It is very hard to realize that time was when there were no public concerts. Music was confined for so many centuries to the churches, to the public squares, to the King’s Chamber, or to the ball rooms of wealthy nobles, that it had not become the democratic art that it is now. Of course the first opera houses in Italy had been steps in the direction of bringing music to the people. The concerts begun by the Danish organist, Buxtehude, in Lübeck about 1673, and the _Tonkünstler-societät_ in Vienna of the same period were the first public concerts. In England, John Banister started concerts at about the same time, which were the first to admit an audience by payment of a fee. Handel’s friend, Thomas Britton, the coal-heaver, gave concerts at his home for 10 shillings the series! The 18th century saw a great development in giving public concerts. In France, the _Concerts Spirituels_ were begun in 1725. The object of these were to give music to the people on the days of religious festivals when the opera house was closed. There were about 24 concerts a year; the political events of 1791 put an end to the society but it had already given the people a taste for concerts, and many new societies grew out of it. The festivals of Three Choirs in West England (see page 190) were founded in 1724, and the Academy of Ancient Music in 1710. The _Musikverein_ in Leipsic was founded in 1743 and was later turned into the famous _Gewandhaus_ concerts in 1781. This movement for public concerts went hand in hand with the development of instruments and the perfecting of performers. In fact the word concert came from “_consort_—the union or _symphony_ of various instruments playing in concert to one tune.” THE MANNHEIM SCHOOL The symphony came to life in Germany. Paul Landormy in his _History of Music_ tells us that it was the time of the “poor scholars” who were educated free from expense in the schools with the understanding that they were to learn the “musician’s trade” and take part in the concerts organized by the cities and the courts. Thus symphony orchestras grew up all over Germany,—Munich, Stuttgart, Dresden, Darmstadt, Hamburg where Telemann conducted, in Leipsic, Berlin and Mannheim.