Abstract
George F. Root, Lowell Mason, and William B. Bradbury opened the New York Normal Musical Institute in April of 1853 in New York City. Each term lasted about three months and provided the first long-term preparation program for singing-school masters, church choir directors, private instructors, and school music teachers in the United States. Students at the institute studied pedagogy, voice culture, music theory, and choral literature and had the opportunity to take private lessons with prominent musicians and teachers. The Normal Musical Institute relocated to North Reading, Massachusetts, in 1856 and, in 1860, began meeting in various cities throughout the country. In 1872, the school became the National Normal Musical Institute and continued under this name until its final season in Elmira, New York, in 1885. This study was designed to examine the history of this institution in relation to its origin, details of operation, pedagogy and curriculum, prominent students and faculty, and influence on music education. Data included articles from music periodicals and newspapers, pamphlets and catalogs from the institution, biographies of prominent participants, and other primary and secondary sources.
Singing schools provided the first type of group music instruction in the United States. These institutions evolved in the early 1700s as part-time vocal teachers led classes to improve congregational singing and supply church choirs with an ever-increasing supply of members. Singing-school participants usually assembled a few nights per week during the winter months—when people had time away from seasonal farm work—in meetinghouses, private homes, or even the local tavern. The singers learned to read music using sol-fa syllables, produce a pleasant vocal tone, and properly pronounce vowels according to the customs of the day. 1 Some singing schools evolved into singing societies that functioned on a more permanent basis and focused primarily on the performance of choral music rather than voice training. Members of these organizations sometimes assembled for musical conventions to enjoy mass singing and further instruction. 2
The popularity of singing schools also paved the way for the introduction of music into public education. In the nineteenth century, people sometimes learned subjects not offered in the common academic curriculum in evening or night schools. Students participated voluntarily and at their own expense to study languages, surveying, dancing, sewing, handicrafts, music, and other topics. Subjects that proved to be of lasting interest sometimes were absorbed into the public school curriculum. 3 The success of the singing schools in developing American musical culture resulted in their decline beginning in the mid-1800s as public schools began to include music in the instructional program. 4
Most music teachers of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries probably learned pedagogy by observing experienced singing masters and through trial and error. 5 Formal training for music educators began in August of 1834 when Lowell Mason and George James Webb introduced teachers’ classes at the Boston Academy of Music, an institution dedicated to providing and promoting music education for children and adults. Attendance at the first session numbered twelve students but increased to more than five hundred by 1845. These eight- to ten-day classes prepared music educators to teach using the methods of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827), as outlined by Mason in the Manual of the Boston Academy of Music, for Instruction in the Elements of Vocal Music on the System of Pestalozzi (1834). 6 This book—mostly an edited translation of a German textbook by G. F. Kubler 7 —became the handbook of singing schools throughout the country. Following this system, people learned to sing songs by rote while beating time, in order to develop the voice, the ear, and a sense of rhythm. Students then began a study of the elements of music that included rhythm, melody, and dynamics (expression), all broken into smaller units of instruction. Theory followed practice, as the teacher taught one concept at a time and led students through a series of questions to draw conclusions based on their observations. 8
By 1846, classes similar to those taught at the Boston Academy of Music had convened in New York, Maine, Connecticut, and Ohio. 9 Labeled as “conventions” or “institutes,” these events prepared the next generation of music educators working in singing schools, churches, and lesson studios as well as the growing number of public and private schools offering music as part of the curriculum. 10 There was still, however, nowhere in the United States for music teachers to study on a long-term basis. Recognizing the need, George F. Root, Lowell Mason, and William B. Bradbury organized the New York Normal Musical Institute in New York City during the spring and summer of 1853. Later known as the Normal Musical Institute (1856–1870), then the National Normal Musical Institute (1872–1885), this school relocated to North Reading, Massachusetts, in 1856, and from 1860 to 1885, it met in various cities throughout the country. 11 The institute provided training for numerous music teachers, composers, and church musicians, many of whom made significant contributions to American musical culture and music education during the mid- to late nineteenth century.
The purpose of this study was to document the history of the Normal Musical Institute. Research questions focused on the school’s origin, details of operation, pedagogy and curriculum, prominent students and faculty, and influence on music education. Methodology involved collecting and analyzing information of historical import from diverse primary and secondary sources, including articles from music periodicals and newspapers, circulars and catalogs from the institution, and biographies of prominent participants. 12 I then organized and triangulated information from the numerous sources and composed a chronological narrative. 13 This study will be of interest to music education historians, professors currently involved in music teacher preparation, and organizers of contemporary music education workshops, conferences, and summer schools. 14
The Founders of the Institute
Root, Mason, and Bradbury were the first principal teachers of the Normal Musical Institute and were considered founders of the school. 15 Root, however, was the one who conceived the idea, solicited the help of Mason and Bradbury, and managed the institution throughout its thirty-three-year history.
George Frederick Root was born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, on August 30, 1820. He grew up on a farm outside of North Reading and moved in 1838 to Boston, where he began his formal musical training with Artemas Nixon Johnson, Lowell Mason, and George James Webb. Two years later, Root began teaching with Mason in the Boston Public Schools and at the Boston Academy of Music. In 1844, he moved to New York City, where he conducted choirs in various female academies, the New York Institution for the Blind, and the Mercer Street Presbyterian Church. Root became a popular composer, conductor, and teacher who led musical conventions throughout the country several weeks of the year. During the U.S. Civil War, he composed a number of well-known patriotic anthems, including “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching” and “The Battle Cry of Freedom.” Root moved to Chicago in 1863, where he already had become a partner with his brother Ebenezer Towner Root and Chauncey Marvin Cady in the Root and Cady publishing house. He withdrew from the firm after the Chicago fire of 1871 but continued to write and edit educational works and religious song collections for the company. Root received an honorary doctor of music degree from Chicago University in 1872 and served as president of Chicago Musical College from 1872 to 1876. He continued to compose and lead musical conventions until his death on August 7, 1895, at his summer home on Bailey Island, Maine. 16
Lowell Mason was born in Medfield, Massachusetts, on January 8, 1792. At the age of twenty, he relocated to Savannah, Georgia, where he worked in a dry-goods store and a bank, led singing schools, and served as Sunday school superintendent, choir director, and organist at the Independent Presbyterian Church. In 1827, he moved to Boston to direct choirs in three local churches and, in 1832, helped organized the Boston Academy of Music. 17 In 1838, Mason introduced the first permanent, districtwide school music program in the United States in the Boston public schools, where he served as a teacher and superintendent of music until 1851. 18 Mason also led conventions and teachers’ institutes throughout the country and published numerous hymns, tune books, and collections of sacred and secular music for both children and adults. He received an honorary doctorate of music from New York University in 1855 and continued professional activities until his death on August 11, 1872, in Orange, New Jersey. 19
William Batchelder Bradbury was born in York, Maine, on October 6, 1816. He began his formal musical training at the age of fourteen in Boston, where he studied with Mason at the Academy of Music. He later worked as an organist and teacher in Boston and led singing schools in Machias, Maine. In 1840, Bradbury moved to New York to serve as music director of the First Baptist Church in Brooklyn. The following year, he became music director of the Baptist Tabernacle of New York and began singing classes for children similar to those Mason organized in Boston. Bradbury studied piano, singing, harmony, and composition in Europe from 1847 to 1849. He continued his work after returning to the United States, teaching music to children, composing, and compiling numerous collections of music. Like Mason and Root, Bradbury was a popular convention leader in great demand throughout the county. He was also involved in a number of business interests, including music publishing and piano manufacturing. Bradbury died on January 7, 1868, at the age of fifty-two. 20
The Normal Musical Institute
George F. Root became interested in preparing music educators through his work with institutes and conventions but eventually realized that these events simply did not last long enough for students to make real progress. He, therefore, proposed a new institution that would provide music teacher education for three months during the summer, when working professionals could attend. In the fall of 1851, he traveled from his home in New York City to Boston, where he visited his longtime friend Lowell Mason and invited him to serve as the head teacher of the institute. Mason was skeptical at first, believing that the cost of travel and tuition would preclude most teachers from attending. Root, however, was persistent and promised Mason that he would handle all of the organizational details and that Mason would have “time enough thoroughly to indoctrinate people” in his ideas of notation, teaching, and church music. 21 Although Mason had planned a trip to Europe during the winter of 1852, he expected to return by the time the school opened on April 15 and eventually agreed to join the faculty. 22
Root then approached the publishing firm operated by Mason’s sons, Lowell Jr. and Daniel Gregory, and persuaded them to promote the institute, since it would increase the sale of their father’s books, which they handled. 23 A few weeks before the first session, however, Mason wrote to Root stating that he would not be able to return from Europe in time to participate. Although Mason suggested that Root continue with his plans, Root did not want to begin without “the master,” so he decided to postpone the institute until the summer of 1853. The Mason brothers supported this decision and agreed to absorb the cost of canceling the 1852 session and to advertise the school the following year. 24
New York City (1853–1855)
The first session of the New York Normal Musical Institute ran from Monday, April 25 to Wednesday, July 20, 1853, with thirteen women and forty men from thirteen states enrolled for at least half the term. A number of other students attended between one and three weeks, although their names did not appear in the institute catalog. 25 Mason, Root, and Bradbury all served as principal teachers, although it is unclear how Bradbury became associated with the institute. 26 Classes met at Dodworth Hall, located at 806 Broadway, from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. The daily schedule resembled that implemented at prior institutes and included lectures on the art of teaching by Mason (9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.), lessons in harmony and composition by Richard Storrs Willis (10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays), work in voice culture by Root (11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon), and part-singing with Bradbury (12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.). 27 Students also met one or two evenings per week for chorus rehearsal and occasionally performed at commencement or other special events. 28 Tuition cost $25.00 for classes and an additional $25.00 for private instruction, which included two lessons per week. 29 Root expected students to have musical experience, stating that “all exercises [would] be adapted to those who already have some knowledge of music—sufficient to read plain music at sight, or nearly so.” 30
The opening season of the New York Normal Musical Institute was a resounding success. In accordance with the practices followed at musical conventions, members passed resolutions thanking the instructors and commend[ing] the Institute to all who may wish to acquire a practical knowledge of music . . . and especially . . . to all those who wish to become qualified as teachers for, the masterly development and elucidation of the true principles of teaching, as well as an exhibition of the proper method by which those methods are reduced to practice.
31
The faculty, in addition to Root, Mason, and Bradbury, included some of the most distinguished musical figures in New York. Richard Storrs Willis (harmony and composition) was a well-known composer, music critic, and writer as well as owner and editor of the Musical World and New York Musical Gazette. 32 Allen Dodworth (band instruments) conducted the Dodworth Brass Band—one of the most famous musical ensembles of the time—and promoted the organization and instruction of bands as well as innovations in brass instrument design. 33 Ureli Corelli Hill (violin) was a founding member, president, and first conductor of the New York Philharmonic Society as well as author of Hill’s Practical School for Violin based on the method by his teacher, Louis Spohr. 34 Thomas Hastings (assistant) was a leading composer, singing master, choir director, and church music authority who wrote an influential book titled Dissertation on Musical Taste. 35 Other instructors included Root’s brother-in-law, Jonathan C. Woodman (assistant); John Zundel (organ); Edward Howe Jr. (melodian and piano); Clare W. Beames (voice); and Osborne Oxnard (unknown). 36
The success of the first session of the New York Musical Institute inspired Root to expand the program to include four eleven-week terms per year that began September 15, December 1, February 15, and May 1. 37 Although all sessions were “especially adapted to those who intend[ed] to teach,” the May session was listed as the “Teachers’ Term” and included a more extensive curriculum on pedagogy compared to that during the academic year. 38 Mason and Bradbury continued to teach in the summer, and Root served as the only principal instructor during the other terms. 39
Root conceived the four terms as a complete one-year program that began with the September 15 session and culminated with the May teachers’ term. He recommended that “those who wish[ed] to become accomplished performers, and especially those who intend[ed] making music their profession, to commence the musical year, and go through the entire course.” 40 Tuition for lectures and group instruction during the academic year cost only $12.50 per session because students met for just one class per day. 41 Room and board averaged $4.00 per week, and students taking private lessons could rent a piano for $5.00 to $6.00 per month. 42 Root and his family hosted a few young women each term, and men boarded in other residences in the immediate neighborhood. 43 By the opening of the seventh session in December of 1854, Root had moved the institute to 258 Greene Street in rooms behind the Mercer Street Presbyterian Church, where he served as music director. 44
North Reading, Massachusetts (1856–1861)
The New York Normal Musical Institute continued through the teachers’ term of 1855, by which time Root had begun to consider other locations due to the city’s intense summer heat and cost of living.
45
The Mason brothers supported the move and in the July 14, 1855, issue of the New York Musical Review and Gazette, said, We wish the proper location for such an institution could be found at some short distance from one of our great cities, and that some wealthy gentlemen could be induced to gain credit to themselves by the contribution of sufficient funds to endow such an institution.
46
Meanwhile, Root, who had recently built a new house for his extended family on their estate known as Willow Farm near North Reading, Massachusetts, approached the townspeople and offered to move the institute to that community if they could provide a suitable location. At an assembly held soon after, the citizens voted to give the Normal Musical Institute (NMI) use of an abandoned meetinghouse and a neighboring building, hoping that the school would add to the local economy and provide musical entertainment during the summer. The main facility offered a large hall on the ground floor that could seat about three hundred people, another hall on the second story that would hold two hundred, and a smaller room that could accommodate around eighty. The building next door provided space for smaller classes as needed. 47
The 1856 season of the NMI opened in North Reading on June 4 and continued through the month of July. 48 Bradbury did not participate, probably due to ongoing health issues, business interests in New York, and his belief that North Reading did not offer a suitable location for the institute. 49 More than sixty students came from “all parts of the national Union,” including one from Canada, to study at the school. 50 Since some participants did not attend the entire session, faculty organized classes that began in the second half of the term for those who were not present at the beginning of the summer. 51 Root arranged for students to board with local residents and rented several pianos from Boston. 52 Tuition cost $25.00 for the entire season or $12.50 for half of the term. Private lessons on voice, piano, organ, and stringed instruments were available at the cost of $1.00 each. 53 In addition to daily classes in pedagogy, voice training, and harmony, participants rehearsed as a chorus and presented free public performances on Friday evenings that drew large crowds from the surrounding communities. 54 Dignitaries occasionally visited as well, including Dr. Lyman Beecher, the famous minister, and his children; Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin; and her brother, Henry Ward Beecher, the famous abolitionist. 55
Root extended the 1857 and 1858 sessions from eight to twelve weeks, beginning the first week of June and ending in late August. 56 Enrollment at the NMI numbered ninety-six students in 1857. 57 Even more attended the following year, in spite of a recent economic depression that resulted in some public school teachers’ working without pay. 58 In addition to music teachers, the school also welcomed “those who desire[d] to give attention to the subject of their own personal improvement” as long as they could “readily read common church music.” 59 George James Webb, Mason’s former colleague at the Boston Academy of Music, taught private voice and piano lessons and led afternoon choral singing one day per week in 1857 and joined the faculty as a full-time principal teacher in 1858. 60
The 1859 session of the NMI did not convene, despite the fact that “applications for admission were never before so numerous.” 61 Public explanations for canceling the season included previous engagements of some of the teachers and concerns that North Reading could not accommodate so many students. 62 It is more likely, however, that conflicts and competition among the faculty played a greater role in this decision. 63 Early in 1859, Bradbury sent an emissary to gather names on a petition in support of a separate school that would compete with the NMI. People who supported the idea did not realize that signing the petition indicated a commitment to pay tuition and attend the new institution or that Bradbury’s school was in direct competition with the one in North Reading. 64 Bradbury, together with former NMI faculty Theodore E. Perkins (assistant) and T. J. Cook (violin and piano), held their “Normal Academy of Music” in Geneseo, New York, for eight weeks beginning July 6, 1859. 65 Root was supportive of the endeavor but promised “a still better plan for the accomplishment of [the NMI]” the following year. 66
Mason also was involved in the controversy and had become frustrated with the competition among leaders of musical institutes and conventions. He, furthermore, had little regard for the simple, popular music of the day and openly criticized Root’s Sabbath Bell (1856) and The Haymakers (1857) as well as Bradbury’s Jubilee (1858). 67 Although all three men sought to shape the musical tastes of the public through teaching and composition, they disagreed on the best approach to accomplishing this goal. Mason thought that exposing people to great Western masterworks, such as Messiah, would naturally cause them to reject the “coarse and vulgar” music to which they were accustomed. 68 Root and Bradbury, however, believed that less complex repertoire was the best starting point for leading the public to higher musical compositions. 69 In spite of their differences, Mason managed to ease the controversy among the group, and all three men agreed to work together on a number of publications and resume teaching at the NMI, which would now meet in one or two locations in addition to North Reading. 70
The NMI of 1860 opened in North Reading on July 11 and in Chicago, Illinois, on September 12 with Root, Mason, and Bradbury serving as principal faculty. Each session lasted only six weeks, “greatly diminishing the expense [and] render[ing] it possible for many to attend who [were] so actively engaged in teaching that they could not spare longer time.” 71 Due to the shortened time frame, the curriculum did not included private lessons so that students could fully concentrate on lectures and classes. 72
Although the 1860 season was a success, the school faced a number of challenges the following year. 73 Bradbury did not return to the NMI in 1861 or for subsequent sessions, probably due to ongoing conflicts with Root and increasing involvement in his publishing and piano manufacturing businesses. 74 In addition, letters to registered participants expressed uncertainty as to whether the season would commence, due to low enrollment. 75 Nonetheless, the last session of the institute held in North Reading began on July 16, 1861, and was scheduled to last two months. 76 Far fewer students attended than in previous summers, perhaps due to “the stringency of the times,” the existence of competing institutions, or concern over the U.S. Civil War that began the previous April. 77 To make matters worse, a number of participants were able to stay for only part of the term, reducing the student population to the point that the institute had to close halfway through the season. 78
Various Cities (1860–1885)
The NMI moved west beginning with the 1860 session in Chicago. By relocating the institute every one or two summers, Root was able to market the school to teachers who could not attend in North Reading and to provide professional development where similar opportunities were unavailable. Cities selected as locations for the institute needed a respected musical leader to serve as a local contact and citizens willing to provide appropriate facilities and a certain number of scholarships. Root also looked for safe, healthy, accessible communities with a cool climate near lakes or rivers that could provide opportunities for recreation and relaxation. 79
The NMI of 1860 was not a new idea in Chicago. Beginning in 1857, one of Root’s business partners, C. M. Cady, opened the Chicago Musical Institute for “the preparation of teachers of vocal music, and the improvement of all who seek culture in the higher departments of musical science.” 80 The 1860 NMI simply merged with the Chicago Musical Institute, as indicated by various newspaper announcements that used the two institutional names interchangeably. The faculty, in addition to Mason, Root, and Bradbury, included Carlos Bassini, an acclaimed soloist and vocal teacher from New York, and N. Coe Stewart, a former singing school teacher and NMI student who eventually became supervisor of music in Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, and a leader in national music education organizations. 81 The success of this session is difficult to ascertain. Although Root claimed a large attendance, one participant wrote that enrollment did not meet expectations, due to “tight times” brought on by a weak economy. 82
After one last attempt to hold the institute in North Reading in 1861, Root decided to cease operation in Massachusetts and concentrate his efforts on the west. The next session of the NMI gathered in Wooster, Ohio, for just three weeks, beginning August 4, 1862. Root, Mason, and George Brace Loomis led classes and rehearsals in a public auditorium known as Arcadome Hall and in a local Lutheran Church. 83 Loomis was a student at New York Institute in 1853 and served as an assistant teacher in North Reading. He eventually became a prominent music supervisor in Indianapolis, Indiana, and author of Loomis’s Progressive Music Lessons, a textbook series popular in the midwestern United States during the 1870s and 1880s. 84
The Wooster Institute took place early in the U.S. Civil War. Nonetheless, the local committee in charge of the event hoped “to call together musicians from every state in the Union (excepting South Carolina).”
85
Although just eighty students from seven states attended, the local newspaper declared this session “the most prosperous ever held . . . considering the condition of the country, and the excited state of the public mind due to the war.”
86
The community was active in the war effort and held a number of rallies and meetings in support of the Union Army, some of which included performances of Root’s recently composed war songs sung by members of the NMI. The Wooster Republican detailed the institute’s involvement in one meeting, stating, The “Normal Musical Institute” was next introduced and gave us one of their songs, which aroused some heroic cheering in “the sea of upturned faces.” The music was delightful and would have stirred a fervor in the blood of age; . . . The “Battle Cry of Freedom” written by Mr. Root was received with earthquakes of applause—a perfect volcanic eruption of cheering, and was not only enthusiastically admired for the manner for which is was sung but as additional evidence of the poetic genius of its distinguished author.
87
Root planned to hold another institute in Wooster the following year but decided to suspend future sessions until the war was over, since so many potential students had enlisted in the service. 88 The 1862 institute was also the last for Mason, who was by then seventy years old. 89
The first sessions of the NMI following the Civil War met in Winona, Minnesota, in the summers of 1867 and 1868. O. D. Adams, music instructor at the State Normal School in Winona, served as the principal teacher in 1867, assisted by Root’s son, Frederick Woodman Root, an accomplished pianist and experienced instructor. 90 Although George Root did not participate, probably due to an ongoing medical condition, the curriculum followed the same framework as previous institutes, with courses in pedagogy, voice training, music theory, and choral singing. 91 Frederick Root also offered private lessons on piano and organ. 92
George Root rejoined the faculty in 1868, creating the need to relocate the institute from the Normal School to Winona’s Philharmonic Hall in order to accommodate the approximately 250 students attracted by the famous teacher and composer. 93 The large number of participants also may have resulted from the fact that the NMI now welcomed students of all ages and abilities, stating, “A number of assistant teachers will be engaged—so that all persons—age or attainments making no difference—will find opportunities for improvement very unusual [rare].” 94 The session closed with two public concerts “of a miscellaneous character” that included vocal solos and quartets by students and faculty, a piano duet by Frederick Root and his wife Clare, a piano solo by Frederick Root, and selections by Offenbach and other composers performed by the institute chorus. 95
The NMI of 1869 merged with the Normal Musical Academy of the Northwest in Janesville, Wisconsin. George Root and Horatio Richmond Palmer (1834–1907) acted as principal teachers for the approximately 150 students in attendance. Palmer had served as an assistant at the institute in previous years and eventually became a leading composer of choral music and Sunday school hymns as well as a writer of music theory textbooks. 96
The institute met in South Bend, Indiana, in 1870. Bassini provided voice lessons, and William Mason, the son of the NMI founder, taught piano. William Smythe Babcock Mathews, eventually a prominent music critic, musicologist, and writer, assisted with piano instruction and joined Mason in presenting two lecture-recitals per week for the institute and members of the community. These programs were quite popular and continued in subsequent seasons. 97 Schuyler Colfax, vice president of the United States and a resident of South Bend, was a frequent visitor to the institute during the 1870 season. In an address to the student body, he suggested that the school assume the name “National Normal Musical Institute,” because participants came from across the nation. Root liked the idea and adopted the name in order to differentiate the NMI from the numerous other summer schools that had developed throughout the country. 98
The next sessions of the National Normal Musical Institute (NNMI) convened for five weeks at Chicago University during July and August of 1872 and 1873. 99 As in previous summers, the institute was “designed more particularly for the instruction of teachers, but [was] accessible to all, amateur and professional.” 100 Consequently, even a number of children participated in these and probably subsequent sessions (see online supplemental file Figure 1, available at http://jrme.sagepub.com/supplemental). 101 Public performances included recitals by the applied instructors, given throughout the summer, and concerts presented at the end of the season at the University Place Baptist Church (see online supplemental file Table 1 available at http://jrme.sagepub.com/supplemental). 102
The Chicago faculty, in addition to George and Frederick Root, included a number of important teachers, composers, and conductors. Philip Paul Bliss was a popular gospel singer, convention leader, and hymn writer whose tunes appear in several modern hymnals. 103 Orlando Blackman and E. E. Whittemore (school music curriculum, voice) served as music supervisors in the Chicago Public Schools. They also collaborated on the Graded School Singer (1873)—a widely used series of music textbooks—and were among the first supervisors to instruct classroom teachers to conduct music lessons. 104 Carl Zerrahn (chorus conductor, voice) directed several Boston music organizations and led American premieres of works by Mozart, Haydn, and Mendelssohn. 105 Robert Goldbeck (piano) was a famous composer and pianist in both the United States and Europe who established music conservatories in Chicago and St. Louis, Missouri. 106 Cornelia Walker (art of teaching) taught at the State Normal School in Winona, Minnesota, and eventually at the State Normal College of California in San Jose. 107
The 1874 session of the NNMI met for five weeks at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, with George and Frederick Root, Philip P. Bliss, and Carl Wolfsohn acting as principal instructors. 108 Wolfsohn, a German-born pianist, conductor, and teacher, was best known in Chicago for his “historical” piano recitals that were intended to educate audiences on music history. 109 By this time, a number of women had joined the institute faculty as assistants and private instructors. In addition to Mrs. Cornelia Walker, the 1874 staff included Mrs. M. A. W. Cooley and Miss Anna A. Lewis. 110 Later faculty included George Root’s wife, Mary Olive Root; his daughter, Miss Helen Clara Root; Emma Hovey; Mrs. E. A. Jewett; and Mrs. Celeste Keltie and Miss Maggie Barr of Ontario, Canada. 111
The institute convened in two concurrent sessions in 1875 in Chicago and Somerset, Pennsylvania. George Root served as principal teacher in Somerset, while his son, Frederick, led the session in Chicago at the Chicago Musical College. 112 Subsequent seasons met in Towanda (1876), Erie (1881, 1883), and Kittanning (1882), Pennsylvania; Warren, Ohio (1877); Richmond, Indiana (1878); Jamestown, New York (1879, 1880); and Eau Claire, Wisconsin (1883). The final session of the NNMI assembled in 1885 in Elmira, New York, at Park Church, where the congregation allowed the institute to use the facilities during the “church vacation” when regular services did not meet. Throughout the term, students and faculty presented a series of Friday evening concerts that concluded on July 31 with Carl Zerrahn conducting two hundred voices in Handel’s Messiah. The institute was so popular that two hundred “leading men” signed a petition asking Root to make the institute an annual event in Elmira. 113
The End of the NNMI
There are probably a number of reasons the NNMI closed in 1885, including Root’s advancing age and his desire to pursue other interests. 114 The greatest factor, however, may have been the expanding and changing nature of music pedagogy during this time. By the 1880s, many educators had become concerned that students were not learning to read notation satisfactorily through the Pestalozzian methods advocated by Mason and taught at the NMI and NNMI. 115 Consequently, John Wheeler Tufts and Hosea E. Holt introduced the Normal Music Course in 1883 as an alternative to the “rote before note” approach of Mason and his followers. Promoted as “scientific,” this method avoided rote teaching and introduced note reading from the start using a system of progressive exercises and songs. 116 The Normal Music Course was in direct competition with the National Music Course by former NMI student Luther Whiting Mason. 117 Published in 1870 and revised in 1885, L. W. Mason’s text adhered to Pestalozzian principles by introducing rote songs before note reading but offered a more systemized approach compared to the methods of Lowell Mason and George Root. 118 The tonic sol-fa method also was popular in the United States for a short time during the 1880s. This system originated in England and gained brief acceptance through the Tonic Sol-Fa Music Course for Schools by Daniel Batchellor and Thomas Charmbury (1884) and the Tonic Sol-Fa Music Reader by Benjamin Carl Unseld and former NMI student Theodore F. Seward (1880). 119
A number of authors and publishers organized summer music institutes in order to demonstrate these and other new methods to teachers in the public schools. Holt, for example, began offering a course in Lexington, Massachusetts, during the summer of 1884 to introduce the Normal Music Course. L. W. Mason’s publisher, Ginn and Company, followed by opening the National Summer School of Music in 1886 to promote the National Music Course. These institutions differed from those that had come before in that they catered exclusively to school music supervisors and to classroom teachers, many of whom now assumed responsibility for daily music instruction. 120 The competition created by these and other institutes, as well as the new pedagogical methods that they advocated, probably contributed to the decision to permanently close the NNMI after the 1885 season. 121
Curriculum of the Normal Musical Institute
The curriculum of the NMI/NNMI remained relatively consistent throughout the institution’s thirty-three year history and included private vocal and instrumental lessons in addition to four general departments: the Art of Teaching, Vocal Training, Harmony and Composition, and Choral Song. 122 The Manual of the Boston Academy of Music provided the basis for instruction until 1872, when Root published the Normal Musical Handbook: A Book of Instruction and Reference for Teachers of Notation, Voice Culture, Harmony and Church Music, in Classes. 123 This text, intended for use by adults in normal institutes, adhered to the Pestalozzian principles outlined in the Manual of the Boston Academy of Music but included more content related to the teacher and pedagogy, and progressed at a quicker pace. Root also recommended that instructors encourage active participation, limit verbal explanation, and provide musical models for students to imitate. 124
The Art of Teaching
The Art of Teaching department involved all members of the institute and consisted of lectures, model lessons, and peer teaching. Lectures—given by Mason until 1862, then by Root—often were philosophical in nature and included the purpose and meaning of music; the importance of music for children and adults; the value of music in schools, Sunday schools, the home, and community; the relationship of music to poetry; and the connection of music to human emotion. 125 Guest speakers, in addition, occasionally addressed such topics as elocution and music history. 126
This course also included thorough indoctrination into the principles of Pestalozzi whereby students observed model lessons presented by the faculty and practiced newly learned methods during peer teaching.
127
Participants often would “shake in their shoes” as they passed through “the valley of humiliation,” where instructors and classmates criticized their lessons and offered suggestions for improvement.
128
This process was particularly difficult for many of the experienced teachers. According to Root, many of them were great men at home—had been praised and looked up to until they hardly liked to appear as if they came as learners. . . . It was very hard for some of them at first to refrain from standing on their dignity and arguing the matter, but a few words from Dr. Mason on the attitude that the true learner assumes soon opened their eyes.
129
The size of the student body eventually created the need for assistants to lead peer teaching in smaller groups so that all participants would get an opportunity in front of the class. Students also practiced choral conducting in similar sessions after this subject became part of the curriculum in 1874. 130
Vocal Training and Harmony/Composition
The daily schedule of the NMI/NNMI also included multiple sections of vocal training and harmony classes in order to accommodate students at different levels of instruction. These departments consisted of two levels at North Reading but later included as many as six, depending on enrollment. 131 In North Reading, students in the second (lower) class in vocal training learned the basics of posture, breathing, tone, resonance, and diction, whereas those in the first (upper) class focused on expressing emotion through tonal shading, phrasing, and style as well as developing facility through solfeggio and vocalization exercises. 132
Likewise, the second (lower) harmony class dealt with writing and resolving chord progressions and harmonizing melodies, whereas students in the first (upper) class focused on part writing and composition—“both in strict and free style”—as well as comparing the effectiveness of various harmonies within a composition.
133
At all levels of study, faculty led pupils to an understanding of harmony through true Pestalozzian methods by insisting that they perceive chord progressions, inversions, and other musical elements aurally before learning how they are written in musical notation.
134
Root—influenced by his work at the New York Institution for the Blind—described the routine in his harmony classes, saying, There had been, as I thought, too much eye harmony—deciding that certain harmonies were wrong because they did not look right . . . so I played and they listened until they could tell promptly and accurately what they heard, beginning, of course, with the simplest combinations. In this training they had nothing to look at, and they wrote only what had entered their musical minds by the proper avenue, viz., the ear.
135
Choral Song
Activities of the choral department took place in the late afternoon and evening. Afternoon sessions focused on singing sacred and secular music that participants could use back home, mostly anthems, glees, choruses, and hymns taken from the latest publications. 136 Titles used at the NMI in North Reading included The Hallelujah and The Normal Singer, by Mason; The Jubilee, by Bradbury; and The Diapason and The Sabbath Bell, by Root. 137 Additional books listed in the 1872 curriculum included The Glory and The Hour of Praise, by Root, as well as The Song Tree, by Bliss. 138 This department also sought to encourage informal community singing among “the Universal Chorus” by promoting simple, accessible songs of home, patriotism, labor, recreation, and “all things lawful and good.” 139 Although promoting specific publications was not the purpose of the institute, students sang almost exclusively from books written or compiled by the faculty. 140 This practice was a common and intentional effort to increase the sale of these materials at conventions and institutes during this time. The desire to promote their own music and pedagogical methods was probably the reason several former NMI/NNMI teachers (e.g., H. R. Palmer, T. E. Perkins) and students (e.g., Luther Orlando Emerson, Luther Whiting Mason, Charles Callahan Perkins, T. F. Seward, N. Coe Stewart, and Solomon W. Straub) eventually organized their own institutes in various parts of the country. 141
Evening sessions of the choral department involved preparing larger works under the direction of Mason or other prominent conductors. Under Mason’s baton, the repertoire generally was limited to choruses from Handel’s Messiah. In Mason’s absence, Root sometimes would also rehearse selections from his cantatas, The Haymakers and Daniel. 142 Following Mason’s retirement in 1862, the repertoire expanded to include works by Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Offenbach, Gounod, Wagner, Rossini, and others. 143 Choruses sometimes consisted of singers from the community as well as members of the institute. At the first session in 1853, for example, Root reported a chorus of approximately one hundred, although weekly attendance probably numbered only around fifty students. 144 In Winona in 1868, the local St. Cecilia Society joined to sing with members of the institute, and in South Bend in 1870, local singers almost doubled the size of the chorus for a performance of Haydn’s Creation at the final concert. 145 Greater performance demands following the Civil War led to an increase in rehearsals from once per week in 1853 to four times per week by 1885. Although weekly concerts in North Reading were rather informal and free of charge, performances given at the end of the season in subsequent years became a source of income for the institute. 146
Professional and Social Interaction
Professional interaction among “ladies and gentlemen, all interestedly engaged in the pursuit of the same object,” was an important part of the NMI/NNMI program. 147 A portion of the morning devotional period, for example, sometimes involved the discussion of questions submitted in writing by the pupils to the faculty. 148 Students also participated occasionally in “experience” or “intelligence” meetings where they communicated information on the state of music education, singing schools, and congregational worship in their part of the country. 149 These practices originated in the teachers’ classes at the Boston Academy of Music and continued in the NMI/NNMI. 150 Social events included excursions to cities located near the institute; picnics at local ponds, lakes, or rivers; and final parties at the end of the season. 151 In New York City, students also attended public concerts free of charge using tickets donated by Manhattan’s musical elite. 152 All of these activities help create an important sense of “esprit du [sic] corps” among members of the institute, many of whom were teaching in isolated parts of the country. 153
Summary and Conclusions
George F. Root, Lowell Mason, and William B. Bradbury opened the New York Normal Music Institute in April of 1853 in New York City. Each term lasted about three months and provided the first long-term preparation program for music teachers in the United States. Students at the institute studied pedagogy, voice culture, music theory, and choral literature and had the opportunity to take private lessons with prominent musicians and teachers. 154 The NMI relocated to North Reading, Massachusetts, in 1856 and, in 1862, began meeting in various cities throughout the United States (see online supplemental file Table 2 available at http://jrme.sagepub.com/supplemental). In 1872, the school became known as the National Normal Musical Institute and continued under this name until its final season in Elmira, New York, in 1885. 155
The NMI/NNMI greatly influenced music education, church music, and American musical culture during the nineteenth century and beyond. Many important teachers and composers of this era received instruction and mentoring from Root, Mason, Bradbury, and other faculty of the institute. In addition to providing encouragement, these individuals helped students find teaching positions and publish their work. 156
Institute faculty also sought to raise the status of teaching, which in the mid-1800s was often “considered of but third or fourth rate importance and dignity.” 157 This was particularly true of music teachers of this era, many of whom were uneducated tradesmen who taught singing schools as a second occupation and were “not sufficiently polished in conversation or courteous in demeanor.” 158 Mason, however, believed it was impossible for a teacher “who was habitually indifferent to his personal appearance, both in dress and address, to be a good musician.” 159 The faculty at the NMI/NNMI, therefore, encouraged the dispositions necessary to become a respectable music teacher by insisting on “a moral regime” of courteous behavior and consistent attendance. 160 One guest speaker, furthermore, encouraged each student to “feel the dignity of his calling, understand the grandeur of his being as man, and recognize that he has duties to discharge which are of far higher importance than the gratification of his ambitious aspirations and selfish desires.” 161
The institute also introduced Mason’s system of teaching throughout the county, which improved the quality and efficiency of singing-school masters and choir directors and provided music teachers with a system of class methods needed for the growing number of public school music programs in the United States. Although many teachers studied these methods at the NMI/NNMI, countless others learned them in similar schools modeled after this institution. 162 The NMI/NNMI, in addition, fostered the musical life of communities throughout the nation by providing local citizens with an opportunity to develop their musical abilities, introducing people to important Western masterworks, and demonstrating the possibilities of class instruction. A report on the 1878 season, for example, stated that activities of the institute “awaken a great musical interest in the City of Richmond,” Indiana. 163
The practices and traditions of the NMI/NNMI continued to affect music education at the turn of the twentieth century through summer courses and departments of public school music organized in normal schools, universities, and conservatories throughout the United States. 164 This influence persists today in summer master’s degree programs as well as in workshops sponsored by textbook publishers, instrument manufacturers, and various music education organizations. 165 Unlike the NMI/NNMI, however, many of these programs involve only teachers working in preK–12 schools. Perhaps the music education profession should become more inclusive of other types of teachers, such as those involved in church music, community music activities, or private instruction, many of whom do not hold a degree in music. 166 Modern non-degree-granting institutions similar to the NMI/NNMI could provide training for these individuals as well as prepare second-career preservice teachers seeking alternative certification or in-service teachers wishing to supplement undergraduate methods classes.
Another way of including a broader range of teachers within the music education community would be to hold joint conferences between the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and organizations such as Music Teachers National Association, the American Choral Directors Association, and the Association of Concert Bands. Perhaps we also should look for ways of involving college conductors, applied instructors, and classroom teachers through combined events sponsored by state, regional, and national affiliates of NAfME and the College Music Society. This partnership would contribute to innovation in preK–12 and university instruction by bringing together the shared knowledge of educators who possess a varied array of musical and pedagogical experiences.
A number of music educators during the nineteenth century worked in isolation and looked forward to meeting with colleagues. 167 Formal opportunities for teachers to interact evolved in the singing conventions and continued at the NMI/NNMI in “experience” or “intelligence” meetings dedicated to topics of concern to the membership. 168 This tradition persisted at meetings of the National Education Association and Music Supervisors’ National Conference but declined as the number of attendees increased and sessions evolved into presenter-focused workshops. 169 Perhaps music education conferences today should include sessions similar to the intelligence meetings of the NMI/NNMI, where teachers could ask questions, discuss topics, and share ideas. Although these opportunities exist at symposia attended by teachers in higher education and through online forums sponsored by NAfME and other organizations, preK–12 music educators probably would appreciate face-to-face conversations around the issues and challenges they encounter.
In future studies, researchers should examine other teacher preparation programs both before and after the NMI/NNMI, such as courses offered at the Boston Academy of Music, musical conventions, summer institutes sponsored by textbook companies, and early undergraduate and graduate degree programs at colleges and universities throughout the world. Additionally, researchers also should examine the life and work of graduates of these institutions who were important musicians, composers, and educators of their time but are relatively unknown today. 170 Descriptive studies also may be useful in examining how and why music educators interact and whether teacher preparation institutions and music education organizations might facilitate this process. This research will add to the historical record, inform current practice, and suggest avenues for expanding the field of music education and music teacher preparation.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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