Her devotion to her art was so great that her health broke down from overwork, and she was compelled to give up piano playing. Some of her compositions have been published under the name of "Victor René." Her 15th opus is made up of three "Morceaux de Genre," of which the "Pantomime" is a most volatile harlequinade, with moods as changeful as the key; a remarkably interesting composition. Four "Pensées Poétiques" make up opus 16. They include a blithe "Chansonette" and a "Valse Impromptu," which, unlike the usual impromptu, has the ex tempore spirit. Of her songs, "Mystery" is a charming lyric; "Maisie" is faithful to the ghoulish merriment of the words; and "An Opal Heart" is striking for interesting dissonances that do not mar the fluency of the lyric.
Of much refinement are the fluent lyrics of Mrs. Mary Knight Wood. They show a breadth in little, and a fondness for unexpected harmonies that do not disturb the coherence of her songs. They possess also a marked spontaneity. An unexpected effect is gained by the brave E flat in her "Serenade." Her popular "Ashes of Roses" also has a rich harmonic structure. Among other songs, one with an effective obbligato for the violoncello deserves special praise. She has written also for the violin and piano, and trios for 'cello, violin, and piano.
Other women who have written certain works of serious intention and worthy art, are Mrs. Clara A. Korn, Laura Sedgwick Collins, the composer of an ingenious male quartette, "Love is a Sickness," and many excellent songs, among them, "Be Like That Bird," which is ideally graceful; Fanny M. Spencer, who has written a collection of thirty-two original hymn tunes, a good anthem, and a Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis of real strength; Julie Rivé-King, the author of many concert pieces; Patty Stair, of Cleveland; Harriet P. Sawyer, Mrs. Jessie L. Gaynor, Constance Maud, Jenny Prince Black, Charlotte M. Crane, and Helen Hood.
CHAPTER VI.
THE FOREIGN COMPOSERS.
Ours is so young, and so cosmopolite, a country, that our art shows the same brevity of lineage as our society. Immigration has played a large part in the musical life of the United States, as it has in the make-up of the population; and yet for all the multiplexity of his ancestry, the American citizen has been assimilated into a distinctive individuality that has all the traits of his different forbears, and is yet not closely like any of them. So, American music, taking its scale and most of its forms from the old country, is yet developing an integrity that the future will make much of. As with the federation of the States, so will one great music ascend polyphonically,—e pluribus unum.
In compiling this directory of American composers, it has been necessary to discuss the works only of the composers who were born in this country. It is interesting to see how few of these names are un-American, how few of them are Germanic (though so many of them have studied in Germany). Comment has often been made upon the Teutonic nature of the make-up of our orchestras. It is pleasant to find that a very respectable list of composers can be made up without a preponderance of German names.
The music life of our country, however, has been so strongly influenced and enlivened and corrected by the presence of men who were born abroad that some recognition of their importance should somewhere be found. Many of them have become naturalized and have brought with them so much enthusiasm for our institutions that they are actually more American than many of the Americans; than those, particularly, who, having had a little study abroad, have gone quite mad upon the superstition of "atmosphere," and have brought home nothing but foreign mannerisms and discontent.