The following list is compiled from the first two sets of readings. Your job is to identify each item as it pertains to
our course.
One sentence to one short paragraph is sufficient for each (Please, no longer than that).
If these are difficult to find in terms of sifting through the readings, then Grove Music Online (arranged
alphabetically) can be an excellent source.
broadside ballad
Francis Hopkinson
Fuguing (or Fuging) Tune
Chester
Franklin’s position on singing
Jefferson’s idea of building an orchestra
glass harmonica
[IMPORTANT NOTICE: All sessions will feature readings and listenings. Many will be accompanied by additional readings
included within the Session itself (as does this one). During the Winter (3 1/2 week) and Summer (6 1/2 week) terms, all
sessions count as double sessions Most of these sessions have an accompanying activity. See “Assignments.” The activity
connected with this one, the simple “Introduce yourself,” due Tuesday, June 2nd, will help the instructor know that
everyone is “on board.”]
Topic: This first session of the course involves a look at the music that led up to the American Revolution.
Readings: [Although actual note-reading is not essential to doing well in the course, an understanding of basic musical
elements is very important. For those unfamiliar with the basics of music, or for those just wanting to review it, please
read Ferris pp. 1-10, “Basic Properties of Musical Sound.”]
Readings:
1. Ferris: pp. 11-19, 31-36, 36-42; Listening examples 1, 5, 9, 10, 11. All are on the accompanying CDs; most are also
available through the university’s Healey Library Naxos database, but with different performing artists
2. (below): The Broadside Ballad (from David Kasten, I Hear America Singing: An Introduction to Popular Music. Upper
Saddle Brook, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2002).
3. (below): The Music of Washington’s Time, Part I (published by the George Washington Bicentennial Commission, 1931).
THE BROADSIDE BALLAD: JOURNALISM IN SONG
By the 1600s. the broadside ballad had become a familiar part of daily life in England. During the two centuries since
Gutenberg’s invention of the moveable-type printing press (in 1450). the uses for this powerful mass medium had expanded
and littered down from the nobility and clergy to much of the middle and lower classes. Literacy had become more common
and at a half-penny or a penny a copy, the broadside ballad was an afford¬able (and entertaining) way for virtually
anyone to get the news of the day. Printed on one side of a single sheet of paper—usually with a woodblock illustration
at the top—the broad¬side ballad followed the basic form of the traditional folk ballads. Often there was even a note to
the purchaser suggesting a well-known tune to which it could be sung. The Favorite topics for the anonymous authors of
these print ballads would not be unfamiliar to readers of today’s tabloids: murders, fires, floods, executions, wars,
assassinations, and all kinds of disasters, both natural and manmade. Although their subjects were sometimes shocking and
their style either sensational or sentimental, broadsides often do a good job of presenting the “five w’s of journalism.
For example, a ballad written about the execution of a criminal would probably indicate when the evil-doer’s hanging had
occurred, where it took place, and what crimes had led him to his terrible fate; it might go on to describe the reaction
of the crowd and possibly even his last words.
In addition to the latest news stories, eventually most traditional ballads also found their way into print. Some idea
about the pervasiveness of broadsides can be gleaned from the lists of London’s Company of Stationers (which was
established in 1556 to license ballads for print). Although many printers undoubtedly bypassed the official bureaucracy,
researchers have established that between 1557 and 1709, over three thousand broadside ballads were officially
registered. On one particularly busy day (December 14, 1624), the Company of Stationers issued licenses for 128 ballads.
At this point, there begins a complex and fascinating dynamic within the folk tradition (one that persisted until well
into the twentieth century), as ballads that had been handed down orally for centuries suddenly encountered printed
versions of the same story. Often broadsides were simply absorbed into the Folk stream where they too became subjected to
the transformations of the oral process. Nor only did this complex interaction take place after the introduction of print
but, a similar interaction occurred again after the phonograph became the medium of choice for disseminating popular
songs.
NEW COUNTRY, NEW BALLADS (AND A LOT OF OLD ONES, TOO)
By the time the first colonists set sail, the traditional British folk ballad had become as much a part of the heritage
of England as the language itself. It didn’t take long before the old songs took root in the new land and gradually they
began to generate new, distinctively American branches. Having become a commonplace of daily life in the old country, the
broadsidc ballad (and the habit of creating songs out of the events of the day) made its way across the Atlantic. Before
long, Americans were creating their own songs out of the shared experience of people living together in a new
environment: There were new ballads because there were new stories to be told. Broadside Ballads: All the News That’s Fit
to Sing This American broadside ballad about incidents during the Revolutionary War represents a unique form of popular
journalisrn that had begun in England during the 1600s. As was the custom, the eighteenth century example was printed on
a single sheet of paper and was illustrated with a simple woodblock print. Early in the twentieth century, when the first
serious ballad collectors began to gather narrative songs front the rapidly vanishing remnants of Americas folk culture,
they were amazed by how many ballads that appeared in the great Child canon had managed to survive in the Appalachian
Mountains and the Maine woods. By most counts, approximately one-third of the 305 ballads that comprise the five volumes
of ‘The English and Scottish Popular Ballads had been successfully transplanted in the United States.
THE MUSIC OF GEORGE WASHINGTON’S T1ME, Part 1 [Information taken from Music of Washington’s Time, U. S. (George
Washington) Bicentennial Committee, 1931].
THE MUSICAL BACKGROUND MUSIC ASSOCIATED WITH HISTORIC EVENTS
The Music of Pre-Revolutionary Episodes
A CHRONOLOGICAL account of the music that originated in Washington’s time forms something of a history of his career and
of American events generally. During his boyhood and early manhood, Washington heard chiefly English music. Of English
patriotic airs, God Save the King was probably composed in England in 1740, and was no doubt known in the colonies soon
after that time. Yankee Doodle originated either in America or in England while Washington was a young man, for the
common tradition regarding Dr. Schuckburg, who composed verses to the tune, and played a joke on the Yankee troops at
Albany, dates from 1758 during the French Indian ‘Wars.
The year 1759 saw the composition of the first known song by a native American composer, for that is the date marked on
the manuscript book containing Francis Hopkinson’s My Days Have Been Wondrous Free. It is altogether fitting that this
charming amateur should have been the first American composer of music, for, as w have already learned, he was a man
active in political and cultural affairs, The events of the French-Indian War were commemorated with music. A
Thanksgiving Anthem, by WilliamTuckey, an English musician resident in New York, was performed December 8, 1760, in
Trinity Church, “before his Excellency General Amherst, on his return to New York from the conquest of Canada”. The Peace
of Paris, by which France ceded to England all of Canada and, with the exception of New Orleans, all of her region east
of the Mississippi, was accomplished February 10, 1763. In the same year we find a number of musical celebrations to mark
the event. On May 17th at the College of Philadelphia, there was performed an Exercise, Containing a Dialogue and Ode,
“on occasion of the peace”, written by “Paul Jackson, AM.”, for solo voice and chorus. On September 28th, the senior
class of Nassau Hall delivered An Original Dialogue on Peace, “interspersed with music”, at its anniversary commencement.
A number of years later, in the Pennsylvania Magazine of March 1775, a song was printed to commemorate the Death of
General Wolfe, who fell during the taking of Quebec in 1759. The music of this period shows the loyalty of the colonists.
Even at a time when there were tremors of discord with England, poets and composers publicly paid homage to the sovereign
and to the mother country. At the commencement of the College of Philadelphia, May 23, 1761, the students performed An
Exercise Containing a Dialogue and Ode, written and set to music by Francis Hopkinson, “sacred to the memory of his late
gracious Majesty, George II” The next year Hopkinson wrote another Ode and Dialogue for the commencement of the accession
of His Majesty, George III.’ Little did Hopkinson know that more stringent enforcement of the obnoxious Navigation Acts
would he ordered in 1764, or that in 1765 the Stamp Act Congress would find itnecessa ry to publish a declaration of
rights and grievances”. There were other musical testimonials to the greatness of Britain. The Ode on the Late Glorious
Successes of His Majesty’s Arms and Present Greatness of the English Nation, published by William Dunlap in Philadelphia
in 1762; may have called for music, and it is highly probable that James Lyon composed the music for The Military Glory
of Great Britain, “an entertainment given by the late candidates for bachelor’s degree,” held in Nassau Hall, NJ,
September 29, 1762.
Songs Showing Early Resentment of England’s Attitude on Taxation
In 1765 we begin to find references to the colonist’s resentment of their treatment by England. One of the earliest was a
ballad called American Taxation, written soon after the ship Edward arrived in New York bearing news of the passage of
the Stamp Act. There are many references in Revolutionary history to the tune The World Turned Upside Down, and we shall
learn later that Cornwallis’ troops are supposed to have surrendered to its strains. There is, however, considerable
confusion as to what tune was played on various occasions. In 1767, the year of the Townshend Acts, which laid duties on
important commodities for the support of the British army in America, and of the law suspending the New York Assembly, an
anonymous poet contributed toGentlemans Magazine a poem entitled The World Turned Upside Down, or The Old Woman Taught
Wisdom, intended as “an humble attempt to ‘reconcile the parent and her children, made by a peace-maker to Great Britain
and her Colonies,’’ an entirely different poem from the English verses with the same title. Later, when the words were
printed on a music sheet, they were adapted to the English tune, Derry Down.
Musical Conditions in Early America
To understand the music of George Washington’s time, it is neces¬sary to know musical conditions in America from the days
of the first settlers to the end of the eighteenth century. Although there was little music here in the years immediately
following the first coming of the white men, it is not correct to assume that there was no con¬siderable musical life in
the Colonies by the time our nation asserted and won its independence. True, our ancestors were largely depend¬ent on
musical importations from abroad; yet concerts, ballad operas. and musical evenings in the home were frequent in the
principal cities from 1750 on. There were several attitudes toward music in America’s infancy. In New England the muse of
song had a difficult road to travel. She was viewed suspiciously by the Puritans, who at first would allow no musical
instruments, and would tolerate singing only as an aid to divine worship, and then only after bitter arguments as to the
pro¬priety of singing Psalms in church. In New York, Pennsylvania and the South, music and secular diversions were more
welcome than in New England, although the Quakers in Pennsylvania considered plays, games, lotteries, music and dancing
alike, and advised all their members to have nothing to do with them.
To our present knowledge, there were no native-born composers of music until the time of Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791),
signer of the Declaration of Independence, treasurer of loans during the Revo¬lution, Judge of the Admiralty of
Pennsylvania, and a great cultural influence in eighteenth century Philadelphia. Hopkinson, a friend of George
“Washington, is credited with being the first American com¬poser, and we shall hear later of his songs, which were
charming and reflective of the musical style and taste of the period, even though they may have lacked individuality. The
manuscript book containing Hopkinson’s first song bears the date 1759, one hundred and fifty years after the Jamestown
colony was first established. The next composer to appear was James Lyon, (1735-1794), a clergyman who wrote a number of
hymns, anthems and psalm tunes.
In 1770, the year Beethoven was born, William Billings of Boston (1746-1800) published a book called the New Eng¬land
Psalm Singer, in which he included a number of his own compo¬sitions, among them some “fuguing pieces”, as he called
them, crude attempts at the fugues of the masters. Billings had little training as a musician, but he was important for
his desire to be original, and for the undoubted vitality he put into his own music, and that of his colleagues. Soon
after the appearance of Hopkinson, Billings and Lyon, other native composers appeared, and while none of them achieved
any¬thing that could be considered great, they planted the seeds of a native musical product which has developed to our
own day. One of these musicians, Oliver Holden, published in 1793 a hymn-tune that has had continued life, and is known
throughout the world—Coronation, sung to the words, “All hail the power of Jesus’ name”.
Throughout the eighteenth century there had of course been for¬eign musicians in America, who had come from abroad, and
because of their superior training had exerted a strong influence on our musical life. In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the
Moravian colony which was settled in 1741 enjoyed music that was unknown elsewhere in America. Intense music lovers,
these Germans brought their instruments and their voices with them, and their orchestras and choruses performed the works
of the masters in a manner worthy of the music. When Washington visited Bethlehem in 1782, he was serenaded by the
trombone choir. Yet theseMoravians were sufficient unto them¬selves, and mingled little with their neighbors. Their
culture had but slight influence on the rest of America. After the Revolution more foreign musicians came to our shores
and by the time of the French Revolution they immigrated in whole¬sale quantities. Better trained than the native
Americans, they naturally took our musical life into their own hands, and their works soon took the place of American
compositions on concert programs. Of course, most of the foreigners eventually became Americans them¬selves, and their
descendants today can boast a long line of American ancestors; but for the time being they stifled much of our native
effort us music, Many of these artists were English, some of them French, a few were Germans, although the great influx
of German musicians belongs to the next century—in 1848, at the time of the revolutions in Central Europe.
Early Concerts
The first public concert in America, of which we have record, was held in Boston. This was in 1731, at a time when the
New England ban against secular music was gradually being lowered. The affair, a Concert of Music on sundry Instruments”,
was held in “the great room” at Mr. Pelham’s, an engraver, dancing master, instructor in reading and writing, painting
upon glass, and a dealer in the “best Virginia tobacco”. A few years later the selectmen of Boston allowed Fanueil Hall
to be used for “Concerts ofMusick”, and by 1754 there ~vas a concert hall at the corner of Hanover and Court Streets,
where concerts of “Vocal and instrumental Musick to consist of Select Pieces by the Masters” were given. After Boston,
the next American city to enjoy a concert was Charleston, South Carolina. Then came New York, where in 1736 there was
advertised a “Consort of Musick, Vocal and Instrumental, for the benefit of Mr. Pachelbel, the Harpsi¬chord Part
performed by Himself. The Songs, Violins and German Flutes by Private Hands.” If contemporary records are to be trusted,
Philadelphia heard its first advertised concert in 1757, when John Palma offered an affair “at the Assembly Room in Lodge
Alley”, January 25th.1 Yet it seems altogether likely that there were concerts in the Pennsylvania city before this time,
for Philadelphians were cultured, and, except for the Quakers, fond of amusement. There was a dancing master in the city
in 1710, and dancing was taught in its boarding schools as early as 1728.
Except for the interval of the Revolution, when the Continental Congress passed a resolution “to discourage every species
ofextrava¬gance and dissipation . . exhibition of shows, plays and other expen¬sive diversions and amusements” (1774),
concerts were offered regu¬larly in the principal cities during the last half of the century. Their programs contained
many works that are forgotten today, yet there were a number of standard pieces which are still being played on concert
programs. Handel, Haydn, and, in the closing years of the century, Mozart, were well represented, and the overtures of
the London Bach—Johann Christian (son of Johann Sebastian)—were played often.
Typical programs of the period show a variety of compositions. In 1769 an Italian resident of Philadelphia, John
(Giovanni)Gualdo offered this characteristic list:
ACT I. Overture composed by the Earl of Kelly. Vain is beauty, gaudy flower’ [sung] by Miss Hallam. Trio composed by
Mr.Gualdo. first violin by Master Billy Crumpto. The Spinning Wheel’, by Miss Storer. A German flute concert, with Solos,
composed by Mr. Gualdo. A new symphony after the present taste, composed by Mr. Gualdo.
ACT II. A new Violin concerto with solos, composed by Mr. Gualdo. A Song by Mr. Wools. A Sonata upon the Harpsichord, by
Mr. Curtz. Solo upon the Clarinet, by Mr. Hoffman, junior. Solo upon the Mandolino, by Mr. Gualdo. Overture, composed by
the Earl of Kelly. Many of the concert programs offered names and works that are still standard musical fare.
Here is a typical example from a subscription series advertised in Philadelphia in 1792, while Washington was president,
and the Pennsylvania city the national capital:
ACT I. Grand Overture of Haydn. called Ia Reine de France [The first movements of symphonies were sometimes offered as
‘overtures.” This was no doubt the first movement of Haydn’s Paris Symphony No. 4, “La Reine”, composed in 1786.] Song
Mrs.Hodgkinson Quartetto composed by Mr. Gehot Concerto Violoncello (composed by the celebrated Duport) Sinfonia Bach
[Johann Christian Bach]
ACT II. Quartetto Messrs. Reinagle, Gehot, Moller. and Capron [While the name of the composer was not given, this may
have been a Quartetto by PIeyel, presented again at a later concert of the series by the same performers.1 Song Mrs.
HodgkinsonSonata, Piano Forte Mr. Moller Double Concerto, Clarinet and Bassoon Messrs. Wolf and Youngblut Reinagle
Overture Reinagle
Palma followed this with another concert March 20th. In Washington’s ledger, March 17th, the following entry appears—”By
Mr.Palma’s Tickets 12s 6.” Other concerts of the series offered standard works as well as original compositions by the
performers. Such names as Stamitz, Gretry, Vanhall, Boccherini, Pleyel, Martini and Handel are encountered recently.
Haydn was represented by symphonies, piano sonatas, an occasional trio, and numerous “overtures” and “finales”, probably
first and last movements, respectively, of symphonies. Mozart’s name does not appear as often as that of Haydn, but there
are references to his piano sonatas, and other works. Handel was perfofmed frequently; the Messiah was first presented in
New York in 1770. Many concerts in America offered selections from the Messiah, and often when a chorus was available,
the “Hallelujah” Chorus would be sung, sometimes “with an accompaniment of kettledrums”. The overtures to Handel’s
oratorios were favorites—such works as Samson, and the opera, Otho. The march from Judas Maccabeus was often performed.
Washington, known to be a frequent concert-goer, must have been familiar with much of the music performed in his day. O.
G.Sonneck in his essay on “The Musical Side of Our First President”’, has traced a number of concerts which Washington is
known to have attended, and has described their programs. Still another program is particularly interesting, for it was
offered in Philadelphia in the Spring of 1787, four days after the Constitutional Convention had assembled. (May 25.)
Under the date of May 29th Washington noted in his diary that he “accompanied Mrs. Morris to the benefit concert of a Mr.
Julian”. The Pennsylvania Packet printed the program of Mr. Julian’s concert: ACT 1st Grand Overture Song Solo Violin
(newly composed) ACT 2nd. Overture to the Deserter [a ballad opera, by Monsigny] Concerto Flute Brown Sonato Piano Forte
Reinagle Concerto Violoncello Caprnn Concert Violin Cramer Sonata Guittar Capron (By desire) the Overture to Rosina
[ballad opera, by Shield]
The works of Reinagle on this program are of special interest. Reinagle was one of the most important musicians who came
to America from Europe in the latter eighteenth century. Several of his works have recently been reprinted in modern
editions, and it is evident that while he was no great genius, he was nevertheless a well equipped musician, possessed of
taste and imagination. Before coming to America in 1786 he had been an intimate friend of Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach. It
is generally supposed that he was engaged as the music teacher of Washington’s step-grand-daughter, Nelly Custis, whom
Washington adopted legally when her father died. Reinagle was important also as a theatrical manager, for in 1793, in
association with Thomas Wignell, he built and managed the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, which presented
brilliant seasons at the nation’s capital during Washington’s second administration.
Washington was always a lover of the theatre, and attended it frequently from his early manhood in Virginia, where plays
were given at Fredericksburg and Williamsburg. The theatre and music were inseparably associated in eighteenth century
America, for many of the theatrical performances were ballad-operas—plays interspersed with music, somewhat like our
present- day musical comedies. Often, too, the actors would sing popular songs between the acts of the drama. The
Beggar’s Opera, by Gay andPepusch; Rosina, by Shield; The Mountaineers, by Arnold; Love in a Village, by Awe and others;
No Song, No Supper, byStorace, were among the favorites. The songs from these plays were also the popular songs of the
day, and many of them were traditional ballads.
Popular Songs in the Eighteenth Century
It is not possible even to estimate the age of any of the so-called American folk-songs, although it is probable that a
number were in existence before 1800. On the other hand, the popular music of the eighteenth century is well-known. The
literature of peoples’ songs consisted largely of English ballads and songs, some of them introduced in the
ballad-operas. Many of these songs are still current, and it is not difficult to re-enact the singing of Washington’s
time. The famous tune of Green Sleeves is very old, some authorities date it from 1580, so it must have been known in
America during Washington’s boyhood. The Vicar of Bray appeared in ballad-operas from 1728. “Girls and Boys Gone Out to
Play” appeared in the Ballad-opera Polly, a sequel to the Beggars Opera, in 1729. “Old King Cole” announced his
appearance in Gay’s Achilles in 1733. “Rule Brittania” was highly popular in the colonies before the Revolution. Dr.
Tomas Arne composed the music in 1740, and it was well-known in America within a few years after this date. “Sally in Our
Alley” has had an honorable career in America as well as in England. The words have been sung to two tunes, the first
dating from 1719, and composed by Henry Carey. About 1760, however, Carey’s tune seems to have been discarded, and since
that time the verses have been sung to a tune known earlier as The Country Lass. “The Girl I Left Behind Me” has always
been popular with fife and drum Corps. Authorities differ as to its age. Some think it originated about 1758, while
others relate its English origin to late as 1778. The stirring tune of The British Grenadicrs was also popular in
America. The age of this air is unknown, although there is reason to believe that it originated in England in the
Elizabethan period. There are frequent references to it on American concert programs, from as early as 1769. “Drink to Me
Only With Thine Eyes,” as a poem, is very old, for its author, Ben Jonson, lived from 1573 to 1637. No doubt it has been
known as a song for several centuries, but the present tune cannot safely be dated before 1780. It was frequently sung in
America after 1790. “O, Dear, What Can the Matter Be?” started its American vogue in the closing years of the eighteenth
century. Different authorities date its English origin from 1780 to 1792, and American references to the song date from
its publication in Shaw’s Gentleman’s Amusement in 1795.
This is but a brief list of some of the English songs popular in Washington’s time which are still known today. Doubtless
he was familiar with them, for he went to concerts and the theatre, and enjoyed the playing of music in his own home.
While he probably played no instruments nor sang himself, he nevertheless provided instruments and a musical education to
his stepchildren and step-grandchildren. At Mount Vernon there are still ll preserved several music books which belonged
to the Washington household; two of them were owned by Martha Parke Custis, the daughter of Martha Washington, who died
in 1773. One of these bears the signature of Martha Custis, and the date 1769. It is entitled: Harpsichord or
spinnet——Miscellaney, being a Graduation of Proper Lessons from the Beginner to the Tollerable Performer. Chiefly
intended to save Masters the trouble of writing for their Pupils. To which are prefixed some Rules for Time. By Robert
Bremmer. Included in the contents are a Lesson by Lully, a Gavotte (in F) by Corelli, arid a few popular airs of the
period—such titles as Maggy Lauder and God Save the King. The other book belonging to Martha Custis was entitled New and
Complete Instructions for the Guitar. It contained a number of dances of the period: minuets, cotillions, and such
country dances as “The Hay-Makers Dance” and many popular aires, among them “Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen,” “I
winna marry any mon,” and others. Three of the music books at Mount Vernon belonged to Eleanor Parke (Nelly) Gustis, and
among their contents are six sonatas by Nicolai (Nos. I to VI inclusive), Overturede Blaise et Babet by Dezede, adapted
for the Piano Forte, the score of Goldsmith’s The Hermit set to music by James Hook, and three piano sonata.s by C.
Maurer.
The Dances of Washington’s Time
Dancing was a popular diversion in eighteenth century America, and Washington himself was particularly fond of it. In
early manhood, during the Revolution, and in the years of his presidency he attended many assemblies. He enjoyed such
affairs to his last days, and it was only in 1799 that he was compelled to write to the man¬agers of the Alexandria
Assembly: Mrs. Washington and myself have been honored with your polite invitation to the assemblies of Alexandria this
winter, and thank you for this mark of your attention. But Alas! Our dancing days are no more. We wish, however, all
those who have a relish for so agreeable and innocent an amusement all the pleasure the season will afford them. The
minuet and the gavotte were the formal dances of Washington’s time. European composers were of course using these forms
for movements of their suites and their sonatas, notably Haydn and Mozart. Martini and Boccherini supplied many such
dances, and the latter’s charming Minuet in A is still a favorite. (This was Composed in 1771, and first published abroad
in 1775.)
Composers in America, too, wrote prolifically for dancing. In 1770 Gualdo, in Philadelphia, advertised his Six New
Mineuts, with Proper Cadences for dancing. The Library of Congress has an autograph collection of dance tunes by Pierre
Landrin Duport, a dancing master of the day who was also an exccllent musician. Amon.g these pieces are a “Fancy Menuit,
danced before Genl. Washington, 1792”, and a Fancy Menuit with Figure Dance, performed ‘by two young ladies in this
presence of Mrs. Washington in 1792. Philadelphia’s Alexander Reinagle was among the composers who wrote minuets and
gavottes. There are frequent references also to the sarabande and the allemande, although strictly these belong to an
earlier period. The waltz was probably not current in America until the close of the century, for it did not make its
appearance in Central Europe until 1780, and was not used in England and France much earlier than 1791 or 1792. One of
the earliest American references to the waltz was the publication of a Dance for Waltzing issued by George Willig of
Philadelphia, somewhere between 1795 and 1797. Reels and counttry dances were equally, if not more popular than the more
formal minuet and gavotte. There are dozens of contemporary references to reels, jigs, country dances, and the
contre-dances or quadrille. One of Washington’s favorite dance tunes was Successful Campaign, which was also was one of
the popular marches of the period. The Hay-Maker’s Dance was a favorite tune of his.
Instruments
By Washington’s time a variety of musical instruments was used in America. As early as 1761 Washington ordered a spinet
from abroad. The harpsichord, and later the piano-forte, were found in many homes, and were used at concerts. Pianos were
manufactured in America from 1774. Violins and ‘cellos were well-known, and the so-called German flute was as necessary
to a perfect eighteenth century gentleman’s outfit as his wig or powdered hair. The concert programs of the day give an
idea of the instruments that were most used, for many of them announce the instrumentation of the orchestras that
performed, as well as the instruments used by soloists. We have already learned that Gualdo’s concert in 1769 offered
solos on the violin, the German flute, the clarinet, the harpsichord, and the mandolin. Earlier than this, however, is an
account of the music played in the church at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Christmas Day, 1743. The instruments used
included the violin, the viola da braccio, the viola dagamba, flutes, and French horns. One of the earliest references to
trombones also comes from Bethlehem, PA when in 1754 a number of them were brought from Europe. It is recorded that
sometime in 1755 a number of tromhonists at Bethlehem warded off an Indian attack by playing chorales. Trumpets, too,
were known in America at an early date in the eighteenth century. It has sometimes been stated that wood-wind
instruments, the oboe and the bassoon especially, were not used to any extent until the latter part of the century, but
this is not accurate for there are early references to such instruments. In 1757 the Pennsylvania Gazette announced that
Mr. Charles Love, an actor, was wanted in Virginia for running away from a gentleman of that state “with a small white
horse and a very good bassoon’’.
In 1786 the proprietor the Pennsylvania Coffee House in Philadelphia announced that by desire of several gentlemen, lie
has proposed for the summer season to open a Concert of Harmonial Music, which will consist of the following instruments,
viz. Two clarinets Two bassoons Two French Horns One flute Another item from a later date indicated the standard type of
orchestra used at concerts. At an affair at Oeller’s House, Philadelphia, 1796, a supplementary orchestra of amateurs was
used to augment theconcertino or small hand of soloists which was constituted thus: First violin and leader of the band,
Principal cellos Double Bass, Principal Hauthoy [Oboe], Tenor Viol, Bassoon, trumpet, Horns, and other Violins.
This session’s topic is the American Revolution. As in the case of all sessions, there is some overlap with materials
from the previous session and the next session. Assignment: Scavenger Hunt, due Thursday, June 5th. Please see details in
“Assignments” Also, Discussion I, due Thursday, June 11th, can be done after completion of the readings and listenings.
Readings and listenings:
1. Ferris, pp. 52-59; 63-68; Listening examples 13, then Naxos Music Lbrary: 8.558165 Schuman: “Chester” [Listen to the
original (Ferris Listening Example 13) first. This one is William Schuman’s 1957 setting of Billings’ origina]l; also
Listening Examples 14, 15, and 16.
2. Music of Washington’s Time, Part II: Military Bands of the Revolution; Thomas Jefferson: On Planning an Orchestra;
Benjamin Franklin: On setting Words to Music; William Billings: Prefaces to The New England Psalm Singer and The Singing
Master’s Assistant
Military Bands of the Revolution
There are many contemporary references to the military bands of the day, and there has been much discussion as to what
they consisted of. It is probable that they were not the brass bands of our generation, but were rather fife and drum
corps. John C. Fitzpatrick, in his book, The Spirit of the Revolution, presents a number of arguments to support this
theory, and he also describes the function of fifes and drums in the Continental Army. Instead of the bugle, the drum was
used for military orders, with such signals as the Reveille, the General, the Assembly, the Retreat, and the Taptoo which
became Taps. Many of the flute books of the period are filled with marches, scored for two flutes, which would seem to
indicate that flutes, and in the case of army bands, fifes, were used in two-part arrangements. There are only a few
references to contradict the belief that fifes and drums were the sole instrumentation of American bands in the
eighteenth century, especially during the period of the Revolution. Among these is an account of a concert conducted by
Josiah Flagg of Boston, with a program of “vocal and instrumental musick accompanied by French horns, hautboys [oboes],
etc., by the band of the 64th Regiment”. This was in 1771, and of course the 64th Regiment was a British organization,
not American. It is known that Flagg organized a band himself, but there is no account of the instruments it contained.
The printed version of a Federal March, played in Philadelphia in 1788, contained directions for “trumpets”. This,
however, was seven years after the Revolution.’ An interesting item is found in an edition of Kotzwara’s sonata, The
Battle of Prague, “adapted for a full band” by J. C. C. S[c]hetky, published in Philadelphia in 1793. The word “band”,
however, is misleading, for the edition has parts for basso, violino, and cannon (“to be played on a drum”.) The piano
score has directions for horn call and trumpet. No doubt hauthoys [oboes] were sometimes used with the fifes, although
the 1756 account of The Philadelphia Regiment consisting of upwards of 1000 able bodied effective men [who] “after being
review’d and performing the manual Exercise [marched] thro’ the town in Three Grand Divisions . . – with Hautboys and
Fifes in Ranks [and] Drums between the third and fourth Ranks,” referred to an English rather than an American regiment.
Yet the music of the fife and drum, if these were indeed the only instruments used in Continental bands, was often
stirring, and inspired soldiers to action. The old English tunes, “The Girl I Left Behind Me,” ” The British Grenadiers,”
as well as “Yankee Doodle” and the marches of the day were widely played by the fifers. The drum major and the fife major
were persons of distinction in the army.
Planning an Orchestra By Thomas Jefferson
In a letter of June 8, 1778, in the very midst of the American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson was dreaming of the day when
he might establish a private orchestra at Monticello, on the pattern of the manorial bands then common among European
landowners. His dream of an American Esterhazy was fated never to be realized, but it is inter¬esting to note that among
his plans for the promotion of the good life in the land of freedom, the founding of orchestras was not neglected:
“Music . . . is the favorite passion of my soul….The bounds of an American fortune will not admit the indulgence of a
domestic band of musicians, yet I have thought that a passion for music might be reconciled with that economy which we
are obliged to observe. I retain among my domestic servants a gardener, a weaver, a bind-maker, and a stone-cutter, to
which I would add a vigneron [vine-grower]. In a country [like Italy] where music is cultivated and practised by every
class of men, I suppose there might be found persons of those trades who could perform on the French horn, clarinet,
hautboy, and bassoon, so that one might have a band of two French horns, two clarinets, two hautboys, and a bassoon
without enlarging domestic expenses. A certainty of employment for half a dozen years, and at the end of that time to
find them if they choose, a conveyance to their own country, might induce them to come here on reasonable wages. – –
On Setting Words to Music by Benjamin Franklin From the “Pennsylvania Magazine” 1776
[Benjamin Franklin’s keen interest in problems of musical style and his considerable knowledge of the techniques of
composition are revealed in a letter he wrote from London. The statesman’s brother had sent him a poem from America, with
the request that Franklin find a composer in England to set it to music. The fact that Franklin, replying, preferred a
melody “made by some country girl in the heart of Massachusetts” to the mannered style of the sophisticated English
composers reveals two things of interest. First, it is evidence that folk singing and the ability to make melodies for
words were very much alive among common Americans of pre-Revoltutionary days. Second, it attests the Preference of the
most civilized of the Founding Fathers for our native folk style, as against the over-refined techniques of Europe.
Franklin’s indictment of Handel was perspicacious, and in a sense still holds today, for the German composer was in fact
indifferent in his musical treatment of the English language. Finally, the Philadelphia printer’s analysis of the
violence done our mother tongue by opera composers and singers might well be studied in many music conservatories and
singing studios even today.—Elie Siegmeister]
(Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Mr. Peter Franklin) “DEAR BROTHER: I like your ballad, and think it well adapted to the
purpose of discountenancing expensive foppery, and encouraging industry and frugality. If you can get it generally sung
in your country, it may probably have a good deal of the effect you hope and expect from it. But, as you aimed at making
it general, I wonder why you chose so uncommon a measure in poetry, that none of the tunes in common use will suit it.
Had you fitted it to an old one, well known, it must have spread much faster than I doubt it will do from the best tune
we can get composed to it. I think, too, that if you had given it to some country girl in the heart of Massachusetts who
has never heard any other than psalm tunes, or Chevy Chase, the Children in the Wood, the Spanish lady, and such old,
simple ditties, but has naturally a good ear, she might more probably have made a pleasing, popular tune for you, than
any of our masters here, and more proper for your purpose; which would best be answered if every word, as it is sung, be
understood by all that hear it, and if the emphasis you intend for particular words could be given by the singer as well
as by the reader; much of the force and impression of the song depending on these circumstances. I will however, get it
as well done for you as I can. Do not imagine that I mean to depreciate the skill of our composers here; they are
admirable at pleasing practiced ears, and know how to delight one another; but in composing songs, the reigning taste
seems to be quite out of nature, or rather the reverse of nature, and yet, like a torrent, hurries them all away with
it—one or two, perhaps, only excepted. You, in the spirit of some ancient legislators, would influence the manners of
your country by the united powers of poetry and music. By what I can learn of their songs, the music was simple,
conforming itself to the usual pronunciation of words, as to measure, cadence, or emphasis, etc.; never disguising and
confounding the language by making a long syllable short, or a short one long when sung. Their singing was only a more
pleasing because a melodious manner of speaking; it was capable of all the graces of prose oratory, while it added the
pleasure of harmony. Most modern songs, on the contrary, neglect all the properties and beauties of common speech, and in
their place introduce its defects and absurdities as so many graces. I am afraid you will hardly take my word for this;
and therefore I must endeavor to support it by proof.
Here is the first song I lay my hand upon; it happens to be a composition of one of our greatest masters, the ever famous
Handel. It is not one of his juvenile performances before his taste could be improved and formed; it appeared when his
reputation was at the highest, is greatly admired by all his admirers, and is really excellent in its kind. It is called
the “Additional favorite song in Judas Maccabeus.” Now, I reckon among the defects and improprieties of common speech the
following: (1) Wrong placing the accent or emphasis by laying it on words of no importance, or on wrong syllables. (2)
Drawling; or extending the sound of words or syllables beyond their natural length. (3) Stuttering; or making many
syllables of one. (4) Unintelligibleness; the result of the three foregoing united. (5) Tautology; and (6) Screaming
without cause. For the wrong placing of the accent or emphasis, see it on the word “their”, instead of the word “vain,”
in the following instances. With their vain— Mys-te-ri—ous art— And on the word from, and the wrong syllable, like: God
– like wis-dom from a–bove For the drawling, see the last syllable of the word wounded: Who can heal — the wound-ed
heart. For the stuttering, see the ne’er relieve, in Ma – gic——– charms can ne’er—— relieve you Here are four
syllables made of one, and eight of three; but this is moderate. I have seen in another song (that I cannot find)
seventeen syllables made of three, and sixteen of one; the latter, I remember, was charms, viz:
cha-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-arms.——Stammering with a witness! For the unintelligibleness, give this whole song to any taught
singer, and let her sing it to any company that have never heard it; you will find that they will not understand three
words in ten. It is therefore that, at the oratorios and operas, one sees with books in their hands all those who desire
to understand what they hear sung by even our best performers. For the tautology, you have it in the endless repetitions.
As to the Screaming, no one who has frequented our operas but will painfully recall instances without number. I send you
enclosed the song, with its music at length. Read the words without the repetitions. Observe how few they are and what a
shower of notes attend them. You will then, perhaps, be inclined to think with me, that though the words might be the
principal part of an ancient song, they are of small importance in a modern one; they are in short, only a pretense for
singing.
I am, as ever, Your affectionate brother, B. FRANKLIN P.S. I might have mentioned inarticulation among the defects in
common speech that are assumed as beauties in modern singing. But as that seems more the fault of the singer than of the
composer, I omitted it in what related merely to the composition. The fine singer, in the present mode, stifles all the
hard consonants, and polishes away all the rougher parts of words that serve to distinguish them from each other, so that
you hear nothing but an admirable pipe, and understand no more of the song than you would from its tune, played on any
other instrument. If ever it was the ambition of musicians to make instruments that should imitate the human voice, that
ambition seems now reversed, the voice aiming to be like an instrument. Thus, wigs were first made to imitate a good
natural head of hair; but when they became fashionable, though in unnatural forms, we have seen natural hair dressed to
look like wigs.”
[While the compositions of Billings and the musical enthusiasms of the Founding Fathers seemed to augur well for the
early development of a genuine American music, it was not in the realm of the opera and concert that this was to take
place. For almost a hundred years, Americans created little of importance in the so-called higher forms. It was from this
fact that there arose the myth of American unmusicality that plagued us for so long. Although we can find little of
importance in American artistic music during the whole nineteenth century, once we turn from the concert hall and opera
house to the places where plain Americans have lived —the prairies and mountains, farms and river-boats, lumber camps,
cotton fields, village churches and dance halls—we find a rich, vital body of common music created by our forefathers
ever since the country was young.—Elie Siegmeister]
Prefaces to “The New England Psalm Singer” (1770) and “The Singing Master’s Assistant” (1778) By William Billings
THE NEW ENGLAND PSALM SINGER PREFACE To All Musical PRACTITIONERS: “Perhaps it may be expected by some, that I should say
something concerning rules for Composition; to these I answer that Nature is the best Dictator, for all the hard dry
studied Rules that ever was prescribed, will not enable any person to form an Air any more than the bare Knowledge of the
four and twenty letters, and strict Grammatical Rules will qualify a Scholar for composing a Piece of Poetry, or properly
adjusting a Tragedy, without a Genius. It must be Nature, Nature must lay the Foundation, Nature must inspire the
Thought. But perhaps some may think I mean and intend to throw Art entirely out of the Question, I answer by no Means,
for the more Art is display’d the more Nature is decorated. And in some sorts of Composition, there is dry study
required, and Art very requisite. For instance, in a Fugue, where the Parts come in after each other, with the same
Notes; but even there Art is subservient to Genius, for Fancy goes first, and strikes out the work roughly, and Art comes
after and polishes it over. – – For my own Part, as I don’t think myself confin’d to any Rules for Composition laid down
by any that went before me, neither should think (were I to pretend to lay down Rules) that any who came after were any
way obliged to adhere to them, any further than they should think proper. So in fact I think it is best for every
Composer to his own Carver. Therefore upon this Consideration, for me to dictate, or pretend to prescribe Rules of this
Nature for others, would only be very unnecessary, but also a great Piece of Vanity. It would be needless in me to
attempt to set forth the Usefulness and Importance of Psalm-singing, which is so universally known and acknowledged, and
on which depends no inconsiderable Part of the Divine Worship of our Churches. But this much I would say, That he who
finds himself gifted with a tunable Voice, and yet neglects to cultivate it, not only hides in the Earth a Talent of the
highest value, but robs himself of that peculiar Pleasure, of which they only are conscious who exercise that Faculty….
Boston, October 7, 1770.
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE GENEROUS SUBSCRIBERS FOR THIS BOOK: The Author having to his great loss deferred the Publication of
these Sheets for Eighteen Months, to have them put upon American Paper, hopes the delay will be pardoned; and the good
Ladies, Heads of the families into whose hands they may fall, will zealously endeavour to furnish the Paper Mills with
all the Fragments of Lumen they can possibly afford: Paper being the Vehicle of Literature, and Literature the Spring and
Security of human Happiness.” [This was during the boycott on all British imports—a boycott of which Billings, a good
patriot, heartily approved.—E. S.]
[Billings did not believe in praising the Lord in solemn hymn tunes sung in dreary fashion, but urged his readers to sing
his “Fuguing Tunes’ with energy and resolution:—E. S.] If you fall in after a rest in your part you must fall in with
spirit, because that gives the Audience to understand another part is added, which perhaps they would not be sensible of
if you struck in soft. In ‘fuguing’ music you must be very distinct and emphatic, not only in the tune but in the
pronunciation; for if there happens to be a Number of voices in the Concert more than your own, they will swallow you up.
Therefore in such a case I would recommend to you the resolution (though not the impudence) of a discarded actor who
after he had been twice hissed off the stage, mounted again and with great assurance thundered out these words, ‘I will
be heard.’ [In his first volume, Billings had informed the reader that he had a second all prepared and ready to be
issued. But the Revolution intervened, and it was not until eight years later that The Singing Master’s Assistctnt—later
known as Billing’s Best—made its appearance, with the following address to the reader:—E. S.]
THE SINGING MASTER’S ASSISTANT PREFACE
No doubt you (do, or ought to) remember that about eight years ago, I published a Book entitled, The New England Psalm
Singer, etc. And truly a most masterly and inimitable Performance I then thought it to be. Oh! how did my foolish heart
throb and beat with tumultuous joy! With what impatience did I wait on the Book-Binder, while stitching the sheets and
putting on the covers, with what extasy, did I snatch the yet unfinished Book out of his hands, and pressing it to my
bosom, with rapturous delight, how lavish was I, in encomiums on this infant production of my own Numb Skull? Welcome;
thrice welcome; thou legitimate offspring of my brain, go forth, my little Book, go forth and immortalize the name of
your Author; may your sale be rapid and may you speedily run through ten thousand Editions, may you be a welcome guest in
all companies and what will add tenfold to thy dignity, may you find your way into the Libraries of the Learned. Thou art
my Reuben, my first born, the beginning of my strength, the excellency of my dignity, and the excellency of my power. But
to my great mortification, I soon discovered it was Reuben in the sequel, and Reuben all over; for unstable as water, it
did not excell. But since I have begun to play the Critic I will go through with my Criticisms, and endeavor to point out
its beauties as well as deformities, and it must be acknowledged, that many of the pieces are not too ostentatious, to
sound forth their own praises; for it has been judiciously observed, that the oftener they are founded, the more they are
abased. After impartial examination, I have discovered that many of the pieces that Book were never worth my printing, or
your inspection; therefore in order to make you ample amends for my former intrusion, I have selected and corrected some
of the Tunes which were most approved of in that book and have added several new pieces [Sic], which I think to be very
good ones; for if I thought otherwise, I should not have presented the book to you. However, I am not so tenacious of my
own opinion, as to desire you to take my word for it; but rather advise you—purchase a Book and satisfy yourselves in
that particular, ad then, I make no doubt, but you will readily concur with me in this certification, viz., that the
Singing Master’s Assistant, is a much better Book, than the New England Psalm Singer. And now Reader I have more to say.”
[Billings’ most popular song was “Chester.” An ardent lover of independence, the composer had already published the tune
with the following verse in 1770—six years before the Declaration of Independence: Let tyrants shake their Iron rod, And
slavery clank her galling chains, We fear them not, We trust In God, New England’s God forever reigns. By 1778 “Chester”
had become the Marseillaise of the Revolution, sung by every soldier from Maine to Georgia. But the original verse as not
enough for the fiery Billings, and when The Singing Master’s Assistant appeared it contained the following graphic,
embattled verses: “Howe and Burgoyne and Clinton, too, With Prescott and Cornwallis join’ d, Together plot our overthrow,
In one Infernal league combined. “When God inspired us for the fight, Their ranks were broke, their lines were forc’d,
Their ships were Shelter’d in our sight, Or swiftly driven from our Coast. “the foe comes on with haughty Stride, Our
troops advance with martial noise, Their Vet’rans flee before our Youth, And Gen’ rals yield to beardless boys. “What
grateful Off’ring shall we bring, What shall we render to the Lord? Loud Hallelujahs let us Sing. And praise his name on
ev’ry Chord.” Although Billings’s music was widely sung throughout early New England, and he was a protégé of Governor
Samuel Adams, he lived in the traditional manner of all composers—in poverty. Like Mozart, when he died in 1800 there was
no money to purchase a tombstone. He lies in an unmarked grave, somewhere on Boston Common.—Elie Siegmeister.]
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