Subscription concerts or in fact concerts of any kind seem to have gone out of fashion in Philadelphia, but in 1764 there was an awakening and a series of concerts was instituted, beginning January the nineteenth; “to be continued every other Thursday, till the 24th of May following. No more than 70 Subscribers will be admitted, and each, on paying Three Pounds for the Season, to have one Lady’s Ticket to be disposed of every Concert Night, as he thinks proper.”[165]
This then was a series of subscription concerts and must have been confined to the aristocracy of the town. The next year another series of such concerts was given,[166] so they were evidently quite successful. Of these concerts there has been no program discovered, but in the spring of 1765 there is a program of a concert, which is probably representative of the programs given at that time. The advertisement for this concert is of interest:
“On Wednesday evening the 10th Instant at the College Hall in this City was performed a solemn Entertainment of Music under the Direction of Mr. Bremner;[167] interspersed with Oratorios, by some of the young Students.... Nearly One Hundred and Thirty Pounds was raised for the Benefit of the Charity Schools belonging to the said College.”[168]
The program included overtures of Stamitz, Kelly, and Arne, and Martini, and a concerto of Geminiani; also, sacred songs, orations, and a violin solo.
Besides these exhibitions there were probably concerts of chamber music, as witness:
“Even in the last century [18th] it was usual for families to have meetings at their houses for their improvement in music. Governor Penn, who played the violin, had musical soirees every Sunday evening at his house in South Third Street, during a portion of the year. Dr. Adam Kuhn, himself an amateur, attended them.”[169]
The first definite mention of an orchestra was in 1767 when it was announced that the singing in the Southwark Theatre was “accompanied by a Band of Music.”[170] An estimate as to this orchestra is herewith given: violins, flute, harpischord, oboe, ’cello, trumpet, and, perhaps, French horn and drum.
There were sparks in the town, who also, indulged in serenading their lady loves, an account of which is given by an Englishman in a letter to his sister:
“Dear Sister, ... Pray (as old Polonious says) when you ‘was young and in love,’ did you approve of serenading? It is extremely in vogue here now. The manner is as follows: We, with four or five young officers of the regiment in barracks, drink as hard as we can, to keep out the cold, and about midnight sally forth, attended by the band, which consists of ten musicians, horns, clarinets, hautboys, and bassoons, march through the streets, and play under the window of any lady you choose to distinguish; which they esteem a high compliment. In about an hour all the blackguards who sleep upon the bulks, with gentlemen of a certain profession who sweeten the streets at night, are collected round, drawn by that charm which soothes a savage breast, and altogether make it extremely agreeable in a fine frosty morning.”[171]
In this letter are mentioned clarinets and bassoons, instruments possibly not common in Philadelphia. The band probably belonged to the regiment of which the writer was a member, and was very small compared to the regimental bands of to-day.