Adgate, Andrew
Adgate, Andrew
Adgate, Andrew, American singing teacher, conductor, and tunebook compiler; b. Norwich, Conn., March 22, 1762; d. Philadelphia, Sept. 30, 1793. He settled in Philadelphia, where he assisted Andrew Law in a singing school. In 1784 he organized the Institution for the Encouragement of Church Music. He founded a “Free School..” for the diffusion of the knowledge of vocal music in 1785, which became the Uranian Soc. and in 1787 the Uranian Academy. It was supported by subscription and charged its students no fees. From 1785 to 1790 Adgate conducted concerts, including a “Grand Concert” on May 4, 1786, of works by Handel, Lyon, Billings, and Tuckey with a chorus of 230 voices and an orch. of 50 players. Among his compilations were Select Psalms and Hymns for the Use of Mr. Adgate’s Pupils (1787), The Rudiments of Music (1788), and The Philadelphia Harmony (1789).
Bibliography
H. Cummings, A. A.: Philadelphia Psalmodist and Music Educator (diss., Univ. of Rochester, 1975).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire