Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge by John Singer Sargent , 1923

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (born October 30, 1864 in Chicago , Illinois , as Elizabeth Penn Sprague , † November 4, 1953 in Cambridge (Massachusetts) ) was an American pianist. But she was primarily known as a patron of music , especially of chamber music.

Life

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's father was a wealthy wholesaler in Chicago . She showed musical talent and studied piano with Regina Watson, who had studied with Carl Tausig in Germany. Elizabeth made rapid progress so that she appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Theodore Thomas at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with the Robert Schumann Piano Concerto. She then studied composition seriously with important teachers such as Daniel Gregory Mason, Percy Goetschius, Arthur Whiting , Rubin Goldmark and Domenico Brescia . This gave her an enormous amount of knowledge about composers, which all musicians later treated with respect.

On November 12, 1891, she married in the Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago the doctor Frederic Shurtleff Coolidge from Boston, who set up an orthopedic department at Rush Medical College . In 1902 he contracted syphilis during an operation and went to a clinic, initially in Saranac Lake, NY, for treatment, where he stayed for two years. They then lived in Pittsfield until 1913. Here he supported Dr. JFA Adams on founding the Society against Tuberculosis and the House of Mercy Hospital. As syphilis progressed to the second and third stages, he had to undergo intensive treatments with bromine and arsenic. He suffered several strokes, some of which paralyzed him, and gradually fell into dementia. They spent the last two years in New York until his death on May 16, 1915. Elizabeth helped her concentrated piano playing through this difficult time.

Elizabeth stayed behind with their only child, Albert, born January 23, 1894. Soon afterwards (1915) her parents also died. She inherited a considerable fortune from these and decided to use it to promote chamber music. She stayed true to this project until her death at the age of almost 90. However, as a result of her husband's profession, she also supported medical institutions.

Coolidge's financial resources were by no means unlimited, but with personal commitment and persuasiveness she managed to raise the reputation of chamber music considerably in the United States, where the composers' main interest had initially been orchestral music. Coolidge's devotion to music and generosity towards the musicians was also based on personal experience as a practicing musician. She herself appeared as a pianist and accompanist for world-famous soloists into old age.

In 1916 Coolidge founded the Berkshire String Quartet and two years later the Berkshire Music Festival at Pittsfield , Massachusetts . This later grew into the Berkshire Symphonic Festival in Tanglewood , which she also supported. In 1932 she established the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal for "Outstanding Contribution to Chamber Music". Frank Bridge , Benjamin Britten and Roy Harris were among the recipients of this medal . Coolidge also funded the Sprague Memorial Hall at Yale University .

Coolidge's most costly effort was the collaboration with the Library of Congress , which in 1924/1925 resulted in the construction of the Coolidge Auditorium with 500 seats, which was specially designed for chamber music. The cost, initially estimated at $ 60,000, was even higher in the end, but was fully taken over by Coolidge. At the same time, the Coolidge Foundation was set up to organize concerts in this auditorium and to commission new chamber music works from European and American composers; The foundation continues this task to this day.

Coolidge was known for her promotion of "difficult" modern music (although she declined to support Charles Ives , one of the most progressive composers of his time). She never had a great reputation for herself and confessed her musical preferences as follows: "My plea for modern music is not that we absolutely love or understand it. However, we should at least offer it a platform as evidence of significant human manifestations ". Although American herself, she had no national preferences, and most of her commissions went to European composers (which for some, especially after their exodus from Europe during the Nazi era , was of existential importance). It also did not promote any one-sided promotion of female composers. In 1951 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

The most lasting memories of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's musical patronage are undoubtedly the works she commissioned from nearly all of the leading composers of the early 20th century. The following are the most famous compositions today:

The extensive list of composers who also benefited from Coolidge's support also includes Ernest Bloch , Alfredo Casella , George Enescu , Howard Hanson , Paul Hindemith , László Lajtha , Bohuslav Martinů , Darius Milhaud , Ottorino Respighi , Rebecca Clarke and Albert Roussel .

literature

  • Cyrilla Barr: Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. American Patron of Music. Schirmer Books, New York NY 1998, ISBN 0-02-864888-9 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Coolidge, Elizabeth Sprague
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sprague, Elizabeth Penn (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American pianist and patron
DATE OF BIRTH October 30, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH 4th November 1953
Place of death Cambridge, Massachusetts