Katherine Ruth Willoughby Heyman (1877 – September 28, 1944), nicknamed "Kitty", was an American pianist and composer. She was a proponent of the music of

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, scientific transliteration: ''Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin''; also transliterated variously as Skriabin, Skryabin, and (in French) Scriabine. The composer himselused the French spelling "Scriabine" which was a ...

, and she gave several recitals consisting solely of his music.

Biography

Early life

Heyman was born in 1877, in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, California. Her father was violinist Arnold Heyman, a student of

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...

. She studied in Berlin from 1881 to 1894, including piano with

Karl Heinrich Barth Karl Heinrich Barth (12 July 1847 – 23 December 1922) was a German pianist and pedagogue. Life and early training Karl Heinrich Barth was born in Pillau, East Prussia (modern day Baltiysk, Russia). Little is known about Barth's early life, exc ...

. She later studied in Vienna and later London before returning to the United States for further studies.

Career

Heyman made her professional debut as a soloist with the

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

on October 13, 1899. In 1905, she moved to London and often toured European cities, especially in Russia. During this time, she toured together with singers

Ernestine Schumann-Heink Ernestine Schumann-Heink (15 June 186117 November 1936) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American operatic dramatic contralto of German Bohemian descent. She was noted for the flexibility and wide range of her voice. Heink and Schumann were her two ...

and

Marcella Sembrich Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska (February 15, 1858 – January 11, 1935), known professionally as Marcella Sembrich, was a Polish dramatic coloratura soprano. She is known for her extensive range of two and a half octaves, precise intonation, ch ...

. She met

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

, who dedicated the 1906 poem "Scriptor ignotus" to her, during this time. In addition to her performing activities, she also gave lectures about music. ''The Relation of Ultramodern to Archaic Music'', a collection of her lectures was published in 1921 by

Small, Maynard & Company Small, Maynard & Company (Small, Maynard and Company in bibliographies) is a defunct publishing house located in Boston. In its day it was a highly reputable house in literature, and several U.S. authors were published by it, including Walt Whitma ...

. She was a noted proponent of Scriabin, and gave several recitals in the 20s and 30s consisting entirely of his music in New York and Europe. She also held "conferences" at her Upper East Side loft where she performed Scriabin works, attendees including composers

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...

Charles Tomlinson Griffes Charles Tomlinson Griffes ( ; September 17, 1884 – April 8, 1920) was an American composer for piano, chamber ensembles and voice. His initial works are influenced by German Romanticism, but after he relinquished the German style, his late ...

, and

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...

Death

Heyman died on September 28, 1944, of a heart ailment, while en route from

Sharon Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name. In Anglosphere, English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, ...

Hospital, where she had been staying for her last two months, to St. Luke's Hospital (now

Mount Sinai Morningside Mount Sinai Morningside, formerly known as Mount Sinai St. Luke's, is a teaching hospital located in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan, Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is affiliated with the Icahn School of M ...

Bibliography

* 1921, ''The Relation of Ultramodern to Archaic Music'',

, Boston

Discography

* 1937, Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 4, Op. 30, Friends of Recorded Music, F.R.M. DISC 7A/7B * 1937,

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-century classical music, ...

: 3 Piano Pieces, Op. 11, 2nd movement / Scriabin: 2 Dances, Op. 73, 2nd movement, Friends of Recorded Music, F.R.M. DISC 9A/9B * 1938, Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 4, Op. 30, Friends of Recorded Music, GM353/4 * 1940, Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53, Friends of Recorded Music, GM552/4 * 1940, Scriabin: 4 Preludes, Op. 37: No. 2 / 12 Etudes, Op. 8: No. 2, Friends of Recorded Music, GM641 * 1940, Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 70, Friends of Recorded Music, GM355/7

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heyman, Katherine Ruth 1877 births 1944 deaths Musicians from Sacramento, California 20th-century American classical pianists 20th-century American classical composers American women pianists American women classical pianists American women classical composers