Information and excerpts from Elliot Forbes, A History of Music at Harvard to 1972 (Department of Music, 1988) and Forbes, A Report of Music at Harvard from 1972 to 1990 (Department of Music, 1993) Eighteenth Century Beginnings In the early years of Harvard College, music in student life came primarily through singing: at chapel service, college ceremonies, and as entertainment. Concert music is first documented in the 18th century when at a reception given for Governor Hutchinson in 1771, the "young gentlemen of the college" performed an anthem "set to music." Ten years later, commencement exercises opened with "an anthem performed by a collegiate band of musicians." The first organized instrumental music organization at Harvard is the Pierian Sodality, founded in 1808 as "the oldest musical organization in continuous existence in America," now known as the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra.

A student's sketch of John Knowles Paine

The Nineteenth Century: A Department of Music Takes Shape

A professorship in music was first proposed in 1832, but it wasn't until 1855 that Harvard's catalogue listed its first music course, "Vocal Music," taught by Mr. Levi P. Homer:  Vocal Music Instruction in Music, with special reference to the devotional services in the Chapel, is open to all Undergraduates. The course will extend to the higher branches of part-singing. Separate classes for graduates will be formed if desired. Homer died unexpectedly in 1862, and under arts-friendly Harvard President Thomas Hill, a young John Knowles Paine (1839-1906) began to develop the music program. Paine was well-known in Europe, the son of a Portland, Maine musical family who studied in Germany and was recognized both as a pianist and a composer. By the academic year 1871-1872, he had five music courses listed in the Harvard course catalog: Theory of Music, Harmony, Imitative and Simple Counterpoint, Fugue, and History of Music. Paine was named Professor of Music in 1875, along with Charles Eliot Norton (History of Art); the only two arts professors among a faculty that numbered 119. For a quarter of a century, Paine taught all music courses single-handedly in cramped spaces. At the turn of the 19th century Harvard's music scene was active: there were smaller instrumental groups such as the banjo club and mandolin club, a number of celebrated yodellers, glee club, the Pierian Sodality, choirs, and an increase in the numbers of students enrolled in music courses. The department continued to grow, enrolling 225 students from Harvard and around 50 from Radcliffe in the 1903-04 year. Department resources were stretched thin: Money is needed for musical instruments, books, and current expenses. For several years the present quarters of the Department--the single room in Holden Chapel--have been inadequate. And even these quarters are not secured to Music Students alone, who, outside of the lectures, require the room for research and study, in order to use the library of musical scores and piano in Holden Chapel, and the lectures are now given in Fogg Museum Hall. This necessitates a second library of music and music instruments for Fogg Hall. Beside this, the conflict of hours between the courses is a great inconvenience to the instructors. The Division of Music, therefore, greatly needs a building of its own where the musical life of the University--with its lectures, conferences, and recitals --may concentrate. Plans and a sketch of the Music Hall have been made. The estimated cost of the building is $75,000 and the fund for administration $25,000. It is hoped that our alumni and others interested in musical progress at Harvard will provide for this noble object. --John Knowles Paine, Harvard Graduates' Magazine, 1902/03

The Twentieth Century: Bricks and Mortarboards The University appointed a second music position in 1895, Instructor in Harmony, Walter Raymond Spalding, who followed Paine in the chairmanship of the department as well as in the crusade for space and resources. A breakthrough came in 1910 when Spalding visited alumnus James Loeb ('88) in Bavaria: "One day on a walk the question was asked by his [Spalding's] host, "how is the Music Department at Harvard getting on?" "Very finely," was the reply, "save that we have no adequate home." To this Loeb instantly answered, "I will give you $85,000 toward a new building." "That is most handsome of you," the writer replied, "and I accept on the spot." --Walter Spalding

The Music building in 1914, including the 2nd floor concert hall.

The building was opened in 1914, complete with a second story for the John Knowles Paine Concert Hall. The Harvard Music Department continued to add faculty--the likes of Virgil Thomson, G. Wallace Woodworth, A. Tillman Merritt, among others--throughout the remainder of Spalding's term as chair (1906-1932). Fellowships were established to fund faculty positions, to aid student research and travel, and to sponsor lectures from scholars and artists from outside the University. An increasing number of students came through the program and went on to make their mark on American music, notably Walter Piston ('24) Elliott Carter (AM, '32), and later, Leonard Bernstein ('39). The Glee Club toured internationally and the Harvard-Radcliffe Choruses, as well as Harvard and Radcliffe composers, collaborated frequently with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

"Woody," G. Wallace Woodward, professor, conductor, department chair, rehearsing the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society in the early 1940s. Courtesy Harvard University Archives. Below, "Woody" with Albert Schweitzer.

Under the forty-year chairmanship of Tillman Merritt (1932-1972) the Music Department petitioned the college for a basic piano program, new professorships (especially one in musicology) and additional space. By the end of Merritt's substantial tenure, Walter Piston had been appointed the first Naumburg professor in musicology, Randall Thompson was named the first Rosen professor, Bela Bartok had had been visiting Lamb lecturer, Paul Hindemith and Aaron Copland had served as Charles Eliot Norton lecturers, and Merritt had produced a high-profile 1947 symposium on music criticism with commissioned works by Piston (Third Quartet) Schoenberg (String Trio, op. 45) and Martinu (Quartet no. 6). Merritt's chairmanship also oversaw the establishment of the PhD degree in composition and theory (1967) the creation of the electronic music studio (1967-68, by Leon Kirchner), and a new wing--the Fanny Peabody Mason wing--which housed additional practice rooms, faculty offices, studios, instrument lockers, administrative offices, a student lounge, listening rooms, library work room, stacks and carrels, the old instrument collection, rare book room, and an enlarged Isham Memorial Library.

Into the Twenty-First Century

The addition of the Mason Wing of the Music Building ushered in a new era.

The 1970s and 1980s saw a growing pedagogical shift towards performance practice, interdisciplinary projects, and world music. Courses on oral tradition and folk music appeared (the first ethnomusicology course was given in 1960) and an ethnographic archive was created beginning with more than 7,000 tapes from the personal collection of Professor John Ward. There was collaboration between music and drama, music and visual and environmental studies, a development of Core courses involving music (now some of the university's most popular), and an overall increase in musical activity both on campus and in the Music Department.

The Department of Music at Harvard now oversees the concentration in music at the undergraduate level, a PhD program in musicology, ethnomusicology, theory, and composition, and an AM program in historical performance practice. As of 2006, Harvard College and the New England Conservatory offer a joint, 5-year AB/MM program. There are twenty-three permanent faculty, who, together with visiting professors and lecturers, teach 50-60 courses annually to hundreds of concentrators, joint concentrators, and students who come from all fields at the university to learn more about music.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION: Information on the Current Harvard Department of Music Harvard Music Department Archives: 1990 - present Faculty of the Department of Music Music Courses Performance at Harvard Libraries and Resources