MacDowell - Piano Sonata No. 1 "Tragica"; I Largo maestoso

First movement from the Piano Sonata No. 1 in G minor Op. 45 (1893)

Quoted from John F. Porte's "Edward MacDowell: A Great American Tone Poet, His Life and Music":

"Huneker, the celebrated American writer on music, described this sonata, soon after its appearance, as 'the most marked contribution to solo sonata literature since Brahms' F minor piano sonata.' The work is chiefly notable for its general boldness and strength, punctuated by passages of intimate tenderness and deepness of expression, and its slow movement is one of MacDowell's most inspired efforts."

Quoted from Lawrence Gilman's "Edward MacDowell":

"In the 'Tragica'--his first essay in [sonata] form--he has vouchsafed only the general indication of his purpose which is declared in the title of the work, though it is known that in composing the music MacDowell was moved by the memory of his grief over the death of his master Raff. The tragic note is sounded, with impressive authority and force, in the brief introduction, largo maestoso. The music, from the first, drives to the very heart of the subject: there is neither pose nor bombast in the presentation of the thought."

Edward MacDowell (1861-1908) was born in America, but his musical education was formed abroad. He studied piano at the Paris Conservatory where he was a classmate of Debussy. MacDowell later moved to Germany to study piano and composition and met some of the star European composers of the day, including Liszt. Through Liszt, MacDowell met Joachim Raff and became his pupil. In 1888, MacDowell returned to America and concertized as a pianist, which led to his being recognized as one of the great emerging American musicians. His status as an American composer also rose dramatically after he published numerous orchestral and piano works.

When a teaching vacancy opened at the new music department of Columbia University in 1896, MacDowell was offered the post, which he promptly accepted. He became the first professor of music at Columbia and taught there for a number of years. In the last four years of his life, MacDowell suffered from a brain disease and his disintegrating health led to his death in 1908. By the time of his death, MacDowell had been applauded by American critics and audiences as a gifted piano virtuoso and one of America's greatest composers.

MacDowell's output is hardly known today, although many piano students are intimately familiar with his sentimental piano piece entitled "To a Wild Rose." However, during his lifetime in America, MacDowell's suites for orchestra and piano sonatas were relatively popular, the latter considered the greatest yet composed by an American.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• edward
• macdowell
• liszt
• brahms

[gee1996]

i wish more people knew him. he is more deserving & is much better than Copeland (my opinion)

[85theonlyone]

Thank you!!

Please can you add the second and the fourth movements?

Can you also add the remaining movements of the others sonatas?

[JMCYutz]

peut-on trouver cette sonate en CD ?

[voxpopful]

who's playing??

[jkilbey1]

He really is one of my very favorites. He does deserve to be more popular.

[FranzofL]

Yay! I love this!

[scriabinwasmydad]

very nice. I've been planning to upload some of his music. Somehow he's slipped my mind.

thanks!