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CONCERT MUSIC
Chapter Overview
In the late nineteenth century, Americans produced musical compositions in all of the large forms. While
nationalism thrived in Europe, most American composers tried to make their music sound European. A few
American composers developed interest in developing a nationalistic American music, but recognition
came slowly. Louis Moreau Gottschalk composed pieces based on ethnic tunes popular in his native city of
New Orleans. Edward MacDowell was inspired by American Indian material in his composition of concert
music. The Second New England School composers, including Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, attracted
admiration in America and abroad.
Listening Example
26. Louis Moreau Gottschalk: “Le bananier”
27. John Knowles Paine: Fuga giocosa, op. 41, no. 3
28. Amy Marcy Cheney Beach: Symphony in E minor (“Gaelic”), second movement
Online Listening Examples
Louis Moreau Gottschalk: “Bamboula”
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach: “The Year’s at the Spring”
Edward MacDowell: “To a Wild Rose” from Woodland Sketches
Suggestions for Further Listening
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, “The Banjo”
John Knowles Paine: Second Symphony (“In the Spring”)
Paine: Fantasie über “Ein’ feste Burg”
Paine: Mass in D
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach: Mass in Eb, op. 5
Beach: String Quartet (based on Eskimo tunes)
Terms to Review
conservatory
dissonance
consonance
chamber orchestra
virtuoso
legato
character piece
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theme and variations
ostinato
nationalism
Second New England School
transcription
fugue
dominant
exposition
motive
sequence
movement
coda
suite
MacDowell Colony
Key Figures
Theodore Thomas
Louis Moreau Gottschalk
John Knowles Paine
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach
Edward MacDowell
Visuals
Cartoon depicting Theodore Thomas conducting in Central Park
Louis Moreau Gottschalk at the piano
Diagram of the exposition of a four-voice fugue
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach
Edward MacDowell
Critical Thinking
Compare the effect their families and upbringing must have had on the careers of Stephen Foster
and Louis Moreau Gottschalk.
Can you envision a nationalistic American music? What characteristics would you expect it to
include?
Why do you suppose nineteenth-century Americans showed so little interest in concert music by
American composers?
How might Amy Cheney Beach’s professional experience have differed had she lived half a
century later?
Does Paine’s Fuga giocosa sound humorous, as its title suggests? If so, what lends it that flavor?
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What do you think of the efforts by several American composers to capture an American sound by
adapting American Indian sounds in their vocal, choral, piano, and orchestral compositions? Defend
your position by referring to the elements of music. Have you heard similar adaptations in scores for
films about Native Americans, and if so, were they effective?
Further Topics for Essay or Discussion
1. Why do concert audiences continue to be more attracted by the name of a virtuoso performer than
by the titles and composers of the works to be performed?
2. Why did early- to mid-nineteenth-century Americans resist development of a characteristic
American music?
3. In what ways did Theodore Thomas systematically raise the level of American understanding and
appreciation of orchestral music? Can you suggest ways in which today’s symphony orchestras
might attract large, enthusiastic audiences? Further, check the Web for information on steps
specific orchestras in fact are taking for this purpose.
4. Explore some of the effects of nationalism on the literature, art, and music of certain European
countries.
5. Why were Dvorak’s recommendations for the development of an American nationalistic style of
music not very productive?
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