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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2002
The story of music in New Jersey is primarily a story of the growth of
public interest and appreciation. The musical habits of the population
have progressed from the community psalm singing of Colonial times,
through bleak periods of Victorian disapproval and disinterest, to the late
nineteenth and early twentieth century movements for widespread enjoyment
and participation. To this growth the men of music themselves -- composers, interpreters, and critics -- have contributed in an unusually high
degree.
The number of important New Jersey musicians has perhaps been limited by the historic location of the great conservatories and concert halls
in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. The State's proximity to these
centers has, however, provided an exceptional opportunity for hearing
fine music. Similarly, New Jersey has attracted from the nearby music
capitals many of the Nation's inspired and farsighted musical educators.
Lowell Mason, Dudley Buck, and William Batchelder Bradbury established a lasting New Jersey tradition of leadership in the popularization
of music. The State's geographical advantage may also partially explain
its having many influential musical historians and critics. Their work extends from the incidental comments of William Dunlap and the singing
texts of James Lyon before 1800 to the monumental critical histories by
Oscar G. Sonneck and John Tasker Howard.
Music in New Jersey almost literally began between the leaves of the
Colonists' prayer books. And for a century and a half there it remained.
Gradually psalm singing expanded into oratorios and concerts of sacred
music. Chinks in the religious armor were timidly filled by itinerant musical companies who volunteered, to the displeasure of the church, ballad
operas and "variety entertainments" in noisy taverns. No such opposition
inhibited the growth in aristocratic homes of spinet concerts and vocal
performances accompanied by the flute, which later developed into society choral groups. Despite this inroad as well as the use of gay traditional music for dances, the direction of music in New Jersey up to the
Revolution was almost unswervingly celestial.
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