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Edward MacDowell

Edward MacDowell
Edward A. MacDowell.jpg
Born (1860-12-18)18 December 1860
New York City
Died 23 January 1908(1908-01-23) (aged 47)
New York City
Resting place MacDowell Colony
Nationality American
Education Columbia University
Occupation pianist, composer
Known for piano concerto
Spouse(s) Marian MacDowell

Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860 – January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites Woodland Sketches, Sea Pieces and New England Idylls. Woodland Sketches includes his most popular short piece, "To a Wild Rose". In 1904 he was one of the first seven Americans honored by membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Edward MacDowell was born in New York City to Thomas MacDowell, a Manhattan milk dealer, and Frances (Fanny) Mary Knapp. He received his first piano lessons from Juan Buitrago, a Colombian violinist who was living with the MacDowell family at the time. He also received music lessons from friends of Buitrago, including the Cuban pianist Pablo Desverine and Venezuelan pianist and composer Teresa Carreño. MacDowell's mother decided to take her son to Paris, France, where in 1877 he was admitted to the Paris Conservatory after receiving a competitive scholarship for international students.

After two years of studies under Antoine Marmontel and being at the top of his class, he continued his education at Dr. Hoch's Conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany, where he studied piano with Carl Heymann and composition with Joachim Raff. When Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann visited the conservatory in early 1880 and attended a recital of student compositions, MacDowell performed Robert Schumann's Quintet, Op. 44 along with a transcription of a Liszt symphonic poem. Next year, he paid a visit to Liszt in Weimar and performed some of his own compositions. Liszt recommended MacDowell's First Modern Suite, Op. 10 to Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein for performance and also introduced him to Leipzig music publishers at Breitkopf & Härtel.


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