Biography
James Hewitt served as an American conductor and composer during the late Classical era, exerting considerable influence through his foundational contributions to the nascent musical culture of the United States. Born in England in 1770 to a father who held the rank of captain in the British navy, he briefly followed the same naval path before leaving it to pursue music. Sparse records survive concerning his formative years, yet a 1791 edition of songs and marches indicates that he resided in Preston near Liverpool prior to relocating to New York the next year. Already a skilled performer upon reaching American shores, he asserted that he had trained under Haydn in London, an unverified claim that nevertheless secured him immediate employment leading the Park Street Theater Orchestra. In that capacity he directed the first American performance of Haydn’s Seven Last Words in 1793.
Hewitt wed Eliza King in 1795; the couple later raised six children, each of whom pursued a musical career. Around this period he produced arrangements and original pieces that mirrored prevailing commercial tastes, among them the well-received piano sonata The Battle of Trenton, inscribed to George Washington, as well as lighter theatrical scores such as Indian Chief and Tars from Tripoli and programmatic works like the Overture in Nine Parts, Expressive of a Battle. An enterprising figure, he purchased the New York branch of Carr’s Musical Repository, where he marketed instruments and printed music, offered private instruction, and issued hundreds of publications featuring both his own compositions and those of fellow English musicians.
In 1805 Hewitt assumed conducting duties at Boston’s Federal Street Theater while also serving as organist at Trinity Church. He relinquished his New York orchestral post in 1808 and transferred his household to Boston three years later. Following five years there, he and his two eldest sons returned to New York. Between 1820 and 1825 he journeyed repeatedly among New York, Boston, and various locales in Georgia and the Carolinas. Circa 1826 an operation intended to excise a likely malignant throat growth proved unsuccessful, and he died several months afterward in Boston.
Hewitt wed Eliza King in 1795; the couple later raised six children, each of whom pursued a musical career. Around this period he produced arrangements and original pieces that mirrored prevailing commercial tastes, among them the well-received piano sonata The Battle of Trenton, inscribed to George Washington, as well as lighter theatrical scores such as Indian Chief and Tars from Tripoli and programmatic works like the Overture in Nine Parts, Expressive of a Battle. An enterprising figure, he purchased the New York branch of Carr’s Musical Repository, where he marketed instruments and printed music, offered private instruction, and issued hundreds of publications featuring both his own compositions and those of fellow English musicians.
In 1805 Hewitt assumed conducting duties at Boston’s Federal Street Theater while also serving as organist at Trinity Church. He relinquished his New York orchestral post in 1808 and transferred his household to Boston three years later. Following five years there, he and his two eldest sons returned to New York. Between 1820 and 1825 he journeyed repeatedly among New York, Boston, and various locales in Georgia and the Carolinas. Circa 1826 an operation intended to excise a likely malignant throat growth proved unsuccessful, and he died several months afterward in Boston.
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