A composer, anthologist, and conductor of music, Lowell Mason was also one of the foremost music educators in the early 19th century. From as early as 1813, Mason held singing schools and composed hymns and anthems, publishing his first anthology of sacred music, The Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music, in 1822. The book was a noteworthy success, and for over the next several years, he climbed in public esteem and extended his influence in the field of music education. After filling the presidency of the Handel and Haydn Society, he became superintendant of music in the Boston public schools (1838-1845), and then served as a member of the staff of the Massachusetts State Board of Education teachers' institutes (1845-1855). Mason was also very active in arranging music conventions and supporting normal institutes, such as the Normal Music Institute of North Reading, Mass., through which he trained countless public school music teachers and perpetuated his philosophy of teaching and music.

Mason attended a convention at the Normal Music Institute in August, 1861, accompanied by one of America's most popular patriotic and sentimental composers, George F. Root, and the popular composer, George B. Loomis. Root had recently distinguished himself as the first composer to respond to the outbreak of the Civil War, publishing "The first gin is fired! May God protect the right!" on April 15, 1861.

Scope and contents:

The autograph album of the Normal Music Institute (North Reading, Mass.) was kept by Emory L. Smith, probably a student, during a music convention held there in August, 1861. A fine example of a musical autograph album, Smith had the teachers and selected students sign the book, and many provided brief musical quotations. Smith pasted photographs of five participants onto the pages with their signatures: the composers Lowell Mason, George F. Root, and George B. Loomis, and two fellow students, James H. Lansley and Lewis Story.

Provenance:

Acquired, 1998.

F-470
Cat. 5/98 rsc

Link to subject index to the Emory L. Smith-Normal Music Institute Autograph Album

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