CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE THE AMERICAN NAISSANCE [ Parker ( 1863-1919)-- Macdowell ( 1861-1908)-- Mason ( 1873)]-- Ives ( 1874)--( Taylor ( 1885)-- Hanson ( 1896)) -- Cadman ( 1881-1945)-- Still ( 1895)-- Villa-Lobos ( 1881)-- Chavez ( 1899)-- Ruggles ( 1876)-- Varèse ( 1885)-- Cowell ( 1897)-- Antheil ( 1900)-- Thomson ( 1896)-- Piston ( 1896)-- Gershwin ( 1898-1937) THE American genius for publicity seems to have failed where her music is concerned. It is true that one may find scores here and there at agents, and that certain isolated works appear in our programmes from time to time; but no effort appears to have been made to publicise the music in a general way. This applies to both North and South America, particularly to the latter, whose musical output is enormous. The result is that American music is almost a closed book to the European music-lover and is confined to a few names, some of which play no part in the twentieth century concept. At the end of the last century a certain impact was made by Horatio Parker ( 1863- 1919), whose general musical outlook formed a clear parallel with the academic and university approach to music here, and Parker was one upon whose shoulders academic robes hung easily. The other name was that of Edward Macdowell ( 1861- 1908), who made some considerable inroads into musical consciousness through his many piano pieces, all of con- siderable charm and romantic feeling. In this way he formed a counter- part to Edvard Grieg ( 1843- 1907) in that pianists of limited ability were able to form a repertoire which made an instant appeal to themselves and their hearers, in the former case through the moderate standard of technique required for their performance, and in the latter through the simplicity of style and idiom. Unfortunately, these drawing-room pieces of Macdowell took atten- tion away from his more considerable works, among which the four -246- |