great saengerfest to begin saturday

Nordoestlicher Saengerbund
source
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/190906-13/ed-1/seq60/#date1=1909&index=12&rows=20&words=Saengerf
est&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=19
09&proxtext=saengerfest&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=ye
arRange&page=1
1909 – New York Daily Tribune Jun 13, 1909 -page 1 of 9
GREAT SAENGERFEST
TO BEGIN SATURDAY
CONCERT AND CONTESTS
ON PROGRAMME.
Men's Chorus of 6,000 Voices Will
Be a Feature of Northeastern
Federation's Festival
New York is soon to have a demonstration on a
large scale of the German's love of music. The
Northeastern Federation of Singing Societies of
America is to hold the triennial festival under the
auspices of the United Singing Societies of New
York City on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and
Tuesday, June 19 to 22, in Madison Square Garden.
The federation includes 185 societies.
There will be a men's chorus of six thousand and
a women's chorus of one thousand voices. Besides
these two great choruses, there will also be one of
five thousand children, selected from the high and
elementary schools of Manhattan by special
permission of the Board of Education and conducted
by Dr. Frank R. Rix, Albert S. Caswell and Dr. Felix
Jaeger. There will be an orchestra of 150
instruments, directed by Julius Lorenz and Carl
Hein. The soloists will be Mrs. Corinne RiderKelsey, soprano; Mme. Schumann-Heink, contralto;
Daniel Beddoe, tenor, and Claude Cunningham,
barytone.
Altogether, seven great concerts will be given ,
four in the evening and the others on Sunday,
Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Special trains will
be run from many points in the East to accommodate
the large number of singers and visitors who will
attend. It is expected that one thousand singers and
as many more other guests will come from Buffalo
and its environs. Others will come from
Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and
Washington. There will be six hundred from
Baltimore. If the health of Mrs. Taft and the
President's engagements permit, it is expected that
Mr. Taft will be present. Other notable guests who
are expected are Secretary Nagel of the Department
of Commerce and Labor, Governor Hughes of New
York, Stuart of Pennsylvania, Fort of New Jersey,
Crothers of Maryland and Weeks of Connecticut;
Mayor McClellan, who is the honorary chairman of
the reception committee; Count von Bernstorff, the
German Ambassador; Count Louis Ambrozy, of the
Austro-Hungarian Legation, and many of the city
officials, including a number of the judges and the
presidents of the boroughs.
Nordoestlicher Saengerbund
1909 – New York Daily Tribune Jun 13, 1909 -page 2 of 9
CONTEST FOR EMPEROR'S PRIZE.
The festival doubtless will remind many of
Wagner's "Meistersinger," for prize competitions in
singing and the singing of a prize song written
especially for the occasion will be featured. The great
contest will be that of five associations for the silver
statue of a minnesinger given by Emperor William.
This statue is about two feet high. It must be won three
times in succession in order to become the property of
a society. The first winner was the Junger
Maennerchor, of Philadelphia. The second winner and
the present holder is the Concordia Singing Society, of
Wilkes-Barre, Penn. These societies, with the
Germania, of Newark; the Kreutzer Quartet, of New
York, and the Arion Society, of Baltimore, will
compete for it. Each competing association will sing
two songs. One of these must be the prize song written
especially for the contest. The other may be a song of
the competing society's own selection.
The prize song is composed prior to each contest
by some foreign composer who has demonstrated his
ability to write admirable songs for male choruses. The
composer whose song is selected receives
compensation for his song, and is brought to America
for the festival as the guest of the American singing
societies. The song which will be sung by all the
competitors this year is "The Warning of the Rhine,"
composed by Matthieu Neumann, of Dresden.
The present holder of the Kaiser's prize, curiously,
is made up largely of Welsh singers, who, located in a
place where the social distractions are comparatively
few, have a great deal of time to expend in practice.
OTHER CHORAL PRICES.
There are also many other prizes for choral
singing. The competitors for these are obliged to sing
only one song, and it may be of their own selection.
The societies of the first class, which come from the
larger cities, will sing for a bust of Weber. Those of the
second class will compete for a bronze plaque of
Conrad Kreutzer. Gold and silver wreaths and a
number of silver plaques will be awarded as prizes for
the other contests. There are so many prizes that about
one-third of the 185 societies composing the federation
will obtain prizes of some grade.
The selection of the winners is based upon
intonation, precision, phrasing, diction and conductor's
interpretation. On each of these points a competitor
may receive a maximum of twelve points. The judges
will be Professor Max Mayer Olbersleben, of
Würzburg, Bavaria; Professor Gustav Wohlgemuth, of
Leipzig, Germany; Max Spicker, Arthur Mees and
Professor Cornelius Rubner, of Columbia University,
the last three of New York City. The selection of the
prize song was made this year by Mr. Lorenz, the
conductor.
The participation of the school children in the
festival will be of special interest, for it will be a test of
the efficiency of the methods of musical instruction
pursued in the public schools. A silk banner is to be
given to the school the best percentage of whose quote
attends the rehearsals.
Nordoestlicher Saengerbund
1909 – New York Daily Tribune Jun 13, 1909 -page 3 of 9
PROGRAMME OF CONCERTS.
The programme for the different concerts are as
follows:
Saturday evening, June 19, 8:15 o'clock, reception
concert, by the United Singers of the City of New York.
Mrs. Corinne Rider-Kelsey, soprano; Claude
Cunningham, barytone, and male chorus of 1,500,
women's chorus of 1,000 and orchestra of 150. Julius
Lorenz and Carl Hein, conductors. Programme:
Festival overture ............................................ Lassen
Sängergruss .................................
Lorenz
Hail! Bright Abode ("Tannhäuser") ............... Wagner
Mixed chorus and orchestra.
Feldeinsamkeit ............................................... Wendel
Schlaflied für's Peterle .................................... Feist
United Singers of New York City
Aria, An Jenem Tag (Hans Heiling) ......... Marschner
Claude Cunningham
Symphonisches Scherzo ................................. Lorenz
In a Year ......................................... Van der Stucken
Lullaby ........................................................... Brahms
United Singers of New York City
Aria. Wie Nahte mir der Schlummer ("Freischütz")
................................................ Von Weber
Mrs. Corinne Rider-Kelsey
Fair Ellen ......................................................... Bruch
Mrs. Corinne Rider-Kelsey, Claude Cunningham and
mixed chorus and orchestra
Sunday afternoon, June 20, at 2 o'clock, children's
concert. Elementary school chorus of 3,000 voices, Dr.
Frank R. Rix, director; high school chorus of 1,500
voices, Albert S. Caswell, director; orchestra of 100,
under the direction of Dr. Felix Jaeger, assisted by Mrs.
Corinne Rider-Kelsey, soprano, and Daniel Beddoe,
tenor. Programme:
Coronation March ....................................... Svendsen
Be Not Afraid ("Elijah") ....................... Mendelssohn
Elementary school chorus
Aria, With Verdure Clad ("Creation") ............. Haydn
Mrs. Corinne Rider-Kelsey
The Heavens Proclaim .............................. Beethoven
Heilig ........................................................ Tottman
High school chorus
Overture, Leonora No. 3 .......................... Beethoven
The Lost Chord ............................................ Sullivan
Elementary school chorus.
Aria, Sound an Alarm ("Judas Maccabäus") Handel
Daniel Beddoe
Grand Cortege ................................................ Liszt
Hymn of Joy and Praise ............................... Nicolao
High school chorus
American Fantasie ....................................... Herbert
With grand finale, Star Spangled Banner.
Dr. Felix Jaeger, conductor
Sunday evening, June 20, at 8:15 o'clock, first grand
festival concert of the Northeastern Saengerbund. Male
chorus of 6,000 voices, orchestra of 150. Mme.
Schumann-Heink, soprano, and Claude Cunningham,
barytone. Julius Lorenz, conductor. Programme:
Overture from "Tannhäuser" ......................... Wagner
Shepherd's Sunday Song ............................. Kreutzer
Massed chorus.
Recitative and aria from "Euryanthe" .......Von Weber
Mme. Schumann-Heink.
Soldiers' Song (Soldatenlied) ...................... Kremser
Massed chorus and orchestra
Aria: Eri Tu, from "The Masked Ball" .............. Verdi
Claude Cunningham
Nordoestlicher Saengerbund
1909 – New York Daily Tribune Jun 13, 1909 -page 4 of 9
From Youth's Happy Days ......................... Radecke
Massed chorus.
Kaiser March ................................................ Wagner
On the Bridge in Strassburg
(Zu Strassburg auf der langen Brueck)
Hirsch
Old Folks at Home .arranged by F. Van der Stucken
Incidental solo by Claude Cunningham
Aria from "Samson and Delilah"
Saint-Säens
Mme. Schumann-Heink
Departure for the Holyland
(Auszug der Kreuzfahrer) ............................. Filke
Massed chorus and orchestra
Monday afternoon, June 21, 2 o'clock, Concert Hall,
Madison Square Garden, competitive singing contests by
the societies of the fourth, third and second classes.
Fourth class - Adler Maennerchor, Brooklyn;
Liederkranz, Union Hill, N.J.; Maennerchor, Riverside,
N.J.; Germania, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Turner
Maennerchor, Atlantic City; Germania Gesang Verein,
Brooklyn; Concordia Quartet Club, Philadelphia;
Bremervoerder Maennerchor, Brooklyn; Metzger Gesang
Verein, Baltimore.
Nordoestlicher Saengerbund
1909 – New York Daily Tribune Jun 13, 1909 -page 5 of 9
Third Class - M.G.V. Alpenroeschen, Brooklyn;
Schwaebischer Maennerchor, Bridgeport, Conn.; Yonkers
Quartet Club, Yonkers, N.Y.; Deutscher Liederkranz,
Brooklyn; Schweizer Maennerchor, Philadelphia; Mozart
Maennerchor, Baltimore; New Rochelle Maennerchor,
New Rochelle, N.Y.; Greenville Liederkranz, Jersey City.
Second Class - Saengerbund, Buffalo; Delaware
Saengerbund, Wilmington, Del.; Liederkranz, Syracuse;
Harmonie Maennerchor, Reading, Penn.; Swiss Harmony,
West Hoboken, N.J.; Schwaebischer Saengerbund,
Newark, N.J.; Bayrischer Saengerbund, Newark;
Saengerbund, Washington.
Monday evening, June 21, at 8:15 o'clock, second
grand concert of the Northeastern Saengerbund. Male
chorus of 6,000 voices. Orchestra of 150 musicians.
Daniel Beddoe, tenor, and Mme. Schumann-Heink,
soprano, Carl Hein, conductor. Programme:
Symphonic poem, "Les Preludes" ...................... Liszt
Im Wald (In the Woods) .................................... Leu
Massed chorus
Recitative and aria from "Le Prophéte" Meyerbeer
Mme. Schumannn-Heink
Schmiedelied (Blacksmith's Song) ............. Kempter
Massed chorus
Einzug der Goetter in Walhall ..............}
Walkuerenritt ("Walküre") ..................}
Wagner
Altdeutsches Liebeslied
(Old German Love Song) ............. Wohlgemuth
Massed chorus
Aria: Durch die Welde ("Freischütz") ............. Weber
Daniel Beddoe.
Heimliche Liebe Jungst ...................}
Soldier's Farewell ...........................} ............. Kintel
Die Allmacht ................................................ Schubert
Mme. Schumann-Heink
Die Drei Gesellen
(The Three Comrades) .................. Podbertsku
Massed chorus.
Tuesday afternoon and evening, June 22, Madison
Square Garden; City and county federations of the first,
second and third class; United Singers of Newark, N.J.;
United Singers of Brooklyn, United Singers of
Philadelphia, United Singers of Baltimore, United Singers
of Hudson County, N.J.; United Singers of Long Island
City, New York; United singers of Atlantic County, N.J.
Singing societies of the first class: Jersey City
Liederkranz, Jersey City, N.J.; Williamsburger
Saengerbund, Brooklyn; Hartford Saengerbund, Hartford,
Conn.; Germania Maennerchor, Baltimore; Junger
Maennerchor, Scranton, Penn.
Contest singing for the Kaiser prize: Kreutzer Quartet
Club of New York City; Concordia Gesang Verein, of
Wilkes-Barre, Penn.; Junger Maennerchor, of
Philadelphia; M.G.V. Germania, of Newark, N.J.; Gesang
Verein Arion, of Baltimore.
Nordoestlicher Saengerbund
1909 – New York Daily Tribune Jun 13, 1909 -page 6 of 9
HISTORY OF ANNUAL FESTIVAL.
The festival is creating more universal interest
among the American and German glee clubs than
any other festival since the organization of the
societies which largely followed the rebellion in
Germany in 1848, when thousands of Germans
emigrated to the United States in order to find a new
home. It was in 1835 that the first German singing
society was established in the United States, in
Philadelphia. In 1850 there were five singing
societies in Philadelphia alone, and they banded
together and called themselves the "Allgemeiner
Gesangverein für Philadelphia." Soon afterward the
New York "Liederkranz," which had then been
organized three years, suggested that all of the
singing societies of the East be invited to a
sängerfest (Singing Festival) to be held in
Philadelphia.
This suggestion was enthusiastically received by
the Philadelphia singers, who immediately issued
invitations. Ten singing societies outside of
Philadelphia responded - four from New York City,
two from Baltimore and one each from Newark,
N.J.; Boston, Reading, Penn., and Bethlehem, Penn.
This first sängerfest began on June 15, 1850, and
lasted three days, proving a success. It was at this
time that the foundation was laid for the
Northeastern Federation of Singing Societies. Steps
were taken immediately to bring about a union of all
the singing societies in the Eastern states, and within
a short space of time there were fifteen organizations
in the body and the title of "Allgemeiner Oestlicher
Sängerbund" was adopted. The main object of the
organization was the cultivation of vocal music. The
formation of the Eastern Federation soon resulted in
the organization of a large number of German
singing societies.
On the occasion of the second sängerfest, in
1851, which was held in Baltimore, Millard
Fillmore, then President of the United States,
extended an invitation to the singers to visit
Washington, where he received them at the White
House and thanked them in the name of America for
their endeavors to add to the education of the people
by cultivating German songs.
New York had its first sängerfest in 1852 (June
19 to 22), and by an odd coincidence the festival this
year falls on the same dates. At that time the
organization had increased to twenty-nine societies,
with a total membership of eight hundred singers
For the first time, too, competitive singing was
arranged, in which all of the societies could take
part. It was thought that such an innovation would
stimulate the ambition of the singers, thereby
improving the musical standard of the different
societies. This forecast proved correct, for the work
of the individual organizations was of a much higher
order than in previous years.
Nordoestlicher Saengerbund
1909 – New York Daily Tribune Jun 13, 1909 -page 7 of 9
LED TO MUSIC IN SCHOOLS.
For the first time, too, the press in general,
frankly, recognizing the educational and refining
influence of music, particularly vocal, on individuals
as well as masses, began to urge the introduction of
singing lessons in the public schools. To-day there is
not a public school in the United States in a town of
any size without its vocal instructor.
Up to the year 1861 eight music festivals had
taken place, and the one for that year was scheduled
for New York City, but on account of the Civil War
was postponed until 1865, when it was given in New
York and lasted four days. The effect of the war
upon the singing societies is indicated by the fact
that the sixteen hundred singers of 1861 had
dwindled to five hundred in 1865.
Since then New York has been favored only on
two occasions with the festival - in the years 1871
and 1884. Brooklyn, Newark, Baltimore and
Philadelphia have since entertained the singers. The
festival this year will be the most pretentious ever
undertaken.
The officers of the Northeastern Federation are
Major Carl Lentz, of Newark, N.J., president; Dr.
Louis Weyland, of New York, vice-president; Carl
Kuhl, of New York, recording secretary; Charles O.
Korth, of New York, corresponding secretary, and
August Goertz, of Newark, N.J., treasurer. The
officers of the festival are Theodore Henninger,
president; William Hollweg, first vice-president;
Agust Hennicke, second vice-president; Anton
Kruse, third vice-president; Charles O. Korth,
secretary; Max Schinke, recording secretary; Lewis
Leining, financial secretary; Jacob Dieter, treasurer;
E.P.Haske, librarian, and Edmund O. Branendle, Dr.
Louis Weyland and Charles Wedde, trustees.
------------------
Nordoestlicher Saengerbund
1909 – New York Daily Tribune Jun 13, 1909 -page 8 of 9
Nordoestlicher Saengerbund
1909 – New York Daily Tribune Jun 13, 1909 -page 9 of 9