It was a humble beginning for Edward MacDowell in New York. The son of a milkman, the only musical genes he could be proud of came from his mother who had some inclination towards music. The man who began learning the piano from a lodger staying in his house grew to become one of the most significant American composers of early twentieth century. In later generations, his works did not receive due recognition, which is a pity considering the number of excellent pieces like Keltic Sonata and Sketches. The Woodland Sketches with its To a Water Lily and To a Wild Rose are known to every piano student today. They hold an important position in the list of American piano selections. The farmhouse in Peterborough where MacDowell lived was made into a settlement for artists by his wife, and is today a favourite destination for artists and art lovers.
His tryst with the piano began at the early age of eight, with Juan Buitrago, the lodger we have already mentioned. Buitrago proved quite a boon for the boy’s future. He introduced MacDowell to Teresa Carreño, the famous international concert pianist. Teresa advised and inspired McDowell and in later years played an important role in MacDowell’s ride to fame. Accompanied by his mother, the young MacDowell left... show more

It was a humble beginning for Edward MacDowell in New York. The son of a milkman, the only musical genes he could be proud of came from his mother who had some inclination towards music. The man who began learning the piano from a lodger staying in his house grew to become one of the most significant American composers of early twentieth century. In later generations, his works did not receive due recognition, which is a pity considering the number of excellent pieces like Keltic Sonata and Sketches. The Woodland Sketches with its To a Water Lily and To a Wild Rose are known to every piano student today. They hold an important position in the list of American piano selections. The farmhouse in Peterborough where MacDowell lived was made into a settlement for artists by his wife, and is today a favourite destination for artists and art lovers.
His tryst with the piano began at the early age of eight, with Juan Buitrago, the lodger we have already mentioned. Buitrago proved quite a boon for the boy’s future. He introduced MacDowell to Teresa Carreño, the famous international concert pianist. Teresa advised and inspired McDowell and in later years played an important role in MacDowell’s ride to fame. Accompanied by his mother, the young MacDowell left for Paris in April 1877. Europe was where all musicians from America headed for their musical learning. It was the land of promise and potential for artists of the later half of the nineteenth century. MacDowell became a part of the Paris Conservatoire. His European dream ended soon. MacDowell now dreamed of Germany. This, he thought, was where his musical future lay. The change of heart happened when he attended the first Tchaikovsky piano concerto in 1878 and was struck by Nikolai Rubinstein’s performance. In Germany, he studied in many places and also taught students what he knew. His study took him to Stuttgart and Wiesbaden. Joachim Raff was his teacher in Frankfurt. Here he performed a concert where Franz Liszt was present. The latter advised McDowell to turn to composition. Thus, the great American composer was born. Carreño provided good publicity for his first works by featuring them often in her programs. McDowell’s First and Second Modern Suites were greeted with thundering applause. Germany was good in more ways than one. It was here he met Margaret Nevins, who started as one of his pupils and ended up as his wife in 1884.
Then came the return to America in 1888. Boston was then booming with concerts. And for the next eight years, McDowell enjoyed his greatest highs. His music was loved by the American audience and several important people became his patrons. Basking in this glory, the enthusiastic and energetic MacDowell wrote many of his famous compositions like Indian Suite, Sonata Tragica, Woodland Sketches, Second Piano Concerto and songs. He must indeed have been grateful to Benjamin Johnson Lang, under whose advice he had gone back to his native land.
MacDowell who was now widely respected as a composer, was honoured in 1896 with the prestigious position of head of the music department of Columbia University, an important college for the liberal arts. His colleagues and students loved him. A year before his appointment, he bought a farm. He had always wanted a peaceful place were he could work at his compositions. The farm in Peterborough provided the perfect retreat for the artist’s mind.
But things were not to be so smooth. Nicholas Murray Butler who was elected president of Columbia University in 1902, did not have much fondness for the music department or for MacDowell’s dreams for the college. A long and bitter tussle between the two was the beginning of the ill luck to come. MacDowell was of a quick temper, and all this unpleasantness affected him deeply and made him ill. 1904 was a tough year. MacDowell resigned from the university where he had earned much respect and admiration. He was hit by a car in the busy streets of New York. His health became worse and on 23 January, 1908 MacDowell promising life came to an end at the early age of 47. His music remained. It went under the shadows for a while. But its influence was visible in the 1930s in the background music for the animation cartoons and radio programs of America. Surely he deserved a better place in our memories. So protested his many unhappy fans like the famous pianists - Constance Keene and Andre Watts.
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