ABSTRACT
City Tavern was only one of the many impressive public buildings of eighteenth-century Philadelphia. Travelers seeing the city for the first time in the early 1770s might well have been stunned by its size and splendor. Although the City Tavern shares features with the other Philadelphia taverns just described, in several ways it was exceptional. A great deal of music making in eighteenth-century taverns was informal and, as a result, left undocumented. In this regard City Tavern was probably not unlike other establishments of its time and type. The most substantial musical events of eighteenth-century Philadelphia were public concerts featuring the talents of professional musicians. The most modern dance to be included on the Assembly programs was the quadrille. Some European taverns of the day featured regular performances by small instrumental ensembles. Several had traveled and studied in Europe where they were exposed to the latest fashions in art, music, and dance.
