Private Musical Societies.

After a lull during the Revolution, Americans' interest in concert music continued to grow as it had before the war. Musical societies sprang up in cities throughout America and played an important role in promoting the performance of classical music. Private musical societies such as the St. Caecilia Society in Charleston served a social and musical function. Membership was by invitation only. At society meetings members and professional musicians performed music together for invited guests, with a staged ball to end the evening. Similar organizations were formed in other cities, including the Musical Society of New York (1791) and the Philharmonic Society of Boston (1809). These private societies formed the basis for later public orchestras, but at the time their exclusiveness reflected and reinforced the elite character of patronage for instrumental concert music in early America. Only the wealthy possessed the means...