Benjamin Cutter (

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' mayor-council form of government, in which an elected mayor is ...

September 6, 1857 –

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

May 10, 1910) was an American violinist and composer. He studied at the

Stuttgart Conservatory The State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart is a professional school for musicians and performing artists in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1857, it is one of the oldest schools of its kind in Germany. History The school was f ...

in the German Empire, was later a member of the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1 ...

, then taught at the New England Conservatory of Music. His compositional output was mainly

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small num ...

, but he wrote some cantatas and

church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The on ...

as well. He published several pedagogical books on violin playing and music theory.

Life and career

Cutter was the eldest child of

Ephraim Cutter Ephraim Cutter (September 1, 1832 – April 25, 1917) was a United States physician and inventor. He was a pioneer of laryngology in the United States and discovered the tuberculosis cattle test in 1894. Early life Ephraim Cutter was born ...

, a prominent physician and musical amateur, and his wife Rebecca Smith. Ephraim was an elder brother of

William Richard Cutter William Richard Cutter (August 17, 1847 – June 6, 1918) was an American historian, genealogist, and writer. Life Born in Woburn, Massachusetts on August 17, 1847, he was the son of Dr. Benjamin Cutter and Mary Whittemore Cutter. He attended ...

, the prominent genealogist, who was therefore Benjamin's uncle, despite being just ten years older. After violin study with

Julius Eichberg Julius Eichberg (13 June 1824 – 19 January 1893) was a German-born composer, musical director and educator who worked mostly in Boston, Massachusetts. Biography Julius Eichberg was born in Düsseldorf, Germany to a Jewish family. His first mu ...

, founder of the

Boston Conservatory of Music Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded ...

, Cutter went to Germany, where he studied at the

under Edmund Singer and

Percy Goetschius Percy Goetschius (August 10, 1853 – October 29, 1943) was an American music theorist and teacher who won international fame in the teaching of composition. Career Goetschius was born in Paterson, New Jersey. He was encouraged by Ureli Corel ...

. He was a member of the

from 1881 to 1885, and from 1888 was on the faculty of the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on ...

, where he taught violin, viola, harmony, composition, and theory. According to his contemporary Louis Elson, Cutter's work "as a teacher . . . averages very high, and he has graduated hundreds of pupils." Among those students were

Florence Price Florence Beatrice Price (née Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music, and was acti ...

and Oscar Anderson Fuller. Cutter published several practical pedagogical works for violin and in music theory. From 1890 to 1893, Cutter was also on the editorial staff of ''The Musical Herald''.''Retrospective Index of Periodicals in Music'', "The Musical Herald."
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Selected compositions

Chamber music

* ''Eine Liebes-Novelle'' (A Love Story), 5 Bagatelles for viola and piano, Op. 20 (1894). Scor

* Trio in A minor for violin, cello and piano, Op. 24 (1894)

Vocal

* ''What Means That Star?'', Christmas Song for mezzo-soprano or contralto and piano (1893), words by

James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets that ...

* ''The Douglas Tragedy'', a ballad from the traditional Scotch, Op. 19 * ''Hymn to the North-East Wind'' for male chorus, Op. 35 (1896), words by

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

* ''Sir Patrick Spens'', ballad for chorus and orchestra, Op. 36 (1896) * ''Mass in D'' for soli, unison chorus and organ (1898)

Publications

*''The First Steps in Violin Playing''. New England Conservatory Music Store, Boston, 188

*''How to Study Kreutzer: A Handbook for the Daily Use of Violin Teachers and Violin Students''. Boston: Oliver Ditson, 190

*''Exercises in Harmony'' Supplementary to the Treatise on Harmony by G. W. Chadwick" Boston: New England Conservatory of Music, 1899. 11th edition, 1911

*''Harmonic Analysis''. Boston: Oliver Ditson, 190

Harmonic analysis

Cutter's concise textbook in harmonic analysis was intended "for those who have studied Harmony and would apply it in their every-day musical life—in other words, in their playing and in their teaching" (v). In particular, he promotes the value of harmonic reduction, as it can make "Playing by Memory and Playing at Sight easier to learn." Since "a piece of figurated music is always built on a plain harmonic structure,

he student will learn He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

that this harmonic structure is a concrete thing; that it may be taken hold of, as it were; may be played by itself, giving a good idea of the whole." Thus, "in playing from memory there is given to the player a greater assurance, if he knows that at a certain point he is to use such and such a chord, or go to such a key" (80-81). The basic method of harmonic reduction is that "the extreme notes of the florid phrase must be brought into proper vocal compass, after which the inner parts may be added, . . . although occasional breaks in the leading may be unavoidable in the compression of a very florid structure" (8, 83).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cutter, Benjamin 1857 births 1910 deaths 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American classical composers People from Woburn, Massachusetts State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni 19th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 19th-century American male musicians