1798. Jan. 29. Park Theatre opened in New York City with a performance of a musical piece entitled "The Purse,—or American Tar." This theatre was, for twenty years, important in local musical history.
1798. April 25. First public performance of "Hail Columbia" by Gilbert Fox in Philadelphia. The words were written by Joseph Hopkinson Smith (1770-1842) and sung to the tune of "The President's March." First sung under the title of "Federal Song" but changed a few days later to "Hail Columbia."
1799. A "Musical Society" existed in Baltimore.
1799. "Euterpean Society" formed in New York City.
1799. "The Vintage," an American opera by Pellesier and Dunlap, produced in New York City.
CHAPTER III
1800-1825
In 1800 we find the first mention of the use of the bassoon. This was in Bethlehem, Pa., and it seems to complete the list of instruments for the average orchestra. Notwithstanding the record of the importation of oboes, many years earlier, and the fact that Graupner, one of the leading musicians in Boston about this time, was, or had been an oboeist, some historian has stated that even well into the nineteenth century there was only one oboe player in the United States, and he lived in Baltimore. Surely this must be an error.