Music of Baltimore
Music of the United States | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Institutions | ||||
Organizations | ||||
Venues | ||||
|
The music of Baltimore, the largest city in
History
The documented history of music in Baltimore extends to the 1780s. Little is known about the cultural lives of the Native Americans who formerly lived along the Chesapeake Bay, prior to the founding of Baltimore. In the colonial era, opera and theatrical music were a major part of Baltimorean musical life, and Protestant churches were another important avenue for music performance and education. Baltimore rose to regional performance as an industrial and commercial center, and also become home to some of the most important
Colonial era to 1800
Local music in Baltimore can be traced back to 1784, when concerts were advertised in the local press. These concert programs featured compositions by locals
Formal singing schools were the first well-documented musical institution in Baltimore. They were common in colonial North America prior to the Revolutionary War, but were not established in Baltimore until afterwards, in 1789. These singing schools were taught by instructors known as masters, or singing masters, and were often itinerant; they taught vocal performance and techniques for use in Christian
Publishing
The first tunebook published in Maryland was the Baltimore Collection of Church Music by Alexander Ely in 1792, consisting mostly of hymns, with some more complex pieces described as anthems.[5] In 1794, Joseph Carr established a shop in Baltimore, along with his sons Thomas and Benjamin, who ran shops in New York and Philadelphia. The Carrs would be the most successful publishing firm until around the start of the 19th century; however, they remained prominent until the company folded in 1821, and the Carrs were responsible for the first sheet music publication of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in 1814, arranged by Thomas Carr himself, and they also published European instrumentals and stage pieces, as well as works by Americans like James Hewitt and Alexander Reinagle. Much of this music was collected, in serial format, in the Musical Journal for the Piano Forte, which spanned five volumes and was the largest collection of secular music in the country.[1][6]
In the late 18th century, Americans like
19th century
19th-century Baltimore had a large African American population, and was home to a vibrant black musical life, especially based around the region's numerous Protestant churches. The city also boasted several major music publishing firms and instrument manufacturing companies, specializing in pianos and woodwind instruments. Opera, choral and other classical performance groups were founded during this era, many of them becoming regionally prominent and established a classical tradition in Baltimore. The Holliday Street Theatre and the Front Street Theatre hosted both touring and local productions throughout the early 19th century. Following the Civil War, however, a number of new theatres opened, including the
African American music
During the 19th century, Maryland had one of the largest populations of free African Americans, totalling one fifth of all free blacks in the country. Baltimore was the center for African American culture and industry, and was home to many African American craftsmen, writers and other professionals, and some of the largest black churches in the country. Many African Americans institutions in Baltimore assisted the less fortunate with food and clothing drives, and other charitable work. The "first instance of mass black assertiveness after the Civil War" in the country occurred in Baltimore in 1865, after a meeting of the
Baltimore's Eubie Blake, born in 1883, became a musician at an early age, hired as a house musician at a brothel, run by Aggie Shelton. He perfected his improvisational piano style, which used ragtime riffs, and eventually completed "The Charleston Rag", in 1899. With compositions like that, Blake pioneered what would eventually become known as the stride style by the end of the 1890s; stride later became more closely associated with New York City. With his own technique, characterized by playing the syncopation with his right hand and a steady beat with the left, and became one of the most successful ragtime performers of the East Coast, performing with prominent cabaret entertainers Mary Stafford and Madison Reed.[7]
Church music
Black churches in Maryland hosted many musical, as well as political and educational, activities, and many African American musicians got their start performing in churches, including
Publishing
Though John Cole and the Carrs were among the first major music publishers in Baltimore, the city was home to a vibrant publishing tradition in the 19th century, aided by the presence of A. Hoen & Co., one of the biggest lithography firms of the era, who illustrated many music publications. Other prominent music publishers in Baltimore in this era included George Willig, Arthur Clifton, Frederick Benteen, James Boswell, Miller and Beecham, W. C. Peters, Samuel Carusi and G. Fred Kranz.[1] Peters was well known nationally, but first established a Baltimore-based firm in 1849, with partners whose names remain unknown. His sons eventually joined the field, and the company, then known as W. C. Peters & Co., published the Baltimore Olio and Musical Gazette, which contained concert news, printed music, educational and biographical essays and articles. The pianist-composer Charles Grobe was among the contributors.[8]
Instrument manufacture
Baltimore was also home to the piano-building businesses of
Classical music
The Peabody Orchestra, formed in 1866, was the first professional orchestra in Baltimore. The Orchestra premiered many works in its early years, including some by Asger Hamerik, a prominent Danish composer who became director of the Orchestra. Ross Jungnickel founded the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra before 1890, when the Orchestra first performed, and the Peabody Orchestra ceased to exist. Jungnickel's orchestra, however, lasted only until 1899.[1]
Traveling opera companies visited Baltimore throughout the 19th century, performing pieces like
In the early 19th century, choral associations became common in Maryland, and Baltimore, buoyed by the immigration of numerous Germans. These groups were formed for the purpose of instruction in choral music, eventually performing
Education
Singing schools in Baltimore were few in number until the 1830s. Singing masters began incorporating secular music into their curriculum, and divested themselves from sponsoring churches, in the early part of the 1830s. Attendance increased drastically, especially after the founding of two important institutions: the Academy, established in 1834 by Ruel Shaw, and the Musical Institute, founded by John Hill Hewitt and William Stoddard. The Academy and the Institute quickly became rivals, and both gave successful performances. Some Baltimore singing masters used new terminology to describe their programs, as the term singing school was falling out of favor; Alonzo Cleaveland founded the Glee School during this era, focusing entirely on secular music. In contrast, religious musical instruction by the middle of the 19th century remained based around itinerant singing masters who taught for a period of time, then continued to new locations.[5]
The introduction of music into Baltimore public schools in 1843 caused a slow decline in the popularity of private youth singing instruction. In response to the growing demand for printed music in schools, publishers began offering collections with evangelical tunes, directed at rural schools. Formal, adult musical institutions, like the Haydn Society and the Euterpe Musical Association, grew in popularity following the Civil War.[5]
20th century
Early in the 20th century, Baltimore's most famous musical export was the duo of
Classical music
Most of the major musical organizations in Baltimore were founded by musicians who trained at the Peabody Institute's
The first half of the twentieth century saw Baltimore hosting composers including George Frederick Boyle, Joseph Pache, Mark Fax, Adolph Weiss and Franz Bornschein.[13]
Though the Baltimore Opera Company can be traced back to the 1924 founding of the
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra of the 19th century had floundered in 1899, was replaced by a new orchestra organized by the
The
In the early 20th century, Baltimore was home to several African American classically oriented music institutions which drew on a rich tradition of symphonic music, chamber concerts, oratorios, documented in large part by the
After
African American popular music
In the field of 20th-century popular music, Baltimore first was a major center for the development of East Coast ragtime, producing the legendary performer and composer Eubie Blake. Later, Baltimore became a hotspot for jazz, and a home for such legends in the field as Chick Webb and Billie Holiday. The city's jazz scene can be traced to the early part of the 20th century, when the style first spread across the country. Locally, Baltimore was home to a vibrant African American musical tradition, which included funereal processions,[17] beginning with slow, mournful tunes and ending with lively ragtime numbers, very similar to the New Orleans music that gave rise to jazz.[18]
The Baltimore Afro-American was a prominent African American periodical based in Baltimore in the early-to-mid-20th century, and the city was home to other black music media. Radio figures of importance included Chuck Richards on WBAL.[27]
Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle
Baltimore's
In 1915, Blake was hired to work at
Jazz
Baltimore had developed a local jazz scene by 1917, when the local black periodical, the
The first group in Baltimore to self-apply the jazz label was led by John Ridgely, and known as either the John Ridgely Jazzers or the Ridgely 400 Society Jazz Band, which included pianist Rivers Chambers. Ridgely organized the band in 1917, and they played daily at the Maryland Theater in the 1920s. The two most popular of the early jazz performers in Baltimore, however, were Ernest Purviance and Joseph T. H. Rochester, who worked together, as the Drexel Ragtime Syncopators, starting a dance fad known as the "Shimme She Wabble She". As the Drexel Jazz Syncopators, they remained popular into the 1920s.[7]
The Royal Theatre was the most important jazz venue in Baltimore for much of the 20th century, and produced one of the city's musical leaders in Rivers Chambers, who led the Royal's band from 1930 to 1937. Chambers was a multi-instrumentalist who founded the
Baltimore's early jazz pioneers included
Baltimore is known for jazz saxophonists, having produced recent performers like
In the 1960s, the
Doo wop
Baltimore in the middle of the 20th century was home to a major
It was The Orioles, however, who first developed the city's vocal harmony sound. Originally known as The Vibra-Naires, The Orioles were led by Sonny Til when they recorded "It's Too Soon to Know", their first hit and a song that is considered the first doo wop recording of any kind. Doo wop would go on to have a formative influence on the development of rock and roll, and The Orioles can be considered the earliest rock and roll band as a result. The Orioles would continue recording until 1954, launching hits like "In the Chapel in the Moonlight", "Tell Me So" and "Crying in the Chapel".[7]
Soul
Baltimore is less well known for its
Punk, rock, metal and the modern scene
Though they rose to prominence in Boston and New York City respectively, new wave musicians Ric Ocasek and David Byrne are both natives of the Baltimore area. Frank Zappa, Tori Amos, Cass Elliot (The Mamas & the Papas), and Adam Duritz (Counting Crows vocalist) are also from Baltimore.
Notable Baltimore-area rock acts from the 1970s and 1980s include
Also, Epic recording Artist Tony Sciuto "Island Nights" who was also a member of Australia's Little River Band, Player and ABC Fullhouse's (Jesse and the Rippers) was raised in Medfield Heights (Hampden)area. Sciuto also has written songs for Tina Turner, Don Johnson, B.J Thomas and more.
Baltimore's
Some early Baltimore punk musicians moved on to other local bands by the end of the 1990s, while local mainstays
In 2009, Baltimore produced its own indigenous rock opera theatrical company, the all-volunteer Baltimore Rock Opera Society, which operates out of Charles Village. The group has so far put on two rock operas, one in 2009 and the other in 2011. They both have featured original scores.[43]
Media and organizations
Baltimore's indigenous music media includes The City Paper, The Baltimore Sun, and Music Monthly, which frequently advertise local music shows and other events.[25] The Baltimore Blues Society also distributes one of the more well renowned blues periodicals in the country.[44] The Baltimore Afro-American, a local periodical, was one of the most important media in 20th-century Baltimore, and documented much of that city's African American musical life. Recently, a number of new media sites have risen to prominence including Aural States (Best Local Music Blog 2008),[45] Government Names, Mobtown Shank and Beatbots (Best Online Arts Community 2007).[45]
Baltimore is home to a number of non-profit music organization, most famously including the Left Bank Jazz Society, which hosts concerts and otherwise promotes jazz in Baltimore. Another organization to grace its way into the Baltimore scene is Vivre Musicale. The latter organization's mission is to give young artists performance opportunities in and out of Baltimore. These non-profits play a greater role in the city's musical life than similar organization do in most other American cities.[46] The organization Jazz in Cool Places also works within that genre, presenting performers in architecturally significant locations, such as in a club full of Tiffany windows. The Society for the Preservation of American Roots Music also puts on jazz and blues concerts at its Roots Cafe.[47]
Venues
Many of Baltimore's nightclubs and other local music venues are in
Many of the most legendary music venues in Baltimore have been shut down, including most of the shops, churches, bars and other destinations on the legendary Pennsylvania Avenue, center for the city's jazz scene. The Royal Theater, once one of the premiere destinations for African American performers on the East Coast, is marked only by a simple plaque, the theater itself having been demolished in 1971. A statue of Billie Holiday remains on Pennsylvania Avenue, however, between Lafayette and Lanvale, with a plaque that reads I don't think I'm singing. I feel like I am playing a horn. I try to improvise. What comes out is what I feel.[49]
There are six major concert halls in Baltimore. The
Education
In the public school system of
Public school instruction in music in Baltimore began in 1843. Prior to that, itinerant and professional singing masters were the dominant form of formal music education in the state.[5] Music institutions like the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra sometimes have programs aimed at youth education, and other organizations have a similar focus. The Eubie Blake Center exists to promote African American culture, and music, to both youth and adults, through dance classes for all age groups, workshops, clinics, seminars and other programs.[54]
Higher education
Baltimore's most famous institute of higher music education is the Peabody Institute's Conservatory of Music, founded in 1857 though instruction did not begin until 1868. The original grant from George Peabody funded an Academy of Music, which became the Conservatory in 1872. Lucien Southard was the first director of the Conservatory. In 1977, the Conservatory became affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.[1]
The Baltimore region is home to other institutions of musical education, including Towson University, Goucher College, and Morgan State University, each of which both instruct and present concerts,[1] Morgan State University, which offers Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Arts degrees in music, and Bowie State University, which offers undergraduate programs in music and music technology.[55]
The
See also
- Maryland State Boychoir
- Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra
- Mid-Atlantic Music Scene
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Galkin, Elliott W.; N. Quist. "Baltimore". New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. pp. 611–612.
- ^ a b c "Our History". About Us. Baltimore Opera Company. Archived from the original on February 13, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
- ISBN 0-8264-1233-5.
- ISBN 0-521-49537-7.
- ^ S2CID 144885232.
- ^ Siek, Stephen; R. Allen Lott. "Carr". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 5: Canon to Classic rock.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Schaaf, Elizabeth. "The Storm Is Passing Over". Peabody Institute. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
- ^ Wetzel, Richard D. "Peters, W(illiam) C(umming)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 19: Paliashvili to Pohle. pp. 492–493.
- ^ Cranmer, Margaret. "Knabe". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 13: Jennins to Kuerti. pp. 686–687.
- ^ "History". Knabe Pianos. Archived from the original on April 13, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
- ^ Eliason, Robert E. "Eisenbrandt, H(einrich) C(hristian)". The New Grove Encyclopedia of Music, Volume 8: Egypt to Flor. p. 36.
- ^ Ward, pg. 117
- ^ a b "Baltimore Composers Walking Tour". Baltimore Composers Walking Tour. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
- ISBN 0-520-21491-9.
- ^ "A Long, Rich History". Introduction. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Archived from the original on October 19, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
- ^ a b McCabe, Bret (March 31, 2004). "History Notes". The City Paper. Archived from the original on August 14, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2008.
- ^ Koenig, Karl. "The Life of Eubie Blake". Eubie Blake Collection. Maryland historical Society. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-19-504249-8.
- ^ a b Bird, pp 208–209
- ^ ISBN 0-8018-5465-2.
- ^ Bird, pp 210–211, Bird notes that even hometown girl Billie Holiday got booed, and that the Royal Theatre was "reputedly even tougher than the cold-hearted Apollo", and quotes an unidentified Baltimorean as claiming that the audience "would throw anything".
- ^ a b c Schaaf, Elizabeth (August 20, 2002). "Interview No. SAS8.20.02: Reppard Stone and Henry Baker". Sounds and Stories: The Musical Life of Maryland's African American Community. Peabody Institute.
- ^ Ward, pg. 94
- ISBN 0-674-01940-7.
- ^ a b Bird, pg. 210
- ^ Bird, pg. 211
- ^ Ward, pg. 52
- ^ Floyd, pg. 74, Floyd notes that St. Louis and Sedalia were the Midwestern centers, and New Orleans the center of ragtime in the South
- ^ a b c Bird, pp 212–213
- ^ Bird, pg. 213
- ^ McClure, Brittany (August 20, 2002). "Interview No. SAS4.0.02: Ruth Binsky". Sounds and Stories: The Musical Life of Maryland's African American Community. Peabody Institute. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
- ^ Himes, Geoffrey (July 21, 2004). "Sax and the City". The City Paper. Archived from the original on February 11, 2006. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
- ^ Benicewicz, Larry (November 1998). "Blues From the Shortshop". Baltimore Blues Society Magazine. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
- ^ Schoettler, Carl (December 8, 2002). "Where Jazz Still Echoes". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
- ^ Zajac, Mary K. (September–October 2007). "Jazz Sings the Blues". Style Magazine. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
- ^ Ward, pg. 63
- ^ "DC Soul: Baltimore". Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ "rujac". www.soulfulkindamusic.net. Archived from the original on July 8, 2021. Retrieved Aug 26, 2021.
- ^ "Sir Shambling's Deep Soul Heaven - GENE & EDDIE". Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2021-11-07. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ISBN 0-922915-71-7.
- ^ "Soundtrack to the City". The Urbanite. Archived from the original on November 7, 2007. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
- ^ Tim Smith (26 May 2011). "New venue, new works for Rock Opera Society". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ Bird, pg. 218
- ^ a b "Baltimore Sun: Baltimore breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and traffic". baltimoresun.com. Archived from the original on April 11, 2017. Retrieved Aug 26, 2021.
- ^ Bird, pg. 214
- ^ Bird, pg. 217
- ^ Bird, pp 215–216
- ^ Bird, pg. 212
- ^ "Learning at Home: What Your Child Will Learn in 1st Grade". Retrieved Aug 26, 2021.
- ^ "Learning at Home: What Your Child Will Learn in 2nd Grade". Retrieved Aug 26, 2021.
- ^ "Learning at Home: What Your Child Will Learn in 3rd Grade". Retrieved Aug 26, 2021.
- ^ "Learning at Home: What Your Child Will Learn in 6th Grade". Retrieved Aug 26, 2021.
- ^ "Programs". Eubie Blake Center. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
- ^ "Music". Bowie State University. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
Works cited
- Baltimore City Public Schools (2009). "What Your Child Will Learn in Music". Learning at Home. Archived from the original on July 13, 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2009.
- Bird, Christiane (2001). The Da Capo Jazz and Blues Lover's Guide to the U.S.. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81034-4.
- Floyd, Samuel A. (1995). The Power of Black Music: Interpreting Its History from Africa to the United States. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508235-4.
- ISBN 0-333-60800-3.
- Ward, Brian (1998). Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness, and Race. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21298-3.
Further reading
- Clark, Kenneth S. (1932). Baltimore: Cradle of Municipal Music. Baltimore: City of Baltimore.
- Disharoon, Richard Alan (1980). A History of Municipal Music in Baltimore, 1914–1947 (PhD). University of Maryland. OCLC 8419012.
- Free, F. Corine Anderson (1994). The Baltimore City Colored Orchestra and the City Colored Chorus (Masters). Alabama Department of Music. OCLC 39211360.
- Graham, Leroy (1982). Baltimore: The Nineteenth Century Black Capital. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America. OCLC 925314906.
- Hildebrand, David; Elizabeth Schaaf. Musical Maryland: Three Centuries of Song in the Land of Pleasant Living. Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Keefer, Lubov Breit (1962). Baltimore's Music: The Haven of the American Composer. Baltimore. )
- Lawrence, E. (1993). Music at Ford's Grand Opera House (PhD). Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University. OCLC 84325979.
- Ritchie, David, ed. (1982). A Guide to the Baltimore Stage in the Eighteenth Century. Westport, Connecticut. )
External links