
Marion Eugénie Bauer (15 August 1882 – 9 August 1955) was an American composer, teacher, writer, and music critic. She played an active role in shaping American musical identity in the early half of the twentieth century.
As a composer, Bauer wrote for piano,
chamber ensembles
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 numb ...
,
symphonic orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, a ...
, solo voice, and vocal ensembles. She gained prominence as a teacher, serving on the faculty of
Washington Square College
The New York University College of Arts and Science (CAS) is the primary liberal arts college of New York University (NYU). The school is located near Gould Plaza next to the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the Stern School of Bus ...
of
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, where she taught music history and composition from 1926 to 1951. In addition to her position at NYU, Bauer was affiliated with the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
as a guest lecturer from 1940 until her death in 1955. Bauer also wrote extensively about music: she was the editor for the Chicago-based ''Musical Leader'' and additionally authored and co-authored several books including her 1933 text ''Twentieth Century Music''.
Throughout her life, Bauer promoted not only her own work but new music in general. Bauer helped found the American Music Guild, the
American Music Center, and the
American Composers Alliance
The American Composers Alliance (ACA) is an American nonprofit composer service organization dedicated to the publishing and promoting of American contemporary classical music. Founded in 1937 by Aaron Copland, Milton Adolphus, Marion Bauer and ...
, serving as a board member of the latter. Bauer additionally held leadership roles in both the
League of Composers The League of Composers/International Society for Contemporary Music is a society whose stated mission is "to produce the highest quality performances of new music, to champion American composers in the United States and abroad, and to introduce Ame ...
and the Society for the Publication of American Music as a board member and secretary, respectively. With
Claire Raphael Reis,
Minna Lederman, and others, she was regularly in a leadership position in these organizations.
Bauer's music includes dissonance and extended
tertian
In music theory, ''tertian'' (, "of or concerning thirds") describes any piece, chord, counterpoint etc. constructed from the intervals of (major and minor) thirds. An interval such as that between the notes A and C encompasses 3 semitone i ...
,
quartal, and
quintal harmonies, though it rarely goes outside the bounds of extended tonality, save for her brief experimentation with
serialism
In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were also ...
in the 1940s. During her lifetime, she enjoyed many performances of her works, most notably the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
premiere of ''Sun Splendor'' in 1947 under the baton of
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...
and a 1951
New York Town Hall concert devoted solely to her music.
Biography
Early life
Marion Bauer was born in
Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023. The combined populat ...
, on August 15, 1882. Her parents—both of French-Jewish background—had immigrated to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, where her father Jacques Bauer worked as a shopkeeper and her mother Julie Bauer worked as a teacher of modern languages. Bauer was the youngest of seven children, with an age difference of 17 years between herself and her oldest sister, noted music critic, composer, and educator,
Emilie Frances Bauer.
Later in Bauer's childhood, Jacques Bauer, an amateur musician himself, recognized his youngest daughter's musical aptitude, and Bauer began studying piano with Emilie. When Jacques Bauer died in 1890, the Bauers moved to
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
, where Bauer graduated from St. Helen's Hall in 1898.
[Hisama, liner notes to ''Music of Marion Bauer''.] Upon completion of
secondary school
A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
, Bauer joined her sister Emilie in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in order to begin focusing on a career in
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
* Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...
.
Studies
Once in New York, Bauer commenced studies with
Henry Holden Huss and
Eugene Heffley, in addition to her sister Emilie. In 1905, her studies brought her into contact with French violinist and pianist
Raoul Pugno
Stéphane Raoul Pugno (23 June 1852 – ) was a French composer, teacher, organist, and pianist known for his playing of Mozart's works.
Biography
Raoul Pugno was born in Paris and was of Italian origin. He made his debut at the age of six, and w ...
, who was using New York as a base on an extended concert tour of the United States. By virtue of her upbringing in a home headed by French immigrants, Bauer was fluent in both
French and
English, and was thus able to teach Pugno and his family English.
[Pickett, "From the Wild West to New York Modernism," 35.] As a result of this favor, Pugno invited Bauer to study with him in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in 1906, and it was during this time that Bauer also became the first American to study with
Nadia Boulanger
Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...
, an associate of Pugno's in the Paris music scene.
(Ultimately, Boulanger would teach such notable figures as
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
,
David Diamond,
Roy Harris
Roy Ellsworth Harris (February 12, 1898 – October 1, 1979) was an American composer. He wrote music on American subjects, and is best known for his Symphony No. 3.
Life
Harris was born in Chandler, Oklahoma on February 12, 1898. His ancestry ...
and
Gail Kubik.) As she had done with Pugno, in exchange for composition lessons from Boulanger, Bauer taught her English.
When she returned to New York in 1907, Bauer continued her studies with Heffley and
Walter Henry Rothwell,
[Hisama, ''Gendering Musical Modernism'', 5.] additionally teaching
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
and
music theory
Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...
on her own. After another year of study in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
from 1910 to 1911, this time focusing on form and counterpoint with
Paul Ertel
Paul may refer to:
People
* Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people
* Paul (surname), a list of people
* Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament
* Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo P ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, Bauer began to establish herself as a serious composer;
it was after this period of study in 1912 that she signed a seven-year contract with
usic publisherArthur P. Schmidt.
Although active as a composer and private instructor in the years following 1912, Bauer ultimately undertook two more periods of study in Europe, partially facilitated by financial
inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
s upon the deaths her mother and older brother.
[Pickett, "From the Wild West to New York Modernism," 37.] In 1914, she once again returned to Berlin to study with Ertel, but her time there was curtailed by the outbreak of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
Almost ten years later, Bauer decided once again to undertake an extended period of study in Europe, this time at the
Paris Conservatory
The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...
with
André Gedalge
André Gedalge (27 December 1856 – 5 February 1926) was a French composer and teacher.
Biography
André Gedalge was born at 75 rue des Saints-Pères in Paris where he first worked as a bookseller and editor, specialising in ''livres de prix' ...
, who had also taught composers such as
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
,
Darius Milhaud
Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His composition ...
, and
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...
.
At the time, she was 40 years old and offered the following reason for continuing her studies comparatively late in life: "As a member of the
American Music Guild, I had the opportunity to measure my powers and my limitations with those of my colleagues....The result was a period of study in Europe. This time I decided in Paris I would find the kind of work and musical environment for which I was seeking."
Bauer's studies at the Paris Conservatory, however, were cut short in 1926 when she received the news that her sister Emilie had been hit by a car.
[Pickett, "From the Wild West to New York Modernism," 40.] Bauer returned to New York, but Emilie's injuries ultimately proved fatal.
Career
Although Bauer had never earned a college degree (despite her years of study),
in September 1926 she was hired as an instructor for
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
's music department, becoming their first female music faculty member.
Among her early colleagues were
Albert Stoessel
Albert Frederic Stoessel (October 11, 1894 – May 12, 1943) was an American composer, violinist and conductor.
Biography
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1894. He studied music at the Berlin Hochschule as a pupil of Emanuel Wirth and ...
,
Gustave Reese
Gustave Reese ( ; November 29, 1899 – September 7, 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications ''Music in the Middle Ages'' (1940 ...
, and
Percy Grainger
Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who moved to the United States in 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long and ...
.
During her tenure at NYU from 1926 to 1951, Bauer taught classes in
composition
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
*Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
* Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...
,
form and analysis,
aesthetics and criticism, and
music history and appreciation,
earning the rank of
associate professor
Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''.
In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...
in 1930.
Bauer taught using her own book, the readings from which would then be followed by class discussions. She also advocated strongly for new music and would play "the few pertinent records and
piano rolls
A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. Piano rolls, like other music rolls, are continuous rolls of paper with holes punched into them. These perforations represent note control d ...
available," or have students play unavailable works. Some of her most famous students from her years at NYU included
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He was a Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Fellowship recipient, recognized for his serial and electronic music.
Biography ...
,
Julia Frances Smith,
Miriam Gideon
Miriam Gideon (October 23, 1906 – June 18, 1996) was an American composer who wrote at least 130 pieces of music.
Life
Miriam Gideon was born in Greeley, Colorado, on October 23, 1906. She studied organ with her uncle Henry Gideon and piano wi ...
, and conductor
Maurice Peress
Maurice Peress (March 18, 1930 – December 31, 2017) was an American orchestra conductor, educator and author.
After serving as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein beginning in 1961, Peress went on to stand ...
.
In addition to teaching at NYU, Bauer lectured at
Juilliard
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...
and
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
. She also lectured annually at the
Chautauqua Summer Music Institute in
Chautauqua, New York
Chautauqua ( ) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town and lake resort community in Chautauqua County, New York, Chautauqua County, New York (state), New York. The population was 4,009 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Cha ...
, putting on lecture-recitals of twentieth-century music with pianist
Harrison Potter throughout her career.
Potter performed Bauer's piano music in other settings as well, including concerts put on by the
League of Composers The League of Composers/International Society for Contemporary Music is a society whose stated mission is "to produce the highest quality performances of new music, to champion American composers in the United States and abroad, and to introduce Ame ...
, the
WPA Federal Music Project, the
MacDowell Club The MacDowell Clubs in the United States were established at the turn of the twentieth century to honor internationally recognized American composer Edward MacDowell. They became part of a broader social movement to promote music and other art forms ...
, and
Phi Beta National Fraternity of Music and Speech.
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
years, Bauer also spent summers teaching at
Mills College
Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...
, the
Carnegie Institute, and the
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music was a conservatory, part of a girls' finishing school, founded in 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It merged with the College of Music of Cincinnati in 1955, forming the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, w ...
as well as Juilliard.
Even with her teaching and lecturing responsibilities, Bauer remained active as a composer. Between 1919 and 1944, she spent a total of twelve summers in residence at the
MacDowell Colony
MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The program was founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDo ...
, where she met composers such as
Ruth Crawford Seeger
Ruth Crawford Seeger (born Ruth Porter Crawford; July 3, 1901 – November 18, 1953) was an American composer and musicologist. Her music heralded the emerging modernist aesthetic, and she became a central member of a group of American composers ...
and
Amy Beach
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (September 5, 1867December 27, 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her "Gaelic" Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra ...
and focused on composition.
[Edwards, ''New Grove,'' 924.] Bauer also helped found the
American Music Guild, the
American Music Center, and the
American Composers Alliance
The American Composers Alliance (ACA) is an American nonprofit composer service organization dedicated to the publishing and promoting of American contemporary classical music. Founded in 1937 by Aaron Copland, Milton Adolphus, Marion Bauer and ...
, serving on the board of the latter.
In 1937,
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
founded the
League of Composers The League of Composers/International Society for Contemporary Music is a society whose stated mission is "to produce the highest quality performances of new music, to champion American composers in the United States and abroad, and to introduce Ame ...
, and asked Bauer to serve on the executive board of that organization as well. Bauer additionally served as secretary for the
Society for the Publication of American Music, and helped co-found the
Society of American Women Composers in 1925 along with Amy Beach and eighteen others.
[Hisama, ''Gendering Musical Modernism'', 123.]
As a writer and
music critic
'' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
, Bauer was respected for "her intellectual approach to new music," yet she also maintained a level of accessibility in her writings.
[Edwards, ''New Grove'', 924.] For instance, she was published in various journals, was editor of the highly regarded
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
-based ''Musical Leader'', and most famously published her book ''Twentieth Century Music'', all of which garnered her respect in the music world. At the same time, though, Bauer made new music accessible to newcomers with her books such as ''How Music Grew: From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day''. Bauer also had a highly inclusive view of what constituted "serious" music, as demonstrated in the content of ''Twentieth Century Music''. Besides being one of the first textbooks to discuss
serialism
In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were also ...
, ''Twentieth Century Music'' also mentioned numerous women composers in contrast to other contemporary music textbooks such as
Paul Rosenfeld's ''Musical Portraits, An Hour with American Music'' and
John Tasker Howard's ''Our Contemporary Composers'', which only briefly mentioned women composers, if they were mentioned at all.
Bauer's book also discussed
modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
works by
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
composers and included
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
in its discussion of twentieth-century music.
Later years
In the spring of 1951, Bauer retired from her position at NYU,
[Pickett, "From the Wild West to New York Modernism," 43.] although she continued to lecture at Juilliard.
Bauer also attended a gathering of MacDowell Colony composers on August 6, 1955.
Three days later, on August 9, 1955, while vacationing at the home of Harrison Potter and his wife in
South Hadley, Massachusetts
South Hadley (, ) is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,150 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield metropolitan area, Massachusetts.
South Hadle ...
, Bauer died of a heart attack, just shy of her 73rd birthday.
She is buried with her sisters Emilie and Minnie in the
Kensico Cemetery
Kensico Cemetery, located in Valhalla, New York, Valhalla, Westchester County, New York was founded in 1889, when many New York City cemeteries were becoming full, and rural cemeteries were being created near the railroads that served the city ...
in
Valhalla, New York
Valhalla ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The name wa ...
.
Music
Style and influences
Although very much an advocate of contemporary music, Bauer herself was considered relatively conservative as a composer; her works from the 1910s-1920s mostly contain a
pitch center
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree () of the diatonic scale (the first note of a scale) and the tonal center or final resolution tone that is commonly used in the final cadence in tonal (musical key-based) classical music, popula ...
, and she only turned to
serialism
In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were also ...
briefly in the 1940s with works such as ''Patterns''. She also experimented with
spoken word
Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...
s set to music. Her music is generally
melodically
A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...
driven, using "extended tonality
ndemphasizing colouristic
harmony
In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
and
diatonic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair ...
dissonance."
Both
impressionistic
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
and
romantic influences feature in her works, but Bauer's studies with
André Gedalge
André Gedalge (27 December 1856 – 5 February 1926) was a French composer and teacher.
Biography
André Gedalge was born at 75 rue des Saints-Pères in Paris where he first worked as a bookseller and editor, specialising in ''livres de prix' ...
particularly marked a change in her style from conventionally
tonal to a more impressionistic,
post-tonal
Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. ''Atonality'', in this sense, usually describes compositions written from about the early 20th-century to the present day, where a hierarchy of harmonies focusing on a ...
idiom as demonstrated in her 1924 works ''Quietude'' and ''Turbulence''.
For the remainder of her career, though, Bauer continued to integrate both the romanticism advocated by her German teachers with the impressionism she encountered in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and in the music of her close friend
Charles Tomlinson Griffes. The influence of the latter is particularly evident in comparing Bauer's 1917 work ''Three Impressions'' for piano to Griffes's ''Roman Sketches'' published a year earlier: each is an impressionistic-style suite with a poem preceding each movement.
[Pickett, "From the Wild West to New York Modernism," 38.]
The discrepancy between the relative conservatism of Bauer's work versus the more experimental works she advocated in her writings such as ''Twentieth Century Music'' is partially explained by her publisher Arthur P. Schmidt's hesitation to support her early
modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
inclinations in composition.
Schmidt and Bauer, although maintaining a close relationship, notably disagreed on style. It is inferred that when Bauer's seven-year contract was about to expire, Schmidt requested that Bauer simplify her compositional style, as indicated by Bauer's response to his correspondence: "It is not stubbornness on my part not to write simple things. I can only write what I feel–and someday (soon I hope) I shall learn to do the big simple thing. I must do my work in steps–evolutionary, not revolutionary. I have so little time to write that naturally change of style is slow." It is also possible that the experience of having her Violin Sonata (later published under the title ''Fantasia Quasi Una Sonata'') demoted from first to second place in the 1928
Society for the Publication of American Music competition expressly for its "modernist tendencies" led Bauer to adopt a comparatively conservative style of composition.
Bauer did, however, play a significant role in the development of non-
tertian
In music theory, ''tertian'' (, "of or concerning thirds") describes any piece, chord, counterpoint etc. constructed from the intervals of (major and minor) thirds. An interval such as that between the notes A and C encompasses 3 semitone i ...
harmony in American music. Along with
Ernest Bloch
Ernest Bloch (; ; July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. Several of his most no ...
, Bauer was one of the first American composers to experiment with
quintal harmony
In music, quartal harmony is the building of harmonic structures built from the intervals of the perfect fourth, the augmented fourth and the diminished fourth. For instance, a three-note quartal chord on C can be built by stacking perfect fourth ...
, or harmony based on stacked fifths, as demonstrated in her 1926 solo piano version of ''Sun Splendor'' and her writings about it. The development of this harmonic technique in turn influenced the music of
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
.
[Pickett, Chapter 19.]
Notable collaborations and performances
During her lifetime, Bauer's music was well received by performers, critics, and the public alike. Virtuoso violinist
Maud Powell
Minnie "Maud" Powell (August 22, 1867 – January 8, 1920) was an American violinist who gained international acclaim for her skill and virtuosity.
Biography
Powell was born in Peru, Illinois. Her mother was Wilhelmina "Minnie" Bengelstraeter ...
commissioned "Up the Ocklawaha" in 1912, an impressionistic work for violin and piano that programmatically reflected Powell's own excursion on the
Ocklawaha River
The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 21, 2011 Ocklawaha River flows north from central Florida until it joins the St. Johns River near Palatka. Its name is deriv ...
in north central Florida.
''Up the Ocklawaha'' was subject of much praise upon its premiere.
In 1915 and 1916, respected opera singers May Dearborn-Schwab, Mary Jordan, and Elsa Alves were featured on two all-Bauer programs presented in New York, accompanied by Bauer herself.
The 1916 performance featured twenty of Bauer's songs, and received a favorable review in ''The Musical Leader''.
By virtue of her activities in various composition circles, particularly the
League of Composers The League of Composers/International Society for Contemporary Music is a society whose stated mission is "to produce the highest quality performances of new music, to champion American composers in the United States and abroad, and to introduce Ame ...
and the
New York Composer's Forum, Bauer was well-situated to have even her larger-scale, more resource-intensive works performed. Notably, Bauer was the second woman to have her work performed by the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
:
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...
conducted the premiere of her ''Sun Splendor'' at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
in 1947.
Despite this high-profile exposure, though, ''Sun Splendor'' was never published in any of its forms–as a piano solo, duet, or orchestral piece–and the only recording currently available is that of the original performance, housed in the New York Philharmonic Archives.
An event Bauer herself considered one of the highlights of her entire career was the May 8, 1951
New York Town Hall concert devoted exclusively to her music.
Sponsored by the
Phi Beta fraternity at the time of Bauer's retirement from NYU, the works performed that day spanned her entire career and included two previously unperformed works: the ''Dance Sonata'', Op. 24 (1932) for dancer and piano (later expanded and revised as ''Moods'' for solo piano) and ''Trio Sonata II'' for flute, cello, and piano.
The concert was reviewed by
Olin Downes
Edwin Olin Downes, better known as Olin Downes (January 27, 1886 – August 22, 1955), was an American music critic, known as "Sibelius's Apostle" for his championship of the music of Jean Sibelius. As critic of ''The New York Times'', he ex ...
of the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', who wrote positively of the event : "The music is prevailingly contrapuntal and dissonance is not absent. Yet the fundamental concept is melodic, the thinking clear and logical, the sentiment sincere and direct."
Criticism
Some music critics during Bauer's lifetime promoted a divide between "masculine" and "feminine" music, even with the increase of women in the composition field around the turn of the century.
Reviews of Bauer's larger, more intellectual pieces exemplify this phenomenon; the pieces were well-received, albeit in terms of being "masculine."
For instance, in his review of the 1928 premiere of Bauer's String Quartet, William J. Henderson wrote:
"Those who like to descant upon the differences between the intellect of woman and that of man must have found themselves in difficulties while listening to Miss Bauer's quartet. It is anything but a ladylike composition. This does not mean that it is rude, impolite or vulgar, but merely that it has a masculine stride and the sort of confidence which is associated in one's mind with the adventurous youth in trousers."
One of the most pointed criticisms leveled at Bauer's work pertains to her books. As musicologist
Susan Pickett points out regarding ''How Music Grew: From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day'', "
day's reader would take offense with several vulgar
racial stereotypes. '
African' and 'savage' were used interchangeably.
Arabs
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
were 'barbarians.'
Chinese and
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
were 'yellow races,' and so forth."
[Pickett, Chapter 15.] Indeed, in 1975, Ruth Zinar published an article surveying racial stereotypes in music books recommended for children, and reserved her most stinging criticism for Bauer's work: "Of all the books studied, Marion Bauer's and
Ethel Peyser's ''How Music Grew from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day'' must be considered to be the most overtly offensive, in addition to be replete with inaccuracies." Later editions were, however, edited to be more sensitive to issues of race.
Personal life
Personality
By the recollections of friends, colleagues, and students, Bauer was a kindhearted, good-humored person, who treated others with warmth, compassion, and generosity.
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He was a Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Fellowship recipient, recognized for his serial and electronic music.
Biography ...
also recalls in his introduction to the 1978 edition of ''Twentieth Century Music'' how he and his classmates referred to Bauer "not derisively but affectionately" as 'Aunt Marion' for her matronly manner and appearance, and even for her classes, which were conducted so as to be suitable for occurrence at teatime in a genteel parlor."
[Babbitt, 368.] He too describes Bauer as generous and sensitive, particularly in terms of guiding her students' careers, but also in terms of her writing due to the fact that she mentions so many composers and organizations.
Religious affiliation
Despite her birth to
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
immigrants, Bauer appears not to have been an observant Jew in adulthood. Although Bauer's memorial service was conducted by a
rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
,
[Edwards, ''Jewish Women's Archive''.] she was
cremated
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...
thereafter,
which is forbidden by official
Jewish law
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...
. Additionally, both
Maurice Peress
Maurice Peress (March 18, 1930 – December 31, 2017) was an American orchestra conductor, educator and author.
After serving as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein beginning in 1961, Peress went on to stand ...
, a former student, and Frederic Stoessel claimed that Bauer practiced
Christian Science
Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...
, a claim further supported by a letter Bauer wrote in 1923 expressing "a desire to publish a song appropriate for a Christian Science service."
No official confirmation of Bauer's religious affiliation has been found yet, however.
Sexual orientation
Bauer never married, and much of her personal life remains a mystery.
[Hisama, ''Gendering Musical Modernism'', 101.] She lived with and was supported by her sister Emilie until Emilie's death in 1926.
At that point, Bauer went to live with her other sister Flora, who also lived in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, a living arrangement that lasted until Flora's death in the early 1950s.
Although unconfirmed,
Ruth Crawford Seeger
Ruth Crawford Seeger (born Ruth Porter Crawford; July 3, 1901 – November 18, 1953) was an American composer and musicologist. Her music heralded the emerging modernist aesthetic, and she became a central member of a group of American composers ...
's writings, when considered along with remarks by Martin Bernstein (a longtime friend of Bauer's and a former chair of NYU music dept.) and
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He was a Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Fellowship recipient, recognized for his serial and electronic music.
Biography ...
, imply that Bauer may have been a
lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
.
[Hisama, ''Gendering Musical Modernism'', 102.] Crawford and Bauer met at the
MacDowell Colony
MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The program was founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDo ...
in 1929, where Bauer quickly became a mentor and close friend to the much younger Crawford.
[Hisama, ''Gendering Musical Modernism'', 99.] Although Crawford preferred to characterize their relationship as one of "sisterly-motherly love," she also acknowledged that, at one time, their relationship had bordered on becoming sexual, particularly on Bauer's part when she reserved a single hotel room for the two of them at the International Festival of Contemporary Music in
Liège
Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...
in September 1930, which made Crawford "uncomfortable." Along with Crawford's perceptions of her relationship with Bauer, Martin Bernstein stated: "
a female,
auerhad very little interest in ''men'' (emphasis in original)...At least if she had any romantic liaisons with men, we don't know about it." Babbitt further substantiated Bernstein's thoughts during an interview about Bauer when he remarked, "And she was very much a...let's simply say unmarried. But she was an absolute dear." Conclusive evidence as to Bauer's sexual orientation has not yet been established.
Legacy
Bauer's legacy can be measured not only by her output of at least 160 compositions along with her five books, but also by the impact she had on the careers of both
Ruth Crawford Seeger
Ruth Crawford Seeger (born Ruth Porter Crawford; July 3, 1901 – November 18, 1953) was an American composer and musicologist. Her music heralded the emerging modernist aesthetic, and she became a central member of a group of American composers ...
and
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He was a Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Fellowship recipient, recognized for his serial and electronic music.
Biography ...
, who went on to become well-known American composers of the twentieth century. After they met at the MacDowell Colony in 1929, Bauer encouraged Crawford's efforts in composition and "contributed greatly to Crawford's musical growth and her professional visibility." For Crawford, Bauer represented a powerful connection to the musical establishment. With her position at the ''Musical Leader'', Bauer was able to publish "a glowing review of a private concert of Crawford's music"; additionally, Bauer introduced Crawford to
Gustave Reese
Gustave Reese ( ; November 29, 1899 – September 7, 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications ''Music in the Middle Ages'' (1940 ...
, an editor at the
G. Schirmer publishing company at the time.
Bauer also played a significant role in Babbitt's career development. Babbitt decided to study with her at NYU in February 1934 after reading her 1933 edition of ''Twentieth Century Music''.
In the introduction to the later edition, Babbitt recollected his thoughts upon reading the work for the first time: "
re was a book...which concerned itself interestedly, admiringly, enthusiastically, even affectionately with works of music which, in most academic environments, were unmentionables, untouchables, and unspeakables, and anywhere else were unknowns." Babbitt specifically mentions his appreciation for her discussion of the
serialist composers with accompanying musical examples; during the
Depression years,
scores (especially of new music) were prohibitively expensive to own personally, and only a few libraries had copies.
[Babbitt, 367-368.] Babbitt greatly respected Bauer, saying in 1983 that Bauer was "a wonderful lady...whose name I'm going to do everything in the world to immortalize."
Works
(From the list of Bauer's works in ''New Grove'' unless otherwise indicated)
Orchestral Works:
* ''Lament on an African Theme,'' Op. 20a, strings (1927)
* ''Sun Splendor'' (?1936)
* ''Symphonic Suite,'' Op. 34, strings (1940)
* Piano Concerto "American Youth," Op. 36, (1943) (arranged for 2 pianos 1946)
* Symphony No. 1, Op. 45, (1947–1950)
* Prelude and Fugue, Op. 43, flute and strings (1948 rev. 1949)
Chamber works:
* ''Up the Ocklawaha,'' Op. 6, violin and piano (1913)
* Sonata No. 1, Op. 14, violin and piano (1921 rev. 1922)
* String Quartet, Op. 20 (1925)
* ''Fantasia Quasi una Sonata,'' Op. 18, violin and piano (1925)
* ''Suite (Duo),'' Op. 25, oboe and clarinet (1932)
* Sonata, Op. 22, viola or clarinet and piano (1932)
* Concertino, Op. 32b, oboe, clarinet, and string quartet or orchestra (1939 rev. 1943)
* ''Trio Sonata No. 1,'' Op. 40, flute, cello, piano (1944)
* ''Five Pieces (Patterns)'' Op. 41, string quartet (1946–1949, no. 2 arranged for double woodwind quintet and double bass—1948)
* ''Aquarelle,'' Op. 39/2a, double woodwind quintet, 2 double basses (1948)
* ''Trio Sonata No. 2,'' Op. 47, flute, cello, piano (1951)
* Woodwind Quintet, Op. 48, flue, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn (1956)
Keyboard works (for piano unless otherwise noted):
* ''Three Impressions,'' Op. 10 (1918)
* ''From the New Hampshire Woods'', Op. 12 (1922)
* ''Three Preludettes'' (1921)
* ''Six Preludes,'' op. 15 (1922)
* ''Turbulence,'' op. 17/2 (1924)
* ''A Fancy'' (1927)
* ''Sun Splendor,'' (?1929, arranged for 2 pianos ?1930)
* ''Four Piano Pieces,'' op. 21 (1930)
* ''Dance Sonata,'' op. 24 (1932)
* ''Moods (Three Moods for Dance),'' op. 46 (1950/4)
* ''Anagrams,'' op. 48 (1950)
* ''Meditation and Toccata,'' organ (1951)
Choral works:
* ''Wenn ich rufe an dich, Herr, mein Gott'' (Ps xxviii), op. 3, Soprano, women's chorus, organ/piano (1903)
* ''Fair Daffodils'' (R. Herrick), women's chorus, keyboard (1914)
* ''Orientale'' (E. Arnold), soprano, orchestra (1914, orchestrated 1932, rev. 1934)
* ''The Lay of the Four Winds'' (C.Y. Rice), Op. 8, male chorus, piano (1915)
* ''Three Noëls'' (L.I. Guiney, trad.), Op. 22, Nos. 1–3, women's chorus, piano (1930)
* ''Here at High Morning'' (M. Lewis), Op. 27, male chorus (1931)
* ''The Thinker,'' Op. 35, mixed chorus (1938)
* ''China'' (B. Todrin), Op. 38, mixed chorus, orchestra/piano (1943)
* ''At the New Year'' (K. Patchen), Op. 42, mixed chorus, piano (1947)
* ''Death Spreads his Gentle Wings'' (E.P. Crain), mixed chorus (1949 rev. 1951)
* ''A Foreigner Comes to Earth on Boston Common'' (H. Gregory), Op. 49, soprano, tenor, mixed chorus, piano (1953)
Other vocal works:
* "Coyote Song" (J.S. Reed), baritone, piano (1912)
* "Send Me a Dream" (Intuition) (E.F. Bauer), solo voice, piano (1912)
* "Phillis" (C.R. Defresny), medium voice, piano (1914)
* "By the Indus" (Rice), solo voice, piano (1917)
* "My Faun" (O. Wilde), solo voice, piano (1919)
* "Night in the Woods" (E.R. Sill), medium voice, piano (1921)
* "The Driftwood Fire" (Katharine Adams), solo voice, piano (1921) (not listed in New Grove)
* "The Epitaph of a Butterfly" (T. Walsh), solo voice, piano (1921)
* "A Parable" (The Blade of Grass) (S. Crane), solo voice, piano (1922)
* "Four Poems" (J.G. Fletcher), Op. 16, high voice, piano (1924)
* "Faun Song," alto, chamber orchestra (1934)
* "Four Songs (Suite)," soprano, string quartet (1935 rev. 1936)
* "Songs in the Night" (M.M.H. Ayers), solo voice, piano (1943)
* "The Harp" (E.C. Bailey), solo voice, piano (1947)
* "Swan" (Bailey), solo voice, piano (1947)
Written works
(From the list of Bauer's works in ''New Grove'')
* With Ethel Peyser: ''How Music Grew: From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day'' (New York: 1925, rev. 1939)
* With Ethel Peyser: ''Music through the Ages: a Narrative for Student and Layman'' (New York, 1932, enlarged 3/1967 by Elizabeth Rogers as ''Music through the Ages: an Introduction to Music History'')
* ''Twentieth Century Music'' (New York, 1933, rev. 2/1947)
* ''Musical Questions and Quizzes: a Digest of Information about Music'' (New York, 1941)
* With Ethel Peyser: ''How Opera Grew: from Ancient Greece to the Present Day'' (New York, 1956)
References
Sources
* Ambache, Diana. Liner notes to ''Marion Bauer: American Youth Concerto'' performed by the Ambache Chamber Orchestra and Ensemble. Naxos (8.559253), 2005. Compact disc.
* Ammer, Christine. ''Unsung: A History of Women in American Music'', Century ed. Portland: Amadeus Press, 2001. .
* Babbitt, Milton. "Introduction to Marion Bauer's Twentieth Century Music (1978)." ''The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt''. Ed. Stephen Peles, Stephen Dembski, Andrew Mead, and Joseph N. Straus. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. .
* Block, Adrienne Fried. "Arthur P. Schmidt, Music Publisher and Champion of American Women Composers." ''The Musical Woman: An International Perspective'', v. 2. Eds. Judith Lang Zaimont, Catherine Overhauser, and Jane Gottlieb. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987. .
* Edwards, J. Michele. "Bauer, Marion Eugénie." ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. Ed. Stanley Sadie. London: MacMillan, 1980. II: 924. .
* Edwards, J. Michele. "Marion Eugénie Bauer." ''Jewish Women's Archive''. Accessed June 9, 2011. http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bauer-marion-eugenie.
* Hisama, Ellie. ''Gendering Musical Modernism: The Music of Ruth Crawford, Marion Bauer, and Miriam Gideon''. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2001. .
* Hisama, Ellie. Liner notes to ''Music of Marion Bauer'' performed by Virginia Eskin, Deborah Boldin, and Irina Muresanu. Albany Records (TR465), 2001. Compact disc.
* Pickett, Susan. "Chapter 15: Marion in Paris, 1923-1926." ''The Bauer Sisters''. Unpublished. Used with special permission of the author.
* Pickett, Susan. "Chapter 19: Sun Splendor, Fantasia Quasi Una Sonata: A New Twist, String Quartet, 1926–1930." ''The Bauer Sisters.'' Unpublished. Used with special permission of the author.
* Pickett, Susan. "From the Wild West to New York Modernism." ''
The Maud Powell Signature, Women in Music: The March of the Women'' 2, no. 2 (June 2008): 32–45. Accessed March 22, 2011. http://www.maudpowell.org/signature/Portals/0/pdfs/signature/Signature_June_2008_issue.pdf.
* Silberberg, Naftali. "Why does Jewish law forbid cremation?" ''Chabad.org''. Accessed June 9, 2011. http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/510874/jewish/Why-does-Jewish-law-forbid-cremation.htm.
* Tawa, Nicholas E. ''Mainstream Music of Early Twentieth Century America: The Composers, Their Times, and Their Works''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992. .
External links
*
The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers: Marion Eugénie Bauer (on GoogleBooks)Jewish Women's Archive: Marion Eugénie Bauer*
ttp://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/mountholyoke/mshm308_main.html Marion Bauer compositions at Mount Holyoke CollegeNaxos: Marion Bauer*
*
*
*
Musical Manuscripts Collectionat the
Harry Ransom Center
The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bauer, Marion
1882 births
1955 deaths
20th-century American classical composers
American women classical composers
Modernist composers
New York University faculty
Jewish American classical composers
People from Walla Walla, Washington
Conservatoire de Paris alumni
American women academics
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
20th-century American musicologists
20th-century American women composers