the subject “The Popular Music of the
Day, and wherein Reform Is Necessary.” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 5 (February 1877): 119–20. This was the
first meeting of the MTNA, founded by Theodore Presser in 1876. Polly Carder addresses more details of the
meeting. P. H. Carder, George F. Root, Civil War Songwriter: A Biography (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and
Company, 2008), 196.
10
Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 6 (March 1877): 150.
11
Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 3 (December 1880): 70.

262
only sacred songs, but also instrumental music. If you hear “a scrap” from an opera played on the

organ in church, it is not out of place. Only “Bacchanailan songs and frivolous dance-music”

may be objectionable.12

Beginning in December 1877, the Visitor provided a Christmas Service for the “home-

circle or praise-gathering.”13 The issue included an anthem and a carol by George Root, and a

hymn by Thomas Hastings. An 1881 Visitor review praised The Evangelical Hymnal, compiled

by the Reverend C. C. Hall and Sigismund Lasar, and published by A. S. Barnes and Company

for having made no concessions to “popular music.” On the other hand, the Visitor found the

collection “disappointing to two-thirds of the musical worshippers who will look in vain for

many of the simple hymn tunes of American composers which have long since found firm

lodgment in their heart of hearts.”14 Thus, sacred music was tied to nationalism.

In December 1885 editor Murray observed it was most gratifying that “the observance of

Christmas is fast becoming universal. Its growth in popular favor in America is almost

phenomenal. Our forefathers held the observance of this and other religious anniversaries in

abhorrence. The rebound from Rome and the Church of England as well carried the Puritans to

the other extreme.”15 Music in observance of Christmas did not appear in the Visitor until a

12
“Music on the Sabbath,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 10 (July 1874): 9.
13
Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 3 (December 1877): 68.
14
“Literary Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 5 (February 1881): 134. The collection was heavily
weighted to such British or Continental composers as Joseph Barnby, Sir John Goss, Henry Smart, Felix
Mendelssohn, George Handel, and Thomas Tallis. The Preface read in part that “the best interests of Hymnody in
America have suffered through the popular use of Hymns and Tunes which perhaps have been more attractive to the
ear than appropriate to the sacred offices of religion. . . . That the tradition of Christians in America have joined
certain admirable Hymns to Tunes of less merit. . . .” The Evangelical Hymnal (New York: A. S. Barnes and
Company, 1880), iii.
15
“Christmas,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 12 (December 1885): 321. In 1659 the General Court of
Massachusetts enacted a law “to punish those who ‘kept Christmas’: anybody who is found observing, by abstinence
from labor, feasting, or any other way, any such days as Christmas day, shall pay for every such offense five
shillings.” The law against celebrating Christmas was repealed in 1681, “but many of the Puritans were not

263
Christmas Carol was included as a December 1874 “Supplement.” After 1874 Christmas music,

secular and sacred, was included in December issues to varying degrees but became more

prominent under Murray’s editorship (1881–1897). The United States Congress had declared

Christmas a Federal holiday on June 26, 1870.16

Church Music

The Visitor published the following announcement in January 1886:

Important Information for Choirs, Choral Unions, and other Singing Societies.
The greatest musical need of the choir is good, new Scripture and Hymn Anthems
for opening, closing, and occasional use. This need, the “Musical Visitor” proposes to
supply every month, beginning January, 1886.
It will have each month a sufficient number of choice Anthems and Choir Pieces,
to last a choir until the next issue. In each “Visitor” there will be a number of fine Organ
Voluntaries. In the reading department there will be, besides the usual sketches, stories,
essays, lessons, etc., articles of special interest to choir and chorus members.17
Murray predicted, “When the true scope and influence of the organ voluntary is

thoroughly understood and appreciated there will be a change in the part of the church service

which will be almost revolutionary.” A cautionary note, however, advised, “the voluntary is not

for the purpose of displaying the culture and musical attainments of the organist.” Furthermore,

“not all the music written for the organ, even by the masters, is suitable for the church service.

Bach, the greatest of all organists . . . has written very little music that is adapted for church

reconciled to this action.” Secular “reveling at Christmas in England” offended the Puritans’ moral sense. This
attitude came with them, and it was maintained “for the better part of two centuries in parts of New England.” James
H. Barnett, The American Christmas: A Study in National Culture (New York: Macmillan, 1954), 3, 4.
16
Penne L. Restad, Christmas in America: A History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 104.
17
The Musical Visitor 15, no. 1 (January 1886): 10. Sacred music had appeared in the Visitor prior to this
time, but music for the church service was a new priority. There were advertisements in the Visitor for the
Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad (Little Miami and Pan-Handle Route) as far back as 1873 for a Sunday
church train from Loveland to Cincinnati leaving at 9:00 a.m. and returning at 2:00 p.m. Church’s Musical Visitor 3,
no. 1 (October 1873): 26.

264
purposes. . . . The works of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and others of like ilk, abound in music

that is eminently suited both for the organ and the church.”18

In February the Visitor informed its subscribers that the publishers had changed the scope

of the magazine to meet “the increasing demand throughout the entire country for good new

music” directed to choirs and organists. Each issue would contain twelve to sixteen pages of

“anthems and voluntaries suitable for the opening and closing of church service. If any of the

present subscribers are dissatisfied with this change of plan,” the Visitor promised to refund the

unused portion of their subscription, either in cash or sheet music. Murray mentioned that all of

the choir music, with few exceptions, had been composed for the Visitor and the organ

voluntaries had been “specially prepared from the works of the masters” for the Visitor.19 The

purpose of the opening voluntary was to “affect the emotions and the heart” so that the listener

would “come into that humble and devout frame of mind, which is not only suitable, but

necessary” to engage in the following worship.20 Murray subsequently reminded readers that the

instrumental music printed in the journal “can be played upon the piano or organ, and is of the

18
“The Organ Voluntary,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 1 (January 1886): 10–11. This perhaps explains why
only two works by Bach appeared in the Visitor: a choral work based on “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” in April
1872, and a “Loure” arranged by Sara Heinze for keyboard, grade 3, based on BWV 1009, in January 1875. The
John Church Company published and advertised in 1888 Murray’s One Hundred Voluntaries: A Special Collection
of Easy and Tasteful Organ Music Selected and Arranged from the Best Writers for pipe or reed organ. The
collection includes a variety of works and includes such well-known composers as Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, and
Haydn. Ninety-six of the organ works were reprinted in the Visitor. The remaining four may have appeared in the
missing September 1887 issue. See Appendix A.
19
“To Old Subscribers,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 2 (February 1886): 38. The preface to Murray’s
Collection advises performers that the works in the collection could be used either for the opening or closing of the
service. The arrangement of the stops and pedals was left to the discretion of the players. Murray hoped that the
collection would be “readily accorded a prominent place in the musical library of the church and home.” Murray’s
One Hundred Voluntaries, 2.
20
“Voluntaries and Sermons,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 2 (February 1886): 38–39.

265
best quality, and most of it can be used with good effect as opening or closing voluntaries or

offertories.”21

It was likely Murray who responded to enquiries about the use of interludes in 1883. He

believed the practice of playing interludes between the stanzas of a hymn should be abolished.

The old excuse of the singers needing a break when singing four or five stanzas of a hymn was

weak. In the Roman Catholic churches of Europe, “Grand effects are sometimes produced by

instrumental as well as vocal music,” when organist and orchestra are combined for “musical

display.” The voluntary at the opening of the service, however, can effectively promote the

objects of the service.22 A decade later Frederic Root wrote from Germany comparing European

to American church music. He commented, “Often the music which the bands play during mass

is not what we consider fit for the sanctuary.” The church music printed in the Visitor “is largely

what Abraham Lincoln said of our form of government: it is ‘of the people, by the people, and

for the people.’ Here it might be said to be of the musicians, by the musicians, and for the

musicians.” Root referred to church practice in such European cities as Paris, Berlin, and

Munich.23

Apparently Visitor subscribers received the music for choirs well. Letters of approval

poured into the editor’s office from organists, choir leaders, and ministers.24 Furthermore, many

orders had been received for extra copies of Waldemar Malmene’s anthem “Abide with Me,”

21
The Musical Visitor 20, no. 6 (June 1891): 148.
22
“Interludes,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 3 (March 1883): 67.
23
“Drawing Comparisons. A Letter from Germany by F. W. Root,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 1 (January
1894): 2–3.
24
The Musical Visitor 15, no. 11 (November 1886): 288.

266
which had been published in the September issue.25 Murray had claimed in June 1886 that the

Visitor’s choir music was “the main reliance of a large number of choirs” and that the Visitor had

been glad to learn of “the general satisfaction in regard thereto.”26

The Visitor continued to report “the most encouraging words” from choirs and choir

leaders concerning its music for choirs and organists.27 Apparently convention teachers were also

using the music for “drill in suitable music for the church.”28 By May 1888 the Visitor reported

that a large number of choirs were using the choir music almost exclusively, and “various

congregations have expressed special satisfaction in the varied selections performed.”29 The

editor received a letter from a subscriber who “was able to use only one little carol” from another

music journal last Christmas, while “the year before I used everything in the Visitor.”30

According to Mary Davison, journals devoted to church music and choirs fell to 6 percent in the

1880s, compared to 38 percent in the 1850s and 12 percent in the 1860s.31 This lacuna paved the

way for the Visitor to increase its appeal to subscribers. Music for holidays, such as

Thanksgiving or Christmas, often printed the preceding month, gave choirs time to rehearse the

music.

The Visitor issued frequent reports on church choirs. An article on “Choir Discipline” in

1872 supported choir directors and the difficulties they faced. “The question of choir

25
“City Notes,” in ibid.
26
The Musical Visitor 15, no. 6 (June 1886): 148.
27
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 3 (March 1888): 66.
28
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): 176.
29
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 5 (May 1888): 120.
30
“Editorial Notes,” 18, no. 2 (February 1889): 36.
31
Mary Veronica Davison, “American Music Periodicals, 1853–1899” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota,
1979), 141.

267
government, as at present administered, is a matter more intricate than the uninitiated would

imagine, and the choir leader, or musical director of a choir, has by no means an easy or pleasant

position. This is true even in paid and quartette choirs, but it is much worse in volunteer

organizations.” The writer continued, “The position of leader or director is seldom appreciated

by churches, and a little attention to the matter on the part of the music committees would lead to

a much better state of affairs.”32

As reported in the Visitor, choristers continued to present difficulties for their leaders.

According to W. T. Giffe, who wrote from Indiana in 1883, the leader must lead in order to

“prevent confusion and grumbling,” such as that found in his church, where he had to toss

pennies in order to decide the tunes to be sung.33 A few years later editor Murray wrote about the

duties and importance of average choir members. They should attend rehearsals and pay

attention to the leader’s directions and suggestions concerning the work at hand. Keep one eye

on the music and one eye on the conductor’s baton. “A reverent attitude of mind and body is

becoming to the choir-singer.” Murray concluded, “The angel with the flaming sword who once

stood at the gates of Eden, now that that occupation is gone, could not find another more useful

place to do guard duty than over the average choir.”34

During the second half of the nineteenth century, the quartet choir, consisting of paid

singers, replaced the volunteer choir in some churches.35 In 1872 the Visitor ridiculed the issue

32
“Choir Discipline,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 5 (February 1872): 7.
33
W. T. Giffe, “Chorister and Choir,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 10 (October 1883): 260.
34
“The Duties of Choir Members,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): 177.
35
Dudley Buck’s “higher-quality choral music” helped to dissolve “the elitist separation between the quartet
choir and the full choir.” His anthems “moved beyond the Mendelssohnian transparency and diatonic harmonic
vocabulary of many English anthems.” Buck employed “the harmonic practices of the modern German school of
Liszt and Wagner, with more frequent use of secondary dominants, augmented sixth chords, diminished seventh
chords, and avoidance of root-position chords.” N. Lee Orr, “Democracy Comes to the Choir Loft: Dudley Buck

268
of using paid singers, especially flamboyant ones. “Theatrical singers are not engaged Sundays,

and their services can be secured at reasonable rates.” When the solemn service is finished, “we

are favored with exquisite snatches from Verdi’s ‘Trovatore,’ Meyerbeer’s ‘Huguenots,’ and

Offenbach’s ‘La Belle Hélène.’”36 In 1876 the Reverend Darius E. Jones complained that the

quartet choir, with its florid song and solos, was appropriate in a concert setting but not in

church. He praised George F. Root’s collection The Choir and Congregation as “a genuine

reform of this mighty evil.”37 According to C. A. Daniell, Root’s collection “will bring about the

most amicable feelings and relations between the singers in the choir loft and the people in the

pews, and lead them to hearty cooperation in the song service.” The collection included anthems,

quartets, duets, trios, solos, and choruses, which are “so arranged as to form inspiring

introductions” to old tunes and hymns in which the choir and congregation might unite.38 In 1880

E. Minshall, organist of the City Temple, London, visited churches in Philadelphia and New

York. He generally did not like the quartet choir, though agreed that anthems should be left to

the choir rather than the congregation. The quartet was more of a “performance” than worshipful

and the choir members misbehaved when not singing. Minshall favored Root’s reform efforts in

and the Popularization of American Sacred Music,” in Music, American Made: Essays in Honor of John Graziano,
ed. John Koegel (Sterling Heights, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 2011), 654, 655, 659, 661.
36
“Church Choirs,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 3 (December 1872): 6.
37
D. Eliot Jones, “Rhetorical and Musical Exhibitions,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 7 (April 1876):
172–73. John Church and Company published Root’s The Choir and Congregation in 1875. An entry in 1876
referred to the collection as a “revolution in church music.” “1875 Musical Memorabilia, September 1,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 5, no. 5 (February 1876): 123. Darius Jones was music director at Henry Ward Beecher’s Plymouth
Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York. He compiled Temple Melodies in 1851. Paul A. Richardson,
“Hymnody,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2013), 4:299. The Visitor published Jones’s obituary in the Visitor in 1881. During the last four
years of his life, he was a representative for John Church and Company and had contributed correspondence from
the Midwest as “D. E. J.” “Gone Home,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12 (September 1881): 327–28.
38
“Artistic Versus Congregational Singing,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 5 (February 1876): 120–21.

269
Choir and Congregation, which he witnessed in practice at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn.39

Organist E. M. Bowman’s solution included five essentials for a successful “chorus

choir,” the lack of which had “led to the practice of substituting the quartet.” First, you need a

community and congregation large enough to supply and support the volunteer choir. Fifty

voices will provide inspiration. Second, there should be a large well-voiced organ with eight and

four-foot stops to accompany the voices. Third, a church should provide comfortable seating in a

roomy, well-lit, well-ventilated area where the choir can see the minister and be seen by the

congregation. This would discourage “whispering, writing notes, reading newspapers or books,

and going out during the sermon.” Fourth, church rooms should be made available where they

can gather for “innocent amusements” and meet members of the congregation. Last, Bowman

recommended a music director who is a musician and who is knowledgeable about human nature

and can avoid friction with others. He should inspire others by his good example. Of course, the

“pastor and musical director should work together with intelligent sympathy.”40

Composer, teacher, and conductor of conventions, W. F. Sherwin had previously written

about similar challenges. He had blamed the “Romish church” for “perching the choir in a high

balcony behind the congregation, not only out of sight but out of mind,” except when they pour

their “music upon the heads of the worshippers below, trusting that if it should fail to reach the

heart through the shoulder-blades, it may at least sweetly trickle down the back hair like the oil

upon Aaron’s beard.” Sherwin had advocated that the choir be placed at the front of the church,

not in the rear, where they are tempted to indulge in naps, read a paper, and whisper or exchange

39
“Church Music in America,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 4 (January 1880): 98–99.
40
“The Chorus Choir,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 11 (November 1890): 286–87. Bowman contributed
several articles to the Visitor. In 1881 Church published and advertised Bowman’s Harmony: A Treatise of Historic
Points and Modern Methods of Instruction. The same year the London Royal College of Organists conferred the title
of A. C. O. on Bowman. He was the first American thus honored, and a banquet was given at the College in his
honor. “Music and Musicians,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 1 (October 1881): 12.

270
notes on the blank pages of hymnals. Sherwin had advised churches to take “a deeper interest in

the song-service,” which is not a “mere entertainment” and not to treat the choristers as “mere

hirelings.”41

Apparently both the quartet choir and the chorus choir could behave badly during the

service. Dr. Benjamin C. Blodgett, professor of music at Smith College in Northampton,

ridiculed the prominence given the discussion about the relative merits of the quartet versus

chorus choir, and “severely denounced the spirit which regards and criticizes the choir’s work

from a concert standpoint.” People have moved away from the notion that the choir’s mission is

to “fill the church.”42

The Visitor condensed an article on church music by organist and composer

R. Huntington Woodman from the New York Evangelist. Woodman reminded organists and

singers that “they are in their positions for a quite different purpose than to exhibit their artistic

abilities.” Congregations are also at fault when members exit the church commenting on how

well the soprano soloist sang that day. Woodman recommended that churches needed to place

music and choirs “in proper relation to the other parts of the service,” so the reform movement

could spread “more rapidly.” More of the “personal element” was found in churches with quartet

choirs than elsewhere. “Organ solos seem to lack the personal element more than vocal

numbers.” Yet organists were cautioned not to use improper combinations and “bizarre effects,”

41
W. F. S[herwin], “Position and Deportment of Church Choirs,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 10 (July
1881): 271–72. Sherwin was referring to Psalm 133: 1–2. Instead of a “Song of Ascents” to Jerusalem where the
brothers dwell in unity, like the precious oil upon the head and running down upon the beard of Aaron, the choir had
ascended to the loft where they could misbehave out of sight.
42
“Music at Worship,” The Musical Visitor 20, no. 9 (September 1891): 229. Dr. Blodgett addressed a
gathering in Salem, Massachusetts.

271
which degraded both the music and the musician. Woodman promoted the “impersonal

character” of church music.”43

Editor Murray noted in February 1894 that it was “but a short time ago that the craze for

quartet instead of chorus choirs got hold of music committees; now there seems to be a desire in

some quarters to still further reduce the numbers . . . .” Some churches were evidently planning

to have only an organist and a precentor. In Cincinnati, according to Murray, the Vine Street

Congregational Church was considering the idea, which “already prevails in various parts” of the

city.44 The Visitor announced in April 1894 that the quartet choir of the Mt. Auburn Church of

Our Savior was to be disbanded and replaced by a boy choir.45 Murray later added: “The church

choir is responsible to a certain degree of the musical taste of the congregation, for, in a sense, it

creates and nourishes it. It is, therefore, important that good music be provided. It is the aim of

the Visitor to supply choirs with music for the church service that will be not only interesting but

uplifting.”46

In May 1894 the Visitor reprinted an article that favorably described music at the Ruggles

Street Baptist Church in Boston. The church had an unaccompanied male quartet and a chorus

choir of eighty voices. Congregational hymns were accompanied by organ and cornet; the boys’

choir of twenty-four and the girls’ choir of twenty were accompanied by reed organ. The seating

arrangement for the chorus choir varied, from the back gallery, to one of the side galleries, and

43
R. Huntington Woodman, “Impersonality in Church Music,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 6 (June 1895):
147–48. Woodman edited the church music section of the New York Evangelist from 1894 to 1897. William
Osborne, “Woodman, R[aymond] Huntington,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles
Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 8:573.
44
“Editorial Notes,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 2 (February 1894): 36.
45
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 4 (April 1894): 94.
46
The Musical Visitor 24, no. 6 (June 1895): 152.

272
“occasionally among the congregation in the pews, massed together, or divided and scattered

about to aid congregational singing.”47

After six years of publishing church music, the Visitor hinted at a return to a focus on

secular music with two works for piano included as a “Supplement to The Musical Visitor in

Feburary 1892.” The editor had trusted that the supplementary piano music in the issue would be

of interest.48 In July 1895 the Visitor issued the following “Special Notice”:

Wishing to enlarge the scope of the Musical Visitor, so as to make it more

generally useful to all musical people, and especially to teachers and students, we have
decided to change the character of its music pages.
Beginning with the September number, we shall discontinue the printing of choir
music in the paper proper, and will instead, give each month a choice supply of vocal
music with piano accompaniments, songs, etc., and the best obtainable piano pieces,
having especial reference to the needs of teachers and students, while not neglecting the
wants of the musical amateur. We shall not entirely discontinue the publication of anthem
and organ music, but will furnish it to our choir friends in other forms, from time to time.
Those who may have directly subscribed especially for the choir music, and desire to stop
their subscriptions because of the change, will have the amount due to unexpired portion
refunded on application to us. Subscriptions made through any agent can be adjusted for
discontinuance only through such agent.49
The music in the September 1895 issue returned to a secular emphasis and featured piano works

revised and fingered by local faculty members of the College of Music or other music schools,

such as Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer, George Schneider, Georg Krüger, and Theodor F. Bohlmann. The

Visitor included sacred or holiday music as a supplement until its final issue in December 1897.

47
“Model Music in a Model Church,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 5 (May 1894): 116–17.
48
The Musical Visitor 21, no. 2 (February 1892): 36; “Little Serenade” by Alfred Grünfeld, and “Four-Leaf
Clover” by Carl Heins, The Musical Visitor 21, no. 2 (February 1892): III–X.
49
“Special Notice,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 7 (July 1895): 180. The notice was repeated in the August
issue.

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Dedications and Commemorative Works

The Visitor published and reprinted works that had been dedicated to the memory of

presidents or former generals, such as Grant and Garfield. In addition, it included memorial

pieces for composers or poets. The July 1878 issue included an obituary for American poet and

editor William Cullen Bryant and an Elegy for piano in his memory by E. B. Phelps.50

Composers dedicated works to clergy, choirs, quartets, friends, family members, pupils, fellow

composers, and organists who were mainly located in the Midwest or on the East Coast.

Foreigners were also honored, from Ontario, Canada, to Berlin, Germany. The Visitor honored

the city editor in Huntington, Indiana, in March 1895, and editor Murray in May 1886. The

Visitor also recognized heads of organizations, such as the President of the Chautauqua

Assembly in October 1883 (the Visitor was the official organ for the Assembly) and the

President of the Ohio Music Teachers’ Association in July 1886.

Murray dedicated works to a local choir that he directed, Mt. Auburn Baptist Church, in

April 1886, or to welcome the choir back after summer break in November 1890. He also

dedicated a work to the Free Church Choir in his hometown of Andover, Massachusetts, in July

1890. Thomas P. Westendorf dedicated a sacred work, “With Broken and Contrite Spirit,” to the

Reverend A. A. Willits at the correctional facility in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was

employed at the time.51

In the following section, I discuss sacred music first, followed by secular music. The

amount of vocal music in the Visitor exceeded that of instrumental music (see Appendix B), in

50
“William Cullen Bryant,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 10 (July 1878): 255–56; E. B. Phelps, “Elegy,”
Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 10 (July 1878): 268–71.
51
Thomas P. Westendorf, “With Broken and Contrite Spirit,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 9 (September
1886): 247–49.

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part, because of the emphasis on domestic and sacred music. In addition, the family could gather

around the piano to sing.

The Visitor provided music appropriate to the liturgical calendar, for Easter, Christmas,

as well as national holidays such as Thanksgiving and Decoration/Memorial Day. National

anthems of such other countries as France and Russia also found their way into the service

music. The June 1889 issue included keyboard music mindful of the popular wedding month: a

“Marche Nuptial,” and a “March” [no. 22, “Ecco la Marcia,” from the Finale of Act III]

from Le nozze di Figaro.52

Sacred Vocal Music

Sacred vocal music in the Visitor included hymns, anthems, and gospel songs. American

composers are well represented. Despite all of the criticisms of the practice of quartet choirs by

the Reverend Darius E. Jones, E. Minshall, E. M. Bowman, and Dr. Benjamin C. Blodgett, music

from quartet collections was often reprinted. Murray suggested that church choirs sing at least

one stanza of a hymn in unison. “When well done, the effect of unison singing is most

excellent.” Furthermore, if it is not convenient or desirable to have a single voice sing the solos

in some of the Visitor’s music, it can be very effective to have “all voices of a similar quality on

a solo.” Murray suggested as an example, all altos and basses can perform an alto or bass solo

despite the change in clef. Murray believed there was no need to discard a piece of music

because it contained a solo or duet.53 He also advised choirs to elect a librarian to take care of the

52
F. Wachs, “Marche Nuptial,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 6 (June 1889): 164–65; W. A. Mozart, “March,”
The Musical Visitor 18, no. 6 (June 1889): 166–67.
53
“Editorial Notes,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 3 (March 1889): 64.

275
music, since it “should be sung more than once or twice. Take good care of the old Visitors as

well as the new ones.”54

In 1881 William Sherwin, head of Church’s Sunday School Department from 1881 to

1883, wrote an article titled “Reactions in Sunday School Music.” He defined the term “classical

as applied to music and hymns.” It does not mean “above the comprehension of any but educated

musicians, or that which was written anywhere outside of America. Rather, it is ‘that which is

chaste, pure, refined,’ wheresoever or by whomsoever produced, and it may be the perfection of

simplicity . . . for example, the opening melody of the ‘dona nobis’ in Mozart’s twelfth Mass.”55

In 1874 the Visitor had reprinted three of T. C. O’Kane’s gospel hymns from his Sunday

School collection Every Sabbath.56 They exhibit typical characteristics of the gospel hymn:

elements of popular music, strophic texts, refrains, homophonic texture, with variety provided by

“echo voices” (rhythmic pattern in soprano and alto repeated by tenor and bass), repeated

rhythmic patterns, often dotted, major tonality, diatonic harmony with occasional chromatic

passing tones of “Barbershop” harmony.57 Robert L. Fletcher, a Chicago businessman who also

composed Gospel hymns, gave permission for his quartet At Last to appear in the October 1892

54
“Editorial Notes,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 5 (May 1889): 120.
55
W. F. S[herwin], “Reactions in Sunday School Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 9 (June 1881):
243. Mozart’s “Twelfth Mass” is the spurious Anhang K 232.
56
T. C. O’Kane, “One in Christ” and “The Blood-bought Shore,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 5
(February 1874): 21. “One in Christ” was noted to have been “rendered with thrilling effect at the Evangelical
Alliance, October, 1873.” T. C. O’Kane, “With Joy We Hail the Sacred Day,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 6
(March 1874): 12D.
57
Gospel songs and hymns originated mostly from European American composers living in the northern
states and distributed by publishers in the Northeast and Midwest, incorporating Sunday-school songs. Stephen
Shearon, Harry Eskew, and James C. Downey, “Gospel Music” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd
ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press), 3:550–53.

276
issue. The text is based on a poem by Quaker poet John G. Whittier and the quartet is

accompanied by keyboard.58

The Visitor reprinted 1876 poll winner W. H. Doane’s “The Mother’s Good-Bye,” a

gospel song and chorus (SATB), in the May 1879 issue.59 The son is about to become an orphan;

he is reminded to read the Bible as his mother is leaving him. The verses are preceded by an

introduction and followed by a postlude for “inst.” It is also similar in subject matter to the dying

parent in temperance songs.

The Visitor featured sacred music in recognition of John Church’s death on April 19,

1890. James Murray’s heartfelt “Sleep Thy Last Sleep” for unaccompanied voices, dedicated to

Church’s memory, appeared twice, in the April and May issues. F. Vinal arranged two works to

be performed a cappella, including “Yea, Though I Walk” from Arthur Sullivan’s oratorio The

Light of the World.60 George Root contributed a hymn anthem “Sweet Is the Work,”

accompanied by keyboard.61 The Visitor included Webbe’s “Land of Our Fathers,” an

unaccompanied quartet and chorus, likely as a reference to Church’s New England family

background.62 Thus, the Visitor in its musical remembrance captured Church’s activities as a

music publisher.

In 1885 the Visitor had published Signor H. B. Fabiani’s “Passion Hymn” for treble voice

58
R. L. Fletcher, “At Last,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 10 (October 1892): 276, 284–85.
59
W. H. Doane, “The Mother’s Good-Bye,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 8 (May 1879): 224–26.
Though Doane was living in Cincinnati at the time, this was his sole contribution to the Visitor.
60
[Arthur] Sullivan, “Yea, Though I Walk,” arr. F. Vinal, The Musical Visitor 19, no. 5 (May 1890):
125–27.
61
G. F. Root, “Sweet Is the Work,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 5 (May 1890): 128–31.
62
Webbe, “Land of Our Fathers,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 5 (May 1890): 142.

277
and piano or organ for Good Friday services.63 Henry Harding’s “I Heard the Voice of Jesus

Say” for treble voice, chorus (SATB), and keyboard,64 and “Why Seek Ye the Living among the

Dead,” Edward L. Cranmer’s Easter anthem with solos, duets and quartet or chorus and

keyboard,65 had been among the works for the 1889 Easter service.

The May 1886 issue had included Joseph Barnby’s hymn “Sleep Thy Last Sleep,”66

appropriate for remembering the fallen on Decoration or Memorial Day. M. L. McPhail’s “Come

unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather” is a comforting message performed by quartet choir

and organ.67

Giuseppe Concone’s “Worship the Lord,” a Thanksgiving anthem from McPhail’s

Anthems, had been included in the Visitor’s November 1885 issue.68 J. R. Murray’s “Thine, O

Lord, Is the Greatness” (SATB and keyboard, October 1894) was subtitled for “Harvest or

Thanksgiving,” mindful of the farmers’ contributions to society and in preparation for

Thanksgiving.69

Sacred and secular Christmas music became a regular feature beginning in December

63
Signor [H. B.] Fabiani, “Passion Hymn,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 4 (April 1889): 102–3.
64
Henry Harding, “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 4 (April 1889): 106–8.
65
Ed. L. Cranmer, “Why Seek Ye the Living among the Dead,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 4 (April 1889):
97–101.
66
J[oseph] Barnby, “Sleep Thy Last Sleep,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 5 (May 1886): 140.
67
M. L. McPhail, “Come Unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 5 (May
1886): 125–27.
68
J. Concone, “Worship the Lord,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 11 (November 1885): 303–6.
69
J. R. Murray, “Thine, O Lord, Is the Greatness,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 10 (October 1894): 268–69.

278
1876 with George Root’s carol “Glory to God in the Highest.”70 The Visitor reissued three works

designated for “Christmas service” by Root and Thomas Hastings in the December 1877 issue.

Hester Morley’s “Voices in the Air” (Reverie for Christmas Eve) for piano solo could be

performed at home and perhaps for church service.71 Poll winner H. P. Danks’s Christmas

anthem “Blessed Be the Lord” shows some influence of Dudley Buck’s chromaticism in the style

of Liszt and Wagner.72 George Root’s “Glory to Our Savior King” in December 189573 was

reportedly found among his papers after his death, likely composed in response to the editor’s

request for a Christmas anthem.74

A song titled “New Year’s Song” by Brahms graced the cover of the January 1884

issue.75 The English text and simple keyboard accompaniment made it accessible to a family

sing-along in the parlor.

Keyboard Voluntaries for Church Service

The Visitor included a variety of keyboard music for church services76 from January 1886

until September 1895, from nocturnes to character pieces and from such well-known composers

as Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven, to now-neglected ones, such as J. L. Battmann or J. C. H.

70
G. F. R[oot], “Glory to God in the Highest,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 3 (December 1876): 57–58.
71
Hester Morley, “Voices in the Air,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 12 (December 1884): 332–34.
72
H. P. Danks, “Blessed Be the Lord,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 12 (December 1888): 328–33. N. Lee
Orr, “Democracy Comes to the Choir Loft, 647–72.
73
G. F. Root, “Glory to Our Savior King,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 12 (December 1895): 347–49.
74
“Our Music Pages,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 12 (December 1895): 359.
75
Johann[es] Brahms, “New Year’s Song,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 1 (January 1894): cover. I have been
unable to identify the original title.
76
The Visitor had included a Christmas service with music in its December 1877 issue.

279
Rinck. Any of them could also be performed at home, in keeping with McDannell’s findings

regarding the parlor organ in Victorian homes.

The Visitor published a brief nocturne by Nicolai von Wilm in March 1887 as an organ

voluntary.77 It was likely intended to induce a contemplative mood, or to touch the heart and

mind as suggested previously by Murray. The Visitor included a “Nocturne” for keyboard from

Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream intended for church use in July 1893.78 Franz

Spindler’s arrangement begins with the opening chord sequence and moves to no. 7 (Con molto

tranquillo). Perhaps it had as much to do with the season as the service.

The Russian National Hymn (“God Save the Tsar”), composed by General Alexis Lwoff,

appeared twice in the Visitor: in July 1888 for solo keyboard,79 which could have served as a

church voluntary, and in June 1889 as a hymn arranged by Paul Gerhardt.80 The Visitor included

the story of its composition and the Tsar’s gratitude in an excerpt from Lwoff’s memoirs in

August 1886.81 The Visitor reprinted the “Russian Hymn” and Haydn’s “Austrian Hymn” in June

1889.82

The Visitor also reprinted Mozart’s “Kyrie from the 12th Mass,” transcribed for solo

keyboard, in October 1893. An article in 1895 addressed the question of authorship. Likely it

was Murray who admitted that Mozart had no more to do with the mass than he did with the

Pirates of Penzance. Simrock had published the mass in 1816 as number seven; Novello gave it

77
Nicolai v. Wilm, “Nocturne,” The Musical Visitor 16, no. 3 (March 1887): 58.
78
F[elix] Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, “Nocturne,” arr. Franz Spindler, The Musical Visitor 22, no. 7 (July
1893): 198–99.
79
[Alexis Lwoff], “Russian National Hymn,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 7 (July 1888): 198.
80
A[lexis] Lwoff, “The Russian Hymn,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 6 (June 1889): 163.
81
“The Russian National Hymn,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 8 (August 1886): 207.
82
[Franz Joseph] Haydn, “The Austrian Hymn,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 6 (June 1889): 163.

280
the present number. Otto Jahn had rejected it as “spurious” in his Life of Mozart, and Breitkopf

and Härtel had not included it in their latest edition of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts Werke:

Kritisch durchgehen Gesamtausgabe, 1877–1883, with supplements until 1910. Murray

concluded that “Mozart’s Twelfth Mass is not Mozart’s at all.”83

The Visitor also published marches for church services. Philipp Scharwenka’s “March for

Festival Occasions,” op. 45, no. 2, was printed for Easter 1886.84 As the last musical entry that

month, it was likely intended as a postlude. The Visitor reprinted two marches to celebrate Easter

in March 1895: the “Festival March” from Handel’s opera Scipione85 and J. R. Murray’s

arrangement of an “Easter March” for keyboard.86 Handel’s march performed at an Easter

service would not have been entirely inappropriate. The morally upright character of Scipio is

established in the opening scene, beginning with the “famous march.”87 C. A. Daniell had

previously written that hearing “a scrap” of opera music on the church organ was not

objectionable.

The Visitor reprinted selections from Robert Schumann’s Album für die Jugend, op. 68,

in 1890, including “Moderato” (the first section from no. 38, “Winterzeit”);88 no. 21 as “Lento”;

83
“Who Wrote the ‘Twelfth Mass?,’” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 8 (August 1895): 207. Murray had
previously come to the same conclusion based on Ignaz von Seyfried’s and Otto Jahn’s findings. “Poor ‘Twelfth
Mass,’” Musical Visitor 12, no. 4 (April 1883): 95. Seyfried had been one of Mozart’s pupils and a close friend.
84
Ph[ilipp] Scharwenka, “March for Festival Occasions,” The Musical Visitor 15, no. 4 (April 1886):
110–11.
85
[G. F. Handel], “Festival March,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 3 (March 1895): 85.
86
J. R. Murray, arr., “Easter March,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 3 (March 1895): 86–87.
87
Anthony Hicks, “Scipione,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, ed. Stanley Sadie (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1997), 4: 269–70.
88
[Robert] Schumann, “Moderato,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 6 (June 1890): 167.

281
no. 22 as “Moderato” (actually “Rundgesang”); no. 26 as “Moderato” in August;89 and “Melody”

(actually “Sylvesterlied”), no. 42, in September.90 It is unclear why the Visitor did not include

the original titles or opus numbers.

Xaver Scharwenka’s “Song Without Words,” op. 62, no. 7 (from his Album for Young

Pianists), was one of the last works to be issued as a voluntary in 1895.91 It contains cross-

rhythms but otherwise presents no difficulties for the keyboardist, whether in church or at home.

Secular Vocal Music

Considered under this heading are ballads, works for song and chorus, voice and piano

(or possibly harmonium, whichever was available in the home), duets, quartets, topical subjects

such as music for the Centennial, and temperance songs.

The performance venue for these works could vary. Frederic Root’s “The Season at the

Springs” in July 1872 celebrates escaping the summer heat of the city. The light-hearted text, for

unaccompanied mixed voices, expresses not only their relief by being in Saratoga Springs, but

the fun they would experience.92 According to Nicholas Tawa, the “fortunate few” who could

afford the time and money would spend “from two weeks to an entire summer season” at a

summer resort such as Saratoga Springs. “Whether people were away for a few hours or a few

weeks, music came away with them.” The most celebrated resort was Saratoga Springs, where

89
[Robert] Schumann, “Moderato,” “Moderato,” “Lento,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 8 (August 1890):
220–23.
90
[Robert] Schumann, “Melody,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 9 (September 1890): 251.
91
Xaver Scharwenka, “Song Without Words,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 8 (August 1895): 216–17.
92
F. W. Root, “The Season at the Springs,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 10 (July 1872): 21.

282
amateurs could sing and play piano or guitar “in the hotel music room.”93 The Visitor serialized

Root’s opera bouffe, Extract of Opera, in September, October, and November 1872. An

advertisement describes the work for four performers (SATB) and keyboard as a “most

entertaining little work for an afterpiece,” taking about twenty minutes to perform.94

Temperance songs

John Church and Company published and advertised collections of temperance songs,

such as The Musical Fountain, for public and social gatherings or the home circle. They were

intended for “the Temperance movement now engrossing public attention.” Once sung, each

“will have more effect than any amount of lecturing.”95 An advertisement for Gospel and

Temperance Songs appeared in the January 1881 issue. The songs were for temperance meetings,

Sabbath Schools, and the home circle.96 Miss Frances Willard, president of the Women’s

Christian Temperance Union, had penned a letter regarding George Root’s latest book of

temperance songs, The Glorious Cause, writing “The more I look the book over the more I think

it is the one we have been waiting for” [emphasis original].97 The Visitor employed her name in

advertisements for this collection beginning in May 1888.

93
Nicholas Tawa, High-Minded and Low-Down: Music in the Lives of Americans, 1800–1861 (Boston:
Northeastern University Press, 2000), 192, 283.
94
“Extract of Opera,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 12 (November 1879): 56.
95
“The Musical Fountain,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 9 (June 1874): 24.
96
“Gospel and Temperance Songs,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 4 (January 1881): 120.
97
“The Glorious Cause,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 9 (September 1888): 233. The WCTU was founded in
1874; Willard served as its president from 1879 to 1898. Women argued that the “saloon was a challenge to
women’s domain, a threat to the family, and a major cause of social disorder and human misery.” Sondra Wieland
Howe, Women Music Educators in the United States: A History (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2014), 48.

283
 According to George Ewing, after 1840 most temperance songs were composed by

hymn-writers, including Philip P. Bliss.98 The Visitor printed two temperance songs in the May

1874 issue.99 The first, P. P. Bliss’s “Bring Me the Bowl,” is a duet for soprano and bass

accompanied by keyboard, with associative tonality. The father’s stanzas are in C minor while

the daughter exhorts her father to reform in the key of E-flat major. The daughter is victorious;

the last stanza moves to the “echo voice” of the gospel hymn and they end by singing in

harmonious thirds and sixths in E-flat major. The second, H. R. Palmer’s “Oh Carry Me to My

Mother’s House,” is for treble voice, which could be sung in unison by the Sunday School

children accompanied by keyboard, and followed by a chorus (SATB). A youth had left home

and “drained the goblet’s fiery tide,” but wanted to return home, an updating of the parable of the

prodigal son.

M. Jolie’s temperance quartet “Come! Brother, Come!” appeared as the frontispiece of

the July 1877 issue. The Visitor reprinted Henry C. Work’s temperance song and chorus “King

Bibler’s Army” in the September 1877 issue. Apparently it was the second and last of his

temperance works.100 It is in 4/4 along with a performance indication of “With feeling and spirit

(not alcoholic).” Either Mr. Work had a sense of humor or he was serious about the message.

Leon Levoy’s temperance song and chorus “Papa’s Pledge and Mine,” referring to the pledge of

abstinence, appeared in the March 1879 issue.101

98
George W. Ewing, The Well-tempered Lyre: Songs and Verse of the Temperance Movement (Dallas:
Southern Methodist University Press, 1977), 180.
99
P. P. Bliss, “Bring Me the Bowl,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 8 (May 1874): 17–21; H. R. Palmer,
“Oh Carry Me to My Mother’s Home,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 8 (May 1874): 23, from Palmer’s Songs of
Love for the Bible School, published by John Church and Company in 1874.
100
Dale Cockrell, “Work, Henry Clay,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles
Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 8:580.
101
Leon Levoy, “Papa’s Pledge and Mine,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 6 (March 1879): 172–74.

284
Ballads

According to C. A. Daniell, the simple ballad brings “a link of fellow-feeling between all

classes of human beings.”102 It is usually narrative, strophic, about love, and with a slow tempo.

James Murray’s ballad “Only One Song Can I Sing” (“She Is mine”) for voice and piano

includes the performance indication “Con Amore.” It has a compass of a twelfth and a short

cadenza.103

Julius Benedict toured the United States with Jenny Lind in 1850, directing most of her

concerts. He composed his most popular opera, Lily of Killarney, in 1862.104 The Visitor

reprinted “Eily Mavourneen,” a ballad from that opera, in March 1875.105 The tempo marking is

andante espressivo, with two strophes, octave leaps, and range of a tenth. Franz Abt also toured

the country and visited Cincinnati in 1872. The Visitor advertised his “Good-night, My Love” as

a “beautiful German ballad,” as sung by (tenor Theodor?) Wachtel. In August 1872 the Visitor

reprinted it as “Sweetheart, Good Night,” with English and German texts.106

An example of a humorous ballad is the anonymous “Our Minister’s Sermon.” With the

vocal range of a seventh and a simple piano part, it would have been easily performed by

102
D. C. Addison [Charles Addison Daniell], “Brief Talks on Musical Topics: Heart Songs,” Church’s
Musical Visitor 7, no. 5 (February 1878): 123.
103
James R. Murray, “Only One Song Can I Sing,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 14 (November 1882):
386–88.
104
Nicholas Temperley, “Benedict, Sir Julius,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd
ed., ed Stanley Sadie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 3:240–42.
105
Sir Jules Benedict, “Eily Mavourneen, Ballad, Lily of Killarney,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 6
(March 1875): 13–15.
106
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 6 (March 1872): 12; Franz Abt, “Sweetheart,
Good Night,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 11 (August 1872): 13–16.

285
amateurs. In each stanza the narrator imagines the faults mentioned by the minister and directs

them at others in the church, until the last stanza, when it is apparent it is about himself.107

Voice and Piano

The Visitor promoted some of the vocal music it printed as being performed by particular

singers, such as George Henschel’s “Jamie or Robin?” for voice and piano. Henschel dedicated

the work to Miss Lillian Bailey who “sings it at her concerts.”108 Soprano Mrs. Aline Osgood

had been one of the soloists for the May Festival in 1878. The May issue included Silas G.

Pratt’s “Long Agone,” for voice and piano “as sung by Mrs. E. Aline Osgood.”109 The note was

possibly intended to aid sales. Occasionally the Visitor mentioned that music it had included was

subsequently being performed by minstrels, such as W. S. Mullaly’s verse and chorus “Send a

Kiss to Papa.” The Visitor reported that it had been “sung with great success by the well-known

San Francisco Minstrels, at their opera house in New York.” It was also mentioned as a “home

song.”110

The Visitor advertised vocal poll winner and editor C. A. Daniell’s song “White Sails,

Waft Me Away” for voice and piano as “well written. It depends upon the singer to make this

either beautiful or monotonous.”111 Performance would obviously be a factor in the work’s

107
“Our Minister’s Sermon,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 6 (March 1879): 176–77.
108
George Henschel, “Jamie or Robin?” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 4 (January 1880): 110–12;
“Publishers’ Department: Review of the Most Successful Music Issued during 1880,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10,
no. 3 (December 1880): 75.
109
S. G. Pratt, “Long Agone,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 8 (May 1878): 219–21.
110
W. S. Mullaly, “Send a Kiss to Papa,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12 (September 1881):
334–37; “Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 4 (January 1882): 108.
111
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 5 (February 1872): 12; D. C. Addison [Charles
Addison Daniell], “White Sails Waft Me Away,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 5 (February 1872): 13–15.

286
reception. Daniell dedicated the song to Miss Laura West of Middletown, Ohio. If she was a

singer, she presumably performed it to his satisfaction.

Leonie’s “Sleep, My Darling” for voice and piano, is a lullaby.112 Composed in 3/4 meter

with its repeated rhythmic pattern of three quarter notes followed by a half note and quarter note,

is reminiscent of a rocking rhythm. The two stanzas conjure up the image of the child “Pillowed

on thy mother’s breast” while seated in her rocking chair in the first stanza. With only two

stanzas, either the child would fall asleep quickly or be lulled to sleep by rhythmic repetition.

The Visitor also printed excerpts from operas, such as Wagner’s “On, Romans, On!”

from Rienzi for voice and piano in March 1883.113 The Visitor suggested that such singers as

Patti did not like to sing Wagner’s music because the voice is subordinate to the orchestra and

that Wagner wrote more for the future than for the present.114

Italian composer P. A. Tirindelli contributed one vocal work to the Visitor. “My Flower”

for voice and piano is through-composed, with leaps of a sixth and a range from d-flat1 to a-flat2.

The Visitor included it the same month his portrait appeared on the cover.115

The Visitor reprinted German composer and theorist Salomon Jadassohn’s “Far Brighter

Than Fire,” op. 38, no. 1, for treble voices and piano in September 1896.116 Opus 38 is among his

best-known works.117 It is a love duet with harmonious thirds and sixths, both voices within the

range of an eleventh, appropriate for domestic use.

112
Leonie, “Sleep, My Darling,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 8 (May 1879): 235.
113
“On, Romans, On!,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 3 (March 1883): 73–75.
114
“Richard Wagner,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 3 (March 1883): 66.
115
P. A. Tirindelli, “My Flower,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): 217–18.
116
S. Jadassohn, “Far Brighter Than Fire,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 9 (September 1896): 251–54.
117
Janna Saslaw, “Jadassohn, Salomon,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed.
Stanley Sadie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 12:746–47.

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 The Visitor published Austrian singer Amalie Weiss Joachim’s “Swedish Song from a

Dalekarlian Dance” for voice and piano in April 1897. After she married violinist Joseph

Joachim, he insisted that she give up opera. She continued to sing in concerts, however, earning a

reputation as an interpreter of Schumann and Brahms. Her repertoire included traditional and

“folk-influenced song.”118

The Visitor reprinted two of Cécile Chaminade’s songs for soprano or tenor and piano in

French with English translation, “Rosemonde” and “Were I Gard’ner” (“Si j’étais jardinière”).119

“Rosemonde” is slightly less demanding melodically and rhythmically than the latter, with leaps

of a sixth or octave, while the latter has leaps of an octave or ninth and chromatic harmonies.

There is a piano introduction for both songs, but the latter includes an interlude and postlude. “Si

j’étais jardinière” would be suitable for both a talented amateur or concert use. In February 1897

the Visitor noted that Chaminade, “the well-known French composer,” was expected to tour the

United States “next season with Henri Marteau, the violinist.”120

Waltz songs

The Visitor printed waltz songs between February 1877 and May 1885. The first

designated as such and by H. W. Fairbank, is for cabinet organ or piano; the others are for voice

and piano. George W. Persley’s “Wake, Love, from Thy Dreams,” a waltz song or duet for tenor
118
Beatrix Borchard, “Joachim [née Schneeweiss], Amalie,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 13:125. Dalecarlia is a mining,
industrial, and agricultural area of central Sweden, also a popular tourist destination. It is now known as “Dalarna.”
Encyclopædia Britannica 15th ed., s.v. “Dalecarlia.”
119
C. Chaminade, “Rosemonde,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 6 (June 1896): 167–70; C. Chaminade,
“Were I Gard’ner,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 1 (January 1897): 17–21.
120
“Current Notes,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 2 (February 1897): 55. Chaminade did not visit the United
States until fall 1908. Marcia J. Citron, “Chaminade, Cécile (Louise Stéphanie)” in The New Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicans, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001),
5:457–58.

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and contralto, features a keyboard introduction and three strophes with alternating voices, each

strophe ending in a duet.121 George Root’s “Health is a Rosy Maiden” is a one-stanza waltz song

and chorus. The chorus is repeated, with text for the soloist and vocable “la” in the bass, echoed

by the other voices.122 The Visitor described J. B. Campbell’s “At the Making of the Hay,” as

“moderately difficult” with a compass of a thirteenth, and leaps of a seventh or an octave.123

Later examples of the waltz song include Charles K. Harris’s ubiquitous “After the Ball.”

Vocal Music for the U.S. Centennial

Likely it was editor Frank King who wrote an article regarding the upcoming Centennial

celebration to be held in Philadelphia. “It should be purely and unquestionably American––

orators, singers, musicians, and all. We shall need a national anthem to be first rendered upon

this occasion, and some American should write one.”124 The Visitor printed a keyboard version

of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in July 1876, but it did not become the national anthem until

1931.

The Visitor printed “Forever, a Centennial Quartette” by S. C. Hanson in the May 1876

issue to celebrate the occasion.125 The SATB quartet was to be performed “with energy” and

accompanied by piano. George Root’s “Day of Columbia’s Glory,” a Centennial Chorus with

121
Geo. W. Persley, “Wake, Love, from Thy Dreams,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 5 (February 1878):
132–34.
122
G. F. Root, “Health Is a Rosy Maiden,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 2 (February 1882): 44–46.
123
J. B. Campbell, “At the Making of the Hay,” 14, no. 5 (May 1885): 128–31.
124
“Music at the Forthcoming Centennial Celebration,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. l0 (July 1872): 6.
125
S. C. Hanson, “Forever, A Centennial Quartette,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 8 (May 1876):
215–17.

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Solos, was published in the July Visitor.126 It celebrated the “Birthday of Liberty,” the adoption

of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which had been a civic holiday since 1791.

The Visitor featured three works for solo piano: “The President’s March: Hail Columbia,”

“Yankee Doodle,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” in the July issue. Thereafter, other musical

references to July 4 include W. F. Sherwin’s “Hail the Day of Freedom’s Birth” for SATB and

piano,127 and “Freedom’s Day” for tenor solo and male quartet. Charles H. Carroll’s “This

Happy Land of Mine” for SATB appeared in July 1884.128

A notice regarding Philip P. Bliss’s “Arise and Shine!” (printed in the September 1876

issue) claimed that this is the “great” Centennial song [emphasis original]. It “seems to express

in a wonderfully strong and majestic manner, the serious, satisfactory, as well as joyful, trustful

feeling of all good Americans. It is a song of joy––a hymn of faith which will live in the

memories of all who hear it.”129

Song and Chorus

Philip P. Bliss’s Irish drinking song “There’s Monny a Shlip” for tenor and chorus

(SATB) and piano employs dialect. The protagonist’s stanzas about unrequited love are in G

minor while the sympathetic chorus (also using dialect) sings in the relative major.130

126
Geo. F. Root, “Day of Columbia’s Glory,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 10 (July 1876): 265–70. Root
mentions “memorable ’76!” in his autobiography. He attended the “great Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia.”
George F. Root, The Story of a Musical Life: An Autobiography (1891; repr., New York: Da Capo Press, 1970), 162.
127
W. F. Sherwin, “Hail the Day of Freedom’s Birth,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 10 (July 1882):
260; W. F. Sherwin, “Freedom’s Day,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 7 (July 1883): 170.
128
Chas. H. Carroll, “This Happy Land of Mine,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 7 (July 1884): 170.
129
“Special Notices,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 1 (October 1876): 1.
130
Pro Phundo Basso [Philip P. Bliss], “There’s Monny a Shlip,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 11
(August 1873): 13–14.

290
 “Delos” contributed a topical song and chorus about the U.S. financial panic of 1873 with

“Go Work upon a Farm” in 1874. The advice is to go west and find work on a farm.131 Railroad

expansion led to a speculative boom and subsequent crash. Banks closed, the stock market

crashed, and businesses went bankrupt, resulting in a five-year Depression.132

The text for A. O Hand’s humorous “Punch in the Presence of the Passenjare”133 was

inspired by Mark Twain’s short story “Punch, Brothers, Punch.” It begins with a poem about the

conductor, and the chorus ends with “Punch in the Presence of the Passenjare.” According to the

Visitor, the text is based on “Mark Twain’s literary nightmare.”134 The protagonist cannot get the

words out of his head and the incessant rhythm of the train drives him crazy, illustrated in the

music with a rhythmic ostinato in a march-like 4/4 with three stanzas and chorus. The first page

of the music proposes that the third stanza “may be omitted or used as an encore” suggesting the

song would be taken up by minstrel troupes. It could easily be performed at home as well.

Oscar Wilde visited Cincinnati in February and June of 1882 to give lectures on

aesthetics.135 Church published and advertised “Wilde, Oscar Wilde,” a song and chorus with

words by Eben E. Rexford and “music by the distinguished, aesthetic Japonica Reginald

131
“Delos,” “Go Work upon a Farm,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 6 (March 1874): 0–4. The editor must
have been experimenting with pagination in March 1874; zero does not occur in subsequent issues.
132
Paul S. Boyer, et al., The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, concise 2nd ed.
(Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and Company, 1995), 351–52.
133
A. H. Hand, “Punch in the Presence of the Passenjare,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 7 (April 1876):
189–91.
134
“April Bulletin of New Music,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 7 (April 1876): 180.
135
Robert Herron, “Have Lily, Will Travel: Oscar Wilde in Cincinnati,” Bulletin of the Historical and
Philosophical Society of Ohio 15 (July 1957): 215–33. The first lecture was on “Decorative Arts” and the second on
“Household Decoration.” Herron also noted that after Wilde returned to England, he was quoted as saying that he
considered Cincinnati, along with Chicago and San Francisco, “one of the ‘kindest’ and friendliest cities he had
visited during his entire tour.” Wilde was tried in England and imprisoned from May 1895 to May 1897; there was
no coverage in the Visitor.

291
McGinnis.” Stage directions accompanied the music.136 The following entry appeared in 1882:

“Oscar Wilde regards Mme Patti as a charming music box, but criticizes her singing of ‘Home,

Sweet Home’ in public. He says such songs should be reserved for the drawing-room. He prefers

Nilsson to Patti, both as a singer and an actress, and instances her Margherita in ‘Mefistofele’ as

a ‘noble achievement.’ He apostrophizes her throat as like a marble pillar.”137

Text Authors

Vocal music included texts written by composers, poets, clergy, and editors of the

Visitor. Composers frequently used the texts of Eben E. Rexford and Hezekiah Butterworth.

D. C. Addison and Thomas P. Westendorf provided texts employed by other composers. A

secular text by the Reverend A. Kenyon, “Song of the Whip-poor-will,” appeared in September

1874. Women authors were well represented (see Appendix A). In their role as “guardians of

society’s morals,” women were important authors of religious texts. Since the texts were moral,

“they could allow their names to appear in print with impunity.”138 Fanny Crosby contributed the

text for one of H. R. Palmer’s sacred works in the Visitor. Crosby had been educated at the New

York Institution for the Blind where she excelled in literary and musical studies. She studied

with George Root and wrote the text for several of his cantatas. Crosby began writing hymn texts

at the encouragement of William Bradbury; she may have written as many as eight thousand.139

136
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 6 (March 1882): 163.
137
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 12 (September 1882): 328. Patti was in
Cincinnati in February 1882 to perform in the College of Music’s Opera Festival while Oscar Wilde was in town.
138
Adrienne Fried Block, assisted by Nancy Stewart, “Women in American Music, 1800–1918,” in Women
and Music: A History, 2nd ed., ed. Karin Pendle (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001), 201.
139
Edith Blumhofer, “Crosby, Fanny (Frances) J(ane),” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd
ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2:496.

292
Clara Louise (Root) Burnham supplied the texts for six of her father’s hymns in the Visitor;

reviews of several of her novels were also given in the Visitor. Three of Mary B. C. Slade’s texts

were used for sacred music in the Visitor. Slade, of Fall River, Massachusetts, was a popular

hymn writer; she also edited the children’s magazine Wide Awake for several years.140 Paulina

DuPre’s works were set by Philip P. Bliss and George Root.141

Music for Piano or Organ

Music for piano or organ in the Visitor included character pieces, dances, etudes,

excerpts, marches, transcriptions, and works related to the May Festival. According to the Visitor

in 1880 Germany supplied the world with the most dance music and every other kind of

instrumental music.142 After the Visitor’s merger with the Song Messenger in November 1875,

music “From the Album of the Chicago Musical College” appeared at the bottom of the page for

some of the pieces.143 From October 1895 to January 1896, the Visitor included a new feature

and column: “Our Music Pages.”144 Thereafter, explanations of signs or terms were occasionally

included on the first page of the piece.

140
Edward S. Ninde, The Story of the American Hymn (New York: Abingdon Press, 1921), 366–67.
141
I have been unable to locate any personal information for Paulina DuPre.
142
“Dance Music and Those Who Compose It,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 10 (July 1880): 270.
143
The Chicago Academy of Music, founded in 1867 by Florenz Ziegfeld, was renamed the Chicago
Musical College in 1872. Ziegfeld was president until 1916. J. Bradford Robinson, William Kenney, and John
Behling, “Chicago,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2013): 2:223. According to P. H. Carder, however, the school had been founded in 1865;
George Root was president of the Chicago Musical College from 1872 to 1876. William A. Root was business
manager from 1870 to 1872, and Charles T. Root served as treasurer from 1872 to 1876. P. H. Carder, George F.
Root, Civil War Songwriter, 185–86. The Visitor reprinted music from the Album of the Chicago Musical College
(Chicago: Chandler and Curtiss, 1874).
144
“Our Music Pages,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 10 (October 1895): 285–86.

293
 During the last few years of publication, composers who revised, edited, or fingered

works for piano included Wilson G. Smith,145 N. J. Elsenheimer,146 Emil Liebling, Theodore F.

Bohlmann, George Schneider,147 Jacques Ahrem,148 and Georg Krüger. Portraits and biographies

for many of them were featured in the Visitor in the 1890s.

Galop

The galop was a nineteenth-century ballroom round dance in simple duple time, with the

change of step, or hop, at the end of each musical phrase. The Visitor advertised poll winner

Sidney Ryan’s “Blue-eyed Witch Galop” as multi-purpose: “A good, lively, taking piece of the

popular grade, carefully marked. Good for skating rinks, parlor playing, or teaching.”149

145
Wilson G. Smith, “Xaver Scharwenka,” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 9 (September 1896): 236. Smith
mentioned meeting his “old teacher, Xaver Scharwenka” at the Michigan Music Teachers’ Association.
146
“Current Notes and News: Local,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): 220. Mrs. Jennie Busk
Dodge and Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer were opening a school of music in Cincinnati in the fall; Mrs. Dodge would also
continue her school in Walnut Hills. John Church published Dodge’s method The Care of the Voice: Advice to
Young Singers. It was serialized in the Visitor in July and August 1895; ads for the method began appearing in
November 1895. Elsenheimer was a member of the piano faculty at the College of Music from 1891 to 1905.
Vincent A. Orlando, “An Historical Study of the Origin and Development of the College of Music of Cincinnati”
(EdD diss., University of Cincinnati, 1946), 194.
147
George Schneider’s school was located in Pike’s Opera House. “This fine musician and his assistants are
doing a good work, and Mr. Schneider’s Educational Recitals have more than a local reputation.” “Current Notes
and News: Local,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 8 (August 1897): 221. Schneider was also mentioned as a member of
the piano faculty at the College of Music in 1887. Orlando, “An Historical Study,” 190. Apparently teachers had
requested that Schneider’s recital programs be printed in the Visitor, and thereafter they were. “Mr. George
Schneider’s Piano Recitals,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 11 (November 1883): 294.
148
Jacques Ahrem is probably “J. Ahrem” whose works were published by John Church and Company.
Sandra Jean Graham, “Reframing Negro Spirituals in the Late Nineteenth Century,” in Music, American Made:
Essays in Honor of John Graziano, ed. John Koegel (Sterling Heights, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 2011 ), 617–19.
149
Sidney Ryan, “Blue-eyed Witch Galop,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 2 (February 1885): 52–54. The first
practical four-wheel roller skate had been designed in 1863. Thereafter, “the first great recreational roller-skating
craze swept the United States and Western Europe, where many rinks were built.” Encyclopaedia Britannica 15th
ed., s.v. “roller-skating.”

294
 The Visitor printed an “Oscar Wilde Galop” for piano in the September 1885 issue.150

The advertisement reads: “Already popular. Though not quite as aesthetic as its namesake, it will

please all who like good, tuneful melodies.”151 Other galops in the Visitor display the same

rhythmic characteristic at the end of the phrase, a short note value followed by a longer one.

Gavotte

The gavotte is an eighteenth-century French dance in common or cut time beginning with

a half-measure anacrusis. According to the May 1885 Visitor, gavottes were “all the rage.”152

Some years later organist-composer Eugene Thayer was quoted as saying that a “good gavotte is

better than a poor sonata.”153

The Visitor published August Labitzky’s “First Love,” a gavotte, op. 46, in January 1885

and labeled it moderately difficult.154 Its regular phrasing and marked rhythm makes it functional

as a dance. Celian Kottaun’s “Le Bijou Gavotte,” like Labitzky’s, could function as a dance.155

Mazurka

The mazurka is a Polish dance in triple meter with strong accents on the second or third

beat. Examples in the Visitor range from the “Honor Bright Mazurka” (Second Grade Set) of

150
“Oscar Wilde Galop,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 9 (September 1885): 247–50.
151
“New Music: For the Piano,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 10 (October 1885): 267.
152
“New Music, For the Piano,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 5 (May 1885): 127.
153
“Solid Sense about Musical Form,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 3 (March 1892): 62.
154
A. Labitzky, “First Love: Gavotte,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 1 (January 1885): 20–23.
155
Celian Kottaun, “Le Bijou Gavotte,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 12 (September 1881): 338–40.

295
H. D. Sofge,156 to those of Chopin. A middle ground can be found in F. L. Bristow’s

“Merriment” (Mazurka Elegante) with acciaccature and septuplets.157 The Visitor reprinted four

of Chopin’s mazurkas: op. 7, no. 1 (August 1877); op. 7, no. 2 (January 1878); op. 17, no. 1

(October 1878); and op 24, no. 3 (July 1879). These mazurkas were also reprinted in The Etude,

with the exception of op. 24, no. 3.

Polka

The polka is a Bohemian dance in duple meter with repeated eight-measure sections. A

good example is H. D. Sofge’s “Musical Visitor Polka” (Second Grade Set).158 Frank Howard’s

“The Grange Polka” was likely meant to appeal to the rural subscriber (though the time signature

was 3/4, the music was actually notated in 2/4).159 According to the Visitor, it was “a good polka

in which the accent is very strongly marked. Young folks will be delighted with it.”160

“Winthrop” (likely James R. Murray) composed “Merry Christmas Polka” for the December

1882 Visitor. According to the Publisher’s Department, it was of medium difficulty and suitable

for home or public performance.161 Although much of the music in the Visitor was intended for

156
H. D. Sofge, “Honor Bright Mazurka,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 10 (July 1874): 16–18.
157
F. L. Bristow, “Merriment (Mazurka Elegante),” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 1 (October 1874):
16–18.
158
H. D. Sofge, “Musical Visitor Polka,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 3 (December 1873): 13–14.
159
Frank Howard [pseud. of Delos Gardner Spalding], “The Grange Polka,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3,
no. 9 (June 1874): 16–17.
160
“Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 10 (July 1874): 12. Subscribers were warned
about three men who had swindled the public and defrauded the publishers, including Delos Gardner Spalding,
“alias Frank Howard, who was canvassing in Wisconsin to the misfortune of a good majority.” “Publishers
Department: Beware of Bogus Agents,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 3 (December 1876): 71.
161
“Winthrop” and “Merry Christmas Polka,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 15 (December 1882):
415–17; “Publishers Department,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 15 (December 1882): 414. James R. Murray’s
“Away in a Manger” was published in The Etude as a piano solo in December 1941 and again in December 1947.

296
domestic music making, some of the music advertised and printed in the journal could also be

used for public performance.

Polka-mazurka

The polka-mazurka differs from the polka (triple time rather than duple) and the mazurka

(accent on the second or third beat). The Visitor published Carl Faust’s “A Love-Duo,” op. 306,

in January 1880. According to the editor: “Much of the most popular dance music of the past

twenty years has been written by Carl Faust, a bandmaster of Breslau. His numerous galops have

been more widely played than those of any other composer.”162 Josef Strauss’s polka-mazurka

“Arm in Arm,” op. 215, appeared in the Visitor in June 1873, and “The Devil’s Darning Needle”

[“Die Libelle,” polka-mazur], op. 204, in July 1875.

Polonaise

The Polish polonaise is in triple meter, with two sixteenth notes before the second beat,

tripartite, and in a moderately fast tempo. H. W. Fairbank’s “Polonaise” is from his Cabinet

Organ Series.163 The Visitor considered Sidney Ryan’s “Dance of the Fairies” to be of medium

difficulty.164 Both works exhibit characteristics typical of the dance.

162
“Waltz Writers,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 9 (June 1880): 243. This is Faust’s sole work in the
Visitor.
163
H. W. Fairbank, “Polonaise,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 1 (October 1877): 19–21.
164
Sidney Ryan, “Dance of the Fairies,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 10 (October 1883): 277–79;
“Publishers Department,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 10 (October 1883): 267.

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Schottische
The schottische is a social dance in 4/4 with accents on the first and third beat, and four-

measure phrases. The Visitor graded many of them level 3, including poll winner Clara Scott’s

“Clover Schottische.”165 H. W. Fairbank’s “Schottische” for cabinet organ could also be played

on the piano and used for dancing. “The Rising Belle Schottische,” op. 10, by B. Bradshaw was

“Respectfully dedicated to the Belles of Sandwich.”166 I have been unable to identify Bradshaw.

Waltz

The nineteenth-century waltz could be used for dancing and as concert music, such as

those by the Strauss family. Some of the waltzes in the Visitor could also be useful for sight-

reading or for concert use, such as those by Chopin. The Visitor reprinted four of his waltzes:

op. 64, no. 1, the “Minute” waltz (December 1871); op. 64, no. 2 (February 1872); op. 64, no. 3

(February 1873, repeated in December 1873); and op. 70, no. 1 (December 1874). These waltzes,

with the exception of op. 64, no. 3, were also reprinted in The Etude.167

Oscar Pape dedicated his piano waltz titled “May Festival” to Theodore Thomas168 in

recognition of the first Festival in 1873; the Visitor reprinted it in May 1878 for the opening of

Music Hall and the third Festival. Two of poll winner Johann Strauss’s waltzes for piano

appeared in the Visitor, “As Performed by Theo. Thomas’ Orchestra.” The Visitor reprinted his

“Tausend und eine Nacht,” op. 346, three times, in November 1871, October 1876, and May

1881, and his “Blue Danube Waltz,” op. 314, in November 1880. The “Tausend und eine Nacht”

165
Mrs. Clara H. Scott, “Clover Schottische,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 5 (February 1876): 128–30.
166
B. Bradshaw, “The Rising Belle Schottische,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 1 (October 1875): 21–23.
167
The waltzes appeared in The Etude in 1904, 1903, and 1945, respectively.
168
Oscar Pape, “May Festival,” Church’s Musical Visitor 2, no. 8 (May 1873): 13–15.

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was reprinted under editors Frank H. King, Charles A. Daniell, and James R. Murray. They may

have been unaware that their predecessor had included it, or perhaps it was reprinted by popular

demand.

The Visitor covered the invention of the telephone in 1877. The editor described its

physical characteristics and use in Cincinnati’s businesses and factories, including John

Church’s. The telephone, for example, connected the publisher’s office with the printer’s

establishment “four squares distant.”169 The May 1887 issue included Thomas P. Westendorf’s

“Telephone Waltz” for piano.170

Etudes

The Visitor designated only a few works as etudes, and most of them were intended as

teaching pieces. Antoine Levasse’s “Etude” for piano in September 1879 provided practice for

five-note scale patterns, first in the right hand, then the left hand, and finally together. Interest is

added through occasional chromaticism and a change of key.171 George Root’s “Home

Returning” in the same issue offered practice in broken chords for the left hand and parallel

thirds and sixths in the right hand.172 Henry Bishop’s “Home, Sweet Home” became tremolo

practice with repeated notes in April 1881.173

A more advanced work is Wilson Smith’s transcription of Kalkbrenner’s

169
“Editor’s Notes,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 2 (November 1877): 40.
170
Thos. P. Westendorf, “Telephone Waltz,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 8 (May 1877): 223–25.
171
Antoine Levasse, “Etude,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 12 (September 1879): 342–43.
172
G. F. R[oot], “Home Returning,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 12 (September 1879): 344–45.
173
“Home, Sweet Home, Varied,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 7 (April 1881): 201–2.

299
“Etude–Melodie” for piano, a “melodious etude” that afforded “excellent practice in acquiring a

singing tone and legato touch. A note at the bottom of the first page explained the sign for the

damper pedal. Players were advised to practice the etude in sections.174 Smith also transcribed

Niels Gade’s “Spring’s Awakening” for piano. Smith noted that Gade was “one of Denmark’s

greatest composers,” and this piece offered “excellent practice in trill playing and sustained

melody.”175 Transcriptions could serve as didactic works while also making the original piece

known to an American audience.

Marches

During the late nineteenth century, American composers penned marches, or quick-steps,

for special occasions, such as the dedication of Music Hall in 1878, or the completion of the

Cincinnati Southern Railroad between Cincinnati and Chattanooga in 1880.

Theodore Willbrecht’s “Fountain Grand March” for organ in the December 1871 issue

was dedicated to Henry Probasco, who had been responsible for the fountain in memory of his

brother-in-law and business partner, Tyler Davidson, in downtown Cincinnati. The issue

included a rendering of the fountain, which had been cast in Germany, and was also featured on

the music’s title page.

In 1876 the Visitor reprinted Wagner’s “Centennial March,” abridged and arranged for

piano by Theodore Thomas. It was prefaced with a German and English text: “He only earns the

right to freedom and to life, who daily is compelled to conquer them.”176 The editor explained

the reason for reprinting the march: “There has been so much talk among the critics concerning

174
“Etude-Melodie,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 7 (July 1897): 180–83.
175
Wilson G. Smith, “Spring’s Awakening,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 5 (May 1897): 119–24.
176
Richard Wagner, “Centennial March,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 3 (December 1876): 72–77.

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Wagner’s Grand Festival March, that we have concluded to give the Visitor subscribers a chance

to judge for themselves.”177 In April 1878 editor Daniell commented that apparently Wagner’s

“Centennial March” had been more appreciated in England than it had in the United States. It

had been played in concerts at the Crystal Palace and other concert settings in London.178 In

1887 a reprint of an article in the New York World by Anton Seidl about Wagner’s “Centennial

March” revealed that “Wagner often expressed his regret that he had accepted the commission

from the ladies of Philadelphia, because he could not grasp the spirit of the subject he wished to

illustrate. He was astonished and flattered at the magnificence of the sum offered, which was

more than he had received, up to that time, for the whole of his operas from German publishers.”

The account continues with telling how he came to compose the work.179

The Visitor also reprinted Johann Strauss’s “Marche Persanne,” op. 289, in September

1876.180 F. Viviani’s “The Silver Trumpets,” a “Grand Processional March” for keyboard

appeared in August 1879. According to the editor, the march had been performed at St. Peter’s in

Rome for “the great festivals of the Council.”181

Adolph Pferdner composed the “Cincinnati Southern R. R. Inauguration March” for

piano to celebrate the completion of the railroad between Cincinnati and Chattanooga in 1880.182

The grand opening of the railroad, an enterprise of the city of Cincinnati, took place in March

177
Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 3 (December 1876): 66.
178
Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 7 (April 1878): 180.
179
“Wagner’s Centennial March,” Church’s Musical Visitor 16, no. 2 (February 1887): 39.
180
J[ohann] Strauss, “Marche Persanne,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 12 (September 1876): 331–33.
181
Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 11 (August 1879): 300, 311–14.
182
Adolph Pferdner, “Cincinnati Southern R. R. Inauguration March,” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 7
(April 1880): 197–99.

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1880, with a parade, a banquet at Music Hall, and addresses by the governors of Tennessee,

Georgia, and Ohio.183

W. H. Pontius’s “We Shall Win Quickstep” for piano for the 1884 presidential campaign

appeared in the August issue.184 The work was also advertised as available for brass band.

May Festival

The Visitor published M. H. Strong’s “Cincinnati Music Hall March,” op. 12, for piano

the month the Hall opened for the third May Festival, though it was not performed at the

Festival.185 The Visitor published Otto Singer’s “Sketch from Festival Ode,” composed for the

dedication of Music Hall, for performance on the organ or two pianos.186 In February the Visitor

also reprinted from the Chicago Tribune an analysis of the work by “one of the best musical

authorities in the country.” The “Sketch,” no. 2, is an Interludium for the organ, which leads into

“a fugue on the first chorus, which, as we judge, has been written chiefly to display the

magnificent organ which the Hook Brothers are building for the Music Hall, and which is not

otherwise essential to the harmony of the work.”187 The reviewer was likely W. S. B. Matthews,

critic for the Tribune from 1877 to 1886.188

183
“Here’s To Our Friends,” Cincinnati Enquirer, March 19, 1880, 4.
184
W. H. Pontius, “We Shall Win Quickstep,” The Music Visitor 13, no. 8 (August 1884): 212–14.
185
M. H. Strong, “Cincinnati Music Hall March,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 8 (May 1878): 215–18.
186
Otto Singer, “Sketch from Festival Ode,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 6 (March 1878): 157–60.
187
“May Musical Festival: Otto Singer’s Ode,” Church’s Musical Visitor 7, no. 5 (February 1878): 124–25.
The article goes on to discuss the soloists for the upcoming Festival, Music Hall, and its Hook and Hastings’ organ
(then the largest in the country).
188
Mark N. Grant, Maestros of the Pen: A History of Classical Music Criticism in America, consulting ed.
Eric Friedheim (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1998), 73.

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Nocturne

Some of the music contributed as a result of the merger of the Visitor with the Song

Messenger was demanding of the performer, such as Louis Roehr’s “Nocturne” for piano.

According to the editor, “more advanced players” would be delighted with it. Roehr was director

of the music school in Leitmeritz, Bohemia.189 The work is reminiscent of Chopin’s nocturnes,

with its lyrical melody, arpeggiated chords in the left hand, a cadenza, fioriture passages, parallel

octaves in the right hand, and ternary form.

Adolf Gutmann’s “Nocturne Poetique,” revised and edited by Wilson G. Smith, with a

prefatory note that Gutmann, was “a favorite pupil of Chopin,” and the influence of his teacher is

easily discernable in this piece. The Visitor considered it “an excellent preparatory study to

the more intense nocturnes of Chopin.” Gutmann’s nocturne was reprinted in The Etude in

December 1937, again at grade 4.190

Character Pieces with Descriptive Titles

Character pieces express either a mood or an idea defined by the title, such as “Song

Without Words.” “The Evening Bell,” a “descriptive piece” by Mendelssohn was, according to

the editor, one of his last works.191 He recounted its genesis:

Mendelssohn, staying with a friend at Norwood, England, in 1829, was obliged, for some
reason or other, to take his departure, deferring his contemplated journey to London,
however, as long as possible, despite the frequent warning of the gate-bell which told him
that his carriage was in attendance. Upon his arrival in town he penned this composition,
the foundation of which is the solitary note of the gate-bell, the same night, and
forwarded it to his host the next day.

189
L. Roehr, “Nocturne,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 8 (May 1876): 218–22; “Editor’s Notes and
Reviews,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 8 (May 1876): 206.
190
Bomberger, An Index to Music Published in The Etude Magazine, 1883–1957, 194.
191
[Felix] Mendelssohn, “The Evening Bell,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 6 (March 1877): 162–65.

303
The editor appended a disclaimer: “Whether this is as accurate as it is interesting, is not so

certain as that the piece itself is melodious and worthy of the careful performance of any

pianist.”192

A. Kuchenmeister’s “Amors Erwachen” (“Love Awake”), op. 72, for piano is in rondo

form, triple meter, parallel thirds, and melodic intervals of a third, suggestive of affection.193

“Song Without Words,” no. 7, from Xaver Scharwenka’s op. 62 (Album for Young Pianists),

appeared in the Visitor in August 1895.

Gotthold Kunkel’s “In Der Hora: A Picture from Times Long Past,” op. 52, in B minor is

a Stimmungsbild, conjuring up images of scenes from a painting, perhaps, of monks leaving and

returning to their cloister after mass. Marked by “Tempo di Marcia,” the piece begins in the low

register of the organ, followed by programmatic indications in the music such as “Bells,” “Birds

of the night,” “Monks leave the cloister,” “Entering the church,” “Voluntary on the organ,”

“Entrance of the congregation,” and “Monks at the altar.” The music moves through the keys of

B minor, D major, B minor, G minor, and brightens to C major for the “Responsive chant,” and

finally returns to the “Birds of the Night.” The work came from the Album of the Chicago

Musical College.194

Transcriptions and Arrangements

Transcriptions from operas, songs, or orchestral works were fairly common in the Visitor,

192
Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 6 (March 1877): 150. Mendelssohn had composed the work for harp and
piano in November 1829; it was published in London in 1876, without an opus number. William A. Pond published
a version for piano in 1877, arranged by Henry Maylath and prefaced with a similar note regarding the Attwood
family in Norwood, England. Reportedly Mendelssohn had sent parts for piano and harp to the Attwoods the
following day.
193
A. Kuchenmiester, “Amors Erwachen,” The Musical Visitor 14, no. 4 (April 1885): 108–10.
194
Gotthold Kunkel, “In Der Hora: A Picture from Times Long Past,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 4
(January 1877): 102–7.

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occasionally related to May Festival programs. The May Festival Chorus performed Wagner’s

Lohengrin at the 1875 Festival. The Visitor included a transcription of its “Prelude” for piano in

May.195 In November 1874 the Visitor published Oscar Mayo’s transcription of the “Hymn of the

Pilgrims” from Tannhäuser.196 Gaetano Braga’s “La Serenata” (“Angel’s Serenade”), a song

with ’cello or violin obbligato, transcribed for piano by J. Rummel, and revised and fingered by

Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer, made this work available to those who might not otherwise have known

it.197

The Visitor also published orchestral works transcribed for piano, such as Saint-Saëns’s

Danse macabre in September 1876198 and the minuet from Mozart’s Symphony no. 39 in E-flat

in July of 1877.199 In recognition of John Church’s death on April 19, 1890, the Visitor included

a piano transcription of the funeral march from Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3.200

Chamber Music

The Visitor published nine works for piano four hands, fewer than one might expect for

home music-making. Four were graded as moderately difficult, one was easy, and the others

were not graded. The duets were either dances (galop, polka, schottische, waltz) or marches,

195
[Richard Wagner], “Prelude” from Lohengrin, Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 8 (May 1875): 22–25.
196
R[ichard] Wagner, “Hymn of the Pilgrims,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 2 (November 1874): 16–21.
197
G[aetano] Braga, “La Serenata,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 10 (November 1897): 287–93.
198
Camille Saint-Saëns, “Danse macabre,” Church’s Musical Visitor 5, no. 12 (September 1876): 324–27.
199
Jules Schulhoff, “Minuet de Mozart,” Church’s Musical Visitor 6, no. 10 (July 1877): 269–71.
200
Beethoven, “Marche funèbre,” The Musical Visitor 19, no. 5 (May 1890): 136–37.

305
including Wagner’s “March” from Tannhäuser.201 The Visitor graded “Meadow Spring

Schottische” by poll winner C. Kinkel, as moderately difficult.202

Seven works for flute or violin and piano, and three works for violin or flute and piano

were included in the Visitor. Only one of them was graded (Marzials’s “Twickenham Ferry”).203

The Visitor printed an arrangement of a selection from Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment for

violin and piano in February 1881.204 Thomas Westendorf arranged his most popular work, “I’ll

Take You Home Again, Kathleen,” for flute or violin and piano.205 James Murray’s “Fanchon

Schottische,” for violin or flute and piano, could easily accompany dancing.206 The Irish were

represented with J. L. Molloy’s “The Kerry Dance” in June 1884.207 A single work for cornet

and piano, arranged from W. H. Pontius’s song entitled “Constancy,” appeared in January

1884.208

Ensemble works also included those for mandolin and guitar. The John Church Company

announced in 1892 that it would manufacture the Imperial Mandolin and Imperial Guitar because

“the mandolin has taken rapid strides to the front,” not only as a parlor but as a concert

instrument, and is beginning to rival the popularity of the guitar.209 Two years later the Visitor

201
Richard Wagner, “March from Tannhäuser,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 2 (February 1883): 50–53.
202
C. Kinkle, “Meadow Spring Schottische,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 15 (December 1882):
422–25.
203
T. Marzials, “Twickenham Ferry,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 7 (July 1883): 194.
204
G. Donizetti, “Salut à la France,” Church’s Musical Visitor 10, no. 5 (February 1881): 145–46.
205
Thomas P. Westendorf, “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen,” The Musical Visitor 12, no. 2 (February
1883): 54.
206
J. R. Murray, “Fanchon Schottische,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 13 (October 1882): 366–68.
207
J. L. Molloy, “The Kerry Dance,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 6 (June 1884): 172–73.
208
W. H. Pontius, “Constancy,” The Musical Visitor 13, no. 1 (January 1884): 25–26.
209
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 21, no. 2 (February 1892): 38.

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announced that the mandolin had become one of the most popular, or perhaps fashionable,

instruments of the day, rivaling the guitar. The mandolin was heard in the parlor and in the

boudoir, “caressed by the gentle donnas of the western World.” This was followed by a history

and characteristics of the instrument to recommend it: small, lightweight, portable, and for the

most part, readily learned.210 A report of a field trip in 1896 by four young women from

Cincinnati’s Hughes High School to the John Church Company mentioned that they were

impressed by the manufacturing of instruments on the second floor of the building, particularly

the mandolins, and gave a detailed description of the process of making these “delicate,

beautiful” instruments.211 In the early 1890s “the mandolin began to replace the banjo in

popularity among amateur musicians. By the late 1890s mandolin clubs that offered ensemble

experience to mandolinists and guitarists were forming across America.”212

The Visitor published six works for mandolin and guitar, and four for solo mandolin,

during its last two years of publication. They were arranged from a variety of sources.

Carlo Mora, an employee of the John Church Company, composed “Lullaby (Shut Eye, Baby

Eye),” which F. W. Wessenberg arranged for mandolin and guitar and published in the July

1896 issue.213 Herman Bellstedt’s “Everett Piano March” was arranged for two mandolins and

210
“The Mandolin,” The Musical Visitor 23, no. 12 (December 1894): 325–26.
211
May Hoban, “A Visit to ‘Church’s,’” The Musical Visitor 25, no. 4 (April 1896): 116–17.
212
Paul Ruppa, “Mandolin,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi
Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 5:357–58.
213
Carlo Mora, “Lullaby (Shut Eye, Baby Eye),” arr. Wessenberg, The Musical Visitor 25, no. 7 (July
1896): 197–98. Two piano solos by Mora were published in The Etude. Bomberger, An Index to Music Published in
The Etude Magazine, 1883–1957, 364. Wessenberg placed ads in the Visitor as a teacher of Mandolin, Banjo, and
Guitar in the Arno Building and at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and as the Author of Conservatory Method
for Guitar, Modern Method for Mandolin, and The Thorough Banjoist. The Musical Visitor 25, no. 4 (April 1896):
ii.

307
guitar in November 1895.214 The John Church Company manufactured the Everett piano and

popular band leader Herman Bellstedt lived in Cincinnati at that time. F. W. Wessenberg

arranged the “Intermezzo” from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana for mandolin and guitar,215

and Boccherini’s “Menuet” for solo mandolin.216

An essay by New Yorker Louis in the July 1895 Visitor included an illustration of the

instrument, and he advised that students should “exercise care and judgment in the selection of a

competent instructor [emphasis original]. There are, unfortunately, hundreds who style

themselves thus, who know little, if anything, of the instrument.”217 Church published and

advertised method books, including Charles E. Pratt’s Mandolin Chords and How to Play

Accompaniments in 1895 and Christofaro’s Method for the Mandolin in 1897. The John Church

Company was in step with, and kept readers informed of, recent trends and developments.

Conclusion

The Visitor directed much of the music it printed to the amateur, including music by such

European composers as Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Wagner, and Chaminade. Some of the

music appealed to accomplished pianists and vocalists while also making these composers

known to an American audience. Thus, the Visitor fulfilled its goal of providing something for

everyone as a “people’s paper.”

214
[Herman] Bellstedt, “Everett Piano March,” arr. Klohr, The Musical Visitor 24, no. 11 (November 1895):
305–7.
215
[Pietro] Mascagni, “Intermezzo,” arr. Wessenberg, The Musical Visitor 25, no. 1 (January 1896): 20–22.
216
L. Boccherini, “Menuet,” arr. Wessenberg, The Musical Visitor 25, no. 11 (November 1896): 310.
217
Louis Tocaben, “The Mandolin––General Hints to Those about to Learn,” The Musical Visitor 24, no. 7
(July 1895): 174–75.

308
 Repertoire varied under the leadership of different editors: Frank H. King, Charles A.

Daniell, Frank N. Scott and James R. Murray. King (October 1871–December 1872) included a

work by his successor who wrote under the name of Addison and a sacred work by Mrs. P. P.

Bliss. King began the tradition of printing works in the Visitor “as performed by Theo. Thomas’

Orchestra.” King included works of such Europeans as Chopin, Johann Strauss, Franz Abt, and

Robert Schumann, and such American composers as George F. Root, Frederic W. Root, and P. P.

Bliss. Their works continued to be printed in the Visitor. Grade level 3 is the most common

throughout the Visitor’s run with the exception of January 1886 until September 1895, when

church music was typically not graded.

Frank N. Scott (September 1873–December 1873) introduced the works of H. D. Sofge,

Arthur S. Sullivan, and E. E. Whittemore. Sofge’s piano solo was dedicated to the “Grangers” of

the West, the first musical reference to farmers.

Charles A. Daniell (January 1873–August 1873 and January 1874–April 1881) was the

first editor to include music by women composers, including American poll winner Clara H.

Scott, and Cincinnati composer Hannah Atkins, as well as such women composers as Loïsa

Puget, Elizabeth Stirling, and Johanna Kinkel. Daniell also published temperance songs by

P. P. Bliss and H. R. Palmer beginning in 1874, the same year the Women’s Christian

Temperance Union was founded in Cleveland, Ohio.

Secular vocal music, for soloist and chorus, or voice and piano, was popular until the

focus changed during James R. Murray’s tenure (May 1881–December 1897). Murray’s focus on

church music may have been to fill the gap left by journals that had ceased publication. He

arranged excerpts from the works of such composers as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to fill the

need for church voluntaries and prepared a collection, Murray’s One Hundred Voluntaries, in

309
1888. Murray also included sacred works by American women composers: Carrie B. Adams, E.

L. Ashford, Mrs. P. P. Bliss, and Fanny M. Spencer. Women not only wrote sacred texts but also

occasionally the music. After the return to a secular focus in 1895, Murray included works by

European composers Cécile Chaminade and Amalie Joachim.

Murray also addressed the need for chamber music. He included nine piano duets, from

easy to moderately difficult. Daniell had included one work for violin and piano in February

1881; Murray included several works for violin or flute and piano from 1882218 until the focus

changed to church music in 1886; and he published one work for cornet and piano in January

1884. After the return to secular music in September 1895, ten of the works involved mandolin,

six of them with guitar.

The individual tastes of the editors influenced their choices of music, whether secular or

sacred, vocal or instrumental, or solo or ensemble, as well as trying to meet the needs of the

public. Solo piano works were popular throughout the Visitor’s run, prior to and following the

emphasis on the church service. The mandolin and guitar had become popular instruments by the

1890s and the Visitor met that need. Overall, vocal music exceeded that of instrumental in the

Visitor, partly because of the need for music for church choirs or quartets. Despite the change in

focus, the repertoire reflected cultural changes in the late nineteenth century.

218
Murray suggested that a home orchestra, created by adding violin and flute to music of the piano,
enhanced the music. “Give the Fiddle a Chance,” The Musical Visitor 17, no. 10 (October 1888): 261.

310
 CONCLUSION

The editorial page of the December 1897 Visitor opened with the announcement:

After an uninterrupted existence of twenty-six years, during which it had held an enviable
position in its special field, The Musical Visitor will be discontinued with this issue, in
order that another plan for accomplishing the same ends it has always had in view may be
inaugurated. The details of the new plan will be made public at a later date.

This was followed by details about reimbursement for subscriptions that would not expire

with the current issue, and patrons were wished a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

signed “Very truly, The John Church Company.”1 An article with eight “Closing Hints” for

teacher and pupil, promoting the value and advantages of music study and hard work, ended with

Finis coronat opus [the end crowns the work].2 The Visitor promoted the work ethic to the end.

The Visitor, the house organ of the John Church Company from 1871 to 1897, was one of

the longest-lived music journals of its time, along with Brainard’s Musical World (1864–1895)3

and Dwight’s Journal of Music in Boston (1852 to 1881). The Visitor’s end, however, may have

resulted from competition with journals such as The Etude (1883–1957), specializing in articles

dealing with technical aspects and music for the piano.4 In the last few years of its run, the

Visitor had focused more on articles, including reprints from other journals, concerning teaching

and studying the piano and voice and more sophisticated music than previously. Music and

advertisements for mandolin and guitar and began to be featured in the 1890s as well, perhaps in

1
The Musical Visitor 26, no. 12 (December 1897): 331. At least part of their new plan was announced in
The Music Trade Review on March 19, 1898 (see Chapter 1).
2
“Closing Hints,” The Musical Visitor 26, no. 12 (December 1897): 331–32.
3
Mary Veronica Davison, “American Music Periodicals, 1853–1899” (PhD diss., University of Minnesota,
1973), 199.
4
Songs did not appear in The Etude until December 1889 and did not appear regularly until after July 1893.
Travis Suttle Rivers, “The Etude Magazine: A Mirror of the Genteel Tradition in American Music” (PhD diss.,
University of Iowa, 1974), 76. It merged with Brainard’s World in 1895.

311
an effort to gain new subscribers. Competition with player-pianos5 and Edison’s phonograph,

invented in 1877, contributed to a more passive than active musical public. Another factor in the

demise of the Visitor may be related to the inclusion of photographs in magazines, which became

“more popular than songs during the 1890s.”6 The discount for clubs of five or more ended with

the August 1896 issue and may reflect a loss of revenue from diminishing subscriptions. In

addition, the financial panic of 1893 led to a Depression. Like the 1873 panic, it was related to

the railroad industry and spread. By the end of 1893, “74 railroads, 600 banks, and 15,000

businesses had failed.” Four years of “hard times” followed.7

Whose music was being printed in this periodical? Were they popular American

composers who are now forgotten? Appendix B reveals a profile of the composers represented in

the Visitor. Many of the names are still familiar to us today. There were more European

composers than American and most were men. The use of initials, in some cases, however,

makes gender and nationality difficult to determine. Of the Americans, Stephen Foster is

probably most familiar to us today; only one of his songs was reprinted in the Visitor. George F.

Root is best known for his Civil War songs and other composers, such as Philip Bliss, for their

hymns or gospel songs; their works are still reprinted in hymnals. Root’s music was the most

published in the Visitor followed by James R. Murray’s. Root’s music and articles in the Visitor

kept him in the public eye. As an editor, Murray could also help to fulfill the need for monthly

5
The Pianista, invented in 1863, was displayed at the Centennial International Exposition held in
Philadelphia in 1876. By the late nineteenth-century, the “domestic self-playing piano” was mass produced, the
transformation aided by the perforated paper roll, already widely in use on self-playing organs. Edmond T. Johnson,
“Player piano,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles Hiroshi Garrett (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2013), 6:517–19.
6
Bonny H. Miller, “Household Periodicals: An Unstudied Source of American Music,” Fontes artis
musicae 42 (1995): 316.
7
Paul S. Boyer, et al., The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, Concise 2nd ed. (Lexington,
MA: D. C. Heath and Company, 1995), 456–57.

312
music whether for home or church use. Murray believed that Bach’s music was inappropriate

for church services; works by Handel, Haydn, and Mozart were mostly included as arrangements

for keyboard voluntaries.

Music in the Visitor was graded from level 1 to level 8, with the majority of works at

grade level 3 and appearing between 1871 and 1892. The single work graded at level 8 was

Gustav Lange’s piano solo The Heath (Erika), op. 265, in November 1879. Editor James R.

Murray graded a few works at level 3–4 in 1881, suggesting a slight advance in difficulty. Music

for church service, between January 1886 and September 1895, was rarely graded. Overall, grade

levels remained fairly consistent during the Visitor’s run and reveal a pedagogical focus.

The majority of bilingual song texts were German and English, suggesting that

Americans of German heritage represented a large share of the Visitor’s subscribers. The Visitor

presented only two songs with French and English texts near the end of its run, one in 1896 and

one in 1897, both by Cécile Chaminade. There were two songs in Italian and English, one in

1876 and one in 1885. A single piece having English and Latin texts, Prayer of Mary, Queen of

Scots, for contralto voice and keyboard appeared in May 1883.

Transcriptions for piano from symphonies, operas, and other works made them available

to a wider audience. For example, Oscar Mayo’s piano transcription of the “Hymn of the

Pilgrims” from Tannhäuser appeared in November 1874; Renaud de Vilbac’s transcription of

Saint-Saëns’s Danse macabre in September 1876; and Jules Schulhoff’s transcription of the

minuet from Mozart’s Symphony no. 39 in July 1877. The Visitor presented the “Funeral March”

from Beethoven’s Symphony no. 3 for keyboard in May 1890, intended for church services as

well as a memorial for John Church. Thus, transcriptions often served purposes that differed

from those of the original works.

313
 Musical taste had changed somewhat by the Visitor’s end. Most noticeable is

the inclusion, beginning in 1895, of music for guitar and/or mandolin. Music for piano had taken

on a new look, with works revised and fingered by faculty members of Cincinnati’s music

schools. More care was taken with regard to piano instruction than previously, with instructions

on the first page of the music itself.

John Church tried to meet the musical tastes and needs of subscribers whether for home

or church. Like contemporary domestic magazines, the Visitor included music for the

family to enjoy around the piano. Families could preserve the journal’s music for future use.

Church provided dances, marches, lullabies, “scraps” of opera, songs, hymns, and organ

voluntaries for performers of different abilities, from the farm to the city. During presidential

campaigns, Church provided marches and temperance songs (but not suffrage) for home or

social gatherings, as well as music to mourn the nation’s fallen leaders. Marches for piano were

as popular as dances, with the waltz the most prominent, followed by the polka. Works for voice

and keyboard were reprinted throughout the Visitor’s run. Lullabies are the least represented.

Hymns, anthems, and works for organ were provided for church service for nine years.

The Visitor’s run overlapped with Dwight’s Journal for ten years and with The Etude for

fourteen. John Sullivan Dwight served as sole editor of his journal. He had graduated from

Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School, and had served as a Unitarian minister for a short

time. Dwight had spent six years at the Transcendentalist experiment of Brook Farm where he

taught music and Latin, led musical events, and directed education. Ora Frishberg Saloman’s

investigation of Dwight’s writings from 1835 to 1846 reveals how his study of European

intellectual traditions led to his idealistic vision of Beethoven’s symphonies as a “positive moral

314
and social force.”8 Theodore Presser’s musical education in the United States and Europe, and he

began his music publishing business in 1883, the same year he launched The Etude. The journal

was mostly concerned with technical aspects of piano playing and directed to music teachers and

students. It printed only piano music until December 1889. Presser served as editor until 1907

and thereafter had a series of editors and associate editors.

The Visitor had four editors: Frank H. King, Charles A. Daniell, Frank N. Scott, and

James R. Murray. John Church received on-the-job training under Oliver Ditson in Boston.

Neither John Church nor any of his editors were college educated. Though it is difficult to

determine how much control Church had over his editors’ writings, it is unlikely he would have

allowed them to misrepresent his views or his journal.

While Church’s journal promoted contemporary American composers and post-bellum

unity in the country, Dwight promoted the German classical tradition of Bach, Handel, Haydn,

and Beethoven. Irving Sablosky surveyed Dwight’s writings on musical activities in the United

States, including those of Theodore Thomas. Dwight’s Journal reported on Thomas’s first visit

to Boston in 1869. His orchestra performed better than Boston’s, but Boston’s programming was

superior to that of Thomas. Dwight noted that the “most prominent ingredient” of the concerts

was the “loud and ponderous effect pieces of the Liszt, Wagner, Meyerbeer school.” The

overture to Tannhäuser had never been “so well played (unless at the Opera in Vienna); never

did we enjoy the work so little. It was Wagner exposed; robbed of his glamour, if he ever had

any, by setting him in so strong a light, so mercilessly truthful.” The overture to Rienzi did not

8
Ora Frishberg Saloman, Beethoven’s Symphonies and J. S. Dwight: The Birth of American Music Criticism
(Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1995).

315
fare any better. “Rienzi is unmitigated noise; riot set to music, . . . and in strains coarse and

commonplace.”9

The Visitor, on the other hand, gave Thomas credit for elevating “the musical taste and

appreciation of the people at large” through his orchestral concerts and Festival choral

organizations, even though “some of us may differ with Mr. Thomas in regard to methods of

teaching music in our public schools and conservatories.”10 In 1875 W. S. B. Mathews had

contributed an article to the Visitor on “The Order of Growth of Musical Taste.” Growth in taste

had been accomplished through “intelligent hearing and study,” leading to the last stage, “the

Classic, or the absolutely beautiful,” which included the works of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and

Beethoven. Theodore Thomas’s “great work in cultivating American taste” rested on good music

and a little of the “merely pleasing” such as Schumann.11 In 1888 James R. Murray promoted

Thomas as being responsible for “the present high level of music in America” and quoted the

New York Advertiser: “He found the American public on the level of Gottschalk, Strauss, and

Bellini; but he has raised it now to the highest level––that of Bach, Beethoven and Wagner.”12

The Visitor also challenged Dwight’s opinion of Liszt and Meyerbeer. The Visitor had

announced in 1874 that Cincinnati’s Harmonic Society had scheduled three nights of concerts,

and would perform Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum, Liszt’s Prometheus, and Mendelssohn’s

Elijah. “The achievements of the Harmonic Society are deserving of all admiration and thanks

9
Irving Sablosky, What They Heard: Music in America, 1852–1881, from the Pages of Dwight’s Journal of
Music (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1986), 71–77.
10
“The May Festival,” Church’s Musical Visitor 11, no. 8 (May 1882): 212. The editor was referring to the
response to Thomas’s article on “Musical Possibilities in America,” reprinted from Scribner’s Monthly in March
1881.
11
W. S. B. Mathews, “The Order of Growth of Musical Taste,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 8 (May
1875): 1–2.
12
The Musical Visitor 17, no. 6 (June 1888): 148.

316
for their zealous work in the higher plane of art. The elevating influence of the Society is

everywhere seen in the growing taste for highly cultivated music . . . .”13 Otto Singer conducted

Liszt’s Prometheus for the 1875 May Festival. Everyone “was delighted with it.” It was, “withal,

one of the most brilliant performances of the Festival.” The Festival also included three arias

from Meyerbeer’s operas which were well received.14

Editor C. A. Daniell reprinted a portion of Wagner’s article in the August 1879 issue of

the North American Review. Wagner had deplored the works of Meyerbeer and Mendelssohn,

but was inspired by Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. His new direction led him to compose A

Faust Overture, Tannhäuser, and Lohengrin. His greatest hope was in America, where the

“Germanic spirit, in untrammeled development, seems to open a new realm for the exercise of its

unconquerable vigor and strength.”15 According to Daniell, Wagner had begun by complaining

that “in his own country hostile influences, coupled with ignorance,” had restrained him from

“all publication of his ideas, and prevented the German people from reading his collected

works.” Daniell responded that these were “cheerful words for the ears of Americans––the

acknowledgment that here alone is offered a free field for the growth and prosperity of art,

‘unoppressed by the wretched burdens left upon it by melancholy history.’” Wagner’s

reminiscences “revealed the sumptuous style and skill of the great poet and musician.”16 In the

same issue Daniell applauded Wagner as combining poet and musician. There was no doubt that

Wagner had a “correct and clear understanding of the relative position which poetry and music

13
“Music of the Month in Cincinnati,” Church’s Musical Visitor 3, no. 9 (June 1874): 7.
14
“The May Musical Festival,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 9 (June 1875): 8–10. The arias included
Catherine’s with two obbligato flutes from L’Etoile du nord; “Pieta, pieta” and “Vaga donna” from Le Prophète.
15
Richard Wagner, “The Work and Mission of My Life,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 11 (August
1879): 295–97.
16
“Wagner and His Work,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 11 (August 1879): 301–2.

317
ought to sustain with regard to each other. While he “may or may not be the great genius which

many suppose,” his theory regarding musical drama appears “logical and sound.”17 But Marcia

Lebow points to Wagner’s “effrontery” in claiming Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as the “corner

stone of his whole theory.” For Dwight, did not “most people come to appreciate pure, or

instrumental music, at the very last stage of their development?”18

The Visitor complained about Dwight’s comments regarding Cincinnati’s second May

Festival (1875) which had included works by Wagner, Liszt, and Meyerbeer. “The only

exhibition of an unworthy spirit in the music journals, comes from Mr. John Dwight, who, in his

Journal of Music, endeavors to show that the Cincinnati ‘Thomas Festival’––as he styles it––was

more of a circus than a concert, a sort of musical menagerie, in which strange and new musical

monsters were trotted out to the wonderment of a rude Western crowd, ‘rather new to music.’”

According to C. A. Daniell, “We are afraid Mr. Dwight is prejudiced.”19

When Dwight died in 1893, James R. Murray described him as “a severe classicist”

whose “ultra views often caused him to write unjustly, and with unnecessary severity, of living

musicians and their music.”20 On the other hand, the Visitor criticized Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore,

“of Peace Jubilee notoriety,” who was about to inaugurate “another monster musical celebration

17
“Why Wagner Wins,” Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 8 (May 1875): 8–9.
18
Marcia Wilson Lebow, “A Systematic Examination of the Journal of Music and Art Edited by John
Sullivan Dwight: 1852–1881, Boston, Massachusetts” (PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1969),
212.
19
Church’s Musical Visitor 4, no. 10 (July 1875): 8. In November 1879, however, the Visitor was “sorry to
learn that Dwight’s Journal of Music does not meet with the financial success it deserves. Since the change of
publishers [Oliver Ditson, 1858–1878; Houghton Mifflin, 1878–1881], the Journal seems to have drifted away from
the purely musical channels into the broader sea of polite literature, and we miss the skilled pen of the veteran editor
himself in many issues of the paper. In conversation with a Visitor contributor recently, Mr. Dwight expressed the
belief that Cincinnati was going solidly ahead in musical matters; that he expected great things from the western
metropolis.” Church’s Musical Visitor 9, no. 2 (November 1879): 38. In December 1878 the Visitor noted that
Houghton and Company was now publishing Dwight’s Journal, which they “promised to infuse” with new life.
“Musical Literature,” Church’s Musical Visitor 8, no. 3 (December 1878): 76.
20
The Musical Visitor 22, no. 10 (October 1893): 264.

318
in Boston,” and had apparently been a deserter from the British army. When he was stationed in

Canada he had crossed over into Buffalo, New York, without permission and had made Boston

his home, where “he formed a brass band and projected a series of cheap and popular promenade

concerts, from which he doubtless conceived the idea of his monster musical peace jubilee.”21

Gilmore gave a series of concerts in Cincinnati in May 1889 to celebrate the twenty-fifth

anniversary of the Turnerfest of North America. “Mr. G. brought his guns and anvils with him,

and closed each program with anvil and artillery accompaniment, à la Boston Peace Jubilee.”22

Dwight had not fully appreciated Gilmore’s Peace Jubilees,23 but the opportunity to lampoon one

another with “musical monsters” must have been irresistible.

The present study has challenged Lawrence Levine’s concept of the “sacralization of

culture,” which overstates the influence of the elites in transforming public spaces through their

rules of behavior. His focus on the elites at the expense of the middle class does not take into

account the efforts at education, the desire for an aesthetic experience on the part of the

musicians and the audience, and that audiences enjoyed a variety of music, all of which is found

in the Visitor. According to Mary Davison, the consumption of music periodicals was

“principally by the middle class” who wanted to add to their knowledge about European and

American artists who toured the country. The inclusion of music tipped the scales “in favor of

one or another” of the journals. The music was mostly “songs and music in the popular vein” for

21
“Our Musical Hopper,” Church’s Musical Visitor 1, no. 6 (March 1872): 10. I have been unable to find
the reference to Gilmore as a deserter in any other source.
22
“City Notes,” The Musical Visitor 18, no. 6 (June 1889): 149. Gilmore produced three Jubilees in Boston:
the National Peace Jubilee in 1869 to celebrate the end of the Civil War; the World Peace Jubilee in 1872 to
celebrate the end of the Franco-Prussian War; and the third Peace Jubilee to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of
the 1869 Jubilee. Roger L. Hall, “Peace Jubilees,” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed., ed. Charles
Hiroshi Garrett (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 6:377–78.
23
Lebow, “A Systematic Examination of the Journal of Music and Art Edited by John Sullvian Dwight,
240–41.

319
amateur performers.24 That the Visitor included music for both church and home use for nine

years sets it somewhat apart from its contemporaries, and the Visitor’s columns were not limited

to providing information about touring artists.

There is more work that can be done with the Visitor. For example, the lives and careers

of Jenny Lind and Ole Bull continued to be followed in the Visitor after their tour beginning in

1850. In addition, American students who studied in Europe, including some of those mentioned

in Douglas Bomberger’s dissertation,25 are mentioned in the Visitor. This warrants further

research into their careers in Europe and the United States. Solo cornetist Anna Teresa Berger,

who appeared with Max Maretzek in Cincinnati and other venues, could be further studied.

Several local singers performed as soloists for the May Festival and at other venues and could be

investigated as well. Henry Krehbiel, W. S. B. Mathews, and George P. Upton contributed

criticism to the Visitor, which could be compared with their writings in other journals. The

Visitor has more to tell us about the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

24
Davison, “American Music Periodicals,” 209.
25
Bomberger includes alphabetical lists of students by name, state, and city who studied in Germany.
E. Douglas Bomberger, “The “German Musical Training of American Students, 1850–1900” (PhD diss., University
of Maryland, 1991).

320
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 APPENDIX A

Chronological Listing of Music Printed in the Visitor

The chronological listing of music printed in the Visitor includes volume/date, composer
(“anon.” if name unavailable), title, genre and/or instrumentation, grade or level of difficulty if
known, and page numbers. Unless voice is specified, “Voice and piano” designates works on
three staves with a vocal line discrete from the accompaniment. Three issues of the Visitor are
missing: September 1887, August 1893, and September 1894. Subtitles are in parentheses and
translations or additional information within brackets. Translations of foreign titles are taken
from the Visitor. The grade or level of difficulty, if provided in the Visitor, may be found in
different issues and may differ between a numbered system (e.g., grade 3), descriptive terms
(e.g., moderate difficulty), or a combination of the two (e.g., grade 3 easy). Pagination for music
printed in the Visitor is irregular and is usually taken from the original publication. The page
numbers used in the listing are the Visitor’s page numbering. Names of text authors, translators,
arrangers, editors, and those who revised, transcribed, or fingered compositions are included.
Dedications to individuals or groups are also noted.

EDITOR: FRANK H. KING

Volume 1, number 1 (October 1871)

Schonacker, H. J. Good-bye, Little Kathleen. Text H. J. Shellman. Dedicated to Mrs. Barry
Taylor, Columbus, Missouri. Voice and piano, grade 2. pp. 13–15.
Kinkle, C. La Sincérité Mazourka. Piano solo. pp. 16–18.
Campana, Fabio. In the Time of Apple Blossom. Text H. B. Farnie. Dedicated to Mrs. John E.
Simpson. Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 19–21.

Volume 1, number 2 (November 1871)

Pallat, Carl. Gut’ Nacht, ihr Blumen [Good night, ye pretty flowers]. Text Ludwig Bauer.
Trans. H. A. Rattermann, Esq. (English and German text). Voice and piano,
grade 4. pp. 13–16.
Strauss [II], Johann. Tausend und eine Nacht [Thousand and one nights], op. 346. “As performed
by Theo. Thomas’ Orchestra.” Piano solo. pp. 17–21.

Volume 1, number 3 (December 1871)

Blamphin, Charles. I Have Tried Not to Love Thee. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3.
pp. 13–15.
Willbrecht, Theo. Fountain Grand March. Dedicated to Henry Probasco, Esq. Organ solo,
grade 3. pp. 16–18.
Chopin, [Frédéric]. Chopin’s Waltzes, op. 64, no. 1 [“Minute Waltz”]. Piano solo. pp. 19–21.

Volume 1, number 4 (January 1872)

Lutz, W. Meyer. The Fairy Glen. Text Frank Stainforth. Voice and piano. pp. 13–14.
Kinkel, Chas. Fidelity (Polka Elegante). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 15–18.
Leftwich, C. R. Dreams of Childhood. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 19–21.

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 Volume 1, number 5 (February 1872)
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell], arr. White Sails, Waft Me Away. Text
Caroline Dana Howe. Dedicated to Miss Laura West, Middletown, Ohio. Voice
and piano. pp. 13–15.
Chopin, [Frédéric]. Chopin’s Waltzes, op. 64, no. 2. Piano solo. pp. 16–19.
Ryan, [Sidney]. The Overture (Medley). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 20–21.

Volume 1, number 6 (March 1872)

Munoz, Julian. A Lover’s Fancy. Text G. Massey. Dedicated to Miss M. Woolfolk. Voice
and piano. pp. 13–15.
Sack, Carl. Black Key Mazurka. Piano solo. pp. 16–18.
Mozart, W. A. “Calm Is the Glassy Ocean” from Idomeneo. SATB and keyboard. pp. 19–21.

Volume 1, number 7 (April 1872)

Root, Geo. F. Watchwords! SATB. p. 13.
Root, Geo. F. The Hammer Song. SATB. p. 13.
Root, Geo. F. Savior Breathe. SATB. p. 14.
Root, Geo. F. Look! My Birdie Look! SATB. pp. 14–15.
Miller, A. C. One Little Lock of Hair. Text T. C. Harbaugh. Dedicated to Mrs. Lizzie F.
Sawtelle, Cleveland, Ohio. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 15–17.
Bach, [Johann] Sebastian. Venetian Boatmen’s Song [“Jesu, joy of man’s desiring”]. Text
Edward Taylor. SA, SATB and keyboard. pp. 18–20.

Volume 1, number 8 (May 1872)

[Root, Geo. F.] The Morning Echoes. SATB. p. 13.
[Root, Geo. F.] Catch the Heavenly Gleams. SATB. p. 13.
[Root, Geo. F.] Thanksgiving Hymn. L.M. Duet (SA) and chorus (SATB). p. 14.
[Root, Geo. F.] Song of Triumph. L.M. SATB. p. 14.
[Root, Geo. F.] All Is Well. SATB. p. 14.
Pape, Oskar. Je n’aime que toi [I love but thee] (Romance sans paroles). Piano solo,
grade 4. pp. 15–18.
McCabe, C. C. The Language of Heaven; Or, Floating Down. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 19–21.

Volume 1, number 9 (June 1872)

[Root, Geo. F.] The Spring Has Come. SATB. p. 13.
[Root, Geo. F.] Go When the Morning. SATB. p. 13.
Bliss, P. P. The Life of Song. SATB. p. 14.
Bliss, P. P. “For Me!” from The Song Tree. Dedicated to Mrs. W. E. Main, Peoria, Illinois.
Song and chorus (SATB), and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 15–17.
Pro Phundo Basso [pseud. of Philip P. Bliss]. (Grant Will Do) Four Years More (Quartet for
Male Voices). Campaign song. TTBB and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 18–20.

Volume 1, number 10 (July 1872)

Bliss, P. P. “Bird of the Wild Wing” [from The Song Tree]. Dedicated to Mrs. Ralph Vanduser,
Middletown, New York. Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 13–15.

336
Pape, Oskar. Campaign (Grand March). Keyboard solo, grade 3. pp. 16–19.
Root, F. W. The Absent, Unforgotten. Text Kate Cameron. SATB and keyboard. p. 20.
Root, F. W. The Season at the Springs. SATB. p. 21.
French, H. A. Summer Rills. SATB. p. 21.

Volume 1, number 11 (August 1872)

Abt, Franz. Sweetheart, Good Night [Herzliebste, gute Nacht]. Trans. D. C. A[ddison, pseud.
of Charles Addison Daniell]. (English and German text). Voice and keyboard, grade 3 or
4. pp. 13–16.
Chopin, [Frédéric]. Chopin’s Preludes, op. 28, nos. 6, 7, 20. Piano solo. pp. 17–18.
Stebbins, Geo. C. “Slumber Song” [from The Song Tree]. Text Alfred Tennyson. Voice
and keyboard, grade 4. pp. 19–20.

Volume 1, number 12 (September 1872)

Root, Geo. F. “Homeless and Motherless” [from The Song Tree]. Text Mrs. M[ary] B[ridges]
C[anedy] Slade. Song and chorus (SATB), and keyboard, easy. pp. 13–15.
Schumann, R. Slumber Song [Schlummerlied], [op. 124, no. 16 from Albumblätter]. Piano solo.
pp. 16–17.
Root, Frederic W. The Extract of Opera. (Grand Romantic Opera in Three Acts––Condensed)
[from The Song Tree]. SATB and keyboard. pp. 18–20.

Volume 2, number 1 (October 1872)

Palmer, H. R. “Going to Sleep” [from The Song Tree]. Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard.
pp. 13–14.
Root, Frederic W. The Extract of Opera (Continued). SATB and keyboard. pp. 15–17.
[Bohner, Louis.] Bolero. Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 18–21.

Volume 2, number 2 (November 1872)

Ghys, Henry, transcr. Amaryllis (Air), composed by Louis XIII. “As performed by Theo.
Thomas’ Orchestra.” Piano solo. pp. 13–17. [See entry for “Ghis, Henri” in Baker’s
Biographical Dictionary, 8th ed. Air is not by Louis XIII but probably an old French
folk song instead.]
Root, Frederic W. The Extract of Opera (Concluded). SATB and keyboard. pp. 18–21.

Volume 2, number 3 (December 1872)

Bliss, P. P. Lighting the Shealing. Text Paulina [DuPre]. Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard,
grade 3. pp. 13–15.
anon. The Return of the Regiment. Keyboard solo. p. 16.
Root, F. W. “The Hypochondriac” [from The Song Tree]. Voice and keyboard. pp. 17–18.
Bliss, Mrs. P. P. “Rock of Ages” from The Charm. SA and keyboard. pp. 19–20.

EDITOR: CHARLES A. DANIELL

Volume 2, number 4 (January 1873)

Campana, Fabio. Happy though Alone. Text Henry Hersee. Voice and keyboard, grade 3.
pp. 13–15.

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Gounod, Ch. Marche Romaine. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 16–18.
Bliss, P. P. “The Last Bugle” [from The Song Tree]. Bass voice and keyboard. pp. 19–20.
[Root, Geo. F.] The Chase of the Chamois [Etude from The New Musical Curriculum]. Piano
solo, grade 3. p. 21.

Volume 2, number 5 (February 1873)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Whisper Farewell, Mollie Dearest. Text Arthur
W. French. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 13–15.
Chopin, [Frédéric]. Chopin’s Waltzes, op. 64, no. 3. Piano solo. pp. 16–19.
Root, Geo. F. Break, Break, Break. Voice and piano, grade 4. pp. 20–21.

Volume 2, number 6 (March 1873)

Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. The Ones I Long to See. Solo and chorus
(SATB), and piano, grade 2. pp. 13–15.
Steel, Robert Wm. Elizabeth Waltz. Piano solo. pp. 16–21.

Volume 2, number 7 (April 1873)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Far Away Where Angels Dwell. Text Arthur W.
French. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 13–15.
Sedgwick, A. Amilie (Polka Mazourka). Piano solo, moderate difficulty. pp. 16–18.
Pro Phundo Basso [pseud. of Philip P. Bliss]. “The ELOPEmeant” [sic] [Comic Ballad from The
Song Tree]. Voice and keyboard. pp. 19–20.
anon. Apprehension, Suspense, Certainty (Etude). Piano solo. p. 21.

Volume 2, number 8 (May 1873)

Pape, Oscar. May Festival (Valse de Salon). Dedicated to Theodore Thomas. Piano solo, easy.
pp. 13–15.
Bliss, P. P. “Pull for the Shore” [from The Song Tree]. Dedicated to Mr. James McGranahan.
Song and chorus (SATB), and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 16–18.
Steinhagen, P. Nameless [Namenlos] (March). Organ solo. pp. 19–21.

Volume 2, number 9 (June 1873)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Beautiful Days Long Ago. Text Arthur W.
French. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 13–15.
Strauss, Josef. Arm in Arm (Polka Mazurka), op. 215. Piano solo. pp. 16–19.
Murray, James R. “Lulu” [from The Song Tree]. Text Sarah Edwards Henshaw. Song and chorus
(SATB), and keyboard. pp. 20–21.

Volume 2, number 10 (July 1873)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Come, Darling, Let Us Go Together (with
introductory text). Text Geo. Cooper. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3.
pp. 13–15.
Operti, G. Falling Spray! (Caprice), op. 280. Piano solo, grade 4 or 5. pp. 16–20.

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 Volume 2, number 11 (August 1873)
Pro Phundo Basso [pseud. of Philip P. Bliss]. “There’s Monny a Shlip” Irish Song [from The
Song Tree]. Song for tenor and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 13–14.
Paladilhe, E. “The Serenade” from School of Singing. Arr. Text M[ary] B. C. Slade.
Voice and piano. pp. 15–16.
Bliss, P. P. “Heavenly Love” [from The Song Tree]. Vocal duet (S, Bar.) and organ, grade 3.
pp. 17–18.
Smart, Henry. “By the Blue Sea” from Model Organ Method. Text Frederick Enoch. Voice and
organ. p. 19.
Pro Phundo Basso [pseud. of Philip P. Bliss]. “May Day” (Round of 8 Parts) from The Joy. p. 20.
B[liss], P[hilip] P[aul]. “The Four Rulers” from The Joy. SATB. p. 20.
Palmer, H. R. “Slumber, Dearest” (Serenade) from Concert Choruses. SATB. p. 21.
Beethoven, [Ludwig van]. Hear those Soothing Sounds. Arr. H. R. Palmer. Quartet and chorus
(SATB). p. 21.

EDITOR: FRANK N. SCOTT

Volume 2, number 12 (September 1873)

[Persley, Geo. W./George W. Brown]. Far Away Where Angels Dwell. Transcr. H. D. Sofge
[from Persley’s song in the April 1873 issue]. Piano solo. pp. 13–16.
Sofge, H. D. Grangers’ Waltz. Dedicated to the “Grangers” of the West by John Church and
Company. Piano solo. pp. 17–20.
Root, Geo. F. Roll On, Majestic Ocean (for Men’s Voices). TTBB. p. 21.

Volume 3, number 1 (October 1873)

Gosfi, Henrie. Celestial March. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 13–16.
Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Beautiful Dreams Linger Near Me. Text Arthur
W. French. Dedicated to Owen M. Wilson, Jr., Chicago. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 17–19.
Sullivan, Arthur S. “Awaiting His Coming” from School of Singing. Text H. S. Noyes. Voice
and piano. pp. 20–21.

Volume 3, number 2 (November 1873)

R[oot], F. W. The Village Dance [Waltz song]. Voice and piano. pp. 13–15.
Sofge, H. D. Cuckoo’s Courtship Waltz (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 16–18.
Root, F. W. “The Two Flowers” [from The Song Tree]. Vocal quartet (SATB), grade 3.
pp. 19–21.

Volume 3, number 3 (December 1873)

Sofge, H. D. Musical Visitor Polka (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 13–14.
Chopin, [Frédéric]. Chopin’s Waltzes, op. 64, no. 3. Piano solo. pp. 15–18.
Whittemore, E. E. “Spring Flowers” [from The Song Tree]. Text Viola. Vocal trio [treble
voices] and keyboard, grade 4. pp. 19–21.

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 EDITOR: CHARLES A. DANIELL

Volume 3, number 4 (January 1874)

Miller, Dr. C. C. “Come Again, Bright Spring” [from The Song Tree]. Solo and chorus (SATB),
and keyboard, grade 2. pp. 13–15.
Sofge, H. D. Tree Tops Waltz (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 16–18.
Bliss, P. P. “Music of Memory” (Quartet and Chorus, for Male Voices [from The Song Tree]).
TTBB and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 19–21.

Volume 3, number 5 (February 1874)

Root, Geo. F. Love Lightens Labor (Recitando). Voice and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 13–15.
Sofge, H. D. Fairy Freaks Schottische (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 16–18.
Cook, Mrs. T. J. “Life” [from The Song Tree]. Dedicated to Miss Anna S. Burge. Voice
and keyboard. pp. 19–20.
O’Kane, T. C. “One in Christ” from Every Sabbath. Text Rev. H. D. Ganse. Hymn. p. 21.
O’Kane, T. C. “The Blood-Bought Shore” from Every Sabbath. Text Miss C. M. A. Hymn.
p. 21.

Volume 3, number 6 (March 1874)

Macy. Maudie Dear: Or, Willie’s Farewell. Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard, grade 3.
pp. 0–1.
Mayo, Oscar, transcr. Barcarolle (Sicilian Vespers). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 0–4.
“Delos” [Delos Gardner Spalding/Frank Howard?]. Go Work upon a Farm. Text Sidney Herbert.
Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 0–7.
Palmer, H. R. “The Beautiful Land” from Songs of Love. Inscribed to the memory of his sister
Annie. Gospel hymn. p. 12A.
Palmer, H. R. “Star of Heaven” from Songs of Love. Text W. H. Groser. Hymn. p. 12A.
Palmer, H. R. “The Lord Is My Shepherd” from Songs of Love. Chant. SATB. p. 12A.
O’Kane, T. C. “With Joy We Hail the Sacred Day” from Every Sabbath. Gospel hymn. p. 12D.

Volume 3, number 7 (April 1874)

Root, Frederic W. Violets. Voice and piano, grade 4. pp. 13–15.
Palmer, H. R. The Old House at Home. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 2. pp. 16–18.
Sofge, H. D. Dancing Rondo. (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 19–21.
anon. Inspiration (Sortie, arranged for Cabinet Organ). Cabinet organ solo. p. 22.
R[oot], G. F. “Don’t Step There!” from Songs of Love. Gospel hymn. p. 23.
Palmer, H. R. “Prayer” from Songs of Love. Hymn. p. 23.
R[oot], G. F. “When Do We Praise” from Songs of Love. Gospel hymn. p. 23.

Volume 3, number 8 (May 1874)

Wilson, G. D. The Stranger’s Story (A Tone-Picture for the Piano), op. 55. Piano solo, grade 3.
pp. 13–16.
Bliss, P. P. “Bring Me the Bowl” [Temperance song from The Song Tree]. Text Paulina [DuPre].
Vocal duet (SB) and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 17–21.
Reden, Karl. Oft in the Stilly Night (for the Cabinet Organ). Cabinet organ solo. p. 22.

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Palmer, H. R. “Oh Carry Me to My Mother’s Home” (A Temperance Song) from Songs of Love.
Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. p. 23.
McGranahan, James. “Little Lights” from Songs of Love. Gospel hymn. p. 23.

Volume 3, number 9 (June 1874)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Songs We Love So Well. Text Rochester. Solo
and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 13–15.
Howard, Frank [pseud. of Delos Gardner Spalding]. The Grange Polka. Piano solo, grade 3.
pp. 16–17.
Palmer, H. R. Fawn-footed Nannie. Text arr. from Lucy Larcom. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
keyboard. pp. 18–20.
R[oot], G. F. “Sunday Voices Sweetly Calling” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano].
Piano solo. pp. 21–22.

Volume 3, number 10 (July 1874)

Root, Geo. F. So Long as Love Is Left. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 13–15.
Sofge, H. D. Honor Bright Mazurka (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 16–18.
Pro Phundo Basso [pseud. of Philip P. Bliss]. “Poor Old Joe: A Mournful Memorial of the
‘Late’ Missing Joseph B(e)Hind” [from The Song Tree]. Quartet for Male Voices
(TTBB) and piano, grade 3. pp. 19–22.
R[oot], G. F. “Gently Dip the Oars on the Placid River” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the
Piano]. Piano solo, grade 1. p. 23.

Volume 3, number 11 (August 1874)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Among the Happy Angels. Text S. J. Vail.
Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 13–15.
Havens, A. W. Overland Waltz. Arr. F[rederic] W. R[oot]. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 16–18.
Orr, R. Porter. The New Church Organ. Text Will M. Carleton from Farm Ballads. Voice and
keyboard, grade 2. pp. 19–21.
R[oot], G. F. “The Woodbine Polka” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano
solo. p. 22.

Volume 3, number 12 (September 1874)

Martin, S. Wesley. Song of the Whip-poor-will. Text Rev. A. Kenyon. Voice and piano.
pp. 13–15.
Sofge, H. D. Gay Lark March (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 16–18.
Bliss, P. P. “David and Goliath” [from The Song Tree]. Dedicated to J. J. DeGolyer, Chicago.
Vocal duet (TB) and piano, grade 3. pp. 19–22.
Root, Geo. F. “Sunset thro’ the Golden Leaves” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano].
Piano solo. p. 23.
Bliss, P. P. “Jesus of Nazareth” from Gospel Songs for Revivals, Praise Meetings, and
Sunday -Schools. Gospel hymn. p. 26.

Volume 4, number 1 (October 1874)

Root, Geo. F. Eyes That Are Watching. Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 13–15.
Bristow, F. L. Merriment (Mazurka Elegante). Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 16–18.

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Gilmore, H. G. Sunday, Day of Rest. Text W. West. Sacred song and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 19–20.
Sofge, H. D. Round the World Waltz (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 21–23.

Volume 4, number 2 (November 1874)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. When the Roses Come Again. Text Arthur W.
French. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 13–15.
Wagner, R[ichard]. “Hymn of the Pilgrims” from Tannhäuser. Transcr. Oscar Mayo. Piano solo,
grade 5. pp. 16–21.
Beethoven, [Ludwig van]. Andante in A Flat. Piano solo. p. 22.
Beethoven, [Ludwig van]. Andante in F [WoO 57]. Piano solo. p. 22.
Mendelssohn, [Felix]. “Morning Prayer” (Morgengebet) from The Choralist’s Companion.
SATB. p. 23.

Volume 4, number 3 (December 1874)

Gabriel, Charles. Waiting on the Shore. Song and chorus (duet), and keyboard, grade 2.
pp. 13–15.
Chopin, F. Valse, op. 70, no. 1. Piano solo. pp. 16–18.
Mozart, [W. A.]. Andante Grazioso. Piano solo. p. 19.
Beethoven, [Ludwig van]. Andante. Piano solo. p. 19.
Sofge, H. D. Truly Good Gallop (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 20–21.
Stirling, [Elizabeth]. “Autumn” from The Choralist’s Companion. Chorus (SATB). pp. 22–23.
SUPPLMENT TO CHURCH’S MUSICAL VISITOR:
W[hittemore?], E. E. Christmas Carol. Text Mrs. F. A. Safford. Duet (SA) and chorus (SSAA)
and piano. n.p.

Volume 4, number 4 (January 1875)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Golden Locks Have Turned to Gray. Text and
arr. D. C. Addison [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. Song and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 13–15.
Bach, [J. S.]. Loure [BWV 1009]. Arr. Sara Heinze. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 16–18.
Root, G. F. “Winding Path Waltz” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano solo,
grade 1. pp. 19–20.
Spofforth, [Reginald]. “Hail, Smiling Morn” [Six Glees, no. 6] from The Choralist’s Companion.
SATB. pp. 21–23.

Volume 4, number 5 (February 1875)

Danks, H. P. The Lane That Led to School. Text Samuel N. Mitchell. Solo and chorus (SATB),
and piano. pp. 13–15.
Challoner, Robert. Snow Pictures, op. 54 [Waltzes]. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 16–21.
Root, Geo. F. “Butterfly Redowa” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano solo,
grade 2. pp. 22–23.

Volume 4, number 6 (March 1875)

Benedict, Sir Jules. Eily Mavourneen. Ballad from Lily of Killarney. Voice and piano, grade 4.
pp. 13–15.

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Marks, Berthould. The Highland Girl (Mazurka) (with illustration and poem epigraph). Piano
solo. pp. 17–21.
Sofge, H. D. In Earnest Waltz (Second Grade Set). Piano solo. pp. 22–24.

Volume 4, number 7 (April 1875)

Concordius [pseud.]. Thou Art Left Us, Mother Dear. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 13–15.
Spindler, Fritz. Thüringer Ländler (Thuringian dance), op. 279. Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 16–19.
Touris, Berthould. Spelling Match Waltz. Piano solo, grade 2. pp. 20–22.
Weber. Weber. 7s. SATB. p. 23.
Blackmer, E. T. Faith. C.M. SATB. p. 23.
Gilmore, H. G. Letitia. 8s, 7s & 4s. SATB. p. 23.
Vernon, Nettie. Jesus Loves Me. 8s & 7s. SATB. p. 23.

Volume 4, number 8 (May 1875)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Kiss Me Good Night, Little Darling. Text John
T. Rutledge. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 13–16.
Bliss, P. P. We’re Going Home To-morrow. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 2.
pp. 17–19.
Root, G. F. “Winding Path Waltz” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano solo,
grade 1. p. 20 [first page only; see January 1875].
Blumenthal, [Jacques]. La Pensée [adapted from op. 21, no. 2]. Piano solo. p. 21.
[Wagner, Richard]. “Prelude” from Lohengrin. Piano solo. pp. 22–25.

Volume 4, number 9 (June 1875)

Reichard. The Star of Bethlehem (Hymn). Arr. M. F. H. Smith. Solo voice and quartet (SATB),
and piano. pp. 13–17.
Root, Geo. F. When the Mail Comes In. Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 18–20.
Whittemore, E. E. Clara Mazurka. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 21–23.
R[oot], G. F. “No Place So Sweet as Home” from Home Scenes: [First Pieces for the Piano].
Piano solo. pp. 24–25.

Volume 4, number 10 (July 1875)

Plumpton, Alfred. Thou Art Near. Text O. W. Holmes. Voice and piano. pp. 13–15.
Strauss, Josef. The Devil’s Darning Needle [Die Libelle Polka-Mazur], op. 204. Piano solo,
grade 4. pp. 16–19.
Gill, James. A Wee Bird Sat in the Branches. Text Garnet B. Freeman. Dedicated to my pupil
Miss Ada Louise Hay. Voice and piano. pp. 20–22.
Whittemore, E. E. Mamie Waltz. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 23–25.
SUPPLEMENT TO CHURCH’S MUSICAL VISITOR:
Root, Geo. F. Espyville. S.M. from The Choice. Anthem. (SATB). n.p.
Tenney, J. H. Hillsdale. S.M. from The Choice. Anthem (SATB). n.p.
McGranahan, James. O Heaven! Sweet Heaven! from The Choice. Text. Edwin H. Nevin.
Anthem. SATB. n.p.
Case, C. C. We Love Thy Cause from The Choice. Text Charles Clinton. Anthem. SATB. n.p.

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 Volume 4, number 11 (August 1875)
Bliss, P. P. “The Pensive Old Piano” [a Medley from The Song Tree]. Voice and piano,
grade 3. pp. 13–18.
Beck, Conr. Heimweh [Longing for Home]. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 19–20.
Bischoff, J. W. Go to Sleep (Cradle Song). Text Mrs. M. F. Butts. Dedicated to my friend
T. Martin Towne. Voice and piano. pp. 21–22.
Whittemore, E. E. Harry Polka. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 23–25.

Volume 4, number 12 (September 1875)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. I Dearly Love to Ramble in the Dell. Text
Thomas P. Westendorf. Song and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 13–15.
Mori, F. Slumber, Gentle Lady (Serenade). Text H. P. Markham. Voice and piano.
pp. 16–17.
Michaelis, Gustav. Greeting from Afar [Gruss aus der ferne], op. 64. Piano solo. pp. 18–20.
Baker, Arthur. Reception Waltz (for the Cabinet Organ). Cabinet organ solo. pp. 21–23.

Volume 5, number 1 (October 1875)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Little Robin, Go Tell Him I’m Waiting. Text
Thos. P. Westendorf. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 13–15.
Shryock, J. W. Normal Schottisch. Piano solo. pp. 16–18.
Root, Geo. F. One Step More. Sacred song and chorus (SATB), and keyboard, grade 2.
pp. 19–20.
Bradshaw, B. The Rising Belle Schottische, op. 10. Respectfully dedicated to the Belles of
Sandwich. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 21–23.
Root, Geo. F. Decoration March [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano solo,
grade 2. pp. 24–25.

Volume 5, number 2 (November 1875)

Krutch, Emil. Low, My Lute, Low! (from Tennyson’s drama Queen Mary). Voice and
piano. pp. 41–44.
Scott, Mrs. Clara H. Clover Polka. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 45–47.
Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Barney, Take Me Home Again. Text Arthur
W. French. Solo and chorus (TTTB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 48–50.
Lackey, Chas. A. Eisteddfod Schottische. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 51–53.

Volume 5, number 3 (December 1875)

Danks, H. P. Dream of the Old Home. Text John T. Rutledge. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 69–71.
Scott, Mrs. Clara H. Clover Mazurka. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 72–74.
Arini, Karl. Down the Stream the Shadows Darken. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano,
grade 3. pp. 75–77.
Krug, D. Nocturne. Piano solo. pp. 78–80.
Mendelssohn, [Felix]. In a Wood [Im Walde], op. 40, no. 1. [Text A. von Platen]. SATB. p. 81.

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 Volume 5, number 4 (January 1876)
Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. A Letter Came to Me. Text Thos. P.
Westendorf. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 97–99.
Root, G. F. “Sliding Down Hill” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano solo,
grade 2. pp. 100–101.
Tappert, W. Entsagung [Renunciation]. Piano solo. pp. 102–3.
Heiser, W. Es zieht Herauf die Stille Nacht [The Night Comes On]. Text Wolfgang Müller.
Voice and piano. pp. 104–5.
Henselt, Adolphe [von]. Morgenlied v. W. Müller, Morning Song (Melodie pour le chant). Piano
solo, grade 4. pp. 106–7.
Avison, [Charles]. Sound the Loud Timbrel. Vocal trio (SSA) and chorus (SATB), and keyboard.
pp. 108–9.

Volume 5, number 5 (February 1876)

Cottrau, G[iulio]. Caroline. Trans. D. C. Addison [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. (English
and Italian text). Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 125–27.
Scott, Mrs. Clara H. Clover Schottische. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 128–30.
Howard, Frank [pseud. of Delos Gardner Spalding]. If I Only Knew. Song and refrain, voice and
piano, grade 3. pp. 131–33.
Metzdorff, Richard. Souvenir. Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 134–35.
Graben-Hoffmann, [Gustav H.]. Gondellied [Gondola song], op. 102. Text F. Rohde. (English
and German text). Vocal duet, and piano. pp. 136–38.

Volume 5, number 6 (March 1876)

Westendorf, Thomas P. I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 153–55.
Ryan, Sidney. Sunny Scene Polka. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 156–59.
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. The Letter in the Candle. Transcription of
song by C. Coote. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 160–62.
Bradsky, Theodor. Meiner Mutter [To my mother]. Text Adamei. Voice and keyboard.
pp. 163–65.

Volume 5, number 7 (April 1876)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. The Little Crib Is Empty. Text Samuel N.
Mitchell. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 181–83.
Ryan, Sidney. Stories of the Woods (Mazurka Elegante). Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 184–88.
Hand, A. O. Punch in the Presence of the Passenjare. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano,
grade 3. pp. 189–91.
Chwatal, F[ranz] X[aver]. Song Without Words, op. 265. Piano solo. pp. 192–94.

Volume 5, number 8 (May 1876)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. The Home of Uncle Joe. Text Arthur W. French.
Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 209–11.
Murden, H. S. Starlight Musings (Waltz). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 212–14.
Hanson, S. C. Forever (A Centennial Quartette). Quartet and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 215–17.

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Roehr, L. Nocturne. Piano solo. pp. 218–22.

Volume 5, number 9 (June 1876)

Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. No Song To-Night. Text Mrs. D. M. Jordan.
Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 237–39.
Titcomb, C. G. Nellie Waltz. Cabinet organ (or piano) solo. pp. 240–42.
Hand, A. O. She Is Young, She Is Pretty. Text Theo. D. C. Miller, M.D. Solo and chorus
(SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 243–45.
anon. The Dearest Spot on Earth. Piano solo. p. 246.
anon. We’ve Lived and Loved Together. Piano solo. p. 246.
Raff, Joachim. Praeludium. Piano solo. p. 247.
Eichberg, O[skar]. Der Gärtner [The gardener]. Text [Eduard] Moericke. (English and German
text). Voice and piano. pp. 248–49.

Volume 5, number 10 (July 1876)

Root, Geo. F. Day of Columbia’s Glory (Centennial Chorus, with Solos). SATB and keyboard.
pp. 265–70.
Scott, Mrs. Clara H. Clover Waltz. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 271–73.
Thallon, Robert, Jr. The Dearest of All. Text W. T. Voice and piano, grade 4. pp. 274–76.
anon. The President’s March: Hail Columbia. Piano solo. p. 277.
anon. “Yankee Doodle” from Centennial Chimes. Keyboard solo. p. 278.
anon. “The Star-Spangled Banner” from Centennial Chimes. Keyboard solo. p. 278.

Volume 5, number 11 (August 1876)

Challoner, Robert. Send Me a Kiss in a Letter. Text C. DeCress. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
piano, grade 3. pp. 293–95.
Gounod, Ch. Marche Funèbre d’une Marionette. Piano solo. pp. 296–300.
Munger, M. J. Not Alone. Text H. A. Abraham. Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 301–3.
Root, Geo. F. “Happy and Free.” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano solo.
pp. 304–5.
Bellini, [Vincenzo]. Katy Darling (Air by Bellini). Keyboard solo. p. 306.
Haydn, [Franz Joseph]. Andante. Keyboard solo. p. 306.

Volume 5, number 12 (September 1876)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. The Little Log Cabin Is Gone. Answer to the
Little Log Cabin in the Lane. Text Thos. P. Westendorf. Minstrel song and chorus
(SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 321–23.
Saint-Saëns, Camille. Danse macabre. Transcr. Renaud de Vilbac. Piano solo. pp. 324–27.
Bliss, P. P. Arise and Shine! Text Miss Mary A. Lathbury. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 328–30.
Strauss [II], J[ohann]. Marche Persanne, op. 289. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 331–33.

Volume 6, number 1 (October 1876)

Millard, Mr. [Harrison]. Kiss Me, Good Bye, But Say Not Farewell. Voice and piano. pp. 13–15.
Strauss, Johann [II]. Tausend und eine Nacht [Thousand and one nights], op. 346.
“As Performed by Theo. Thomas’ Orchestra.” Piano solo. pp. 16–20.

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Root, Geo. F. The Hidden Path. Voice and piano. pp. 21–23.
Goerdeler, R. Love’s Adieu. Dedicated to Miss Kate Buchanan, Independence, Missouri.
Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 24–26.

Volume 6, number 2 (November 1876)

[Bliss, P. P.]. Waiting and Watching for Me. Text F. J. Hartley. Arr. D. Angelo. Solo and
chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 41–43.
Ryan, Sidney. Dawn of Light (Valse elegante). Piano solo. pp. 44–48.
DeKress, Charles R. The Cabin by the Ocean. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 49–51.
R[oot], G. F. “The Contented Farmer” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano
solo, grade 2. pp. 52–53.
Palmer, H. R. Glory Be to God. SATB. p. 54.

Volume 6, number 3 (December 1876)

R[oot], G. F. Glory to God in the Highest (Christmas carol). Trio (women’s voices) and choir
(SATB). pp. 57–58.
Wagner, Richard. Centennial March [Abridged]. Arr. by Theodore Thomas. Piano solo, grade 4.
pp. 72–77.
Palmer, H. R. Gone to Sleep (A Slumber Song). Solo and chorus (SATB), and cabinet organ or
piano, grade 2. pp. 78–80.
Goerdeler, R. The Lover’s Return [Des liebsten Heimkehr] (Companion to Love’s Adieu) [see
October 1876], op. 103. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 81–83.
Persley, George W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Welcome Footsteps. Text Arthur W. French.
Song and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 84–86.

Volume 6, number 4 (January 1877)

Thallon, Robert, Jr. The Daisy of the Field. Text James MacCunn. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
piano, grade 3. pp. 99–101.
Kunkel, Gotthold. In der Hora. A Picture from Times Long Past, op. 52. Organ solo. pp. 102–7.
Jansen, F. Gustav. Thou Lovely Star [Du lichter Stern in meiner Nacht]. Text. C. O. Sternau.
(English and German text). Quartet (TTBB). pp. 108–9.
Root, Geo. F. “Work Is Done” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano solo,
grade 1. pp. 110–11.

Volume 6, number 5 (February 1877)

Bliss, P. P. Hallelujah, What a Savior. Gospel hymn. p. 116.
Bliss, P. P. Sing, My Soul. Gospel hymn. p. 116.
Bliss, P. P. Wonderful Words of Life. Gospel hymn. p. 116.
Bliss, P. P. Seeking to Save. Gospel hymn. p. 116.
Bliss, P. P. Meet Me at the Fountain. Sacred song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 130–32.
Root, Geo. F. The New Voice in the Heavenly Choir. Text Paulina. Dedicated to the memory of
P. P. Bliss. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 2. pp. 133–35.
Fairbank, H. W. Waltz Song for the Cabinet Organ or Piano. pp. 136–38.
Wood, A. L. Library Galop. Piano solo. pp. 139–41.

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 Volume 6, number 6 (March 1877)
Westendorf, Thos. P. Oh, Why Are You Angry with Me, Love? Song and chorus (SATB), and
piano or organ. pp. 156–58.
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. Just Inside the Gates of Gold. Text Arthur
W. French. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 2. pp. 159–61.
Mendelssohn, [Felix]. The Evening Bell (Descriptive piece). Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 162–65.
Abt, Franz. Solemn Night. Text Maria Hayes. SATB. pp. 166–68.

Volume 6, number 7 (April 1877)

Bliss, P. P. He Knows (Last Song of P. P. Bliss). Song and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 184–86.
Voss, C. H. La Seine (Valse de Salon). Piano solo. pp. 187–90.
Havens, C. A. Shine Softly (Serenade), op. 37. Dedicated to the Apollo Musical Club, Chicago,
Illinois. TTBB and organ ad libitum. pp. 191–93.
R[oot], G. F. “Rough and Tumble” [from Home Scenes: First Pieces for the Piano]. Piano solo.
pp. 194–95.

Volume 6, number 8 (May 1877)

Bliss, P. P. God Is Love. Text P. P. Bliss, completed by Paulina. Gospel hymn. p. 200.
McGranahan, James. Tell Me More about Jesus. Text P. P. Bliss. Gospel hymn. p. 200.
Bliss, P. P. Good News for Willie, or the Answer to “If Papa Were Only Ready.” Voice
and keyboard. pp. 214–16.
Stenglin, V. von. A Simple Flower [Une fleur simple], op. 59. Piano solo. pp. 217–19.
Persley, Geo. W. Noralie Allanna. Text Arthur W. French. Voice and piano, grade 3.
pp. 220–21. [Chorus omitted; editor’s instructions in June to play prelude between
stanzas].
Westendorf, Thos. P. Telephone Waltz. Piano solo, easy. pp. 222–24.
Martin, S. Wesley. Slumber Song. Text Natalie Sieboth. SATB. p. 225.

Volume 6, number 9 (June 1877)

Bliss, P. P. Fear Thou Not. SATB. p. 226.
Arini, Karl. Am I Unforgiven Still? Arr. from A. B. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 240–42.
Arini, Karl, arr. “Largo von Handel” [from Xerxes]. Piano solo. pp. 243–45.
Bulling, George T. When You’ll Be Far from Me. Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 246–48.
Fairbank, H. W. Galop. Cabinet organ solo. pp. 249–51.

Volume 6, number 10 (July 1877)

Jolie, M. Come! Brother, Come! Text Will. M. Sturges. Temperance song. SATB. p. 252.
Havens, C. A. Beautiful River of Life, op. 38. Vocal solo (S or T) and quartet (SATB), and organ.
pp. 266–68.
Schulhoff, Jules. Minuet de Mozart. [Transcr. from Symphony no. 39 in E-flat, K. 543]. Piano
solo, grade 3. pp. 269–71.
Danks, H. P. Kiss and Whisper Sweet Good Night. Text Samuel N. Mitchell. Song and chorus
(SATB), and piano. pp. 272–74.
Fairbank, H. W. Polka Mazurka. Cabinet organ solo. pp. 275–77.

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 Volume 6, number 11 (August 1877)
Bliss, P. P. Blessed Are the Peacemakers (Sentence). SATB. p. 278.
Bliss, P. P. God’s Anvil (Chant and chorus). SATB. p. 278.
Danks, H. P. Mother, the Gates Are Open. Text Samuel N. Mitchell. Song and chorus (SATB),
and piano, grade 3. pp. 291–93.
Merrill, H. T. The Mountaineer’s Whistle. Piano solo. pp. 294–98.
Chopin, F. Mazurka, op. 7, no. 1. Piano solo. pp. 299–300.
Westendorf, Thos. P. When That Little Cottage Was My Home. Song and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 301–3.

Volume 6, number 12 (September 1877)

Slie, J. S. Create in Me. S, SATB, and keyboard. p. 304.
Work, Henry C. King Bibler’s Army. Dedicated to D. P. Horton, Esq., of Brooklyn, New
York. Temperance song and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 317–19.
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. Little Pathway ’mid the Daisies. Text
Arthur W. French. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 320–22.
Fairbank, H. W. March. Cabinet organ solo. pp. 323–25.
Resch, Johann. Secret Love (Gavotte). Piano solo. pp. 326–29.

Volume 7, number 1 (October 1877)

Beethoven, [Ludwig van]. The Heavens Proclaim Him [Gellert Lieder, op. 48, no. 4]. SATB.
p. 2.
Slie, J. S. Our Old Brown Homestead. Dedicated to My Dear Wife [on cover]. Vocal duet (ST)
and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 16–18.
Fairbank, H. W. Polonaise. Cabinet organ solo. pp. 19–21.
Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Never Again with You, Annie. Text Horace
Rushby. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 22–24.
Spindler, Fritz. Rheinländer, op. 294, no. 6. Piano solo. pp. 25–27.

Volume 7, number 2 (November 1877)

Slie, J. S. Thanksgiving Anthem. T, SATB, and organ. pp. 30–31.
Pardue, L. F. Fingers of Time. Text Mrs. P. A. Maxfield. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano,
grade 3. pp. 44–46.
Wimpfheimer, Albert. Woodland Romance Waltzes. Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 47–51.
Westendorf, Thomas P. Cora Lee. Dedicated to my Brother Robert’s Wife. Solo and chorus
(SATB), and piano. pp. 52–54.

Volume 7, number 3 (December 1877)

R[oot], G. F. Behold Thy King Cometh (Christmas service). Duet, Quartet, Choir (SATB).
pp. 58–59.
Hastings, Dr. T[homas]. Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned (Christmas service). Choir and
congregation (SATB). p. 59.
R[oot], G. F. Star of Bethlehem (Christmas service). Choir (SATB). p. 60.
Sullivan, Arthur. Christmas Bells at Sea. Text Charles Lamb Kenney. Voice and piano.
pp. 74–76.
Atkins, Hannah. Wandering Star Waltz. Piano solo. pp. 77–79.

349
Work, Henry C. Farewell, My Loved One! Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 80–82.
Westendorf, Thomas P. Out on the Lake. A Reverie for the Piano or Cabinet Organ, grade 3.
pp. 83–85.

Volume 7, number 4 (January 1878)

Slie, J. S. Water Beauties. Text Geo. S. Burleigh. SATB. p. 90.
Danks, H. P. When the Silvery Moonbeams Are Fading. Text Augustus B. Wood. Song and
chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 104–6.
Fairbank. H. W. Schottische. Cabinet organ solo. pp. 107–9.
Westendorf, Thos. P. Are You One of the “Ninety and Nine?” Dedicated to Ira D. Sankey, Esq.
Sacred song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 110–13.
Chopin, F. Mazurka, op. 7, no. 2. Piano solo. pp. 114–15.

Volume 7, number 5 (February 1878)

Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Wake, Love, from Thy Dreams. Text Arthur
W. French. Waltz song or duet (TC), and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 132–34.
Richards, Brinley. The Echoes of Killarney. Piano solo. pp. 135–38.
Treloar, W. M. Weeping, To-Night, All Alone. Text Miss Sallie Hamner. Solo and chorus
(SATB), and piano. pp. 139–41.
Breslaur, Emil. Questions [Fragen]. Text Carl XV, King of Sweden. SATB. pp. 142–43.

Volume 7, number 6 (March 1878)

McGranahan, James. The Last Leaf. Text O. W. Holmes. SATB. p. 146.
Case, C. C. Ripple, Little Brooklet. SATB. p. 146.
Singer, Otto. Sketch from Festival Ode (Interludium). Organ or two pianos. pp. 157–60.
Butterfield, J. A. Regret (Ballad). Voice and piano, grade 5. pp. 161–63.
Havens, C. A. Golden Leaflet (Schottische), op. 48. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 164–66.
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. When the Grass Grows Over Me. Text
Arthur W. French. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 167–70.

Volume 7, number 7 (April 1878)

Williams, C. C. Now for the Highlands (Male Quartette). TTBB. p. 172.
Towner, D. B. Mowers’ Song. SATB. p. 172.
Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Over the Sea, Love. Text Thos. P.
Westendorf. Solo or duet (SA), and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 186–88.
Challoner, Robert. The Crickets’ Dance (Gavotte Humoresque). Piano solo. pp. 189–91.
Keil, Phil. P. Under the Roses I Hid My Heart. Text S[amuel] N. Mitchell. Song and chorus
(SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 192–94.
Adamson, Wm. B. My Own Darling Schottisch. Dedicated to T. Bell, Ontario. Piano solo.
pp. 195–97. [Text near end].

Volume 7, number 8 (May 1878)

Strong, M. H. Cincinnati Music Hall March, op. 12. Piano solo. pp. 215–18.
Pratt, S. G. Long Agone, op. 3 (As sung by Mrs. E[mma] Aline Osgood). Voice and piano,
grade 4. pp. 219–21.

350
Pape, Oscar. May Festival (Valse de Salon). Dedicated to Theodore Thomas. Piano solo, easy.
pp. 222–24.
Balfe, M. W. Killarney. Voice and keyboard. pp. 225–26.

Volume 7, number 9 (June 1878)

Clinton, Chas. Lovely May. SATB. p. 232.
Taggart, Helen W. There Shall Be Rest. SATB. p. 232.
Martin, S. Wesley. Give Ear to My Words, O Lord. Text from Psalm 5. Inscribed to L. P. Sigler,
Leon, Iowa. Anthem for three solo voices (SAB) and organ, grade 4. pp. 246–49.
Ludovic, G. Galop du Diable, op. 42. Piano solo. pp. 250–52.
Westendorf, Thos. P. Old Erin, the Home of My Heart. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano or
organ. pp. 253–55.
Jarl, J. L. The Village Parade (March). Piano solo. pp. 256–57.

Volume 7, number 10 (July 1878)

McGranahan, James. The Old, Old Home. Text M. E. Servoss. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
keyboard. p. 254.
Phelps, E. B. Elegy. In Memory of William Cullen Bryant. Piano solo. pp. 268–71.
Rutledge, John T. Sweet Little Face in the Cradle. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3.
pp. 272–74.
Levasse, Antoine. La Petite Polka. Piano solo. pp. 275–76.
Persley, Geo. W. [pseud. of George W. Brown]. Waiting Near the Stile. Text Arthur W. French.
Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 277–79.

Volume 7, number 11 (August 1878)

Root, F. W. “Shepherd’s Chorus” from Kreutzer. Text J. R. Murray. TTBB. p. 282.
Levoy, Leon. I Am Waiting, Essie, Dear. Text Arthur W. French. Song and chorus (SATB), and
keyboard. pp. 296–98.
Root, G. F. Earth to Earth, and Dust to Dust. Bass voice and keyboard. p. 299.
Levasse, Antoine. Song of Summer Morning. Piano solo. p. 300.
Meiser, Carl. The Banks of the Danube. Piano solo. p. 301.
Collan, Carl. Wait a Little. Trans. from the Swedish of Z. Topelius by Marie A. Brown. Voice
and piano. pp. 302–3.
anon. Irish air. The Minstrel Boy. Voice and piano. p. 304.
Gobbaerts, L. The Phantom’s Prayer [Prière des fantomes], op. 78. Piano solo, grade 4.
pp. 305–7.

Volume 7, number 12 (September 1878)

McGranahan, Jas. Don’t Leave the Farm. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. p. 312.
Henrion, Paul. When the Star of Eve. Voice and piano. pp. 326–27.
Jarl, J. L. March of the Commission. Keyboard solo. pp. 328–29.
Landown, R. The Song of the Sailor. Vocal solo (T or B) and keyboard. p. 330.
anon. Irish air. The Harp that Once through Tara’s Halls. Voice and piano. p. 331.
R[oot], G. F., arr. The Winding Brook (Ballade). Piano solo. pp. 332–33.
R[oot], G. F. Pharisee and Sadducee. Voice and keyboard. p. 334.
Heffley, Irvin. J. Bird of Paradise [Waltz]. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 335–37.

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 Volume 8, number 1 (October 1878)
anon. German. Mowers’ Song. SATB. p. 4.
Butterfield, J. A. Blessed Are the People (Anthem). SATB. p. 4.
Chopin, F. Mazurka, op. 17, no. 1. Piano solo. pp. 16–17.
Masini. I Think of Thee. Arr. Voice and keyboard. p. 18.
Meiser, Carl. March of the Masqueraders. Piano solo. p. 19.
White, Robert. The Step at the Gate. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 20–21.
Meiser, C. Duet Movement. Keyboard solo. p. 22.
anon. John Anderson, My Jo. Transposed and arr. Voice and keyboard. p. 23.
Jarl, J. L. Shady Glen Waltz. Piano solo. p. 24.
R[oot], G. F. An Earnest Aim. Duet (TT) and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. p. 25.
R[oot], G. F. Only Sixteen Dresses to Wear. Text Joe Jot, Jr. Voice and keyboard. p. 26.

Volume 8, number 2 (November 1878)

Root, Geo. F. There’s No Place Like Home. Trio (SSA) and chorus (SATB). p. 38.
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. Six Days Labor, Seventh Rest. SATB. p. 38.
McGranahan, Jas. I’ll Stand By You Till the Morning (Incident [shipwreck rescue]). Text D. W.
Whittle. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 46–49.
R[oot], G. F. The Thread of Gold. Piano solo. pp. 50–51.
Root, Geo. F. Soft Fell the Twilight. Voice and keyboard. pp. 52–53.
Landown, R. When Daylight Fades. Text J. W. Voice and keyboard. p. 54.
Meiser, Carl. Allamo’s Quick Step. Piano solo. p. 55.
Meiser, Carl. Sincerity Polka. Piano solo. p. 56.

Volume 8, number 3 (December 1878)

McGranahan, James. Glory to God in the Highest. Text E. E. Rexford. Christmas carol. p. 59.
anon. Gloria in Excelsis. Text Warren Walters. Adapted by D[aniell?]. SATB. Christmas carol.
p. 59.
Root, Geo. F., arr. It Came Upon the Midnight. Text Rev. E[dmund] H. Sears. Christmas carol.
p. 59.
Beirly, Alfred. Christmas Carol. Text Eben E. Rexford. p. 59.
Handel. I Know That My Redeemer Liveth [from Messiah]. Voice and piano. pp. 60–61.
Chopin, Fr. Praeludium, op. 28, no. 14 [facsimile and portrait]. p. 62.
anon. Auld Robin Gray [Ballad]. [Text Lady Anne Lindsay]. Transposed and arr. Voice and
keyboard. pp. 82–83.
Croisez, A. Carmen (Petite Fantaisie). [Bizet]. Piano solo. pp. 84–87.
Levoy, Leon, arr. Emmet’s Lullaby (Waltz). Keyboard solo. pp. 88–90.
R[oot], G. F. The Green Grass under the Snow. Voice and keyboard. p. 91.
Whittemore, E. E. Hail to the Winter King. Text P. P. Bliss. SATB. p. 93.
Hook, Albert. Grandpa and I. Song and refrain. Voice and keyboard. p. 93.

Volume 8, number 4 (January 1879)

Wyman, C. M. New Year Bells. Text Ed[ward] P. Ackerman. Gospel hymn. SATB. p. 98.
Ellis, S. A., arr. Come, Said Jesus’ Sacred Voice. Gospel song. Solo (S or A) and chorus
(SATB). p. 98.

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Verdi, [Giuseppe]. Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) [from Requiem in memory of Alessandro
Manzoni, and commentary]. S, M-S, and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 112–15.
Swem, Edmond H. Ex Sigma Chi (Polka Mazurka). Keyboard solo. pp. 116–18.
anon. Bonnie Dundee (One of the most spirited of the old Scotch Border Songs). Arr. Voice and
keyboard. p. 119.
J., J. L., arr. The Soldier’s Release (Theme from Kuhlan). (March). Piano solo. p. 120.
anon., arr. Conjugal Duet. Text P. P. Bliss. Duet (BA), and keyboard. p. 121.
R[oot], G. F. Melodies of Twilight. No. l. Piano solo. p. 122.
Havens, C. A. Beautiful Land on High. Text J. Nicholson. Solo (S or T) and chorus (SATB),
and organ, grade 2. p. 123.

Volume 8, number 5 (February 1879)

Beethoven, [Ludwig van]. Hear Those Soothing Sounds. Quartet and chorus (SATB). p. 130
[repeat from August 1873].
Bliss, P. P. “Remembered” from The Prize. Gospel song and chorus, and keyboard. p. 130.
Verdi, [Giuseppe]. Lamb of God (Agnus Dei), Concluded [with commentary]. pp. 140–43.
Levoy, Leon. Laughing Eyes of Long Ago. Text Arthur W. French. Solo and chorus (SATB),
and piano. pp. 144–46.
Latimer, S. Oak and Willow. Piano solo. p. 147.
Hatton, [John L.]. The Bird of Song. Arr. Voice and keyboard. pp. 148–49.
R[oot], G. F. Gone Before. Voice and keyboard. p. 150.
R[oot], G. F. Bells of Summer Time. Piano solo. p 151.
Halls, R. Geo. Blessed Dreams. Text Florence Percy. Gospel song and refrain, and keyboard.
p. 152.

Volume 8, number 6 (March 1879)

anon. Spring Song. SATB. p. 158.
Root, F. W. Evening Barcarolle. [Berlin, Oct. 1869]. SATB. p. 158.
Phelps, E. B. Loving Hearts (Idyl). Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 168–71.
Levoy, Leon. Papa’s Pledge and Mine. Text Kate Harrington. Temperance song and chorus
(SATB), and piano. pp. 172–74.
Levasse, Antoine. Polka de la chatelaine. Piano solo. p. 175.
anon. Our Minister’s Sermon. [Humorous ballad]. Voice and keyboard. pp. 176–77.
Levasse, Antoine. Fanchon Schottische. Keyboard solo. p. 178.
Baley, James. A Little Talk with Jesus. Arr. D. C. A. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. Gospel
hymn. p. 179.

Volume 8, number 7 (April 1879)

Palmer, H. R. Hail Our Natal Morn! Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. p. 186.
Bliss, P. P. Look and Live. Gospel hymn. SATB and chorus. p. 186.
Skelly, J. P. Speak a Kind Word When You Can. [Motto] song and refrain, voice and keyboard,
grade 3. pp. 196–98.
Leinad, L. Good Morning! (Waltz). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 199–201.
Abbott, Geo. M. Sturges’ Grand Marche Militaire. Arr. C. M. Currier. Piano solo, grade 3.
pp. 202–5.
R[oot], G. F. I Told You the Winter Would Go. Song and refrain, voice and keyboard. pp. 206–7.

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 Volume 8, number 8 (May 1879)
anon. The Mountain Echo. SATB. p. 210.
Tillinghast, Wm. Summer Days Are Long. Text A. A. Hopkins, Esq., editor “American Rural
Home,” Rochester, NY. Baritone solo and quartet, or trio and chorus (SATB). p. 210.
Doane, W. H. The Mother’s Good-Bye. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 224–26.
Emmet, J. K. Climb Up! Climb Up! (Quickstep). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 227–29.
Bliss, P. P. The Last Bugle. Vocal solo (B) and keyboard. pp. 230–31.
Heck, L. Seven Elephant March. Piano solo. pp. 232–33.
R[oot], G. F. Spring Greeting. Cabinet organ solo. p. 234.
Leonie. Sleep, My Darling. Voice and keyboard. p. 235.

Volume 8, number 9 (June 1879)

Mendelssohn, [Felix]. “In Heavenly Love Abiding” [from Abschied vom Wald, op. 59, no. 3.
Text Anna L. Waring]. SATB. p. 240.
B[liss], P. P. Many Mansions. Duet (SA) and SATB. p. 240.
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. Home to My Heart. Voice and keyboard,
grade 3. pp. 252–54.
R[oot], G. F. We Are Going (or, the Freedman Seeking Freedom). Text H[ezekiah]
B[utterworth]. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 255–57.
Lindahl, Albert. The Siren’s Song. Piano solo, medium difficulty. pp. 258–61.
Levasse, Antoine. Will o’ The Wisp. Piano solo. p. 262.
R[oot], G. F. Hark! ’Tis the Breeze. Voice and keyboard. p. 263.

Volume 8, number 10 (July 1879)

Levoy, Leon. Kneeling Over Mother’s Grave. Song and chorus (SATB) and piano, grade 3.
pp. 280–82.
Schneider, Erwin. Eventide (Pastorale). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 283–85.
Root, Geo. F. You Mustn’t Stay So Late. Text Josephine Pollard. Voice and keyboard.
pp. 286–87.
Chopin, F. Mazurka, op. 24, no. 3. Piano solo. pp. 288–89.
Latimer, S. The Whirl Quickstep. Piano solo. p. 290.
Joetze, F. Take Wing, My Song [Flieg aus, mein Lied!], op. 17. Trans. H. A. Rattermann.
(German and English text).TTBB. p. 291.

Volume 8, number 11 (August 1879)

anon. Beautiful Evening Star. SATB and chorus. p. 294.
anon. Queen of the Silent Night. Arr. Vocal trio (SSA). p. 294.
Butterfield, J. A. Could I But Dream of Thee! Text D. C. Addison [pseud. of Charles Addison
Daniell]. Voice and piano, grade 4. pp. 308–10.
Viviani, F. The Silver Trumpets (Grand Processional March). Piano solo. pp. 311–14.
Landown, R. Castles in the Air. Text Mary E. Lambert. Voice and keyboard. pp. 315–16.
Root, Geo. F. The Home Festival. Keyboard solo. pp. 317–18.

Volume 8, number 12 (September 1879)

Barnby, J. Sweet and Low (New Copy). Text Alfred Tennyson. SATB. p. 322.
anon. Sleeping (Round). p. 322.

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anon. As Down the Sunless Retreats. [Text Thomas Moore]. Duet (AT) and chorus (SATB), and
inst[rument]. p. 322.
Arkwright, Mrs. Treasures of the Deep. Text Mrs. Hemans. Voice and keyboard. pp. 336–37.
Pratt, Charles E., transcr. Emmet’s Lullaby [from J. K. Emmet’s “Close Your Eyes”]. Piano solo,
grade 3. pp. 338–40.
Root, G. F. Echo’s Advice. Recitando. Voice and keyboard. p. 341.
Levasse, Antoine. Etude. Keyboard solo. pp. 342–43.
R[oot], G. F. Home Returning. Keyboard solo. pp. 344–45.
R[oot], G. F. Old Time. Text Mrs. Emily Thornton. Voice and keyboard. p. 346.
Westendorf, Thos. P. When Jesus Walked in Galilee. Dedicated to my friend Peter Caldwell,
Louisville, Kentucky. Hymn. p. 347.

Volume 9, number 1 (October 1879)

Abt, Franz. The Rover. Arr. SATB. p. 2.
Emerson, L. O. Framingham. 6s and 4s. Text Dr. Thomas Hastings. SATB. p.2.
Forest, Frank. Captivity. 10s. SATB. p. 2.
Levoy, Leon. Drifting Down to Sea. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 16–18.
Michael, M. Prince Harry’s Grand March (Musical Army, no. 1). Piano solo. pp. 19–21.
Carolan. Fairy Whispers. Voice and keyboard. pp. 22–23.
Albert, Charles d.’ Sweethearts (Suites de Valses) [adapted from Arthur Sullivan]. Organ
solo. pp. 24–27.

Volume 9, number 2 (November 1879)

Root, F. W. “Sunday Night” from School of Singing. SATB. p. 30.
Williams, W. A. Oak-Hill. 11s and 10s (Double). SATB. p. 30.
anon. Vincent. 11s from New Choir and Congregation. SATB. p. 30.
Stebbins, Geo. C. The Palace o’ the King. Text William Mitchell, Edinburgh. Voice and
keyboard, grade 3. pp. 44–46.
Lange, Gustav. The Heath (Erika), op. 265. Piano solo, grade 8. pp. 45–48.
Hull, P. G. The Old Red Mill. Text Mary T. Lathrap. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano,
grade 3. pp. 49–52.
Jarl, J. L. The Old Band (1st movement). Keyboard solo, p. 53.

Volume 9, number 3 (December 1879)

Sullivan, Arthur. Upon the Snow-clad Earth. SATB. p. 57.
Levoy, Leon. The Day When You’ll Forget Me. Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 79–81.
Pratt, S. G. Melody. Dedicated to Herr Alwin Stahr, Berlin. Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 82–84.
Danks, H. P. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. Song (S or T) and quartet or chorus
(SATB), and keyboard. pp. 85–87.
Schneider, Erwin. Woodland Calm [Waldfriede]. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 88–91.
Root, Geo. F. Come, Gather. Text Clara L. Burnham. Hymn. p. 92.

Volume 9, number 4 (January 1880)

R[oot], G. F. The Lord’s Prayer. Chant. TTBB. p. 96.

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Henschel, George. Jamie or Robin? Text Grace F. Coolidge. Voice and piano, grade 3.
pp. 110–12.
Faust, Carl. A Love-Duo (Polka-Mazurka), op. 306. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 113–15.
Schubert, [Franz]. Aria Religioso [Impromptu, op. 142, no. 2/ D. 935]. [Arr.] Organ solo.
pp. 116–17.
Minard, Jules. Noel. Organ solo. p. 117.
Himmel. Battle Prayer. Piano solo. p. 118.
Mendelssohn, [Felix]. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. Piano solo. p. 118.
Whitmore, C. S. Isle of Beauty, Fare Thee Well! Voice and piano. p. 119.
R[oot], G. F. Fair Luna Smiles. Voice and keyboard. pp. 120–21.

Volume 9, number 5 (February 1880)

Hook, Albert. There’s Light in the Valley. Text. Rev. M. A. Fox. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
keyboard. p. 124.
Danks, H. P. Good-bye, Dearest. Text Mrs. J. M. Winton. Voice and keyboard. pp. 138–40.
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. American Reveille (Marche Militaire) [with
parenthetical clues to day’s activities]. Dedicated to E. S. Throop, Esq. Piano solo,
grade 3. pp. 141–45.
Levoy, Leon. Waiting in the Starlit Dell. Adapted from Chopin. Solo and chorus (SATB), and
keyboard. pp. 146–48.
Mozart. Belmont. Attributed to Mozart. Piano solo. p. 149.
Mozart, [W. A.]. Theme from Sonata, op. 6 [K. 331]. Piano solo. p. 149.

Volume 9, number 6 (March 1880)

Worley, D. B. Spring Is Coming. Text Cora La Barre. SATB. p. 152.
Worley, D. B. Now All Nature’s Still. Text M. Dennison. SATB. p. 152.
Hatton, J. L. I Stood on the Beach. Text. W. T. Matson. Voice and piano. pp. 166–69.
Cellier, Alfred. Danse Pompeuse. Arr. by D[aniell?]. Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 170–72.
Puget, Louisa. The Wandering Savoyard. Voice and piano. pp. 173–74.
R[oot], G. F. I Walk through Darkened Paths. Text Emily Huntington Miller. Voice and piano.
p. 175.
Ewing, A. Jerusalem the Golden. Piano solo. p. 176.
Schumann, R. Aria [“Erster Verlust,” op. 68, no. 16]. Piano solo. pp. 176–77.
anon. The Pilgrims of the Night. Piano solo. p. 177.

Volume 9, number 7 (April 1880)

Bliss, P. P. Ho, for the Spring Time! (Glee). p. 180.
Kinkel, Johanna. The Knight’s Farewell. Trans. Martin Meyer. TTBB. p. 180.
Hartshorne, W. Irving. Grandmother’s Waiting. Text Eben E. Rexford. Song and chorus
(SATB), and keyboard. pp. 194–96.
Pferdner, Adolph. Cincinnati Southern R. R. Inauguration March, op. 58. Piano solo, moderate
difficulty. pp. 197–99.
Carolan. Good-Night, Thou Glorious Sun. Voice and keyboard. pp. 200–201.
R[oot], G. F. Spring Holiday. Keyboard solo. p. 202.
Hook, Albert. Cheer Up Polka. Piano solo. pp. 203–4.

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 Volume 9, number 8 (May 1880)
R[oot], G. F. A Song for May. SATB. p. 208.
Gaines, A. The Foaming Sea. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. p. 208.
Buck, Dudley. Scenes from Longfellow’s Golden Legend. Scene 4, “Evening Song.” SATB,
a cappella. pp. 222–25.
Fahrbach, P., Jr. Forever Joyful [Tout à la joie]. Arr. Hermann. Piano solo. pp. 226–28.
R[oot], G. F. A Similar Case (A Recitative Song). Voice and keyboard. pp. 229–30.
Latimer, T. Fear Naught Quick March. Piano solo. p. 231.
anon. Wake, Wake, My Love (Serenade). Voice and keyboard. p. 232.

Volume 9, number 9 (June 1880)

Adams, O. D. Spring and Summer. SATB. p. 236.
Gaines, A. The Foaming Sea. Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. p. 236.
Foster, Stephen C. ’Tis My Father’s Song (One of the last songs composed by Stephen C.
Foster). Voice and keyboard, grade 2. pp. 250–52.
Phelps, E. B. Love and Faith. Piano solo. pp. 253–56.
R[oot], G. F. The Roses. Voice and keyboard. p. 257.
Bray, Chas. E. “Wide West” March. Piano solo. pp. 258–60.

Volume 9, number 10 (July 1880)

Towne, T. Martin. Love Me Dearest. Text Mrs. Rev. Pancoast. Inscribed to Mrs. Gen. Fallows
of Milwaukee. Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. p. 264.
Pro Phundo Basso [pseud. of P. P. Bliss]. O, If I Had to Be a Bird (Quartet for Male Voices).
TTBB. p. 264.
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. What Kind of Shoes Are You Going to
Wear? (This is one of the most popular of the songs of the “Jubilee Singers.”
Performance suggestions by D. C. A.). Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 278–80.
Lange, Gustav. When Two Hearts Are Parted [Wenn sich zwei Herzen scheiden], op. 277.
Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 281–83.
Tanner, Miss Jeannie I. Thoughts in the Moonlight. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 284–86.
Hermann. Racquet Galop. Piano solo. pp. 287–89.

Volume 9, number 11 (August 1880)

Lockwood, C. T. Gathering Home. Text N. M.L. SATB. p. 292.
Addison, D. C. [pseud. of Charles Addison Daniell]. Who Will Meet Me First? Song and chorus
(SATB), and piano. pp. 306–8.
Demeur, Celestin. La Chalet (Polka mazurka), op. 64. Piano solo. pp 309–11.
Horn, C. E. I’ve Been Roaming. Voice and piano. pp. 312–14.
[Wagner, Richard.] “Grand March” from Tannhäuser. Piano solo. p. 315.
anon. First Kiss Waltz. Keyboard solo. pp. 316–17.

Volume 9, number 12 (September 1880)

Murray, James R. Afterward. Text from the “Round Table.” SATB. p. 320.

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Saunders, Dr. A. A. Do Something for Each Other. Text Charles Swain. Duet and chorus
(SATB). p. 320.
Levoy, Leon. What Answer? Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 334–36.
Jungmann, Albert. My Native Land [Mein liebes Vaterland], op. 342. Piano solo. pp. 337–40.
Root, Geo. F. Weave the Bright Thoughts. Text Marie Le Baron. Voice and keyboard. p. 341.
anon. Silver Streamlet. Voice and keyboard. p. 342.
Wagner, [Richard]. “Bridal March” from Lohengrin. Piano solo. p. 343.
Kinkel, C. Wavelet Waltz. Keyboard solo, grade 1. p. 344.
anon. Anvil Polka. Piano solo. p. 345.
anon. True Heart Polka. Piano solo. p. 345.

Volume 10, number 1 (October 1880)

Costa, Michael. “No Evil Shall Befall Thee” from Eli. SSAA. p. 2.
Stebbins, Geo. C. The Bridegroom Comes. 6s & 4s. Text Rev. H[oratius] Bonar. SATB. p. 2.
Spence, Oscar. Daughter of Zion. 11s & 10s. SATB. p. 2.
Westendorf, Thos. P. Toddlin’ Doon the Brea. Text Jessie Lacey. Song and chorus (SATB),
and piano. pp. 16–18.
Phelps, E. B. Love, Music and Beauty (Impromptu). Piano solo. pp. 19–21 [p. 20 missing].
Hook, Albert. O’er the River. Text Rev. M. A. Fox. [Sacred] Song and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 22–24.
Crouch, [Frederick Nicholls]. Kathleen Mavourneen. Piano solo. p. 25.
Arditi, [Luigi]. L’Arditi Waltz. Piano solo. p. 25.
anon. Pure as Snow. Piano solo. p. 26.

Volume 10, number 2 (November 1880)

Sanford, H. The Vale of Childhood. Text Jean Ingelow. Duet or Trio and Chorus (SATB).
p. 30.
anon. Touch Not, Taste Not. SATB. p. 30.
Goerdeler, Richard. Rosebud and Butterfly (Waltz song), op. 115. Voice and piano, grade 3.
pp. 44–46.
Ludovic, G. La Seduisante (Schottisch élégante), op. 72. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 47–49.
Allen, G. B. Who Can Tell? Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 50–52.
[Meyerbeer, Giacomo.] “Grand March” from The Huguenots. Piano solo. p. 53.
[Strauss II, Johann.] Blue Danube Waltz [op. 314]. Piano solo. p. 54.

Volume 10, number 3 (December 1880)

anon. Christmas Bells. Arr. SATB. p 58..
R[oot], G. F. Joy to the World (Men’s Voices). Solo or semi-chorus and chorus (TTBB) and
keyboard. p. 58.
Goerdeler, Richard (transcr.). The Kerry Dance, op. 113. Piano solo. pp. 76–78.
Campana, Fabio. Silent for Years. Text Charles Searle. Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 79–82.
Offenbach. The Drum-Major’s Daughter [La Fille du tambour-major] (Potpourri). Arr. X.
Norwid. Piano solo. pp. 83–86.
Levoy, Leon. Down by the Orchard Gate. Waltz song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 87–89.
Danks, H. P. Glory to God in the Highest. Text Constantina E. Brooks. Christmas carol. SATB.
p. 90.

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R[oot], G. F. Swinging Low. Text C[lara] L[ouise] B[urnham]. Christmas carol. SATB. p. 90.

Volume 10, number 4 (January 1881)

Wyman, C. M. Happy New Year. Vocal solo (S) and chorus (SATB). p. 94.
Danks, H. P. What Joy Have I without Thee? Text George Birdseye. Song and chorus (SATB),
and piano, grade 3. pp. 108–10.
Kohnemann, W. Musketier Marsch. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 111–13.
Kiallmark. The Old Oaken Bucket. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano, grade 3. pp. 114–16.
Kiallmark (transcr.). La Marseillaise. Piano solo. p. 117.
Kiallmark. My Papa’s Waltz. Piano solo. p. 118.

Volume 10, number 5 (February 1881)

Bliss, P. P. All Around Is Hushed. SATB. p. 122.
Taylor, R. S. Eulalie (Quartet for male voices). TTBB. p. 122.
Keil, Phil. P. I’ve Kisses from Over the Sea. Text Charlie Russell. Song and chorus (SATB),
and piano. pp. 136–38.
Favart, Paul [pseud. of Edwin Benning]. The Crutch Polka. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 139–41.
Tucker, Henry. Adah Moline. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 142–44.
Donizetti, G. “Salut à la France” from Child [Daughter] of the Regiment. Violin and piano.
pp. 145–46.
anon. Celestial March. Piano solo. p. 147.

Volume 10, number 6 (March 1881)

Peebles, E. D. Beautiful Things. SATB. p. 150.
R., W. J. Schiller’s Longing. SATB. p. 150.
Maretzek, Max. The Broken Rose. Text Clemens W. Scott. Voice and piano. pp. 164–66.
Gobbaerts, L. La Triomphante (Polka), op. 135. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 167–69.
Tucker, Henry. Soft Brown Eyes. Voice and keyboard. pp. 170–72.
[Verdi, Giuseppe.] “Grand March” from Aida. Piano solo. pp. 173–74.
anon. When Stars Are in the Quiet Skies. Piano solo. p. 174.

Volume 10, number 7 (April 1881)

Root, Geo. F., arr. Fair Morn of the Ages. Text Hezekiah Butterworth. Voice and keyboard.
p. 178.
Goerdeler, Richard. Sleep My Darling Sleep (Cradle song), op. 120. Piano solo, grade 3.
pp. 192–94.
Hill, Jerome. Let Me See You Smile Again. Text E. Spears. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 195–97.
Goodeve, Arthur. Love in the Mist. Text F. E. Weatherly. Voice and piano. pp. 198–200.
[Bishop, Henry.] Home, Sweet Home (Varied). Arr. Keyboard solo. pp. 201–2.
Fontaine, Ch. Swing Song. Keyboard solo. p. 202.
Danks, H. P. “Leaning on Thee” from Heart and Voice. Hymn. p. 204.

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 EDITOR: JAMES R. MURRAY

Volume 10, number 8 (May 1881)

Murray, James R. Slumber On (Serenade). SATB. p. 206.
M[urray], J[ames] R. The Eternal Goodness. SATB. p. 206.
Kleber, L. P. Think of Me, I Pray. Text Miss Beckie Miller. Song and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 220–22.
Giese, Thedor. In Silent Night [Im stiller Nacht] (Serenade), op. 271. Piano solo. pp. 223–25.
Goerdeler, Richard. Don’t Sell the Farm, op. 124. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 226–28.
Strauss II, [Johann]. Thousand and One Nights Waltz. Keyboard solo. pp. 229–30.
anon. Oberon. Piano solo. p. 230.
Sherwin, W. F. “Hail the Day of Prayer!” from Heart and Voice. Text H. O. Knowlton. Hymn.
p. 231.
anon. “O Christ! with Each Returning Morn” from Heart and Voice. Arr. Hymn. p. 231.

Volume 10, number 9 (June 1881)

Murray, James R. Music Makes A Merry Heart (Song with Vocal Accompaniment and Chorus).
Voice and chorus (SATB). p. 234.
Palmer, H. R. Memories of Galilee. Text Robert Morris. SATB and chorus (SATB), and piano or
organ. pp. 247A–C.
[Audran, Edmond.] “Olivette Polka” [from Les noces d’Olivette]. Arr. Raymur. Keyboard solo.
p. 247E.
Proch, [Heinrich]. Beautiful Alpine Melody. Arr. Piano solo. p. 247F.
Wély, Charles. La Sirène [The Siren] (Rêverie mélodie), op. 60. Piano solo. pp. 256A–C.
R[oot], G. F. “There Is No Night There” from Heart and Voice. Hymn. p. 256.

Volume 10, number 10 (July 1881)

Murray, J. R. When We Are Old and Gray. Text Miss M. E. Servoss. Solo and chorus (SATB),
and piano. pp. 278–80.
Abesser, Edm. To the Absent One [An die Entfernte] (Song Without Words), op. 276, no. 1.
Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 281–83.
Gordon, Geo. S. Bello Sorento. Noted and arr. for the Visitor from the singing of a street
minstrel in Sorrento. Keyboard solo. p. 284.
anon. Volkslied. Keyboard solo. p. 284.
Archer, Frederick. Organ Prelude. Organ solo. p. 285.

Volume 10, number 11 (August 1881)

Baumfelder, Frederic. Good Humor [Bonne humeur] (Rondo), op. 274. Piano solo, grade 3.
pp. 306–9.
Palmer, H. R. Peace, Be Still. Text Miss M. A. Baker. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 310–12.
Mendelssohn, [Felix]. Oh, Rosy Time of Youth [op. 57, no. 4]. Arr. Piano solo. p. 313.
Archer, Frederick. Introductory Voluntary. Organ solo. p. 314.

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 Volume 10, number 12 (September 1881)
Murray, J. R. God Save Our President! Text Charles Thom. SATB. p. 318.
Murray, J. R. The Nation’s Prayer. Text E. F. SATB. p. 318.
Mullaly, W. S. Send a Kiss to Papa. Text Frank Dumont. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 334–37.
Kottaun, Celian. Le Bijou Gavotte. Piano solo, grade 3–4. pp. 338–40.
anon. The Shepherd’s Voice. Keyboard solo. p. 341.

Volume 11, number 1 (October 1881)

Murray, J. R., arr. President Garfield’s Requiem March. Piano solo. pp. 17–19.
Westendorf, Thos. P. Furl the Old Flag, There Will Be No Rejoicing. Dedicated to the Memory
of Gen. James A. Garfield. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 20–22.
Murray, J. R. Mother in the Doorway Waiting. (Intro. scenario regarding President Garfield’s
Mother). Text David Graham Adee. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 23–25.
Williams, C. C. I Will Praise. SATB. p. 30.

Volume 11, number 2 (November 1881)

Heiser, Wilhelm. Alpineglow [Alpenglühen], op. 242. Piano solo, grade 3–4. pp. 46–48.
Danks, H. P. There Is No One Waiting for Me. Text Louise M. Stenton. Song and chorus
(SATB), and piano, easy. pp. 49–51.
Schultze, Clemens. Evening Song [Abendlied], op. 34. Piano solo, grade 3–4. pp. 52–54.

Volume 11, number 3 (December 1881)

Porter, H. W. Hallelujah! They’re Singing (Christmas song). Text Mrs. Emma Pitt. SATB. p. 62.
Murray, James R. Chapel Chimes (at Christmas). Piano solo. pp. 78–81.
Goerdeler, Richard. Marequita (Spanish Serenade), op. 133. Dedicated to Signor Italio
Campanini. Voice and piano. pp. 82–84.
Stewart, James E. A Tress of Mother’s Hair. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 85–87.
Sherwin, W. F. Arise, Ye Pilgrims. Text H[ezekiah] Butterworth. Duet or semi-chorus and
quartet (SATB), and keyboard. p. 88.
M[urray], J. R. “Beautiful Thoughts for Christmas” from Heart and Voice. SATB and keyboard.
p. 88.

Volume 11, no. 4 (January 1882)

Root, Geo. F. The New Year’s Song. Text Emily Huntington Miller. SATB and chorus.
p.94.
Raymur. The Clock. SATB. p. 94.
Dorn, Edouard [pseud. of Joseph Leopold Röckel]. Rayon du Soleil, Galop (Sunbeam), op. 40.
Arr. J. R. M[urray]. Violin or flute and piano, easy. pp. 109–11.
Turpin, Harry B. We Are a Merry Set (Fairy Waltz Song). Solo voice (Bar. or A), and keyboard.
pp. 112–15.
Kottaun, Celian. Danse de Czechs (Bohemian Dance). Piano solo. pp. 116–19.

Volume 11, number 5 (February 1882)

Sherwin, W. F., arr. The Lord My Shepherd Is. Solo voice (Bar. or A) and organ. p. 122.

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[Audran, Edmond.] “The ‘Gobble’ Duet” from La Mascotte. Text Farnie. Arr. Winthrop. Vocal
duet and piano. pp. 136–39.
Schultze, Clemens. Hunting Piece [Jagdstück], op. 36. Piano solo, medium difficulty.
pp. 140–42.
[Audran, Edmond.] “Mascotte Polka” [from La Mascotte]. Arr. J. R. M[urray]. Violin or flute
and piano, easy. pp. 143–45.
Franck, J. Andante. Keyboard solo. p. 146.

Volume 11, number 6 (March 1882)

Sherwin, W. F. The Lord Is Risen Indeed (for Easter). Duet (TA) and quartet (SATB). p. 150.
Archer, Frederic. The Sparrow’s Ditty (Sung by Madame Antoinette Sterling). Voice and
piano. pp. 164–67.
Phelps, Edward B. Greeting to Spring (Idyl, for piano). Dedicated to Miss Carrie M. Bartlett.
Piano solo, moderate difficulty. pp. 168–71.
Fruehling, Max. Five Minutes Polka. Arr. J. R. M[urray]. Piano solo, easy. pp. 172–74.

Volume 11, number 7 (April 1882)

Sherwin, W. F. The Door of Death Is the Door to Life (for Male Voices, suitable for Easter, or
Burial Services). Text H[ezekiah] Butterworth. TTBB and keyboard. p. 176.
Briggs, W. A. Ready, op. 134. Text Margaret J. Preston. Voice and piano. pp. 190–91.
Czibulka, A. Gavotte-Stephanie, op. 312. Piano solo, moderate difficulty. pp. 193–95.
Waldteufel, [Emil]. To Thee (A toi). Waltz no. 4. Arr. J. R. M[urray]. Violin or flute and piano.
pp. 196–98.
M[urray], J. R. Winnie’s March. Piano solo. p. 199.
Schubert, Fr. Andante, op. 137, no. 1 [D. 604?]. Piano solo. p. 200.

Volume 11, number 8 (May 1882)

Murray, James R. A Tear for the Comrade That’s Gone. Text Capt. T. F. Winthrop. SATB.
p. 204.
Krug, D. Flower Greeting [Blumengruß], op. 354, no. 2. Piano solo, moderate difficulty.
pp. 218–21.
Kimball, E. S. The Bonny Bells of Lynn. Text F. E. Weatherly. Voice and piano, somewhat
difficult. pp. 222–25.
Emmet, [Joseph Kline]. Wake Out. Arr. J. R. M[urray]. Piano and violin. pp. 226–28.

Volume 11, number 9 (June 1882)

Danks, H. P. One Hour with Thee. Text Louise M. Stenton. Voice and piano, easy. pp. 246–48.
Absesser, Edmund. Cruel Heart [Hartes Herz] (Mazurka), op. 269, no. 6. Piano solo. pp. 249–52.
Giese, Th. Heart’s Delight March, op. 160, no. 6. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 253–55.
Abt, Franz. When Eyelids Close. Voice and keyboard, easy. p. 256.

Volume 11, number 10 (July 1882)

Sherwin, W. F. Hail the Day of Freedom’s Birth. SATB and keyboard. p. 260.
Sherwin, W. F. Blow on, Wild Gales! (Glee for Mixed Voices). SATB and keyboard, moderate
difficulty. pp. 274–77.
Sennewald, Fritz. La Chatelaine (Polka Mazurka). Piano solo. pp. 278–81.

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Murray, J. R. The Ten Virgins, or When the Bridegroom Came. Optional solo and chorus
(SATB), and piano. pp. 282–84.

Volume 11, number 11 (August 1882)

R[oot], G. F. “Murmuring Sea” [from the Realm of Song]. Text Mrs. Crawford. SATB, a
cappella. p. 288.
Mullally, W. S. Always Meet Me with a Kiss, or Sweet Little Wife of Mine. Text Frank Dumont.
Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 302–5.
Pratt, S. G. Court Minuet. Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 306–9.
Ryan, Sidney. The Jolly Picnic Waltz. Piano solo, grade 2. pp. 310–12.

Volume 11, number 12 (September 1882)

Murray, James R. Our Blossom. Text M. V. B. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 330–32.
Spindler, F. The Bells of the Valley, op. 311, no. 4. Piano solo. pp. 333–36.
Behr, Francois. Mignon Polka, op. 55, no. 2. Piano solo. pp. 337–40.

Volume 11, number 13 (October 1882)

Williams, C. C. We’re Floating Down the Stream. Text Mrs. M. O. Page. SATB and chorus.
p. 344.
Wellings, Milton. Dreaming. Text E[dward] Oxenford. Voice and piano. pp. 358–61.
Michaelis, Gustav. Wera-Galop, op. 120. Piano solo, easy. pp. 362–65.
Murray, J. R. Fanchon Schottische. Violin or flute and piano. pp. 366–68.

Volume 11, number 14 (November 1882)

R[oot], G. F. O Come, Let Us Sing. SATB. p. 372.
Murray, James R. Only One Song Can I Sing (Ballad). Voice and piano. pp. 386–88.
DeCamp, Evelyn. “Little Anna” Waltz. Keyboard solo, easy. pp. 389–91.
Rowe, G. H. Crystal Lake Polka. Arr. J. R. M[urray]. Piano four hands, moderate difficulty.
pp. 392–95.

Volume 11, number 15 (December 1882)

Sherwin, W. F. The Story of the Bells. SATB and duet, and inst[ruments]. p. 400.
Murray, J. R. The Children’s Day. SATB and chorus. p. 400.
“Winthrop.” Merry Christmas (Polka). Piano solo, medium difficulty. pp. 415–17.
Molloy, J. L. As of Old. Text F. E. Weatherly. Voice and piano. pp. 418–20.
Kiallmark. The Old Oaken Bucket. Flute or violin and piano. p. 421.
Kinkle, C. Meadow Spring Schottische. Arr. “Winthrop.” Piano four hands, moderate difficulty.
pp. 422–25.

Volume 12, number 1 (January 1883)

Root, Geo. F. The Song of the Chemist. TTBB. p. 2.
anon. The Old Attic. Text Malcolm Douglas. SATB. p. 2.
Mozart, [W. A.]. “Minuet” from Mozart’s Symphony in E-Flat [no. 39, K. 543]. Piano four
hands, grade 3. pp. 16–19.
Küchenmeister, Wilh. Thou’rt Like unto a Flower, op. 4, no. 11 (English and German text). Text
H. Heine. Voice and piano, not difficult. pp. 20–22.

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Collin, Aly. L. Sweet Dreams (Nocturne), op. 7. Piano solo, medium difficulty. pp. 23–26.

Volume 12, number 2 (February 1883)

Root, G. F. Health Is a Rosy Maiden. Waltz song and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 44–46.
Schuster, Wenzel. Alpine Rose (Idyl), op. 21. Piano solo. pp. 47–49.
Wagner, Richard. “March” from Tannhäuser. Piano four hands, moderate difficulty. pp. 50–53.
Westendorf, Thomas P. I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen. Flute or violin and piano. p. 54.

Volume 12, number 3 (March 1883)

Wagner. “On, Romans, On!” from Rienzi (Battle Hymn/Schlachthymne). (English and German
text). Voice and piano, medium difficulty. pp. 73–75.
Kohler, Oscar. Wild Rose, op. 68. Piano solo. pp. 76–77.
Morey, Fred. L. Two Soft Brown Eyes, op. 17. Voice and piano. pp. 78–80.
Root, G. F. “Oh, Radiant Morn!” from Pure Delight. Text Hezekiah Butterworth. Gospel hymn.
p. 81.
Case, C. C. “Only Jesus” from Pure Delight. Text E. A. Barnes. Gospel hymn. p. 81.
Porter, H. W. Our Lord Arose. Text Emma Pitt. Easter carol. p. 82.

Volume 12, number 4 (April 1883)

Schroeter, Max. Jack’s Sweetheart. Text Delacour Daubigny. Solo and chorus, and piano.
pp. 100–102.
Sherwin, W. F. ’Mid Evening Shadows. Text Gregory, tr. Rev. Ray Palmer. Vocal duet
and piano. pp. 103–6.
Murray, J. R. In Remembrance. Piano solo. pp. 107–10.
Root, Geo. F., arr. “To the Lord Jesus Christ Be the Glory” from Pure Delight. Gospel hymn
(interlude optional). p. 111.

Volume 12, number 5 (May 1883)

Murray, James R. Hallowed Memories (A Memorial Song). SATB and keyboard. pp. 128–31.
[Ryan, Sidney.] Six Minutes Polka. Piano four hands, moderate difficulty. pp. 132–33.
Gordon, G. S. Prayer of Mary, Queen of Scots (English and Latin text). Solo voice (C) and
keyboard. pp. 134–35.
Ryan, Sidney. Veilchen (Nocturne for the Piano). Piano solo, grade 3 advanced. pp. 136–38.
Root, G. F. “Our Marching Orders” from Pure Delight. Gospel hymn. p. 139.

Volume 12, number 6 (June 1883)

Work, Henry C. Come, Pretty School-Girl! Or The Little White Cottage on Evergreen Square.
Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 157–59.
[Lamothe, George.] The Blue Alsatian Waltz. Piano four hands, moderate difficulty. pp. 160–63.
Beyer, Carl, arr. Echoes from Home (Grand March). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 164–66.
Case, C. C. “I Will Praise Thee, O Lord” from Pure Delight. Anthem. p. 167.
R[oot], G. F. “The Law of Love” from Choir and Congregation. Chant response. SATB.
p. 167.

Volume 12, number 7 (July 1883)

Sherwin, W. F. Freedom’s Day. T solo and TTBB. p 170.

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Murray, James R. Where Art Thou? (Quartet for Male Voices). Dedicated to the Mystic Quartet
of Mt. Auburn, Cincinnati. TTBB and keyboard, moderate difficulty. pp. 184–86.
Roeckel, Joseph L. A Modern Pastoral. Text Frederick Langbridge. Voice and piano.
pp. 187–89.
Ryan, Sidney. The Shepherd Boy’s Dream. Piano solo. pp. 190–93.
Marziales, T. Twickenham Ferry. Flute or violin and piano, grade 3. p. 194.

Volume 12, number 8 (August 1883)

Work, Henry C. The Silver Horn. Solo and chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 212–14.
[Pascal, Florian.] Cymbia Waltz. Arr. “Winthrop.” Piano solo, medium difficulty. pp. 215–18.
Pinsuti, Ciro. If Sighs Had Wings. Text Edward Oxenford. Voice and piano. pp. 219–22.

Volume 12, number 9 (September 1883)

Hill, Jerome. One Morning, Oh, So Early. Text Jean Ingelow. Voice and piano. pp. 240–43.
Lewis, Charles L. Sweetest Flower. Piano solo. pp. 244–47.
Geza, K. Döme. Persian Schah (Fest March). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 248–50.

Volume 12, number 10 (October 1883)

Cowen, Frederic H. The Night Has a Thousand Eyes. Text Mrs. Hemans. Voice and piano.
pp. 268–70.
Bendel, Franz. Good Night [Gute Nacht]. Piano solo, moderate difficulty. pp. 271–73.
Case, C. C. Our Nation Forever. Text Wallace Bruce, Esq. Dedicated to Lewis Miller, Esq.,
President Chautauqua Assembly. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 274–76.
Ryan, Sidney. Dance of the Fairies (Polonaise). Piano solo, medium difficulty. pp. 277–79.

Volume 12, number 11 (November 1883)

Roeckel, Joseph L. A Bird in Hand. Text Fred. E. Weatherly. Voice and piano. pp. 296–98.
Ryan, Sidney. Always Bright Waltz. Piano solo. pp. 299–301.
Pape, C. O. Just as Easy March. Piano four hands, easy. pp. 302–3.
Roeckel, Joseph L. Never Too Late to Mend. Text Fred E. Weatherly. Voice and piano.
pp. 304–6.

Volume 12, number 12 (December 1883)

Morley, Hester. Merry Greeting Quickstep (with the Visitor’s compliments of the season).
Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 326–28.
Pascal, [Florian]. “The Sea of Life” from Cymbia. Ed. “Winthrop.” Voice and piano.
pp. 329–31.
Marks, B. Daylight Galop. Piano four hands. pp. 332–33.
Ludovic, G. L’Azalea (Valse Elegante), op. 90. Piano solo, easy. pp. 334–36.
Root, G. F. Following the Star. Text H[ezekiah] Butterworth. Hymn. p. 337.
Murray, J. R. The Song We Love. Hymn. p. 337.

Volume 13, number 1 (January 1884)

Root, Geo. F. No Section Lines. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 16–18.
Gotze, Joh. Gondola-Gavotte, op. 13. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 19–21.

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Hartsough, Palmer. The Sweet Good-Bye of My Darling. Dedicated to Miss M. Song and chorus
(SATB), and keyboard. pp. 22–24.
Pontius, W. H. Constancy. Arr. from his song. Cornet and piano. pp. 25–26.

Volume 13, number 2 (February 1884)

Fase, Henry. Never Mind the Rest. Arr. J. Ahrem. Solo and chorus (SATB), and piano,
easy. pp. 45–47.
Autgaerden, F. van. L’Arc en ciel (Polka Mazurka), op. 56. Piano solo. pp. 48–50.
Pascal, [Florian]. “I’m Musicl’y Mad,” (King’s Song from Cymbia). Ed. “Winthrop.” Voice and
piano. pp. 51–53.
Ludovic, G. Ida (Galop), op. 89. Piano solo. pp. 54–55.

Volume 13, number 3 (March 1884)

Fiske, Wm. O. My Love So True. Voice and piano, moderate difficulty. pp. 72–74.
Suppé, Franz v[on]. “Fanfani-Marsch” from Die Afrikareise. Piano solo. pp. 75–78.
Autgaerden, F. van. Youthful Pleasures (Schottische), op. 56. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 79–81.

Volume 13, number 4 (April 1884)

Pontius, W. H. Baby Angels (Ballad with Chorus). Text J. W. Riley. Solo and chorus (SATB),
and piano. pp. 100–103.
Popp, Wilh. Ringbahn-Galop (The Wrestlers), op. 334. Piano solo. pp. 104–7.
Autgaerden, F. van. The Bow in the Heavens (L’Arc en ciel) (Redowa). op. 56. Piano solo.
pp. 108–9.
Root, G. F. “The Easter Angels” from The Easter Angels. Text Ernest W. Shurtleff. Easter
carol. p. 110.
Murray, J. R. “Bright Is the Morning” from The Easter Angels. Text Charlotte B. Merritt.
Easter carol. p. 110.

Volume 13, number 5 (May 1884)

Murray, James R. The Silent Camp (A memorial song for male voices). TTBB and keyboard.
pp. 128–30.
Lichner, H. On the Meadow (Auf der Wiese), op. 95, no. 2. Piano solo. pp. 131–33.
Henry, J. A. Song without Words (no. 1, “Sorrow”). Piano solo. pp. 134–35.
Adams, Stephen. A Warrior Bold. Text Edwin Thomas. Voice and piano. pp. 136–38.

Volume 13, number 6 (June 1884)

Heyer, Karl Otto. Willow Brook Farm. Text Josephine Furman. Voice and piano. pp. 155A–C.
Westendorf, Thos. P. To Love and Be Loved. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 155E–G.
Henry, J. A. Song without Words (no. 2, “Sympathy”). Piano solo. pp. 169–71.
Molloy, J. L. The Kerry Dance. Flute or violin and piano. pp. 172–73.

Volume 13, number 7 (July 1884)

Carroll, Chas. H. This Happy Land of Mine. SATB and chorus. p. 170.
R[oot], G. F. The Whistling Mountaineer. [The interlude may be whistled]. SATB and keyboard.
p. 170.
Westendorf, Thos. P. I Love the Sea. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano or organ. pp. 184–87.

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Pontius, W. H. Campaign March. Piano solo. pp. 188–91.
Towner, D. B. One in Heart and Soul. Text Mrs. C. L. S. Vocal duet (T/MS) and keyboard.
pp. 192–94.

Volume 13, number 8 (August 1884)

Pontius, W. H. We Shall Win Quickstep. Piano solo. pp. 212–14.
Stahl, Richard. Sing Me the Old Song Again, op. 241. Text Earnest Delancey Pierson. Dedicated
to my friend James F. Conly, Tenor of the Wilbur Opera Co. Song and chorus (SATB),
and piano. pp. 215–17.
Heyer, Karl Otto. Hush! The Tell-tale Flowers. Text Josephine Furman. Voice and piano.
pp. 218–20.
Wagner, Richard. “Bridal Chorus” from Lohengrin. Flute or violin and piano. pp. 221–22.

Volume 13, number 9 (September 1884)

Henselt, A[dolf von]. Love Song [Liebeslied, op. 5, no. 11]. Piano solo. pp. 240–42.
Lewis, Chas. L. Upon These Locks of Snow (Song for bass voices). B and piano, easy.
pp. 243–45.
Waldteufel, Emil. The Sirenes Waltz. Piano four hands. pp. 246–49.
anon. Slow, Slow! Toll it Low (Sailor’s Dirge). Text Geo. M. Boker. Voice and keyboard. p. 250.

Volume 13, number 10 (October 1884)

Marks, Godfrey. Sailing. Voice and piano. pp. 268–70.
Autgaerden, F. van. Youthful Pleasures (Waltz), op. 36. Piano solo, grade 2 advanced.
pp. 271–73.
Gallaher, J. J. Waving Banners (March Brillante). Piano four hands. pp. 274–77.
anon. Marche Joyeuse. Organ solo. p. 278.

Volume 13, number 11 (November 1884)

Case, C. C. Praise Waiteth for Thee (Opening or Thanksgiving Chorus). SATB and duet (SA).
p. 282.
Heyer, Karl Otto. Child Play. Text Horace Lennard. Voice and keyboard. pp. 296–98.
Pratt, S. G. The Rocking Minuet. Dedicated to Miss Carrie Ruth Wilder. Piano solo, moderate
difficulty. pp. 299–303.
Westendorf, Thos. P. Nancy Was Kneading the Dough. Text John A. Frazer, Jr. Song and chorus
(SATB), and piano. pp. 303–5.
anon. Florence Waltz. Keyboard solo. p. 306.

Volume 13, number 12 (December 1884)

Root, Geo. F. Memories of Bethlehem. Text H[ezekiah] Butterworth. Hymn. p. 327.
Murray, J. R. The Dear Old Christmas Story. Hymn. p. 327.
Root, Geo. F. The Star of Bethlehem (Quartet for Mixed Voices). SATB and piano. pp. 328–31.
Morley, Hester. Voices in the Air (Reverie for Christmas Eve). Piano solo, medium difficulty.
pp. 332–34.
Westendorf, Thomas P. You Are All the World to Me. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 335–37.
Ryan, Sidney. Coral Caves (Romance). Flute or violin and piano. p. 338.

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 Volume 14, number 1 (January 1885)
Lohr, Felix. But Thee Alone [Nur dich allein], op. 82. Trans. J. Ahrem. (English and German
text). Voice and piano. pp. 16–19.
Labitzky, A. First Love (Gavotte), op. 46. Piano solo, moderate difficulty. pp. 20–23.
Towner, D. B. A Home O’er the Sea (Waltz Quartet for Male Voices, senza piano). Text
Mrs. C. L. S. TTBB, a cappella. pp. 24–26.

Volume 14, number 2 (February 1885)

M[urray], J. R. “See the Snow Come Down” from The Triumph. Gospel hymn. p. 30.
Giese, Theodor. Stilles Landleben [Quiet Country Life], op. 176. Piano solo. pp. 45–48.
Berliner, S[elma]. Greeting [Gruss], [op. 8]. Trans. J. Ahrem. (English and German text). Voice
and piano. pp. 49–51.
Ryan, Sidney. Blue-eyed Witch Galop. Piano solo. pp. 52–54.

Volume 14, number 3 (March 1885)

Root, G. F. “Thou Art My Rock” from Wondrous Love. Hymn. p. 58.
Case, C. C. “The Story of His Love” from Wondrous Love. Text Mrs. M. O. Page. Gospel hymn.
p. 58.
Dick, [Cottsford?]. Jem. Arr. “Winthrop.” Voice and piano. pp. 72–75.
Cooper, William [pseud. of Franz Behr]. Pavanne Pompadour (a la Gavotte), op. 91. Piano solo,
grade 3. pp. 76–79.
Westendorf, Thos. P. Dear Baby Hands. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano. pp. 80–82.

Volume 14, number 4 (April 1885)

Root, G. F. Very Early in the Morn. Text M[ary] B. C. Slade. Hymn. p. 86.
Towner, D. B. He Is Risen. Text Mrs. C. L. Shacklock. Hymn. p. 86.
Lege, W. Love’s Confession [Liebesgeständnis], op. 99. Rev. and fing. “Winthrop.” Piano solo.
pp. 100–103.
Shields, Mrs. Henry. Just for the Old Love’s Sake. Arr. J. Ahrem. Voice and piano. pp. 104–7.
Kuchenmeister, A. Amors Erwachen [Love Awake], op. 72. Piano solo. pp. 108–10.

Volume 14, number 5 (May 1885)

Root, G. F. “Sweet Flowers Are Blooming” from Wondrous Love (Children’s Day). Text Clara
Louise Burnham. Hymn. p. 114.
Murray, J. R. “I Love to Trust in Jesus” from Wondrous Love. Hymn. p. 114.
Campbell, J. B. At the Making of the Hay (Waltz song). Text S. M. Peck. Voice and piano,
moderate difficulty. pp. 128–31.
Oesten, Th. The Organ Man, op. 65, no. l. Piano solo. pp. 132–34.
Rae, Geo., Jr. The Kitchen Clock. Text John V. Cheney. Voice and piano. pp. 135–38.

Volume 14, number 6 (June 1885)

Root, G. F. “Loving Him” from Wondrous Love. Hymn. p. 142.
Case, C. C. “Only” from Wondrous Love. Gospel hymn. p. 142.
Roeckel, Joseph L. A Devoted Apple. Text Frederic E. Weatherly. Voice and piano. pp. 156–59.
Czibulka, Alphons. Sans-Souci (Gavotte), op. 329, no. 1. Piano solo, moderate difficulty.
pp. 160–62.

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Tosti, F. Paolo. Ave Maria. Trans. “Winthrop.” (Italian and English text). Solo voice (S or T) and
piano. pp. 163–66.

Volume 14, number 7 (July 1885)

Westendorf, Thos. P. Temper de Win’ to Dat Poor Sheep (Jubilee Song and Refrain). Voice and
SATB, and piano. pp. 184–86.
Fink, Wilhelm. Roses of the Alps [Alpenrosen], op. 106. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 187–90.
Malmene, Waldemar. Loving Only You. Text John Scott. Song and chorus (SATB), and piano.
pp. 191–94.

Volume 14, number 8 (August 1885)

“Winthrop.” The Nation Mourns (March funèbre). In Memory of Gen. Grant. Keyboard solo,
easy. pp. 212–14.
Sweney, Jno. R. Say Thou Wilt Never Forget. Text Fanny J. Crosby. Song and chorus (SATB),
and piano. pp. 215–18.
Molloy, J. L. Love’s Old Sweet Song. Text G. Clifton Bingham. Voice and piano. pp. 219–22.

Volume 14, number 9 (September 1885)

Lange, Gustav. Thine Own [Dein eigen], op. 54. Piano solo, moderate difficulty. pp. 240–43.
Pratt, Charles E. Far from Home and Native Mountains. Text Theo. D. C. Miller. Voice
and piano. pp. 244–46.
anon. Oscar Wilde Galop. Arr. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 247–50.

Volume 14, number 10 (October 1885)

Root, Geo. F. Down the Line (The Engineer on His Train). Text A. K. Owen. Solo voice (B) and
keyboard. pp. 268–70.
Métra, Oliver. The Volunteers (Polka March). Rev. Piano solo. pp. 271–73.
Behrend, A. H. Surely. Text Mary Mark-Lemon. Voice and piano. pp. 274–77.
anon. Spanish. Flee as a Bird. Flute or violin and piano. p. 278.

Volume 14, number 11 (November 1885)

Heyer, Karl Otto. Murmur Low, O Ye Waves. Text Josephine Furman. Solo voice (A or B) and
piano. pp. 295–98.
Siewert, Heinrich. Morning Greeting (Meditation on a Popular German Melody), op. 57. Piano
solo. pp. 299–302.
Concone, J. Worship the Lord. Thanksgiving Anthem. SATB and keyboard. pp. 303–6.

Volume 14, number 12 (December 1885)

Root, Geo. F. The Lord’s Birthday. Text Clara Louise Burnham. Hymn. p. 312.
Sweney, John R. Ring, Sweet Bells. Text Eliza M. Sherman. Gospel hymn. p. 312.
Tours, Berthold. Sing, O Heavens. Arr. M[athew] Lindsay. Christmas anthem. pp. 326–29.
Murray, James R. In a Far Country. Text Arthur L. Salmon. Voice and keyboard. pp. 330–32.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Christmas Anthem. Anthem. SATB and organ. pp. 333–36.
anon. Inspiration. Organ Voluntary. p. 337.

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 Volume 15, number 1 (January 1886)
“Wurzel” [pseud. of George F. Root]. Blessed Are They. Anthem. SATB and piano. pp. 14–18.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Great Is the Lord. Quartet choir and organ. pp. 19–22.
Root, Geo. F. Hours of Holy Time. Hymn Anthem. SATB and piano. pp. 23–25.
Haydn, J. Andante. Organ Voluntary [no. 2, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 26.
Mozart, W. A. Lento. Organ Voluntary [no. 3, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 27.

Volume 15, number 2 (February 1886)

anon. The Lord Is My Shepherd. Solo voice (S). The accompaniment may be played upon the
organ or hummed by the choir [emphasis original]. p. 30.
Root, G. F. From the Cares of the World. Anthem. S or T solo and chorus (SATB), and
piano. pp. 41–42.
McPhail, M. L. I Will Magnify Thee. Dedicated to my friend N. Coe Stewart Cleveland, Ohio.
Anthem. S and chorus (SATB), and organ. pp. 43–49.
Lindsay, Mathew. Rest of the Weary. Anthem. SA and SATB, and piano. pp. 50–51.
Attwood, Thomas. Come, Holy Ghost. S and SATB. p. 52.
Spohr. Andantino. Organ Voluntary [no. 4, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 53.
Schneider, Fr. Communion. Organ Voluntary [no. 5, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 54.
Haydn. Largo. Organ Voluntary [no. 6, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 55.

Volume 15, number 3 (March 1886)

Beethoven, L. v. Moderato. Organ Voluntary [no. 9, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 58.
Grape, Jno. T. He Hath Redeemed the World (Anthem for Easter). SATB and organ. pp. 69–73.
Root, Geo. F. Lift Up Your Heads. Text Rev. Geo. Weissel (Easter chorus). S and SATB, and
piano. pp. 74–77.
Gounod, Ch. Blessed Is He Who Cometh in the Name of the Lord (Anthem for Easter). SA and
SATB, and piano. pp. 78–79.
McPhail, M. L. Show Me the Way (Sacred Solo and Quartette). S and SATB, and piano.
pp. 80–82.
Cramer. Postlude. Organ Voluntary [no. 19, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 83.
Hall, J. E. “Easter Tide” from The Risen Christ. Text Eliza M. Sherman. Hymn. p. 84.

Volume 15, number 4 (April 1886)

Root, Geo. F. “Resurrection” from Easter Chimes. Text Clara Louise Burnham. Hymn. p. 86.
Sweney, John R. “Our Risen Lord” from Easter Chimes. Text Emma Pitt. Hymn.
p. 86.
McPhail, M. L. Christ the Lord Is Risen To-day (Anthem for Easter). SA and quartet (SATB),
and piano. pp. 97–99.
Muller, F. Blessing, and Glory, and Wisdom (Sentence). Arr. H. P. Danks. SATB and piano.
pp. 100–101.
Murray, J. R. Christ, Our Passover (Anthem for Easter). Dedicated to the Choir of the Mt.
Auburn Baptist Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. ST, AB, and SATB, optional accompaniment.
pp. 102–5.

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Boex, A. J. Hallelujah! Christ Is Risen (Easter anthem). SATB and organ. pp. 106–8.
Muller, J. A. Larghetto. Organ Voluntary [no. 7, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 109.
Scharwenka, Ph. March for Festival Occasions, op. 45, no. 2. Organ Voluntary [no. 12,
Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. pp. 110–11.

Volume 15, number 5 (May 1886)

Mozart, W. A. Ave verum. Organ Voluntary [arr. from K. 618; no. 8, Murray’s One Hundred
Organ Voluntaries]. p. 114.
McPhail, M. L. Come unto Me, When Shadows Darkly Gather. Dedicated to my friend James R.
Murray, Editor, Musical Visitor. S, T and quartet (SATB), and organ. pp. 125–27.
Thompson, Dr. Blessed Be the Lord (Introit). Arr. SATB and piano. pp. 128–29.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Behold, O God, Our Shield. AT, SA, Bar. and quartet (SATB), and organ.
pp. 130–33.
Root, Geo. F. Lord, We Come before Thee Now (Hymn anthem). A, S, TB, and Choir (SATB),
and piano. pp. 134–37.
Scharwenka, Ph. Melody, op. 45, no. 4. Organ Voluntary [no. 10, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 138.
Beethoven, L. v. Pastorale. Organ Voluntary [no. 11, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 139.
Barnby, J. Sleep Thy Last Sleep from James R. Murray’s Consolation. Hymn. p. 140.

Volume 15, number 6 (June 1886)

Sarti, [Giuseppe]. Amplius lava me [from second movement of Miserere in F Minor]. Organ
Voluntary [no. 13, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 142.
Clayton, C. F. Jesus, My Lord. S, A, and quartet (SATB), and piano. pp. 153–55.
Sarchet, John H. Consider the Lilies. SA and quartet (SATB), and organ. pp. 156–59.
Dunham, J. R. Arise and Shine. T, SA, and SATB. pp. 160–64.
Lindsay, M[athew]. Have Mercy upon Me, O Lord. SATB and piano. p. 165.
Boyce, Dr. Solemn March. Organ Voluntary [no. 14, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 166.
Gounod. Come unto Him. Organ Voluntary [no. 15, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 167.
Saboly, [Nicolas]. Prelude. Organ Voluntary [no. 16, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 167.
Murray, J. R. “Redemption’s Story” from The Great Awakening. Gospel hymn. p. 168.

Volume 15, number 7 (July 1886)

Mendelssohn, [Felix]. O for the Wings of a Dove. Organ Voluntary [no. 17, Murray’s One
Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 170.
Palmer, H. R. Trust Ye in the Mighty God. SATB. pp. 181–83.
McPhail, M. L. Praise the Lord! Dedicated to Professor Johannes Wolfram, President,
O.M.T.A. SA and SATB, and keyboard. pp. 184–88.
Gounod, [Charles]. “Lovely Appear” from Redemption. Arr. J. R. M[urray]. SATB and
keyboard. pp. 189–91.
Murray, J. R. Oh, Taste and See. SATB and keyboard. pp. 192–93.

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Haydn. Slow Movement. Organ Voluntary [no. 18, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 194.
Rimbault, [Edward F.]. Andante. Organ Voluntary [no. 20, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 195.

Volume 15, number 8 (August 1886)

Beethoven. Andante. Organ Voluntary [no. 21A, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 198.
Vava. Prelude. Organ Voluntary [no. 21B, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 198.
Bartlett, [Dr.] M[aro] L. Let the Words of My Mouth (Sentence). TTBB. p. 209.
Barnby, J. Grant to Us, Lord, We Beseech Thee. Anthem. SATB and organ. pp. 210–13.
Root, G. F. One Sweetly Solemn Thought (Hymn anthem). T, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 214–16.
Crozier, E. W. Peace, Troubled Soul. Dedicated to Miss Margaret Johns. Solo voice (A or Bar)
and keyboard. pp. 217–19.
Callcott, [John George]. Great Is the Lord. Arr. J. R. M[urray]. SA, SATB, and keyboard.
pp. 220–21.
Seyfried. Gloria. Organ Voluntary [no. 22, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
pp. 222–23.
Rinck, [J. C. H.]. Prelude. Organ Voluntary [no. 23, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 223.

Volume 15, number 9 (September 1886)

Kuhlau, [Friedrich]. Andante. Organ Voluntary [no. 24, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 226.
Rinck, [J. C. H.]. Prelude. Organ Voluntary [no. 25, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 226.
Meininger, J. C. Communion Hymn. SATB and keyboard. p. 237.
Malmene, Waldemar. Abide with Me. SATB and keyboard. pp. 238–43.
Novello, V. Like as the Hart Desireth the Water-Brooks. Adapted R. R. Ross. SATB and organ.
pp. 244–46.
Westendorf, Thomas P. With Broken and Contrite Spirit. Dedicated to Rev. A. A. Willits, D.D.,
Louisville, Kentucky. Sacred solo (B or A) and piano. pp. 247–49.
Wilhelm, Karl. O Come, Loud Anthems Let Us Sing (Hymn anthem). Arr. H. P. Danks. SATB
and keyboard. pp. 250–51.

Volume 15, number 10 (October 1886)

Root, G. F. All That Has Been Amiss (Hymn anthem). Solo and choir (SATB), and
keyboard. pp. 265–67.
Gluck. Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. Arr. H. P. Danks. SATB and keyboard. pp. 268–71.
Murray, J. R. The Lord Bless Thee and Keep Thee. SATB and keyboard. pp. 272–73.
Liszt, [Franz]. Jesus, Give Thy Servants. SATB and keyboard. pp. 274–76.
Cramer, J. B. Adagio Espressivo. Organ Voluntary [no. 26, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. pp. 277–78.
Smart, Henry. Andante Grazioso. Organ Voluntary [no. 27, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 278.

372
Rinck, [J. C. H.]. Fughetta. Organ Voluntary [no. 28, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 279.

Volume 15, number 11 (November 1886)

Root, Frederic W. The Earth Is the Lord’s. S or T, SATB, and keyboard, somewhat difficult.
pp. 293–99.
McPhail, M. L. Praise the Lord and Call upon His Name. S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 300–303.
Flower, Eliza. Now Pray We for Our Country. Arr. SATB and keyboard. pp. 304–6.
Mozart. Gloria. Organ Voluntary [no. 30, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 307.

Volume 15, number 12 (December 1886)

Tosti, F. Paolo. Ring Out, Wild Bells. Text Alfred Tennyson. Christmas carol. Cover.
Root, G. F. Swing the Golden Censers. Christmas carol. p. 310.
M[urray], J. R. Lord, Thy Happy Children Praise Thee. S, SAT,B and keyboard. p. 310.
McPhail, M. L. Behold, I Bring You Good Tidings. SA, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 321–24.
Danks, H. P. Shout the Glad Tidings. SATB and keyboard. pp. 325–26.
Cranmer, E. L. The Angel’s Song. Text Edmund H. Sears. SA, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 327–28.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Christmas Anthem. Text A. D. Stevens. SATB and keyboard. pp. 329–32.
Kuhlau, [Friedrich]. Adagio Sostenuto. Organ Voluntary [no. 31, Murray’s One Hundred
Organ Voluntaries]. pp. 333–34.
Pleyel, [Ignaz]. Adagio. Organ Voluntary [no. 32, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 334.
Forbes, J. Winchell. Toccata. Organ Voluntary [no. 33, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 335.

Volume 16, number 1 (January 1887)

Vilbac, R. de. Service Prelude. Organ Voluntary [no. 35, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 2.
Murray, J. R. A Few More Years Shall Roll. Text Dr. [Horatius] Bonar. A or Bar., SATB, and
keyboard. pp. 13–17.
R[oot], G. F. Now unto Him. SATB and keyboard. pp. 18–21.
Cranmer, Ed. O Lord, Most Merciful, Hear Our Prayer. Dedicated to the Etelka Choral
Union of Jersey City, New Jersey. SATB and keyboard. pp. 22–25.
Beethoven, L. v. Moderato. Organ Voluntary [no. 36, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 26.
Beethoven, L. v. Allegretto Moderato. Organ Voluntary [no. 37, Murray’s One Hundred
Organ Voluntaries, incomplete]. p. 27.

Volume 16, number 2 (February 1887)

Wilm, N. von. Andantino. Organ Voluntary [no. 38, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 30.
Brumback, E. G. Blessed Is the Man. B, S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 41–45.
Lenz, L. O All Ye Lands Rejoice. Arr. H. P. Danks. SATB and keyboard. pp. 46–49.
Hastie, Wm. A. One Day Nearer Home. Solo, quartet (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 50–52.
Murray, J. R. The Day Is Ended. SATB and keyboard. p. 53.

373
Vilbac, R. de O Sanctissima. Organ Voluntary [no. 34, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. pp. 54–55.

Volume 16, number 3 (March 1887)

Wilm, Nicolai von. Nocturne. Organ Voluntary [no. 39, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 58.
Danks, H. P. Hosanna, Blessed Is He That Cometh. Arr. from Novello. SATB and keyboard.
pp. 68–71.
R[oot], G. F. Seals Are Shattered (Easter). SATB and keyboard. pp. 72–77.
Murray, J. R. Hallelujah, He Is Risen. SATB and keyboard. pp. 78–81.
M[urray], J. R. Blessed Are They (Response). SATB. p. 82.
Batiste, [Antoine] E[douard]. Communion in G. Organ Voluntary [no. 44, Murray’s One
Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 83.

Volume 16, number 4 (April 1887)

Herrling, J. M. Andante. Organ Voluntary [no. 45, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 86.
Danks, H. P. Christ, Our Passover (Easter anthem). SATB and keyboard. pp. 97–102.
Blose, J. M. Lift Up Your Heads, op. 6. SATB and keyboard. pp. 103–7.
Westendorf, Thos. P. Joy! Behold! And Wonder! S, T, SATB, and keyboard. p. 108.
Murray, J. R. There Is a Green Hill Far Away. Quartet (SATB). p. 109.
Righini. Alla Marcia. Organ Voluntary [no. 40, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
pp. 110–11.
B., F. H. Voluntary. Organ Voluntary [no. 41, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 111.

Volume 16, number 5 (May 1887)

Battmann, J. L. Marche Joyeuse, op. 332. Organ Voluntary [no. 49, Murray’s One Hundred
Organ Voluntaries]. p. 114.
Root, G. F. Sweetly Rise the Strains Melodious (Hymn anthem). SATB. pp. 125–29.
McPhail, M. L. To Thee, O God and Savior. B, T or S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 130–33.
Blum, O. R. New Rock of Ages. SATB and keyboard. pp. 134–35.
Meares, Geo. D. Jesus, Lover of My Soul. T or S, SATB, and keyboard. p. 136.
Reinecke. Prelude. Organ Voluntary [no. 54, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 137.
Beethoven. Andante. Organ Voluntary [no. 46, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
pp. 138–39.
Guest, A. M. Andantino. Organ Voluntary [no. 47, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 139.

Volume 16, number 6 (June 1887)

Spohr. Adagio in F. Organ Voluntary [no. 51, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 142.
Abt, Franz. Morn Awakes in Silence (Morning Hymn Anthem). Arr. H. P. Danks. SATB
and keyboard. pp. 153–55.

374
Wilson, Geo. F. Oh, Let Those Whose Sorrow. Dedicated to Deacon Albert G. Sweetser,
Wakefield, Massachusetts. SATB. p. 156.
Tours, Berthold. All Is Peace. Text Edward Oxenford. SATB and keyboard. pp. 157–59.
Hall, J. E. Make a Joyful Noise. S, B, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 160–64.
Moir, F. L. Andante Grazioso. Arr. Organ Voluntary [no. 57, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 165.
Mendelssohn, [Felix]. “Marche Funèbre” [from Songs without Words, op. 62, no. 3 /no. 29 in
Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. Organ Voluntary. pp. 166–67.

Volume 16, number 7 (July 1887)

Battmann, J. L. Moderato. Organ Voluntary [no. 56, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 170.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Bless the Lord. SATB and organ. pp. 181–85.
Root, George F. Jerusalem. SSA and choir, a cappella. pp. 186–87.
Bartlett, M. L., arr. Come, Ye Disconsolate (Male Voices). TTBB, a cappella. p. 188.
Wilson, Geo. F. Jesus, Lover of My Soul. SATB and organ. pp. 189–91.
Chopin. Tema Religioso. Organ Voluntary [no. 58, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 192.
B[attmann], J. L. Prelude or Response. Organ Voluntary [no. 59, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 193.
[Battmann, J. L.]. Prelude or Response. Organ Voluntary [no. 60, Murray’s One Hundred
Organ Voluntaries]. p. 193.
Batiste, [Antoine]-E[douard]. Communion in E-flat. Organ Voluntary [no. 42, Murray’s
One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. pp. 194–95.
Massenet, J. Andante con moto. Organ Voluntary [no. 43, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 195.

Volume 16, number 8 (August 1887)

Archer, Frederic. Andante con moto. Organ Voluntary [no. 48, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 198.
Morton, J. V., arr. On the Mountain Tops Appearing. Text T. Kelly. Solo and chorus
(SATB), and keyboard. pp. 209–11.
Oberthür, Charles. Give Ear, O Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 212–15.
Root, Geo. F., arr. Lord, We Pray Thee. T, A, Choir (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 216–19.
Schoff, Mrs. Dr. J. S. Stay, Holy Spirit. Text W. B. W. Alto, quartet (SATB), and keyboard.
pp. 220–21.
Battmann, [J. L.]. March or Prelude. Organ Voluntary [no. 50, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. pp. 222–23.

Volume 16, number 9 (September 1887)

Unable to locate.

Volume 16, number 10 (October 1887)

Haydn, [F. J.]. “Andantino” from Symphony in D. Organ Voluntary [no. 62, Murray’s One
Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 254.
Gowen, Edw. H. I Heard the Voice of Jesus. Solo voice(s) and keyboard. p. 265.

375
Elvey, Sir George. Blessed Are They That Fear the Lord. Arr. SATB and keyboard. pp. 266–69.
Root, Geo. F. Incline Thine Ear to Me. B, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 270–73.
Murray, J. R., arr. In Heavenly Love Abiding. Text Mrs. Waring. SA, SATB, and optional
keyboard. pp. 274–75.
Collier, Rev. Edward A., arr. Response to the Commandments. SATB. p. 276.
Heetz[?], W. L. Thy Will Be Done. Text Lucy A. Booth. Hymn. p. 276.
Weber. Cradle Song [Wiegenlied]. Arr. Organ Voluntary [no. 64, Murray’s One Hundred
Organ Voluntaries]. p. 277.
Haydn, [Franz] Joseph. Melody. Organ Voluntary [no. 65, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 277.
Schubert, Franz. Allegretto (Posthumous work). Organ Voluntary [no. 61, Murray’s One
Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. pp. 278–79.

Volume 16, number 11 (November 1887)

Handel, G. F. Aria. Organ Voluntary [no. 70, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 282.
Haydn, [Franz] Joseph. Melody. Organ Voluntary [no. 71, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 282.
Fisher, Madeleine. Offertory. SAT and organ. pp. 293–95.
Smith, S. G. I Was Glad (Dedication anthem). ST, SA, SATB, and instrument. pp. 296–99.
Hall, J. E. I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes. SA, SATB, and organ. pp. 300–305.
Westbrook. Pleyel’s Hymn. Organ Voluntary [no. 63, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 306.
Haydn, [Franz] Joseph. “Most Beautiful Appear” [The Creation, intro. to no. 19]. Organ
Voluntary [no. 66, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 307.

Volume 16, number 12 (December 1887)

Gluck, Chr. von. March. Organ Voluntary [no. 69, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 310.
Danks, H. P. In the Beginning Was the Word (Christmas anthem). B, SATB, and keyboard.
pp. 321–25.
Grape, Jno. T Sing unto the Lord (Anthem for Christmas). Dedicated to my friend Prof. Harry
Sanders. SA, SATB, and organ. pp. 326–29.
Pontius, W. H. Glory to God on High. Dedicated to the choir of the First Congregational Church,
Mansfield, Ohio. SA, Bar. or A, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 330–32.
Root, G. F. From the Deep Star-laden Sky. Text Clara L. Burnham. Hymn. p. 333.
Murray, J. R. Bethlehem. Text Mrs. S. E. Burroughs. Hymn. p. 333.
Vilbac. Adeste Fideles, arr. Organ Voluntary [no. 82, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. pp. 334–35.

Volume 17, number 1 (January 1888)

Gluck, Chr. von. “Air” from Orpheus. Organ Voluntary [no. 68, Murray’s One Hundred
Organ Voluntaries]. p. 2.
Root, Frederic W. This Is the Father’s Will. SATB and keyboard. pp. 13–17.
McPhail, M. L. Love Divine. S, A or B, chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 18–21.

376
Woodward, Rev. H. H. The Sun Shall Be No More Thy Light by Day. SATB and organ.
pp. 22–25.
Himmel. Introductory Voluntary. Organ Voluntary [no. 77, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 26.
L[éfébure-]Wély, [Louis James Alfred]. Sacred Piece. Organ Voluntary [no. 73, Murray’s
One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 27.
Caldara. Introductory Voluntary. Organ Voluntary [no. 74, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 30.
Kozeluch. Introductory Voluntary. Organ Voluntary [no. 75, Murray’s One Hundred
Organ Voluntaries]. p. 30.

Volume 17, number 2 (February 1888)

Sherwin,W. F. Evening Hymn. Text Mrs. R. N. Turner. SATB. p. 41.
Root, G. F. I Am the Bread of Life. SATB, optional accompaniment. pp. 42–43.
Black, J. W. Sing to the Lord Jehovah’s Name. SATB and keyboard. pp. 44–46.
Sutton, W. S. Gethsemane. SA, chorus (SATB), and organ. pp. 47–49.
Campiglio, Paolo F., arr. O God of Hosts. Text George H. Rareshide. T or S, SATB, and organ.
pp. 50–51.
Gilmore, H. G. Lead Us, Heavenly Father, Lead Us. Dedicated to the Mehan and Arion Male
Quartets of Detroit, Michigan. [H. G. Gilmore, organist and choirmaster]. TTBB. p. 52.
Haydn, M. Creator Alma. Organ Voluntary [no. 80, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 53.
Cramer. Introductory Voluntary. Organ Voluntary [no. 76, Murray’s One Hundred
Organ Voluntaries]. pp. 54–55.
Henkel. Introductory Voluntary. Organ Voluntary [no. 77, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 55.
L[éfébure-]Wély, [Louis James Alfred]. Adagio. Organ Voluntary [no. 83, Murray’s One
Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 58.

Volume 17, number 3 (March 1888)

Elvey, Sir George. “Christ Being Raised from the Dead” from The Resurrection and Ascension
(Easter anthem). SATB and organ. pp. 69–73.
Danks, H. P. The Lord Is My Strength (Easter anthem). S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 74–79.
Gilmore, H. G. The Christian Soldier’s Easter Hymn. Text W. G. Jackson. Dedicated to Messrs.
J. C. Bachelder and Harrison Wright of St. Paul’s Cathedral Church, Detroit, Michigan.
Hymn. p. 80.
Hutchins, C. E. Beautiful Easter Day. Vocal duet (SA) and keyboard. p. 81.
Root, Geo. F. Raise the Song. Text Clara Louise Burnham. Hymn. p. 81.
Stanley, J. Prelude. Organ Voluntary [no. 84, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 82.
Battmann, [J. L.]. Andante. Organ Voluntary [no. 85, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 83.
Battmann, [J. L.]. Funeral March. Organ Voluntary [no. 81, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 86.

377
 Volume 17, number 4 (April 1888)
Root, Geo. F. Grant Us Thy Blessing, Our Father. A, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 97–99.
Spohr. “How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings Fair” from Festival Anthem. SATB and keyboard.
pp. 100–101.
Bruce, W. A. Near Babylon’s Rivers. SATB and keyboard. pp. 102–5.
Collier, Rev. E. A. Come unto Me. Hymn. p. 106.
Pontius, W. H. Response. No. 1 (after prayer). SATB. p. 107.
Pontius, W. H. Response. No. 2 (after prayer). SATB. p. 107.
Gounod. Kyrie eleison. Organ Voluntary [no. 78, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
pp. 108–9.
Batiste. Organ Movement. Organ Voluntary [no. 79, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 109.
Haydn. Allegretto. Organ Voluntary [no. 86, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 110.
Gounod. Motet. Organ Voluntary [no. 87, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 111.
M[urray], J. R. “Soldiers of Christ, March On” from Royal Praise. Text Alice M. Schoff.
SATB. p. 114.
“Winthrop.” “Brightly Gleams Our Banner” from Royal Praise. Text Rev. T. J. Potter. SATB.
p. 114.

Volume 17, number 5 (May 1888)

Root, G. F. Now unto Him. SATB. pp. 126–27.
R[oot], G. F. Consider the Lilies. SATB. pp. 128–29.
Cranmer, E. L. O Praise the Lord (Anthem). SATB and keyboard. pp. 130–33.
Manchester, W. N. Softly Now the Light of Day. Text [Bishop] G[eorge] W. Doane. SATB and
organ. pp. 134–36.
Collier, Edward A., arr. Response to the Commandments. SATB. p. 136.
anon. Sicilian. Andante. Organ Voluntary [no. 90, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 137.
Gounod. Motet. Organ solo. p. 138.
Herz, H. Sacred Melody. Organ Voluntary [no. 88, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. pp. 138–39.
anon. Chinese. Air. Organ Voluntary [no. 89, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 139.
Murray, J. R. “Waiting for Me” from Royal Praise. Gospel hymn. p. 142.
Quick, H. H. “Holiness Becometh Thine House” from Royal Praise. Sentence. SATB. p. 142.

Volume 17, number 6 (June 1888)

Gilmore, H. G. O Lord, My God. Dedicated to C. S. Burley. SATB. pp. 154–55.
Gilmore, H. G. O Blessed Savior. SATB and keyboard. pp. 156–57.
Blose, J. M. Jesus! Lover of My Soul, op. 11. Dedicated to the friends of Long Pine Chautauqua,
Long Pine, Nebraska. SATB and organ. pp. 158–62.
Knopfel, G. C. The Lord Is in His Holy Temple. Sentence. SATB and organ. p. 163.
anon. German. Melody. Organ Voluntary [no. 92, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. pp. 164–65.

378
Rinck, C. H. Prelude. Organ Voluntary [no. 93, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 165.
Schubert. Dona nobis. Organ Voluntary [no. 91, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
p. 166.
anon. Old German. Andante. Organ Voluntary [no. 94, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 167.
Murray, J. R. “Before the Bolted Door” from Royal Praise. Text Rev. Lowrie Hofford.
Gospel hymn. p. 170.
Sherwin, W. F. “God’s Care” from Royal Praise. Hymn. p. 170.

Volume 17, number 7 (July 1888)

Blose, J. M. Have Mercy upon Me, O Lord. Hymn. p. 181.
Blose, J. M. The Lord Is My Shepherd. SATB and keyboard. pp. 182–83.
McPhail, M. L. Jesus, Full of Love Divine. S, B, chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 184–87.
Knopfel, G. C. Heavenly Light (Response). SATB and keyboard. p. 188.
Knopfel, G. C. Love for Christ (Response). SATB and keyboard. p. 188.
D[anks], H. P., arr. Let Songs of Endless Praise. SATB and keyboard. pp. 189–91.
B[attmann], J. L. Communion. Organ Voluntary [no. 98, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 192.
Battmann, [J. L.]. Offertory. Organ Voluntary [no. 95, Murray’s One Hundred Organ
Voluntaries]. p. 193.
Hasse, J. A. Menuett. Organ Voluntary [no. 96, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries].
pp. 194–95.
[Lwoff, Alexis]. Russian National Hymn. Keyboard solo. p. 198.

Volume 17, number 8 (August 1888)

D[anks], H. P., arr. The Lord Is Great. SATB and keyboard. pp. 209–11.
Root, Geo. F. O Come, Let Us Worship. A, T, choir (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 212–15.
Bradt, C. J. The Song of Jubilee (Missionary). Solo, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 216–17.
Knopfel, G. C. To Prayer (Chant). SATB. pp. 218–19.
Knopfel, G. C. O Sinner, Come (Chant). SATB. p. 219.
Fesca. Offertory. Organ solo [no. 99, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. pp. 220–21.
Knecht. Finale. Organ Voluntary [no. 100, Murray’s One Hundred Organ Voluntaries]. p. 221.
Bracewell, W. March for Full Organ. Organ Voluntary. p. 222.
anon. Welsh. Triumphal Song. Keyboard solo. p. 223.
anon. German. Sleepers Wake. Keyboard solo. p. 226.

Volume 17, number 9 (September 1888)

Root, G. F. Return unto Thy Rest (Anthem). S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 237–39.
Flotow. O Holy Savior. Arr. Ewing. S or T, A, SATB, and organ. pp. 240–43.
Weiss, C. A. Lord of Mercy (Invocation). A or B, chorus, and keyboard. pp. 244–45.
Vance, J. P. And Is There, Lord, a Rest? Text Ray Palmer. SATB, a cappella. p. 246.
Knopfel, G. C. Thou Art the Source (Chant). SATB. p. 247.
anon. A Norwegian March. Keyboard solo. p. 248.
anon. German. Choral Song [O Sacred Head Now Wounded]. Keyboard solo. p. 249.
Gluck. Introductory Voluntary. Keyboard solo. p. 250.

379
Beethoven. Andante Cantabile. Keyboard solo. p. 251.
Schubert. Introductory Voluntary. Keyboard solo. p. 254.

Volume 17, number 10 (October 1888)

Knopfel, G. C. To Prayer (Chant). SATB. p. 265.
Malmene, W. Brief Life Is Here Our Portion (Anthem). SATB and keyboard. pp. 266–71.
Black, J. W. My God the Spring of All My Joys. Text [Isaac] Watts. SATB and keyboard.
pp. 272–75.
Knopfel, G. C. The Lord’s Prayer (Chant). SATB. p. 276.
anon. “Andante” from Bibliotheque Religieuse. Keyboard solo. p. 277.
Haydn. Introductory Voluntary. Keyboard solo. pp. 278–79.
Martini. Andante. Keyboard solo. p. 279.
anon. Adagio. Keyboard solo. p. 282.

Volume 17, number 11 (November 1888)

George, J. E. Lord, What Offering Shall We Bring? SATB and optional accompaniment. p. 293.
Murray, J. R. Sing Praises (Thanksgiving). SATB and organ. pp. 294–95.
Danks, H. P. Sing We Merrily unto God (Anthem). SATB and organ. pp. 296–99.
Towne, T. Martin. O Praise the Lord. SATB and optional accompaniment. pp. 300–302.
Wilson, Geo. F. Heaven Is My Home (for Male Voices). TTBB. p. 303.
Leybach, J. Offertory. Organ solo. pp. 304–5.
Steibelt. Introductory Voluntary. Organ Voluntary. pp. 306–7.
R[oot], G. F. Softly the Echoes Come and Go. SATB. p. 310.
Danks, H. P. O Merry, Merry Christmas. Text Cora Linden. SATB. p. 310.

Volume 17, number 12 (December 1888)

Root, G. F. As the Hart Panteth (Anthem). S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 321–25.
Murray, J. R. Thy Light Has Come (Christmas). SA, SATB, and organ. pp. 326–27.
Danks, H. P. Blessed Be the Lord (Christmas anthem). S or T, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 328–33.
Benson, J. A. Sing, O Ye Heavens; and Be Joyful, O Thou Earth (Christmas). Arr. SATB and
organ. pp. 334–39.
Graun, C. H. Concluding Voluntary. Keyboard solo. pp. 340–41.
Clementi. Introductory Voluntary. Keyboard solo. p. 341.
Graun. Moderato. Keyboard solo. pp. 342–43.
Leybach, J. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 343.
Lickl, C. G. Prelude. Organ solo. p 346.

Volume 18, number 1 (January 1889)

Knopfel, G. C. Our Life Is a Dream (Chant). SATB. p. 13.
Root, G. F. O Come, Let Us Sing (Anthem). pp. 14–19.
Knopfel, G. C. Simplicity (Metrical Chant). SATB. pp. 20–21.
Knopfel, G. C. O Sinner, Come (Chant). SATB. p. 21.
Malmene, Waldemar. Just As I Am. SATB and organ. pp. 22–25.
Haydn. Andante. Keyboard solo. pp. 27–28.
Leybach, J. Prelude. Organ solo. p. 27.
Knopfel, G. C. The Lord Is My Shepherd (Chant). SATB. p. 30.

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 Volume 18, number 2 (February 1889)
Sanders, Harry. Blessed Sleep. Hymn. p. 41.
Danks, H. P. Set Up Thyself, O God, Above the Heavens. Anthem. pp. 42–45.
Taylor, W. H. Praise Ye the Lord (Sentence). SATB and keyboard. pp. 46–47.
Root, G. F. Every Good Tree. SATB. pp. 48–49.
Knopfel, G. C. Jubilate. SATB. pp. 50–51.
K[nopfel], G. C. Gloria Patri. Hymn anthem, grade 3. p. 51.
Heller, S. Offertory, op. 47. Organ solo. pp. 52–53.
Schluty, J. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 53.
Schluty, J. Prelude. Organ solo. pp. 54–55.
anon. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 55
Kirkpatrick, Wm. J. Hail the Victor. Text Mrs. R. N. Turner. Easter carol. p. 58.
Sweney, Jno. R. Jesus Is Risen, Sing with Delight. Text E. E. Hewitt. Easter carol. p. 58.

Volume 18, number 3 (March 1889)

Root, Geo. F. He Is the King of Glory. SATB and keyboard pp. 69–73.
anon. The Lord Is Risen. SATB. pp. 74–75.
R[oot], G. F. How Beautiful upon the Mountains. SATB. pp. 76–77.
R[oot], G. F. Oh, Praise God, in His Holiness. Hymn. p. 77.
Sudds, W. F. Rest, Weary Heart (suitable for funeral occasions). SATB, optional keyboard.
pp. 78–79.
Wagner, R. “Bridal Chorus” from Lohengrin. Organ solo. pp. 80–81.
Haydn. Introductory Voluntary. Keyboard solo. pp. 82–83.
anon. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 83.
Wachs, F. Andantino. Keyboard solo. p. 86.

Volume 18, number 4 (April 1889)

Cranmer, Ed. L. Why Seek Ye the Living among the Dead. Dedicated to the Rev. Alex.
McKelvey. Easter anthem. pp. 97–101.
Fabiani, Signor [H. B.]. Passion Hymn. Voice and piano or organ. pp. 102–3.
Root, G. F. Come unto Me. SATB. pp. 104–5.
Harding, Henry. I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say. Voice, chorus (SATB), and keyboard.
pp. 106–8.
Mozart, W. A. “Moderato.” [Adapted from the third movement of his Sonata in B-flat, K. 333].
Keyboard solo. pp. 109–11.
Ries, F. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 114.
Wachs, F. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 114.

Volume 18, number 5 (May 1889)

Cranmer, Ed. L. Come Thou Fount. SATB and keyboard. pp. 125–27.
Grape, John T. O God, Hear My Prayer. Dedicated to Miss E. Agnes Childs, Baltimore,
Maryland. SATB and keyboard. pp. 128–29.
Hunter, Will. B. Oh, Come, Let Us Sing unto the Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 130–33.
Bonnell, J. F. Hymn of the Returning Heart. SATB and keyboard. pp. 134–35.
Wachs, F. Andantino Religioso. Keyboard solo. pp. 136–37.

381
Beethoven, L.v. “Adagio” [adapted from the second movement of his Sonata in C Minor,
op. 13]. Keyboard solo. pp. 138–39.
Wachs, F. Theme Fugue. Keyboard solo. p. 142.
Mozart, W. A. “Allegro Moderato” [adapted from the third movement of his Sonata in C Minor,
K. 457]. Keyboard solo. p. 142.

Volume 18, number 6 (June 1889)

Murray, J. R. In Thee, O Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 153–55.
Danks, H. P., arr. Praise the Lord, All Ye Nations. SATB and keyboard. pp. 156–59.
Barrows, Robert Y. He Shall Feed His Flock. SATB and keyboard. pp. 160–62.
Haydn, [Franz Joseph]. The Austrian Hymn [op. 73, no. 3]. Trans. C. M. Cady, Esq. Hymn.
p. 163.
Lwoff, Alexis. The Russian Hymn. Arr. Paul Gerhardt. Hymn. p. 163.
Wachs, F. Marche Nuptiale. Keyboard solo. pp. 164–65.
Mozart, W. A. March [Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492, no. 22, “Ecco la Marcia”]. Keyboard solo.
pp. 166–67.
Sachs, M. E. Melody. Keyboard solo. p. 170.

Volume 18, number 7 (July 1889)

Hall, J. E. I Will Extol Thee. SATB and keyboard. pp. 180A–G.
Root, G. F. If Any Man Will Come after Me. SATB. pp. 180H–I.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Praise the Lord. SATB and organ. pp. 180J–M.
Wanhall, J. Præludium. Keyboard solo, intermediate. pp. 180N–O.
Beethoven, L.v. Præludium. Piano solo. p. 180O.
Sachs, M. E. Study. Piano solo. p. 180P.
Baumfelder, Friederich. Moderato from op. 295 [“La Réconciliation”]. Piano solo. p. 180Q.
Behr, Franz. Meditation. Piano solo. p. 198.

Volume 18, number 8 (August 1889)

Smith, J. Benj. The Lord Bless Thee. SATB and keyboard. pp. 209–11.
Root, G. F. In My Father’s House. SATB. pp. 212–13.
Knopfel, G. C. Benedictus in D-Flat. SATB and keyboard. pp. 214–19.
Löw, Josef. Andantino Tranquillo, op. 142, no. 1. Piano solo. pp. 220–21.
Sachs, M. E. Traumerei. Piano solo. pp. 222–23.
Sachs, M. E. Adagio. Piano solo. p. 223.
Behr, Franz. Andantino. Piano solo. p. 226.

Volume 18, number 9 (September 1889)

Darnton, C. Blessed Be Thou. SATB and organ. pp. 237–39.
Root, G. F. Come and Hear. SATB and keyboard. pp. 240–43.
Hester, Mrs. Sallie A. Jesus, Lover of My Soul. SATB and keyboard. pp. 244–46.
Knopfel, G. C. Sanctus. SATB and organ. p. 247.
Sachs, M. E. Prelude. Piano solo. p. 248.
Sachs, M. E. Abschied (Parting). Piano solo. p. 249.
Sachs, M. E. Adagio. Piano solo. pp. 250–51.
Sachs, M. E. Adagio. Piano solo. p. 251.

382
Sachs, M. E. Adagio. Piano solo. p. 254.

Volume 18, number 10 (October 1889)

Moore, Edwin. The Lord Is My Shepherd. SATB and keyboard. pp. 265–69.
Morey, Fred. L. I Waited for the Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 270–73.
Wiley, R. T. Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled. SATB and keyboard. pp. 274–76.
André. Andante Moderato. Arr. Keyboard solo. p. 277.
André. Introductory Voluntary. Arr. Keyboard solo. p. 278.
Sachs, M. E. Offertory. Keyboard solo. p. 279.
Sachs, M. E. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 282.

Volume 18, number 11 (November 1889)

Danks, H. P. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem. SATB and keyboard. pp. 293–97.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Thanksgiving Anthem. SATB and keyboard. pp. 298–301.
Root, G. F. Jesus Shall Reign. SATB and keyboard. pp. 302–4.
Sachs, M. E. Melody. Keyboard solo. p. 305.
Sachs, M. E. Adagio. Keyboard solo. p. 306.
Lott, E. M. Fragment from an Andante by E. M. Lott. Keyboard solo. p. 307.
Root, G. F. Memories of Bethlehem. Text H. Butterworth. Hymn. p. 310.
Murray, J. R. Little Children Sweetly Sing. Text G. P. Handy. Hymn. p. 310.

Volume 18, number 12 (December 1889)

Root, Geo. F. Hark! A Thrilling Song. Text T. G. La Moille. SATB and keyboard. pp. 321–23.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Christmas Anthem No. 3. SATB and keyboard. pp. 324–28.
Morey, Fred. L. There Were Shepherds. Christmas anthem. SATB and keyboard. pp. 329–33.
Danks, H. P. Christ, the Lord, Is Born. Text Ida Scott Taylor. Carol. pp. 334–35.
Bollinger, A. E. Glory, Sing Glory to God in the Highest. SATB. p. 336.
Beethoven, L.v. Pastorale. Organ voluntary [no. 11, Murray’s One Hundred Voluntaries,
repeated from May 1886]. p. 337.
Watson, M. March. Arr. Keyboard solo. pp. 338–39.

Volume 19, number 1 (January 1890)

Mozart. Andante sostenuto. Keyboard solo. p. 2.
anon. I Was Glad. SATB and keyboard. pp. 13–15.
Root, G. F. I Will Arise. SATB. pp. 16–19.
Morey, Fred. L. God, My King. A, T, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 20–23.
Schubert. Marche religieuse. Keyboard solo. pp. 24–25.
Lott, E. M. Andante in G. Arr. Keyboard solo. pp. 26–27.
Mozart. Larghetto. Keyboard solo. p. 30.

Volume 19, number 2 (February 1890)

Murray, J. R. Happy Shalt Thou Be. SATB and keyboard. pp. 41–43.
Hall, J. E. The Earth Is the Lord’s. B, SA, quartet (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 44–47.
Root, G. F. Glad and Thankful (Hymn anthem). S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 48–50.
Knopfel, G. C. The Lord Is in His Holy Temple (Sentence). SATB. p. 51.
Hime, E. L. Romance. Arr. Keyboard solo. pp. 52–53.

383
Beethoven. Andante [Adapted from Symphony no. 6, op. 68]. Keyboard solo. pp. 54–55.
Beethoven. Prelude [Adapted from Symphony no. 6, op. 68]. Keyboard solo. p. 55.
Hall, J. E. Sing, Happy Voices. Easter carol. p. 58.
Root, G. F. He Lives! He Lives! Text Mrs. R. N. Turner. Easter carol. p. 58.

Volume 19, number 3 (March 1890)

Root, G. F. He Lives! He Lives! Text Mrs. R. N. Turner. SATB and keyboard. pp. 69–71.
Murray, J. R. Our Lord Is Risen from the Dead (Hymn anthem).Text C[harles] Wesley. SA, B,
SATB, and keyboard. pp. 72–75.
Root, G. F. Give unto the Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 76–79.
Handel. Andante. Keyboard solo. pp. 80–81.
Beethoven. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 81.
Mozart. Allegro non troppo. Keyboard solo. p. 82.
Beethoven. Andantino. Keyboard solo. p. 83.
Mozart. Andantino. Keyboard solo. p. 86.

Volume 19, number 4 (April 1890)

Root, G. F. Safely Through Another Week (Hymn anthem). SATB and keyboard. pp. 97–101.
Morey, Fred. L. Savior, Breathe an Evening Blessing. S, A, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 102–5.
Root, G. F. Lord, I Believe. Vocal duet (ST) and keyboard. pp. 106–7.
Knopfel, G. C. The Lord Is in His Holy Temple (Sentence). SATB. p. 108.
Rinck. Adagio. Keyboard solo. p. 109.
Czerny. “Allegro moderato” from op. 139 [no. 82]. Keyboard solo. p. 110.
Rossini. Marche funèbre. Keyboard solo. p. 111.
Murray, J. R. Sleep Thy Last Sleep. In memory of John Church. Died April 19, 1890. SATB,
a cappella. p. 114.

Volume 19, number 5 (May 1890)

Murray, J. R. Sleep Thy Last Sleep. In memory of John Church. Died April 19, 1890. SATB,
a cappella. p. v [repeat from April].
Sullivan, [Sir Arthur]. “Yea, Though I Walk” [from The Light of the World] (Unaccompanied).
Arr. F. Vinal. SATB. pp. 125–27.
Root, G. F. Sweet Is the Work (Hymn anthem). SA, T, choir (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 128–31.
Hiles, H. I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say (Unaccompanied). Arr. F. Vinal. SATB. pp. 132–33.
Rooke, W. M. Rest, Spirit, Rest (Requiem Offertory). Arr. H. Bialla. SSAA and keyboard.
pp. 134–35.
Beethoven. Marche funèbre [transcr. from Symphony no. 3]. Keyboard solo. pp. 136–37.
Rinck. Prelude in G-flat Major. Keyboard solo. p. 138.
Righini, Vincenzo. Benedictus. Keyboard solo. p. 139.
Webbe. Land of Our Fathers. SATB. p. 142.

Volume 19, number 6 (June 1890)

Webbe. Land of Our Fathers. SATB. p. v [repeat from May].
Steele, Clarence T. The Radiant Morn Hath Passed Away. Inscribed to Mr. Wenzel A. Rabach.
TTBB, a cappella (accompaniment for rehearsal only). pp. 153–55.
Root, G. F. Ye Are the Light of the World. SATB. pp. 156–57.

384
Root, Geo. F. Star of Endeavor! Text Rev. N. J. Squires. SATB and keyboard. pp. 158–60.
Root, G. F. United Thousands. SATB and keyboard. p. 161.
Mendelssohn. Come unto Me, Ye Weary (Unaccompanied). Arr. F. Vinal. SATB. pp. 162–63.
Dussek. Andantino. Keyboard solo. pp. 164–65.
Czerny, Karl. “Andante espressivo” [from op. 139, no. 34]. Keyboard solo. p. 166.
Schumann, [Robert]. “Moderato” [part 1 of “Winterzeit,” op. 68, no. 38]. Keyboard solo. p. 167.
Hesse. Arie. Keyboard solo. p. 170.

Volume 19, number 7 (July 1890)

Hesse. Arie. Keyboard solo. p. v [repeat from June].
Root, G. F. I Am the Vine. SATB. pp. 181–83.
Murray, J. R. Unto Him That Loved Us. Dedicated to the Free Church Choir, Andover,
Massachusetts. SATB. pp. 184–85.
Hill, R. N. Praise Ye the Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 186–91.
Czerny. “Andante” [Allegro con moto ed espressivo, op. 139, no. 87]. Keyboard solo.
pp. 192–93.
Czerny. “Andante” [from op. 139, no. 23]. Keyboard solo. p. 193.
Graun, C. H. Allegretto. Keyboard solo. pp. 194–95.
Haydn. Melody. Keyboard solo. p. 195.
Haydn. Andante with Variations. Keyboard solo. p. 198.

Volume 19, number 8 (August 1890)

Haydn. Andante with Variations. Keyboard solo. p. v [repeat from July].
Root, Geo. F. Endeavor for Christ. SATB and keyboard. pp. 209–11.
Morey, Fred L. Sweet Is Thy Mercy, Lord (Anthem for Mixed Quartet). SATB and keyboard.
pp. 212–15.
Tours, Berthold. Rejoice in the Lord. SATB and organ. pp. 216–19.
Schumann, [Robert]. “Moderato” [“Rundgesang,” op. 68, no. 22]. Keyboard solo. pp. 220–21.
Schumann, [Robert]. “Moderato” [op. 68, no. 26]. Keyboard solo. pp. 222–23.
Schumann, [Robert]. “Lento” [op. 68, no. 21]. Keyboard solo. p. 223.
Root, F. W., arr. Home of Rest. Text. J. G. Percival. Melody by W. W. B. SATB. p. 226.

Volume 19, number 9 (September 1890)

Root, F. W., arr. Home of Rest. Text. J. G. Percival. Melody by W. W. B. SATB. p. v [repeat
from August].
Dicey, E. A. Now unto Him. SATB. p. 237.
Root, G. F. Thou Art My God. SATB and keyboard. pp. 238–43.
Smith, Jno. Benj. Lighten Our Darkness (Evening hymn). Text Rev. J. Anketell. SATB and
keyboard. pp. 244–45.
Porter, W. T. Silently the Shades of Evening. Inscribed to the Disciple Choir of Newcastle,
Pennsylvania. SATB. pp. 246–47.
Himmel. Lento. Keyboard solo. p. 248.
Handel. Air. Keyboard solo. p. 249.
Mozart. Benedictus. Keyboard solo. p. 250.
Schumann, [Robert]. “Melody” [“Sylvesterlied,” op. 68, no. 42]. Keyboard solo. p. 251.

385
 Volume 19, number 10 (October 1890)
Root, G. F. Thy Sun Shall No More Go Down. SATB. pp. 265–67.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Who Is Among You. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard. pp. 268–71.
Mendelssohn. Rock of Ages (Unaccompanied). Arr. F. Vinal. SATB. pp. 272–73.
R[oot], G. F. We Come before Thee (Men’s Voices). TTBB. pp. 274–75.
Mendelssohn. Ave Maria. Keyboard solo. pp. 276–77.
Mendelssohn. Air. Keyboard solo. p. 277.
von Weber. Andante. Keyboard solo. pp. 278–79.
von Weber. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 279.

Volume 19, number 11 (November 1890)

Murray, J. R. A Psalm of Praise (from Psalm 107). SATB and keyboard. pp. 293–96.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard. pp. 297–300.
R[oot], G. F. I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes. Chant. SATB. p. 301.
R[oot], G. F. Oh, Sing unto the Lord. Chant and Response. SATB. p. 301.
R[oot], G. F. Oh, Give Thanks. Chant and Response. SATB. p. 301.
Murray, J. R. The Home-coming. For the “Welcome Meeting” of the Mt. Auburn Baptist Church
[to welcome choir members back after summer break]. SATB and keyboard. pp. 302–3.
Czerny, [Carl]. “Andantino” [from op. 139, no. 85]. Keyboard solo. p. 304.
Hummel. Allegretto. Keyboard solo. p. 305.
Bizet, [Georges]. L’Arlesienne, no. 2. Arr. F. D. Jamison. Organ solo. pp. 306–7.
Czerny, [Carl]. “Allegro [Molto” from op. 139, no. 88]. Keyboard solo. p. 308.
R[oot], G. F. Once Again. Text C[lara L[ouise] B[urnham]. Christmas carol. p. 310.
Murray, J. R. Behold the Star of Glory. Text Mrs. R. N. Turner. Christmas carol. p. 310.

Volume 19, number 12 (December 1890)

Murray, J. R. Christmas Hymn Anthem. Text Gerhardt. SATB and organ. pp. 321–25.
Fabiani, Signor. Advent Hymn (for Three Female Voices). Vocal trio (SSA) and organ or piano.
pp. 326–29.
Root, Geo. F. Let the Heavens Rejoice. Anthem, grade 2. pp. 330–33.
Pearse, Anna E. Christmas Hymn. p. 334.
Rose, Clarence D. Angels from the Realms of Glory. [Text James Montgomery.] Dedicated to
C. W. Hutchinson. SATB and keyboard. pp. 335–37.
Hyde, D. W. March Processional, op. 11, no. 5. Keyboard solo. pp. 338–39.
Mozart. Christmas Song. Keyboard solo. p. 340.
Fabiani, Signor H. B. Prelude––Improvisation. Dedicated to J. R. Murray. Organ solo.
pp. 341–43.
R[oot], G. F. Praise the Lord (Parkside). SATB. p. 346.

Volume 20, number 1 (January 1891)

R[oot], G. F. Praise the Lord (Parkside). SATB. p. v [repeat from December].
R[oot], G. F. Come We Who Love the Lord (Men’s Voices). Text [Isaac] Watts. TTBB.
pp. 13–15.
Clemm, J. B. O. Hear Thou My Prayer. SA, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 16–19.
Lippitt, F. J. Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 20–23.
Mozart. Tranquillo. Keyboard solo. p. 24.

386
Gounod, [Charles]. “Reminiscence” from The Redemption. Keyboard solo. p. 25.
Steibelt. “Tempo di menuetto” from Sonata, op. 63. Keyboard solo. pp. 26–27.
Lulli, Jean Baptiste. March. Keyboard solo. p. 30.

Volume 20, number 2 (February 1891)

Lulli, Jean Baptiste. March. Keyboard solo. p. v [repeat from January].
Ashford, E. L. I Will Praise Thee. SATB and organ. pp. 41–43.
Murray, J. R. Responses after Prayer. SATB. p. 44.
Cranmer, E. L. My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord. SA, Quartet (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 45–49.
Barnby, J[oseph]. Forever with the Lord (Unaccompanied). Arr. F. Vinal. SATB. pp. 50–51.
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Adagio. Keyboard solo. pp. 52–53.
anon. Greeting. Keyboard solo. p. 53.
Schmitt, J. Andante. Keyboard solo. p. 54.
Kuhlau. Andante cantabile. Keyboard solo. p. 55.
Wurzel [George F. Root]. O Hail, Beauteous Morn. Text B. Bell. Easter carol. p. 58.
Murray, J. R. Sing Praises. Text Mrs. R. N. Turner. Easter carol. p. 58.

Volume 20, number 3 (March 1891)

Murray, J. R. Morning Breaks (Easter Hymn). Text Collyer. SA, SATB, and keyboard. p. 69.
Danks, H. P. Christ Triumphant (Hymn Anthem for Easter). S, B, Chorus (SATB), and
keyboard. pp. 70–73.
Mason, Dr. The Lord Is My Shepherd. Chant. SATB. p. 74.
anon. The Heavens Declare. Chant. SATB. p. 74.
Tallis. The Law of the Lord. Chant. SATB. p. 74.
Root, Geo. F. Hark, the Voice of Angels. SATB and keyboard. pp. 75–79.
Hyde, D. W. Choral Prelude (Tune WEBB). Keyboard solo. p. 80.
Battman, J. L. Offertory. Keyboard solo. p. 81.
Hyde, D. W. March. Keyboard solo. pp. 82–83.
Hyde, D. W. Postlude. Keyboard solo. p. 83.

Volume 20, number 4 (April 1891)

Seager, Mrs. L. D. Beneath His Wings (Male Quartet). Text Emily Clift. TTBB. p. 86.
Steele, C. T. Savior, Kind and Merciful (Anthem). SATB and keyboard. pp. 97–99.
Morey, Fred. L. This Is the Day Which the Lord Hath Made. SATB and keyboard. pp. 100–103.
R[oot], G. F. What Is Life? Text Kelly. SATB. pp. 104–5.
R[oot], G. F. O, Lord, We Look to Thee. SATB. pp. 106–7.
Hyde, D. W. March in C. Keyboard solo. p. 108.
Lefébure-Wély. Andantino. Organ solo. p. 109.
Rinck. Preludio. Keyboard solo. p. 110.
Kern, Carl Aug. Präludium. Keyboard solo. p. 111.
Murray, J. R. Hymn for Memorial Day. Text G. B. Hotchkiss. SATB. p. 114.

Volume 20, number 5 (May 1891)

MacKintosh, K. Cast Thy Burden on the Lord. SA, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 125–27.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Incline Thine Ear, O Lord. T, S, B, SATB, and organ. pp. 128–31.
Morey, Fred. L. The Glory of the Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 132–35.

387
Sullivan. “Pastorale.” Arr. from Ivanhoe. Keyboard solo. pp. 136–37.
Schubert. Romance. Keyboard solo. p. 138.
Sullivan. “Andante.” Arr. from Ivanhoe. Keyboard solo. p. 139.
R[oot], G. F. Sabbath Morn. Text N. K. Griggs. SATB. p. 142.

Volume 20, number 6 (June 1891)

Morey, Fred. L. Abide with Me. T, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 153–57.
Lyman, Arthur H. Come unto Me (Unaccompanied Quartette). Dedicated to the choir of the
Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, Chicago, Illinois. SATB. pp. 158–59.
Root, Geo. F. O Zion, That Bringest Good Tidings. SA and SATB, optional accompaniment.
pp. 160–63.
Hyde, D. W. Processional March. Keyboard solo. pp. 164–65.
Lefébure-Wély. Andante. Keyboard solo. p. 166.
Battmann, J. L. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 167.
Root, G. F. Whom Have I in Heaven? SATB, optional accompaniment. p. 170.

Volume 20, number 7 (July 1891)

Root, G. F. I Had Rather Stand at the Door. SATB. pp. 181–83.
Ashford, E. L. He Leadeth Me. Text Rev. J. H. Gilmore. Dedicated to the Rev. J. P. Sprowls,
Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. S, A, B, Quartet (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 184–87.
Morey, Fred. L. O Praise the Lord. A, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 188–91.
Costa. “Air” from Eli. Keyboard solo. pp. 192–93.
Muhling. Andantino. Keyboard solo. p. 193.
Battmann, [J. L.]. March (for Festival Occasions). Keyboard solo. p. 194.
anon. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 195.
anon. Fughetta. Keyboard solo. p. 195.
Murray, J. R. Will That Not Joyful Be? Text H. C. v. Schwirnitz. Hymn. p. 198.

Volume 20, number 8 (August 1891)

Root, G. F. How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place. SATB. pp. 209–11.
Murray, J. R. The Righteous Shall Be Glad. SATB and keyboard. pp. 212–13.
Robinson, Jas. H. Sweet the Moments. Dedicated to my esteemed friends Prof. and Mrs. R. P.
Clark, Cortland, Ohio. S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 214–17.
R[oot], G. F. Love Divine. SATB, optional accompaniment. pp. 218–19.
Battmann, J. L. Andante. Organ solo. p. 220.
Battmann, J. L. Voix celeste. Keyboard solo. p. 221.
Kern. Largo. Keyboard solo. p. 222.
Kern. Andante. Keyboard solo. p. 223.
Root, Geo. F. What Shall I Render? SATB. p. 226.

Volume 20, number 9 (September 1891)

Hall, J. E. Come, O My Soul. ST, B, SATB, and organ. pp. 237–39.
Cranmer, E. L. O Sing unto the Lord. S, T, Quartet/Chorus (SATB), and organ. pp. 240–43.
Morey, Fred. L. The Lord Is Good. ST, B, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 244–47.
Kern. Andante cantabile. Keyboard solo. p. 248.
Kern. Larghetto. Keyboard solo. p. 249.

388
Kern. Andante grazioso. Keyboard solo. p. 250.
Kern. Larghetto. Keyboard solo. p 251.
Harrington, C. W. An Evening Hymn. Text [Bishop] George W. Doane. SATB. p. 254.

Volume 20, number 10 (October 1891)

Morey, Fred. L. I’m a Pilgrim. S, T, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 265–67.
Cranmer, E. L. Love Divine. Respectfully dedicated to my friend Frank Anderson, Hoboken,
New Jersey. T, B, Quartet or Chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 268–71.
Crane, Henry R. Come, O My Soul. Text T. Blacklock. SATB and keyboard (soprano solo
adapted from Bellini). pp. 272–74.
Mason, Dr. Thy Will Be Done. Chant. SATB. p. 275.
R[oot], G. F. The Earth Is the Lord’s. Chant. SATB. p. 275.
W[ebb], G. J. I Will Extol Thee. Chant. SATB. p. 275.
Anderton, T. The Curfew. Keyboard solo. p. 276.
Barnby, J. Sweet and Low. Keyboard solo. p. 277.
Battmann, [J. L.]. Maestoso. Organ solo. p. 278.
Barnby, Joseph. Harmonized Welsh March (for patriotic occasions). Keyboard solo. p. 279.
Kern. Question and Answer. Organ solo. p. 282.

Volume 20, number 11 (November 1891)

Cranmer, E. L. Thanksgiving Anthem, No. 2. Dedicated to The Musical Visitor. SATB and
keyboard. pp. 293–96.
R[oot], G. F. The Righteous Shall Flourish. SATB. pp. 297–98.
Murray, J. R. O, That Men Would Praise the Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 299–300.
Morey, Fred. L. Praise to God (Thanksgiving Hymn). SATB and keyboard. pp. 301–4.
Kern. Andante. [Organ voluntary]. p. 305.
Pinsuti, Ciro. Serenade. [Voluntary]. pp. 306–7.
R[oot], G. F. The Angels’ Song. Text Mrs. L. P. Hopkins. Christmas carol. p. 310.
Hall, J. E. A Joyous Sound Is in the Air. Text Eliza M. Sherman. Christmas carol. p. 310.

Volume 20, number 12 (December 1891)

Morey, Fred. L. Calm on the List’ning Ear of Night (Christmas Anthem). SATB and keyboard.
pp. 321–25.
Murray, J. R. Awake, Awake, O Bethlehem. Text Alice M. Schoff. SA, Chorus (SATB), and
inst[rument]. pp. 326–27.
Cranmer, E. L. Christmas Anthem. No. 4. Respectfully dedicated to my friend John Inwright,
organist North Baptist Church of Jersey City, New Jersey. S, T, SA, Quartet (SATB), and
organ. pp. 328–31.
Steele, C. T. Once in Royal David’s City. Inscribed to Miss Emma Redell. SATB and keyboard.
pp. 332–35.
Root, G. F. O Magnify the Lord with Me. SA, Choir (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 336–38.
Knopfel, G. C. Benedictus. SATB. p. 339.
Cranmer, E. L. A Thought. Dedicated to Julius Roehm, Hoboken, New Jersey. Keyboard solo.
pp. 340–41.
anon. Response. Organ solo p. 342.
Kern. Postlude. Organ solo. pp. 342–43.

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 Volume 21, number 1 (January 1892)
Murray, J. R. Friend after Friend Departs (for special occasions). Text [James] Montgomery.
Hymn. p. 1A.
Cranmer, E. L. Just as I Am. Respectfully dedicated to my friend and Brother Organist Lawrence
J. Bogart, of the Fischer Piano Co., of New York. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard.
pp. 13–15.
Rose, Clarence D. Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us. Text A. W. Warren. B, SATB, and
keyboard. pp. 16–19.
Hall, J. E. Before Jehovah’s Throne. S, B, Quartet (SATB), and piano or organ. pp. 20–23.
Soderman, A. Swedish Wedding March. Keyboard solo. p. 24.
anon. “Offertory” from The Chapel. Keyboard solo. p. 25.
Battmann. March Majestic. Organ solo. pp. 26–27.

Volume 21, number 2 (February 1892)

Heins, Carl. Four-Leaf Clover [Glückwunsch], op. 103, no. 1. Ed. J. O. v. Prochazka.
Piano solo, grade 3. pp. III–VI.
Grünfeld, Alfred. Little Serenade [Kleine Serenade]. Ed. J. O. v. Prochazka. Piano solo,
grade 4. pp. VII–X. Supplement to The Musical Visitor.
Gaul. “No Shadows Yonder” from The Holy City. Text Dr. [Horatius] Bonar. SATB and
keyboard. p. 30.
M[urray], J. R. Responses or Preludes. SATB. p. 40A.
Root, G. F. Give Ear, O Shepherd. SATB and keyboard. pp. 40B–E.
Gaul. “For Thee, O Dear, Dear Country” from The Holy City. SATB and keyboard.
pp. 40F–H.
Runcie, Constance Faunt Le Roy. There Is a Land. SATB and keyboard. pp. 40I–K.
B[attmann], J. L. March. Organ solo. p. 40N.
Kern. Andantino. Organ solo. p. 40O.
anon. “Andantino” from The Chapel. Organ solo. pp. 40P–Q.

Volume 21, number 3 (March 1892)

Thurston, W. P. Confidence (Quartet for Female voices). SSAA and piano. pp. 69–73.
Cranmer, E. L. Easter Anthem No. 2. Respectfully dedicated to my friend James K. Sealy,
organist M.E. Church, Jersey City, New Jersey. SATB and keyboard. pp. 74–76.
Murray, J. R. Song of Triumph (Easter). Text Martha C. Oliver. SATB. p. 77.
Root, G. F. Children of God Rejoice (Easter). SATB and keyboard. pp. 78–81.
Ashford, E. L. Give Ear to My Words. S or T, Chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 82–85.
Root, G. F. I Have Fought a Good Fight. SATB and organ. pp. 86–87.
Battmann, J. L. March, or Postlude. Organ solo. pp. 88–89.
anon. “Andantino” from The Chapel. Organ solo. p. 90.
Battmann, J. L. Communion. Organ solo. p. 91.

Volume 21, number 4 (April 1892)

Murray, J. R. Four Responses or Preludes. SATB. p. 105.
Danks, H. P. Let Us Keep the Feast (Easter). S or T, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 106–9.
Cranmer, E. L. Bonum Est Confiteri (It is a good thing to give thanks). T, A, TS, SATB, and
keyboard. pp. 110–13.

390
Root, G. F. If a Man Love Me. SATB. p. 114.
Robinson, Jas. H. The Lord Is in His Holy Temple (Sentence). SATB. p. 115.
Mayer, Carl. Scherzando. Keyboard solo. pp. 116–17.
Mayer, Carl. March. Keyboard solo. p. 117.
anon. “Andante sostenuto” from The Chapel. Keyboard solo. p. 118.
B[attmann], J. L. Lento. Organ solo. p. 119.

Volume 21, number 5 (May 1892)

R[oot], G. F. The Steps of a Good Man. SATB. p. 122.
Murray, J. R. Memorial Hymn (for Decoration Day and other occasions). Text J. G. Whittier.
SA, B, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 133–35.
Reynolds, Walter Guernsey. Hear Us, O Father. S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 136–37.
Robinson, Jas. H. Blest Be the Tie. Dedicated to the Rev. J. W. King, Pastor M.E. Church,
Cortland, Ohio. SATB and organ. pp. 138–41.
Glines, J. E. My Gentle Shepherd. Text Mrs. T. W. Brown. S, B, SATB and keyboard.
pp. 142–44.
Mayer, Carl. O Home So Fair! Keyboard solo. p. 145.
Mozart. O Salutaris [O Saving Host/Communion]. Arr. Keyboard solo. pp. 146–47.

Volume 21, number 6 (June 1892)

Mayer, Carl. By Pastures Green. Keyboard solo. p. 150.
Murray, J. R. Jesus Guide Our Way (Opening or Closing). Text Count [Nikolaus Ludwig] von
Zinzendorf. Trans. Rev. Arthur T. Russell. SATB and keyboard. p. 161.
Root, G. F. Unto Thee, O God. SATB and keyboard. pp. 162–65.
Camp, J. S. We Wait for Thy Loving Kindness. T, A, SATB, and organ. pp. 166–69.
Smart, Henry. Forward! Be Our Watchword (Processional or Opening Hymn). Text Dean
Alford. SATB and keyboard. pp. 170–71.
De Vilbac, R. Andantino. Keyboard solo. pp. 172–73.
anon. “Sortie” from The Chapel. Organ solo. pp. 174–75.

Volume 21, number 7 (July 1892)

Fox, Robert. Heart Song. Keyboard solo. p. 178.
Murray, J. R. Bread of the World (Communion Hymn). Text Bishop [Reginald] Heber. SA,
SATB, and keyboard. pp. 189–91.
Cranmer, E. L. Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us! S, A, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 192–95.
Hall, J. E. I Will Praise Thee. S, TA, Quartet (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 196–99.
Foerster, Alban. Traumlied. Keyboard solo. pp. 200–201.
Foerster, Alban. Melody. Keyboard solo. pp. 202–3.

Volume 21, number 8 (August 1892)

Root, Geo. F. The Lord Is in His Holy Temple (Sentence). SATB. p. 206.
Morey, Fred. L. Sweet Land of Rest. SA, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 217–19.
Murray, J. R. Wandering from God. Text E. A. Hoffman. SATB. pp. 220–21.
Knopfel, G. C. Venite No. 2 (In Chant Form). SATB. pp. 222–23.
Elliott, J. W. Hark! Hark the Organ (Opening Hymn). Text Rev. Godfrey Thring. Voices in
unison and organ. pp. 224–25.

391
anon. Italian chorale. Savior, Breathe an Evening Blessing. Arr. Text James Edmeston. SATB
and keyboard. pp. 226–27.
Forster. Postlude. pp. 228–29.
Forster. Communion. Keyboard solo. pp. 230–31.
Mayer, Carl. Offertory. Keyboard solo. p. 231.

Volume 21, number 9 (September 1892)

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, F. Allegretto. p. 242.
Cranmer, E. L. Hear My Prayer. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard. pp. 253–55.
Steele, C. T. Lo! The Shades of Night (for Male Voices). TTBB and optional keyboard.
pp. 256–57.
Creyghton, Rev. Dr. Behold, Now Praise the Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 258–60.
Cranmer, E. L. Suffer Little Children to Come unto Me. A, T, Quartet (SATB), and keyboard.
pp. 261–63.
Forster, A. Voluntary. Organ solo. pp. 264–65.
Fox, R. Cradle Song. p. 266.
Forster, A. Dirge. p. 267.

Volume 21, number 10 (October 1892)

anon. America. Text Rev. Samuel Francis Smith. Unison. p. 270.
Blumenschein, W. L. Hail to the Land. Text Dr. Harper. Hymn. p. 270.
Root, G. F. I Will Extol Thee. SATB, optional keyboard. pp. 281–83.
Fletcher, R. L. At Last. Text John G. Whittier. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard. pp. 284–85.
Yoder, D. C. Sail On! Sail On! (Columbus Song). Text Joaquin Miller. SATB and keyboard.
pp. 286–87.
Porter, W. T. O Praise the Lord. Arr. from a Neapolitan air. SATB and keyboard. pp. 288–91.
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, F. Song. Keyboard solo. p. 292.
Graun. “Vivace” from The Death of Jesus [Der Tod Jesu]. Keyboard solo. p. 293.
Huber, Hans. Postlude. Keyboard solo. pp. 294–95.
Fox, Robert. Morning Song. Keyboard solo. p. 295.

Volume 21, number 11 (November 1892)

Schumann, Robert. Lullaby [op. 124, no. 6]. Keyboard solo. p. 298.
Pontius, W. H. O Praise the Lord [Laudate Dominum] (Psalm 117). SATB, optional
inst[rument]. p. 309.
Root, Geo. F. To the Giver of All Blessings. Text Wm. G. Park. SATB, optional keyboard.
pp. 310–13.
Cranmer, E. L. Sing Ye to God. SATB and keyboard. pp. 314–17.
Murray, J. R. What Shall I Render unto the Lord? (Harvest or Thanksgiving). SATB and
keyboard. pp. 318–20.
Schwalm, R. Moderato. Keyboard solo. p. 321.
Meyerbeer. Coronation March [from Le Prophète]. Piano solo. pp. 322–23.

Volume 21, number 12 (December 1892)

Danks, H. P. Gather ’Round the Christmas Tree. Text Ida L. Reed. Christmas carol. p. 326.
Murray, J. R. The Universal King. Text Ida Scott Taylor. Christmas carol. p. 326.

392
Root, G. F. Glory! Glory! Glory! SATB and keyboard (with angels’ chorus, out of sight if
convenient). pp. 337–41.
Cranmer, E. L. Christmas Anthem No. 5. A, T, Bar., SATB, and organ. pp. 342–44.
Murray, J. R. Our Savior and Our King. SATB and keyboard. pp. 346–47.
Fletcher, Robert L. A Song of Peace. S or T solo, Quartet (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 348–49.
Root, Geo. F. Fear Not (Christmas). SATB, optional keyboard. pp. 350–51.
Hecker, J. A Christmas Hymn. SATB. p. 352.
Murray, J. R. He Has Come (Quartet). Text H[oratius] Bonar. Quartet (SATB). p. 353.
Gabriel, Chas. H. On Bended Knee (Quartet for Ladies Voices). SSAA. pp. 354–55.
Leybach, J. Christmas March No. 1. Keyboard solo. p. 356.
Leybach, J. Christmas March No. 2. Organ solo. p. 357.
Schubert, Fr[anz]. Softly Sound My Prayers. Keyboard solo. pp. 358–59.
Mozart, W. A. “Allegretto” [excerpt from K. 310, “Presto”]. Piano solo. p. 359.

Volume 22, number 1 (January 1893)

Fletcher, Robert L. A Few More Years (Quartet). Text H[oratius] Bonar. SATB. p. 2.
Robinson, Jas. H. Come unto Me. Dedicated to the choir of 1st M.E. Church, Ravenna, Ohio.
A or Bar., SATB, and keyboard. pp. 13–17.
Porter, W. T. Softly Now the Light of Day. Text Bishop George W. Doane. Dedicated to Miss
Jennie Osenton. Alto solo, quartet accompaniment [including humming], and
keyboard. pp. 18–21.
Root, G. F. Thus Saith the Lord. S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 22–23.
Mayer, C. Study. Keyboard solo. pp. 24–25.
Fox, Robert. Prelude. Keyboard solo. p. 25.
Forster, Alban. Sunday Morning. Keyboard solo. pp. 26–27.
Fox, R. Evening Time. Keyboard solo. p. 27.

Volume 22, number 2 (February 1893)

Smith, S. G. His Promise Is True. Text J. R. Murray. SATB. p. 30.
Murray, J. R. Grant, We Beseech Thee (Opening or closing piece). SA, SATB, and keyboard.
pp. 41–43.
Ashford, E. L. Thou Art Near. Text O. W. Holmes. Dedicated to my esteemed friend Mrs. Ruth
Scarritt, Kansas City, Missouri. A, Quartet (SATB), and organ. pp. 44–47.
Berridge, Arthur. How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings. SATB and keyboard. pp. 48–51.
Wolff, Bernh. Moderato. Keyboard solo. pp. 52–53.
Schubert, Fr. “Allegro Moderato” from Symphony no. 8 in B Minor [D. 759]. Keyboard
solo. pp. 54–55.
Beethoven, L. v. “Scherzo” from the Violin sonata, op. 24, in F Major [“Spring”]. Keyboard
solo. p. 55.

Volume 22, number 3 (March 1893)

Murray, J. R. O Day of Sacred Glory. Text Mrs. Eliza Sherman. Easter carol. p. 58.
Danks, H. P. Glad Easter Day. Text Ida Scott Taylor. Easter carol. p. 58.
R[oot], G. F. Blessed Be the Lord God (Easter). SATB, optional accompaniment. pp. 69–71.
Goss, Sir John. The Savior Lives. Text Rev. S. Medley. Arr. J. R. Murray (Easter). S, Chorus
(SATB), and keyboard. pp. 72–73.

393
Cranmer, E. L. Easter Anthem No. 3. SATB and organ. pp. 74–77.
Morey, Fred. L. Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus! (Easter). SATB and keyboard. pp. 78–81.
Murray, J. R. Jesus Lives! And So Shall I (Easter). Text Rev. Dr. Schaff. SA, Chorus (SATB),
and keyboard. pp. 82–84.
Mayer. Prelude. p. 85.
Clark, [Rev. Frederick] Scotson. Festival March. Arr. pp. 86–87.

Volume 22, number 4 (April 1893)

Warlamoff. Russian Song. p. 90.
Danks, H. P. O Give Thanks unto the Lord. Psalm 105:1–8. SA, SATB, and keyboard.
pp. 101–4.
Knopfel, G. C. Short Te Deum in Chant Form. SATB and organ. 105–8.
Thurston, W. P. In My Father’s House. A, SA, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 109–12.
Schumann, Robert. “Allegretto” [“Stückchen,” op. 68, no. 5]. [Voluntary]. p. 113.
Leybach. Communion. Keyboard solo. p. 114.
Leybach. Andante. Keyboard solo. p. 115.

Volume 22, number 5 (May 1893)

Hershey, J. C. We Strew Their Graves with Flowers (Male Voice Quartet or Chorus for
Decoration Day). Text Mrs. W. C. Cartwright. TTBB. p. 118.
Kissinger, J. H. Honor Song (for Decoration Day). Text J. N. Bracken. SATB. p. 129.
Cranmer, Ed. L. One Sweetly Solemn Thought (Quartet). Dedicated to John McGown, Organist
Trinity M.E. Church, Jersey City, New Jersey. S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 130–31.
Porter, W. T. Glory to the Lamb. Text Thomas Kelly. S, A, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 132–34.
Root, G. F. Like As a Father. SATB, optional accompaniment. pp. 135–37.
Holsinger, Geo. B. Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord. SATB. pp. 138–39.
Murray, J. R. Memorial March (For Decoration Day and Other Similar Occasions). Arr.
Keyboard solo. pp. 140–41.
Pache, Johannes. Festival March (Abridged). Keyboard solo. pp. 142–43.

Volume 22, number 6 (June 1893)

Murray, J. R. Responses after Prayer (Set No. 4). SATB. p. 157.
Westhoff, F. W. The Lord Is My Shepherd. A, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 158–61.
Lyte, G. E. Like As a Father Pitieth. Quintet (SSATB) and organ. pp. 162–65.
Root, G. F. The Lord Upholdeth. SATB. pp. 166–68.
Pache, Johannes. Melody. Arr. Keyboard solo. p. 169.
Becker, C. F. Hope (Hoffnung), op. 31 [no. 7]. Keyboard solo. p. 170.
Müller, A. E. Allegretto. Keyboard solo. p. 171.

Volume 22, number 7 (July 1893)

Murray, J. R. God Save Columbia (Quartet or Chorus for Male Voices). Text Mrs. R. N. Turner.
TTBB. p. 174.
Robinson, Jas. H. Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts. SATB and keyboard. pp. 185–87.
Murray, J. R. God Save Columbia (Quartet or Chorus for Mixed Voices). Text Mrs. R. N.
Turner. SATB and keyboard. pp. 188–90.
Root, G. F. He Shall Come Down. AT, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 191–95.
394
Goltermann. Grand March. Keyboard solo. p. 196.
Becker, C. F. Peace (Friede), op. 31[no. 8]. Keyboard solo. p. 197.
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, F. “Nocturne” (from [no. 7 of] A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Arr.
Franz Spindler. Keyboard solo. pp. 198–99.

Volume 22, number 8 (August 1893)

Unable to locate.

Volume 22, number 9 (September 1893)

Root, G. F. Have Mercy Upon Me. SATB, optional accompaniment. pp. 241–43.
Couldrey, H. R. Come unto Me. Arr. S, SATB, and organ. pp. 244–47.
Cranmer, E. L. Oh, Come, Let Us Sing unto the Lord. Dedicated to my Friend and Assistant
Organist Horace R. Hecker. SA, Bar., Quartet (SATB), and organ. pp. 248–51.
Handel, G. F. “Menuet” from Overture to Samson. Keyboard solo. p. 252.
Auber. “Prayer” from Masaniello. Keyboard solo. p. 253.
Wagner, Richard. “March of the Minstrels” from Tannhäuser. Arr. H. M. Higgs. Keyboard solo.
p. 254.
Auber. Holy, Holy Power. Keyboard solo. p. 255.

Volume 22, number 10 (October 1893)

Dungan, J. M. The Lifting of the Veil (Quartet for Male Voices). TTBB. p. 258.
Murray, J. R. Thy Way, Not Mine. Text H[oratius] Bonar. SA, T, Chorus or Quartet (SATB), and
keyboard. pp. 272–73.
Root, G. F. Welcome, Delightful Morn. SATB. pp. 274–75.
Hall, J. E. I Will Praise Thee. S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 276–79.
Becker, C. F. Meeting Again in Heaven [Wiedersehn], op. 31 [no. 3]. Keyboard solo. p. 280.
Mozart, [W. A.]. “Kyrie from the Twelfth Mass” [spurious K. Anhang 232]. Keyboard
solo. p. 281.
Huber, Hans. Lento. Keyboard solo. pp. 282–83.

Volume 22, number 11 (November 1893)

Leybach. March or Postlude. Organ solo. p. 286.
Hastie, W. A. Praise Ye the Lord. Dedicated to the Mohawk Presbyterian Choir. SATB and
organ. pp. 297–99.
Cranmer, E. L. Thanksgiving Anthem, op. 37. Quartet or Chorus (SATB) and keyboard.
pp. 300–303.
Murray, J. R. Thine, O Lord, Is the Greatness. SATB, optional accompaniment. pp. 304–5.
Root, G. F. With Songs of Joy (for Thanksgiving and other Festival Occasions). Text Clara
Louise Burnham. SA, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 306–9.
Leybach. Grand March. Organ solo. pp. 310–11.

Volume 22, number 12 (December 1893)

Danks, H. P. Wonderful Tidings. Text Ida Scott Taylor. Christmas carol. p. 314.
“Winthrop.” Ring the Christmas Bells. Text Mary A. Whitaker. Christmas carol. p. 314.
Porter, W. T. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing. SATB and keyboard. pp. 325–27.

395
Root, G. F. Behold I Bring You Good Tidings (Quartet or Semi-Chorus). SATB, optional
accompaniment. pp. 328–31.
Bridge, J. Frederick. Two Thousand Troubled Years (Christmas Part Song). Text Alfred Hayes.
SATB. pp. 332–33.
Squires, F. H. The Voice of the Lord (Christmas Part Song). Text Rev. Dr. S. J. Rowton. SATB
and organ. pp. 334–37.
Holsinger, Geo. B. The Wondrous Story. SATB and keyboard. pp. 338–40.
Murray, J. R. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus (Hymn Anthem). Text Rev. Chas. Wesley.
SATB and keyboard. pp. 341–43.
Leybach. Christmas March. Keyboard solo. pp. 344–45.
Leybach. Festival March. Keyboard solo. pp. 346–47.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE MUSICAL VISITOR:
Bohm, C[arl] Farewell, op. 115. Melodie. Ed. “Winthrop.” Keyboard solo, moderate
difficulty. pp. 349–52.

Volume 23, number 1 (January 1894)

Brahms, Johann[es]. New Year’s Song. SATB. Cover.
Root, G. F. Wait on the Lord. SATB. pp. 15–17.
Cranmer, E. L. God Be Merciful unto Us and Bless Us. Respectfully dedicated to Andrew Spotts,
Tenor, 2d Presbyterian Church of Jersey City. SATB and keyboard. pp. 18–21.
Danks, H. P. Come, Holy Father. S or T, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 22–23.
Bard, E. H. Light of Those Whose Dreary Dwelling. Text C. Wesley. Voice and keyboard.
pp. 24–25.
Leybach. Postlude or March. Keyboard solo. pp. 26–27.
Murray, J. R. Four Preludes. Arr. Keyboard solo. p. 28.

Volume 23, number 2 (February 1894)

Root, Geo. F. Ring, Happy Bells (Easter Song-Anthem). Text Mrs. Mabel Martine. SATB.
pp. 41–43.
Murray, J. R. I Know That My Redeemer Lives (Introducing his first published hymn tune,
MORRISON, 1860). SATB. pp. 44–45.
Spencer, Fanny M. Tell the Story. SATB. pp. 46–47.
Root, G. F. When Shall the Voice. SATB and keyboard. pp. 48–51.
Danks, H. P. Hallelujah! Text Ida Scott Taylor. Hymn. p. 52.
Bard, E. H. Jesus, Lover of My Soul (Vesper Chant). SATB. p. 53.
Lichner. Unending Spring. Arr. Piano solo. pp. 54–55.
Leybach. Moderato. Keyboard solo. p. 56.

Volume 23, number 3 (March 1894)

Knecht, Justin. Easter Morning. Hymn. SATB. Cover.
Hall, J. E. Sing Hallelujah! SATB and keyboard. pp. 71–73.
Arndell, R. R., arr. He Is Risen. T, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 74–75.
Bard, E. H. Savior, Breathe an Evening Blessing. Text [James] Edmeston. S, M-S, C-A, A, and
keyboard. pp. 76–79.
R[oot], G. F. Morn Awakes in Silence. SATB and keyboard. p. 80
Bard, E. H. Nearer, My God, to Thee (Vesper Chant). SATB. p. 81.

396
Battmann. On Gentle Waves. Keyboard solo. pp. 82–83.
B[attmann], J. L. Voices from Afar. Keyboard solo. p. 84.

Volume 23, number 4 (April 1894)

Root, G. F. Bless the Lord, O My Soul. SATB. pp. 99–101.
Danks, H. P. The Lord Is My Strength and My Song. SATB and organ. pp. 102–3.
Hall, J. E. Sun of My Soul. Quartet (SATB) and piano or organ. pp. 104–5.
Blosser, H. C. Make a Joyful Noise. SATB and accompaniment. pp. 106–8.
Battmann, J. L. Marche Celeste, op. 331. Keyboard solo. pp. 109–10.
Hartmann, J. P. E. Danish Canzonet. Piano solo. pp. 111–12.

Volume 23, number 5 (May 1894)

Murray, J. R. O Land of Every Land the Best (Decoration Day Quartet for Men’s Voices). Text
Phoebe Cary. TTBB. p. 127.
Murray, J. R. O Land of Every Land the Best (For Decoration Day. Mixed Voices). Text Phoebe
Cary. SATB and keyboard. pp. 128–29.
Danks, H. P. Thou Art My Portion. Psalm 119[:57–61]. SATB and keyboard. pp. 130–33.
Root, G. F. Thee We Praise. S, AT, Choir (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 134–36.
Battmann, J. L. At Twilight. Keyboard solo. p. 137.
Battmann, J. L. Memorial Day March (Marche funèbre). Keyboard solo. pp. 138–39.
Mendelssohn, F. Moderato. Arr. v. Fehr. Organ solo. p. 140.

Volume 23, number 6 (June 1894)

Porter, W. T. Baptismal Hymn. Text S. F. Smith. SATB and keyboard. pp. 155–57.
Concone. Rock of Ages. Text [Augustus M.] Toplady. Arr. E. H. Bard. Vocal duet (T or S, Bar.),
and keyboard. pp. 158–61.
Thurston, W. P. The Mercy-Seat. SA, Choir (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 162–63.
Cranmer, Ed. L. The Lord Is in His Holy Temple. Bar., Quartet (SATB), and organ. p. 164.
Battmann, J. L. Pastorale. Keyboard solo. pp. 165–66.
Becker, C. F. In the Forest [Im Walde], [op. 34, no. 4]. Keyboard solo. pp. 167–68.

Volume 23, number 7 (July 1894)

Root, G. F. “The Summer Land” from The Treble Clef Choir. Arr. L. L. S. SSAA and keyboard.
p. 183.
C., H. R., arr. Bless the Lord, O My Soul. S, Bar., SATB, and keyboard. pp. 184–87.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Savior, When in Dust to Thee. Dedicated to Frank M. Merritt, Choirmaster,
Grace M.E. Church, New York City. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard. pp. 188–91.
Löw, Josef. Wiegenlied [Cradle Song]. Arr. Keyboard solo. pp. 192–93.
anon. Allegro. Keyboard solo. pp. 194–95.
anon. Prelude and Part Song. Keyboard solo. p. 195.
Battmann, J. L. Church Bells Chiming. Keyboard solo. p. 196.

Volume 23, number 8 (August 1894)

R[oot], G. F. Give and It Shall Be Given. SATB. p. 211.
Westhoff, F. W. Great Is the Lord. SATB and keyboard. pp. 212–15.
Sothern, J. R. Sun of My Soul. SATB, and variations for the organ. pp. 216–18.

397
Cranmer, Ed. L. Christ’s Kingdom. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard. pp. 219–22.
Oesten, Theodor. In Springtime [Im Frühling], op. 276, no. 1. Keyboard solo. pp. 223–24.
anon. Old Welsh air. All through the Night. Keyboard solo. p. 225.

Volume 23, number 9 (September 1894)

Unable to locate.

Volume 23, number 10 (October 1894)

Root, G. F. Turn Not Away. S, SA, SATB, and keyboard. p. 267.
Murray, J. R. Thine, O Lord, Is the Greatness (for Harvest or Thanksgiving). SATB and
keyboard. pp. 268–69.
Robinson, James H. The Lord Is King. Dedicated to Rev. E. A. Jester and wife, Cortland, Ohio.
S, T, B, Chorus (SATB), and keyboard. pp. 270–73.
Thurston, W. P. Give Ear, O Shepherd of Israel (Male Quartet). TTBB. pp. 274–75.
Cranmer, Ed. L. As Pants the Hart. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard. pp. 276–77.
Rinck. Adagio. Keyboard solo. p. 278.
Leybach. La Baritone. Keyboard solo. p. 279.
Leybach. Sing His Praise. Keyboard solo. p. 280.

Volume 23, number 11 (November 1894)

Murray, J. R. Grateful Notes Prolong (Thanksgiving). SATB and keyboard. pp. 295–99.
Root, G. F. Come, Ye Thankful People, Come. Text Henry Alford. SATB and keyboard.
pp. 300–303.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Oh, Be Joyful in the Lord. Dedicated to Mrs. M. S. Johnson, Solo Alto, 2d
Presbyterian Church of Jersey City, New Jersey. SATB and organ. pp. 304–7.
Goltermann, G. Festival March, op. 62, no. 3. Keyboard solo. pp. 308–9.
Geissler, C. Thanksgiving March, op. 11, no. 5. Keyboard solo. p. 310.
Reinecke, Carl. Epilog. Keyboard solo. p. 311.

Volume 23, number 12 (December 1894)

anon. God Rest You Merry Gentlemen. Christmas carol. Cover.
Root, G. F. A Christmas Idyl. (For Reader, Choir, Children, and Congregation). pp. 326A–E.
Cranmer, Ed. L. Christmas Anthem No. 6. Respectfully dedicated to Rev. Henry C. Cronin,
Pastor 2d Presbyterian Church, Jersey City, New Jersey. SATB and keyboard.
pp. 326F–I.
Murray, J. R. How Beautiful upon the Mountains (For Christmas and Other Occasions). SATB
and keyboard. pp. 326I–M.
Mendelssohn, [Felix]. Come Thou Long Expected Jesus. Text Rev. Charles Wesley. Arr. J. R.
M[urray]. SATB and keyboard. pp. 326N–P.
Steele, Clarence T. O Holy Day When Christ Was Born. Christmas carol. p. 326Q.
Root, George F. Bending O’er a Cradle Low. Text Lydia Avery Coonley. Christmas song.
SATB. p. 326Q.
Battmann, J. L. Christmas March, op. 332, no. 18. Keyboard solo. pp. 326R–S.
anon. French. Christmas Song. Keyboard solo. p. 326T.
[Wade, John F.] Adeste fideles. Arr. Organ or piano. p. 326U.

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 Volume 24, number 1 (January 1895)
Palmer, H. R. Praise Ye the Lord. Text F[anny] J. Crosby. SATB and keyboard. p. 15.
Cranmer, Ed. L. I Will Love Thee, O Lord. Quartet (SATB) and organ, grade 3. pp. 16–19.
Hall, J. E. Sweet Is the Work. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 20–23.
Murray, James R. For Thousand Mercies New. Text Adeline. SATB. p. 24.
Leybach. Pastorale. Keyboard solo. p. 25.
Leybach. Land of Beulah. Keyboard solo. p. 26.

Volume 24, number 2 (February 1895)

R[oot], G. F. Beautiful for Situation. SATB, optional accompaniment, grade 2. pp. 43–45.
Morey, Fred. L. There Is No Sorrow, Lord, Too Light. S, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 46–49.
Pontius, W. H. With Songs and Honors (Men’s Voices). TTBB and keyboard, grade 3.
pp. 50–51.
Matheson, J. Minuet. Keyboard solo. p. 52.
Clementi. Sonatina. Keyboard solo. p. 53.
Reinecke. Dornroschen. Keyboard solo. pp. 54–55.
Reinecke, Carl. Schneewittchen. Keyboard solo. p. 55.

Volume 24, number 3 (March 1895)

Knopfel. Gloria Patri No. 1. SATB. p. 71.
Root, G. F. Angels, Roll the Rock Away. SATB and keyboard. pp. 72–75.
Cranmer, E. L. Easter Anthem No. 5. (Christ Risen). Respectfully dedicated to F. S. Bash, City
Editor, Evening Herald, Huntington, Indiana. SATB and organ. pp. 76–79.
Murray, J. R. Worthy Is the Lamb (For Easter and Other Occasions). SATB and keyboard.
pp. 80–83.
Hopkins, Dr. J. L. Lift Up Your Heads. Keyboard solo. pp. 84–85.
[Handel, G. F.] “Festival March” from Scipio. Keyboard solo. p. 85.
M[urray], J. R., arr. Easter March. Keyboard solo. pp. 86–87.

Volume 24, number 4 (April 1895)

Winter. March. Keyboard solo. p. 103.
Kuhlau. From a Sonatina. Keyboard solo. pp. 104–5.
“Winthrop.” Thou Art Gone Up on High. SATB and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 106–9.
Hall, J. E. How Beautiful. Quartet (SATB) and organ, grade 3. pp. 110–11.
Root, G. F. Return, We Beseech Thee. SATB, optional accompaniment, grade 3. pp. 112–15.

Volume 24, number 5 (May 1895)

Scharwenka, Xaver. Andantino, op. 62, no. 2. Keyboard solo. p. 131.
“Winthrop.” The Drooping Flags (Memorial March). Keyboard solo, grade 3. pp. 132–33.
Morey, Fred. L. Evening Song (Hymn Anthem). SATB and keyboard, grade 3-1/2. pp. 134–38.
Murray, J. R. True and Loyal (Decoration Day). Text Mrs. R. N. Turner. SATB and keyboard,
grade 3. pp. 139–41.
Murray, J. R. True and Loyal (Decoration Day) (For Men’s Voices). Text Mrs. R. N. Turner.
TTBB, grade 3. pp. 142–43.

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 Volume 24, number 6 (June 1895)
Geissler, C. Romance. Keyboard solo. p. 159.
Scharwenka, Xaver. March, op. 62, no. 1. Keyboard solo. pp. 160–61.
Meredith, I. N. [H.]. Abide with Me. S, A, SATB and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 162–65.
Root, G. F. Glorious Things. SATB, optional accompaniment, grade 2. pp. 166–68.
Murray, J. R. Teach Me, O Lord. Psalm 119:33. SATB and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 169–71.

Volume 24, number 7 (July 1895)

Nottingham, Charles H. Andante sostenuto. Organ solo. p. 187.
Franck. Andante. Keyboard solo. Arr. pp. 188–89.
Bollinger, A. E. Almighty and Everlasting God (Full Anthem). SATB and organ, grade 3.
pp. 190–93.
Cranmer, E. L. Thy Will Be Done. SATB and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 194–96.
Root, G. F. Why Do the Heathen Rage? SATB, grade 2. pp. 197–99.

Volume 24, number 8 (August 1895)

Handel, G. F. Fugetta in C. Keyboard solo. p. 215.
Scharwenka, Xaver. Song without Words, op. 62, no. 7. Keyboard solo. pp. 216–17.
Anacker, W. Andante. Organ solo. p. 218.
Westhoff, F. W. The King of Love My Shepherd Is. SA, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 219–21.
Cranmer, E. L. Sun of My Soul. Dedicated to E. Blanchard, Esq. Quartet (SATB) and keyboard.
pp. 222–24.
Cranmer, E. L. Softly Now the Light of Day. SATB and keyboard. pp. 225–27.

Volume 24, number 9 (September 1895)

Juncker, Aug. W. I Was Dreaming. Text Arthur Rigby. Voice and piano. pp. 237–41.
Murray, J. R. ’Neath Eden’s Skies. Text Miss A. R. Carey. Voice and piano. pp. 242–43.
Behr. The Lightning Express. Arr. “Winthrop.” Piano solo. pp. 244–45.
Ravina, Henri. Câlinerie [Flattery], op. 86. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer. Piano solo.
pp. 246–49.
Becker, Charles. Addio! Romance sans Paroles, op. 60. Herrn Carl Lossignol freundschaftlichst
gewidmet [Dedicated to my friend Carl Lossignol]. Piano solo. pp. 250–52.

Volume 24, number 10 (October 1895)

Beaumont, Paul. Chant des soldats [Soldiers song]. Piano solo, popular grade. pp. 267–70.
Ahrem, Jacques. Idle Dreams, or The Little Girl in Calico. Voice and piano. pp. 271–72.
Jadassohn, S. The Mother’s Warning [Der Mutter Warnung], op. 38, no. 6. Trans. “Winthrop.”
(English and German text). Vocal duet (SS) and piano. pp. 273–74.
Lack, Theodore. Cabaletta, op. 83. Rev. and fing. Georg Krüger. Piano solo, moderate
difficulty. pp. 275–78.
Gurlitt, C. Tarantella in A Minor, op. 122, no. 8. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer.
Piano solo. pp. 279–82.

Volume 24, number 11 (November 1895)

Oesten, Theodor. At Parting [Scheidegruss], op. 276, no. 4. Piano solo, easy. pp. 295–96.

400
Hitz, Franz. The Lively Mill [Joyeux Moulin]. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer. Piano solo,
intermediate. pp. 297–300.
Lack, Théodore. Arietta, op. 97. Rev. and fing. G. Krüger. Piano solo, not difficult. pp. 301–4.
Bellstedt, [Herman]. Everett Piano March. Arr. John N. Klohr. 2 mandolins and guitar.
pp. 305–7.
Stange, Max. Ah Me, the Heart That’s Breaking [Herzeleide], op. 27, no. 7. Text Carl Lemke
(English and German text). Voice and piano pp. 308–10.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE MUSICAL VISITOR:
Hall, J. E. Let My Mouth Be Filled with Thy Praise. S, T, Quartet or Chorus (SATB), and organ.
pp. 311–14.
Schoff, Mrs. Dr. J. S. Awake! Put On Thy Strength, O Zion. S, SATB, and keyboard, grade 3.
pp. 315–18.

Volume 24, number 12 (December 1895)

Bischoff, J. W. Mistaken. Voice and piano, easy. pp. 331–33.
Oesten, Theodor. Cherished Leaf [Herzblättchen], op. 276, no. 3. Piano solo, easy. pp. 334–35.
Bachmann, G. Novellette. Piano solo. pp. 336–38.
Gabriel-Marie. La Cinquantaine (Air dans le Style ancien). Rev. and fing. Georg Krüger. Piano
solo, not dificult. pp. 339–43.
[Bischoff, J. W.] Psyche Gavotte. Arr. [F. W.] Wessenberg and “Winthrop.” Mandolin and
guitar. pp. 344–46.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE MUSICAL VISITOR:
Root, G. F. Glory to Our Savior King. Text Mary F. Yorke. Christmas Anthem, grade 3.
pp. 347–49.
Murray, J. R. Arise! Shine! (Anthem for Christmas and other joyful occasions). S, SA, SATB,
and keyboard, grade 3. pp. 350–54.

Volume 25, number 1 (January 1896)

Espen, Theodor [pseud. of Karl Gänschals]. Heart Reaching Sounds [Klänge zum Herzen], op. 1.
Piano solo. pp. 7–9.
Beaumont, Paul. Polka. Piano solo. pp. 10–11.
Morey, Fred. L. The Shepherd’s Pipe, op. 42, no. 1. Piano solo. pp. 12–15.
Schmidt, Hans. Forest Calls [Waldruf]. Trans. “Winthrop” (English and German text). S or T
and piano. pp. 16–19.
Mascagni. “Intermezzo” from Cavalleria Rusticana. Arr. [F. W.] Wessenberg. Mandolin and
guitar. pp. 20–22.

Volume 25, number 2 (February 1896)

Kraus, Jos. Durch Kampf zum Sieg [Through Battle to Victory], March. Piano solo. pp. 35–37.
Behr, F. Dancing Song. Piano solo. pp. 38–40.
Gautier, Leonard. The Brooklet [Le ruisseau], Rondelle. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer.
Piano solo. pp. 41–46.
Koss, H. von. Winter Song [Winterlied]. Trans. Jacques Ahrem (English and German text).
M-S or B and piano. pp. 47–50.

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 Volume 25, number 3 (March 1896)
Wagner, J. F. Unter dem Doppel Adler [Under the Double Eagle], March, op. 159. Piano solo.
pp. 63–65.
Espen, Theodor [pseud. of Karl Gänschals]. In Quiet Night [Im stiller Nacht], op. 27. Piano solo.
pp. 66–69.
Bohm, Carl. Am Bergquell [By the Mountain Spring], op. 327, no. 2. Rev. and fing. Theodor
F. Bohlmann. Piano solo. pp. 70–75.
Murray, James R. The Sea Birds’ Message, or, We Know There Is One to Love Us. Voice
and piano. pp. 76–78.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE MUSICAL VISITOR:
Adams, Mrs. Carrie B. Hark! Hark! The Notes of Joy (Easter Anthem), grade 4. pp. 79–84.
Murray, J. R. Crown Him! (Hymn Anthem), grade 3. pp. 85–86.

Volume 25, number 4 (April 1896)

Fink, Wilhelm. “Bright Butterflies” [Bunte Schmetterlinge] from Joyous Youth, op. 179, no. 1.
Piano solo, easy. pp. 99–101.
Espen, Theodor [pseud. of Karl Gänschals] Spring’s Awakening [Frühlingserwachen], op. 31.
Piano solo. pp. 102–4.
Cinna, Oscar de la. In Springtime [Au printemps] (Scherzo–Andalou). Ed., rev., and fing. G.
Krüger. Piano solo. pp. 105–9.
Falconier, B. C. Reverie. Mandolin and guitar. Arr. [F. W.] Wessenberg. pp. 110–11.
Jadassohn, S. Faith in Spring [Frühlingsglaube]. Text Uhland. Trans. “Winthrop.” (English and
German text). S and M-S and piano. pp. 112–14.

Volume 25, number 5 (May 1896)

Wachs, Paul. Valse joyeuse. Ed., rev. and fing. G. Krüger. Piano solo. pp. 127–31.
Beaumont, Paul. Menuet. Piano solo, grade 3-1/2. pp. 132–35.
Oesten, Theodor. In Springtime [Im Frühling], op. 276, no. 1. Piano solo. pp. 136–37.
Marzials, Theo. Leaving Yet Loving. Text E. Barrett Browning. M-S and piano.
pp. 138–42.

Volume 25, number 6 (June 1896)

d’Orso, F. [pseud. of Franz Behr]. Dreamy Waltz, op. 46. Rev. and fing. P. F. C[amp]. Piano
solo. pp. 155–59.
Morey, Fred. L. In Leafy June, op. 42, no. 2. Piano solo. pp. 160–63.
Cooper, William [pseud. of Franz Behr]. Bell Galop. Piano solo. pp. 164–66.
Chaminade, C. Rosemonde. Text Marc Constantin. Trans. Clifton Bingham (English and French
text). S or T and piano. pp. 167–70.

Volume 25, number 7 (July 1896)

Gabriel-Marie. Sérénade badine. Rev. and fing. Georg Krüger. Piano solo. pp. 183–87.
Streabbog, L. Prière du matin (Melodie), op. 130, no. 1. Ed. Jacques Ahrem. Piano solo, grade 3.
pp. 188–91.
Stanford, C. Villiers, arr. My Love’s an Arbutus. Text A. P. Graves. Low voice and piano,
grade 3. pp. 192–96.

402
Mora, Carlo. Lullaby (Shut Eye, Baby Eye). Arr. [F. W.] Wessenberg. Mandolin and guitar.
pp. 197–98.

Volume 25, number 8 (August 1896)

Moszkowski, Maurice. Berceuse, op. 38, no. 2. Rev., ed., and fing. Theodor F. Bohlmann. Piano
solo. pp. 211–14.
Beaumont, Paul. Tyrolienne [Tyrolian]. Piano solo. pp. 215–18.
Oesten, Theodor. Country Pleasures [Landlichs Freuden], [op. 276, no. 6]. Piano solo.
pp. 219–20.
Murray, James R. Love’s Requiem. Text Janet O. Marsden. Voice and piano. pp. 221–23.
Haydn. Serenade. Arr. [F. W.] Wessenberg. Mandolin and guitar. pp. 224–26.

Volume 25, number 9 (September 1896)

Bohm, Carl. Murmuring Spring [Murmelnder Quell], op. 327, no. 8, Characteristic Sketch.
Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer. Piano solo. pp. 239–44.
Lichner, H. Gipsy Dance. Piano solo. pp. 245–48.
Heller, Stephen. Huntsman’s Sport. Fing. Sidney Ryan. Piano solo. pp. 249–50.
Jadassohn, S. Far Brighter Than Fire [Kein Feuer keine Kohle], op. 38, no. 1. Trans.
“Winthrop.” (English and German text). Soprano, Tenor or Soprano II, and piano.
pp. 251–54.

Volume 25 number 10 (October 1896)

Raff, J. After Sunset [Après le coucher du soleil] (Meditation), op. 75, no. 5. Rev. and fing.
Theodor F. Bohlmann. Piano solo. pp. 267–70.
Behr, Franz. The Butterfly and the Rose, [op. 78]. Rev. and fing. Geo. Schneider. Piano solo,
grade 3-1/2. pp. 271–75.
M[urray], J. R., arr. Melody. Piano solo. pp. 276–77.
Murray, J. R. Christus Consolator. (Recitative and air). Voice and piano. pp. 278–80.
Wessenberg, F. W., arr. The Guardmount (Patrol). Mandolin solo. pp. 281–82.

Volume 25, number 11 (November 1896)

Bohm, Carl. Blättlein im Winde [Leaflets in the Wind], op. 327, no. 33. Ed., rev. and fing.
Georg Krüger. Piano solo. pp. 295–300.
Reinecke, C. Sonatine, op. 136, no. 4. Ed., rev. and fing. Th. F. Bohlmann. Piano solo,
grade 3-1/2. pp. 301–4.
Ellmenreich, Albert. Spinning Song [Spinnliedchen]. Piano solo. pp. 305–7.
Pressel, Gustav. Lebe Wohl! [Fare thee well!]. Text Ed[uard] Mörike. (German and English
text). Low voice and piano. pp. 308–9.
Boccherini, L. Menuet. Arr. [F. W.] Wessenberg. Mandolin solo. p. 310.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE MUSICAL VISITOR:
Knopfel, G. C. O Come, Let Us Sing. S, SATB, and organ. pp. 317–21.
Root, Geo. F. Bless the Lord, O My Soul. SATB. pp. 322–24.

Volume 25, number 12 (December 1896)

Lack, Théodore. Sorrentina, op. 96. Rev. and fing. Georg Krüger. Piano solo. pp. 323–27.
Ludovic, G. La clochette du couvent, op. 48, Caprice. Piano solo. pp. 328–30.

403
Bachmann, G. Legende. Piano solo. pp. 331–34.
Cowen, F. H. Snowflakes. S or T and keyboard. pp. 335–38.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE MUSICAL VISITOR:
Adams, Carrie B. The Wondrous Story (Christmas Anthem). S or T, SATB, and keyboard,
grade 3. pp. 345–51.
Root, Geo. F. Ye Christian People All Rejoice (Anthem for Christmas and other Festivals).
SATB, grade 3. pp. 352–54.
Danks, H. P. Hark! The Glad Sound (Christmas). S or T, SATB, and keyboard, grade 3.
pp. 355–57.
Murray, J. R. Now Is Come the Salvation (Christmas Anthem). SA, SATB, and keyboard,
grade 3. pp. 358–60.

Volume 26, number 1 (January 1897)

Bohm, Carl. The Swallow’s Song [Was die Schwalbe sang], op. 270. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J.
Elsenheimer. Piano solo. pp. 7–11.
Danziger, L. Virginia Waltz [Little Treasures, no. 8]. Dedicated to my dear friend Mrs.
Virginia Samuels. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 12–13.
Schütt, Eduard. Valse Lente. Rev. P. F. Camp. Piano solo. pp. 14–16.
Chaminade, C. Were I Gard’ner [Si j’étais jardinière]. Text Roger Milès. Trans. D. Kanner.
(English and French text). S or T and piano. pp. 17–21.
Wagner, J. F. Unter dem Doppel Adler [Under the Double Eagle], op. 159. Arr. “Winthrop.”
Mandolin solo. p. 22.

Volume 26, number 2 (February 1897)

Bohm, Carl. Seguidilla (Canzona Espanola), op. 327, no. 14. Ed. Jacques Ahrem. Piano solo,
grade 4. pp. 35–39.
Cramer, J. B. Le Petit rien. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer. Piano solo. pp. 40–43.
Merkel, Gustav. Auf grüner au, op. 82, no. 1. Rev. and fing. Geo. Schneider. Piano solo.
pp. 44–47.
Murray, James R. When Mother Fell Asleep. Text E. E. Rexford. Song and chorus (SATB),
grade 3. pp. 48–51.

Volume 26, number 3 (March 1897)

Scharwenka, Philipp. Tanz-Vergnügen, op. 68 [no. 1]. Rev. Jacques Ahrem. Piano solo,
grade 3. pp. 63–65.
Reuter, E. J. Waltz-Rondo. Piano solo, grade 2. pp. 66–67.
Bohm, C. Frolic of the Butterflies [Kosender Falter], op. 282. Rev. and fing. Jacques Ahrem.
Piano solo, grade 3-1/2. pp. 68–73.
Handel. Turn Thee, O Lord. Text adapted Louis Ehrgott. Arr. W. Hutchins Callcott. Voice
and piano. pp. 74–78.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE MUSICAL VISITOR:
Berridge, Arthur. Hallelujah! Christ Is Risen. Words selected from [Charles] Wesley. T or S,
SATB, and keyboard. pp. 85–90.
Murray, J. R. Rejoice, the Lord Is King. SATB and keyboard. pp. 91–92.

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 Volume 26, number 4 (April 1897)
Gutmann, A. Nocturne Poetique, op. 16. Rev. and ed. Wilson G. Smith. Piano solo, grade 4.
pp. 91–93.
Godard, Ch. Danse d’Etoiles (Valse), op. 66. Piano solo. pp. 94–100.
Murray, James R. Bright Eyes Waltz. Piano solo, grade 2-1/2. pp. 101–3.
Joachim, Amalie. “Swedish Song: From a Dalekarlian Dance.” (English and German text).
Voice and piano. pp. 104–6.

Volume 26, number 5 (May 1897)

Gade, N. W. Spring’s Awakening. Transcr. Wilson G. Smith. Piano solo, grade 4. pp. 119–24.
Förster, Alban. Forest Greetings [Waldesgrüsse], op. 88, no. 3. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J.
Elsenheimer. Piano solo. pp. 125–30.
Danziger, L. Gypsy-Life [Little Treasures, no. 5]. Dedicated to my brother Max Danziger. Piano
solo, grade 3. pp. 131–32.
Schaeffer, Hermann. When Two Fond Lovers [Wenn Zwei sich Lieben], op. 2. Trans.
“Winthrop.” (English and German text). S or T and piano. pp. 133–34.

Volume 26, number 6 (June 1897)

Lack, Théodore. Aubade Vénitienne [Venetian Morning Serenade], op. 42, no. 3. Rev. and fing.
Georg Krüger. Piano solo. pp. 147–51.
Duvernoy, J. B. Valse [Bluette], op. 272, no. 1. Rev. and fing. Emil Liebling. Piano solo, grade 3.
pp. 152–54.
Fink, Wilhelm. “The First Violet” [Die ersten Veilchen], from Joyous Youth, op. 179, no. 5.
Piano solo. pp. 155–57.
Cowen, F. H. With Thee There Is Forgiveness. Text Psalm 130:4–6. Voice and piano,
grade 3. pp. 158–162.

Volume 26, number 7 (July 1897)

Rubinstein, A. Barcarolle, op. 30, no. 1. Rev. and fing. Geo. Schneider. Piano solo. pp. 175–79.
Kalkbrenner. Etude-Melodie. Transcr. Wilson G. Smith. Dedicated to Edmund S. Mattoon.
Piano solo, grade 3-1/2. pp. 180–83.
Lichner, Heinrich. Modesty [Bescheidenheit], op. 259, no. 9. Ed. “Winthrop.” Piano solo.
pp. 184–86.
anon. The Sunshiny Morning [Heiterer Morgen]. Piano solo. p. 187.
anon. Northern Strains [Nordische Klänge]. Piano solo. p. 188.
Pressel, Gustav. Die Abendfeier [Evening Devotion]. (German and English text). High voice
and piano. pp. 189–90.

Volume 26, number 8 (August 1897)

Ahrem, Jacques. Jolly Fellowship. Rondo. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 203–5.
Ravina, Henri. Petit Bolero, op. 62. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer. Piano solo. pp. 206–13.
Espen, Theodor [pseud. of Karl Gänschals]. Merry Thoughts [Froher Sinn], op. 19. Piano solo.
pp. 214–16.
Tirindelli, P. A. My Flower. Voice and piano, grade 4. pp. 217–18.

405
 Volume 26, number 9 (September 1897)
Lack, Théodore. Danse Bohémienne [Bohemian Dance] (Impromptu), op. 55, no. 5. Rev. and
fing. Georg Krüger. Piano solo. pp. 231–35.
Duvernoy, J. B. Mazurka, op. 272, no. 3. Rev. and fing. Emil Liebling. Piano solo, grade 3.
pp. 236–38.
Espen, Theodor [pseud. of Karl Gänschals]. Eveline (Mazurka Brillante), op. 4. Piano solo.
pp. 239–41.
“Winthrop.” In Pastures Green. Piano solo, easy. pp. 242–43.
Murray, J. R. Little Sunshine. Voice and piano, grade 3. pp. 244–46.

Volume 26, number 10 (October 1897)

Ehrlich, Gustav. Barcarole [op. 5]. Rev. and fing. Theodore F. Bohlmann. Piano solo.
pp. 259–63.
Danziger, L. In Venice (Barcarolle). Dedicated to my friend Mr. C. J. Rosebault. Piano solo,
grade 3. pp. 264–66.
Duvernoy, J. B. Barcarolle, op. 272, no. 2. Rev. and fing. Emil Liebling. Piano solo, grade 3.
pp. 267–69.
Bachmann, G. Fierté. Piano solo. pp. 270–72.
Pressel, Gustav. Ein Stündlein wohl vor Tag [Before the dawn of day]. Text Ed[uard] Mörike.
(German and English text). High voice and piano. pp. 273–74.

Volume 26, number 11 (November 1897)

Braga, G. La Serenata (Légende Valaque). Transcr. J. Rummel. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J.
Elsenheimer. Piano solo. pp. 287–93.
Bohm, C. A la valse (Petit impromptu), op. 301. Ed. and rev. Jacques Ahrem. Piano solo,
grade 3-1/2. pp. 294–98.
Danziger, L. Minuette [Little Treasures, no. 4]. Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 299–300.
Peri, [Achille?]. Peri Waltzes. Arr. F. W. Wessenberg. Mandolin solo. p. 301.
Pressel, Gustav. In meinem Garten die Nelken [The Pinks within my garden]. Text Em[anuel]
Geibel. (German and English text). High voice and piano. p. 302.
THANKSGIVING SUPPLEMENT TO THE MUSICAL VISITOR:
Root, Geo. F. Give unto the Lord (Hymn Anthem). B, SATB, and keyboard. pp. 309–12.
Murray, James R. The Joyful Sound (For Thanksgiving, and other joyful occasions). SATB and
keyboard. pp. 313–16.

Volume 26, number 12 (December 1897)

anon. Christmas Bells. Text [Henry Wadsworth] Longfellow. Cover.
Lack, Théodore. Idilio, op. 134. Rev. and fing. Dr. N. J. Elsenheimer. Piano solo. pp. 315–17.
Lack, Théodore. Menuet du XVIIIME Siècle, op. 36. Ed., rev., and fing. G. Krüger. Piano solo.
pp. 318–23.
Ahrem, Jacques. Alpine Remembrance (Tyrolienne). Piano solo, grade 3. pp. 324–26.
Stange, Max. Favoring Breeze [Frische Brise], op. 28, no. 1. Text Edgar Steiger. (English and
German text). Voice and piano. pp. 327–30.

406
CHRISTMAS SUPPLEMENT TO THE MUSICAL VISITOR:
Murray, J. R. Break Forth into Joy (Christmas). S or T, Quartet or Chorus (SATB), and
keyboard. pp. 337–39.
Danks, H. P. Let the Heavens Rejoice (Christmas Anthem). S or T, SATB, and keyboard.
pp. 340–44.

407
 APPENDIX B

Alphabetical List of Composers

Composers and dates, if known, and number of vocal and/or instrumental works printed in the
Visitor. Composers born in the United States are also identified. The asterisk indicates winners of
the 1876 poll of subscribers for the most popular composers of *vocal or **instrumental music,
and + identifies employees of John Church and Company.

Name b. US Vocal Instr.

Abbott, George M. 1
Abesser, Edmund (1837–1889) 2
*Abt, Franz (1819–1885) 5
Adams, [Mrs.] Carrie B. [Wilson] (1859–1940) X 2
Adams, O. D. (d. 1869) 1
Adams, Stephen (1844–1913) [pseud. Michael Maybrick] 1
Adamson, William B. 1
*+Addison, D. C. [pseud. Charles Addison Daniell] (b. 1849) 11 2
Ahrem, Jacques 2 2
Albert, Charles [Louis Napoléon] d’ (1809–1886) 1
Allen, G[eorge?] B[enjamin?] (1822–1897) 1
Anacker, W[ilhelm?] 1
Anderton, T[homas] (1836–1903) 1
André (arr. from) 2
Anonymous 30 44
Archer, Frederick (1838–1901) 1 3
Arditi, [Luigi] (1822–1903) 1
Arini, Karl 2 1
Arkwright, Mrs. 1
Arndell, R. R. 1
Ashford, [Mrs.] E[mma] L[ouise] [Hindle] (1850–1930) X 4
Atkins, Miss Hannah 1
Attwood, Thomas (1765–1838) 1
Auber, [Daniel-Francois-Esprit] (1782–1871) 2
Audran, [Edmond] (1840–1901) 1 2
Autgaerden, F.[S.] van 4
Avison, [Charles] (1709–1770) 1
B., F. H. 1
Bach, [J. S.] (1685–1750) 1 1
Bachmann, G[eorges] (ca. 1848–1894) 3
Baker, Arthur 1
Baley, James 1
Balfe, M[ichael] W[illiam] (1808–1870) 1
Bard, E. H. 4

408
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Barnby, J[oseph] (1838–1896) 4 2
Barrows, Robert Y. 1
Bartlett, [Dr.] M[aro] L. (1847–1919) X 2
Batiste, [Antoine-Edouard] (1820–1876) 3
Battmann, J[acques] L[ouis] (1818–1886) 28
Baumfelder, Friedrich (1836–1916) 2
Beaumont, Paul 4
Beck, Conr. H. 1
Becker, C[arl] F[erdinand] (1804–1877) 5
**Beethoven, [Ludwig van] (1770–1827) 3 19
Behr, F[rançois/Franz] (1837–1898) [pseud. William Cooper,
6
Ch. Godard, F[rancesco] d’Orso]
Behrend, A[rthur] H[enry] (1853–1935) 1
Beirly, Alfred 1
Bellini, [Vincenzo] (1801–1835) 1
Bellstedt, [Herman] (1858–1926) 1
Bendel, Franz (1832/3–1874) 1
Benedict, Sir Jules (1804–1885) 1
Benson, J. A[llanson] 1
Berliner, S[elma] 1
Berridge, Arthur 2
Beyer, Carl 1
Bischoff, [Dr.] J. W. (1850–1909) X 2 1
Bishop, Sir Henry (1786–1855) 1
Bizet, [Georges] (1838–1875) 1
Black, J. W. 2
Blackmer, E. T. 1
Blamphin, Charles (1830?–1895) 1
*Bliss, Philip P[aul] (1838–1876) [pseud. Pro Phundo Basso] X 38
Bliss, Mrs. P. P. [Lucy Young Bliss] (1841–1876) X 1
Blose, J[ohann] M. 4
Blosser, H. C. 1
Blum, O. R. 1
Blumenschein, W[illiam] L[eonard] (1849–1916) 1
Blumenthal, [Jakob/Jacques] (1829–1908) 1
Boccherini, L[uigi] (1743–1805) arr. Wessenberg 1
Boex, A[ndrew] J. 1
Bohm, Carl (1844–1920) 8
Bohner, Louis (1787–1860) 1
Bollinger, A. E. 2
Bonnell, J. F. 1
Boyce, Dr. [William?] (1711–1779) 1
Bracewell, W. 1
Bradshaw, B. 1

409
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Bradsky, [Wenzel] Theodor (1833–1881) 1
Bradt, C. J. 1
Braga, G[aetano] (1829–1907) 1
Brahms, Johannes (1833–1897) 1
Bray, Charles E. 1
Breslaur, Emil (1836–1899) 1
Bridge, J[ohn] Frederick (1844–1924) 1
Briggs, W. A. 1
Bristow, F[rank] L. (1845–1914) 1
Bruce, W. A. 1
Brumback, E. G. 1
Buck, Dudley (1839–1909) X 1
Bulling, George T. 1
Butterfield, J[ames] A[ustin] (1837–1891) 3
C., H. R. 1
Caldara, [Antonio?] (1670–1736) 1
Callcott, Dr. [John George] (1821–1895) 1
Camp, J[ohn] S[pencer] (1858–1946) 1
Campana, Fabio (1819–1882) 3
Campbell, J. B. 1
+Campiglio, Paolo F. 1
Carolan 2
Carroll, Charles H. 1
Case, C[harles] C[linton] (1843–1918) X 8
Cellier, Alfred (1844–1891) 1
Challoner, Robert 1 2
Chaminade, C[écile] (1857–1944) 2
**Chopin, [Frédéric] (1810–1849) 13
Chwatal, F[ranz] X[aver] (1808–1879) 1
Cinna, Oscar de la 1
Clark, [Rev. Frederick] Scotson (1840–1883) 1
Clayton, C. F. 1
Clementi, [Muzio] (1752–1832) 2
Clemm, J. B. O. 1
Clinton, Charles 1
Collan, Carl (1828–1871) 1
Collier, Rev. Edward A. 3
Collin, Aly L. 1
Concone, J. [Paolo Giuseppe] (1801–1861) 2
Concordius [pseud.] 1
Cook, Mrs. T. J. 1
Cooper, William (1837–1898) [pseud. Franz Behr] 2
Costa, Sir [Michael] (1808–1884) 1 1
Cottrau, G[iulio] (1831–1916) 1

410
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Couldrey, H. R. 1
Cowen, Frederic H. (1852–1935) 3
Cramer 2
Cramer, J[ohann] B[aptist] (1771–1858) 2
Crane, Henry R. 1
Cranmer, Ed[ward] L. 45 1
Cre[i]yghton, Rev. Dr. [Robert] (1636/7–1734) 1
Croisez, A[lexandre] (1814–1886) 1
Crouch, [Frederick Nicholls] (1808–1896) 1
Crozier, E. W. 1
Czerny, [Carl] (1791–1857) 6
Czibulka, Alphons (1842–1894) 2
*Danks, H[art] P[ease] (1834–1903) X 36
Danziger, L. 4
Darnton, C. 1
DeCamp, Evelyn 1
DeKress, Charles R. 1
Delos [pseud. Delos Gardner Spalding?] 1
Demeur, Celestin 1
Dicey, E. A. 1
Dick, [Cotsford?] (1846–1911) 1
Doane, W[illiam] H[oward] (1832–1915) X 1
Donizetti, G[aetano] (1797–1848) 1
Dorn, Edouard (1838–1923) [pseud. of Joseph L. Röckel] 1
Douglas, Malcolm 1
Dungan, J. M. 1
Dunham, J. R. 1
Dussek, [Jan Ladislav] (1760–1812) 1
Duvernoy, J[ean] B[aptiste] (1802–1880) 3
Ehrlich, Gustav 1
Eichberg, O[skar] (1845–1898) 1
Elliott, J[ames] W[illiam] (1833–1915) 1
Ellis, S. A., arr. 1
Ellmenreich, Albert (1816–1905) 1
Elvey, Sir George J[ob] (1816–1893) 2
Emerson, L[uther] O[rlando] (1820–1915) X 1
Emmet, J[oseph] K[line] (1841–1891) X 2
Espen, Theodor [pseud. of Karl Gänschals] (1847–1906) 5
Ewing, A[lexander C.] (1830–1895) 1
Fabiani, Signor [H. B.] 2 1
Fahrbach, P[hilip], Jr. (1843–1894) 1
Fairbank, H. W. 6
Falconier, B. C. 1
Fase, Henry 1

411
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Faust, Carl (1825–1892) 1
Favart, Paul [pseud. Edwin Benning] 1
Fesca, [Alexander?] (1820–1849) 1
Fink, [Gottfried?] Wilhelm (1783–1846) 3
Fisher, Madeleine 1
Fiske, William O. 1
Fletcher, R[obert] L. 3
Flotow, [Friedrich von] (1812–1883) 1
Flower, Eliza (1803–1846) 1
Fontaine, Ch. 1
Forbes, J. Winchell 1
Fo[e]rster, Alban (1849–1916) 4
Forest, Frank 1
Forster, A[nton] (1867–1915) 4
Foster, Stephen C. (1826–1864) X 1
Fox, Robert 5
Franck, J[oseph?] (1820–1891) 2
French, H. A. 1
Fruehling, Max 1
Gabriel, Charles 1
Gabriel, Charles H[utchinson] (1856–1932) X 1
Gabriel-Marie, [Jean Marie Marie] (1852–1928) 2
Gade, N[iels] W. (1817–1890) 1
Gaines, A. 2
Gallaher, J. J. 1
Gaul, Alfred [Robert] (1837–1913) 2
Gautier, Leonard (1825–1878) 1
Geissler, C. 2
George, J. E. 1
Geza, K. Döme 1
Ghys, Henry (1839–1908) 1
Giese, Theodor 3
Gill, James 1
Gilmore, H. G. 6
Glines, J. E. 1
Gluck, Chr[istoph Willibald, Ritter] von (1714–1787) 1 3
Gobbaerts, [Jean] L[ouis] (1835–1886) [pseud. L. Streabbog] 2
Godard, Ch[arles] (1837–1898) [pseud. Franz Behr] 1
Goerdeler, Richard 3 4
Goltermann, G[eorg Eduard] (1824–1898) 2
Goodeve, Arthur 1
Gordon, George S. (1851–1886) X 1 1
Gosfi, Henrie 1
Goss, Sir John (1800–1880) 1

412
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Gotze, Joh. (1791–1861) 1
Gounod, Charles (1818–1893) 2 7
Gowen, Edw. H. 1
Graben-Hoffmann, [Gustav H.] (1820–1900) 1
Grape, John T[homas] (1835–1915) X 3
Graun, C[arl] H[einrich] (1703/4–1759) 4
Grünfeld, Alfred (1852–1924) 1
Guest, A. M. 1
Gurlitt, C[ornelius] (1820–1901) 1
Gutmann, A[dolf] (1819–1882) 1
Hall, J. E. 16
Halls, R. George 1
Hand, A. O. 2
Handel, G[eorge] F[riederich] (1685–1759) 2 6
Hanson, S. C. 1
Harding, Henry 1
Harrington, C. W. 1
Hartmann, J[ohann] P[eter] E[milius] (1805–1900) 1
Hartshorne, W. Irving 1
Hartsough, Palmer (1844–1932) 1
Hasse, J[ohann] A[dolf] (1699–1783) 1
Hastie, William A. 2
Hastings, Dr. Thomas (1784–1872) X 1
Hatton, J[ohn] L[iptrot] (1808–1886) 2
Havens, A. W. 1
Havens, C(harles) A(rthur) (b. 1842) 3 1
Haydn, F[ranz] J[oseph] (1732–1809) 1 16
Haydn, [Johann] M[ichael] (1737–1806) 1
Heck, L. 1
Hecker, J. [A.] 1
Heetz[?], W. L. (unclear copy) 1
Heffley, Irvin J. 1
Heins, Carl (1859–1923) 1
Heiser, W. 1
Heiser, Wilhelm (1816–1897) 1
Heller, Stephen (1813–1888) 2
Henkel 1
Henrion, Paul (1819–1901) 1
Henry, J. A. 2
Henschel, George (1850–1934) 1
Henselt, A[dolf von] (1814–1889) 1 1
Hermann 1
Herrling, J. M. 1
Hershey, J. C. 1

413
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Herz, H[enri] (1803–1888) 1
Hesse 1
Hester, Mrs. Sallie A. 1
Heyer, Karl [Charles] Otto (1832–1897) 4
Hiles, H[enry] (1826–1904) 1
Hill, Jerome 2
Hill, R. N. 1
Hime, E. L. 1
Himmel 3
Hitz, Franz (b. 1828) 1
Holsinger, Geo. B. (1857–1908) X 2
Hook, Albert 3 1
Hopkins, Dr. J. L. X 1
Horn, C[harles] E[dward] (1786–1849) 1
Howard, Frank (1833–1884) [pseud. Delos Gardner Spalding] X 1 1
Huber, Hans (1852–1921) 2
Hull, P. G. 1
Hummel, [Johann Nepomuk?] (1778–1837) 1
Hunter, Will. B. 1
Hutchins, C. E. 1
Hyde, D[orsey] W. 6
J., J. L., arr. 1
Jadassohn, S[alomon] (1831–1902) 3
Jansen, F. Gustav (1831–1910) 1
Jarl, J. L. 4
Joachim, Amalie [Schneeweiss] (1839–1899) 1
Joetze, F. 1
Jolie, M. 1
Juncker, Aug. W. 1
Jungmann, Albert (1824–1892) 1
Kalkbrenner, [Frédéric/Friedrich] (1785–1849) 1
Keil, Phil. P. 2
Kern 10
Kern, Carl Aug. 1
Kiallmark, [George Frederick] (1804–1887) 1 3
Kimball, E. S. 1
Kinkel, Charles (b. 1832) 2
Kinkel, Johanna (1810–1858) 1
**Kinkle, C. 2
Kirkpatrick, William J[ames] (1838–1921) X 1
Kissinger, J. H. 1
Kleber, L. P. 1
Knecht, Justin H. (1752–1817) 1 1
Knopfel, G. C. 23

414
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Kohler, Oscar 1
Kohnemann, W. 1
Koss, H[enning] von (b. 1855) 1
Kottaun, Celian 2
Kozeluch, [Leopold Anton] (1747–1818) 1
Kraus, Jos[eph] (1756–1792) 1
Krug, D[iederich] (1821–1880) 2
Krutch, Emil 1
Kuchenmeister, A. 1
Küchenmeister, Wilhelm 1
Kuhlau, [Friedrich] (1786–1832) 3
Kunkel, Gotthold 1
Labitzky, A[ugust] (1832–1903) 1
Lack, Theódor (1846–1921) 7
Lackey, Chas. A. 1
Lamothe, [George] 1
Landown, R. 3
Lange, Gustav (1830–1889) 3
Latimer, S. 2
Latimer, T. 1
**Lefébure-Wély, L[ouis James Alfred] (1817–1869) 4
Leftwich, C. R. 1
Lege, W[ilhelm?] (1841–1893) 1
Leinad, L. 1
Lenz, L. 1
Leonie 1
Levasse, Antoine 6
Levoy, Leon 9 1
Lewis, Charles L. 1 1
Leybach, J. [Ignace Xavier Joseph] (1817–1891) 17
Lichner, H[einrich] (1829–1898) 4
Lickl, C. [Karl?] G[eorg] (1801–1877) 1
Lindahl, Albert 1
Lindsay, Mathew 2
Lippitt, F. J. 1
Liszt, [Franz] (1811–1886) 1
Lockwood, C. T. (1834/5–1870) 1
Löw, Josef (1834–1886) 2
Lohr, Felix 1
Lott, E. M. 2
Ludovic, G. 5
Lulli[y], Jean-Baptiste (1632–1687) 1
Lutz, [Johann Baptist] W[ilhelm] Meyer (1828–1903) 1
Lwoff, Alexis [L’vov, Aleksey] (1798–1870) 1 1

415
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Lyman, Arthur H. 1
Lyte, G. E. 1
Mackintosh, K. 1
“Macy” 1
Malmene, Waldemar (1833?–1906) 4
Manchester, W. N. 1
Maretzek, Max (1821–1897) 1
Marks, B[erthould] 2
Marks, Godfrey (1847–1931) [pseud. James Frederick Swift] 1
Martin, S. Wesley (b. 1839) 3
Martini 1
Marzial[e]s, Theo. (1850–1920) 1 1
Mascagni, [Pietro] (1863–1945) 1
Masini 1
Mason, Dr. [Lowell] (1792–1872) X 2
Massenet, Jules (1842–1912) 1
Matheson, J. 1
Mayer, Carl 6
Mayo, Oscar (b. ca. 1836) 2
McCabe, C[harles] C[aldwell] (1836–1906) X 1
*McGranahan, James (1840–1907) X 8
McPhail, M. L. 10
Meares, George D. 1
Meininger, J. C. 1
Meiser, Carl 4
Mendelssohn[-Bartholdy], Felix (1809–1847) 6 12
Meredith, I[saac] [H.] (1872–1962) X 1
Merkel, Gustav (1827–1885) 1
Merrill, H[iram] T. 1
Métra, [Jules Louis] Oliv[i]er (1830–1889) 1
Metzdorff, Richard (1844–1919) 1
Meyerbeer, [Giacomo] (1791–1864) 2
Michael, M. 1
Michaelis, Gustav (1828–1887) 2
*Millard, Harrison (1830–1895) X 1
Miller, Dr. C. C. 1
Minard, Jules 1
Moir, F[rank] L[ewis] (1852–1904) 1
Molloy, J[ames] L[yman] (1837–1909) 2 1
Moore, Edwin 1
+Mora, Carlo 1
Morey, Fred L. 18 2
Mori, F[rank?] (1820–1873) 1
Morley, Hester 2

416
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Morton, J. V. 1
Moszkowski, Maurice [Moritz] (1854–1925) 1
Mozart, W[olfgang] A[madeus] (1756–1791) 1 19
Muhling, [August?] (1786–1847) 1
Mullaly, W. S. 2
Müller, A[ugust?] E[berhard?] (1767–1817) 1
Muller, F. 1
Muller, J. A. 1
Munger, M. J. 1
Munoz, Julian 1
Murden, H. S. 1
+Murray, James R[amsey] (1841–1905) [pseud. Raymur? and X 109 16
Winthrop?]
Nottingham, Charles H. 1
Novello, V[incent] (1781–1861) 1
Oberthür, Charles (1819–1895) 1
Oesten, Theodor (1813–1870) 6
Offenbach, [Jacques] (1819–1880) 1
O’Kane, T[ulius] C[linton] (1830–1912) X 3
Operti, G[iuseppe] (d. 1886?) 1
Orr, R. Porter 1
d’Orso, F[rancesco] (1837–1898) [pseud. Franz Behr] 1
Pache, Johannes (1857–1897) 2
Paladilhe, E[mile] (1844–1926) 1
Pallat, Carl 1
*Palmer, H[oratio] R[ichmond] (1834–1907) X 15
Pape, C. O. 1
Pape, Oskar 4
Pardue, L. F. 1
Pascal, [Florian] (1847–1923) [pseud. Joseph Benjamin 2 1
Williams, Jr.]
Pearse, Anna E. 1
Peebles, E. D. 1
Peri, [Achille?] (1812–1880), arr. Wessenberg 1
*Persley, George W. (1840–1894) [pseud. Geo. W. Brown] X 24
Pferdner, Adolph 1
Phelps, Edward B. (1828/9–1888)
Pinsuti, Ciro (1829–1888) 1 1
Pleyel, [Ignace?] (1757–1831) 1
Plumpton, Alfred (1840–1902) 1
Pontius, W[illiam] H. (1860–1937) X 6 3
Porter, H[elen?] W. 2
Porter, W. T. 6
Pratt, Charles E. (1841–1902) X 1 1

417
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Pratt, S[ilas] G[amaliel] (1846–1916) X 1 3
Pressel, Gustav [A.] (1827–1890) 4
Proch, [Heinrich] (1809–1878) 1
Puget, Louisa (1810–1889) 1
Quick, H. H. 1
R., W. J. 1
Rae, George, Jr. 1
Raff, J[oseph Joachim] (1822–1882) 2
Ravina, [Jean] Henri (1818–1906) 2
Reden, Karl 1
Reichard 1
Reinecke, Carl (1824–1910) 5
Resch, Johann (1830–1889) 1
Reuter, E. J. 1
Reynolds, Walter Guernsey (1873–1953) X 1
**Richards, [Henry] Brinley (1817–1885) 1
Ries, F[erdinand] (1784–1838) 1
Righini, Vincenzo (1756–1812) 2
Rimbault, [Edward Francis] (1816–1876) 1
Rinck, J[ohann] C[hristian] H[einrich] (1770–1846) 8
Robinson, James H. 6
Roeckel, Joseph L. (1838–1923) [pseud. Edouard Dorn] 4
Roehr, L[ouis] (b. 1821) 1
Rooke, W[illiam] M[ichael] 1
*Root, Frederic[k] W. (1846–1916) X 13
*Root, George F. (1820–1895) [pseud. Wurzel] X 184 22
Rose, Clarence D. 2
*Rossini, Gioacchino (1792–1868) 1
Rowe, G[eorge] H. X 1
Rubinstein, Anton (1829–1894) 1
Runcie, Constance Faunt Le Roy (1836–1911) X 1
Rutledge, John T. 1
**Ryan, Sydney 9 3
Saboly, [Nicolas] (1614–1675) 1
Sachs, M[elchior] E[rnst] (1843–1917) 14
Sack, Carl 1
Saint-Saëns, Camille (1835–1921) 1
Sanders, Harry 1
Sanford, H[arriet] 1
Sarchet, John H. 1
Sarti, [Giuseppe] (1729–1802) 1
Saunders, Dr. A. A. 1
Schaeffer, Hermann 1
Scharwenka, [Ludwig] Philipp (1847–1917) 3

418
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Scharwenka, [Franz] Xaver (1850–1924) 3
Schluty, J. 2
Schmidt, Hans 1
Schmitt, J. 1
Schneider, Erwin 2
Schneider, Fr[iedrich] (1786–1853) 1
Schoff, Mrs. Dr. J. S. 2
Schonacker, H[ubert] J. (1842–1912) X 1
Schroeter, Max 1
Schubert, Franz (1797–1828) 9
Schütt, Eduard (1856–1933) 1
Schulhoff, Jules (1825–1898) 1
Schultze, Clemens 2
*Schumann, [Robert] (1810–1856) 9
Schuster, Wenzel 1
Schwalm, R[obert] (1845–1912) 1
**Scott, Mrs. Clara H. (1841–1897) X 4
Seager, Mrs. L. D. 1
Sedgwick, A[lfred Blair] (ca. 1821–1878) 1
Sennewald, Fritz 1
Seyfried, [Ignaz Xavier, Ritter von?] (1776–1841) 1
+Sherwin, W[illiam] F[isk] (1826–1888) X 12
Shields, Mrs. Henry 1
Shryock, J. W. 1
Siewert, Heinrich 1
Singer, Otto (1833–1894) 1
Skelly, J[oseph] P[aul] (1850–1895) 1
Slie, J. S. 4
Smart, Henry (1813–1879) 2 1
Smith, Jno. Benjamin 2
**Smith, S[ydney] G. (1839–1899) 2
Söderman[n], A[ugust] [Johan] (1832–1876) 1
Sofge, H[enry] D. 12
Sothern, J. R. 1
Spence, Oscar 1
Spencer, Fanny M[orris] (1867–1943) X 1
Spindler, F[ritz] (1817–1905) 3
Spofforth, [Reginald] (1770–1827) 1
Spohr, [Ludwig] (1784–1859) 1 2
Squires, F. H. 1
Stahl, Richard (1860?–1899) 1
Stanford, C[harles] Villiers (1852–1924) 1
Stange, Max (1856–1932) 2
Stanley, [Charles] J[ohn] (1712–1786) 1

419
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Stebbins, George C[oles] (1846–1945) X 3
Steel, Robert William 1
Steele, Clarence T. 5
Steibelt, [Daniel] (1765–1823) 2
Steinhagen, P. 1
Stenglin, V. von 1
Stewart, James E. 1
Stirling, [Elizabeth] (1819–1895) 1
**Strauss II, Johann (1825–1899) 6
Strauss, Josef (1827–1870) 2
Streabbog, L. (1835–1886) [pseud. Jean Louis Gobbaerts] 1
Strong, M. H. 1
Sudds, W[illiam] F. (1843–1920) 1
Sullivan, arr. Vinal 1
Sullivan, Arthur [S.] (1842–1900) 4 2
Suppé, Franz von (1819–1895) 1
Sutton, W. S. 1
Swem, Edmond H. 1
Sweney, John R[obson] (1837–1899) X 4
Taggart, Helen W. 1
Tallis, [Thomas] (ca. 1505–1585) 1
Tanner, Miss Jeannie I. 1
Tappert, W[ilhelm] (1830–1907) 1
Taylor, R. S[tewart] 1
Taylor, W. H. 1
Tenney, J[ohn] H[arrison] (b. 1840) X 1
Thallon, Robert, Jr. 2
Thompson, Dr. 1
Thurston, W. P. 4
Tillinghast, Wm. 1
Tirindelli, P[ier/Pietro] A[dolfo] (1858–1937) 1
Titcomb, C. G. 1
Tosti, F[rancesco] Paolo (1846–1916) 2
Tours, Berthold (1838–1897) 3 1
Towne, T[homas] Martin (1835–1911/12) X 2
Towner, D[aniel] B[rink] (1850–1919) X 4
Treloar, W. M. 1
Tucker, Henry C. (?1826–1882) X 2
Turpin, Harry B. 1
Vance, J. P. 1
Vava 1
*Verdi, [Giuseppe] (1813–1901) 2 1
Vernon, Nettie 1
Vilbac[k], [Alphonse Charles] R[enaud] de (1829–1884) 4

420
Name b. US Vocal Instr.
Viviani, F. 1
Voss, C[harles] H. (1815–1882) 1
W., E. E. 1
Wachs, F. 5
Wachs, Paul (1851–1915) 1
Wade, John F[rancis] (1711/12–1786) 1
Wagner, J[osef] F[ranz] (1856–1908) 2
**Wagner, [Wilhelm] Richard (1813–1883) 1 9
Waldteufel, Emil[e] (1837–1915) 2
Wanhall [Vanhal], J[ohan] [Baptiste] (1739–1813) 1
Warlamoff [Varlamov], [Aleksandr] (1801–1848) 1
Watson, M. 1
W[ebb], G[eorge] J[ames] (1803–1887) 1
Webbe 1
Weber 1 1
Weber, [Carl M.?] von (1786–1826) 2
Weiss, C. A. 1
Wellings, Milton (b. 1850) 1
Wély, Charles 1
Wessenberg, F. W. 1
Westbrook, [William J.?] (1831–1894) 1
Westendorf, Thomas P[aine] (1848–1923) X 16 3
Westhoff, F. W. 3
White, Robert 1
Whitmore, C[harles] S[hapland] (1805–1877) 1
Whittemore, E. E. (d. 1876) 2 3
Wiley, R. T. 1
Wilhelm, Karl (1815–1873) 1
Willbrecht, Theo. 1
Williams, C[harles] C. (1852–1882) X 3
Williams, W. A. 1
Wilm, N[icolai] von (1834–1911) 2
Wilson, George F. 2 1
Wilson, G[renville] D[ean] (1833–1897) X 1
Wimpfheimer, Albert 1
Winter 1
Wolff, Bernh[ard] (1835–1906) 1
Wood, A. L. 1
Woodward, Rev. H. H. 1
Work, Henry C[lay] (1832–1884) X 4
Worley, D. B. 2
Wyman, C. M. 2
Yoder, D. C. 1
TOTAL 52 1106 798

421