THE STATUS OF MUSIC EDUCATION IN

THE UNITED STATES.

I. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT.

In order to an understanding of the present status of music in the United States a careful study of the different elements which have united to produce present conditions is necessary. Music is complex; it has its scientific, æsthetic, pedagogic, and cultural aspects, each also complex in character and providing material for serious and long-continued study, each influencing the development of the others. And in proportion as emphasis is laid upon one or the other it is given a bent of development having a strong bearing upon the symmetrical unfolding of the art of music as a whole. So many factors are thus present in the cultivation of music that for the establishment of a thoroughly efficient system of music education the utmost care is essential to the preservation of the proper balance between them. Instrumental music, including various instruments and the orchestra; vocal music, including solo singing, choral singing, opera, and oratorio; theory, including grammar, form (architectural structure), and composition; the meaning of music as exemplified in these various manifestations; and last, but far from least, the state of musical taste among the people, are factors which must be understood, for they are capable of pedagogic treatment. It is readily seen that the teaching of any one phase of music should be conducted with the reciprocal nature of all musical effort clearly kept in view, yet the failure of musicians in this respect is shown in the history of music education from its beginning until within the last ten years.

It would be well if the historical summary which follows could enter enough into detail to give a more complete view of music history in this country, but the limits of the work forbid, admitting only such facts as bear upon the development of its pedagogic side. In order that those who may wish to pursue the subject further may do so, a bibliography of the history of music in America is subjoined.

BEGINNINGS OF FORMAL MUSIC EDUCATION.

Formal music education has been developed chiefly through the activities of private teachers, independent music schools, and the

teaching of music in the public schools and in colleges and universities. Efforts in all these directions have been influenced and modified by the establishment of orchestras and smaller bodies of instrumentalists in various cities, and the introduction of opera in a few of the largest cities in the country; but regarding these proceedings present limits forbid the entering into detail. (Formal music education began with the institution of singing schools, whose purpose was the improvement of church music by teaching youths and adults to sing by note. They were doubtless stimulated by an increasing interest in church music growing out of the crude psalmody of the Puritans. Their educational value was small, those who conducted them possessing slight musical equipment. Their social features had more to do with their popularity than their educational advantages. They were peripatetic, moving about from place to place. Despite their weaknesses they stimulated desire for better things, and the interest they aroused resulted in the formation of choral societies, which later developed into permanent bodies between which and the music festival a direct relation can be traced. The first of these societies was that at Stoughton, Mass., which had its beginning in 1786 and which still exists. In 1815 the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston was founded. This society exerted an increasing influence on musical progress, and is still in existence, its records forming a valuable contribution to the history of musical development.) (Musical conventions, which are still held in various parts of the South, were a combination of the old singing school and the choral society. Held in some convenient center, they attracted participants from quite considerable distances. At the conclusion of a more or less serious series of lessons in note reading and the rudiments of music, a concert was usually given, which the public was invited to patronize—largely for the benefit of the conductor.) While the work of these conventions was lacking in finish, greater good was accomplished by them than we in this day are prone to give them credit for.

The value of these early efforts lay principally in their direct contact with the people. The modicum of musical instruction provided by them broke ground for later and more pretentious instruction and led to the discussion of methods of teaching, but was less influential than the spreading of musical culture among the people which ensued. (With the growth of interest in music naturally came the effort to train children in the rudiments of music, and a number of pioneers in this field began work early. N. D. Gould, of Boston, organized classes for children in 1824, or earlier, as William Tuckey had previously done in connection with the charity school attached to Trinity Church in New York about 1753. But the title of founder of this phase of music teaching really belongs to Lowell Mason, who went

to Boston from Savannah in 1827. He was better qualified for the work he undertook, not only by reason of his musical equipment, but also because of his study of the Pestalozzian principles of teaching and his possession of marked zeal and personal magnetism. His ideas as to the place of music in general education were definite and advanced. In 1832 he organized the Boston Academy of Music, outlining plans for the promotion of music education in various ways, including the instruction of children and the establishment of normal courses for teachers. This institution soon attracted 1,500 pupils, a significant indication of an awakening interest which needed only well-directed efforts for its rapid advancement. His labors culminated in 1836 in permission from the authorities for trial classes in certain public schools in Boston. The results were so satisfactory that in 1838 Mason was placed in charge permanently. He continued in this service, however, only until 1841, when he was succeeded by B. B. Baker. Mason's normal classes attracted teachers from a wide area, and efforts based upon his methods were initiated in several other States in the East.

New York was also taking steps in the direction of teaching music to children. In 1835 Darius E. Jones taught for some time in one of the city schools with sufficient success to insure permission to continue at the option of the local board, provided no expense was incurred and regular studies were not interfered with. Attempts to gain a definite place for musical instruction, however, were not successful, no effective recognition of music being given until about 1853. The earnestness of its advocates was indicated by their willingness to provide the first pianos introduced in the New York schools by paying for them themselves or by means of concerts given by the children." Efforts in Cincinnati, where Lowell Mason's brother, T. B. Mason, organized music classes similar to those in Boston, eventuated in the introduction of regular instruction in the public schools under the direction of William Colburn. Pittsburg dates the beginning of its instruction in music about 1840. N. D. Gould, to whom reference has already been made, states in his book, Church Music in America, that he was active in establishing singing schools in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey from about 1820, and especially after 1830. Of these labors he was very proud, expressing extreme satisfaction that he could look back upon the fact that he was the first to introduce the formal teaching of children to sing

Such were the beginnings of what, after the interruption of the civil war, which seriously retarded efforts of this nature, became the

a See paper by George F. Bristow in Proceedings of the Music Teachers' National Association for 1885.

great public school system of music education. Devoted as these men were to the work they had entered upon, there was sown even at this early date the seeds of that misunderstanding and narrowness of view which have been prominent in music education during all its history in this country. Conflict between these teachers, who based their work on the psalmody of the period, and those professional musicians who cultivated music as an art, began to develop at once, and a mutual depreciation arose.

With the practice of music, in its earliest stages, largely vocal, there was comparatively little demand for the services of teachers of instruments; but with the growth of musical taste, the making of pianos, and the cultivation of orchestral music, the number of trained musicians engaged in teaching gradually increased in the eastern cities, until there were scattered about in various parts of the country a sufficient number to produce a marked impression upon the art ideals of the country. (This number was largely increased and its influence strengthened by the settlement in America of refugees from Europe during the decade from 1840 to 1850, and after the civil war it became an important factor in music education.) The diversity of interests of those engaged in teaching, the conflict of opinion as to what should hold the most important place in the development of music, and the great increase in the number who took to teaching it as an easy way in which to make a living or secure pocket money, soon resulted in confusion and the setting up of false standards, which exerted a baneful influence on the whole system of music education.

SCHOOLS AND CONSERVATORIES OF MUSIC.

The early enterprises which might be dignified by the name of schools were of doubtful character and were devoted solely to the rudiments of music, and, in all probability, were given an impetus by singing classes. The first music school in the true sense was that projected by Eben Tourjée, of Fall River, Mass., and put into operation at East Greenwich, R. I., in 1859. Later, Tourjée started a conservatory at Providence, and, in 1867, founded the institution. that, in 1870, was incorporated as the New England Conservatory of Music. Before this (in 1863) he had spent some time in Europe investigating methods there and studying with Haupt and other prominent teachers. His ideas were progressive and sound, and his talent for organization enabled him to carry them out with good effect. He was the first to introduce class instruction in other subjects than singing. His perception of the interrelation of the various branches of the musical art was clear, and it was his purpose to work out a well coordinated curriculum. The New England Con