“Music for La Fayette: a Bicentennial Concert”
Come celebrate the 200th anniversary of General Lafayette’s grand US tour (including a visit to Culpeper!) with renowned music historians David & Ginger Hildebrand for a concert of special period music.
David & Ginger will don period attire to perform music heard in 18th- and 19th-century Virginia. Much evidence of Lafayette’s 1824/25 tour survives, especially that related to music and dance. Americans were thrilled to celebrate both Lafayette and Geore Washington on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Revolutionary War.
Come here songs, dance tunes, arranged from historical sources. Some of the selections involve newly composed music and lyrics, while others are parodies: that is, new lyrics set to old familiar tunes. “Auld Lang Syne,” “Yankee Doodle,” and that of our national anthem were common melodic choices. Regardless of the melody chosen or new composed, the lyrics for Lafayette songs are forcefully positive, idealistic and heartily celebratory. How wonderfully he must have basked in such musical glory!
This afternoon’s concert therefore illustrates how American music of the 1770s through 1820s served to express the thoughts and hopes of Americans within the current musical styles.
The Hildebrands will explain and demonstrate their instruments, including the harpsichord, hammered dulcimer, violin, and Spanish & English guitars -- interpreting various musical traditions, featuring both the formal and less refined aspects of music in early America.
David & Ginger specialize in researching, recording, and performing early American music. Since 1980 they have presented concerts and educational programs throughout the country and abroad at museums, historic sites, schools and universities. Mount Vernon, The National Gallery of Art, The National Archives, and Colonial Williamsburg are among their many past sponsors. Having produced seven CD recordings, the Hildebrands also have appeared on radio and television, supplying soundtrack materials for PBS specials and "History Detectives," among other programs. In 1999, they co-founded The Colonial Music Institute (www.colonialmusic.org), since donated to and now directed by George Washington’s Mount Veron.
Ginger holds an M.M. and David an M.A. and Ph.D. She teaches privately and at the Severn School, and she also performs with Ensemble Galilei. David consults and lectures widely, and he teaches American Music history at The Peabody Conservatory. His book Musical Maryland: A History of Song and Performance from the Colonial Period to the Age of Radio was published in 2017 by Johns Hopkins University Press.
As always, we depend on donors to make this series happen. To find out how you can support the concert series -contact the church office -office@culpeperbaptist.org
