In spite of the great success of the Berlin Singakademie, the other cities of Germany were slow to follow in the establishment of choral societies. Thirty years after the foundation of the Berlin institution only ten such societies were in existence. But after that one city fol lowed another, so that to-day there is scarcely a single town which does not boast its choral society. In England choral culture was widely diffused through the growth of music festivals. Although originally the chorus at such festivals was recruited from the regular choruses of the churches, it was not long before the number of singers was considerably increased by the addi tion of amateur voiees. To-day England sur passes all other countries in the excellence and efficiency of its choral societies. The history of English choral societies is practically that of the English Music-Festival, to which article the reader is referred.
In the United States choral societies enjoy the popular favor as much, and are cultivated almost as extensively, as in England. When the Pilgrim Fathers first landed they opposed the use of any kind of music in church ; hut gradu ally a more liberal spirit gained ground, so that not only was music introduced into the services, hut schools of singing also were estab lished. The aim of these was merely to teach the singing of simple hymns, but in 1724 a *sacred singing school' was founded at Stough ton, Mass., and this, on November 7, 1786, be came the Stoughton Musical Society. Now that a beginning had been made, other choral socie ties came into existence. I. to 1820 the choral societies in the United States exceeded in num ber those of Germany, but could not compare with them in the quality of the work done. With increased facilities of communication with the Old World, musical culture in America advanced step by step, so that in 1813 the Handel and Haydn Society was established in Boston. This institution became to the development of music in America what the Singakadcmie was in Oer many—a model for all similar organizations. At its first concert, on Christmas Day, 1815, the chorus of the Handel and Hadyn Society consisted of one hundred members. Until 1847 the president of the society acted as conductor, and consequently the performances were rather crude, although marked by a spirit of earnest ness. In that year a professional musician was elected as regular conductor. When, in 1852, Carl Bergmann assumed the leadership, the per forman•es rose to a high level. But the present excellence of the society is due to the untiring and efficient labors of Carl Zerrahn, who directed the destinies of the organization from 1854 to 1895.
Shortly after the establishment of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, a choral society bearing the same name was organized in New York. This, however, was short-lived, and in 1823 branched out into two rival societies—the New York Choral Society and the New York Sacred Music Society. The former of these began its career on a very ambitious scale, and soon was disbanded; whereas the latter rose to great im portance, though it, too, came to an end in 1849. But as soon as one society disbanded another sprang up, so that New York was never without. performances of choral works. This continued until 1873, when Dr. Leopold Damrosch founded the Oratorio Society. The first concert took place December 3, 1873, at which occasion the chorus numbered about sixty members. When Dr. Damrosch died, in IS85, his son Walter suc ceeded him as conductor. Under his direction the chorus increased to six hundred members. Another choral society of importance is the Musical Art Society, founded by Frank Darn rosch in 1896. This organization is unique in asmuch as it consists exclusively of profes sional, trained singers. The purpose of this society is the performance of older church of the Palestrina style. The People's Choral Union is a society founded by Frank Damrosch in 1892. It consists of over three thousand mem bers, recruiting themselves from among the laboring classes. The organization has three classes of members—those constituting the ele mentary class, the advanced class, and the choral union proper. Any self-supporting man or wo man may join the elementary class, where thor ough instruction as to the proper use of the voice and the rudiments of music is given. From this class the pupils are promoted to the ad vanced class, whence, upon graduation, they pass to the choral union. The attendance at the vari ous classes numbers about 2500, 450, and 1200 re spectively. lleetings are held every Sunday, and MKT. in a public concert is given. An other important New York society, the Arlon, was founded in 1654. Ity 1902 its membership had in creased to 1200.
In the \Vest, Cincinnati. Chicago, and .Mil •ankee are famous for tlwir choral societies. 'Here chiefly the German element of the popula tion forms male choruses. 'But there is no hick of mixed choruses, which meet yearly for a great singing festival. In making these festivals at means for the spreading of musical culture and intelligence, Theodore Thomas has been indefati gable. See Al I: SICA I. FESTIVAL.