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Early Letters of George Wm. Curtis by George William Curtis
page 45 of 222 (20%)
Musical Association taught the Boston public to appreciate only those
concerts at which the best music was produced.

One special object in the organization of the Harvard Musical Association
was the securing of a place for music in the curriculum of Harvard
College. That was an object very dear to the heart of Dwight, and one
which he brought forward frequently in the pages of his _Journal of
Music_. He maintained that music was not merely for amusement, but that it
is the most human and spiritual of all the arts, and must find its place
in any systematic effort to secure a full-rounded culture. In a few years
Harvard appointed an instructor in music. Mr. John K. Paine was called to
that position in 1862, and was made a professor in 1876.

Dwight gave a most generous welcome to all young musicians of promise as
they came forward. Such men as John C.D. Parker, John K. Paine, Benjamin
J. Lang, George W. Chadwick, Arthur Foote, and William F. Apthorp were
generously aided by him; and the _Journal of Music_ never failed to speak
an appreciative word for them. However Dwight might differ from some of
them, he could recognize their true merits, and did not fail to make them
known to the public. When Mr. Paine, who had been watched by Dwight with
appreciation and approval from the beginning of his musical career, was
made a professor of music in Harvard University, when his important
musical compositions were published, and when his works were given fit
interpretation in Cambridge and elsewhere, these events were welcomed by
him as true indications of the development of music in this country.

For many years John S. Dwight was the musical autocrat of Boston, and what
he approved was accepted as the best which could be obtained. His
knowledge of music was literary rather than technical, appreciative rather
than scientific; but his qualifications were such as to make him an
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