New Hampshire Individuals of Note

In 1896 Edward MacDowell was considered the finest American composer.  While his reputation suffered during the 20th century, there is now increasing recognition of what he accomplished both as a composer and a pianist.  MacDowell was very talented both in music and art, and decided to concentrate on music.  However, throughout his life he believed in the "affiliation of the arts," that is, the importance of the mixing of ideas from all the fine arts as an enriching experience for the creators and the audience.  As first Chairman of the Music Department at Columbia University, he encouraged this cross fertilization and urged the creation of a Department of Fine Arts.  He failed.  To fulfill this dream, in 1907 he and his wife created the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, the first artists colony in the United States. It serves as a memorial to MacDowell.

MacDowell began piano lessons at age eight, as do many, but at age fifteen he was recognized as so good that he went to Europe to study, first in Paris, and then Germany, the home of Beethoven and Wagner and the center of 19th century musical development.  At 21 he had his first Piano Concerto praised by Franz List. He settled first in Frankfurt and then in Wiesbaden, where he composed the majority of his long works; they included his first Modern Suite, a Second Piano Concerto, three Symphonic Poems, piano pieces and duets, choral works, and songs.  They all reflect the influence of German romanticism, and this may explain why MacDowell’s reputation waned beginning with World War I.  During the war there was a strong anti-German feeling in the United States, which turned Americans away from anything German.  MacDowell left the country while young, and the European, especially German, tradition shaped him.  When American ideas of jazz and the blues were incorporated into the American classical music tradition, interest in MacDowell faded. 

The works composed in Germany and his piano performances established his reputation in both Europe and the United States.  In 1888 MacDowell moved from Wiesbaden, Germany, to Boston, where he continued to perform and compose.  His performance of his Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1889 enhanced his reputation. Woodland Sketches published in 1896, contained the song, "To a Wild Rose," probably his best known composition today.  That year his Indian Suite was performed by the Boston Symphony at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Soon thereafter, MacDowell was offered the Chairmanship of the new Music Department at Columbia University.  He taught classes promoting his views on the "affiliation of the arts."  He was at the peak of his success.  He served on the Board of the American Academy in Rome, which served as a model for the later MacDowell Colony, and was a founder of the American Academy of Arts and Letters which promoted the interconnectedness of the arts.  After a sabbatical in 1902-3 spent in performing, MacDowell returned to Columbia, where he and the new President, Nicholas Murray Butler, disagreed on the role of the arts in education. MacDowell believed fine arts should be a requirement for college entry and should receive credit towards graduation.  After much publicity in the press, MacDowell resigned and retired to his summer home in Peterborough. 

MacDowell’s compositions were widely performed during his life and his students admired him both as teacher and friend.  He influenced American musicians and composers trained at the turn of the century.  MacDowell’s Woodland Sketches and Indian Suite reflect his full maturity.  MacDowell believed music was a more complex and expressive language than that of the spoken word.  One critic stated that "'A Deserted Farm,' one part of Woodland Sketches, expressed all words can express and much more." MacDowell’s music had achieved his goal - a kind of soul language that was both structured and imaginative.  There are CDs of MacDowell’s works.

Edward MacDowell’s father, Thomas, a businessman, was raised a Quaker and his artistic skills were squashed at home.  He married Frances Knapp in 1856, and he encouraged arts in their home.  Edward was the third son of the marriage and, when he showed interest and some musical talent, he was given piano lessons at age eight which determined his future.  Studying in Germany, Edward gave piano lessons.  One student, Marian Griswold Nevins, an American from New London, Connecticut, had come to Europe to study with Clara Shumann, a famous pianist.  Fortunately for Edward, Clara could not take on Marian and she suggested Marian study with Edward.  Although four years younger, he fell in love, proposed, and she accepted on the condition she support him for five years while he composed.  He agreed and they were married in 1884 in Waterford, Connecticut.  They returned to Germany, where Edward focused on composing.

Marian devoted her life to Edward and encouraged him in many undertakings.  Edward was above medium height and had sparkling blue eyes.  They lived in Boston and later New York.  He was shy and often had difficulty in social settings.  Marian realized Edward needed a quiet place to rest and compose.  In 1896 they found the ideal place, a farm, "Hillcrest," near Peterborough, New Hampshire.  She built a music room for him but it was too noisy, so then she had a log cabin built in the woods where Edward could find full peace and quiet.  He went out after breakfast with a lunch, and spent summer days in his cabin composing.

When Edward was diagnosed with a progressive degenerative nervous disease, which Marian blamed on the fight with Dr. Butler and a streetcar accident, they remained in Peterborough.  They developed the idea of an artists’s colony, where individuals from all the arts might find quiet to work on their projects.  The MacDowell Colony was incorporated in 1907 and the first artists were there that summer.  Edward died in New York in January, 1908, and is buried at the colony.  The colony continues as a memorial to him.  Marian was an integral part of it until her death.  Artists who have spent time at the MacDowell Colony range from the composer, Aaron Copland, to the playwright, Thornton Wilder.

WOK

MacDowell Colony.  Videocassette.  Durham, NH: NH Public Television, 1996.

MacDowell, Edward.  Piano Concerto No. 2.  Played by Van Cliburn.  CD.  RCA Victor 68480.

Porte, John F.  Edward MacDowell.  New York, N.Y.: Dutton, 1922.