Edward MacDowell

[Glyptodont]

Why isn't Edward MacDowell more widely discussed on this board?

Some have said -- in truth -- that there's a "lock" on just a short list of composers that elicit most of the discussion on this site.  You know them--  Rach, Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Schumann, Beethoven, Liszt, and  few others. 

How about a good old Yankee -- an American like MacDowell?  I have been toying with his compositon, "In Puritan Days."  Some interesting harmonies, and some depth.  Some of his other pieces are interesting, too.

Comments?

[porilo]

The Hexentanz immediately springs to mind as something I wish I could play but still can't!  I can do it really, really slowly, (more of an "Elephant-dance" than a "witches dance" !)  but it all falls to pieces when I try to do it up to speed.

Gregory !

[keys]

his 'shadow dance' was one of my favorite pieces to play when I was younger. I played something hungarian by him as well. I don't know much about him other then that, what sort of advanced pieces has he written?

[pianonut]

mac dowell is one of my favorite's.  his pieces are short and perfect for encores imo.  especially if you are a romantic classicist.  he has the form down as schumann did, and the melody and poetry flow. 

[odsum25]

MacDowell is one of my favorite composers and I try to put him into programs whenever possible.  From his miniatures to the sonatas, everything is extremely well composed.  I love the Sea Pieces and the Sonata Tragica.

[robertp]

I'm really glad to see this thread. When I first joined PF, I noted the comparative absence of MacDowell. Several reasons came to mind. First, MacDowell was more popular when more people played the piano; I say this because my grandparents were music teachers in the 1920s-1940s, and everyone was playing (or seemed to be playing) MacDowell. Second, he does have a "USA" character, some of the time at least, and this may be alien to some tastes.

At any event. I second what's been posted here. Witches' Dance, Shadow Dance for sure. Puritan Days (in the initial post) and the rest of the opus that contains it, New England Idylls.

Some additions. Wild Rose is still played a fair amount, but I'd add the rest of Woodland Sketches, especially Water-Lily and Uncle Remus. Then there's the Six Poems After Heine, which contains Scotch Poem, my own favorite -- but the other pieces in the collection are well worth investigating. Scotch Poem is available separately from many publishers and used to be very popular. This is one of  the pieces MacDowell revised -- after comparing the editions, I think the first is the best; the revisions of the second are, well, fussy. But you should probably look at both. Sea Pieces is another good collection; I'm especially fond of Wandering Iceberg and To The Sea.

None of these are technically outrageous, but I think many people can play, say, Wild Rose technically before they're ready to get out what's in the music.

All of the pieces I've mentioned are in print. MacDowell wrote a lot else for solo piano, and I've yet to find a piece I regret playing. The other pieces require a fair amount of tracking down.

If you've got the Dover volume of music from the Etude Magazine, there's a MacDowell piece there with performance comments from his widow.

Finally, James Barbagallo recorded 3 cds of MacDowell. For my taste, his tempos are often too brisk, even in pieces which require speed.

[pianonut]

thanks for your post!  i'll look up the six poems after Heine!  heard the 'wandering iceberg' last year and LOVED it.

[robertp]

Glad it was of help,  pianonut!

I should have said that I'm not claiming here is an undiscovered great composer. Rather, a composer who speaks to me, has spoken to many, and is worth a spin.

If you do get interested in the Heine pieces and Scotch Poem, drop me a message and I can tell you quite fast which edition of SP you've got (just involves checking two bars).

Everybody. I've made MacDowell an interest of mine over there years. My knowledge is not encyclopedic, but knowledge I do have. Will be pleased to share!

[robertp]

Brief followup on M.'s Scotch Poem.

The second edition has two useful things, even if y ou choose not to play that version.

First, M.'s pedal indications, which are quite useful.

Second, M.'s tempo indication (132). His temp indications are not common, but in my experience they're reliable. Unlike Beethoven (many arguments about them) or Schumann (which are safely, nay profitably, ignored).

[joell12068]

Finally, James Barbagallo recorded 3 cds of MacDowell.

Actually he recorded 4 CD's of solo piano and one CD of vocal works.

I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread, but check out this link which has almost the entire MacDowell piano music (except for the Sonatas) available for download in PDF.

https://aurora.wellesley.edu/macdowell/contents.cfm

[robertp]

I stand corrected, Joel --  tnks! I stopped buying after the third cd came out. Maybe I should continue....

I didn't post that link because for playable printouts, at least for the ones I got, some tweaking is needed -- rough and ready in Acrobat (not Reader, but the full version) or Photoshop (better, but very time consuming). But I am definitely glad that you did!

[odsum25]

I enjoy James Tocco's recording of the first three Sonatas very much, but I haven't found the completion of the Sonata cycle (assuming he recorded it.)  If he did, what else is on the disc?