SOCIETY, AT CHENERY HALL, MEDFIELD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1892, THE
CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF DR. LOWELL MASON
FELLOW-CITIZENS: Most that has been hitherto said and written has been
rather concerning the public and professional career of Dr. Mason; and
we shall doubtless have presented many interesting mementos to-day, in
letter and address, relating to those things in which he is most
generally known. What I have to present in this paper will refer
particularly to his birth, parentage, and early surroundings, of which
comparatively little has been said.
[Illustration: LOWELL MASON
FROM A DAGUERREOTYPE]
Lowell Mason was of English descent, being in the sixth generation from
Thomas Mason and Margery Partridge. Thomas, born in England, was the son
of Robert, who settled in Dedham, from whence he, with his brother
Robert, came to Medfield in the second year of its settlement. The
marriage of Thomas Mason and Margery Partridge, April 23, 1653, is the
first recorded marriage in this old town. He received his house-lot by
original grant from the town. It was upon North street, where Amos E.
Mason now lives, the homestead having never been out of the possession
of the Mason family. Thomas Mason and two of his sons were killed by the
Indians on that fateful morning in February, 1676, when the town was
burned. His eldest son was killed the following year, while fighting the
Indians at the "Eastward" (now Maine), leaving one boy, Ebenezer, who
was seven years of age only when his father was killed, and who,
therefore, became the progenitor of the line from which Lowell Mason
sprang. The son of this Ebenezer, Thomas Mason, left the homestead on
North street, and settled in the extreme northeast corner of the town,
at what is now known as the Charles Newell place. He married the
daughter-in-law of Samuel Sady, who kept a tavern on North street, where
the Pfaff mansion now stands; and his son Barachias, grandfather of
Lowell, inherited, through his mother, that place, and settled upon it,
where he lived with his son Johnson, father of Lowell. There the man
whose nativity we celebrate to-day was born. The building has been
preserved, and is, no doubt, the "farm-house," so called, on Adams
Avenue.
The first twenty years of his life were spent in his native town of
Medfield; and very little has ever been written about this portion of
his life, and much of that somewhat incorrectly. His biographers seem to
have endeavored to add to his fame by magnifying his want of
opportunities for education and culture in his youth. In a discourse
upon Mr. Mason's life and labors, the Rev. George B. Bacon, his pastor,
says: "Mr. Mason had no advantages of education. He was the son of a
mechanic in a small New England town. He began almost in his cradle that
fight for a living which left small opportunity for study or culture."
Another writer says: "He spent twenty years of his life doing nothing
but playing upon all sorts of musical instruments, and there was no one
to teach him their use." We feel inclined to believe that these
statements were half-truths only, and are not a complete statement, by
any means, of the conditions and pursuits of his youth.
We think it can be shown that while Medfield is proud of having such a
son, he was fortunate in having such a birthplace. We believe in the
influence of heredity in genius, but also in the influence of
environments. He was especially favored in both these respects,
descending for generations from an honored ancestry and surrounded in
his youth by educated people of high moral and religious character. His
parents were in fairly comfortable circumstances, and he was, as is
usual in such cases, permitted considerable freedom in following the
promptings of his natural genius, which, springing as he did from a
musical family, early showed tendency toward that branch of art.
Dr. Holmes says: "If we wish to educate a boy properly, we must begin
with his grandfather." Barachias Mason was a graduate of Harvard
University in 1742, but one hundred and fifty years ago. He was a
schoolmaster, a teacher of singing-schools, and a selectman of the town
for several years. This certainly is a fair start, on Dr. Holmes's
principle. His son, Colonel Johnson Mason, Lowell's father, lived with
him, and inherited the homestead, where he kept a public school for many
years. He was a merchant. In this pursuit, it seems, young Lowell
assisted him in his boyhood, as we learn that, on the occasion of his
narrow escape from drowning in 1806, he was out with a team on business
for his father, near what is now poor-farm bridge, where he was rescued
from a watery grave by two boys about his own age after having sunk for
the third time. Colonel Mason manufactured straw goods to some extent.
He was also an ingenious mechanic, inventing some useful machines used
in the straw business of those days. He was town clerk for nineteen
years, town treasurer, and a member of the legislature; he was a
musician, a player on musical instruments, particularly the violoncello,
and, together with his wife, sang in the parish choir for more than
twenty years. When the musical talent of the town united, on a
Fourth-of-July occasion in 1840, to supply the music, Colonel Mason
stood at the head of the basses, although then over seventy years of
age. He was also a prominent military man, commissioned captain in 1800,
and lieutenant-colonel in 1803. It will thus be seen that he was one of
the most intelligent and influential men in the town.
So much for the parentage; now for the neighborhood influences about the
Mason family. The nearest neighbor was the Rev. Thomas Prentiss,
minister of the old parish church from 1770 to 1814, and who sent four
boys to Harvard College, one of whom was of Lowell Mason's own age, a
schoolmate and playmate. His seatmate in the North School, which he
attended, and a lifelong friend, was the late Joseph Allen, D.D., of
Northboro, Massachusetts, who ever said that Lowell Mason was one of the
best scholars in the school; and the schools of the town being then
under the supervision of Dr. Prentiss, they were doubtless fairly good
schools. Ellis Allen, another friend and schoolmate, said that Lowell
Mason was the most popular and talented, as well as the handsomest,
young man in town. The next neighbor on the other side was George
Whitefield Adams (brother of the celebrated historian, Hannah Adams),
who built organs at his homestead, where Dr. Bent now lives; and,
without doubt, Lowell was familiar with that instrument, as he was with
many others--the violin, violoncello, flute, and clarinet particularly.
He led the Medfield Band in his day, playing the clarinet. Mr. Adams
went to Savannah in 1812, accompanied by Nathaniel Bosworth of this
town, and young Mason went with them, journeying the entire distance
with horse and wagon. Another near neighbor was Amos Albee, a
schoolmaster and musician of some note in those days, author of "Norfolk
Collection of Church Music." He assisted Mason in his musical studies,
as reliable accounts inform us. Libbeus Smith, a relative of the Mason
family, was also a singing-master here during the early years of this
century. James Clark, a fine player on the violin, lived in Medfield in
those days. From these facts it is easy to determine that, though the
musical advantages of the times would not perhaps satisfy the demands of
modern culture, yet the place was by no means devoid of influences
calculated to encourage the special development of a young man musically
inclined.
Lowell Mason commenced teaching singing-schools when only a boy. He led
the parish choir when about sixteen years of age, and conducted the
music at the ordination of Dr. Ranger of Dover in 1812, writing an
anthem for the occasion, aided, it is said, by his neighbor Amos Albee.
The Medfield Choir assisted at these ceremonies, Mr. Ellis Allen and his
wife, from whom this account is obtained, being among them on that day.
Lowell's two brothers, Johnson and Timothy, were also good musicians,
and remained prominent in the church choir, both socially and
instrumentally, for many years after he left Savannah. They became
musical leaders in Cincinnati and Louisville. The old choir in those
days was large, and it was made up from the most influential people in
the town, which is an excellent thing for a church choir. The following
are some of those who were members of it while young Mason took charge
of the music: his father and mother, with his two brothers above named;
Major Fiske, father of the late Captain Isaac Fiske; Captain William
Peters, grandfather of Mr. William P. Hewins; Captain Wales Plimpton,
father of Deacon G. L. Plimpton; Oliver Wheelock, a merchant of the
town; Amos Mason, father of A. E. Mason; Ellis Allen, father of the
Allen brothers, from whose reminiscences we gather many of these facts.
The old choir, it will be seen, was highly favored, in a military point
of view, having a colonel, a major, and two captains. Mr. Mason often
said, in after years, that there was more musical talent in Medfield
than in any other town of its size in the State. This we can with
confidence believe.
It is not, therefore, strange, with his inherited tastes and capacities,
and surrounded as he was by musical people, that he should devote much
of his time to music. It was his common practice, tradition tells us, to
play from the meeting-house steps, summer evenings, upon the flute or
clarinet, to the young people who would congregate around the
locality--in this way, doubtless, doing much to contribute to the growth
of a musical taste among the companions of his youth. The atmosphere of
liberal culture which characterized his neighborhood aided him in taking
a more intelligent view of musical matters, without which natural
abilities, and even special training, produce comparatively meager
results; and the young person who knows nothing but music cannot expect
a very high place in public estimation.
That he had much ability as a practical musician is shown by the fact
that when he went to the South he was able to give entertainments with
his voice and violoncello alone, which brought him at once to the front
with the musical public in Savannah; and his tact, executive ability,
and intelligence gave him a position as teller in a bank. About this
time the conscious purposes of his life were changed, and the mode of
life characteristic of his early years gave place to one of deep-seated
religious convictions. He became a member of the Presbyterian Church in
Savannah, where he held the position as director of music for many
years. He was also superintendent of the first Sunday-school ever formed
in that city.
As an instance of his natural tact and shrewdness, it is related of him
that while a resident of Savannah he undertook the instruction of a new
band that was being formed somewhere in that region. On the first
evening a considerable number of instruments were brought in with which
he was unacquainted, and some of them, even, he had never heard of. He
got over this difficulty by telling the owners of them that it would be
necessary for him to take them all home, that they might be "fixed and
toned up." When he brought them back, at the next meeting, he had
mastered them all, and proceeded to give his instructions accordingly.
He had a remarkable degree of personal magnetism, which gave him that
wonderful control which he possessed over classes and conventions. When
he taught or lectured, all eyes were upon him, all ears were attentive,
all wills were moved by his. This, with his natural aptitude for
teaching, gave him the prominence which he so readily won in the chief
cities where his mature life was spent. Soon after his return to
Boston, about 1827, after fifteen years' sojourn in Savannah, he
attained great popularity as a singing-teacher. He organized a class for
the well-to-do ladies and gentlemen of Boston who wished to perfect
themselves in music, the instruction to be by the new method, and
gratuitous. Five hundred singers attended, and at the close voted him a
bonus of five dollars each, or twenty-five hundred dollars for the term.
He was in constant demand as a teacher and director, and it would be
strange if those who had occupied the field before him, and who were now
compelled to take a back seat or migrate to "fresh fields and pastures
new," should not manifest some feeling of opposition. This he had to
meet, in one form or another, during his twenty-five years' residence in
Boston. The writers on musical matters during that period show very
plainly that such was the case, often giving expression to personal
feeling.
But as a teacher he had no superior, and but few equals, in this
country; and this not only musically speaking, but pedagogically as
well. Horace Mann said he would walk fifty miles to see him teach if he
could not otherwise have that privilege. Secretary Dickinson, of our
State Board of Education, says: "My first notions of what good teaching
is were derived from seeing Lowell Mason give a singing-lesson"; and
this although our honored secretary has no knowledge of musical tones.
George J. Webb, one of the best musicians in Boston, and himself
associated with Mr. Mason for many years as a teacher in the Boston
Academy of Music, said that he had seen him teach hundreds of times, but
never without astonishment at his wonderful power before a class. Dr.
George F. Root says that he always became intensely interested in
listening to Mr. Mason teaching even so simple a thing as the property
of long and short musical sounds. The writer of this sketch was himself
a member of the Boston Academy of Music at its latest session in 1851;
and it is not too much to say that he has never seen any one, from that
day to this, manifest such ability to hold a large class of teachers
and musicians to the consideration of the topic under discussion.
He was employed by the State Board of Education to teach music in the
normal schools and in the teachers' institutes for many years. Through
his influence singing was introduced into the Boston public schools as a
regular branch of study, which occurred in 1838. He introduced into this
country the inductive method of teaching singing, formulating a system
from the study of Pestalozzi and other eminent European teachers. His
system to this day molds the instruction, to a great extent, throughout
the United States. Modifications have been made, but the principles
which underlie all good elementary instruction in music were undeniably
first inculcated and placed before the people by him. He had, and still
has, a wide reputation; but it is not greater than his genius.
While we acknowledge with pride the honor bestowed upon the town of his
nativity, on the other hand, we think that this "obscure New England
village" is entitled to some credit for the formative influences which
sent forth such a son. Some one has said: "The first great requisite to
a man's amounting to anything is to be well born." He was born of the
sturdy yeomanry of Medfield. We cannot but think that the influence
emanating from the men, his neighbors and early counselors, who made the
old town what it was a hundred years ago, and what it is even down to
the present, contributes no little to the successful career of him whose
centennial we celebrate to-day.
PART II
LISZT'S LETTERS
MY DEAR SIR: It will certainly give me great pleasure to see and
hear you again at Weimar, but I trust that you will excuse me if I
do not accept the proposition you make, that of giving you regular
lessons, from which, moreover, I fancy you would have little to
gain.
As for your idea of settling for some time at Weimar, it would be
well for me to discuss it a little with you before you carry it
out. The distance from Leipsic being so short, it would cause you
but little inconvenience to pay me a short visit here, in the
course of which it will be easy for me to say exactly what I
believe will be best for you.
Accept, my dear sir, the expression of my feelings of esteem and
consideration for you.
F. LISZT.
WEIMAR, August 3, 1851.
DEAR MR. MASON: Your welcome letter gives me very hearty pleasure,
and I beg you to rest assured of the continuance of my most
affectionate feelings for you.
I often hear of your triumphs in America, and I rejoice to know
that your talent is rightly appreciated and praised. Your
compositions have not reached me yet, but I am all ready to make
them very welcome.
In a fortnight I start for Weimar. The Tonkuenstler Versammlung is
to take place this year at Meiningen, from the 22d to the 25th of
August. I shall attend it, as also the Wartburg Jubilee Festival,
at which my oratorio "Sainte Elisabeth" will be given on the 28th
of August. Perhaps I may meet there Mr. Theodore Thomas and Mr. S.
B. Mills, of whom you have spoken to me. The ability of Mr. Thomas
I have heard highly praised; I have to thank him particularly for
the interest which he takes in my "Poemes Symphoniques." Those
artists who desire to give themselves the trouble of understanding
and interpreting my works are separated, by that alone, from the
ranks of the commonplace. I, more than any one, owe them gratitude,
and I shall not fail to show it to Messrs. Thomas and Mills when I
have the pleasure of making their acquaintance.
The news which reaches me from time to time of musical things in
America is usually favorable to the cause of the progress of
contemporary art which I am proud to serve and uphold.
It seems that with you chicanery, blunders, and stupidity of a
criticism perverted by ignorance, envy, and venality, exercise less
influence than in the Old World. I congratulate you on it. May you
successfully follow the noble career of an artist with industry,
perseverance, resignation, modesty, and an unshaken faith in the
Ideal--such as you showed in Weimar, dear Mr. Mason.
Your truly affectionate and devoted
FR. LISZT.
ROME, July 8, 1867.
DEAR MR. MASON: Mr. Seward has brought me your welcome letter and
several of your compositions. These give me double pleasure, for
they show that your time at Weimar has not been lost and that you
continue to make good use of it elsewhere.
"L'Etude de Concert, Op. 9," and "Valse Caprice, Op. 17," are
distinguished in style and of good effect. I can also sincerely
praise the three preludes (Op. 8) and the two ballades, but with
some reservation. The first ballade appears to me a trifle
curtailed.
There is a certain something lacking at the beginning and toward
the middle (page 7) which is necessary to make the _motif_ stand
out again, and the pastorale of the second ballade (page 7) figures
there rather as padding--_embarras de richesse!_
And, since I am criticizing, let me ask why you entitle your "Ah,
vous dirai-je Maman," "Caprice Grotesque"? Beyond the fact that the
grotesque style should not intrude in music, this title does
injustice to the ingenious imitations and harmonies of the piece
which is otherwise so charming; it would be more fitting to call it
"Divertissement" or "Variazione Scherzose."
As to the "Method," you do not, of course, expect me to make an
exhaustive study of it. I am much too old for that, and it is only
in self-defense that I occasionally try the piano--considering the
incessant fatigue caused me by the indiscretion of a crowd of
people who imagine that nothing can be more flattering to me than
to amuse them!
Nevertheless, in going through your "Method," I find highly
commendable exercises, notably the _interlocking passages_ (pages
136-142) _and all the accentuated treatment_ > > > > _of
exercises_. May your pupils and editors derive thence all the
benefit they should.
A thousand thanks, dear Mr. Mason, and rely on my very affectionate
and devoted feelings as of old.
F. LISZT.
ROME, May 26, 1869.
It will give me genuine pleasure to see you again, dear Mr. Mason.
Next week I return to Weimar and shall remain there as usual till
the middle of July.
Therefore, suit the time of your visit to your own convenience. I
beg you to stay for several days at least.
A thousand affectionate and cordial greetings.
F. LISZT.
VIENNA, May 23, 1880.
INDEX
Allen, Thomas, 95
Altenburg, the, Liszt's studio in, 93;
Furstin Sayn-Wittgenstein at, 94;
picture of, 94;
Liszt pupils at, 98, 122
Appledore, Isles of Shoals, Mason at, 251-258
Bach, "Triple Concerto," 107;
"les agrements" in, 229;
Rubinstein and, 290;
Essipoff and, 232
Bauer, 270
Beethoven, first symphonic performance in America, 8, 13, 31;
Remenyi and "Kreutzer Sonata," 93;
Op. 106, 103, and Liszt plays, 104, 105;
"Eroica Symphony," Liszt's contretemps in, 120;
Liszt's "Young Beethoven" (Rubinstein), 171
Bellman, 137
Benedict, Sir Julius, 84
"Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude" by Liszt, Mason's copy of, 118
Bergmann, Carl, 193
Berlioz, autograph, 168, 169
Blessner, Mr., violinist, 19
Bloomfield-Zeisler, 270
Boston Academy of Music, 9
Bowman, E. M., 261
Brahms, 127-142;
in 1853, 127;
first meeting with Liszt, 127-131;
MSS. illegible, 127;
won't play for Liszt, 128;
Liszt plays Op. 4 and part of Op. 1 at sight, 128;
Raff on Op. 4 and B.'s reply, 129;
dozing while Liszt plays, 129;
Liszt annoyed, 130;
wrong accounts of first meeting with Liszt, 130 and 141;
feat in transposing, 131;
and Schumann, 132;
Mason's meeting with in Bonn in 1880, 136;
pianoforte-playing, Mason's opinion of, 137, and of compositions, 139;
Liszt's coolness toward, 142, 194, 267, 268, 270
Brockway, Howard, 261
Brodsky, 151
Buck, Dudley, 261
Bull, Ole, 148, 149;
autograph, 150
Buellow, Hans von, 91
Bulow, Von, 182, 238-241;
letter to Mason, 239;
statement about Cosima and Wagner, 240;
autograph, 240
Burmeister, Richard, 270
Carreno, Teresa, 270
Chadwick, George W., 261
Chamber-music concerts, Mason's, 193-197
Chickering, Jonas, 19
Chopin, style of playing, 75, 171, 244
Clauss, Wilhelmine, 64
Cornelius, Peter, 145-147
Cossmann, Bernhard, 63, 92, 150
David, Ferdinand, 134
Devitalized muscular action, its importance in piano-playing discussed, 20
Diary, Mason's, at Weimar, 122-126
Dodworth's Hall, 194
Dohnanyi, Ernst von, 263;
new symphony, 264
Dreyschock, 65-79;
octave-playing, 66;
on Chopin's pianoforte-playing, 75, and Henselt, 77
Dyer, Oliver, 184
Eichberg, Isidor, 252
Eichberg, Julius, 253
Erard pianoforte, Liszt's, 88, 92
Ernst, 149
Fontaine, Mortier de, Beethoven-player, 31
Foote, Arthur, 261
Franck, Cesar, 122
Friedheim, Arthur, 270
Gabrilowitsch, 269
Geilfuss, Louis, 182
Godowsky, 265
"Goldene Zeit" at Weimar, 97, 122
Gottschalk, 183, 205-209;
"The Latest Hops," 208;
Characteristic letter and autograph, 208
Grange, De la, 154, 157
Grieg, 241;
autograph, 244
Groenvelt, Mr., violoncellist, 19
Handel and Haydn Society, Boston, early repertoire of, 7
Handel's "E Minor Fugue," Mason's copy of, 119, 123
Harvard Musical Association, repertoire of, 1846, 19
Hauptmann, Moritz, 44;
passion for baked apples, 45;
_Spiegel-Canon_ autograph, 45 and 48;
opinion of Lowell Mason's work, 46
Heckmann, 137
"Heinrich, Father," anecdote of, 22
Henselt, 75, and Dreyschock, 77
_Herrmann_, steamer, 27
Hill, Frank, 27
Hoffman, Carl, 95
Hoffman, Richard, 207
Hofmann, Josef, 271
Hummel, 172
Huss, Henry Holden, 271
Joachim, 62;
autograph, 64, 109, 124, 126, 137;
coolness between Liszt and, 142, 147
Kelley, Edgar Stillman, 261
Klauser, Karl, 202
Klindworth, Karl, 89, 91, 97, 100, 107, 109, 114, 127, 141
Kneisel Quartet, autograph, 262
Kobbe, Gustav, X
Laub, Ferdinand, 63, 92, 126, 150;
autograph, 180
Leschetitsky, 70