Edward MacDowell (b. 1861, New York; d. 1908, New York)

MacDowell’s music education began with piano lessons at age eight. At age fifteen he moved to Paris with his family and the following year was admitted to the Paris Conservatory. He moved to Germany in 1879 and spent the next eight years there, studying, teaching, and composing. His works during that period were influenced by modern French composers and German romanticism, although he soon concluded that the French were “frivolous.” His works from that time include his first and second piano concertos, his first Modern Suite, three symphonic poems, piano pieces and duets, choral works, and songs.

In 1888, MacDowell returned to the United States. Living in Boston, he continued to perform and compose. His 1896 compositions, Woodland Sketches and the Indian Suite, include hints of American folk songs and Indian themes. He told a colleague, “I began by imitating the German composers. I am now on the way to being myself and as I am myself I will be Celtic American rather than German American or Afro-American.”

MacDowell was appointed as the first chair of the Music Department at Columbia University in 1896. There, he promoted the concept of the “affiliation of the arts,” or the interconnectedness of all the fine arts, and he sought to elevate the importance of arts education. He resigned from his post at Columbia in 1904 and retired to his summer home in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where he and his wife established the MacDowell Colony, a retreat where individuals practicing the arts could work in quiet surroundings.