Benjamin Franklin Baker

Background

Benjamin Franklin Baker was born on July 10, 1811, in Wenham, Massachusetts to John and Sally Baker.

Education

The family removed to Salem in 1822, where at the age of fourteen he took up the study of music and sang in the Howard Street Presbyterian Church.

Career

In 1831 he began to teach singing. From 1828 to 1833 he lived in Boston, studying, teaching, and singing in churches. In 1833 he traveled with a concert company, after which he went to Bangor, Maine, where he spent several years, combining business and music. He did not decide to make music-teaching his profession until 1837, when he returned to Boston to reside permanently. He studied with John Paddon and sang in the choir of the Chauncy Place Church. In 1839 he took charge of the music in Dr. William Ellery Channing's church, which position he retained until 1847. In 1841 he held the first of a series of musical conventions which were very popular from 1841 to 1848. In 1841 he was elected successor to Lowell Mason as teacher of music in the public schools of Boston. He held this position until 1850, personally instructing about 8, 000 students weekly.

He also introduced music into the schools of neighboring cities, Lowell and Lawrence. He was president of the Boston Musical Education Society for seven years and vice-president of the Handel and Haydn Society for six years, appearing as soloist in many of the concerts of the latter organization. In 1847 he began preliminary efforts toward establishing a music school, with the aim of placing the finest instruction in all branches of music within the reach of all. There was no such institution in the United States at that time. It did not materialize, however, until 1857, when the Boston Music School was opened, with all departments fully organized with capable teachers, Baker being principal of the school and instructor in voice. The opening of this school was an epochal event for American music, and it flourished unrivalled until 1868, when Baker retired from active work and closed the school. He had given liberally of his time to the development of a desire for music in other cities, as well as in Boston, yet he found time for contributing to periodicals and for composition. For several years he edited the Boston Musical Journal. His earliest publication was a book of songs which he edited in collaboration with Isaac B. Woodbury in 1838. This was followed by the Boston Musical Education Society's Collections (1842), Choral (1845), both of these also with Woodbury; Haydn Collection of Church Music (1850), with L. H. Southard; Melodia Sacra (1852), with Johnson and Osgood. Among his own compositions are the following: Death of Osceola, a vocal quartet (1846); Stars of the Summer Night, vocal quartet (1865); and three cantatas, The Storm King (1856), The Burning Ship and Camillus the Roman Conqueror, the two latter published in 1865. He was also the author of the text-books Theory of Harmony (1847) and Theoretical and Practical Harmony (1870). In all he published some thirty books including selections of church music and glees.

Achievements

• He was a respected musician and teacher. His compositions were performed during his lifetime not only in the population centers surrounding Boston, but also in small communities wishing to showcase "ambitious" works.

Connections

He was married on November 21, 1841, to Sabra Heywood of Grafton, Massachussets.

Father:

John Baker

Mother:

Sally Baker

Wife:

Sabra Heywood