The Masters and Their Music / A series of illustrative programs with biographical, / esthetical, and critical annotations

by W. S. B. Mathews

CHAPTER VIII.

ARTHUR FOOTE AND MRS. H. H. A. BEACH.

There is nothing especial in common between the composers here mentioned that they should be put together in one program, excepting the fact that they both live in Boston; nor, on the other hand, is there anything especially contrasting between them. For this reason I think it better to give the selections of the different composers separately, leaving the superintendent of the concert to arrange the program of selections in any order most pleasing to him.

ARTHUR FOOTE.

Arthur Foote was born of a good New England family at Salem, Mass., March 5, 1853. He pursued the usual course of a well-bred New England boy, passing successively through the district school and academy, and at length graduated at Harvard in 1874. He had already made considerable study of music, both upon instruments and in theory, and under the competent instruction of Mr. Stephen A. Emery had made considerable progress in composition.

He now entered seriously upon the study of music, with the intention of making it a life-long profession. His teachers were Mr. B. J. Lang, in organ and pianoforte playing, and Prof. J. K. Paine, in composition. In 1875, after examination, he received from Harvard the degree of A.M. in music. Since 1876 he has been engaged as a successful teacher of the pianoforte in Boston, and since 1878 has been organist of the First Unitarian Church in Boston. In daily work, as an interesting and stimulating instructor in art, Mr. Foote leads an honored life; but he is better known to the outside world by his compositions, which indicate talent of a high order. The range of them and the variety are alike remarkable.

Among his important compositions are to be mentioned an Impromptu (G minor); Gavotte (B minor); Mazurka (G minor); Opus 6, consisting of five pieces; Prelude and Nocturne (F minor and F major); Sarabande (G major); Petite Valse (for the left hand); Polonaise (D major) and Gavotte in C minor (Opus 8, No. 1); Eclogue (Opus 8, No. 2); Suite in D minor (Opus 15), containing Prelude and Fugue, Romance and Capriccio; Sarabande and Courante of J. S. Bach (transcribed); two Pianoforte Pedal Studies; Études Album, a collection of études, selected and arranged in progressive order; and Additions to Buttshardt Method of Pianoforte Technic.

I do not find myself very well prepared to make a program of compositions of Mr. Foote which fully satisfies. The best I can do with the material I have is the following, which is offered to those needing it as a suggestion:

PROGRAM.
Five pieces for piano. Opus 6.
Prelude and Nocturne.
Sarabande.
Petite Valse. (For left hand alone.)
Polonaise.
Three pieces for piano. No opus number.
Impromptu in G Minor.
Gavotte in B Minor.
Sarabande and Courante from the Violoncello Sonatas of Bach.
Arranged by Arthur Foote.

The pieces here listed will occupy about forty minutes in performance. All of this music is seriously intended, all is well done, and all musical. Naturally, the best pieces are the last, since the experienced composer, Mr. Bach, had already laid the foundation, and his music has had a longer time to ripen and grow a halo.

SONGS BY ARTHUR FOOTE.

In addition to the foregoing program of works by Mr. Arthur Foote, following is a selection of songs which can be confidently recommended as attractive and valuable additions to these illustrative programs, and as well worthy the widest possible currency on their own account:

"Into the silent land."
"O my love's like a red, red rose."
"If you become a nun, dear."
"A song from the Persian."
"In Picardie."
"O swallow, swallow, flying south."
"On the way to Kew."
"When icicles hang by the wall."
"Irish folk-song."
"I'm wearing awa'."
"Go, lovely rose."

The first one in the above list is a very lovely quartet for female voices—originally composed for funeral occasions—upon Longfellow's translation of the song by Silas. It is a very beautiful quartet. The "Song from the Persian" is a duet for soprano and alto or baritone, preferably baritone, of an unusual, but on the whole pleasing, character. "O my love's like a red, red rose" is very charming, indeed, but perhaps best of the entire list is the soprano song, "O swallow, swallow, flying south," which is dedicated to Mme. Lilian Blauvelt.

Several of these selections are to be had for a low voice or a high voice, but most of them are for mezzo-soprano or baritone. There is one for bass, "When icicles hang by the wall," and one for alto, "I'm wearing awa'," and of the collection as a whole, I say again, it is an honor to American art. They are songs that are extremely well worth knowing.

MRS. H. H. A. BEACH.

Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, whose maiden name was Amy Marcy Cheney, of Boston, was the daughter of a well-known singer and pianist. Her talent for music showed itself in extreme youth, and at the age of six her real study began. Among her teachers were Ernst Perabo, Carl Baerman, and Julius Hill. She is a pianist of accomplished powers and a composer of remarkable talent. It is told of her that on one occasion she played the Schumann concerto with the Boston Orchestra at a week's notice, in place of a soloist who had canceled an engagement at the last moment. On another occasion she played her own pianoforte concerto with the orchestra with splendid effect. Last year her "Gaelic Symphony," in E minor, was played in Boston and also in Brooklyn by the Boston Orchestra. Her instrumentation is said to be excellent and the work a very strong one.

Among the many clever compositions of Mrs. Beach's the following are perhaps the most suitable for our use:

Ballad for the pianoforte, dedicated to Mme. Fanny Bloomfield-Zeisler; a seriously made composition with a beautiful principal melody, cleverly developed, and a good deal of dramatic power in the working out of the middle part. A composition of considerable difficulty for the player, and also capable of very excellent effect when well done.

There are also four sketches—"In Autumn," "Dreaming," "Phantoms," "Fireflies." "In Autumn," a very sprightly composition in F-sharp minor, in a good 4/8 rhythm, capable of very charming effect. "Dreaming," a meditative sustained melody in the key of G-flat, resting upon a triplet motion in the middle part, with harmonies sensitively changing at unexpected places, capable of most beautiful effect; also an excellent study in cantabile. "Phantoms," a scherzo or quasi-mazurka, very sprightly and pleasing. "Fireflies," a very delightful study in thirds for the right hand, with novel and modern fingering; therefore extremely well adapted for study. This, when well done, must be very beautiful, but it is necessary that the thirds be played with the utmost lightness and equality. It is more difficult, and also more extended than either of the preceding, but extremely well worth attention.

There are also three interesting pieces not so difficult in their working out. First, there is a "Barcarolle" in G minor, opus 28, No. 1; a very attractive rhythm and an extremely attractive harmonic treatment. This is a piece to be played with pleasure by any amateur of taste. It is only of moderate difficulty, as, for instance, sixth grade. Perhaps a little less attractive, but more easy of execution, is the "Menuet Italien," No. 2 of the same opus as the preceding. This is remarkably well worked out, however. The third piece in the same opus is a waltz, "Dance of the Flowers," bright, sparkling, evanescent; clever for the piano, and attractive if well done.

Best of all, perhaps, is a "Romance for Violin and Piano," which is dedicated to Miss Maud Powell. This is a very delightful piece, and would make an admirable conclusion to a program. It requires good playing in all the parts.

With reference to these compositions by Mrs. Beach, it deserves to be said that they are not women's compositions. The musical spirit is unquestionable, the technic of developing ideas that of a well-trained artist, and the writing for the instrument that of an accomplished pianist. At the same time, Mrs. Beach makes no effort to be boisterous and to prove that she is a man by the brute force necessary to play her works. Unless I am very much mistaken, her music will have a much wider currency than it has yet received, because it deserves it.