Both
of the piano pieces offered in today’s YouTube service are by late-Romantic
composer Edward MacDowell (1860-1908). He was among a wave of American born
musicians to cross the Atlantic and train in “the old world.” For MacDowell, at
age 17, he began his European studies at the Paris Conservatory, but he spent
nearly a decade in Germany, first as a student in Frankfurt, then as a
composer, performer, and teacher in Darmstadt and Weisbaden. It was during this
decade in Europe that the young MacDowell met the love of his life, a fellow
American studying abroad – Marian Griswold Nevins. The two married and remained
nearly inseparable until MacDowell’s death.
Back
stateside after financial difficulty trying to “make it” as a composer in
Germany, the MacDowell’s settled first in Boston where Edward became well-known
as a concert pianist and teacher. However, he was recruited back to his
hometown of New York to become the first music professor at Columbia University
in 1896. In addition to his duties at the university, MacDowell engaged in a
great deal of musical composition during this period as well. Much of his
compositional inspiration came from Hillcrest Farm, where the MacDowell’s made
their summer residence in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
The
Woodland Sketches, opus 51, are no
exception. They include 10 short pieces where MacDowell interprets and reflects
on the natural beauty surrounding the Peterborough home. I’ve chosen two of
these sketches to share in today’s worship service: In Autumn (with a nod to the autumnal equinox happening on Tuesday)
and To a Wild Rose (because I always
think of Thomas Moore’s poem “The Last Rose of Summer” when I hear it).
I
like what pianist James Barbagallo says about In Autumn: “[it] vibrates with cheer and is brisk and snappy just
like a fall day after summer's languor.” In terms of To a Wild Rose, legend has it that Mrs. MacDowell had a part in the
naming of this ‘sketch.’ Barbagallo explains, “MacDowell wrote out a short
melody every morning which he would later throwaway. In this way he felt he
kept his technique of melodic composition finely honed. Upon hearing one of
these cast-offs, Mrs. MacDowell remarked that it reminded her of some wild
roses growing close to their cabin in Peterborough.” And the rest is history;
this short piece is probably the most well-known of MacDowell’s piano pieces
today. Enjoy!
