Music and the Making of a Civilized Society: Musical Life in Pre-Confederation Nova Scotia, 1815–1867 by Michelle Elizabeth Boyd A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto © Copyright by Michelle Elizabeth Boyd, 2011 ABSTRACT Music and the Making of a Civilized Society: Musical Life in Pre-Confederation Nova Scotia, 1815–1867 Michelle Elizabeth Boyd Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Music University of Toronto 2011 The years 1815 to 1867 marked the first protracted period of peace in Nova Scotia‟s colonial history. While the immediate effects of peace were nearly disastrous, these years ultimately marked a formative period for the province. By the eve of Confederation, various social, cultural, political, economic, and technological developments had enabled Nova Scotia to become a mature province with a distinct identity. One of the manifestations of this era of community formation was the emergence of a cosmopolitan-oriented music culture. Although Atlantic trade routes ensured that Nova Scotia was never isolated, the colonial progress of the pre-Confederation era reinforced and entrenched Nova Scotia‟s membership within the Atlantic World. The same trade routes that brought imported goods to the province also introduced Nova Scotians to British and American culture. Immigration, importation, and developments to transportation and communication systems strengthened Nova Scotia‟s connections to its cultural arbiters – and made possible the importation and naturalization of metropolitan music practices. This dissertation examines the processes of cultural exchange operating between Nova Scotia and the rest of the Atlantic World, and the resultant musical life to which they gave rise. ii The topic of music-making in nineteenth-century Nova Scotia has seldom been addressed, so one of the immediate aims of my research is to document an important but little-known aspect of the province‟s cultural history. In doing so, I situate Nova Scotia‟s musical life within a transatlantic context and provide a lens through which to view Nova Scotia‟s connectivity to a vast network of culture and ideas. After establishing and contextualizing the musical practices introduced to Nova Scotia by a diverse group of musicians and entrepreneurs, I explore how this imported music culture was both a response to and an agent of the formative developments of the pre- Confederation era. I argue that, as Nova Scotia joined the Victorian march of progress, its musicians, music institutions, and music-making were among the many socio-cultural forces that helped to transform a colonial backwater into the civilized province that on 1 July 1867 joined the new nation of Canada. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS One of the objectives of my research has been to recognize the multitude of voices who contributed to nineteenth-century Nova Scotia‟s musical life. This resulting document has been no less the product of many minds and hands, and I want to gratefully acknowledge the support of all those who have helped me along the way. The staff at Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management have been unfailingly helpful during my summer visits, despite my annoying tendency of working until the documents had to be forcibly pried from my hands at closing time. I would like to extend an especially hearty thank-you to Philip Hartling, for the warm welcome and the many thoughtful suggestions he gave to me upon my first visit to the archives. Karen Smith likewise has been very accommodating, offering me much advice and assistance during the summer I spent working in the Dalhousie University Archives with the Ross-Thompson Collection. Florence Hayes and Claire Banton were most helpful as I searched through the music collection at the National Archives of Canada. Emily Walhout‟s assistance enabled the discovery of Nova Scotian sheet music at the Houghton Library of Harvard University, and she as well as Amy McKay, archivist for St. Paul‟s Anglican Church in Halifax, aided my search for Señor Louis Casseres. Jewel Smith graciously shared her notes concerning Nova Scotian students who attended the Moravian Ladies Seminary in Pennsylvania. Nancy Vogan not only served on my examination panel, but provided me with the encouragement of a fellow Maritime music historian. I would also like to thank the staff at the University of Toronto Media Commons, the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library, and the Vaughan Memorial Library of Acadia University for their assistance as I scrolled my way through stacks of microfilm reels. I iv am also grateful for all the help that the librarians of Music Library have offered me throughout my years as a graduate student at the University of Toronto. Thanks must also be given to Paul Belliveau and the staff at AC Belliveau-Veinotte of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, for providing a musicologist with refuge amongst the orderliness of accountants when I was visiting home and in need of a quiet work space. Funding for my research was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I am most grateful for the financial support I have received, and also to Jane Freeman, Peter Grav, and Rachel Cayley of the University of Toronto‟s English Language and Writing Support Centre for helping me to prepare a successful application. It was ultimately by moving away from Nova Scotia that I became inspired to begin this project. Nonetheless, while living in Toronto enabled me to approach my subject with fresh eyes, being so far away from home has not been easy. These past six years have been immensely improved by the friendship of my fellow graduate students, and I recognize what a privilege it is to have been part of such a supportive group of peers. Colleen Renihan, Eva Branda, Keith Johnston, Mark Laver, and Mark Richards have been providing me with inspiration since I began my Masters degree in September 2005. I am especially grateful to Bettina Ryan and Alexa Woloshyn, who kept me smiling through the tough times, and never allowed me to give up on myself. My graduate experience has also been greatly enhanced by the University of Toronto music faculty. In particular, I am grateful to the members of my advisory committee, Mary Ann Parker and Ken McLeod, and to Ryan McClelland, for the support they have offered and the wisdom they have graciously shared. I am especially grateful for the turn of events that prompted me to first wander into the office of my supervisor, Robin Elliott. He has been the most enthusiastic, patient, encouraging, and caring supervisor a graduate student could hope to v find. During the first class of Music History Pedagogy, he asked us to identify a teacher who has been particularly inspiring. My answer to that question now shall always be, “Robin Elliott.” Last, but certainly not least, I acknowledge the unending support my wonderful family has given me. My parents-in-law, John and Debbie Boyd, permitted me to drag their son away to Toronto so I could pursue the life of the perpetual student. My brother, Jayme Keddy, has lugged countless library books for me over almost every mode of public transportation. None of this would have been possible without the love and generosity of my parents, Douglas and Wendy Keddy. I am very blessed to have the kind of parents who will spend hours in a freezing cold archive room to help their daughter sift through old documents. This is only but one of their innumerable acts of kindness, for which I am grateful beyond words. Words also fail to express my gratitude to my husband, Adam. A sleep-deprived, stress- ridden wife is not an easy burden to bear, but Adam has suffered through my doctoral years with incredible patience. He has been my rock, my sanity, my comfort; without his support, not one of these pages could have been written. I want to give the final word to my aunt, Betty Dauphinee, who sadly passed away ten years before I embarked upon this path. Betty shared my love of music, and she taught me to love history; her thirst for knowledge and passion for learning remain my inspiration. Had she lived to see it, I know she would have been this project‟s biggest fan. I only hope that the following pages will serve to honour the memory of a life that was so generously shared. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ x Part 1: Importing and Adapting a Transatlantic Music Culture Chapter 1: Music-Making in Nineteenth-Century Nova Scotia: The Forgotten Tradition .......... 2 Musical Life in an Era of Progress, 1815–1867 ...................................................................... 7 From Progressive Province to Land of the Folk.....................................................................19 Early Research on Nova Scotia, a Canadian Musical “Seed” .................................................25