Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 60

Repository:

German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library

Extent:

1.7 linear feet (4 hollinger boxes + 1 oversized folder)

Language:

German

Preferred Citation:

Junger Männerchor records, Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library, German Society of Pennsylvania

Date:

1892-1966 (bulk) and 1892-1966 (inclusive)

Creator:

Junger Männerchor. (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Form:

Admission tickets, Brochures, Fliers (printed matter), Membership lists, Memorabilia, Printed ephemera, Scores, Sheet music, Songbooks, and Souvenir programs

Abstract:

The Junger Männerchor of Philadelphia is one of the oldest German-American singing societies (founded on February 22,1852). This collection comprises membership records, ephemera, memorabilia, songbooks, sheet music, and audio recordings of the Junger Männerchor, with dated materials spanning from the year 1892 to 1966. The specific items include two member books (1906, 1911), concert programs, concert tickets, an issue of the society’s own periodical "Der Adler" (Oct. 1902), a preservation copy of a historical volume authored by J.F. Anton and published in 1902, and an extensive collection of songbooks and sheet music used by the society.

The Junger Männerchor was founded in 1852, as the sixth German singing society in Philadelphia and an offshoot of the oldest society in the city, the Männerchor. Under the leadership of Gustav Friedeborn and Julius Pick, nine members of that society, joined by two members of the society Sängerbund and two more men, founded the new society on February 22, 1852. Their first rehearsals took place under the direction of Matthias Keller, then the director of the Arch Street Theatre, and they competed in the 1852 Sängerfest in New York under the leadership of Philip Reuter. With 42 members at this point, they won first prize for the best rendition as well second prize for best song. In 1855, now counting 36 active and 120 passive members, the Junger Männerchor found their first permanent meeting space on the second floor of a house on the northwest corner of 4th St. and Vine St., where they remained for the next twelve and half years. During this period, they absorbed the singing society Eintracht, and George (Gustav) Runge (architect of the Philadelphia Academy of Music, with Napoleon LeBrun), served as president from 1858-1860.

During the 1860s-70s, the Junger Männerchor won prizes at both the New York and Baltimore Sängerfeste and, under the presidential term (beginning in 1867) of Wilhelm Hartmann, they experimented with a Damenchor (women’s chorus). In 1884, the society founded a more permanent Damenchor and also purchased the location of their longest-lasting hall at 310-312 N. 6th Street. They held their first mixed-chorus performance and moved into their newly completed building the following year. In 1895, then president of the Junger Männerchor Arno Leonhardt became the president of the United Singers of Philadelphia, a consortium of singing societies in the area, and the Junger Männerchor Vereins-Halle became the headquarters of this organization as well, leading to the expansion of the building.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, the Junger Männerchor continued to meet, give concerts, and compete in Sängerfeste. In 1912, they won the top prize at the Nordöstlicher Sängerbund’s Sängerfest, and were granted permanent possession of the Kaiser Prize, a silver and gilt statue donated by Kaiser Wilhelm II to the competition in 1900. While the First and Second World Wars did impact the Junger Männerchor’s activity, they continued on as an organization until at least 1991, and this collection retains materials from concerts and other events up until 1966.

The Junger Männerchor of Philadelphia is one of the oldest German-American singing societies (founded on February 22,1852). This collection comprises membership records, ephemera, memorabilia, songbooks, sheet music, and audio recordings of the Junger Männerchor, with dated materials spanning from the year 1892 to 1966.

The collection is organized as follows: Series I includes two manuscript membership records books, dated 1906 and 1911. Series II contains ephemera, and primarily contains concert programs, including for the society’s centennial concert, as well as lyric sheets, season programs, and event tickets. An issue of the society’s own periodical "Der Adler" (Oct. 1902) , a preservation copy of J.F. Anton’s history of the society (published in 1902), and three audio recordings from a concert in 1959 round out the series. Series III comprises a vast collection of sheet music materials, including songbooks printed for events in which the Junger Männerchor participated, in addition to a vast catalogue of sheet music purchased by the society. The songbooks are organized by event date, and the sheet music is organized by title, lyricist, and composer. This collection retains the partitur and two copies of each voice (Tenor I, Tenor II, Bass I, Bass II) where possible, and also includes additional copies if significant manuscript notation is present. The sheet music subseries (III B) also includes some manuscript sheet music as indicated at the folder level.