Edward MacDowell and his "Woodland Sketches"

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!