Book Description

Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) was one of the first American-born composers to gain international notoriety. Relatively little scholarly research has been done that deals specifically with the choral music of Edward MacDowell. This study examines his original choral music for mixed and women's voices, and his editions for men's voices. The choruses are analyzed with a format that considers the importance of meter, tempo, rhythm, melody, harmony, tonality, form, musical/textual agreement, and expressive features. MacDowell was trained in Europe, and his music reflects the influence of late German Romanticism. An important aspect of this study was the preparation of editions of MacDowell's choral music updated to current publication standards. These editions are included in an appendix, as well as copies of the original publications for comparison. The most important scholarly contribution of this book is to make some of MacDowell's choral music available again. MacDowell's choral compositions have been virtually lost from the standard repertoire. All of the works examined were published between 1890-1910; they are currently out of print and unavailable to most choral musicians. choral scholar and musician.