MacDowell, Edward (Alexander)

orig. Edward Alexander McDowell

(born Dec. 18, 1860, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 23, 1908, New York City) U.S. composer. He started piano lessons at age eight. While in Germany for further study, he impressed the composer Joachim Raff (1822–82), who urged him to write a piano concerto (1882), then introduced him to Franz Liszt, who assisted MacDowell with performances and publication. In 1888 he returned to the U.S. with his wife, and in 1896 he became Columbia University's first professor of music. Paresis made him unable to perform or compose after 1904, and he lapsed into insanity and died at age 47. His farm in Peterborough, N.H., became the MacDowell Colony for artists after his death. His most popular works are the Second Piano Concerto in D Minor (1886), the Second Orchestral (“Indian”) Suite (1895), and piano sets such as Woodland Sketches (1896) and Sea Pieces (1898).

MacDowell, Edward (Alexander) (1860–1908) composer; born in New York City. He studied in France and Germany and taught piano at the Darmstadt Conservatory, where he became a protégé of Liszt. Returning to the U.S.A in 1888, he lived and worked in Boston and then headed Columbia University's new department of music (1896–1904). While his music is essentially European-Romantic, he also flirted with American nationalistic materials in works such as the Indian Suite (1895). The most popular American composer of his era, he succeeded both in ambitious works, such as the Piano Concerto No. 2 (1889), and in parlor pieces for piano, such as the Woodland Sketches (1896). His widow established the MacDowell Colony at their farm in Peterborough, N.H., to serve as a summer residence for artists in various fields.