December 25, 1815, marked the first performance of the Handel and Haydn Society. The Society, familiarly known today as H&H, is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Founded on March 24, 1815, by a group of Boston merchants and musicians, H&H's purpose was "to promote the love of good music and a better performance of it." The founders were Gottlieb Graupner, Thomas Smith Webb, Amasa Winchester, and Matthew S. Parker. They described their aims as "cultivating and improving a correct taste in the performance of Sacred Music, and also to introduce into more general practice, the works of Handel, Haydn, and other eminent composers."
The Society premiered on Christmas Day, December 25, 1815, at King's Chapel (then Stone Chapel), with a chorus of 90 men and 10 women. The early chorus members were middle class tradesmen drawn from the choirs of local churches. Only men could be members, while a far smaller number of women were invited to participate. In its early decades, the Society hired what musicians it could afford and used unpaid amateurs to complete the orchestra or sometimes substituted organ for orchestra.
Jonas Chickering, at the start of his career as a piano manufacturer, joined the Society in 1818 at age 20 and later became its president. The Society was also an early promoter of composer Lowell Mason, publishing his first collection of hymns in 1822 and later electing him as the group's President. Profits from the sales of that hymnbook, and a second collection of sacred music, subsidized the Society for several decades.
The Handel and Haydn Society has given a number of notable American premieres, including Handel's Messiah in 1818, and the second U.S. performance of Haydn's The Creation in 1819. The Society also sponsored the first American publication of an edition of Messiah in 1816. It presented the U.S. premieres of musical settings by many baroque and classical composers, including Mozart and Bach.
Membership from the start and well into the 20th century was limited to men, though the chorus, which was first dominated by male voices, was soon roughly balanced between male and female.
In 2015, the Handel and Haydn Society plans to celebrate its bicentennial, beginning with its 161st annual performances of Handel's Messiah in December 2014 and closing with Messiah in December 2015. Throughout the year, the Society plans to present exhibits, lectures, free concerts, and more designed to showcase its rich history and future plans.
The Handel and Haydn Society maintains a publicly accessible online searchable archive of its performances and artist history. All performances and artists from 1815 to the present can be accessed.
Founded on March 24, 1815, by a group of Boston merchants and musicians, H&H's purpose was "to promote the love of good music and a better performance of it." The founders were Gottlieb Graupner, Thomas Smith Webb, Amasa Winchester, and Matthew S. Parker. They described their aims as "cultivating and improving a correct taste in the performance of Sacred Music, and also to introduce into more general practice, the works of Handel, Haydn, and other eminent composers."
The Society premiered on Christmas Day, December 25, 1815, at King's Chapel (then Stone Chapel), with a chorus of 90 men and 10 women. The early chorus members were middle class tradesmen drawn from the choirs of local churches. Only men could be members, while a far smaller number of women were invited to participate. In its early decades, the Society hired what musicians it could afford and used unpaid amateurs to complete the orchestra or sometimes substituted organ for orchestra.
Jonas Chickering, at the start of his career as a piano manufacturer, joined the Society in 1818 at age 20 and later became its president. The Society was also an early promoter of composer Lowell Mason, publishing his first collection of hymns in 1822 and later electing him as the group's President. Profits from the sales of that hymnbook, and a second collection of sacred music, subsidized the Society for several decades.
The Handel and Haydn Society has given a number of notable American premieres, including Handel's Messiah in 1818, and the second U.S. performance of Haydn's The Creation in 1819. The Society also sponsored the first American publication of an edition of Messiah in 1816. It presented the U.S. premieres of musical settings by many baroque and classical composers, including Mozart and Bach.
Membership from the start and well into the 20th century was limited to men, though the chorus, which was first dominated by male voices, was soon roughly balanced between male and female.
Poster for the annual Christmas oratorio, the Messiah, at the Boston Music Hall,
held on Sunday evening, December 30, 1860.
In 2015, the Handel and Haydn Society plans to celebrate its bicentennial, beginning with its 161st annual performances of Handel's Messiah in December 2014 and closing with Messiah in December 2015. Throughout the year, the Society plans to present exhibits, lectures, free concerts, and more designed to showcase its rich history and future plans.
The Handel and Haydn Society maintains a publicly accessible online searchable archive of its performances and artist history. All performances and artists from 1815 to the present can be accessed.
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