The program for “And Music was the Cornerstone,” a concert slated for Sunday, May 5 at 3 p.m. at St. George’s Church, 105 Grand Street, Newburgh, has been announced.
The concert is a benefit for St. George’s Cemetery, the final resting place of William Burnet Tuthill, the architect of Carnegie Hall and his wife, Henrietta Corwin Tuthill, a Newburgh native and professional musician. The concert will include choral and instrumental music by their son, Burnet Corwin Tuthill, a distinguished man of music. He composed more than 95 musical works.
On the program are “ Fantasy Sonata”, Opus 3, for clarinet and piano (1932). It was his first major instrumental work, and in his opinion, his best work. “Nocturne”, Opus 4, for flute and strings (1933), was dedicated to his flutist daughter, Anne Tuthill and was his gift for her 14th birthday. “Concerto”, Opus 50 for tenor saxophone with piano (1965) and “Concerto”, Opus 54 for trombone with piano (1967) are also on the program as is “Chip’s Piece “, Opus 40, for clarinet and piano (1959) which was dedicated to Richard J. Reynolds, Ill, his daughter Anne’s son. “Two Snacks for a Lonesome Clarinet “, Opus 60, #2, (1959) will be the first Tuthill instrumental work to be performed on the program. It was the last work of Tuthill, a clarinetist, to feature the instrument he had studied from the age of fifteen.
The concert also celebrates the 128th anniversary of the official opening of Carnegie Hall on May 5, 1891. The opening music will be the hymn, “Old Hundred”, the well-known hymn that led off the festivities on that Tuesday evening at 8.
According to The New York Sun, many in the audience rose and sang with those on stage, joining in the familiar words that praised “God from whom all blessings flow.” It was a musical expression of gratitude. Its notes were the first public notes to resonate in the main Music Hall. Later that week Tchaikovsky’s choral work “Legend” had its American debut with Tchaikovsky himself conducting. The reviews praised “Legend” for the richness of its music. It will be performed at the concert.
Also to be heard at the concert is “America” which was sung by the chorus and the audience on opening night. The final song on the program is the hymn, “For All the Saints”. This hymn was not part of ceremonies at Carnegie Hall then. It will be sung and played to remember the Tuthills, Andrew and Louise Carnegie, all those associated with making the Hall a reality, and all those who have gone before having lived lives of service, including all who lie at rest in St. George’s Cemetery, Newburgh.
The music advisor and choral director for the concert is Bruce Winslow.
The cemetery committee also thanks Carol J. Binkowski, the author of “Opening Carnegie Hall : The Creation and First Performances of America’s Premier Concert Stage “ for her encouragement and assistance. Mrs. Binkowski will be in the audience. The committee also owes a debt of gratitude to Helen Reynolds Patterson, a great-granddaughter of Carnegie Hall’s architect, a granddaughter of composer Burnet C. Tuthill, and the daughter of Anne Tuthill Reynolds for loaning us family materials as resources and for traveling from the south to attend the concert and carry with her a scrapbook she compiled on the life and work of William Burnet Tuthill.
We are also highly indebted to William Burnet Tuthill And Henrietta Tuthill for their family life where music was indeed the Cornerstone starting from the point when they met when William and his beautiful voice sang in the choir in church in New York City where Henrietta was the organist. And from the day of his birth, November 16, 1888, their only child was exposed to the avid musical interests of his parents, and he was born shortly after his father returned from singing “Elijah” with the Oratorio Society of New York. At home in New York City, Henrietta gave her son piano lessons from age 5. She also played four-hand arrangements of the symphonies of Haydn, Mozart. Beethoven, and Brahms with her sister Frances. Burnet C. Tuthill later recalled, “In those days it was the only way to hear music unless it happened to be on a orchestra program--too early for recordings.”
General admission is $15, with students and seniors (65+), $10. All tickets are at the door. For more information, go online to stgeo105@verizon.net or call (845) 561-5355.