Academy of Music

“ A nice time music teachers will have when ten hours' work a day will give them an income of 30s. a week! But what, if not music teachers, are the pupils of our four leading musical academies to become? The Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music, and Dr. Wylde's London Academy of Music must send out annually some thousand or two well-taught musicians who have nothing to turn to but teaching. ”

“ To this may be added that when there were but two decades of the century left it was made plain that the Academy of Music could by no possibility accommodate the two classes of society, old and new, which had for a number of years been steadily approaching each other. ”

“ Great as is the value of such fine stimulating influences—the visits of distinguished players, singers, composers, and conductors, and performances of master works by musical societies,—they are not enough to leaven the mass of the people without systematic educational endeavour. Reference has been made to the founding of the Royal Academy of Music. ”

“ His real claim to distinction, however, is not his musicianship, but the energy, perseverance and success with which he advocated, and ultimately succeeded in procuring, the establishment of an Academy of Music in London, and the zeal with which, as its President, he strove at all times to advance its interests. ”

“ Sixty years ago, since which time we are supposed to have made progress in musical as in other matters, the Royal Academy of Music, which has produced so many excellent singers, instrumentalists, and composers, was intimately connected with the King's Theatre. Its students sang in the Opera chorus, and every fortnight gave performances of their own, at which leading vocalists, choristers, and orchestra were exclusively from the Academy. ”

“ Brewer’s Songs, six in number, afford strong presumptive evidence that he understands music better than language,—that his knowledge of composition exceeds his skill in reading. And this, we lament to say, is a case of very common occurrence in the musical world, arising from an obvious cause, which we are unwilling to name; one that will not cease to operate till an efficient academy of music be established—an academy, or something of the kind, which shall make the general improvement of the intellect of students an object of equal importance to that of the art they are intended to practise. ”

“ Except among the richer classes almost everyone who studies music ends by teaching music to someone else. Such is his fate whatever may have been his ambition. What, except a music teacher, or an orchestral player, or, by rare good luck, a concert singer, is he or she to become? In other countries there is an established musical theatre with which the recognized Academy of Music is in connection, and which in some measure depends upon it as upon a feeder. The students of the Paris Conservatoire sing in the chorus of the Grand Opera ”

“ The Academy of Music hopes, in co-operation with its sister organizations, to promote the development of a living musical culture, having its roots in the soil of India and expressing itself in nobler and more beautiful forms, so as to enrich the lives of both rich and poor. ”

“ It is intended, as far as possible, to connect the Grand National Opera-house with the Royal Academy of Music, the National Training School for Music, and other kindred institutions in the United Kingdom, by affording to duly qualified students a field for the exercise of their profession in all its branches. ”

“ That certificates from such places as the Royal College of Music, Trinity College, or the Royal Academy of Music are valuable to the young teacher, there is not the slightest doubt, but that the fact of similar ones being positively showered on young people from one end of the land to the other must, unless something is done, soon darken the prestige and lower the value of even these, I think there can be little question. ”

“ The Royal Academy of Music was formed in England, for the performance of operas composed by Mr. Handel, and conducted by him at the theatre in the Haymarket. This institution attracted extraordinary attention, and continued to flourish for a consider-able time, with great reputation. ”

“ The Royal Academy of Music also possesses a large collection of valuable compositions presented by the various London music publishers, containing especially orchestral works by Beethoven, Bennett, Hummel, Mozart, Schumann and Schubert. ”

“ It will not be quite so large as the Academy of Music, which is out of all proportion with ordinary speaking and hearing; but it will hold as large an audience as can well get within the sound of one man’s voice. On this floor, a room of ample dimensions is set apart for a school of design for ladies. ”

“ At an early age he displayed an instinctive passion for music as an amateur performer on the violin, and as he grew older studied the violin and composition under Hague, Zeidler, Mayseder, Platoni, Portogallo, and Bianchi. Perceiving the disadvantages under which his countrymen laboured as compared with the natives of other countries, he proposed in 1822 the formation of an academy of music. ”

“ In 1885 he published his Address to the Academy of Music, and a translation of one of his essays on music appeared in Literature on the 19th of May 1900. He had a valuable collection of printed and MS. music, which was readily accessible to the historical student of music. ”

“ He showed an early taste for the violin, and, after appearing at Gravesend as an ‘infant prodigy,’ he in 1844 entered the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied under Prosper Philippe Catherine Sainton [q. v.] , and in 1845 took the king's scholarship. He was subsequently a professor of the violin at the academy, and conducted its choir and orchestra. ”

“ In 1862 he gained the first prize of the Society of British Musicians for the best string quartet, and in 1865 their first prize for pianoforte quartet. From 1871 to 1874 he was editor of 'The Monthly Musical Record,' and since then has been successively music critic of 'The Academy' and 'The Athenæum.' He is conductor of the Borough of Hackney Choral Association, and Professor of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music and the National Training School of Music. ”

“ Juhasz, Agghazi, Swoboda, and of the ladies Frau Knapp, Fraulein Lepessy, [The above-mentioned were favorite pupils of the Master at the Academy.] etc., in Counterpoint, Harmony, Composition, Aesthetics, Hungarian music and the indispensable Piano-playing.
The work best praises the Master: in like manner do the pupils, when preparing themselves for pre-eminence, praise their teacher. The "Zene Akademia" has not to work for the universally usual kind of musical study, but has indeed a weightier, higher task to fulfil. ”

“ No Royal Academy can draw a large audience to the opera by stating that such and such a piece of music is good, or that such and such a voice is clear; if the public do not feel the voice to be delicious, and if they do not like the music, they will not go to hear it. The fame of the musician, whether singer, instrumentalist, or composer, is founded mainly upon his having produced a strong effect upon the public intellect and imagination. ”

“ Truly a beautiful dream, and one which, it might seem, should easily materialize in a country so rich, so young, so eager, so progressive. A charter was obtained from the state of New York authorizing the establishment of an 'Academy of Music for the purpose of cultivating a taste for music by concerts, operas, and other entertainments, which shall be accessible to the public at a moderate charge; by furnishing facilities for instruction in music, and by rewards of prizes for the best musical compositions.' American music-lovers were naturally gratified and Mr. ”

“ A solid basis alone can accomplish this purpose; and as the extension of sound instruction is the best mode of promoting every species of moral improvement, so it is with music also. If we had a good music academy,—embracing all the various branches of this art, and teaching them from one sole point of view, as only the means to a higher end,—then the practical and material tenets, which, alas! can number even among our artists many influential adherents, might, no doubt, yet be effectually checked. ”

“ D. H. Fry, a prominent musical critic, ventured to hope that it might 'yet come to pass that art, in all its verifications,' would 'be as much esteemed as politics, commerce, or the military profession. The dignity of American artists lies in their hands'—meaning, we presume, the hands of the Academy promoters. ”

“ Many a picture he bought to help the artist, rather than for his own gratification as a collector. Further on in life he became deeply interested in the Academy of the Fine Arts, which was then in Chestnut street above Tenth. Subsequently he became its President, and very largely through his influence and his personal means that fine building at the southwest corner of Broad and Cherry street, which all of you ought to visit as opportunity is afforded, was erected as a depository of art. The splendid building of the Academy of Music at Broad and Locust street, is also largely indebted to Mr. ”

“ In 1836 he was nominated Concertmeister, and in 1839 elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts. A thorough musician and a solid violinist, he has ever since been held in great esteem as a leader, and more especially as a methodical and conscientious teacher. ”

“ I cannot imagine any movement or institution better calculated to help young American artists to further develop and stimulate their creative abilities than the American Academy in Rome. It has quite recently added three music fellowships to those for painters, sculptors, architects, and archæologists, and, as it has done me the honor to elect me as one of the trustees and the still greater honor of giving my name to one of the music fellowships, I revisited Rome in the spring of 1922 especially to observe the workings of our academy. ”

“ On a January evening of the early seventies, Christine Nilsson was singing in Faust at the Academy of Music in New York. ”

“ Academy of ancient music. This institution was established in London, in 1710, by the most eminent masters of the time, with a view to the study and practice of vocal and instrumental music, and continued to flourish for many years. The institution had the advantage of an excellent library, consisting of the most celebrated foreign and domestic compositions, and was aided by the amateurs of the Chapel Royal and the choir of St. ”

“ She has written 30 songs, 20 piano pieces, two violin sonatas, a string quartet, and a work for chamber music orchestra, and choruses. She writes and lectures on music, and is Asst. Professor at New York University.
American Academy in Rome A few years ago Edward MacDowell was one of the founders of an Academy in Rome for American students on the principle of the Roman prize of the Paris Conservatory. Several of the young prize-winners have profited by their visit to the ancient city of culture where they are living and working with funds provided by the Academy. ”

“ It has happily fallen to the lot of the Women’s Trade Union League to have charge and supervision of the kindergarten department in the great school of organized labor. It is for this reason that music and merry-making is so essential a feature of our league work, with books and story telling and all that makes for color and music and laughter and that leads to essential human fellowship—a sure foundation for the industrial union of our younger sisters. ”

“ Beyond and above all this I trust, as I stated on a previous occasion, that the College will become the recognised centre and head of the musical world in this country. It has been a reproach to England that, with her vast resources, her large benevolence, her eagerness to instruct all classes of society in other branches of knowledge, one thing has hitherto been wanting—a national institution for music. Yet music is in the best sense the most popular of all arts. ”

“ There is one sort of art that requires not only a very rigorous and exhaustive training, but also an early commencement, and that is music, at once the most isolated and the most universal of arts. Exceptional gifts in the direction of music will have appeared in the schooling stage, and it is quite conceivable that the college phase for those who are destined for a musical career should have as its backbone a “grind” in the theory and practice of music, with languages and general culture relegated to a Section ii. ”

“ The proper study of Music includes so many of the regular public school studies, and so much of the elements of higher education, as Psychology, Biology, Sociology, Physics, Economics, Social Legislation, History, Languages, Literature, Physical Training, Self-Control, to say nothing of the mathematical studies included in such branches as orchestration, harmony, counterpoint, etc., that a model musical college would furnish an education and culture, far more beneficial to individuals and the group, than is offered by some of the present systems of education. ”

“ In this way the public schools have become foreshadowings of the conservatories and the university schools of music. In time the weak spot in our higher musical curricula, the course in 'musical appreciation' which so many idlers follow as a 'royal road' to a musical education (although it is found in none of the Royal Conservatories of Europe) , will have no excuse for being retained, for our high school pupils will already possess it in sufficient measure to pursue with zest the hard technical courses the mastery of which is necessary to the making of a real musician. ”

“ He threw himself into this new work with great ardor and entire devotion. With the founding of the department there were two distinct ideas to be carried out. First, to train musicians who would be able to teach and compose. Second, to teach musical history and aesthetics.
All this involved five courses, with many lectures each week, taking up form, harmony, counterpoint, fugue, composition, vocal and instrumental music, both from the technical and interpretative side. It was a tremendous labor to organize and keep all this going, unaided. ”