American city in Pennsylvania. It is one of the country’s principal musical centres; the Philadelphia Orchestra and Curtis Institute of Music are known throughout the world. The city is also recognized for the excellence of its other educational institutions and for the Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music, housed at the Free Library of Philadelphia and the largest and most comprehensive collection of its type.
Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn of England on land granted to him by Charles II as a place of refuge for victims of religious persecution. The city prospered and soon became the largest in the colonies; it was the capital of the new nation (1776–1800) and its commercial and cultural centre until it yielded that position to New York about 1820. The original settlers were English Quakers who had little interest in music, but Penn’s hospitality to other religious groups ensured the growth of musical activities. German immigrants who began arriving about 1700 brought musical instruments with them, built organs, composed hymns and published more than 20 editions of German hymnbooks. Philadelphia was a leading centre for music printing; of the colonial hymnbooks in English, the largest and most significant was Urania, or A Choice Collection of Psalm-Tunes, Anthems, and Hymns, compiled by James Lyon (Philadelphia, 1761).
OTTO E. ALBRECHT (1–4, 6–8; 6 with NINA DAVIS-MILLIS), TOM DI NARDO (5)/EVE R. MEYER
During the colonial period, music-making took place mainly in the church, the home and the social club. The earliest known private concert was given in 1734, the first known public concert in 1757. Subscription concerts featuring a chamber orchestra were initiated in that year, including music by contemporary English, Italian, German and Bohemian composers, largely through the efforts of Governor John Penn and Francis Hopkinson, a distinguished statesman and amateur composer and performer.
After the Revolutionary War, a substantial number of professional musicians from Europe arrived in Philadelphia. Rayner Taylor, Alexander Reinagle and Benjamin Carr were the leading figures in the city’s musical life around the turn of the century. They had emigrated from England and were active as performers, composers, conductors, teachers and concert managers. About 1809, Frank Johnson settled in Philadelphia and soon gained recognition, despite prejudice against black American musicians, for the high quality and originality of his band’s performance of military and dance music. After his band’s visit to England in 1837, Johnson toured widely and introduced the ‘promenade concert’ to American audiences. With the inauguration of the Musical Fund Society in 1820 (see §4 below), musical activity in the city greatly increased. It was not until the second half of the 19th century, however, that the city had a resident orchestra of importance. Taking its name from an earlier group that had come from Germany in 1848, the Germania Orchestra, under the direction of Carl Lenschow, gave annual series of concerts from 1856 to 1895. The conductor and impresario Theodore Thomas also presented one or two concert series each season between 1864 and 1891. During the centennial celebration of American independence in 1876 the Thomas Orchestra gave concerts throughout the summer but, as the programmes were too weighty and the hall too far from the centre of the city to attract a large audience, Thomas suffered a great financial loss.
Concerts were given by visiting orchestras, including the Boston SO, the New York PO and the New York SO, from the 1890s to about 1926. The city’s own orchestra had its beginnings in spring 1900 when two concerts, under the direction of Fritz Scheel, were held for the benefit of the families of soldiers killed in the war with Spain in the Philippines. A guarantee fund was raised so that the Philadelphia Orchestra, with 85 musicians, could be formed, and its first concert was given, under Scheel, on 16 November 1900. Scheel quickly strengthened the orchestra by engaging players trained in Europe; he gave American premières of works by major European composers and introduced concerts for children in 1902. After his death in 1907 he was succeeded by Karl Pohlig, who returned to Germany in 1912.
The appointment of Leopold Stokowski as conductor in 1912 helped seal the orchestra’s eventual reputation as one of the world’s finest ensembles. His dynamic direction was constantly in evidence in his introduction of contemporary works to a conservative audience; he presented American premières of works by Busoni, Mahler, Skryabin, Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Varèse. He also experimented with the seating of the players and with orchestral sonorities. The orchestra gained national attention in 1916 with the first American performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony; 1068 musicians participated in nine performances. Under Stokowski the orchestra’s size was increased to 104 and it became widely known through its many recordings, beginning in 1917; through radio broadcasts, dating from 1929; and through three films, starting with The Big Broadcast of 1937. In 1933, with the assistance of telephone engineers, Stokowski pioneered stereophonic recording. In 1936 the Philadelphia Orchestra made the first of its many transcontinental tours, giving 36 concerts in 27 cities. Stokowski retained the title of conductor until he retired in 1941.
Eugene Ormandy was appointed music director in 1938, a post he held for an unparallelled 42 years, retiring in 1980 as conductor laureate. He was particularly admired for his development of the rich sonority for which the orchestra was celebrated. Beginning in 1949, he introduced the orchestra to audiences in South America, Europe and Asia; in 1973 the Philadelphia Orchestra became the first American orchestra to perform in mainland China. Riccardo Muti was music director from 1980 to 1992. His tenure was notable for its emphasis on contemporary music and for concert performances of complete operas. Wolfgang Sawallisch, music director from 1993, increased dwindling attendance by focussing on well-known composers. Many of the world’s great conductors and performing artists have appeared with the orchestra, beginning with the pianist Ossip Gabrilovich, who was soloist at the opening concert, and including Richard Strauss in 1904 and Weingartner in 1905. Rachmaninoff, who lived in Philadelphia for a period, performed and recorded there and dedicated several of his works to the orchestra.
The orchestra performs regularly at the Academy of Music, but the hall’s acoustics are inadequate for orchestral performances and unsuitable for recording; a new performing arts centre is scheduled to open in 2001. During the summer the orchestra plays for six weeks at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, an outdoor auditorium built in 1976 in Fairmount Park as the Mann Music Center, and renamed in 1999. Charles Dutoit was appointed artistic director and principal conductor of the summer season in 1990. Between 1930 and 1975 the orchestra gave outdoor concerts at the Robin Hood Dell, also in Fairmount Park.
Outdoor concerts have long been popular with Philadelphia audiences; between 1896 and 1920, for example, a concert series given at the suburban Willow Grove amusement park attracted thousands of listeners. During a three-month season, Frederick Stock with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra, Walter Damrosch with the New York SO and Victor Herbert with his own group gave two concerts a day over two to five weeks. Band concerts were also given under the direction of John Philip Sousa, Arthur Pryor and Giuseppe Creatore. A summer festival with indoor concerts was held at the suburban Ambler campus of Temple University between 1967 and 1980, and the Pittsburgh SO was in residence for about ten years.
Chamber orchestras and small ensembles were established in Philadelphia as early as the 1750s, and since that time countless amateur and professional organizations have been formed. Among the most prominent of the professional groups was the Curtis String Quartet (1932–81). The members were graduates of the Curtis Institute, and the quartet travelled widely and made many recordings. The Philadelphia String Quartet, made up of members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, was formed in 1959 and in 1967 became the quartet-in-residence at the University of Washington. Members of the Philadelphia Orchestra frequently give chamber music concerts. The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, established in 1986, brings prominent chamber groups and soloists to the city.
The Concerto Soloists, founded in 1965 by Marc Mostovoy, is the city’s principal professional chamber orchestra. In addition to its own subscription series, it performs at music festivals and accompanies various vocal groups. The Bach Festival, the Amerita Chamber Players, 1807 and Friends and the Mozart Orchestra are among the more than 60 non-profit musical organizations that are active in the region. Several ensembles specialize in the performance of early music on period instruments: the American Society of Ancient Instruments, founded by Ben Stad (1925); Philomel, the area’s foremost baroque ensemble (1976); Piffaro (formerly the Philadelphia Renaissance Wind Band, 1985); and the Philadelphia Classical Symphony, founded by Karl Middleman (1994). Groups specializing in contemporary music include Relâche (1977) and Orchestra 2001 (1988). The Network for New Music (1984) and the Composer’s Forum sponsor performances of music by living composers. The Hildegard Players, founded by Sylvia Glickman (1991), specializes in the music of women composers, past and present.
The earliest known performance of a musical drama in Philadelphia was Flora, or Hob in the Well, a ballad opera given by an English company in 1754. In 1757 Francis Hopkinson mounted an elaborate production of Thomas Arne’s masque Alfred. Both the Society Hall Theatre, built by David Douglass in 1759, and the Southwark Theatre, which opened in 1766 with Arne’s Thomas and Sally, staged productions of plays and operas given by the American Company. Although the Quakers and other religious groups expressed their moral opposition to theatrical performances, comic operas by leading British composers were frequently performed, often soon after their premières in London. In 1767 the first American ballad opera was announced: The Disappointment, attributed to Andrew Barton. The performance was cancelled because of the highly satirical plot and the work was not performed until 1976, although two editions of the libretto were published in the 18th century. During the revolutionary period expensive theatrical entertainments were prohibited, except during the time of the British occupation, and the ban remained in effect until 1789.
After the ban was lifted, Philadelphia became one of the nation’s main theatrical centres. The New Company, founded in 1792 by Reinagle and Thomas Wignell, recruited a large number of singers and composers from England. Although the principal repertory was from London, several composers who lived in Philadelphia wrote original operas; among the most successful were The Archers (1796) by Carr, The Volunteers (1795) by Reinagle and The Aethiop (1814) by Taylor. Of prime importance to the success of opera was the construction in 1793 of the New Theatre (later known as the Chestnut or Chesnut Street Theatre), the most splendid theatre in the USA (fig.1); it seated nearly 2000 people, and its design was based on the Theatre Royal at Bath in England.
Exceptions to the English character of the repertory were the performances by a troupe of French refugees from Santo Domingo in 1796–7 and by John Davis’s French Opera Company of New Orleans in 1827; the latter troupe enjoyed such success that it returned eight times over a 16-year period. Lorenzo da Ponte, a familiar figure in Philadelphia during his later years, was instrumental in bringing the first Italian companies to the city and in igniting an enthusiasm for Italian opera that has been maintained ever since. Rossini and Bellini were the most frequently performed composers by both the Montressor (1832–3) and the Rivafinoli (1834) opera companies. The immense popularity of Bellini’s La sonnambula (1836, with 61 performances over the next three years) almost dealt a death-blow to English opera. One of the few exceptions was The Enchantress by Michael Balfe, which was given 32 times within a ten-week period in 1846. Philadelphia saw the première in 1845 of the first American grand opera, Leonora by William Henry Fry, which was written in the Italian style and admired so much that it was performed 16 times that season. The Havana Opera Company introduced the operas of Verdi to the city in 1847.
With the erection of the Academy of Music in 1857, the city acquired the finest opera house in the country. Built by the Philadelphia firm of Napoleon Le Brun and modelled after La Scala, the house has three balconies, an impressive interior and nearly 3000 seats. It is the oldest existing opera house in the USA and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1963; it remains the principal opera and concert hall in the city. Many first American performances were given there, including Faust (in German, 1863), Der fliegende Holländer (in Italian, 1876) and Boito’s Mefistofele (1880). In the second half of the 19th century, two additional opera houses were opened: the Chestnut Street Opera House (1885) and the Grand Opera House (1888). With three houses available, the city was able to attract touring companies that featured the finest European stars. A number of American premières were directed by Gustav Hinrichs at the Grand: Cavalleria rusticana (1891), L’amico Fritz (1892), Les pêcheurs de perles (1893), Manon Lescaut (1894) and Hinrich’s own opera, Onti-Ora (1890).
The Metropolitan Opera of New York first appeared in Philadelphia in 1885, and in 1889 gave the first complete performance in the city of the Ring cycle, under Anton Seidl. From that time until 1968, when production costs became prohibitive, the company presented an annual season in Philadelphia, ranging from six to 25 performances a year. Oscar Hammerstein, challenging the supremacy of the Metropolitan, built an opulent 4000-seat theatre called the Philadelphia Opera House (1908). It was sold to the Metropolitan in 1910 and was renamed the Metropolitan Opera House. After 1931 it was seldom used and it was destroyed by fire in 1948.
Since the end of World War I many local opera companies have been formed; the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company (1924–30) gave the American premières of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Feuersnot, and the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company (1926–43) that of Berg’s Wozzeck(1931) with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Stokowski. The Pennsylvania Grand Opera Company (1927) was later re-formed as the Philadelphia-La Scala Company. After several mergers and name changes, the Civic Grand and the Lyric Grand emerged as the major opera companies in the city, performing primarily the popular Italian repertory. In 1976 they merged to form the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the only professional opera company in Philadelphia today. The local music schools regularly produce operas, and the American Music Theater Festival, founded in 1984 under Marjorie Samoff, occasionally presents contemporary operas.
Choral singing has flourished in Philadelphia since the end of the 18th century. In 1784 Andrew Adgate organized the Institution for the Encouragement of Church Music, renamed the Uranian Academy (1787–1800). The city’s large German population supported several singing societies. The Männerchor (1835–1962), the Junger Männerchor (from 1850) and Arion (1854–1969) have been disbanded, but Harmonie (1855) and eight other German choral groups remain active. Other important early choruses were the Abt Male Chorus, led successively by Michael Cross and Hugh Archibald Clarke; the Philadelphia Choral Society, conducted by Henry Gordon Thunder from 1897 to 1946; the Treble Clef Club (1884–1934) and the Eurydice Chorus (1886–1918), both for women; the Fortnightly Club (1893); the Palestrina Choir (1915–48); and the Accademia dei Dilettanti di Musica (1928–60). Still flourishing are the male-voice Orpheus Club (1872); the Mendelssohn Club (1874); Singing City (1947); the Philadelphia Singers (1971), the city’s principal professional choir; the Pennsylvania Pro Musica (1972); and the Choral Arts Society (1982).
What is probably the oldest music society in the USA in continuous existence was founded in February 1820 by a group of professional and amateur musicians who had been playing quartets for their own enjoyment for several years. Among the founders were the musicians Benjamin Carr, Rayner Taylor, J. George Schetky and Benjamin Cross, and the painter Thomas Sully, who made portraits of his fellow members. Inspired by the Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain, the society was dedicated to ‘the relief of decayed musicians and the cultivation of skill and diffusion of taste in music’. Its initial public concert was presented on 22 April 1821 and featured Beethoven’s Symphony no.2; in 1822 Haydn’s Creation was given by more than 100 performers to an audience of nearly 2000. The society maintained its own orchestra and around 1900 was actively involved in the establishment of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
William Strickland, a distinguished architect and member of the society, designed the Musical Fund Hall (1824), which was used for the society’s many concerts and for other musical and non-musical events. Noted for its fine acoustics, the hall attracted renowned artists such as Maria Malibran, Jenny Lind, Henriette Sontag, Adelina Patti, Henri Vieuxtemps and Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Die Zauberflöte had its first American performance there (1841, in English). The building fell into disrepair in the 20th century and was demolished in 1982 after repeated efforts to preserve it had failed; the façade remains but the hall itself has been replaced by a residential development. The society’s large music and document collection, which includes early editions and manuscripts of European music as well as music by Pennsylvania composers, went to the library of the University of Pennsylvania.
In the late 20th century the society focussed its attention on fostering the careers of emerging young artists and ensembles through the awarding of grants, scholarships and a Musical Fund Society Award for career advancement. The society also supports musicians and music education in the Philadelphia area, offers free public concerts and sponsors occasional competitions for new music. Most notable was the world-wide competition in 1928 in which the first prize was shared by Bartók, for his String Quartet no.3, and Casella, for the original version of his Serenata. The international competition is now sponsored by the society’s Edward Garett McCollin Fund; the 1994 prize was awarded to Judith Lang Zaimont for her Symphony no.1, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra in January 1996.
In the 19th century Philadelphia was an important centre for the composition, publication and performance of popular music, and by the second half of the century more than 100 composers were writing songs and dances for the theatre and salon. Minstrel shows were enthusiastically received, and in 1855 the first black minstrel theatre was opened. The local minstrel performer James Bland composed songs that attained phenomenal success, especially Carry me back to old Virginny (1878) and Oh, dem golden slippers (1879). The latter became the ‘theme song’ of the Mummers, who established clubs and formally inaugurated the annual tradition in 1901 of dressing in extravagant costumes and parading on New Year’s Day while performing on banjos, guitars, saxophones and glockenspiels. In the first half of the 20th century, more conventional bands played for dancing at the Woodside and Willow Grove amusement parks and in large hotels and ballrooms. Visiting big bands such as those of Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller and vocal soloists such as Frank Sinatra performed to standing-room-only crowds at the Earle Theatre.
Gospel singing, which was encouraged in the many black American churches, strongly influenced the development of popular music, and gospel groups such as the Clara Ward Singers performed internationally. At the height of their fame their recordings sold in the millions. Starting in the 1940s, Philadelphia became a significant centre for jazz performance with such noted groups as the Miles Davis Quintet, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and the John Coltrane Quartet in residence. Coltrane’s home is now a museum. A wealth of influential jazz musicians have had connections with Philadelphia, including the saxophonists Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Odean Pope and Grover Washington jr; the trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Lee Morgan; the cornettist Rex Stewart; the guitarist Eddie Lang; the singers Ethel Waters, Eddie Jefferson and Pearl Bailey; and members of the Barron, Bryant, Heath and Massey families.
Dick Clark’s ‘American Bandstand’ (fig.2), which began as a local television programme, was broadcast nationally from 1957 to 1964 and brought fame to many Philadelphia popular musicians including Frankie Avalon, Fabian and James Darren. Bill Haley and the Comets (from nearby Chester) were early pioneers of rock and roll in the 1950s, and Chubby Checker introduced the ‘Twist’ in the 1960s. By 1960 the city had become known for a distinctive brand of black American popular music often referred to as Philadelphia Soul. Among the best-known exponents of the style in the 1970s and 80s were Patti LaBelle and Teddy Pendergrass. Philadelphia Soul also influenced two local rock musicians who gained national fame, Daryl Hall and John Oates.
The city was an important recording centre. Philadelphia International Records, founded by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff in 1971, was responsible for many musicians who made hit recordings in the 1970s, and the expertise of Sigma Sound Studios led such well-known performers as Stevie Wonder to record in Philadelphia. In the early 1990s Boyz II Men, who formed their group at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, became successful recording artists.
Jazz clubs flourished in the city during the 1950s and 60s. Of particular importance was the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, initiated in 1966 by the Black Musicians’ Union. It was a thriving organization with 700 members, but along with many other jazz clubs it fell into decline during the 1970s and 80s. In the 1990s, with a renewal of interest, a large number of city and suburban jazz clubs opened. The Clef Club received funding for a new building (1995) with a 200-seat auditorium and classrooms for students. Mellon PSFS Bank sponsors an annual jazz festival and popular music events are held regularly at the Spectrum (a sports stadium), the Keswick Theatre, the Electric Factory, the waterfront and elsewhere. In the summer months, outdoor concerts are given at the Robin Hood Dell East and the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. The Philadelphia Folk Festival, held annually in a nearby suburb since 1962, continues to attract well-known performers.
The first institution for general musical instruction was the American Conservatorio (1822–54), founded by Filippo Trajetta. The Musical Fund Society established an academy of music (1825–32) but it was financially unprofitable. The two most significant music conservatories at the end of the 19th century were the Philadelphia Musical Academy and the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music (both 1870); they merged in 1963 and the institution, with an expanded curriculum, was renamed the Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts (1976). After its merger with the Philadelphia College of Art in 1985, the school was called the University of the Arts; it awards both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The Settlement Music School opened in 1908; from a student body of 40 in its first year it grew to approximately 7000 students at its five branches. It is the largest community arts school in the country and provides high quality music instruction for its students regardless of age, background or ability to pay.
The Curtis Institute of Music is one of the foremost conservatories in the USA. Founded in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok (fig.3), president of the school until her death in 1970, it offers scholarships in performance and composition and attracts world-renowned musicians as teachers. Well-known alumni include Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Lukas Foss, Gary Graffman (director of the Institute in the 1990s), Eugene Istomin, Jaime Laredo, Gian Carlo Menotti, Anna Moffo, Ned Rorem and Peter Serkin. It offers both BM and MM degrees and a professional diploma. The Academy of Vocal Arts (1935) is another highly regarded institution that awards scholarships to most of its students.
Two large universities offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in music. In 1875 the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1740) appointed Hugh Archibald Clarke professor of the science of music; this, one of the earliest chairs of music in an American university, was held by Clarke for 50 years. He concerned himself only with theory and composition; music history was later added to the curriculum but not performance, although the university maintains both choral and instrumental performing groups. In the 1960s the music department gained an international reputation in composition, musicology and music theory under the chairmanship of George Rochberg. The department continues to maintain a distinguished faculty and awards the BA, MA and PhD degrees in these fields as well as the PhD in ethnomusicology. The university’s music library, named after the musicologist Otto E. Albrecht, is recognized as one of the finest on the eastern seaboard.
The Temple University school of music dates from 1913, although honorary degrees in music were granted as early as 1897. A department of music education was initiated in 1923 and a separate college of music was established in 1962. In 1986 the New School of Music, founded in 1943 by the members of the Curtis String Quartet, merged with Temple to form the New School Institute, and in the same year the college was renamed the Esther Boyer College of Music in recognition of its benefactor. Temple University awards BM, MM and MMT degrees, the DMA in composition and performance and the PhD in music education. It offers performing experience in some three dozen ensembles, and it sponsors a Music Preparatory Division, a Community Music Program and a Center for Gifted Young Musicians.
In the nearby suburbs, undergraduate and graduate music degrees are awarded at Immaculata College and West Chester University. Other colleges, such as Haverford and Swarthmore, offer music courses and support choral and orchestral ensembles.
Philadelphia was the pre-eminent music publishing centre in the USA until about 1850, when it was superseded by New York. The earliest music published was in a hymnbook printed by Christopher Sauer in 1752, and the first publication to contain full pages of music using movable type was The Youth’s Entertaining Amusement, compiled in 1754 by William Dawson. Early music publishers were John Aitken (1787–1811), Thomas Dobson (1787–98), John Christopher Moller and Henri Capron (1793–4) and Filippo Trisobio (1796–8). Benjamin Carr, with his family and his associate J. George Schetky, published great quantities of music intermittently from 1793 until 1830. The firm of George Willig, established in 1794, was the leading publishing house in the first half of the 19th century; it was sold to Lee & Walker in 1856 and to Oliver Ditson in 1875. Other significant firms include George E. Blake (1803–c1850), Allyn Bacon, under various firm names (1816–80), John G. Klemm (1823–83), Fiot, Meignen & Co. (1835–63), G. André & Co. (1850–79) and W.H. Boner (1865–1900). J.W. Pepper (1876) moved to the suburb of Valley Forge in 1973 and within a few years became the largest retailer of instrumental ensemble sheet music in the USA. Theodore Presser’s firm moved to Philadelphia in 1884 and to the suburb of Bryn Mawr in 1949, acquired Oliver Ditson (1931) and Elkan-Vogel (1970), and became one of the foremost music publishing firms in the country. Presser is also known for its publication of the monthly musical magazine Etude (1883–1957) and for its charitable work. In 1906 the firm established the Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers, operated by the Presser Foundation. The foundation also provides music scholarships and grants to colleges for the construction of music buildings.
From its earliest history, the city has had capable instrument makers. The Swedish organ builder Gustavus Hesselius constructed harpsichords as early as 1742, and John Behrent produced the first piano made in the colonies in 1775. James Juhan advertised himself in 1783 as the manufacturer of a mysterious ‘great North American fortepiano’. Charles Albrecht began manufacturing pianos in 1789, and Charles Taws shortly thereafter; his sons continued the business until the 1830s. John I. Hawkins took out the first patent for an upright piano (‘portable grand’) in 1800. Thomas Loud jr began to manufacture pianos in 1816, and the business was continued by members of his family until 1854. From 1828 until 1878 Conrad Meyer was one of the country’s leading piano makers. The Prussian piano maker Johann Heinrich Schomacker settled in Philadelphia in 1837; his firm continued under later generations until about 1935.
Violin makers also have a long history in Philadelphia. John Albert, like many other Germans, came to the USA in 1848; his shop was continued by family members until about 1921. Other important violin makers include the shops of Carmen Primavera, established in 1888 and continued by the House of Primavera, and of William Moennig, established in 1909 and still active.
GroveA (‘Centennial Exhibition’, M.F. Schleifer)
C. Durang: ‘The Philadelphia Stage’, Philadelphia Sunday Despatch (1854, 1856,1860) [series of articles; compiled by T. Westcott as History of the Philadelphia Stage, between the Years 1749 and 1855, 1868, US-PHu; similar compilations as The Philadelphia Stage in PHlc, and History of the Philadelphia Stage in PHhs]
W.G. Armstrong: A Record of the Opera in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1884/R)
L.C. Madeira: Annals of Music in Philadelphia and History of the Musical Fund Society from its Organization in 1820 to the Year 1858 (Philadelphia, 1896/R)
O.G.T. Sonneck: Early Concert-Life in America (1731–1800) (Leipzig, 1907/R), 65–157
R.R. Drummond: Early German Music in Philadelphia (New York, 1910/R)
H.M. Lippincott: Early Philadelphia: its People, Life and Progress (Philadelphia, 1917)
J. Curtis: One Hundred Years of Grand Opera in Philadelphia (MS 1920, PHf, PHhs)
Pennsylvania Composers and their Compositions, ed. Pennsylvania Federation of Music Clubs (Philadelphia, 1923)
F.A. Wister: 25 Years of the Philadelphia Orchestra, 1900–1925 (Philadelphia, 1925/R)
A. Aston and J. Kelpius: Church Music and Musical Life in Pennsylvania in the Eighteenth Century, ed. Pennsylvania Society of the Colonial Dames of America (Philadelphia, 1926–47)
A.A. Parker: Music and Musical Life in Pennsylvania in the Eighteenth Century (Philadelphia,1926–7)
R.D. James: Old Drury of Philadelphia: a History of the Philadelphia Stage, 1800–1835(Philadelphia, 1932)
T.C. Pollock: The Philadelphia Theater in the Eighteenth Century (Philadelphia, 1933/R)
A.H. Wilson: A History of the Philadelphia Theatre 1835 to 1855 (Philadelphia, 1935/R)
R.A. Gerson: Music in Philadelphia: a History of Philadelphia Music, a Summary of its Current State and a Comprehensive Index Dictionary (Philadelphia, 1940/R)
G.M. Rohrer: Music and Musicians of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1940/R)
W.J. Perlman and S. Spaeth: Music and Dance in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware (New York, 1954)
D.W. Krummel: Philadelphia Music Engraving and Publishing, 1800–1820: a Study in Bibliographical and Cultural History (diss., U. of Michigan, 1958)
H. Kupferberg: Those Fabulous Philadelphians: the Life and Times of a Great Orchestra (New York,1969)
The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1970)
E.C. Wolf: ‘Music in Old Zion, Philadelphia, 1750–1850’, MQ, lviii (1972), 622–52
P. Hart: Orpheus in the New World: the Symphony Orchestra as an American Cultural Institution (New York, 1973), 139–68
J.J. Kelley: Life and Times in Colonial Philadelphia (Harrisburg, PA, 1973)
T. Cummings: The Sound of Philadelphia (London, 1975)
E. Southern: ‘The Philadelphia Afro-American School’, BPM, iv (1976), 238–56
E.J. Southern: ‘Musical Practices in Black Churches of Philadelphia and New York, ca.1800–1844’,JAMS, xxx (1977), 296–312
O.E. Albrecht: ‘Opera in Philadelphia, 1800–1830’, JAMS, xxxii (1979), 499–515
J.A. Taricani: ‘Music in Colonial Philadelphia: Some New Documents’, MQ, lxv (1979), 185–99
D. Webster: ‘The Curtis Institute: a Decade of Change’, High Fidelity/Musical America, xxx/3 (1980), MA20–22, 39 only
R.F. Weigley: Philadelphia: a 300-Year History (New York, 1982)
A.B. Ballard: One More Day’s Journey: the Story of a Family and a People (New York,1984)
J.F. Marion: Within These Walls: a History of the Academy of Music in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1984)
S.L. Porter: With an Air Debonair: Musical Theatre in America 1785–1815 (Washington DC, 1991)
K. Smith: Catalog of the Music of Pennsylvania Composers (Wynnewood, PA, 1992)
K.K. Preston: Opera on the Road: Traveling Opera Troupes in the United States, 1825–60 (Urbana, IL, 1993)
S.E. Murray: ‘Music and Dance in Philadelphia’s City Tavern 1773–1790’, American Musical Life in Context and Practice to 1865, ed. J.R. Heintze (New York,1994), 3–47
John Ardoin, ed.: The Philadelphia Orchestra: A Century of Music (Philadelphia, 1999)