Mary Howe

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Mary Howe (1882-1964), born Mary Carlisle, was an American composer and pianist. She was born in Richmond, Virginia, at the home of her maternal grandparents. She would spend her entire life in the Washington, DC area. Her family was extremely wealthy; her father, Calderon Carlisle, was a very well known and successful lawyer. This privilege ensured her private piano lessons—a symbol of status for wealthy women—with Hermione Seron, an accomplished pianist. By the time she was 18, she was regularly performing publicly, and was accepted into Baltimore’s Peabody School of Music. It was there that she began studying with Richard Burmeister, who led her to be quite accomplished on the piano. She also studied composition with Gustav Strube, Ernest Hutcheson, and Harold Randolph, and in 1933 went to Paris to study with the very famous and prestigious Nadia Boulanger. Shortly thereafter, she began mixing with the high society of DC. There, she met Bruce Howe, a wealthy lawyer who ensured that she would maintain her comfortable life style. She also started performing with her friend Anne Hull, their most notable performance being Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos. However, she much preferred composition. She notably emulated neo-romanticism, with an unusually open mind for modernism. Her early compositions were almost exclusively for piano, as a reflection of her craft. However, she began to develop an interest in themes in nature and American themes, paving the way for some of her most famous orchestral works (which include Sand, Stars, Rock, Three Pieces after Emily Dickinson and Chain Gang Song for orchestra and chorus). Her Chain Gang Song was especially praised for its lack of femininity; after the chorus and orchestra called her up to bow after its first performance, a man from the audience praised the conductor for the piece and asked why the woman was bowing with the ensemble. Later in life, Howe developed a passion for singing, and wrote music for her son, Calderon, to sing. In support of her country during World War II, she composed vigorous pieces in support of the troops, bizarrely but masterfully incorporating the texts of William Blake, which were also written for voice. She died in 1964 at the age of 82, twelve years after the death of her husband. Even now, she is one of the more performed of the modern women composers. She was progressive but still popular; in her time, she was the most popular female musician in the entire Washington, DC area. Maestro Stowkowski, who conducted her famous piece “Sand”, said that it implanted in him “a new conception of staccato”. Also, “Stars” was said to have an unusual but very appropriate harp cadenza, and deepened the “sense of mystery [where] man compares his insignificance with infinity”.

Work list: Choral: Catalina, 1924; Chain Gang Song, 1925; Cavaliers, 1927, unpublished; Laud for Christmas, 1936; Robin Hood’s Heart, 1936, unpublished; Spring Pastoral, 1936; Christmas Song, 1939; Song of Palms, 1939; Song of Ruth, 1939; Williamsburg Sunday, 1940; Prophecy, 1943; A Devotion, 1944; Great Land of Mine, 1953; Poem in Praise, 1955, unpublished; The Pavilion of the Lord, 1957, unpublished; Benedictus es Domine, 1960, unpublished; We Praise thee O God, 1962, unpublished Songs: Old English Lullaby, 1913; Somewhere in France, 1918; Cossack Cradle Song, 1922; Berceuse, 1925; Chanson Souvenir, 1925; O Mistress Mine, 1925; The Prinkin’ Leddie, 1925; Reach, 1925; Red Fields of France, 1925; Ma douleur, 1929; Ripe Apples, 1929; There has Fallen a Splendid Tear, 1930; Der Einsame, 1931; Liebeslied, 1931; Mailied, 1931; Schlaflied, 1931; Abendlied, 1932, unpublished; Avalon, 1932; The Little Rose, 1932; The Rag Picker, 1932; The Lake Isle of Innisfree, 1933; Fair Annet’s Song, 1934; Herbsttag, 1934 Little Elegy, 1934; Fragment, 1935; Now goes the light, 1935; Velvet Shoes, 1935; Go down Death, 1936; A Strange Story, 1936; Départ, 1938, unpublished; Soit, 1938; Viennese Waltz, 1938; Irish Lullaby, 1939, unpublished; You, 1939; Am Flusse, 1940; Die Götter, 1940; Heute geh’ ich, 1940; Die Jahre, 1940; Ich denke dein, 1940; Trocknet nicht, 1940, unpubd; Zweiful, 1940; The Bird’s Nest, 1941; General Store, 1941; Horses of Magic, 1941; Song at Dusk, 1941 Traveling, 1941, unpublished; Were I to Die, 1941, unpubd; L’amant des roses, 1942; Mein Herz, 1942; Men, 1942; Nicht mit Engeln, 1942; Hymne, 1943; In Tauris, 1944; Look on this horizon, 1944, unpublished; To the Unknown Soldier, 1944; Lullaby for a Forester’s Child, 1945; Rêve, 1945; O Proserpina, 1946; Spring Come not too Soon, 1947; The Christmas Story, 1948; The Bailey and the Bell, 1950; Horses, 1951; Einfaches Lied, 1955, unpublished; My Lady Comes, 1957; Three Hokku, 1958

Other works: Orch: Poema, 1922; Stars, 1927 (New York, 1963); Sand, 1928 (New York, 1963); Castellana, 2 pf, orch, 1930; Dirge, 1931; Axiom, 1932; American Piece, 1933; Coulennes, 1936; Potomac River, 1940; Paean, 1941; Agreeable Ov., 1948; Rock, 1954 (New York, 1963); The Holy Baby of the Madonna, 1958 Chbr: Fugue, str qt, 1922; Sonata, D, 1922 (New York, 1962); Ballade Fantasque, 1927; 3 Restaurant Pieces, 1927; Little Suite, str qt, 1928; Pf Qnt, 1928; Suite mélancolique, 1931; Patria, 1932; Quatuor, str qt, 1939; 3 Pieces after Emily Dickinson, str qt, 1941; Interlude between 2 Pieces, fl, pf, 1942; Wind Qnt, 1957 Pf (pubd unless otherwise stated): Andante douloureux, 1910; Nocturne, 1913 (New York, 1925); Prelude, 1920; Valse dansante, 2 pf, 1922, unpublished; Berceuse, 1924 (New York, 1925); Estudia brillante, 1925, unpublished; 3 Spanish Folk Tunes, 2 pf, 1925 (New York, 1926); Whimsy, 1931; Stars, 1934; Trifle, 1935, unpublished; Cards, ballet, 2 pf, 1936, unpublished; Le jongleur de Notre Dame, ballet, 2 pf, 1959, unpublished Org: Elegy, 1939, published; For a Wedding, 1940, unpublished Also transcrs. of works by J.S. Bach for 1 and 2

Discography:

“Music by Mary Howe” (1998)- performed by John Martin, Mary Howe, William Strickland, and Catholic University of America Chamber Arts Society Performed by Tokyo Imperial Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

“Heroines of Service”- includes music of Mary Lyon, Alice Freeman Palmer, Clara Barton, Frances Willard, Julia Ward Howe, Anna Shaw, Mary Antin, Alice C. Fletcher, Mary Slessor of Calabar, Madame Curie, Jane Addams

“Love’s Seasons: Songs of Mary Howe and Robert Ward” (2004) by Sandra McClain and Margo Garrett

Bibliography:

Amazon: amazon.com and amazon.fr

DOROTHY INDENBAUM, CAROL J. OJA: ‘Mary Howe’, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [14 March 2007], <http://www.grovemusic.com>

MusicWeb: “Mary Howe” http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Nov03/Mary_Howe.htm [accessed March 13, 2007]

Women of Note: “Mary Howe.” http://www.ambache.co.uk/wHowe.htm [accessed March 13, 2007]