{"product_id":"26428-handel-george-frederic-hubbard-john-handel-society-of-dartmouth-college-autograph-letter-signed-1809","title":"[Handel, George Frederic. (1685–1759)] Hubbard, John. (1759–1810) Handel Society of Dartmouth College - Autograph Letter Signed, 1809","description":"\u003cp\u003eALS from the Dartmouth professor and founder of the Handel Society of Dartmouth College to Samuel Merrill, announcing his election as an honorary member. Hanover, 21st Aug. 1809; 1 p., integral address leaf \"Mr Samuel Merrill \/ Present \/ To the care of Dr. Alden.\" In full: \"Sir, \/ By the inclosed certificate, you will percieve [sic] that you are unanimously chosen an honorary member of the Handel Society of Dartmouth College. This society has recently been established, and is patronized by the government of College. The intention and object, is the encouragement and practice of good, genuine music. It is connected with the Mass. Middlesex Musical Society. Your patronage is earnestly solicited. Dr Alden will make you acquainted with particulars – \/ I am, Sir, \/ your most obedient \/ John Hubbard.\" The certificate is not present. Letter-packet folds, scattered foxing and small stains. 9.75 x 8.25 inches; 25 x 21 cm.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Handel Society of Dartmouth College was founded in 1807 by four students of the Class of 1808 and one of the Class of 1809, who chose Professor Hubbard as their president; a constitution followed, and as the Society grew the college's earlier Music Society disbanded. Its founders believed that popular musical taste had declined, and its 1811 constitution set out to promote \"true and genuine music, which is calculated to enkindle devotion in the heart.\" Taking Handel's name as the emblem of the sacred music it championed (though never singing his works alone), the Society sang at chapel and church services, gave concerts beyond the church, including a regular Fourth of July concert, and by the mid-nineteenth century was invited to festivals and performances across New England. Often described as the oldest singing organization in the United States, it continues today as the Handel Society of Dartmouth College, which performed at Carnegie Hall in 1991.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHubbard, professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Dartmouth from 1804, delivered his \u003ci\u003eEssay on Music\u003c\/i\u003e before the Middlesex Musical Society at Dunstable, Massachusetts, on 9 September 1807 (published Boston, 1808). It was an influential call for the reform of American church music, favoring \"regular\" European sacred music, above all that of Handel, over the native fuging-tune style of the early American psalmodists. Members such as Merrill were chosen to lend the young Society their patronage and standing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":62894664745119,"sku":"26428","price":275.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0512\/4826\/7423\/files\/Hubbard_ALS_26428a.jpg?v=1792634765","url":"https:\/\/www.schubertiademusic.com\/products\/26428-handel-george-frederic-hubbard-john-handel-society-of-dartmouth-college-autograph-letter-signed-1809","provider":"Schubertiade Music and Arts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}