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In Performance at the White House - "A President's Day Party" 2/4/90 [OA 8310]
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In Performance at the White House - "A President's Day Party" 2/4/90 [OA 8310]
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This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
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George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
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Speech File Backup Files
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Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13704
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13704-004
Folder Title:
In Performance at the White House - "A President's Day Party" 2/4/90 [OA 8310]
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26
19
6
3
MUSIC
AT THE
WHITE HOUSE
* * *
A HISTORY OF
THE AMERICAN SPIRIT
Elise K. Kirk
STATE
LIFE
A Barra Foundation Book
1986
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS
Urbana and Chicago
JAN-26-90
FRI
17:10
Music at the White House
FIRTHPONDECT
FORTES
The first President's Palace at Number 3 Cherry Street, New York, as it
appeared in the 1850s, shortly before it was demolished. Ironically, Nelly
Custis practiced the piano several hours a day in the building that later housed
one of the nation's most flourishing piano manufacturers and music publishers,
Firth, Pond and Company (formerly Firth, Hall and Pond). Leslie's Weekly,
1856.
Philadelphia became the temporary capital, and there the Washingtons
occupied the home of Robert Morris, financier of the Revolutionary
War, until the president retired from office in 1797. Washington lived
on his beloved plantation at Mt. Vernon, Virginia, for slightly more
than two years before his death in 1799 at the age of sixty-seven.
Music at the president's home in those carly days was an intimate
amusement. If a "concert artist" performed for the Washington family,
it would have been one of Nelly's teachers, such as Alexander Reinagle,
a long-time acquaintance of Washington. Perhaps this gifted immigrant
composer ran through some of the tunes from his latest comic opera
for the president or tried out one of the fine new piano sonatas he
composed in the 1790s. Reinagle was often at the president's home
instructing Nelly. Another early "White House artist" was Nelly herself,
who was expected to perform for the ambassadors, foreign dignitaries,
and members of Congress who came to visit. Once she played for over
an hour in an attempt to "attune the souls" of "two homely Spaniards,"
one of whom she described as "a crazy count."3
8
Extended Page
3.1
was familiar with the bands attached to the army regiments that often
provided music for social functions during the Revolution. When he
brought Charles Lee to Valley Forge, for example, both generals were
entertained "with an Elegant Dinner and the Music Playing the whole
time.' "An elegant band of music" also played Andre Grétry's quartet
Ou peut on être mieux qu'au sein de S4 familles, most likely a tran-
scription from one of the popular French composer's operas. The piece
was played during dinner when Washington met with the Marquis de
Lafayette and Comte de Claude Saint-Simon in 1781.5 The year after
Washington left the presidency, the U.S. Marine Band was officially
formed on July 11, 1798, but it probably did not function as a social
ensemble until it was engaged by John Adams for the White House
on New Year's Day, 1801. The musical life of the pre-White House
era, however, was linked with the informal joy and ambience of the
art in many ways, and its graceful shadow permeated every aspect of
the president's spirit and that of his family.
Washington enjoyed music and the theater and was especially
fond of dancing. George Washington Parke Custis's Recollections noted
that the general was conspicuous for his graceful execution of the
minuet, a dance associated with European aristocracy and considered
old-fashioned by the turn of the century. At a time when some churches
called dancing "a pollution of the body," Washington's diaries are
filled with accounts of the various balls he attended. During his brilliant
inaugural ball on May 7, 1789, he danced with nearly every lady
except Mrs. Washington who could not make the long journey from
Mt. Vernon to New York in time to attend. Dancing was also an
important recreation at Mt. Vernon where Washington and his family
spent two to three months of the year during his presidency. Both
Nelly and Tub had dancing lessons, their teacher being the illustrious
James Robardet, "lately from Europe" who had "met with the general
patronage and applause of the first characters in America.'
Whenever he could, Washington attended plays (usually interspersed
with music), English ballad operas, or concerts sometimes five or six
times a season while he was president and a special box was reserved
for him at several of the theaters. In Williamsburg during 1771-72
he often attended the satirical productions of the Virginia Company,
whose repertory included John Gay's famous Beggar's Opera. With
its dialogue and familiar songs, The Beggar's Opera (1728) was one
of the earliest important examples of the ballad opera, a style of British
stage entertainment that flourished in the colonies. On July 10, 1787,
9
JAN-26-90 FRI 17:12
Washington
in Philadelphia Washington enjoyed James Townley's "sensational"
High Life below the Stairs, which was billed as a "concert" to circumvent
Pennsylvania laws forbidding theatrical performances. Washington was
known to have opposed what he felt were narrow-minded restrictions
against drama. In 1789 the bans were lifted in Philadelphia and four
years later in Boston.
One of the first musical events the president attended after taking
office was a bawdy little ballad opera called The Clandestine Marriage,
presented in New York City by the Old American Company on June
13, 1789. The president also lightened his cumbrous duties periodically
with renditions of Beau Strategem, The Lock and Key (called "a comic
opera in 2 acts"), The Way to Get Married, and Animal Magnetism,
all of which he saw in Philadelphia. The last two works were staged
on February 27, 1797, by the Reinagle-Wignell Company at the spacious,
elegant New Theater on Chestnut Street. But the general's favorite
was William Shield's little comic opera Poor Soldier, first performed
in London in 1783. Seated in an "elegantly fitted up" presidential box,
he watched this production at the John Street Theater off Broadway
in May 1789, shortly after taking office. Accounts of the event em-
phasized that a good time was had by all-with the exception of
Pennsylvania Senator William Maclay, "an exceedingly straight-laced
Republican, who recorded in his diary that he thought the play was
an indecent representation before ladies of character and virtue,' and
wished it had been one 'that inculcated more prudential manners.' 118
Sometimes President and Mrs. Washington would enjoy a fash-
ionable early dinner at 3:00 in the afternoon and then attend a long
show beginning at 5:00. On December 4, 1796, they saw such a pro-
duction at the South Street Theater. The Old American Company
presented 2 comedy called The Young Quaker or The Fair Philadelphian
by O'Keefe, "after which there was a 'pantomimic ballet' of the Two
Philosophers, a Musical Piece called The Children in the Wood, a
recitation of Dr. Goldsmith's celebrated Epilogue in the character of
Harlequin-the whole performance concluding with a Leap through
a Barrel of Fire."9 However unsophisticated these presidential artistic
tastes may seem, they reflected what was available to Americans
during the colonial and early national period. Long after their decline
in popularity in England, ballad operas continued to thrive in the
United States as truncated "afterpieces," and their catchy tunes were
performed separately in concerts or played on the pianoforte at home.
As more and more skilled European musicians migrated to the
United States after the Revolutionary War, concert life began to flourish
in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities as never before.
One of the most important immigrant musicians of this period was
English-born Alexander Reinagle, a composer, performer, and impresario
who dominated the musical life of Philadelphia for over twenty years.
Washington, who enjoyed concerts almost as much as theatrical events,
attended several of Reinagle's "City Concerts" while in Philadelphia
for the 1787 Constitutional Convention. On May 29, for example, he
heard works by Haydn and Sarti as well as by the local composers
11
JAN-26-90 FRI 17509
P.01
PRODUCTIONS, INC.
CAMERA
165 WEST PUTNAM AVENUE
GREENWICH, CT. 06830
(203) 661-7500
FAX: (203) 661-1020
FACSIMILE COVER SHEET
TO: Caroline Cawley
FAX # 202-4566218
FROM Stephan Chodorov
DATE 1/26/90
TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES INCLUDING THIS COVER SHEET 5
COMMENTS background for references to
Geo. Washington
JAN-30-90 TUE 15:24
P.01
PRODUCTIONS, INC.
CAMERA
165 WEST PUTNAM AVENUE
GREENWICH, CT. 06830
(203) 661-7500
FAX: (203) 661-1020
1
FACSIMILE COVER SHEET
TO:
Carolyn Cawley
FAX # 202-456-6218
FROM Lenda m.
DATE 1/30/90
TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES INCLUDING THIS COVER SHEET
/
COMMENTS and the book
muse at the White House
JAN-30-90
TUE
15:24
Conclusion
a degree of proficiency. With the possible exception of Adams's and
lefferson's administrations, the White House was never without at
least two pianos, often three or four. And while George Washington
was one of the first Americans to purchase an American-made piano
from Thomas Dodds in 1789), after 1830 all the pianos acquired by
the White House were American-made. For as the century progressed,
ingenious Yankee mass-marketing techniques brought top-quality, do-
mestically made instruments into thousands of American homes.
Music At The
The collections of music owned by presidential families-notably
those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Zachary
White House:
Taylor, Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford
Hayes, and Benjamin Harrison-are fine examples of the urban secular
A History of the
styles enjoyed by the amateur American pianist of the time. Every
variety of music is among these pages: opera airs, patriotic music,
American spirit
marches, dances, variations, ballads, and rousing battle pieces. To
Oliver Wendell Holmes the piano was a "wondrous box," and another
quotation from his poem "The Opening of the Piano" expresses the
Elise K. Kirk
feelings of many Americans: "For the dear soul knew that music was
a very sovereign balm / She had sprinkled it over Sorrow, and seen
its brow grow calm."
Few presidents in history have been as sensitive and receptive to
music as Abraham Lincoln. But Lincoln lived in an era during which
Univ. of Illonois Press,
music was a powerful art that sang presidents into office, marched
men to war, serenaded the lonely, and protested society's ills with
1986
greater intensity than ever before. From the 1840s through the period
of the Civil War, America's propensity for self-expression through
song seemed to forecast the nation's moods of more than a century
later. Sensitive, ingenuous, and urgent, these musical messages took
many forms. Lincoln, often moved to tears by the ballads of Stephen
Foster and the Hutchinson Family, was equally affected by patriotic
songs, such as Julia Ward Howe's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Grand opera was also a special pleasure for this president, who attended
nineteen productions while he was in office, claiming that "I must
have a change or I will die."
Opera in nineteenth-century America was more significant and
widespread than some historians have asserted. English light operas
with spoken dialogue, known as ballad operas, had been popular es-
pecially during the colonial period, just as the operettas of Gilbert
and Sullivan captured the American stage in the 1880s and 18gos.
But as early as 1810, New Orleans had a permanent grand opera
company, and New Yorkers heard their first foreign-language opera
in 1825. While grand opera was expensive to produce, many of the
latest French, Italian, and German operas were staged in American
theaters only months after they received their premieres in Europe.
And although opera was enjoyed as a fine social affair, it entertained
Americans outside the theater in countless piano arrangements and
transcriptions for concert bands that, from about 1840 into the early
twentieth century, drew thousands to the community bandstands. The
U.S. Marine Band, the White House "court ensemble" since 1801,
363
In Performance
Fub 4
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
1)
closing remarks
7 minutes
? Teleprompted
approx. 150 guests
Ameritech + guests
(sponsor)
performers guests
Bushi greats
WETA/WNET & guests
/
(Lange/Cawley)
January 29, 1989
12:00 P.M.
[PERFORM.DOC]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
IN PERFORMANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE
STATE FLOOR
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1990
[TIME] 5:00 approx 6:00
Thank you all. I know Barbara shares my gratitude for the
Tammy
wonderful music you've brought to the homes of millions of
Robinson
Americans listening tonight -- and to the house we live in. A
WETA
998-2609
house Barbara and I like to think of as "the people's house."
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln -- two presidents
Musilli
memo
whose birthdays we celebrate this month -- both would have loved
this concert.
"Music
At
The W.H." Washington, though he never lived in this house, made sure
by EliseKine
there was music and dancing wherever he lived. And Lincoln so
Stephen
loved music that some of his friends recalled seeing him "in
chodorol
(203)66/7505
tears" as he listened to a powerful passage.
Tonight, Miss LuPone's rendition of "Anything Goes proves
Musilli
what Americans have known since the 1920s: Cole Porter was a
memo
Robinson
national treasure.
(( And I personally liked that opening number -- with the line
Musilli
memo &
from Cole Porter: "What a Swell Party This Is. You did mean
Robinson
Republican, didn't you? ))
But I have to say, Miss Horne, that your singing "Make a
Musilli
Rainbow" touched a very special chord with me -- about the many
memo
Robinsm
children of the world, and the future all of them deserve to
inherit. It should be a future bright with possibility -- for
all of them. And it's up to all of us, to make it SO.
We can only imagine the effect that last song, "America the
Beautiful," would have had on men like Washington and Lincoln.
269
But we can know in our hearts -- and see in the very spirit and
character of the country we love -- that they are still with us.
So still stands the house they built on this continent. A
republic built on the enduring foundations of democracy.
Liberty. And the power of the individual.
It has endured for two centuries: Powerful, because of its
plurality. Empowering, because it respects individual liberty.
Compassionate, because it is inclusive -- and demands respect for
the dignity of all people.
You know, 1989 was a remarkable year for freedom, around the
world. We are fortunate to be living in this time of great
change -- and great promise.
So if freedom builds a house that endures, we must see that
it reaches widely, to all who would dwell there. So, too, the
earth is a home we must preserve and protect. And most of all,
we must look to the education, care, and direction of the coming
generation.
It is they who will see that democracy's house grows larger
with every passing year. May their voices sing the praises of
freedom in every corner of the world.
Thank you all. God bless you. And God bless the United
States of America.
# # #
HP
To: Laurie Firestone
From: John Musilli
In performances at the White House "A Presidents Day Party"
This concert is the last in the series "The House I Live In" (the
others in the series were presented at the time of Independence Day
1989 and Columbus Day 1989).
"A President's Day party", which will take place on February A and
be broadcast nationally on the facilities of the Public
Broadcasting service on February 14, celebrates Presidents George
Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
The "house I live in" is of course, the White House, and by
extension, the United states, the home to us all. Mention will be
freedom
made of the fact that George Washington was the only president who
builds
did not live in the White House--but all in all the concert is much
above
more of a party than a history lesson.
that drown
ever figgr
"Well, Did you Evah"--by Cole Porter gets us off to a rousing
start, with its theme "What A Swell Party This Is." (Most members
of the audience of the white House and the television audience will
remember it from the musical film "High society" starring Grace
Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby.
It will be sung here by all the participants-Marilyn Horne,
Jeffrey Osborne, Patti LuPone, Gary Morris and the members or the
pick Hyman trio--backed up by the President's own Marine Corps
Band.
The performances bring to this concert songs close to their heart,
songs that mean something special to them, and each is introduced
to make that connection.
The internationally renowned opera diva Marilyn Horne has long
admired the toasting song from "Lucresia Borgia", and the art song
possibilities in Simon and Garfunkel's popular hit "Bridge over
Troubled Waters". "Make a kainbow" was written especially for her
by Portia Nelson; it is about the may types and races of children
in the world--and our responsibility to them.
Patti LuPore sang "Anything Goes" to standing ovations for months
as the lead in the great Cole Porter musical when it was revived
in 1988-89 in New York city. This star of theater, film and
television has chosen a set of three American theater standards
that promises to bring any party to its feet.
7
SOCIAL OFFICE-
: : :
RCV BY:THE WHITE HOUSE
Jeffrey Osmond has been praised as having the "emotionalism of a
soul singer with the control of a jass man." His songs are love
songe and songs of happiness.
Gary Morris, with the big open-headed voice of a country music
singer, performs on stage and television as well as in concert.
Mis song "Wind Beneath My wings" has become a national hit. "Sring
Mim Home" is from "Les Miserables", in which Mr. Morris replaced
the show's lead in 1987. Dick Hyman's trio includes Bob Haggart
(double bass) and Gus Johnson (drums). They perform two up-beat
jass favorites from the mid-30's: "south Hampart street Parade" and
"Big Noise From Winnettka."
This "Presidents' Day Party" ends with the entire cast singing
"America the Beautiful"
E
SOCIAL OFFICE+
: 2:332PM : :
RCV BY:THE WHITE HOUSE
00111 US-
SOCIAL OFFICE:# 1
January 24, 1990
Ms. Laurie Firestone
Serial Secretary
The White House
Washington D.C.
Dear Laurie:
Here is the synopsis for the February 4th concert. Series will
follow on Monday.
If there are any questions, please call this Camera Three office.
I will be calling in from Kansas.
Sincerely,
John Mussille John
John Musilli
by Marjorie Williams
CC: Carolgn Cowley -
X 6218
L 2045662183
SOCIAL OFFICE-
: 2:31PM : :
RCV BY:THE WHITE HOUSE
IN PERFORMANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE
February 4, 1989
CONTACTS
Laurie Firestone X 7064
Kathy Fenton
Darry
Tammy Robinson
998-2609
WETA
Jackson Frost
998-2833
Stephan Chodorov
(203) 661-7500 - writer