Lowell Mason

The campaigner who brought music into American public schools and edited its hymn tunes

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Who he was

Lowell Mason (1792–1872) was born in Medfield, Massachusetts, and died in Orange, New Jersey, in 1872. As a young man he worked in a bank in Savannah, Georgia, studied music in his spare time and directed a choir; after returning to Boston in 1827 he edited hymn collections, ran music schools, and in 1838 helped bring music into the Boston public schools. He spent his later years in Orange, still editing songbooks; his son William Mason became a pianist. He gave most of his time to editing and teaching, and composition was only one part of that work.

His place

He belongs to the founding generation of American music education. The Collection of Church Music, which he prepared for the Boston Handel and Haydn Society in 1822, drew heavily on European works while also including American hymn tunes. In 1832 he helped found the Boston Academy of Music, and the public-school music classes of 1838 made him a key figure in American music education. His songbooks were widely used in schools and churches during the century. He was editor and composer both, writing many hymn tunes, among them Bethany and Olivet, which are still sung.

What to hear

Listen first for four parts: "Wake the Song of Jubilee" is standard hymn texture, with the soprano on the tune and the other voices filling in. Then for children's song: "Blest Are the Humble Souls That See", from The Juvenile Psalmist, has a narrow range and simple rhythm, so hear how it suits a child's voice. Next, funeral harmony: in "And Must This Body Die?" the bass descends slowly, and the solemnity comes from that descent. Finally, choral texture: "Hark, Ten Thousand Harps and Voices" lets the top voice lead while the others follow, and the whole block of harmony moves together.

Key works

• The Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music (1822)
• The Juvenile Psalmist (1829), The Juvenile Lyre (1830)
• Hymn tunes Bethany, Olivet

Influence

Mason joined the European hymn tradition, American songbook publishing and the public-school system, and later American music education largely followed the road he helped lay. He turned music from an appendage of the church into a part of public education.

Sources

• 梅森生平、波士顿音乐教育与赞美诗编集，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Mason, Lowell"；本文为原创表述
• 十九世纪美国公立学校音乐课程与歌本传统，参通行梅森研究；实例说明为本站听辨提示

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.