Hutchinson Family Singers
The group sang in four-part harmony a repertoire of political, social, comic, sentimental and dramatic works, and are considered by many to be the first uniquely American popular music performers.
The family lived in Lynn, Massachusetts in a 5.5 acre compound of multiple cottages on the southern slopes of what is now High Rock Reservation.
[1][2][3] In the 1830s, European itinerant entertainers such as the Austrian Tyrolese Minstrels and the Strassers toured the United States and whetted American appetites for groups who sang in four-part harmony.
In 1843, Jesse wrote "The Old Granite State", a song about the Hutchinson family, their origins in New Hampshire, and their itinerant lifestyle.
[5] American newspapers of the time were trumpeting "native talent", and critics responded favorably to the Hutchinsons' early concerts, although they did express misgivings about the group's song selection.
Russell does so, and it is to thousands one of the best points of his singing.When the Hutchinsons' advertised in the Herald on May 13, 1843, that their program featured "their most popular Quartettes, Trios, Solos, such as have not failed to please fashionable audiences in Boston and many other cities and towns in New England",[8] the Tribune responded: They need not fear in New York to give us songs embodying Sentiment as well as those of a descriptive or humorous character.
[8]After a performance at the New York Society Library on May 17, the Tribune was more approving: Their style of singing is admirable—simple, sweet, and full of mountain melody.
Their voices are all rich and dear, and their whole execution is in a most chaste and grateful style... Mr. Hutchinson not only sang "The Maniac" but acted it—and that in a manner not only perfectly chaste and without offending delicacy and decorum but with clear adherence to truth and great effect...[9]The Tribune still disapproved of their song choices, asking "How can they choose [their programs] so badly?"
It includes the line, "Among our free hills are true hearts and brave, / The air of our mountains ne'er breathed on a slave.
Judson missed these performances, as he had committed suicide by hanging himself in 1859, in the cellar of John's home known as the Daisy Cottage.
The Hutchinsons sang a musical rendition of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "We Wait beneath the Furnace Blast",[29] which was a recasting of the Lutheran hymn, "Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott" (itself based on Psalm 46), and provoked quite a reaction from attendees who objected to the tune's anti-slavery lyrics.
But interspersed are song selections performed by a small group of vocalists known as the "New Hutchinson Family Singers" (really members of the Eastman Chorale).
They perform four songs made famous by the "old" Hutchinson Family Singers: "The Old Granite State", "The Pauper's Funeral", "Get Off the Track", and the humorous "Calomel", which is about the chemical compound used as medicine, and sung (like "We Wait beneath the Furnace Blast") to the tune of "Ein Fest Burg".
This record album contains seventeen songs made popular by the Hutchinsons, including "The Old Granite State" and "Get On Track", but also lesser known ballads such as "Axes to Grind", "The Cot Where We Were Born", and "The Humbugg'd Husband".
Also featured is the famous "Welcome to Jenny Lind",[31] composed by Jesse Hutchinson (lyrics by Bernard Covert) to greet the Swedish Nightingale on her U.S. tour, 1850–52.
Recorded at Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., with accompanying violin (Marilyn McDonald), cello (Kenneth Slowik), guitar (Howard Bass), piano and melodeon (director James Weaver), the album attempts to reproduce the authentic sound of the Hutchinsons.
The cover art recalls the 19th century aesthetic of the time, with individual portraits of Abby, Judson, John and Asa Hutchinson.
The sixteen-page sepia-toned booklet features an illustrated history of the group written by James Morris, as well as notes and lyrics for each selection and biographical information each performer.
