The Trent House Association presents The Practitioners of Musick in a performance honoring the Scottish heritage of William Trent and celebrating the 300th anniversary of the house he built at the Falls of the Delaware in 1719.
The program, “Caledonia,” will include music for recorder and harpsichord composed by Bremner, Oswald, and Ramsey, among other Scottish masters, and will be performed in the historic house. The program will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at the William Trent House Museum, 15 Market St. (across from the Hughes Justice Complex), Trenton, N.J.
Born in Inverness, Scotland, Trent immigrated to Philadelphia and established himself as a very successful shipping merchant. In 1714 he acquired much of the land that now is the city of Trenton and in 1719 built his Georgian-style mansion on his plantation there. Entertainments he hosted would likely have included music by 17th and 18th century Scottish composers, which will be performed in the same rooms where Trent and his guests would have heard them.
John Burkhalter and Donovan Klotzbeacher founded the Practitioners of Musick to research and perform the musical riches of 17th and 18th century Great Britain and Ireland and the Colonial and Federal periods in America and have performed and lectured at libraries, museums, and historic sites throughout the region and beyond.
Tickets are $10 at the door and include light refreshments of Scottish and English fare. Visitors can also purchase decorated wreaths and arrangements and seasonal greens in the Visitor Center before or after the concert. Information is available at williamtrenthouse.org/music-of-scotland-in-the-1719-william-trent-house/ Free off-street parking is available.
