THE HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI,
1819-1824*
BY HARRY R. STEVENS
When Theodore Thomas, the famous German
orchestra con-
ductor, came to Cincinnati in 1869, he
found the finest musical
center of inland America. The community
he discovered here had
a long and rich musical background.
Twenty years of German
musical activity had been preceded by
more than half a century
of native growth. Near the beginning of
this development was the
Haydn Society, one of the earliest
musical groups in the West,
and for half a century the most
significant. The story of that so-
ciety is a story of the hopes, the
failures and the success of pioneer
men and women in creating a musical
culture.
The traveler to Cincinnati who looks at
the city today from
one of the surrounding hills is likely
to see only a dark lake of
smoke. The traveler to the past,
watching the smoke dissipate
under the morning sun, may see
Cincinnati as it was in the spring
of 1819. Almost in the center of a green
plain clustered the spires
of the new city. From one edge of the
scene to the other curved
the bright Ohio River, its surface alive
with small craft. A rim of
hills surrounded it all, and beyond the
rim lay the gloomy forest.
As the traveler approached the city he
might have observed
above the rooftops the dome of the court
house and the "two
horns" of the great Presbyterian
church. Warehouses and factories
lined the river side. For the rest, the
buildings, almost two thousand
of them, were drab or unpainted and
naked. The streets wanted
shade trees; and they were filled with
bricks and straw, and piles
of new lumber. Blue-shirted mechanics
sweated to meet the de-
mands of the growing town. At the public
landing carts and drays
were piled high with river trade goods.
Ever since the close of the
* Sources
for this article are available in unique copies at the Cincinnati Public
Library and the Library of the
Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. A fully
documented copy of the article is on
deposit at the latter institution.
(95)
96
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
war in 1814 the city had been expanding
in all directions, trans-
forming itself from a quiet country town
into a breathless young
city.
The winter of 1819 was mild.
Lilacs were blossoming in
February; and during the early spring a
dozen young men of
Cincinnati decided to form a musical
organization. Meeting on
Friday evening, April 9, 1819, they
organized the Haydn Society
of Cincinnati to provide "rational
amusement" for themselves,
and "to promote and diffuse a more
correct taste for sacred music."
To these ends they planned "a
reciprocal interchange of civilities
among the different religious sects as
circumstances [might] direct
. . . not confining their influence to
any particular denomination."
Why these men should come together at
that time for that
purpose is hard to say. There had been
other musical societies
in Cincinnati which may have set an
example for them. The first
of these was the Harmonical Society,
formed in 1810. With the aid
of various revivals it lasted until
about 1823. It gave concerts oc-
casionally, played in the theater, and
provided music for balls,
funerals and Fourth of July
celebrations. The Cincinnati Euphoni-
cal Society held meetings in 1811-12; there was a St. Cecilia So-
ciety in 1815-16; and in the same week
that the Haydn Society
was formed another group of a dozen or
more men organized the
Episcopal Singing Society of Cincinnati.
Except for the first of
these groups none was of any great
importance; and the absence
of a vital musical society in this city
of ten thousand inhabitants
may have been keenly felt.
Another possible explanation is to be
found in European in-
fluences. A contemporary observer of the
Haydn Society noticed
the presence in America of English
singers such as Incldeon and
Philipps, who "seemed to give a new
spring to the encouragement
of this science among our eastern
neighbors," with the result that
"a greater attention is almost
everywhere now paid in our coun-
try" to this "charming and
exalted means of intellectual enjoy-
ment." Many years later someone
thought it might have been the
depression, which began in 1819, that
brought these people to-
gether, as a means of helping to forget
their troubles and pass the
HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 97
unhappy time, but it is difficult to
appreciate the motives of those
who are long since gone.
Without experience and with few examples
to follow, the
founders of the Haydn Society had to
create a formal organiza-
tion adequate to meet their special
needs. Earlier musical societies
in the city had been satisfied with a
secretary, or a president and
secretary and a committee elected by the
members. They had
adopted by-laws and held regular
meetings at a tavern or at the
home of some member. Public concerts had
sometimes been given
and tickets sold or freely distributed.
At least one group distin-
guished between regular and honorary
membership. The Episcopal
Singing Society, more elaborate than the
others, had a president,
vice-president, secretary, two leaders
and a three member commit-
tee of selection and arrangement.
The Haydn Society started with a
secretary and a leader and
arranger. Temporary committees, usually
of three members, were
soon set up to manage the sale of
tickets and other affairs of
various concerts. The secretary, the
leader or director, and the
committees were retained as permanent
offices. From the end of
1821 the society had an organist; and at
least from August, 1822,
on there were presidents and
vice-presidents. By 1823, when the
society had enough music to justify it
they had a librarian. Officers
were elected, evidently in March and
September, for six-month
terms.
Regular meetings were held weekly or
every two weeks on
Sunday evenings at early candlelight.
The place of meeting was at
different times the neat brick Episcopal
Church on Sixth Street be-
tween Walnut and Vine, the Session Room
of the great barn-like
First Presbyterian Church on the west
side of Main Street be-
tween Fourth and Fifth, and the Western
Museum, at corner
of Main and Second streets. Occasional
business meetings were
held at the office or rooms of one of
the members.
Eleven public concerts were given
altogether by the Haydn
Society, besides an unknown number of
private concerts. In the
fall of 1822 the society announced a plan
of giving four oratorios
a year; but it gave only four public
concerts during the remainder
of its existence. Tickets to the
concerts were at first sold for one
98
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
dollar. In May, 1820, the price was
reduced to fifty cents, and
there it remained. After April, 1822, a
system of season tickets was
in use, admitting the holder to all
oratorios, rehearsals and prac-
tice meetings of the society during one
year for five dollars, with
tickets for two persons at eight dollars
a year. The printing and
distribution of tickets was in charge of
a Committee for the Con-
cert, or more usually a Committee of
Arrangements. At times the
society cooperated with other groups for
special events. It worked
with three church choirs in a concert on
July 18, 1821, and with
the Cincinnati Band on July 4, 1822;
while it also gave occasional
entertainment on July 4, 1821, July 4, 1822, and February 22, 1822.
Proceeds of the concerts were used in
part to buy music and
books which became the property of the
society (May, 1819, Oc-
tober, 1819, and April, 1822). Part also
went to pay for candles,
ticket printing and other expenses;
various parts for an organ for
the Episcopal Church, brought from the
East; for another organ
built in Cincinnati by Luman Watson; and
for the interdenomina-
tional Cincinnati Sunday School Society.
As the Haydn Society approached its end
the structure was
somewhat simplified. The president,
secretary, librarian and com-
mittee of arrangements were retained,
but no more concerts were
given publicly. Meetings were changed
from Sunday to Tuesday
evening, and from the churches to the
Western Museum, while the
complex system of tickets and
memberships seemingly reduced
itself to a simple order.
Throughout the five years or a little
more that the Haydn
Society remained in existence it grew
from an original member-
ship of twelve or fourteen to three
times that number. The found-
ers were apparently all men; but before
two months had passed
women appeared as members. At one time
there were thirty-eight
or forty men and women in the society.
How much the membership
varied is not known; but among the whole
group nineteen partici-
pants may now be identified. Seldom has
so high a proportion of
talent met in any musical group as this
near score of names shows
for the Haydn Society of Cincinnati.
About half of the known members are mere
names or shadows
who tell little either of the society or
of themselves; yet they de-
HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 99
serve to be called on for the little
they can tell about the general
membership. Nathan M. Whittemore, the
first secretary of the
society, was a grocer from New
Hampshire, and a manager of
the Western Navigation Bible and Tract
Society. W. T. Howell,
the second secretary, is only a name,
Edwin Mathews, another
early member, used to entertain the old
Harmonical Society at his
home in 1814. His daughter, Martha, a
singer and teacher, was
perhaps also a member. John Dillingham,
secretary in 1822-23,
was also Recording Secretary of the
Cincinnati Sunday School So-
ciety, and like Whittemore an official
of the Western Navigation
Bible and Tract Society. The last
secretary, David Churchill, a
young bachelor until 1825, was a
sign-painter by trade, a Mason
and a Swedenborgian, who had already
been secretary of the New
Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) Singing
Society in 1822. Richard
Mulford, a bricklayer and plasterer from
New Jersey, later be-
came a constable, a tax collector, and
an officer in his Masonic
lodge. Elisha Hotchkiss was an attorney
from Connecticut, subse-
quently elected a justice of the peace.
James Whittaker, the or-
ganist in 1821-22, was, like Churchill, a
Swedenborgian; and he
too served as organist for the New
Jerusalem Singing Society in
1822.
His musical background seems to have been somewhat fuller
than that of others named here.
Two more distinctly known as members
were Thomas L.
Paine, the last known president of the
society, and Elam P. Lang-
don. Paine was a wealthy pork merchant
who came west from
Connecticut. In 1818 he was involved
with the elder Nicholas
Longworth in a business controversy now
obscure but sensational
in Cincinnati at the time. He was a
member of the Presbyterian
Church, and secretary of the tract
society. Langdon, a Methodist
from Vermont, appears in a more
attractive light. He was an
officer in his Masonic lodge and for
many years assistant post-
master. In a room at the rear of the
post office on Third Street
he maintained the Cincinnati Reading
Room, where Dennie's cele-
brated Philadelphia Port Folio and
other magazines and news-
papers might be read, conversations
enjoyed, and tickets purchased
for Haydn Society concerts. Such men as
these one may suppose
made up most of the membership of the
Haydn Society.
100
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
But a remaining quarter of the
membership achieved remark-
able distinction locally or nationally.
Charles W. Gazzam, one of
the last secretaries of the society, was
a commission merchant from
Pennsylvania who rose high in banking
circles in Cincinnati.
Charles Fox (1797-1884), a young
Englishman, came to this city
from Lexington, Kentucky, as a carpenter
and took a leading part
in musical affairs before making his
reputation as one of the most
eminent judges on the local bench. W. G.
W. Gano (1799-1872),
a Swedenborgian from New Jersey, worked
as bank clerk, while
active both in the Haydn Society and in
the Apollonian Society,
before he became one of the leading
merchants in the Middle
West. Wood and ivory clock maker, organ
builder, inventor, edu-
cator, successful business man and poet
in gadgets was Luman
Watson, the first identified president (1823) of the Haydn
Society.
Presidencies seemed to be his line, for
he was also the first presi-
dent of the Episcopal Singing Society
and the highest officer in his
Masonic lodge in 1819.
In 1822,
a year before Watson became president of
the Haydn
Society, there came to his clock shop on
Seventh Street a strapping
youth of seventeen who had already worked
as farm hand, tavern
boy and bill collector. In six years at
Watson's shop he developed
astonishing ingenuity and skill as a
craftsman. The boy was Hiram
Powers: in the next twenty years he was
to become the most
famous sculptor of his generation. His
"Greek Slave" and his
busts of Chief Justice Marshall,
President Jackson and Senators
Calhoun and Webster are still well
known. A brilliant conversa-
tionalist and a member of the tiny
Swedenborgian Church, whose
musical and intellectual activities in
Cincinnati are a perpetual
source of wonder, Powers himself may
well have been a member
of the Haydn Society, though direct
evidence is lacking.
At the same time that Powers began to
work for Watson a
young Frenchman, Joseph Dorfeuille, came
to Cincinnati. He en-
tered immediately into the cultural life
of the city, joining the
Haydn Society, and becoming in 1823 the
head of the Western
Museum. To the collection begun there by
the eminent Dr. Daniel
Drake and already pricelessly enriched
by the work of John J.
Audubon, one of the first curators,
Dorfeuille added his own col-
HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 101
lection of Egyptian antiquities and
birds. A year later, in May
1824, Dorfeuille married. As his
fortunes had prospered he
brought the Haydn Society to the museum.
A few years after this
from 1829 to 1834, he employed Powers
himself in the waxworks
department of the museum. There the
rapidly maturing artist dis-
covered his genius for modelling, and
his clockwork mechanisms
for the "Chamber of Horrors"
turned the Western Museum into
a highly profitable business for its
owners.
Another Frenchman, one of the three
foreigners among the
nineteen identifiable members of the
Haydn Society, was Philibert
Ratel. M. and Mme. Ratel, natives of
France, had lived in Phila-
delphia for six or seven years when they
decided to move to Nash-
ville. On their way to Tennessee they
stopped in Cincinnati early
in the summer of 1817, where
Ratel led the orchestra in the theater.
Finding Cincinnati to their liking, they
stayed there and soon
opened a dancing school. While Ratel
made his living by teaching
music and dancing he became the first
"leader" of the Haydn
Society. He remained one of the most
active musical figures in
the city, and one of its few
professional musicians.
Altogether different was Daniel Roe, a
somewhat older man
than most of the others in the society.
A merchant, originally from
New York, Roe lived in Lebanon, in the
back country of Ohio,
where he married in 1807. Some time
after this he came to Cin-
cinnati where he was an attorney in
1818, and a member of one of
the Masonic lodges. A Swedenborgian, he
served at times as a
minister for the local society. Early in
1820 he
was elected a
justice of the peace; shortly
afterwards, in April, 1820, his second
wife died. His connection with the Haydn
Society extended from
November, 1821, to March, 1823, or
perhaps longer. In 1823 he
failed of reelection as a justice of the
peace, but was appointed a
tax collector early in 1824. The next
summer he married a third
time, but this third wife died in May,
1826, barely twenty months
later. Meanwhile Roe, who had first been
a supporter of Henry
Clay in politics, became acquainted with
the erratic and fascinat-
ing social reformer, Robert Owen. In
1824-25, Owen was busy
establishing his socialist utopia at New
Harmony, Indiana, and his
visits to Cincinnati created a deep
impression there. Roe was soon
102
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
associated with a communist experiment
at Yellow Springs, Ohio,
and in 1826 and 1829 he lectured publicly in Cincinnati on social
philosophy and metaphysics.
Daniel Roe seems to have been a sort of
godfather to the
most vigorous of all the men in the
Haydn Society, young Sol
Smith. Though Smith is almost forgotten
today he was the great
theatrical manager of the antebellum
West and Southwest, and his
autobiography is still one of the most
entertaining memoirs of
American life. The eighth of eleven sons
of an upstate New York
veteran of the Revolutionary War, young
Smith knew life in a
log cabin and hard poverty. He knew
adventure, too, for in his
mid-teens he ran away from home to
follow a theatrical troupe.
Soon afterwards he came to Cincinnati,
where he worked as a
clerk in his brothers' store. In
January, 1822, he married Martha
Therese Mathews, daughter of Edwin
Mathews. Within a few
months, when he was just twenty-one, in
August, 1822, Smith
started the Independent Press. It
was one of the first newspapers
in Ohio to support Andrew Jackson for
president. In 1823 he
became manager of the local theater; and
all this time he threw
tremendous energy into the Haydn
Society, the New Jerusalem
Singing Society and endless political
scraps particularly involving
General William H. Harrison.
The only match for Sol Smith in his vast
enthusiasm was
Josiah Warren, whose baffling
personality still tempts the biog-
rapher. A near relative of General
Joseph Warren, the hero of
Bunker Hill, Josiah was born about 1798
in Boston. He married
in 1817, and by March, 1820, this short,
thick-set, blue-eyed
young man was in Cincinnati with his
brother, George. Here he
performed the clarinet part in a Pleyel
trio at the first chamber
music concert given in the city. Less
than a year later he took
out a patent on a lard-burning lamp, and
soon established a profit-
able lamp factory. Like Daniel Roe he
was strangely drawn by
Robert Owen's utopia. He sold his lamp
factory, and early in
1825 he joined the socialist colony at
New Harmony, Indiana. The
regimented life of socialism, however,
held no charm for this son
of revolution. In disgust, he returned
to Cincinnati, and set about
developing the first American
anarchistic philosophy. Not satis-
HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 103
fled with a system of thought, he
carried it into practice with a
thoroughly successful "equity
store," using certificates of labor-
time instead of money. This he continued
from 1827 to 1829. In
1830 he invented a speed press,
anticipating by two years the prin-
ciple patented in the Hoe press. He
started a newspaper in 1833;
and during the succeeding years turned
out one successful inven-
tion after another, dropping each old
one as some new problem
interested him. Metaphysics and
economics, musical notation and
stereotyping, and lectures to workingmen
during the "hungry
'40's" took Warren from one
activity to another. As an exponent
of anarchistic individualism in America
Warren stands second only
to Thoreau; but his seething energy was
just beginning to break
through when he took part in the Haydn
Society of Cincinnati.
Not all of these men were members of the
Haydn Society
when it was first organized. Some of
them did not reach Cincin-
nati until two or three years later.
Indeed, it is not sure whether
the name of a single founder of the
society has been preserved,
but it seems altogether likely that
during its existence the Haydn
Society must have derived its strength
and character from such
men as those who have been described
here, men who are known
to have been members at one time or
another. Most of them were
young men and bachelors. Most of them
were ambitious and
capable. Many of them achieved eminent
positions in their chosen
work. Not one of them sought a career in
music.
The annals of the Haydn Society of
Cincinnati are brief and
simple. From one point of view they are
uniformly unhappy; yet
it may be possible to see another side
when the story has been
told.
The Haydn Society began its career full
of enthusiasm. The
members met and planned a program. They
elected officers, and
ordered music from the Lock Hospital in
Baltimore and other
"celebrated collections,"
which was received in due time. Re-
hearsals were held, and a grand concert
was announced. The last
rehearsal, an afternoon performance was
favorably compared by
a critic with concerts in "New
York, Philadelphia, and other large
towns."
Within six weeks of the organization of
the society the first
104 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
public concert was
given, Tuesday evening, May 25, 1819, in the
Episcopal Church on
Sixth Street. The guests, a hundred or more,
presented their
admission tickets at the door and entered the
church. The singers
found their places by candlelight, and M.
Philibert Ratel took
his position as leader of the orchestra.
The program was one of
the most ambitious attempted in the
West:
Part I
Overture Instrumental
Chorus, China T.
Clarke
Grand Chorus, The
Marvellous Works Joseph
Haydn
.............. Jehovah
Speaks Holden
Chorus, Strike the
Cymbals Pucitta
Anthem, [Cheshunt ?]
Our Lord is
Risen from the Dead Arnold
Chorus, Cranbrook T.
Clarke
Part II
Overture Instrumental
Chorus, Jabez' Prayer Jarman
Overton T.
Clarke
Anthem, O praise the
Lord Meinecke
Poland Husband
Chorus, New Years' Ode T.
Clarke
Hosanna Chorus Gregor
Duett and Chorus, Hail
Judea G.
F. Handel
The "overtures
and symphonies" were "taken from the most
popular authors, with
the exception of some original adaptations
arranged by Mr. Ratel,
whose taste and judgment entitled him to
much applause."
A newspaper review
published a week after the concert pro-
vides a more lively
account of this performance than such reviews
generally do; and for
this reason as well as for the value in illu-
minating the standards
of musical criticism in the West at this time
it may be quoted in
part.
Notwithstanding the
intervention of some unexpected impediments, . . .
[the concert] was
fully and fashionably attended. To those who have the
interests of musical
refinement, and innocent pleasure, as well as the pros-
perity of the church,
at heart, this honourable success in a first attempt
must be in an eminent
degree acceptable. For ourselves, we view it as an
HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 105
indication of better things to come. . .
. The best evidence, however, that
the exhibition gave both delight and
satisfaction, was the solemn stillness
and rivetted attention which prevailed
among the spectators during the
whole representation. It is not our
intention to enter upon a minute criti-
cism of the performance; as the task of
judicious discrimination would be
attended with delicacy, and might possibly
wound, though unintentionally,
the feelings of some individual
concerned. Nor have we the right to expect
from the amateur that perfection which
may be insisted on from the pro-
fessor. There were, at the same time,
some deficiencies of a general char-
acter, the mention of which can give no
offence, and may be of service,
perhaps, hereafter; we allude to the
occasional disproportion which the in-
strumental bore to the vocal parts; and
in some pieces a lack of strength
on the bass. A very little attention is
only necessary to reform this at a
future period. The grand and intricate
piece of Pucitta introducing the
song of triumph by David after his
victory over Goliath, was executed
superlatively well; the female solos were
sung with a melody and judg-
ment not inferior to any voice we have
ever heard. The ladies, also, who
carried the solos and duets in Cheshunt,
Meinecke's Anthem, and other in-
stances, acquitted themselves with
deserved eclat. The little trifle from
Gregor at the close, produced quite an
exhilirating effect, and was well
calculated to send the audience home
satisfied with the divertisement and
themselves.
The concert netted $100, indicating an
audience of over one
hundred, and very possibly of over two hundred.
The proceeds
were appropriated at least in part to
pay for an organ for the
Episcopal Church, which was ordered from
the East.
Filled with hope the Haydn Society
continued its meetings in
the fall, and planned to open its second
season with another concert
in October. This time the object was to
aid the Sunday Schools,
and to "raise a fund for enlarging
the variety of music, to remain
the permanent fund of the society."
The concert was given half
an hour earlier than before, at seven
o'clock on Tuesday evening,
October 19, 1819. The place was again the
Episcopal Church.
The overtures and symphonies were once
more "adapted" by M.
Ratel, who led the orchestra; and the
program, while repeating
some of the more popular items from the
spring concert offered
some new selections:
106 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
Part I
Overture Instrumental, J. Haydn
Hymn - Trio - The
Lord's Prayer J.
Cole
Chorus - Hozanna [Gregor]
Duett and Chorus* -
New Year's Ode T.
Clarke
Trio and Chorus - Thou
sweet gliding Kedron
Solo and Grand Chorus*
- The marv'lous works J. Haydn
Solo, Trio and Chorus*
- Song of rejoicing for
the conquest of
Goliath Pucitta
Duett - Barren Fig
Tree
Celebrated Fuge -
Nations join in sacred song Shields
Finale Instrumental, Pleyel
Part II
Overture Instrumental, G. F. Handel
Hymn and Chorus* -
Come hither all B.
Cuzens
Chorus - Not all the
blood of beasts Arnold
Duett and Chorus -
Dialogue Hymn [Burney]
Anthem. For Festivals - Praise the Lord who
reigns above
Hymn* - Sweet to
rejoice in heavenly hope T.
Clarke
Full Anthem - O praise
the Lord Meinecke
Chorus Finale* - Jabez
Prayer, 0 that the
Lord indeed Jarman
The starred items were
chosen as the most popular. Notice
of the concert in
advance advertised that the music "seems to be
selected from among
the best composers." The reviewer already
quoted observed with pleasure
that the society had followed his
advice on the
balancing of parts. The overtures and symphonies
"adapted"
and led by Ratel "were executed with all the taste and
animation of a public
orchestra." The song of triumph by Pucitta
made the
"strongest impression"; the young lady who carried the
solos was said to have
few rivals in America; and Burney's hymn
was accorded "a
degree of novelty." Favorable comments were also
passed on Gregor,
Clarke, and Meinecke.
Although this concert
was got up at considerable care and
expense, receipts fell
far short of expenditures. "Whether in con-
sequence of the
weather or some other circumstance" almost no
one came. Young Mr.
Fox, who seems to have been in charge,
felt so discouraged
over the attendance that he announced his
intention of leaving
Cincinnati.
HAYDN SOCIETY OF
CINCINNATI 107
On the chance that
this might have been a pure accident and
with the hopeful
situation that some who had held tickets to this
performance had not
made use of them the society ventured to re-
peat the program (with
some slight changes) at a third concert,
about a week later.
This was again given at the Episcopal Church,
on Monday evening,
November 1, 1819, at 7 p. m. Two or three
pieces were omitted,
and a Hymn for Christmas was added in
the second part of the
program. But it was to no avail. The audi-
ence was pitifully
small.
The slender patronage
at these two concerts led the society
to a
"determination to discontinue public exhibitions." "The mem-
bers of this laudable
association have been at much expense and
labour, under the
conviction that their exertions would tend to
the edification of our
citizens and contribute to the purpose of
benevolence," it
was explained. "Their anticipations, however, it
seems, have proved
fallacious and illusive." In fine, the society de-
termined to give no
more public concerts.
The society maintained
its existence during the winter of
1819-20 but completely
disappeared from public view. A few
months later the
desire to perform publicly seems to have out-
weighed caution and
disappointment at last; and the brilliant ex-
ample of the concerts
of Mr. Garner during March, 1820, may
have been an
inspiration to hope for better support. Philibert
Ratel and Josiah
Warren together with a "Full Band" assisted in
Garner's concerts of
secular music at the Cincinnati Hotel, and the
results were highly
successful.
Thus with good
expectations the Haydn Society announced
its fourth Concert of
Sacred Music, to be given Thursday evening,
May 4, 1820, at the
Episcopal Church. The program shows a num-
ber of new works:
Part I
Overture Instrumental, Haydn
Anthem - Mortals,
awake, with angels join Clark
Sacred song - Were not
the sinful Mary's tears Oliver
Shaw
Anthem - O praise the
Lord Meinecke
Sacred Song - There's
nothing true but heaven Oliver
Shaw
Anthem, - Welcome,
welcome, mighty king G.
F. Handel
Finale Instrumental, Pleyel
108 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Part II
Overture Instrumental, Haydn
Strike the Cymbals
(song of rejoicing for the
conquest of Goliath by
David) Pucitta
Hymn - When I survey
the wondrous Cross Bradbury
Duett - The bird let
loose from western skies
(from Moore's Sacred
Melodies) Oliver
Shaw
Anthem - Not all the
blood of beasts Arnold
Anthem - Hail Judea,
Happy land! G.
F. Handel
Whether or not the
time was auspicious in March it was cer-
tainly not so in May.
The depression that had already settled
down in the eastern
states in 1819 reached the West with devastat-
ing effect by 1820.
Like the two concerts of the preceding fall this
one did not bring
enough receipts even to meet expenses. It is not
surprising that the
Haydn Society completely disappeared from
sight during the third
session of its existence, the year 1820-21.
During fourteen
months, from May 4, 1820, to July, 1821, there
is not the slightest
trace of it.
When next the Haydn Society
came into view in what may
be called its fourth
"season" it was on a more modest scale than
before. In the roomy
First Presbyterian Church the Fourth of
July was celebrated in
solemn manner; and on this occasion
"some appropriate
odes and anthems sung ... in a manner highly
gratifying"
marked the return of the society to public life.
That the society was
not defunct during this period is amply
assured by their
participation two weeks later in a concert that
established a new
level of musical achievement in Cincinnati. Un-
der the direction of
Charles Fox, carpenter and singing teacher,
the members of
"three respectable Singing societies" as well as
several instrumental
performers were assisted by members of the
Haydn Society of
Cincinnati in a performance at the Episcopal
Church. The
"respectable Singing societies" that participated were
those of the New
Jerusalem, Second Presbyterian, and Vine Street
Methodist churches.
The following program was given by them
at eight o'clock
Wednesday evening, July 18, 1821:
HAYDN SOCIETY OF
CINCINNATI 109
Part I
Overture -- by full
orchestra
Trio, Duett, Solo, and
Chorus - 0 praise the Lord Meinecke
Chorus - As Israel's
people in despair Stevenson
Duett - (from Moore's Sacred
Melodics) Oliver
Shaw
Quartette - Hark the
vesper hymn is stealing G.
F. Handel
Solo - Thou shalt
break them in pieces G.
F. Handel
Grand Chorus -
Hallelujah, For the Lord God
Omnipotent
reigneth G. F.
Handel
Part II
Overture - (on the
organ, by Mr. Whittaker) G.
F. Handel
Solo and Chorus - The
marv'lous works Joseph
Haydn
Sacred Song - There's
nothing true but Heaven Oliver
Shaw
Solo, Duett, and
Chorus - The Star of Bethlehem Oliver
Shaw
Treble Solo - Behold I
bring you glad tidings T.
Hastings
Bass Solo - And
suddenly there was an angel T.
Hastings
Chorus - Glory to God
in the highest T.
Hastings
Solo, Trio, and Chorus
- Strike the Cymbal Pucitta.
The concert is
interesting for several reasons. It included the
first public
performances in Cincinnati of seven works, among
them Handel's "Vesper Hymn," the
"Hallelujah Chorus," and
"Comfort ye my
people"; three works by the New England com-
poser, Oliver Shaw,
and a "Hymn for Thanksgiving." It is in con-
nection with this
concert too that Sol Smith's name is first linked
with the Haydn
Society, though he may well have been an orig-
inal member. Finally,
the sectarian bias which had caused so much
woe in the past was
eliminated with the participation of Metho-
dists, Episcopalians,
Presbyterians and Swedenborgians. Yet so
deep seemed the
popular aversion now to sacred music that as an
Irishman observed from
the street corner, that there was "a most
numerous and crowding
audience outside of the house!" Public
indifference marked
the return of the Haydn Society in Cincinnati,
as it had marked its
departure a year before. This time the blow
might be fatal.
To suppose that public
indifference could destroy the Haydn
Society would be to
reckon without Sol Smith. During the fall
of 1821 this young
bachelor (only twenty years old) was secretary
of the society, as
well as president and leader of the New Jerusa-
110 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
lem Singing Society. He and his four
brothers, together with Dan-
iel Roe were leading a powerful
anticlerical movement within the
Swedenborgian congregation; and now for
the first time the Haydn
Society and its activities came clearly
into view. Here is Smith's
own account of the season:
"At Cincinnati, among my numerous
relations and friends, I
spent a very happy winter.... I attended
a series of law lectures,
performed the duties of clerk in one of
my brothers' stores . . .
and played the organ in the New
Jerusalem Church three times
every Sunday, and every Thursday
evening, besides teaching a
whole lot of young New Jerusalemites the
art of psalmody two
evenings each week."
From the beginning of November, 1821, if
not earlier, regular
meetings were held every Sunday evening
at early candlelight in
the Session Room of the First
Presbyterian Church. Business
meetings on occasional Thursdays were
held at the office of Dan-
iel Roe, who now, with Smith, first
appeared in the society. Among
other members who are named now are
Luman Watson, James
Whittaker and Charles Fox.
In mid-December, 1821, the citizens of
Cincinnati and vicinity
were respectfully informed that a
"Concert of Sacred Music"
would be performed by the Haydn Society
of Cincinnati on Thurs-
day evening, December 20. The place of
the concert was changed
to the Presbyterian Church, where the
society had been holding its
meetings during the fall. Mr. Whittaker,
another Swedenborgian
whose name was now first definitely
associated with the Haydn
Society (though he was an organist in
the city at least since Mr.
Sidebotham's Concert in December, 1820),
accompanied the
"Songs and Duetts upon a fine toned
Organ." The program,
selected "from the most celebrated
American and European com-
posers" offered little that was new
or distinctive:
HAYDN SOCIETY OF
CINCINNATI 111
Part I
Overture Instrumental
Chorus - The Lord's
Prayer Cooke
Anthem - Although the
Figg tree shall not blossom Meinecke
Solo - Were not the
sinful Mary's Tears Oliver
Shaw
Anthem - Thou Child
Divine Immanuel
Duett - All things
fair and bright Oliver Shaw
Grand Chorus -
Hallelujah, for the Lord God
Omnipotent reigneth
(from the Oratorio of
the Messiah) Handel
Part II
Overture Instrumental
Chorus - Happy the Man
prepared to reign Schultz
Duett - (from Moore's Sacred
Melodies) Oliver
Shaw
Grand Chorus - The
Heavens are telling (from
Haydn's Oratorio of
the Creation) Joseph
Haydn
Anthem - O Praise the
Lord Meinecke
Solo - There's nothing
true but Heaven Oliver
Shaw
Anthem - Strike the
Cymbal (song of rejoicing
for the conquest of
Goliath by David) Pucitta
Public response was no
better to this program than to the
others. The society
again added to its deficits, but it now had an
energetic leader, and
it had a method for supporting and develop-
ing itself that
rendered it more independent of public opinion.
Since the beginning of
this season in November, 1821, the society
was made up of both
"members" and "subscribers" who sometimes
met together. After
the December concert the society met and
performed every
alternate Sunday evening in the Session Room,
by candlelight, and
the meetings were "attended by respectable
and select
audiences." By February they had increased their mem-
bership to
thirty-four, half of whom were delicately called "fe-
males." Business
meetings were held on irregular Thursday eve-
nings at Daniel Roe's
law office.
In agreeable manner
the society took part in the celebration
of Washington's
Birthday, February 22, 1822. In the morning they
joined in the services
at the First Presbyterian Church. Later in
the day they performed
"several airs" at the celebration in the
hotel.
During the winter the
secretary wrote to the Haydn and Han-
112
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
del Society of Boston for music,
and by spring they had imported
books and pieces of music from the East
to the value of $100.
Among the items received in a collection
of music from the Haydn
and Handel Society were an Oratorio by
Joseph Haydn and two
songs by Oliver Shaw.
A story of certain authenticity casts a
dubious shadow on the
state of musical appreciation in
Cincinnati at this time. According
to a reporter who attended a rehearsal
and practice meeting of the
society Sunday evening, April 7, 1822, they were
performing
Handel's celebrated "Hailstone
chorus" when "a violent storm of
hail, wind, thunder and lightning arose, which
accorded completely
with the words and music of the chorus.
The effect was beautiful
and grand in the extreme."
This work led up to the seventh concert,
which was given
Monday evening, April 29, 1822, at the Episcopal Church. By this
time the society had increased its
membership to thirty-eight. It had
hoped in February that this year it
would be able to present
Haydn's Oratorio, The Creation. Ever
since the December concert
it had been meeting regularly every
other week, although in the
two months preceding the December
concert it had met weekly.
What happened at the April concert is
not known, but further
meetings were held during May and June.
On July 4, the society
aided in the celebration at the
Presbyterian Church in the morn-
ing. Later in the day the society sang
several odes, accompanied
by the Cincinnati Band, which Mr. Josiah
Warren conducted.
Mr. Warren, Mr. Whittaker and several
other amateurs generously
volunteered their services on the
occasion.
From the first Sunday in August,
bi-monthly meetings were
resumed, sometimes in the afternoon,
later on in the early evening.
Just after the middle of September, 1822, the meeting
place was
changed from the Presbyterian to the
Episcopal Church, where it
remained from this time almost until the
end of the society's ex-
istence. From the date of this change
too they began to meet every
week.
Now indeed the Haydn Society seemed to
be on the road to
success. Money was again sent to Boston
to buy more music. The
Episcopal Church was altered at great
expense and an organ was
HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 113
conditionally purchased from Luman
Watson. Season tickets were
sold, and a determined effort was made
to rouse public interest.
In October a plan was announced of
giving four oratorios a year.
Early in November the society announced
its intention of pro-
ducing a select oratorio the following
month, and gave notice that
no spectators could be admitted to
rehearsals except those with
season tickets. As the time for the
concert approached the society
began to meet twice a week, on Wednesday
or Friday, in addition
to Sunday evenings.
The fall of 1822 was particularly
rich in concert offerings in
Cincinnati. In September, a Mr. and Mrs.
Smith gave a concert
of singing and dancing at the Cincinnati
Theater. Both of them
were tipsy. A second concert they
promised never took place, for
the landlord at the hotel refused to let
them have a room, and
thus they clowned out of the picture.
Early in November, Mr. and
Mrs. Lewis and their five little angels
arrived in Cincinnati from
the East, and gave nine or more
concerts, apparently meeting with
a warm welcome. Their concert programs
included a "Grand Over-
ture" by Mozart (the first one
performed in Cincinnati), "Robin
Adair," "Tweed Side,"
"Circassian Rondo," and the ever-popular
"Battle of Prague," as well as
the flattering tale of "Blue-Eyed
Mary Hope" and Del Caro's
"Hornpipe." Crowded audiences at-
tended all their concerts. Their most
popular work was the "Battle
of Prague," with its imitations of
the "groans of the dying, on
the Violin." On Sunday evening,
November 10, 1822, Mr. Lewis
took the lead at the regular meeting of
the Haydn Society in the
Episcopal Church, to the great delight
of the members. After sev-
eral more concerts the Lewis family left
on the down-river boat
the following Sunday evening.
Just before the middle of December, Sol
Smith was replaced
as secretary by John Dillingham. Smith
continued to give the so-
ciety the full support of his Independent
Press, the newspaper he
established four months earlier. Luman
Watson's organ was built
and installed in the Episcopal Church,
and the orchestra was en-
larged for the concert.
At six thirty o'clock Thursday evening,
December 19, 1822,
the "Select Oratorio" was
begun. Mr. Whittaker, at the new organ,
114 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
was assisted by
Joseph Dorfeuille, whose entry into Cincinnati
cultural life, dates
from this concert. The program offered a con-
siderable number of
new composers and works:
Part I
Overture Full Orchestra
Anthem - Our Father
who art in Heaven Denman
Recitative - Father,
Thy word is past Mathew
P. King
Air - I, for His sake Mathew
P. King
Recitative - But He
shall rise victorious Mathew
P. King
Chorus - The
multitude of angels Mathew
P. King
Song - Star of the
North, thy radiant light Oliver
Shaw
Anthem - When winds
breathe soft Webbe
Double Chorus - He
gave them Hailstones for
rain (from Israel
in Egypt) G. F. Handel
Part II
Voluntary on the
Organ J. Marsh
Air and Chorus -
Hark! the vesper hymn is
stealing G. F. Handel
Chorus - They play'd
in air the trembling music
float Stephenson
Duett - There is a
stream whose gentle flow Trajetta
Chorus - The saffron
tints of morn appear Mozart
Air - Rejoice, 0
Judah! G.
F. Handel
Chorus - Hallelujah,
Amen G.
F. Handel
The weather was bad;
or at any rate that worn apology was
offered. The program
was at least more novel than those pre-
viously given. The
admission price was low. It was said that espe-
cially few
"females" attended. With its usual indomitable courage
the Haydn Society
repeated its full concert the following Friday
evening, December 27,
1822. The
public which turned out for the
first of these
concerts was actually less than half the number of the
performers, a simple
score of auditors occupying the pews. It re-
sponded to the
repetition so feebly that the society found receipts
eight dollars short
of its expenses.
With a determination
at which one can only marvel today the
Haydn Society
persisted in its work. Exactly a month later it per-
formed a tenth
"Sacred Concert" on January 27, 1823. For this oc-
casion compositions
by Handel, Madan, Luther and Shaw were
HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 115
given. The season ticket system was
still in use, but season tickets
were not accepted at the door. They had
to be exchanged for
tickets for the concert.
The society had pamphlets printed with
the words of the con-
cert, which were distributed in the
church. The newspapers of-
fered such favorable publicity as this
notice:
The selection of pieces of music for the
entertainment is a good one,
and will no doubt be very satisfactory
to those who may attend. This
respectable association has done much
toward the improvement of sacred
music. Whoever will contrast, for a
moment, the state of church music,
previous to the foundation of the Haydn
Society, with its present highly
improved condition, cannot but admit
that the association have just claims
on society--and that it should be
fostered by a community for whose
pleasure and benefit its labours have
been expended. Or will the public
rather, by withholding their patronage
from the concerts, penalize its
exertions and prevent the successful and
scientific cultivation of a science
which adds so much solemnity to our
religious devotions?
The public gave their answer. They
rejected the claim. Such
compliments as this were small comfort
when the receipts were
added up and found to total $9.25 for
the concert.
A sympathizer alternately chastised and
reproached the public
two weeks later:
The city of Cincinnati is already so
celebrated for the failure of
everything of public utility, that to
produce the HAYDN SOCIETY as a
new instance, is a circumstance, as
disagreeable to the writer as it is dis-
graceful to our citizens. Those projects
that have failed from want of
money, their own impracticability, or
the partial operation of their benefits,
do not in their fall evince a want of
public spirit or refined taste, in the
inhabitants generally; but the fall of
this Society, is an unexceptionable
evidence of our total indifference to
every thing that characterizes a polished
city. . . . I understand a dissolution
of the society is in contemplation; and
should it take place, it may reasonably
be supposed that most of our
citizens are still the "hunters of
the backwoods," and that the few who
pretend to be in any degree polished,
are incapable of appreciating the
value of music, when it is carried
beyond the powers of a tambourine or a
hand-organ.
Secretary Dillingham stepped out of the
picture. Old Mr.
Roe and the president, Luman Watson took
active charge of af-
fairs. The society continued to hold its
Sunday meetings every
week at the Episcopal Church throughout
the rest of the winter.
116
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
At some time in March the celebrated
English musician, Mr.
Philipps, who had now reached the West,
sang at one of their
oratorios, but as this was not a public
concert, and not generally
known, it is impossible to give the date
or the program.
While the Haydn Society continued on its
private way Cin-
cinnati enjoyed the fullest concert
season in its history up to
that time. In addition to the three
public oratorios of the society
and ten other concerts already
mentioned, seven more were to
come, rounding out the season from
September, 1822, to July,
1823, with an even score. Mr. and Miss Clark, the Lilliputian
songsters, gave two concerts. Mrs.
McBride and her charming
daughter, who had been concertising in
Pennsylvania and Mary-
land, recited and sang twice; but no one
came and they left Cin-
cinnati with heavy hearts. The newly
organized Euterpeian So-
ciety gave its first three public
concerts in February, May, and
July, 1823. Their procedure moved a
friend of the Haydn Society
to suggest that the latter reserve their
melody for the next world.
or else follow the plan of the
Euterpeian Society and sell no tickets
but try to pick up a few shillings at
the door to pay for candles.
From the election of officers on March 20, 1823, until the
last meeting of the season on June 25,
meetings seem to have been
held twice a month with fair regularity,
but the change in officers
suggests some degree of instability.
When D. Churchill became
secretary, seemingly at some time in
April, the society was once
more in capable hands. Mr. Churchill
remained secretary for an-
other full twelve months, the longest
term since Sol Smith held
the office from November, 1821, to
December, 1822.
With the coming of summer, meetings
evidently stopped.
There were two business meetings, on
August 20 and September
20.
Early in August a call was issued to members having books
belonging to the society to return them
to the librarian.
On the occasion of the Fourth of July,
when an invitation was
issued to the society to assist in the
celebration, the society de-
clined. Then finding themselves charged
with selfishness and an
unwillingness to perform unless paid for
their troubles, they set
up a special committee to explain their
attitude. This committee
issued a long public statement, in which
they said "a principle of
HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 117
self respect requires them to abstain
from appearing before the
public." They "exempt from
this censure" only "a few individ-
uals."
From the last Sunday in September, 1823,
the Haydn Society
started on what seems to have been its
last season. It held meet-
ings every Sunday evening at the
Episcopal Church for seven
weeks or longer. Meanwhile another full
concert season was de-
veloping, with two concerts by Mr.
O'Neal at the Clement's Ball
Room and the Marine Coffee House, one by
James Everdell at
the theater, and a fourth concert by the
Euterpeian Society.
Finally Professor Muscarelli "From
Italy" gave two concerts.
Muscarelli's programs included
"Auld Lang Syne" with new vari-
ations, a "Symphony--Full
Band," the first symphony ever given
in Cincinnati, a violin solo entitled
"Imitations of the chirping and
warbling of birds," and a final
item, "an imitation of Dogs and
Cats."
Before Muscarelli left Cincinnati the
popular Lewis family
arrived again, with their five children.
"A more angelic little
band could not possibly be collected . .
. this side of Heaven."
They gave five concerts or more. During
their stay, on Tuesday
evening, November 11, 1823, Mr.
Lewis and his family assisted
at the Episcopal Church in another
concert of the Haydn Society.
This was the eleventh and last public
concert given by the
Haydn Society. The program differed
radically in some respects
from all previous ones. It included the Overture
to Lodoiska
[by Kreutzer?] and a Grand Overture by
Martini. The latter
work, the first performance of a
composition by Martini in Cin-
cinnati was played by two performers on
the organ at the same
time, and a number of other
instrumentalists. It was advertised
that "the entertainment will
doubtless be excellent beyond any-
thing we have before had in this
city."
The shock of breaking with its
"sacred" tradition may have
been more than the Haydn Society could
survive, however strong
it was in defying public taste. After a
brief interruption the so-
ciety finally appeared in December,
1823, holding its meetings
??n one of the rooms of the Western
Museum. The two museums
of Cincinnati were at this time
"becoming fashionable resorts for
118 OHIO ARCHEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
evening parties. During the winter
season, there are lectures de-
livered in each, once or twice a week,
upon Literary and Scientific
subjects, which are generally well
attended." After the old Har-
monical Society met at the
Marine Coffee House in December,
1822, it came to the Western Museum to hold its last meetings in
the Lecture Room in January, 1823.
There, surrounded by a thousand fossils
and three thousand
coins and medals, the tattooed head of a
New Zealand chief and
a transparency of the Battle of New
Orleans, perhaps in the midst
of Dorfeuille's Egyptian antiquities one
may imagine the Haydn
Society gently drawing its last breaths.
It was in peaceful sur-
roundings, its good friends about it,
and undistressed by the in-
different public or the rival claims of
bitter religious sects. It sur-
vived its fifth birthday in April, 1824,
and entered on the sixth
year of its existence. Then toward the
end of the month it quietly
passed out of sight. Its last public
notice was a meeting on April
25, 1824.
The passing of the Haydn Society left
the way clear for a
group of younger organizations, all of
which seem to have been
inspired by it or modelled on it. The
New Jerusalem Singing So-
ciety, organized November 25, 1820,
lasted until 1830. The
Euterpeian Society survived from
January, 1823, until June, 1825;
and the Apollonian Society, which began
in the fall of 1823 was
still in existence in 1831. A few years
later a Beethoven Society
existed in Cincinnati in 1828.
Numerous editions of the Kentucky
Harmony, Missouri Har-
mony and other sacred music books enabled the churches to
im-
prove their choirs and the level of
congregational singing. Before
the formation of the Haydn Society,
church music in Cincinnati
had been on an appallingly low plane. A
few years after it passed
from the scene, it was apparent that the
foundations of Cin-
cinnati's musical culture for the next
half century were to be
found in its excellent church choirs.
The amazing talent and
energy in the Haydn Society was
dispersed as one man went into
theatrical production, another into
banking, a third into social re-
form, and a fourth into law, each to
achieve distinction in his
own way outside the field of music. But
the impetus they had given
HAYDN SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI 119
to music in Cincinnati, however
intangible at the time, however
slow to take effect, had, nevertheless,
furnished the religious sing-
ing groups of the city more than an
ideal and an example of
courageous persistence. The great
triumphs of choral music in
Cincinnati which were to come after 1850 were all planted
firmly
in the little choirs of many churches.
Their initial momentum
was supplied by the Haydn Society,
through its policy of gathering
voices from various churches, giving
them training, practice, and
discipline, infusing them with the
spirit and enthusiasm of this
remarkable group of leaders, and sending
them back to their
churches to carry on the work.