Sharing Their Voices: A Short History of Choral Societies in Nineteenth-century Newfoundland

It was a glorious summer's day in North America's oldest city as a musical gathering of unprecedented proportions commemorated John Cabot's voyage to the New World.An instrumental ensemble of the finest musicians in St. John's accompanied a magnificent vocal display by massed choirs, while a native soprano took centre stage.This could have been a description of the Grand Finale Concert of the inaugural Festival 500, a milestone in the rich history of singing in Newfoundland and Labrador that laid the foundation for our gathering here today.The year, however, was not 1997 but 1897, and the performance in question marked the beginning of a Newfoundland landmark of a different sort.On that memorable day, June 22, 1897, the city's finest civilian bands and massed choirs marched in procession from downtown St. John's to the summit of Signal Hill, where they celebrated the founding of the new Cabot Tower.There they were joined by Newfoundland's own "Nightingale of the North," international opera star Georgina Stirling of Twillingate, for a stirring rendition of hymns in honour of Queen Victoria's Jubilee Year.Patriotism and optimism reigned, as the rocky cliffs reverberated with singing.Then, as now, they had come to share their voices.Despite the many hardships oflife in colonial Newfoundland, it had been a remarkable century of social and cultural development.The Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 resulted in unprecedented prices for fish, the colony's unofficial currency, and this in turn fuelled a sustained wave of European immigration.By 1815, the population of the capital of St. John's had grown from just over 3000 at the turn of the century to 10,000 (a number greater than that of Toronto at the time).Slowly but unmistakably, the seeds of cultural progress were planted as a new society emerged.It was a society in which music-in particular, singing-was to play an increasingly vital role.As early as 181 I, advertisements for private musical instruction could be observed in Newfoundland's first newspaper, the Royal Gazette, where a Mr. LaTour had placed an ad for music and dancing lessons (to which he later added "the art of fencing"!).I As subsequent waves of musically trained immigrants crossed the Atlantic, opportunities for private musical instruction grew exponentially for those who could afford it.One music teacher, a Mr. Swain, arrived from England in 1843 where, as the Public Ledger of St. John's tells us, he had recently sung at "the principal London Theatre" (Public Ledger, 1843, December 26).Trained in Paris, Swain offered his Newfoundland pupils instruction in pianoforte, organ, thorough bass, and French, English, and Italian singing, as well as group classes for the study of both sacred and secular music.While private music teachers catered to the families of merchants, professionals, government officials, and members of the clergy, it was the tireless dedication of religious groups such as the nuns of the Presentation and Mercy Convents on the island of Newfoundland and the Moravian missionaries in coastal Labrador,2 that made musical instruction attainable for those less privileged.3 By 1833, the Presentation nuns had incorporated hymn singing into the daily school routine, the legacy of which could be observed decades later.At one performance by girls of the convent school in 1861 it was noted that Some of the girls sang solos and duetts, playing the piano accompaniment, and showing much progress and taste in music ....These institutions must truly be regarded as amongst the greatest blessings to society, when we remember how largely its well being depends on female education-more especially the education of the female poor, who if not taught at such establishments, would probably be denied all education whatever.(Newfoundlander, 1861, August 5)

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