The Practitioners of Musick offer a program at the Abraham Staats House in South Bound Brook, New Jersey [March 23rd, 2024] that reflects both mid -to – late 17th and 18th century Dutch and English popular music of the sort that likely was or could be heard in New Netherlands and its capital New Amsterdam, located on the tip of Manhattan Island, and after 1664 when the English captured the city renaming it New York. Honoring James, Duke of York, brother of King Charles II who later reigned as James II adding the former Dutch colony to its North American territory.
New Netherlands was in effect a network of various settlements in the Hudson River region that included New Jersey. Household inventories in New Netherlands occasionally list various musical instruments such as lutes and “fluyten” or recorders and serve as testimony to a vibrant “high & low” musical culture. Music making was a collaborative endeavor drawing together player and listener alike and was thought to contribute to the felicity of social harmony.
Dutch “popular” instrumental “repertory heard will be drawn from such diverse collections as “T’Uitnement Kabinet” or “The Delightful Cabinet” and “Boerenliedjes” or “Little Farmer/ Country Dances” some with origins in Britain. Reflecting in some measure the multitude and influence of the cultural exchanges between the Netherlands and England during the reign of King William III and Queen Mary II. William was of the Dutch House of Orange Nassau and Mary Stuart, eldest daughter of James II.
Abraham Staats House 1740
Important among the many historic Dutch homesteads in New Jersey is the architecturally significant Staats family House dating from ca. 1740. The residence of patriot Abraham Staats, the house during the American War of Independence, served as the temporary headquarters for Baron von Steuben in 1779. The Baron was a Prussian military officer who played a leading role during the war by reforming George Washington’s Continental Army into a disciplined and professional fighting force. Acknowledging New Jersey as the Crossroads of the American Revolution, a march composed in honor of von Steuben will be played. Social activities included various amusements including dancing such as the grand entertainment held February 18th, 1779 in Pluckemin, New Jersey.
Additional English music as could be heard in the taverns, concert and assembly rooms of New York and New Jersey , country estates and rural environs [farm communities] will also be performed. Airs from The Beggar’s Opera [ the most often performed ballad opera in the American colonies following its 1728 London premiere ] , variation sets from a mid -18th century tune book and preceptor for the harpsichord by Robert Bremner [copies were owned by among others the Washington’s, Thomas Jefferson] and Country Dances drawn from a 1730 colonial New York dance manuscript compiled by James Alexander who would become Surveyor-General of New Jersey and later Attorney-General for New York.