CHAPTER VIII INSTRUMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES The New York Philharmonic Society and other New York orchestras--Orchestral organizations in Boston--The Theodore Thomas orchestra of Chicago; Orchestral music in Cincinnati--The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra--Orchestral music in the West; the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra--Chamber music ensembles--Visiting orchestras. I In spite of the work done by the Euterpean Society, the Musical Fund and the Sacred Music Society, New York in the first decades of the nineteenth century did not possess an orchestral organization capable of interpreting adequately the compositions of the great masters. As we have already pointed out, the city was suffering from musical expansion when it really needed concentration. It was suffering also from too much amateurism. Many clear-headed New York musicians realized the needs of the situation and eventually there arose a healthy agitation in favor of a strong permanent orchestra of professional musicians. The agitation found an energetic leader in Uriah C. Hill, conductor of the Sacred Music Society, and chiefly through his efforts the Philharmonic Society was formed in 1842. In many respects the Philharmonic differed from all the societies which preceded and most of those which have followed it in America. It was simply a coöperative association of professional musicians organized for the purpose of giving concerts of the highest class. Amateurs were excluded and the society enjoyed neither patronage nor guarantee. Its first concert took place at the old Apollo Rooms on December 7, 1842, with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as the _pièce de résistance_. The list of symphonies performed by it during the first ten years of its existence illustrates the consistence with which it carried out its dignified purpose. Among them were Beethoven's Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth; Mozart's 'Jupiter,' G minor and E flat; Haydn's Third and B flat; Mendelssohn's Third and Fourth; Schubert's C major; Schumann's First; Spohr's D minor, _Die Weihe der Töne_ and Double Symphony; Kalliwoda's First; Gade's in C; and Lachner's Prize Symphony. Among the other interesting features of its early seasons were Mendelssohn's 'Fingal's Cave,' Sterndale Bennett's 'The Naiads,' and Berlioz's _Francs Juges_ overtures.