Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1918-12-26
COUNTY CHORAL UNION
HOLDS ANNUAL MEETING
Held at Whitehouse, Norfolk
Compositions for Com ,
ing Year

lie dHnudl meeting Oh the LICc0-
field County Choral Union was held
last Friday night at Whitehouse, the
Norfolk home of Mr.. and Mrs. Carl
Stoeckel, patrons of the union.
Among the guests were:
Norfolk Glee Club-President, A.
B. Collar, Harry H. Cook, DR.. Irving
L. Hamant and Edmund Brown, sec
rotary of the union.
Winsted Choral Union-Edward
P. Jones, president of the union and
also president of the Litchfeld
County Union; w. E. Pennington
and Charles A. Terrell.
Torrington Musical Association
President R. F. Hopkins, William
Reid, A. F. Tuttle, j. G. Tuttle and
Hon. Walter Holcomb, counsel of
the union.
Canaan Chorus-President r. d.
PIERCE, ]. L. Parsons and George
Hardenburgh. .
Salisbury Choir-President Rev.
]. C. Goddard, d. o.; William B.
Perry, Jr., and William P. Russell.
The Litchfeld County University
was represented by its president, the
Hon. D. T. Warner, the press of the
county by G. C. Woodruff of the
Litchfeld Enquirer, G. w. Peterson
of tie Torrington Register, and 1. E.
Ma hester of the Winsted Evening
Cilizen.
Cthcr guests were R. P. Paine,
honorary conductor, Arthur Mees,
active conductor, and Winthrop
-CUna. business manager of the union.
The report of the music committee
follows: a
To the officers and members of the
Litchfield County Choral Union:
A Review of Our History.
The Litchfeld County Choral
Union is about to enter the goth
year of it's existence. Let us re-
view, as briefly as possible, the events
of the past two decades, using ex-
tracts from the History of the
Litchfeld County Choral Union.
Previous to the formation of the
Norfolk Glee Club and the Itch
field County Choral Union, some
good but necessarily incomplete
work had been done by the Itch
field County Musical Association,
which fiourished in the first half Of
the last century. Robbins Battell
was one of the conductors of this
association, which gave concerts in
Litchfield, Winsted, and Norfolk.
No complete oratorio was ever given,
but a number of the best works
were sung in abbreviated form with
pianoforte accompaniment. The last
service of this association was at the
centennial celebration of the county
in Litchfield in 1851, when the "Hal-
lelujah Chorus" from the Messiah"
was sung under the conductorship
of Mr.. Battell. In 1875, at his own
expense, he drilled number of Win
sted singers in the better class of
English glees. In 1878 the first CHOIR
al society was formed in Winsted,
with R. S. Frary as director. In 1882
began the famous series of Band
Concerts, on the Norfolk Green, at
the initiative of Mr.. Battell and at
his expense. Classical music may be
said to have been permanently plant
ed in the county at these concerts,
which were given during several
summer seasons by an octet of horns
from New York, for which all of the
music had been arranged. Through
the efforts of William G. Witter, and
other residents, some concerts of
similar nature were given in Lake
vile by the same organization. In
1885 the Winsted society was re-
formed and did some good work
under the direction of Richmond P.
Paine, who made his first appearance
anywhere, as a conductor at a con-
cert given by this society in Win
sted, on March 9, 1886. Other towns
have in past years supported small
organizations occasionally giving
concerts, but to the Litchfield
County Choral Union belongs the
credit of having first presented in
the county the great musical COM
positions in complete form, with a
trained chorus, competent soloists,
and orchestra.
To the daughter of Robbins Battell
belongs the sole honor of the foun- !
dation of the Norfolk Glee Club. !
Justly designated by the press as the
est. Cecilia of Litchfield County,
she invited to her home during the
year 1897 number of her neigh
bors for weekly musical practice of
English glees under her direction. !
The experiment proved interesting |
Continued on page 81