New-York tribune., 1921-12-18
Miscellaneous Studies i'm
The History Of Music
New Volume by Q. c. Sonneck and DIR. Theodor
Baker Credit to American
Musical Letters

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and paraphrase of our earliest histori-
ans. Even they, Mr.. Sonneck thinks
have been too much occupied with the
eccieslastlcal music, the hymnology and
controversy of the Puritan period in
New England. On the righteousness of
these complaints we have frequently
commented, and it was because DIR.
Waldo Selden Platt and his associate.
Charles N. Boyd, opened up wider
horizon that we hailed the appearance
OF the American Supplement- to
Groves Dictionary of Music and Musi-
clans' with gladness few months ago
Interesting and
Valuable Topics
Mr.. Senneck does more than de-
plore the lack of original research and
urge its Importance upon the present
generation of American writers on mu-
slcal subjects. He also points out some
topics of special interest and value.
There is, for instance, the music of
Conrad Belssel and his congregation of
mystles at Ephrata, Pa. the music of
the Shakers, which we confess comes
to US as wholly novel suggestion; the
music of the Catholic Church in the
United States, in the early days es-
pecIally, and the question as to the ex-
tent in which uniformity prevailed in
it and as to how much it was influ-
cnced by the Protestant service; the
origin of boy choirs in the United
States--a question which old readers
of The Tribune may remember occu-
pied US for considerable time some
years ago when, so far as we were able
to learn, the facts were in the memory
of church musicians who ware still liv-
ing score Of years ago. We do not
know, but we greatly doubt that such
choirs existed anywhere before the
time of Mr.. Tuckey as organist of
| Trinity Church, and his experiments,
we fancy, we're largely if not wholly,
tentative. Lat we do not know what
was the status of church music in
those portions Of America which were
long under French and Spanish infiu-
: CHNC. l1C1C, WC-GtHlSSS. We are met
with a sealed book. But if the Catho-
lie service in the early days of the
white occupation demands study, we
fancy even a more virgin field would
be found in the history of American
Judaism. What shift did the first
Portuguese Jews who settled in New
Amsterdam make with their ritual?
While a description of the intermede
PSYCHE and Amor" performed in
Florence in 1866, for which Dr.. Baker
performed difficult work of transla-
tion with splendid skill is an interest
ing contribution to the history of
opera in general, the general student
will probably find something more to
his taste in Mr.. Sonneck's account of
the earliest operas performed or
printed in America. He suggests that
the history of Benjamin Carr ought to
be investigated for the illumination of
our early lyric theater, and shows
what useful results might follow in his
own progressive study of ballad operas
in the eighteenth century. If for no
other purpose than to cut the combs
of the young cocks who think that the
sun of music rose in America when
they began to crow {probabIy because
of their crowing), it is interesting 20
note Nr. Sonneck's speculations touch
ing the American birth of James
Ralph, who was not only satirized by
Pope in his "Dunciad," but (what is
more to the purpose) wrote a ballad
opera entitled "The Fashionable Lady"
which was printed and performed in
London in 1870. We hsve dcscrip-
tion of this opera Cor comedy, with
songs), as we'll as ;-ccounts in analy-
sis of several others which were
brought forward in Philadelphia and
elsewhere between 1881 and 1890,
which establish pretty decent an
tiquity for operatic entertainments in
America.
The Career of
Anthony p. Heinrich
Another subject suggested for bio
graphical study is Anthony Philip
nm VIII tltOuSH a IO1SlSiC1 ny
birth spent more than generation
in the United States and whose life,
Mr.. Sonneck says, is as fit for his
torical novel as that of Able Vogler
Apropos Of him we have somewhat
Illuminating tale to tell. While
making researches thirty years ago
into the history of the Philharmonic
Society for the purposes Of the "Me-
mortal" published on the occasion of
it's iftieth anniversary, in 1892, we
came upon the name of Heinrich as
the musician who had presided at the
meeting held on April 2, 1912, at which
steps were taken to organize the So
ciety. | had little time for the work,
and every step in the investigation was
difficult From the two or three men
still living at the time | learned only
enough about Heinrich to describe him
in the book as "a. p. Heinrich, an &C.
centric individual, who had convinced
himself that he was musical genius
without acquiring the reputation of
knowing even u little about the art
among his educated colleagues" Inas-
Lo 2,aJ poifpar faLoY c, no ~