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Ten members were present for the Thursday meeting of the Music Department of Fortnightly Study Club. Mrs. Austin Kidwell was hostess in her home at 817 East Seventeenth. Mrs. Vance Moreland reviewed American Music from 1860 to 1920. She said “‘We have learned that the first music in this coun try was in the form of hymns, brought by the Pilgrims from England. Naturally the first songs completed were hymns. William Billings perhaps the first com poser, organized Sacred Singing Schools. Since singing schools were music’s declaration of in dependence, the classes usually were held in the town tavern. Each student brought his own candle and book. They spent three hours at a time for 24 days in learning the notes and the songs. A great exhibition was held at the end so townfolk could know the accomplishment. As _ people learned, music books improved with the clef, bar lines and time signatures.” He showed the beginning of the minstrel show and the contribution of the Negro spiritual to Amer ican folk music. During the Civil War period and Reconstruction Era music festivals were organized. The choral and symphonic works play ed were of little interest but the fact that musicians from several localities combined as one tre mendous unit drew the crowds. At the Peace Jubilee in 1872, Johann Strauss was an attraction not because his waltzes were known throughout the land but because he conducted a chorus of 10,000 singers and an orchestra of 1,000. As Mr. Strauss wrote it: “There I was, high on a dias with 100 assistant directors interspersed among the thousands in the chorus and orchestra. Although we had had rehearsals, I knew there was no change of giving an artistic performance. A cannon shot was the signal to begin. My assistant conductors followed me as best they could but there broke out such an unholy row such as I will never forget. Since we began more or less together, I concentrated myself on cing that we finished together. Thank heaven, I accom plished that. Mrs. Moreland told the begin nings of American orchestras, the first organized about 1810, and the history of opera. She named some of the greats in the music field, including John Phillip Sousa, the march king. Mr. Sousa lived to see himself beloved by the entire country. He got only $35 for his fabulous Sempter Fidelius march. Victor Herbert, William C.
Newspaper Details
Ada Evening News
Ada, Oklahoma, US
Sun, Jan 31, 1960
Page 11
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