Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-06-23

J The thirty-sixth annual saengerfest OF
the North American Bund is being heiu
in Milwaukee this week, and not only the
| German-Americans but all OF the music
lovers of the country are interested in the
| festival. Singers from scores Of cities are
| in attendance and the choral numbers
| will be sung by a consolidated chorus OF
| approximately five thousand voices. This
| huge chorus was rehearsed in detail
| Prof Albert S. Kramer of the milwaukee,
| Mannerchor in the past six weeks visited
| ten cities of the eastern states rehearsins
| the singing societies for their parts in
| the great Milwaukee chorus. Herman A.
Zeitz director of the Milwaukee Musk
| yerein performed a similar service in the
| cities Of the southern and southwestern
| states.
| The first saengerfest in the United
States was held in Cincinnati in 1919 by
| German Americans of that city, only four
years after the revival of the choral fes-
| tival in the fatherland. Cincinnati al
ways has been center of musical Gull
ture and especially of choral activity.
| The city was founded in 1ISS. and 1t had
a singing school as early as $50. 1t was
incorporated as a city in 1874. and it had
an organized choral society in 1916 Out
of this choral society grew the idea of a
separate choir for the German merl-
cans, VINO were numerous III Cincinnati
and the first great saengerfest was held
in 1919.
X X
Years later, in 1873. the music lovers of
Cincinnati united, and under the drec-
ton OF Theodore
Other Cities Adopt Thomas held
May Festival Idea. Nav festival of
music From this May festival various
cities of the west have taken the idea for
similar musical events, even as many
eastern cities have followed the example
of the older institutions of the Worcester
festival. For the spring and fall of tins
year no less than sixty American cities
and towns have held, or will hold, musical
festivals planned on the lines OF the
great Cincinnati May festival.
The autumn festival held in Worcester
is peculiarly interesting. because it IS
entirely American in origin and had none
of the adventitious aid given 10 Cincin-
natl by the Germans. The New England
Puritans were psalm-singers, who abhor-
red what they termed ''profane" music as
pagan survival and an invention of the
devil Boston was more than a century
old when the first organ was put up in a
church there and that not until after a
terrific controversy. The puritanlc oDJec-
ton to instrumental music In churches
has now almost disappeared. and is heard
Of only among two or three sects ana
schsms almost exclusively rural in their
membership. But there was A time when
this was a mighty question.
The triumph of the ear was sure. Il
slow The precentors of the psalm-sing
ing New England congregations began 70
strive for cooperation in improving the
musN in the churches. This co-opera.
ton resulted in holding conventions of
precentors and singing teachers in Wor-
cester. and. in turn. these conventions
developed into a choral society, which will
this autumn hold its fiftyfourth annual
festival.
The inspiration of the German saenger-
fest is social and patriotic. The great
annual gatherings are tributes to the ia
therland. and the clubhouses of the 10
cal societies are intended to approx
mate the opportunities for social diver
sion afforded in the home country. There
are probably ten German musical socie-
ties to one of any other kind in the
United States. and 1t ie from the saerger~
L.,na the maennefchor, the lie0e-kranZ