BRIDWELL-BRINER, KATHRYN EILEEN, DMA the Horn In
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BRIDWELL-BRINER, KATHRYN EILEEN, D.M.A. The Horn in America from Colonial Society to 1842: Performers, Instruments, and Repertoire. (2014) Directed by Dr. Randy Kohlenberg. 294 pp. The purpose of this study was to address an aspect of the history of the horn neglected in traditional horn scholarship—that of the horn in America from the development of colonial society (ca. 1700) to the early days of the antebellum era (ca. 1840). This choice of time period avoided the massive influx of foreign musicians and exponential growth of American musical activities after 1840, as well as that of the general population, as this information would become too unwieldy for anything but studies of individual cities, regions, or specific musical groups. This time frame also paralleled the popularity of the horn virtuoso in Europe given so much attention by horn scholars. Additionally, all information gathered through examination of sources has been compiled in tables and included in the appendices with the intention of providing a point of reference for others interested in the horn in early America. This survey includes a brief introduction, review of literature, the ways in which the horn was utilized in early America, the individuals and businesses that made or sold horns and horn-related accoutrements such as music, tutors, crooks, and mouthpieces as well as an examination of the body of repertoire gleaned from performances of hornists in early America. THE HORN IN AMERICA FROM COLONIAL SOCIETY TO 1842: PERFORMERS, INSTRUMENTS, AND REPERTOIRE by Kathryn Eileen Bridwell-Briner A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Musical Arts Greensboro 2014 Approved by ________________________________ Committee Chair © 2014 Kathryn Eileen Bridwell-Briner To Griffin Joshua Briner and Cole Jameson Briner ii APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation written by KATHRYN EILEEN BRIDWELL-BRINER has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair__________________________________ Committee Members__________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ ____________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee _________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................1 II. HORN PLAYERS IN AMERICA ...................................................................9 III. EQUIPMENT .................................................................................................33 IV. REPERTOIRE ................................................................................................48 V. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................72 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................78 APPENDIX A. GUIDE TO ABBREVIATIONS ..............................................................98 APPENDIX B. HORN PLAYERS ..................................................................................113 APPENDIX C. PERFORMANCES ................................................................................130 APPENDIX D. MORAVIAN PERFORMANCES .........................................................174 APPENDIX E. EQUIPMENT .........................................................................................209 APPENDIX F. DOMESTIC SERVANTS ......................................................................273 APPENDIX G. TEACHERS ...........................................................................................279 iv CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The horn has a rich and vibrant history that has been documented by such authors as Bernhard Brüchle, Birchard Coar, Horace Fitzpatrick, Robin Gregory, John Humphries, Kurt Janetzky, Reginald Morley-Pegge, and Hans Pizka. Researchers have focused on those aspects of the horn as they developed and were utilized in Europe. This European emphasis seems reasonable given that the majority of the development of the horn as a musical instrument took place on that continent; however, just as the horn has been a part of the diaspora of man through Europe and Asia when men and women traveled to the new lands of North America, so too did the horn. The purpose of this study was to address an aspect of the history of the horn neglected in traditional horn scholarship—that of the horn in America from the development of colonial society (ca. 1700) to the early days of the antebellum era (ca 1840). This choice of time period avoided the massive influx of foreign musicians and seemingly exponential growth of American musical activities after 1840, as well as that of the general population, as this information would become too unwieldy for anything but studies of individual cities, regions, or specific musical groups. This time frame also paralleled the popularity of the horn virtuoso in Europe given so much attention by horn scholars. An examination of extant records, both physical and digitized, was undertaken in an attempt to answer the following questions: 1 1. What is currently known about the horn1 and hunting horn in early America? 2. Who were the horn players in America? Were there musicians who only played the horn? 3. What playing opportunities were there for the hornist in early America? Was it possible for horn players to earn a living by way of music? 4. How were horn players trained in early America? What educational materials were available for the hornist? And by extension, what can be determined about the performance practices of hornists active in early America? 5. What horns and accoutrements were available in early America? Were only fixed-pitch horns and hunting horns available? Were horns with crooks available? If so, what systems of crooks were used by American hornists? Were horns with valves available during the time surveyed? 6. What repertoire was performed by hornists active in early America? Additionally, all information gathered through examination of sources was compiled in tables and included in the appendices with the intention of providing a point of reference for others interested in the horn in early America. To date, extensive research on the horn in pre-twentieth-century America has not been undertaken. Scholars have focused on hornist/composer, Victor Pelissier (b. ca. 1740 - d. after 1819; active in America from 1792 until his death), in the few items available. Norman Schweikert addressed biographical and performance information of Pelissier in his article, “Victor Pelissier: America’s First Important Professional 1 In this document, the term "horn" includes all references to natural horn, hand horn, French horn, French concert horn, concert horn, waldhorn, cor d'orchestre, cor solo, and Inventions horn. Modern terminology for this type of horn also includes baroque horn and classical horn. The Baroque horn was more closely related to the hunting horn (trompe de chasse and parforcehorn) and therefore had a narrower taper to its bore with a smaller bell than that of the Classical horn. Players could still make both horns fully chromatic by the use of the hand in the bell to alter the size of opening. 2 Hornist.”2 Editor Karl Kroeger also wrote about Pelissier’s life in the introduction of 3 Pelissier's Columbian Melodies: Music for the New York and Philadelphia Theaters. However, as suggested by the title, the majority of this work was concerned with the compositions of Pelissier rather than with his experience as a performer on the horn. In “The Horn in Early America,” Jeffrey Snedeker addressed a somewhat broader scope of information than previous scholars regarding the horn in early America.4 Snedeker briefly described four horn players active in early America: Jonas Green, Victor Pelissier, Stotherd, and Widtl. Snedeker also discussed two American-published instrumental tutors both of which include instruction for the hand horn. All three of the horn resources discussed above contain valuable information, yet the writers relied heavily upon the research of others, including Oscar Sonneck and H. Earle Johnson, thereby neglecting many of the additional primary sources available in the latter half of the twentieth century. Although few items have been written specifically about the horn in America, writers have addressed the topic of music in early America. These books include those written by Simon Anderson, Warren Becker, Henry Brooks, Charles Claghorn, Benjamin Compton, Harold Gleason, H. Earle Johnson, Henry Lahee, Irving Lowens, Oscar 2 Norman C. Schweikert, “Victor Pelissier: America’s First Important Professional Hornist,” The Horn Call: Journal of the International Horn Society I, No. 1 (Feb 1976): 15-18. 3 Pelissier, Victor, and Karl Kroeger. Pelissier's Columbian Melodies : Music for the New York and Philadelphia Theaters. Recent Researches in American Music (Madison, Wisconsin: A-R Editions, 1984). 4 Jeffrey L. Snedeker, “The Horn in Early America,” in Perspectives in Brass Scholarship: Proceedings of the International Historic Brass Symposium, Amherst, 1995, Bucina: The Historic Brass Society Series, edited by Stewart Carter, no. 2 (Stuyvesant, New York: Pendragon Press, 1997). 3 Sonneck, Thomas Warner, and Richard Wolfe. Seemingly,