New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-05-21
A CENTENNIAL FESTIVAL.
MUSICAL CULTURE IN CINCINNATI.
EARLY SOCIETY AND CIVILIZATIONS IN THE oni"
vALLEY--Mns. TIoILoPHs STRUCTURES
THE FIRST THEATRE AND BRASS BAND

rh.ra wa. tImo when tho people Of Cincinnati
srnarted good deal from the caustlc and iii-naturea
estimate which Mrs. Trollope put on record against
them That acidulous bluestoe)dns writing OF I'm
cnnat society 1T appeared to her in 1880 said she
ncver saw any people who seemed to live so much
,s,hout .musemeuts as tho Clncnnatians. They
h.d no public balls except six during the Christmas
boldays: no concerts, dinner parties; In fact the
onIy public amusement in the @trists little town was
the theatre which poorly attended, and especially
avoided BY the women: By fNr tbs larger proportion
of females deem II an s6sntt against religion 70
witness the representation Of play she adas, ana the
churches and chspsis were The only places In when
the ladies were to be In full costume In
another place she writes: sssmstines small
attempt at music produces . partial reunion. row
OF the daring youths, snmstsA BY the conscious
moss Of cured hair and smart waisteoats, approacn
the pianoforts and begin to muitsr hts to tho hat
grown pretty things who are comparing Win eAch
other how many quarters music they had had I'd
viously there is I'll temper in such writing and mon
ument 10 its cause was stln standing In Cncinhau
a few years ago. IT was fantasticai building which
Mrs Trollope had erected, believe and called the
Egyptian Bazaar Her trade in Oriental hnsIy was
small and whom she left Cincinnati she was sadly dis
appointed She got IN better business when she
returned England and brought up her sen Anthony
Her financial Yevorses soursd the ink with which she
wrote about Cincinnati society 1t can scarcely have
been en- prudIsh and Puritan In character unless 1t had
undergone a great change from its carly state During
the FIST few decades Of the settlement took its social
tone from the officers at Fort Washington which In the
last years of the last century was the OF
General Wilkinson, SUCCESSOR in command to Mad An
thcny wayne Thero high living ameng those off,
Gers General Wilkinson had brass band to enliven the
days in which tho Indians did net occupy the attention
Of the men. The officers drank q great deal and
gambled great deal, and enjoyed hilarious
banquets, at which the brass band supplied
the music. Judge Burnet, who used to ride
. circuit reaching through the wilderness
from Cincinnati to Detroit draws distressing picture
of the evils which resulted from headquartsr infu-
ences. There were only few ofhcers I'm General
wayne's army who were not hard drinkers, among
these few being General HARRISON the grandfather OF
Senator Harrison, OF Indiana. OF the nine resident
lawyers who were engaged IN practice In Cincinnati
when he to the place, he wrote In 1880, all BE-
came confirmed sots and went down TO untiIney
graves, except his brother, who died IN 1901 "hy
rapid consumption" Better influences came in With
the grea. influx of settlers from tho North and East
and the German immigrants during the first two do
cades Of the present century and in 1919 the fnhab
itants OF Cincinnati were described liberamlnded
temperate, peaceabe, industrious, well stocked with
varied knowledge and attentive to religion
1t was probably to the influence Of the military
band at Fort Washington that the organization Of this
Harmonical Society dus This was brass band
which came int sxistsnss in 1874 and net for prsc
tice IN the Of Mr. Burt, ths great grandfather
by the way, Of Mrs. Annie Norton Aartdsgen, sslo
soprano Of DIR. paIton's church in Forty-socond-st
Earlier than this there existed tho Thsspan Corps
amateur theatrical society that fought great fight
with the Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, and succeeded In
opening a playhouse in 1915. There they brought
forward the popular plays of the period while the
Harmonical Society furnished the between acts music
We know tho kind of music they played, too and most
Of the following pieces which figured on the pro-
grsmme of Independence Day banquet on July 4,
1919, may probably yet be found in old
compilations of planoforte music: "Ha Columbia
"The Star Spangled Banner 1.-THE White
Cockade,n "victory Of Orleans" "Monroe's
March, america Commerce and Freedom"
"Liberty Death" Libertys March," " Hulps Vic
tory "Lafayctte's March," Massachusetts, March
and " Lawrence's Dirge." 1t is easy to imagine the
character Of this music, but should like to know
what 1t was that the Harmoncals called Haydn's
Fancy"
The Thcspians, after standing two polemical sIeges
directed by tho redoutable Presbyterian PASTOR who
had preached to congregation provided with rifles, to
resist possible Indian attack In 1916, induced Mr.
Drake, Of tho Pittsburg Company of Comedians" to
stop at Cincinnati their annual trip to Frankfort
KY, and in 1910, Mr. Drake, then manager of the
Kentucky theatros,' having pledged himself to" pre-
the purity and morality Of the stage" was pro-
rided with funds and built the first regular theatre In
the city, For five years the circus attractive
ridod with theatrical entertainments since, and
within year Of tho opening Of brakes Theatre,
heard two ballad operas The Devils Bridge, and
Lionel and Clsrissa,' In which appeared an English
actor and singer named Garner. who played en-
gsgemcnt at the theatre while making his way from
Eew-York to Ncw-orleans.
An ~ rchestre7 IS mentioned as taking part in a
concert given by Mr.. Garner, In 1920 at which Mr..
Eate played solos the clarinet and French ageoet
besides acting conductor There other evidences
that the musical culture of the town was outgrowfng
the brass band stage Rate taught several orchestral
Instruments, and in 1915 James r. Hoffman was pre-
pared to teach in scientific and comprehensive
manner scholar thirteen tunes at least In eighteen
lessons, or no compensation Will DO reauirda on
eighteen different Instruments including the cymbas,
Anssotto or basoon," serpent, sacbut, huryygurdy
to play tunes On the cymbais and bass drum would
be worth learning even to-day.
% Il. % & sl city Ss OF A sa
ss'n S:sA in and 1..4 u &. T ersna
bah given in honor Of Gen.r.l Lafayette, in 1925
Joseph Tosse, with whom talked only few years
original %rfsss.w ' rravsiisr o o tss
as hsS its The and a cosSassd
BY Tosso, was modelled after Philadelphia prototype
II asvssps s h' smss . Sh 81
teachers Of mnsic as far back 1915 show that the
musical impulse came from the foreign element. In
1ss 5 aheTe Tas already doing bust
already built church there. In 1s49 the Ger
man singers Of the Ohio Valley held the first great
held at intervals in different cities ever since and tho
6aengcrfest of 1870, for which immense hall had
been erected In Cincinnati prompted the first Of the
IL r X.