AN INTERESTING HISTORY: THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN QUAKERS & MUSIC
Throughout its history, Quakerism
has had a precarious relationship with music. That association
is the focus of the exhibit “Sing ye in the spirit: Music
and Quakerism in Harmony.” “The exhibit deals with
various aspects of music and Quakerism together,” says
co-curator John Anderies, Haverford’s Music Librarian.
It will be at Magill Library from April 12th through October
4th. The exhibit opened with a lecture by Russell Murray, professor
of musicology at the University of Delaware and a performance
by Haverford’s chamber singers in the Sharpless Gallery.
“In the earliest days, music
was seen as a diversion and an amusement and something that
would take people away from spiritual life,” says Ann
Upton. Upton is Haverford’s Quaker Bibliographer, Special
Collections Librarian, and co-curator of the exhibit. Early
Quakers believed written music and organized singing did not
match the ideal of spontaneous worship. The exhibit will demonstrate
the progression of the acceptance of music into Quaker society.
Upton notes, “It was a very, very slow evolution and the
acceptance of music is relatively recent. There are Quakers
who still disapprove of music.”
Upton credits her collegue Anderies
for thinking of the concept. “John has provided the energy
and the initiative.” Anderies says, “I was fascinated
by anything that did not allow music and we had a wealth of
material and could pull a lot of things together.” The
organizers believe there has never been an exhibit of this nature
before. Besides the College’s own Quaker collection, pieces
for the exhibit were borrowed from Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore
Colleges, the Westtown School, the Free Library of Philadelphia,
and bought on Ebay. Components include 17th century religious
tracts criticizing music, 20th century sheet music both portraying
Quakers and composed by Quakers, and examinations of Quaker
institutions such as Haverford. “Studying Quaker institutions
is a good way to monitor the change,” says Upton. There
are accounts of students smuggling instruments into the College
before music was allowed, which illustrates Anderies’
point that, “The music was going on, but not necessarily
approved of.” Besides the literary and musical artifacts,
the exhibit also includes audio stations where participants
can listen to music samples, and video clips from the 1950s
movie Friendly Persuation depicting a traveling salesman attempting
to sell an organ to a Quaker meetinghouse.
Through the exhibit, Anderies and
Upton hope to promote the College’s Quaker collections
and support discussion of Quakerism. They want to end the public
perception that Quakers are against music. “I would hope
that visitors thoughts that Quakers do not believe in music
will be made more relaxed and informed,” says Upton. However,
they believe it is important to embrace every aspect of Quaker
history, so they also hope to legitimize the reasons Quakers
were opposed to music. Anderies says, “I want the visitors
to look back and say, what a rich and interesting history”
