It is not a far-fetched surmise that concerts, in the broadest acceptation of the term, were known in the South earlier than in any other part of the country. The colonial cavalier, who, after the fashion of English gentlemen at the time, kept a chest of viols in his house, must occasionally have found among his visitors a sufficient number of competent players to form an ensemble of some sort. As the population increased and the opportunities for social intercourse improved these occasions undoubtedly became frequent, and, without any sacrifice of historical probability, one can easily imagine social gatherings at which the most skillful musicians performed concerted pieces for the entertainment of the other guests. The picture is quite in accord with what we know of English and Southern colonial society in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Certainly, in Charleston and other centres of Southern society and culture, it is hard to imagine that private musical affairs were not quite common at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Indeed, a large proportion of the earlier public concerts in Charleston were given by amateurs with the assistance of professional musicians, and it is reasonable to assume that a habit of giving private concerts preceded the custom of giving public ones. The first public concert we find trace of in Charleston was a benefit given for Mr. John Salter in 1732. Several other benefit concerts were given in the same year. We know nothing about them except that they consisted of vocal and instrumental music and were usually followed by a ball. Mr. Sonneck thinks it probable that they were devoted to 'more or less skillful renditions of Corelli, Vivaldi, Purcell, Abaco, Handel, Geminiani, and such other masters whose fame was firmly established in Europe.' Probably subscription concerts started in 1732 or 1733, for in the latter year we find 'N. B.'s' to concert advertisements to the effect that 'This will be the last Concert' and 'This is the first time on the subscription.' These subscription seasons apparently continued until 1735. From that year until 1751 there are no concerts advertised except a benefit for John Salter and one for Charles Theodore Pachelbel. A benefit concert in 1751, one in 1755, and one in 1760 brings us through years of famine to 1765 and Mr. Thomas Pike. Mr. Pike was a talented person who played the French horn and the bassoon, and also taught ladies and gentlemen 'very expeditiously on moderate terms in _Orchesography_ (or the art of dancing by characters and demonstrative figures)'. He gave a concert in 1765 with the assistance of 'gentlemen of the place,' and was obliging enough to publish the program, which was devoted to horn, violoncello, harpsichord, and bassoon concertos, a song, a trio, and the overture of Handel's 'Scipio.'