Description
Edward MacDowell was born on the eve of the Civil War into a Quaker family in lower Manhattan, where music was a forbidden pleasure. With the help of Latin-American émigré teachers, he became a formidable pianist and composer, spending twelve years in France and Germany establishing his career. Upon his return to the United States in 1888 he conquered American audiences with his dramatic Second Piano Concerto and won his way into their hearts with his poetic Woodland Sketches. Columbia University tapped him as their first professor of music in 1896, but a scandalous row with powerful university president Nicholas Murray Butler spelled the end of his career. MacDowell died a broken man four years later, but his widow Marian kept his spirit alive through the MacDowell Colony, which she founded in 1907 in their New Hampshire home, and which is today the oldest and one of the most influential, thriving artist colonies in the the United States. Drawing on private letters that were sealed for fifty years after his death, this biography traces MacDowell's compelling life story, with new revelations about his Quaker childhood, his efforts to succeed in the insular German music world, his mysterious death, and his lifelong struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder. Edward MacDowell's story is a timeless tale of human strength and weakness set in one of the most vibrant periods of American musical history, when optimism about the country's artistic future made anything seem possible.
Table of Contents
ContentsList of Illustrations xiiList of Musical Examples xiiiList of Bibliographic Abbreviations xvBook One: The Education of Edward MacDowellChapter 1. Quaker Roots 1Chapter 2. The Latin American Connection 17Chapter 3. The Paris Conservatory 31Chapter 4. A Fourth-Rate Conservatory and a First-Rate Mentor 53Chapter 5. The Big Break 72Chapter 6. Establishing a Career in Germany 94Chapter 7. Married Life 121Chapter 8. Templeton Strong, Loyal Friend 142Book Two: Edward MacDowell in BostonChapter 9. The Prodigal Returns 165Chapter 10. The Politics of Musical Boston 194Chapter 11. MacDowell the Pianist 205Chapter 12. The Darkest Winter 220Chapter 13. European Aesthetics vs. American Opportunities 234Chapter 14. A Cabin in the Woods 258Book Three: Edward MacDowell in New YorkChapter 15. Columbia University, 1896-1901 268Chapter 16. Outside the University 284Chapter 17. The Price of Fame 297Chapter 18. Columbia University, 1901-1904 309Chapter 19. A Living Death 342Chapter 20. MacDowell's Legacy 364AppendicesA. Calendar 376B. List of Works 392C. Personalia 405D. Bibliography 427Index 457
