Drumroll, please..."Making Music in Early America" opens at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, March 28, 2024


Drumroll, please..."Making Music in Early America" opens at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
Harpsichord by Jacob Kirkman. London, England, 1762. Museum Purchase, 1997-76.



WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- In the 18th century, music was everywhere: in the workplace, the military campsites, the quarters of the enslaved, the church, the theater, the ballroom and the home. Music was an essential part of life that helped foster a sense of community, whether people were accompanying the organ in song at church or enjoying an impromptu concert at home. Making Music in Early America, a new exhibition to open on August 20, 2022, in the Mark M. and Rosemary W. Leckie Gallery at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, one of the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, will envelop visitors in the musical world of the 18th and 19th centuries.

As told through more than 60 instruments and their accessories, the social history and material culture of early American music will be revealed. This is the first exhibition to show the full scope of Colonial Williamsburg’s musical instruments collection including some pieces that were recently acquired. It is scheduled to remain on view through December 2025. Organized in five sections featuring music in the home, in religion, in education, in public performance and in the military, Making Music in Early America will include harps, organs, violins and other string instruments, fifes, flutes, a bassoon, a grand harmonicon, drums, horns and much more. While the instruments are fascinating in and of themselves, the musicians who played them and their roles in society take center stage in this exhibition.

“Colonial Williamsburg has been collecting early musical instruments for more than 90 years, but we have never before had the opportunity to show the full range of the collection,” said Ronald L. Hurst, the Foundation’s Carlisle H. Humelsine chief curator and vice president for museums, preservation and historic resources. “Supported by examples of original sheet music and paintings of early Americans playing their instruments, this exhibition will place these remarkable objects in their rich, historic context.”




Among the many highlights of Making Music in Early America is a barrel organ, or hand organ, made by Longman, Clementi & Co. in London, England, ca. 1789-1801. It is a hand-cranked organ that could be played inside the home on demand with no musical talent required. The organ barrels operated much like a music box and included dance music, religious music and military marches. They produced music on demand similar to a juke box or record player, if one had the strength to crank the handle and switch out the barrels to change the tunes. In the September 17, 1767, edition of The Virginia Gazette, an item advertising a similar instrument read: “Just Imported from London, a VERY neat HAND ORGAN, in a mahogany case, with a gilt front, which plays sixteen tunes, on two barrels; it has four stops, and every thing is in the best order. The first cost as 16£ sterling, and the Lady being dead it came in for, any person inclining to purchase it may have it on very reasonable terms. Inquire at the Post Office, Williamsburg.”

“This incredibly diverse collection of musical instruments offers us ways to tell the stories of the people who lived here during the 18th and early 19th centuries by examining who interacted with these instruments and why,” said Amanda C. Keller, Colonial Williamsburg’s manager of historic interiors and associate curator of household accessories who organized this exhibition. “The instruments become even more fascinating when you discover who played them and what role music played in society.”

One of the earliest hunting horns known in American collections is another featured object in the exhibition. Simple hunting horns were being made in the American colonies as early as 1765, but the majority were imported from Europe like this brass horn, made by Johannes Leichamschneider in Vienna, Austria, ca. 1715. As hunting horns were worn by the rider, they were easily battered. As a result, early hunting horns rarely survived, and this is an outstanding example that scholars come to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to study. Although the horn section may have been modified over time and updated, the bell is original. Only one other just like this example survives with a history of use at Mount Vernon. It is recorded that George Washington’s enslaved valet, William Lee, performed the important duties of Huntsman, tending to the horses and hounds, as well as blowing the hunting horn during fox hunts at Mount Vernon and other estates. Although the history of Colonial Williamsburg’s hunting horn is unknown, it illustrates the once-prominent role played by free and enslaved huntsmen in the early South.

Revolutionary War military instruments are especially rare, and this brass “Hessian” drum, from the Frebershausen area in the Hesse-Kassel region of what is now Germany, ca. 1770-1785, is another featured object to be on view in Making Music in Early America. It was brought over by one of the many so-called Hessian units hired by the British to fight in the American Revolution and was most likely captured by American forces. Made of brass, this drum still has some secrets to reveal: Colonial Williamsburg’s experts, with the aid of colleagues across the Atlantic, are researching to which regiment it belonged and are using the painted colors around the top and bottom bands to help solve its mystery.

Also included in the exhibition will be ways for visitors to be able to hear the sounds of four of the instruments (banjo, harpsichord, organized piano and musical glasses) as well as an opportunity to see a musician play an organized piano (the period term indicating the addition of several organ stops playable from the same keyboard). Additionally, guests will be able to use an interactive touch screen to view an extraordinary music book in the Colonial Williamsburg collection that was owned by Peter Pelham (1721-1805), an English-born American organist, harpsichordist, teacher and composer. Born in London, Pelham and his family immigrated to Boston in 1730. While there, Pelham’s father apprenticed him to Charles Theodore Pachelbel, son of composer Johann Pachelbel who is known for “Canon in D,” which is still popular today. Pelham followed Pachelbel to Charleston in 1736, and remained there for a number of years, studying with Pachelbel and later becoming a harpsichord teacher himself. Pelham returned to Boston in 1744 to serve as the first organist of Trinity Church. In 1750 Pelham moved to Williamsburg, to serve as organist at Bruton Parish Church. While in Williamsburg Pelham actively participated in the city’s musical life, giving concerts and teaching young ladies to play the spinet and harpsichord. Additionally, he supported himself and his family by serving as clerk to the royal governor, supervisor of the printing of money, and keeper of the Public Gaol. The music book that will be on view includes music that Pelham enjoyed as well as some of his original compositions. It has never been on view before, and although the original book is too fragile to be placed on view, this digital interactive will allow visitors to page through the book and see the music for themselves.










Today's News

August 20, 2022

That painted Greek maiden at the Met: Just whose vision is she?

Drumroll, please..."Making Music in Early America" opens at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg

U.S. ship sunk by Germans in 1917 is found off English coast

Richard Saltoun opens a major exhibition dedicated to trailblazing feminist artists Rosa Lee and Jo Bruton

GRIMM announces the representation of London-based painter Francesca Mollett

Pérez Art Museum Miami opens 'Christo Drawings: A Gift from the Maria Bechily and Scott Hodes Collection'

List Center unveils major new public art commission by Agnieszka Kurant

CHART announces the public programme for its celebratory 10th edition

MAKI Gallery opens a solo exhibition by Kamakura-based artist Anne Kagioka Rigoulet

Academy Art Museum shows significant works in 'Fickle Mirror: Dialogues in Self-Portraiture'

2022 edition of Zürcher Theater Spektakel: New works by Ragnar Kjartansson, Lina Lapelyt ė and Meg Stuart

Rare, historic powder horns, swords and pistols featured at Bonhams Skinner

LA-based nomadic art collective takes the show on the road with its first national exhibition in Denver

Cantor Art Gallery commissions large-scale painting by Justine Hill to mark the opening of its new home

Trisha Brown on the beach: Catch a wave of dancing bliss

There's a new billboard in town, and you can walk in

A conductor comes into his own in the opera pit

Abdul Wadud, cellist who crossed musical boundaries, dies at 75

A Ukrainian orchestra speaks with quiet intensity

J. Garrett Auctioneers announces Part 2 of items from T. Boone Pickens collection

Columbia names a new Dean for its Architecture School

Art Gallery of NSW unveils new 20th-century galleries

Steve Jobs' Apple-1 Computer prototype sold for $677,196 at auction

Apollo Art Auctions presents connoisseur's selection of expertly vetted ancient and Islamic art, August 28

How art work benefits therapy among people?

Luvmehair Throw on and Go Wigs: Hassle-Free Hair Solution

Top 7 Most Famous Sports Betting Losses in History

Most beautiful piece of the jewel; Moissanite Rings

HOW TO TRAVEL WITH A FULL-TIME JOB

How to Create a YouTube Channel Step-by-Step




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

sa gaming free credit
Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful