The Bulletin Ing Whiting’S Good Friend, Composer Horatio Parker
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the Saint-Gaudens and resided in the colony during the summer of 1901. Harvey Worthington Loomis wrote music for the children’s play The Woodland Princess pro- duced in 1916 at the Plainfield, New Hampshire town hall. Several other musi- cians visited or stayed in the colony includ- The Bulletin ing Whiting’s good friend, composer Horatio Parker. Violinists Franz Kneisel and Otto Roth of the Kneisel String Quartet, OF THE S OCIETY FOR A MERICAN M USIC America’s first fully professional string quar- tet, frequently gave recitals in Cornish, often FOUNDED IN HONOR OF O SCAR G. T. SONNECK accompanied by Whiting. Why had I never before heard of or per- formed any works by the above-mentioned Vol. XXIX, No. 1 Spring 2003 composers, often referred to as the “Boston school” or “second New England genera- Hidden American Treasures: tion”? I had been performing orchestral music since I was a child. During the The Cornish Colony Composers American bicentennial our ensemble per- formed several American chamber music by Fern Myers programs at colleges, libraries, and schools. We showed the development of American My earliest contact with the Cornish idents and Cornish was the “talk of the music by performing compositions of Colony was through family friends who town” in New York and Boston. Cornish Johann Peter, John Antes, Ben Franklin, purchased sculptor Herbert Adams’s became the summer White House from Francis Hopkinson, William Billings, Plainfield, New Hampshire estate in 1947 1913-1915 during the Presidency of Patrick Gilmore, and Jacob Kimball. Other thereby acquiring some of his sculptures. I Woodrow Wilson as Mrs. Wilson, an artist, music presented was by Charles Griffes, can vividly recall the busts of “Flora” and and her daughters enjoyed the camaraderie Arthur Foote, Amy Beach, and G.W. “Bacchus” adorning pedestals outside the and social life of the colony. Chadwick, as well as Earle Brown, Samuel studio. Returning to Saint-Gaudens Music and drama played an important Barber, Aaron Copland, Walter Piston, National Historic Site in 1997 for a perfor- and stimulating cultural role in the life of the Charles Ives, George Gershwin, Virgil mance with SilverWood, I was stimulated to colony. Formal dinner parties and teas were Thomson, and Ruth Crawford Seeger. learn about the Colony. Since my childhood often followed by tableaux vivants presenta- Sadly, the Cornish composers, once collec- the home, studio, and gardens of sculptor tions, charades, plays, and speech recitals. tively dismissed as Germanic and academic, Augustus Saint-Gaudens had been given a There were concert series and many famous were neglected and their names and music new life, thus attracting tourists from all over musicians of the day performed in Cornish. fell into obscurity. Until recently I was sim- the world. The sculptures surrounded by Outdoor amphitheaters were constructed ply unaware of these composers. One reason pastel palettes of phlox, delphinium, and for plays and pageants with original music was that their music was in manuscript (now hollyhocks enclosed by evergreen hedges written for such productions. Theatrical badly deteriorating) or lying in dusty out-of- were a joy to the eye and soul. A neighbor productions were often elaborate and most print repose in the bowels of American introduced me to Footprints of the Past: members of the colony participated in some archives. Today, music by these composers Images of Cornish, New Hampshire and the way. Ethel Barrymore spent the summer of rarely makes it to the concert arena or Cornish Colony, a book by Virginia Colby 1906 in Cornish and coached the children recording studio. and James Atkinson. Within are humorous of the colony in Thackeray’s The Rose and With help from the music librarians at anecdotes, first-hand accounts, and biogra- the Ring. In 1905 America’s first pageant, A Dartmouth College, I located a score of phies of many colony residents and visitors. Masque of “Ours” the Gods and the Golden Whiting’s music for The Golden Cage, a I became passionately interested in the sub- Bowl was performed to honor Augustus dance pageant with verse by William Blake. ject and the people. Saint-Gaudens’s 20th year in the colony; After laboriously creating orchestral parts, The Cornish Colony was America’s first members of the Boston Symphony per- Whiting’s pageant was performed on the art colony, established in 1885 with the formed original music. magnificent stage set designed in 1916 for arrival of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The central musical figure in the The Woodland Princess by Cornish Colony Unlike other artist colonies, such as the Cornish Colony was pianist and composer artist Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966). Some MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Arthur Whiting (1861-1936) who lived in of Whiting’s music was so moving I wanted Hampshire, Cornish was never officially the colony from 1893 until 1918. Whiting to hear more. The next discovery was organized but rather evolved as prominent composed music for the Saint-Gaudens Polonaise, opus 20, no. 5, an immediately artists, writers, and musicians from Boston, pageant and other special colony events. appealing work that I decided to record in New York, and Philadelphia acquired or Walter Damrosch, Frederick Shepherd 2001 for our album At Fox Meadow. The rented properties in Plainfield and Cornish, Converse, Arthur Farwell, and John Tasker CD is named after Walter Damrosch’s New Hampshire. Artists were attracted to Howard also worked in Cornish. Several col- Sonata for Piano and Violin, opus 6, the fea- the natural beauties of the area and the fel- laborated on pageants with Cornish resident tured work on that album along with lowship of their colleagues. Mount Ascutney Percy MacKaye, poet and dramatist. Sidney Frederick Shepherd Converse’s Suite for the became the focal point and symbol of the Homer and his wife Louise, contralto with Pianoforte, opus 2. In 2002 we recorded colony. At its height there were over 400 res- the Metropolitan Opera, were relatives of continued on page 2 Hidden American Treasurers Times Joseph Horowitz examined pre-World continued from page 1 War I American composers and works pro- Call for Papers Whiting’s challenging work for piano, Suite grammed by Stephen Mayer for his all- Society for American Music Moderne, opus 15 on the album, Dawn, American piano recital at Mannes College of subtitled “American Treasures by Cornish Music. The headline was: “An American Era Annual Conference, Colony Composers.” Also featured are three in Music Deserving of More Respect.” The March 10-14 works by Arthur Farwell: Dawn, opus 12; caption read: “It is said that the country’s Cleveland, Ohio Roses and Lilies, opus 7, for piano (per- music came of age with Copland, after formed on harp); and Gods of the Mountain, World War I. Conventional wisdom, how- The Society for American Music invites opus 52, Suite for Harp, Violin and ever, can be wrong.” In a recent program proposals for papers, concerts, lecture-perfor- Violoncello. The latter was also orchestrated aired on National Public Radio, JoAnn mances, full panels of 3 or 4 papers, and by Farwell and recorded by the Royal Falletta, music director of the Buffalo other useful events for its 30th annual con- Philharmonic in 1965. Philharmonic, discussed her recent discovery ference in Cleveland, March 10-14, 2004. After several years of research, with an of Frederick Shepherd Converse and the This will be a joint meeting with the inordinate amount of hunting and digging, recording of three of his works. Other musi- Association for Recorded Sound Collections. it is exhilarating to perform music that has cians may discover more American treasures, Ideas for papers and sessions could be not been heard for a century! We have per- some of which were composed in New inspired by any of the following: formed Converse’s String Quartet in A Hampshire’s Cornish Colony. • the proximity of the Rock and Roll minor, opus 18 twice now and found it to be Once the music is heard it will speak for Hall of Fame interesting, exciting, and well written. The itself and be judged accordingly. Given a • the sesquicentennial of John Philip quartet features each instrument, even the chance, surely some of this forgotten music Sousa’s birth viola! It is understandable why Converse was will become standard repertoire giving joy to • the question of theorizing American described in the 25 May 1909 Boston Globe both artists and audiences. music studies as “the greatest living composer.” • the collaboration with ARSC Today, the destiny of these composers Fern Meyers, M.S., has performed as a members seems more hopeful. The Scarecrow Press, freelance musician in Washington, DC, Boston But proposals involving any aspect of Inc. has recently published the series and the New England states. Ms. Meyers American music or music in America are Composers of North America, including taught at the New England Conservatory welcome. biographies of Farwell and Converse. These North Shore Extension and the NSCC Center books are useful references for performers as for the Arts. ‘Cellist with several orchestras and they contain catalogues of works with their ensembles, she currently performs with Guidelines present locations. Gradually music is being SilverWood, USA. Ms Meyers has recorded two Individual or joint papers should be no resurrected and there are some interesting audio stories for children and recently produced longer than twenty minutes. Performances new recordings featuring some of the previ- At Fox Meadow and Dawn; American should be no longer than thirty minutes and ously mentioned composers. It was exciting Treasures by Cornish Colony Composers. These may include a short lecture component. to hear Chadwick’s Symphony no. 3 in F may be purchased at Amazon.com, CDBaby, Presenters do not need to be members of the (1894) performed on 31 January 2003 by the or ordered through Borders Books and Music.