Music

Music in the Colonies

Dancing was part of the social routine on all levels of society. Reverend Hugh Jones recommended that the College of William and Mary provide for dance lessons.

English men and women of this time were more musical than today. In Shakespeare’s day, a lute was commonly found in barber shops. Men and women of Massachusetts Bay Colony often took pleasure in music and used musical instruments as trading goods with the Indians. Psalm singing delighted the Indians.

In the late 17th century John Tufts of Harvard published A Very Plain and Easy Introduction to the Singing of Psalm Tunes. The whole book of Psalms faithfully translated into English metre was published in 1640. More commonly called the "Bay Psalm Book" it had frequent editions until the late 18th century.

Elsewhere in the colonies hymn singing was an important element in the musical experience of the people. Isaac Watts’ adaptations of the psalms revolutionized church music. They gave new variety and range to religious music. Presbyterians still refuse to approve Watts' hymns or versions of the psalms.

Earliest use of the organ in church services was in Philadelphia at the Gloria Dei Church in Philadelphia in 1703. Thomas Brattle brought the first organ to Boston and willed it to the Brattle Street Church when he died in 1713. The ordination of Justus Falckner in Gloria Dei Church in 1703 included viols, hautboys, trumpets and kettledrums. Falckner believed music would have an effect in soothing and civilizing the Indians. Johann Conrad Beissel wrote a treatise on harmony, composed hymns and was perhaps the earliest composer in the colonies to publish his works.

Concert music was performed in 1735 in the Sun Tavern in Boston.

Music in the 1700’s was mostly political because the Revolutionary war was going on and music was a way to find out about what was going on in the war. Most songs in the 1700’s were about war. For example ‘Yankee Doodle’s is about how George Washington led the Patriots to defeat the British at Boston. During the Revolutionary War colonists found out about the war by people singing about what was happening. Another type of music was religious music. The Puritans mostly listened to this music because it was another way to worship. The Puritans were very religious people. In the colonial times instruments like violins, viola, flutes, drums were played. During the Revolutionary War the British Army would have marching bands march behind the soldiers in battle. Those British marching bands were the first recorded marching bands in the world. The Colonial music period ended in 1750 when Classical music began.

Music that was popular in the 18th-century

The Classical Period lasted from 1750-1825. Some of the composers who dominated the Classical Period were Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig Von Beethoven. One of the most important 18th century operas was written by Mozart. He wrote the Italian the opera, "Seri." Beethoven contributed to all the categories of music. Beethoven wrote in these time periods: 1792-1802, 1802-1816, and 1817 till his death in 1827. The Romantic Period in music lasted from 1825-1900. Beethoven was one of the musicians in this period.

People in Tarrytown would go listen to music at the Music Hall. The Music Hall was built by William Wallace. It was built in 1885. The Music Hall cost $50,000 to build. It opened December 12, 1885. It could seat a total of 840 people. The orchestra could seat 47- people and the balcony could seat 370 people. The total amount of people who could come and be seated at the Music Hall was 840. It was first used for town meetings, concerts, and roller skating. Mae West and Sophie Tucker were some people who performed at the Music Hall. The Music Hall became the first theater to show moving pictures in Weschester in 1901. The Music Hall is National Historical Landmark. Friends of the Mozart Musical Arts Conservatory own the Music Hall.

This is a picture of the Music Hall when it was first built in 1885.

Music in 1900’s

The music in the 1900’s ranged from classical to techo. The whole country listened to the same music as in Tarrytown. Everyone went to the Music Hall to see plays, musicals, or other performers. Rock and Roll started in 1955. Teenagers in Tarrytown listened to this type of music because they liked it.

Then in the late 1960’s, Hippies came into New York and Upstate, and some hippies locatedwere in Tarrytown but not for long. The music popular around hippies was heavy rock and Rock and Roll. Then music in the 1970's, was disco. Many people in Tarrytown listened to disco. Still people went to the Music Hall to see performers. In the 1980’s music went punk, and it started being cooler. In the 1990’s music went everywhere. Now everyone listens to alternative, R+B, rap, ska and more cool stuff. So basically music in Tarrytown is really cool now, and it will always be good.

Bibliography

Brand,Oscar Songs of ‘76 A Folksinger’s History of the Revolution,M.Evans and Company ,INC.,New York,1977

Rockwell, John. All American Music: Composition in the Late twentieth century/John Rockwell.-- New York: Knopf, 1983.