The Melodeon (1839 - ca.1870) was a concert hall and performance space in 19th-century
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, located on
Washington Street, near West Street. Musical concerts, lectures, sermons, conferences, visual displays, and popular entertainments occurred there.
History
The Melodeon occupied the building of the former Lion Theatre (1836–1839) and Mechanics Institute (1839).
[Justin Winsor]
The memorial history of Boston
v.4. J. R. Osgood and Co., 1881; p.371.
Proprietors of the Melodeon included the
Handel and Haydn Society
The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Known colloquially as 'H+H', the organization has been in continual performance since its founding in 1815, the longest-serving suc ...
(1839); Leander Rodney (1844); Boston Theatre Company (1852); E. Warden (1857; temporarily renamed The Melodeon Varieties);
Charles Francis Adams (1859).
[Eugene Tompkins, Quincy Kilby]
The history of the Boston Theatre, 1854-1901
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908.
Performances & events
1830s-1840s
* 1839
** Handel and Haydn Society.
* 1840
** "Soiree musicale. The celebrated Rainer Family, or Tyrolese minstrels."
[American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series 1]
* 1842
** Amateur concert for the benefit of the Warren Street Chapel.
** Mr. Braham.
* 1843
** Vocal entertainment by H. Russell.
**
Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...
's Stabat Mater, with Handel and Haydn Society.
** Dr. Lardner
* 1844
** Concert by
Ole Bull
Ole Bornemann Bull (; 5 February 181017 August 1880) was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing.
Biography
Background
Bull was ...
, assisted by Miss Stone, Mr. Herwig, Mr. Hayter, and a full orchestra.
**
Henry Phillips, assisted by Miss Stone.
**
William Charles Macready
William Charles Macready (3 March 179327 April 1873) was an English actor.
Life
He was born in London the son of William Macready the elder, and actress Christina Ann Birch. Educated at Rugby School where he became headboy, and where now the t ...
,
Charlotte Cushman
Charlotte Saunders Cushman (July 23, 1816 – February 18, 1876) was an American stage actress. Her voice was noted for its full contralto register, and she was able to play both male and female parts. She lived intermittently in Rome, in an expa ...
.
* 1845
**
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association
The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association (est.1795) of Boston, Massachusetts, was "formed for the sole purposes of promoting the mechanic arts and extending the practice of benevolence." Founders included Paul Revere, Jonathan Hunnewell, ...
13th triennial festival, 1st semi-centennial celebration.
** Musical entertainment by Mr. Dempster.
* 1846
** Haydn's
The Creation, performed by the Handel and Haydn Society.
**
Hutchinson Family.
** Concert by C. Sivori.
* 1848
** Steyermarkische Musical Company.
* 1849
** Madame Biscaccianti and Strakosch.
** Services on the occasion of the decease of the late president,
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...
.
** Sermon of the Spiritual Condition of Boston, preached by
Theodore Parker
Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his words and popular quotations would later inspire speeches by Abraham Lincol ...
.
1850s
* 1850
** Annetta Stephani.
** Handel's
Jeptha, with Boston Musical Education Society.
** "Optical wonders. Whipple's grand exhibition of dissolving views! Magnifiying
daguerreotype
Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process.
Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...
s, kaleidoscope pictures, & pyramic fires."
* 1852
** "Professor Anderson, the wizard of the North"
** Handel's
Samson
Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...
, with Handel and Haydn Society.
** Donetti's Comic Troupe of Acting Monkeys
**
Germania Musical Society
* 1854
** Magician Macallister.
** "Splendid mirror of North and South America"; presented by J. Perham.
** "Italia", panorama by Waugh.
* 1855
** J. H. Siddons.
** Josiah Perham's Ethiopian Troupe and Great Burlesque Company.
** New England Anti-Slavery Convention.
**
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
* 1857
**
Lola Montez
Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig ...
.
* 1858
** The Bunyan Tableaux.
** Orpheus Glee Club, Lucy A. Doane, Hugo Leonhard.
* 1859
** Melodeon Minstrels.
1860s
* 1860
** Parlor operas, with Mr. & Mrs. Henri Drayton.
* 1862
** French Zouaves.
**
Stereopticon
A stereopticon is a slide projector or relatively powerful "magic lantern", which has two lenses, usually one above the other, and has mainly been used to project photographic images. These devices date back to the mid 19th century, and were a popu ...
.
** M. Lizzie Bell, Agnes A. Kenney.
** "Master Rentz's second annual subscription concert," with the
Mendelssohn Quintette Club
The Mendelssohn Quintette Club (1849–1895) based in Boston, Massachusetts, was one of "the most active and most widely known chamber ensemble in America" in the latter half of the 19th century. It toured throughout New England and beyond, inclu ...
, Adeline S. Washburn.
* 1864
** Arthur Cheney, H.C. Barnabee, John F. Pray.
** Morton's The angel of the attic.
* 1865
**
A. Bronson Alcott[Frederick Wagner. Eighty-Six Letters (1814-1882) of A. Bronson Alcott (Part Two). Studies in the American Renaissance, 1980; p.216-217]
References
{{coord, 42, 21, 15.52, N, 71, 3, 44.26, W, type:landmark_region:US-MA, display=title
Music venues in Boston
Former buildings and structures in Boston
Former theatres in Boston
Cultural history of Boston
19th century in Boston
Financial District, Boston
Boston Theater District
1839 establishments in Massachusetts