1. Music in Early North America
America’s Musical Landscape th edition
Part 1:
Music in Early North America
Chapter 4: Secular Music in the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Federal Periods
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved 1

2. Secular Music in the Colonial, Revolutionary, and Federal Periods
Late 1720s: Public concerts began to be performed in some of the larger American cities
Simple and popular pieces were performed
Consisted of marches, dance tunes, program music, folk songs, popular songs from contemporary theater
Program music– Instrumental pieces purporting to imitate sounds of nature or to “tell” a story
Programmatic battle pieces, imitating the sounds of a battle, were popular
Yet for most of the eighteenth century, Americans showed little interest in formal concert music
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3. Music in Everyday Experience
American music included
home music
work music
music for entertainment
music for dancing
In rural areas work activities were social gatherings with singing, music, dancing
barn raisings
maple sugaring
corn husking
Music is Contagious
Painted by William Sydney Mount
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4. Music in Everyday Experience: New Orleans
New Orleans music must have been rich and varied due to the cultural diversity of its inhabitants
African
Native American
Caribbean
French
Spanish
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5. Music in Everyday Experience: Sheet Music and Instruments
Late 1700s: Music publishing was an important business
Sheet music for amateur musicians was popular
Simple vocal and piano pieces were called “household music”
More Americans had violins, guitars, oboes, flutes, keyboard instruments including
Harpsichords
Virginals—Small and often elaborately decorated
Fortepianos—The predecessor of the piano, but smaller and more delicate; produced varied dynamics as its name implies
Children and young women learned music by taking lessons from immigrant professional musicians
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6. Music in Everyday Experience: The Contributions of Servants
Talented African American and white servants were hired and expected to play music
African Americans sometimes supplied music for
Social dancing
Dancing schools
Taverns
Formal balls
The favored instrument to accompany dancing was the fiddle—smaller and lighter than today’s violin, with a louder and more vibrant sound
Fiddles: Used for the barnyard or ballroom
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7. Music in Everyday Experience: Prestigious Musical Amateurs
American amateurs became increasingly active
Many joined musical societies in larger cities
Musical societies presented instrumental or choral music mostly written by European composers
Professional foreign musicians
often joined with the amateur
performers for their concerts which lasted three or more hours
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8. Music in Everyday Experience: Prestigious Musical Amateurs
The first performances in America of important European symphonic and choral works were given by Moravian musicians
whose music and performances were of the highest quality
who were amateurs only in the sense that they composed and performed for enjoyment, not for money
who attracted audiences from long distances
including Benjamin Franklin and George Washington
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9. Prestigious Musical Amateurs: Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Jefferson was an amateur violinist who participated enthusiastically in music activities and
believed that the arts were meaningful only as they bore relevance to everyday life; i.e., must be practical to be worthwhile (a common belief of early Americans)
Jefferson believed the musical arts to be an essential part of the human experience
Jefferson enjoyed playing duets with Patrick Henry
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10. Prestigious Musical Amateurs: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Franklin played guitar, harp, and his popular invention, the armonica or glass harmonica; wrote verses for favorite tunes
He warned Americans not to cultivate taste for the arts before they were able to produce art
Considered Europeans to be musically superior
Complained that America had no musicians of European caliber
The glass harmonica
consisted of a series of
hollow, hemispheric glass
bowls or bells, each with a
short neck. The glasses
are mounted on a horizontal spindle, each fitted inside the next largest with a finger width of brim exposed on which to play. The performer
keeps the spindle turning
through a trough of water by working a pedal, producing a delicate sound by rubbing the wet rims of the glasses with the fingers.
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11. Prestigious Musical Amateurs: Songs in Early America
The first secular songs published in America were by Europeans, many from England, and usually were associated with theater
But while the singing school masters wrote religious songs to teach students, other amateur Americans began to write secular music
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12. Prestigious Musical Amateurs: Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791)
Francis Hopkinson, first secretary of the Navy, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was the first American to write art songs
An art song is intended for concert or recital performance
The song text is a high quality poem by a known poet
The expressive music is to enhance the poem’s meaning
Performed in original language so as not to mar translations
American art songs were suitable for amateur musicians
Hopkinson’s art songs were European in style
But his songs had texts often based upon American subjects
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13. Early American Theater
Musical theater became popular in some areas during the 1730s
European professional musicians performed in concert halls and theaters
Theatrical performances made these musician/composers’ music popular and provided them with a living
These professionals provided performance and educational opportunities previously denied colonial Americans
Early centers of theatrical music activity included
Charleston, North Carolina
Williamsburg, Virginia
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14. Early American Theater During Wartime
1778: Continental Congress decreed that “frequenting Play Houses and theatrical entertainments has a fatal tendency to divert the minds of people from a due attention to the means necessary for the defense of their country and preservation of their liberties”
Congress banned all theatrical performances at that time
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15. Early American Musical Theater Grew in Popularity…
As interest in music and the theater moved north to New York and then Philadelphia
Philadelphia dominated the music scene
Theater patrons included
George Washington
Overruled the Quakers’ disapproval of theater
Declared that theater elevated one’s manners
Yet audiences in cheaper seats (called the gallery) were rowdy, yelling at performers, demanding favorite songs, vocally criticizing the performance, tossing bottles and fruit onstage and into the pit
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16. Early American Musical Theater Offered a Potpourri of Entertainment
Performances, often four to five hours, included
A main drama
Plus a shorter, lighter, often comic piece
Music was added even into nonmusical plays
Musical entertainment occurred between the dramatic pieces and after the comedy
A march played at the end as the audience left to attend a nearby dance
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17. Early American Musical Theater: Composers in America
1781: A short musical play credited to Francis Hopkinson may have been America’s earliest original musical theater work
But Hopkinson probably just set new words to existing music
Foreign professionals dominated the American popular music stage, significantly affecting the development of music in America17
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18. Early Bands
1777: Washington issued an order requiring military music be provided to American troops
The first American military bands were established at that time
Consisted of drums and small flutes called fifes
Called fife and drum corps
Many of the members were African American
These bands had uses including announcing
Beginning and end of the day
Mealtimes and activities
Commands on the battlefield that could not otherwise be heard over musket fire
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19. Early Military Bands: History
Colonial military bands began to develop to be like European bands
1792: American laws standardized the formation of American military bands to resemble European models
Included woodwinds, brass and percussion
1798: President John Adams signed into law the creation of the United States Marine Corps
Included thirty-two drummers and fifers, drum major, fife major
Added later: Two horns, two clarinets, bassoon, bass drum
1801: This band performed for Jefferson’s inauguration
1830: Brass instruments became significant members of military bands due to improvements to these instruments (valves added)
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20. Early Bands: New Orleans
Eighteenth-century New Orleans had its own strong musical heritage
Military bands played a prominent role
Black musicians, slave and free, provided music for balls and parades
Blacks dominated the transition of the military funeral parade to a civic custom
First Battalion of Free Men of Color’s band included people identified as Creole-of-Color = Partly European, active in French-dominated city culture
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21. Listening Example 16 Yankee Doodle (excerpt) Anonymous
“Yankee Doodle” was a
favorite tune played by
American military bands to
entertain the public
First appearing in print in
1782, the British first sang
the song to make fun of
the Yankees, who later
adopted it as their own,
adding countless verses
of text
Yankee Doodle (excerpt)
Anonymous
Listening guide page 65
Tune: Origin of tune and meaning of title are unknown
Meter: Duple
Form: Strophic
Hear the high-pitched fifes carry the tune, while drums mark the rhythm with distinctive beats and rolls
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22. Part 1 Summary
The earliest North American music was that of American Indians
Ritual, dance, ceremony, work
Songs sometimes accompanied with
percussion instruments
flute
Contemporary Native American music reflects traditions and new styles, some borrowed
New songs remain a potent source of power in American Indian culture
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23. Part 1 Summary: Beginning in the Sixteenth Century
Europeans came to settle in the New World
Native Americans in Florida and Southwest missions learned Roman Catholic music and European secular music
German and English speaking Protestants established permanent settlements in America
Brought hymns, psalm tunes, folk and other secular music
The first book printed in America was a psalter, the Bay Psalm Book
Slaves sang work songs and other songs of African custom
European Americans sang ballads and played fiddle tunes
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24. Part 1 Summary: Singing Schools
Early efforts to improve singing in New England’s churches led to the forming of singing schools
Singing school masters composed their own tunes
Singing school masters became the members of The First New England School of Composers
Their music was uniquely American
William Billings, Daniel Read, and others composed
Psalm tunes, hymns, fuging tunes, patriotic songs for singing school, church, home
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25. Part 1 Summary: Eighteenth Century Secular Music
Americans’ musical tastes became more secular and varied
Music supplied entertainment at home, at concerts, and theater
People learned to play instruments and sing
Musical societies formed to perform instrumental and choral music
Amateurs performed in recitals and composed songs and keyboard music
Moravians composed music of unprecedented complexity and quality among other early American compositions
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26. Part 1 Summary Concluded
Public concerts and musical theater had become a popular form of entertainment by the middle of the eighteenth century
European musicians were involved with early American theater
European musicians adapted popular European plays and ballad operas to suit the less sophisticated American taste
Band music became increasingly popular
Fife and drum corps, as well as military bands
Played public concerts
Performed military functions
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27. Image Credits
Slide 3: “Music is Contagious,” painted by William Sidney Mount ( ) ©COREL
Slide 7: “Eighteenth-century chamber music concert” ©CORBIS
Slide 20: “Taylor, the Drummer Boy of the 78th United States Colored Infantry Regiment, Poses Proudly With His Drum” ©CORBIS
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