suite
Suite may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition
** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach
** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó
** ''Suite' ...
of ten short
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 ...
pieces by the American composer
Edward MacDowell
Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites '' Woodland Sketches'', ''Sea Pieces'' and ''Ne ...
. It was written during an 1896 stay at MacDowell's summer retreat in
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough is a New England town, town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,418 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The main village, with 3,090 people at the ...
, where each piece was inspired by a different aspect of the surrounding nature and landscape. The suite was first published in 1896, with pieces such as "
To a Wild Rose
"To a Wild Rose" is the first piece from '' Woodland Sketches'', Op. 51, by the American composer Edward MacDowell. It was completed in 1896 and first published by Breitkopf and Härtel.
Background
"To a Wild Rose", one of the European-trained ...
" (No. 1) and "To a Water-lily" (No. 6) becoming some of MacDowell's most popular works. While some pieces are notable for their use of
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 ...
techniques in depicting the
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
wilderness, others are based on elements from
Native American
Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States.
Related terms and peoples include:
Ethnic groups
* Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...
and Southern music. ''Woodland Sketches'' is considered by critics and historians to contain some of MacDowell's most skillful and distinctive works.
History
In 1896, MacDowell and his wife Marian fulfilled their dream of owning a country home with the purchase of a farm in
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Peterborough is a New England town, town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,418 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The main village, with 3,090 people at the ...
. The farm served as MacDowell's summer retreat, where he composed ''Woodland Sketches''. During the summer of 1896, MacDowell was inspired by the nature around his summer home and began composing brief melodies every morning, of which he later disposed. That past April, MacDowell explained how his composing occurred mostly in the summer as well as the importance of inspiration to his work:
At the suggestion of his wife, MacDowell recovered one of the thrown-away pieces and titled it "
To a Wild Rose
"To a Wild Rose" is the first piece from '' Woodland Sketches'', Op. 51, by the American composer Edward MacDowell. It was completed in 1896 and first published by Breitkopf and Härtel.
Background
"To a Wild Rose", one of the European-trained ...
". It became the first in a set of ten pieces MacDowell composed that summer, which were first published as ''Woodland Sketches'' that fall by P. L. Jung in New York. The work was then assigned to the publisher Arthur P. Schmidt in 1899. The suite grew popular, and upon MacDowell's death in 1908, had reportedly sold over one hundred thousand copies. The appeal of MacDowell's pieces was due in part to their accessibility to amateur pianists during a time when many households owned a piano.
The music historian Richard Crawford wrote in 1996 that ''Woodland Sketches''s source of inspiration in the American landscape may have been one way for MacDowell to "
laim
Laim (Central Bavarian: ''Loam'') is a district of Munich, Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sout ...
an identity as an American composer". Some time prior to composing the sketches, MacDowell told the American writer
Hamlin Garland
Hannibal Hamlin Garland (September 14, 1860 – March 4, 1940) was an American novelist, poet, essayist, short story writer, Georgist, and psychical researcher. He is best known for his fiction involving hard-working Midwestern farmers.
Biogr ...
:
Pieces
The suite (Op. 51) consists of ten pieces for piano:
* No. 1, "
To a Wild Rose
"To a Wild Rose" is the first piece from '' Woodland Sketches'', Op. 51, by the American composer Edward MacDowell. It was completed in 1896 and first published by Breitkopf and Härtel.
Background
"To a Wild Rose", one of the European-trained ...
" —
A major
A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor.
The A major scale is:
Changes needed for the ...
* No. 2, "
Will o' the Wisp
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
" —
F-sharp minor
F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative major is A major and its parallel major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major).
...
* No. 3, "At an Old Trysting-place" —
A-flat major
A-flat major is a major scale based on A♭ (musical note), A, with the pitches A, B♭ (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D♭ (musical note), D, E♭ (musical note), E, F (musical note), F, and G (musical note), G. Its key signature has fou ...
* No. 4, "In Autumn" — F-sharp minor
* No. 5, "From an Indian Lodge" —
C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major.
The C natural minor scale is:
Cha ...
* No. 6, "To a Water-lily" —
F-sharp major
F-sharp major is a major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has six sharps.
Its relative minor is D-sharp minor (or enharmonically E-flat minor) and its parallel minor is F-sharp min ...
* No. 7, "From
Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus is the fictional title character and narrator of a collection of African American folktales compiled and adapted by Joel Chandler Harris and published in book form in 1881. Harris was a journalist in post–Reconstruction era Atlant ...
" —
F major
F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...
* No. 8, "A Deserted Farm" — F-sharp minor
* No. 9, "By a Meadow Brook" — A-flat major
* No. 10, "Told at Sunset" —
F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...
Most of the works in ''Woodland Sketches'' are in
ternary form
Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples inclu ...
, consisting of simple melodies with chordal accompaniment. Many of the pieces' subjects are indicative of the nature and wildlife surrounding MacDowell's farm ("To a Wild Rose", "Will o' the Wisp", "To a Water-lily", "By a Meadow Brook") or are inspired by the MacDowells' frequent walks in the woods ("At an Old Trysting-place", "From an Indian Lodge", "A Deserted Farm"). According to the musicologist Douglas E. Bomberger, the pieces "are suggestive of extramusical ideas without telling a specific story". The musicologist Michael Broyles drew a connection between the suite and the short piano pieces of Norwegian composer
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...
, a Norse similarity that is also evident in MacDowell's
piano sonata
A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement (Liszt, Scriabin, Medtner, Berg), others with two movemen ...
s.
"To a Wild Rose" (No. 1)
The suite's first piece, "To a Wild Rose", is "MacDowell's best known single work" according to the musicologist H. Wiley Hitchcock, and it achieved what Bomberger described as "phenomenal popularity". MacDowell believed the work's popularity arose because the publisher spread its score generously across two pages. The piece begins with a spare melody, based on a simple one from the Brotherton Indians. The melody is played in short fragments and accompanied by chords and
pedal point
In music, a pedal point (also pedal note, organ point, pedal tone, or pedal) is a sustained Musical note, tone, typically in the bass note, bass, during which at least one foreign (i.e. consonance and dissonance, dissonant) harmony is sounded in ...
s. The climax consists of a repeated
dominant ninth chord
In music theory, a ninth chord is a chord that encompasses the interval of a ninth when arranged in close position with the root in the bass.
Heinrich Schenker and also Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov allowed the substitution of the dominant seventh ...
, which can also be heard as a version of the
Tristan chord
The original Tristan chord is heard in the opening phrase of Richard Wagner's opera ''Tristan und Isolde'' as part of the leitmotif relating to Tristan. It is made up of the notes F, B, D, and G:
:
More generally, the term refers to any chord ...
. The piece concludes with a Scotch snap rhythm. Crawford opined that the piece's harmony "saves it from blandness".
"Will o' the Wisp" (No. 2)
Bomberger considered "Will o' the Wisp" to be "the most virtuosic of the set", evoking MacDowell's love for "extreme speed". The music historian Neil Leonard cited "Will o' the Wisp" as an example of MacDowell's "concern for atmospheric effects" in depicting the titular lights with his
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 economic style.
"At an Old Trysting-place" (No. 3)
"At an Old Trysting-place" is the shortest piece in the suite. The music portrays the return to a place where one has once met their lover. It consists of a "long-breathed" melody, in contrast to the melodic fragments in "To a Wild Rose".
"In Autumn" (No. 4)
"In Autumn" begins with a "brisk, staccato theme" followed by chromatic runs. The music shifts to a mysterious and questioning tone in the middle section before returning to the joyous opening theme.
"From an Indian Lodge" (No. 5)
"From an Indian Lodge" opens with bare octaves, introducing a musical depiction of a
pow wow
A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity for Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their ...
in a
wigwam
A wigwam, wikiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wikiup'' ...
. The piece ends on loud, orchestral-like chords. Just as "To a Wild Rose", "From an Indian Lodge" uses a melody from the Brotherton Indians. However, the piece also incorporates other Native American motifs; the first eight measures correspond to the "Songs of the Walla-Walla Indians, Nos. 1 and 2", while measures 9 to 25 correspond to the "Song of the Brotherton Indians". These melodies are compiled in the musicologist
Joel Chandler Harris
Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his t ...
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin.
...
and elements of Southern culture despite never having directly experienced the
American South
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...
. Nevertheless, Bomberger assessed the result as "charmingly nostalgic", and Porte found the piece "delightfully frank".
"A Deserted Farm" (No. 8)
The music critic
Lawrence Gilman
Lawrence Gilman (July 5, 1878 – September 8, 1939) was an American author and music critic.
Lawrence Gilman was the son of Arthur Coit Gilman and Bessie (Lawrence) Gilman, and the grandnephew of educator Daniel Coit Gilman. Lawrence Gilman ...
described "A Deserted Farm" as the "quintessence of acDowells style". The piece opens and ends with a grave theme in the minor key. This is contrasted by a middle section in the major key, marked "pianissimo as heard from afar" to indicate echoes from past barn dances. For this work, MacDowell was inspired by an abandoned farmstead where he and his wife previously had lunch.
"By a Meadow Brook" (No. 9)
"By a Meadow Brook" is MacDowell's impression of the
Nubanusit Brook
Nubanusit Brook is a stream in southern New Hampshire in the United States. The brook begins at the outlet of Nubanusit Lake in Nelson. It is a tributary of the Contoocook River, part of the Merrimack River watershed. The brook flows south into ...
, which flows past his Peterborough property. The piece suggests what MacDowell's wife described as "the busy, noisy, little stream rushing over a rocky bed" before closing on a diminuendo.
"Told at Sunset" (No. 10)
The tenth and last piece, "Told at Sunset", recalls material from earlier pieces like "At an Old Trysting-place". The piece opens with a theme similar to "A Deserted Farm", which dies away before a new theme grows louder and then also dies away. A more expressive form of the theme from "A Deserted Farm" returns before reaching the piece's conclusion: silence followed by stern chords from the introduction to "From an Indian Lodge" that begin soft but finish in fortissimo. MacDowell used the Scotch snap rhythm extensively in "Told at Sunset", leading Bomberger to call the piece "The Apotheosis of the Scotch Snap".
Reception
In his 1908 study on MacDowell's life, Lawrence Gilman considered some of the ''Woodland Sketches'' to be among "the choicest emanation of MacDowell's genius". He later wrote that in ''Woodland Sketches'', MacDowell's speech "assumes for the first time some of its most engaging and distinctive characteristics" and that the pieces "have an inescapable fragrance, tenderness, and zest". Gilman recognized "At an Old Trysting-place", "From an Indian Lodge", "To a Water-lily", "A Deserted Farm", and "Told at Sunset" to be pieces of "a different calibre", remarkable for their "richness of emotion", "dramatic purpose", and "tactful reticence". He commented that the other five pieces "are slight in poetic substance, though executed with charm and humour".
In his 1991 treatise on American music, Nicholas E. Tawa deemed that "the finest of MacDowell's short characteristic pieces" are found in ''Woodland Sketches'', as well as in three of MacDowell's subsequent suites: ''Sea Pieces'', Op. 55 (1898); ''Fireside Tales'', Op. 61 (1902); and ''New England Idylls'', Op. 62 (1902). Michael Broyles wrote in 1998 that MacDowell's "sense of color, focus, and economy of means was extraordinary" in these suites.