Revolutionary
With New Jersey being the third colony to become a state, many New Jerseyans had an early influence on New Jersey’s musical history.
Famous New Jersey Revolutionary Music Influencers
Francis Hopkinson
Born in Philadelphia October 2, 1737, he was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, author and composer. He designed Continental paper money and two early versions of flags for the United States Navy and the United States.
Hopkinson began playing the harpsichord at age 17 and is credited as being the first American-born composer to commit a composition to paper with his 1759 composition “My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free”. Some of his more notable songs include “The Treaty”, “The Battle of the Kegs” and “The New Roof, a song for Federal Mechanics”. In the 1780’s, he modified a glass harmonica to be played with a keyboard and invented the Bellarmonic, an instrument that utilized the tones of metal balls.
In 1776, he designed the Great Seal of New Jersey and as a delegate to the second Continental Congress was a signer of the Declaration of Independence representing New Jersey.
It is unclear when Mr. Hopkinson moved from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.
James Lyon
Born in Newark, NJ July 1, 1735, attending college at Nassau Hall which is now the oldest building standing on the Princeton University campus. The first evidence of Music composed by Lyon was in 1759 for a commencement at Nassau Hall. Many early historians have stated that his early work “Urania” was a failure, it was the first music collection compiled by an American composer and rather progressive and influential. He died October 12, 1794.