A Royal Academy of Music Transcription

Outline of Plan for Establishment of a Royal Academy of Music: Transcription

by Preesha Sanghrajka 

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The prevalence of music in every age, and its cultivation in all parts of the world, demonstrate that its origin is immediately derived from nature, and of all the fine arts it is that which is most intimately connected with the habits & passions of mankind. in a rude & simple form it is the solace of the laborious portion of the community, and in its refined state it affords a luxurious, but innocent pleasure to the higher classes of society.               It occupies & enlivens the hours devoted to relaxation in domestic & social circles :- it constitutes a part of every public amusement, & in some instances forms the whole entertainment of the evening :- it contributes most largely & readily, and is the only art that does contribute, to the support of the many charitable institutions by which this country is so pre-eminently distinguished :- the state demands its did to animate and inspire with military order to its troops: the splendor of Royalty ever requires music in its retinue, & it performs an important & impressive service in the Sacred Solemnities of the Christian Church.               Hence music has become an object of so much attention in Great [//]

Britain, – to the learned few who examine its sources & explore its depths with a philosophical eye, & to the many who pursue it as an art that is capable of affording the most pure delight by its immediate operation upon the sense & the pleasurable associations of which it is the fruitful parent, – that were it now to be honored by the sanction which a sister art enjoys, this great & enlightened nation would be no less distinguished for excellence in music than it is for its advancement in the other arts & sciences.                 His present Majesty by establishing a Royal Academy of Painting, Sculpture, Vc. created a British School of Art, which has not only rivalled, but excelled, all contemporaneous institutions; thus practically controverting the speculative opinion of some foreign critics that the English are physically disqualified from rising to eminence in the fine arts; – and such is the state of music in this country, – such is the degree of perfection to which the nature professors have arrived, and so great is their desire to improve their art and exalt its rank, that nothing seems wanting to complete the excellence of our national taste but that illustrious patronage and protection which has already fostered[//]

and brought to maturity the British School of Painting.          Most of the states of Europe [?] have established Academies of Music , comeposed of professors well informed in the theory & practise of their art who write their talent and their labors for the purpose of improving it; whilst England, the most wealthy and the most generous nation of modern days, possesses no national institution that tends to the encouragement of an art which daily affords increasing pleasure to all ranks of her people!           The present moment, however, seems propitious to the attaintment of an object of this nature; the  extraordinary success which has attended the efforts of the Philharmonic Society under the August protection of a Prince whose taste is undisputed, and who never withholds encouragement from whatever tends to polish mankind &to enlarge the sphere of human happiness, lead to a hope that a permanent institution may be formed                                                               under[//]

               under the patronage of His Royal Highness The Prince Regent, in the name and on behalf of His Majesty, entitled A Royal Academy of Music, for the purpose of encouraging and improving the study, composition & practise of music in Great Britain, by embodying a limited number of the most ingenious and the most respectable professors of the art, and by humbly soliciting His Royal Highness to sanction and countenance the establishment, & to confer upon its members such a portion of those honors which the Academicians of a sister art have received from their Sovereign during the last forty five years, as His Royal Highness in his wisdom and goodness shall deem expedient.                 The Academy to consist of forty Academicians, twenty associates, and twenty students.             Of the Academicians three fourths to be natural born subjects of the United Kingdom, and one fourth may be foreigners, provide they are permanently resident in Great Britian, and have manifested their attachment to the country by a residence of three years.            No person to be admissible as an Academician[//]

unless he is actually in the professional practise of music, either as a teacher, a performer, or as a distinguished composer, and unless he how attained the age of 25 years.               Each of the Academicians to be appointed by the Regent.                 From amongst the Academicians one to be chosen as President, and eight to form a Council; – Three as lecturers, six as superintendents, a Treasurer & a Secretary.      All the office to be elected annually, and to be approved by the Prince Regent.                 The associates to be professors of music, as described in the preceding clause, and to be elected by the Academicians.      Thus shall be entitled to all the advantages enjoyed by the Academicians, but they shall not be allowed to have any share in the government of the Society.       From this body all future Academicians to be recommended to the Prince Regent.                 The students to be nominated by the Academicians in notation, and to be approved by the President & Council. They should be thoroughly acquainted with the elementary principles of music. and be initiated in the use of some musical instrument, previously to admission into the academy.  When admitted they shall be placed under the care of the instructor[//]

of that class which they are best qualified to form. They will attend all the lectures and all the rehearsals, or days of exercise, that are appointed to the place under the direction of the Superintendants. Small prizes to be occasionally distributed amongst the most deserving of the students to excite the emulation and stimulate their ardor.           No student to remain in the Academy more than () years, as the expiration of which period he shall pass a final examination before the President and Council, & shall receive a certificate from them of his professional merits and moral character.                    An unlimited number of extra- students to be allowed to attend the lectures and days of exercise, who shall be accommended by the Academicians and associates. These to consist only of persons who are destined to the profession of music, and to possess the same qualifications as are required in the students.                The Academicians & Associates to meet once in every week, from the day of [unknown] to the () day of June, at () o’clock in the evening, for the purpose the history, theory, or practise of music[//]

as may be communicated; such papers having been previously examined & recommended by an Academician.

The Academy also at its weekly meeting to examine & perform any piece of music that has been recommended

in a similar manner.                 The Academy to cause to be delivered, annually, three courses of Lectures, upon The History and Philosophical Theory of Music; The Theory and Practise of Composition, – and upon Poetry, in its application to Music.                 The Academy, as early as possible, to appoint Committees, for the purpose of considering the best means of improving the music art in all ints various departments. //  One of the first objects that showed engage attention is the improvement of the musical vocabulary, and particularly to endevour to fix the meaning of those terms that relate to time, by a mechanical standard, – by a chronometer or pendulum, whose vibrations should mark the length or duration of any given note at the commencement of each movement.            After establishing some accurate mode of measurement [//]

the committee should immediately fix the time of the most classical & esteemed musical productions; many professors being now living who have heard most of the learned & admired works of the greatest masters either performed under their own immediate direction, or have had the just times Transmitted to them through the medium of authorities upon which strict reliance can be placed.                 The Academy also to complete a Dictionary of Music from the best authorities.                 The Academy to bestow, annually, premiums, or prizes, upon the best compositions in each of the following class, – Viz!

                Oratorio, Opera or Ode;

                Sinfonia, or Concertante;

                Trio, Quartetto, Quintetto, &.

                Anthem, for 4 voices t least;

                {Vocal Trio, Quartetto, Vc, Scena, or

                {Cantata, having full orchestra

                {accompaniments;

                Canon and Fugue.

If not imperative upon the Academy to award these premiums or prizes, should the compositions of any year be deemed inadequate in merit. [//]

The Academy to collect as speedily as its funds will admit, a Library of Ancient & Modern Music, and of all histories, treatises, or disguisitons that relate to the art.              The Library to be open at stated hours.                 When the Academy shall have realized a sum that shall produce an annual income of &() a certain portion of that income to be devoted to the use of any Academician who, by unfortunate events, may be reduced to the necessity of applying to such fund for assistance. This clause is meant to operate in favor of those distinguished musicians who may be in embarrassing circumstances, & whose situation in life, & established habits are of such a nature as to render the relief afford by the two Musical Funds to their members, unequal to their reasonable wants and just pretensions.