Scan 309
The American history and encyclopedia of music .., 1908
8 lines. Read by computer on 10 September 2026. Printed page 265. See the scan on archive.org.
1many of them will be found lingering in and around the memories associated with the period when the parlor or cabinet organ was at its zenith.
3Musical instruments such as flageolets, flutes, hautboys, violins and bass-viols were advertised for sale in the American colonies as early as 1716. It was in Maryland and Virginia that these instruments chiefly were used, for the people of the southern colonies were the first in America to enjoy a musical life. Owing to the dearth of newspapers in this section of the country, however, we have but meager records of the musical happenings of the time. The people in the South were extremely fond of dancing, and from some of the old advertisements it is seen that many of the dancing-masters also gave lessons on the spinet, the virginal, and later on the harpsichord. The spinet and virginal were smaller instruments of the harpsichord order.
5The first American spinet was made in 1743 by Gustavus Hesselius of Philadelphia. Twenty-six years later the Boston Gazette published a notice concerning a spinet constructed by John Harris of that city, which it erroneously states to be the "first ever made in America." The earliest public mention of the harpsichord was in connection with a concert given in New York on Jan. 21, 1736, for the benefit of Charles Theodore Pachelbel. In announcing this concert the Weekly Journal states that Mr. Pachelbel will "perform the harpsichord part himself," with the "songs, violins, and German flutes by private bands." "A concerto on the harpsichord" is announced in a concert given in Charleston, S. C., in 1765 by Thomas Pike. Mr. Pike had come to Charleston a few months previously in the capacity of "dancing, fencing, and music-master." In the same year Hugh Maguire was teaching the young ladies of Annapolis to play on the spinet.
7The first public notice of the use of the pianoforte appears in the New York Daily Advertiser of Feb. 25, 1791. It is announced that "Mr. Kullin, pianist, acquaints the public of his intention to give a benefit concert with the
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