Edward MacDowell

Late Romantic · 1860–1908

Edward MacDowell was among the first American composers taken seriously in Europe. Born in New York in 1860, he trained in Paris and Frankfurt, taught piano in Germany, and won praise from Liszt before returning home. In 1896 he became Columbia University's first professor of music, an appointment that ended bitterly in a public dispute with the university's president.

His health collapsed not long after, and he died in 1908, still in his forties. His widow Marian turned their farm in Peterborough, New Hampshire into the MacDowell Colony, a retreat that has hosted generations of composers, writers, and artists, and remains his most lasting monument alongside the music.

Start with the Piano Concerto no. 2 in D minor, his strongest large-scale work, then the "Indian" Suite for orchestra, which draws on Native American melodies he found in a published collection.

38 works in the catalog, across 3 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.

Keyboard

2 Fantasiestücke, op. 17
4 Forgotten Fairytales, op. 4
4 Little Poems, op. 32
6 Fancies, op. 7
10 New England Idyls, op. 62
12 Etudes, op. 39
12 Virtuoso Etudes, op. 46
Amourette, op. 1
Etude de concert, op. 36
Fireside Tales, op. 61
First Modern Suite, op. 10
In Lilting Rhythm, op. 2
Marionettes, op. 38
Piano Sonata no. 1 in G minor, op. 45, "Tragica"
Piano Sonata no. 2 in G minor, op. 50, "Eroica"
Piano Sonata no. 3 in D minor, op. 57, "Norse"
Piano Sonata no. 4 in E minor, op. 59, "Keltic"
Sea Pieces, op. 55
Second Modern Suite, op. 14
Serenade, op. 16

Orchestral

Piano Concerto no. 2 in D minor, op. 23
Suite no. 2 in E minor, op. 48, "Indian"
Hamlet, op. helia, symphonic poems, op. 22
Piano Concerto no. 1 in A minor, op. 15
Romanze, for cello and orchestra, op. 35
Suite no. 1 in A minor, op. 42

Vocal

2 Northern Songs, for mixed voices, op. 43
2 Old Songs, op. 9
2 Songs, op. 34
3 Lieder, op. 11
3 Lieder, op. 12
3 Lieder, op. 33
3 Songs, op. 58
3 Songs, op. 60
4 Songs, op. 56
6 Love Songs, op. 40
8 Songs, op. 47
From an Old Garden, op. 26 Song cycle

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