Thomas Ryan in Boston - the 1840's

from Recollections of an old musician, pages 14-15:

Playing in this new theatre was for me an agreeable change. It had, for those days, quite a sizable orchestra. The leader sat facing the stage, and was for a long time the only first violin. We had but one second violin, one viola, one contrabass, no violoncello, one flute, two clarinets, one fagott, two horns, a trumpet, a trombone, and drums. The kind and quality of music played would nowadays strike one as queer. It consisted of overtures, quadrilles, polkas, galops—in short, mostly dance music. There was a total absence of so-called popular music, if we except a few quicksteps and…   more >>

 

 

 

Playing in this new theatre was for me an agreeable change. It had, for those days, quite a sizable orchestra. The leader sat facing the stage, and was for a long time the only first violin. We had but one second violin, one viola, one contrabass, no violoncello, one flute, two clarinets, one fagott, two horns, a trumpet, a trombone, and drums. The kind and quality of music played would nowadays strike one as queer. It consisted of overtures, quadrilles, polkas, galops—in short, mostly dance music. There was a total …   more >>

cite as

Thomas Ryan, Recollections of an old musician (New York City, 1899), p. 14-15. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1449564497346 accessed: 29 March, 2024

location of experience: Boston

Listeners

Thomas Ryan
Musician
1827-1903

Listening to

hide composers
Matrimonial Galop performed by Thomas Ryan

Experience Information

Date/Time the 1840's
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public

Originally submitted by Jo Reardon on Tue, 08 Dec 2015 08:48:18 +0000
Approved on Tue, 16 Feb 2016 09:27:04 +0000