Shaping American Identity Through Music: Nationality, Taste, and Power at the Cincinnati May Festival, 1873-1905
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Shaping American Identity through Music: Nationality, Taste, and Power at the Cincinnati May Festival, 1873-1905. by Mishona Collier A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In Music and Culture Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2013 Mishona Collier Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du 1+1Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94623-7 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-94623-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada Abstract This thesis examines the organization of the Cincinnati May Festival from its first season in 1873 until the death of its music director Theodore Thomas in 1905, focusing on its negotiation of American (and Cincinnati-specific) musical identity. The cultural influences of the German immigrant population in Cincinnati, Thomas as a virtuoso conductor, and musical ideals of the time are investigated, all of which contributed to an “American” identity constructed by the Cincinnati Musical Festival Association (CMFA) and the press. The power dynamics and published opinions of the CMFA are examined using theories from sociology, anthropology, cultural history, and musicology, with emphasis on Pierre Bourdieu. An analysis of the press highlights the negotiation between festival organizers and the public, and the mediation by the press itself. By examining these ongoing influences on the festival, this study shows how the Cincinnati May Festival constructed its particular version of American musical identity. iii Acknowledgments I would first like to thank my supervisor, Dr. James Deaville, for all of his expertise, advice, and time. He has demonstrated a seemingly endless willingness to put in extra hours of work for my thesis, speak out on my behalf, and take the time to give me advice and guidance. It has been my privilege to have him as my supervisor and mentor. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Music department at Carleton University as a whole. It has been a pleasure to work with both the faculty and my fellow students. I would also like to acknowledge the support and assistance of my family: my parents, Lee-Anne and Brian Frost, and my sisters, Malika, Nadine, and Lydia. In particular Malika, for her assistance with the creation of the charts in the Appendix, and my Father, for his company and support at the Cincinnati History Library and Archives. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Andrew Collier, for his constant support and patience, and for bringing me dinner at my desk when I didn’t have time to eat at the table. Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgments iii Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Conditions for Success 5 Virtuoso Conductors 9 Festival Culture 17 German Heritage 23 City Conditions 27 Chapter Two: The Theory 35 Cultural Theories of Nineteenth-Century America 36 The Cincinnati May Festival 45 Theories of Celebration and Festivity 53 Power Dynamics 64 Chapter Three: The Cincinnati Musical Festival Association, the Power of the Press, and a National Perspective 75 The Cincinnati Music Festival History 78 The Individual 96 The Press 101 Conclusion 111 Appendix I: Concert Programs 114 Appendix U: Board of Director Membership by Year 153 Appendix III: Nationality of Composers Performed 160 Appendix IV: Complete / Excerpted & Evening / Matinee Performances by Nationality 174 Appendix V: Correlation between Complete / Excerpted & Evening / Matinee Works Performed 176 Bibliography 184 1 Introduction By the end of the nineteenth century, the Cincinnati May Festival was considered to be the major biennial music festival of serious music1 in America. It helped both to reflect and shape the identity of American music of the time by bringing together many of the country’s different musical talents. The festival was also “serious” enough to affirm that arts in the United States were able to equal those in Europe. Theodore Thomas and his famous orchestra traveled from the East coast for each festival, soloists were found from all across the United States and Europe, the massive chorus (and children’s choirs) were recruited from Cincinnati itself and the surrounding areas, and the organizers and patrons of the event were Cincinnati’s own leading citizens. The attending music critics came from all over America to attend some of the most high-class, high-caliber (and predominantly European) music performed in the United States — but crowds of average citizens also joined in (and attended) the festivities. This thesis examines the organization of the Cincinnati May Festival from its beginning in 1873 until the death of its music director Theodore Thomas in 1905, focusing on its negotiation of American (as well as Cincinnati-specific) musical identity. The historical importance of the Cincinnati May Musical Festival rests in its connections 1 In this thesis, I will be using the terms “vernacular” and “serious” music to distinguish between general genres of music. Historically, binary terms including “highbrow” and “lowbrow,” “classical” and “popular” have been used to distinguish what is primarily European art music from music that is thought to represent entertainment for entertainment’s sake (for example, dance music and “simple” songs). The differentiation between “art for art’s sake” music and music for entertainment’s sake is necessarily an imperfect divide. Part of the problem is that deciding which music falls under the “serious” or “vernacular” category depends on the perspective, time period, and location of the person deciding. For this reason when I use these terms in a general sense in this thesis, it will attempt to adopt the perspective of Theodore Thomas and the Cincinnati festival organizers. “Serious music” is therefore music that is (from a specific perspective) morally and philosophically important, while “vernacular music” will be used to describe almost all other music that was common in America during the time period under discussion. This “vernacular music” included songs written for Tin Pan Alley and early ragtime, creating an “other” against which “serious” genres could be defined. 2 to conductor Theodore Thomas, its mobilization of various cultural sectors (the press, local amateur performers, international soloists, and Thomas’s Orchestra) at a crucial time for the emergence of American cultural identity on the world stage, its role as a cultural benchmark (at a time when Americans compared their cultural institutions to those in Europe), and its sheer longevity. The festival helped to define the cultural identity of late nineteenth-century America, and represented a combination of international, national, regional, and local talent and effort. The rapid cultural development of Cincinnati during the second half of the nineteenth century makes it ideal for studying local and national trends in the developing music culture of that time. Unfortunately, despite its interesting and important cultural history, Cincinnati has been largely ignored by cultural historians in favour of cultural centers like New York, Boston and Chicago.2 This thesis is divided into three chapters. The first discusses the conditions in the United States and in Cincinnati specifically that allowed the May Festival to begin. It will cover the general cultural climate of the time, including virtuoso conductors and music festival traditions in Europe and the United States, the German heritage of the Cincinnati area and the United States more broadly, and finally the aspects of Cincinnati itself that aided in supporting a large scale music festival. Chapter two will cover the various theories of sociologists, anthropologists, cultural historians, and musicologists that will 2 Most literature on nineteenth-century Cincinnati’s cultural development