John Knowles Paine

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John Knowles Paine

John Knowles Paine (born January 9, 1839 in Portland, Maine , † April 25, 1906 in Cambridge, Massachusetts ) was an American organist and composer . He is considered the first American composer to set standards with orchestral compositions and draw attention to himself. The history of American classical music began with Paine. Paine wrote the first major American composition to be performed in Europe (Messe in D, Berlin), and his Symphony No. 2 was published by Arthur P. Schmidt of Boston as the first symphony in American history. In addition, he was responsible for ensuring that Johann Sebastian Bach's organ works found their way to America and were regularly performed there. In contrast to his great role model Bach, John Knowles Paine was a person who was celebrated throughout America during his lifetime.

life and work

Raised in a musical family, Paine received his first organ lessons from Hermann Kotzschmar , a German organist who had emigrated to the United States of America in 1848. At the age of 18 Paine made his debut as an organist and went to Berlin in 1858 , where he studied singing with Gustav Wilhelm Teschner , organ playing with Carl August Haupt and composition with Wilhelm Wieprecht . Furthermore, studies in counterpoint and orchestration completed his training. Paine was considered a very ambitious musician. A contemporary said he saw Paine practicing a pedal passage on a very hot summer day. Paine wanted to play this passage perfectly at least a hundred times before coming along for a walk by the river.

Before returning to the USA in 1861, he undertook an extensive concert tour of Germany. He then became organist at the West Church in Boston . He held this position until 1864. With his reputation, he made Harvard University attention and was appointed in 1862 as a singing teacher and organist. In 1875 he received the first professorship in the USA for music at Harvard University, where he taught until 1905. He gave up his professorship to study composition more intensively. In 1871 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1898 to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

In 1876 his 1st Symphony was premiered in Boston. However, this was not published until two years after his death.

In 1893 he composed the Columbus March and Hymn for the “World's Columbian Exposition” in Chicago. His cantata Song of Promise was performed in 1888 as part of the Cincinnati Festival.

Paine composed an opera ( Azara ), several symphonies , stage music, hymns , cantatas , chamber music works, piano and organ pieces as well as vocal music. His music largely adapts to German Romanticism and is permeated by the spirit of Bach and Beethoven . In the course of time his musical style changed and he tied the chromatics more closely. Presumably this had something to do with his fascination with Richard Wagner . Paine's music has had a strong sense of tonality over the years. Formal clarity, "thoughtful" orchestrations, a harmonic context and a clear counterpoint characterize his compositional style.

Paine's second symphony, In the Spring, was performed in Cambridge by Theodore Thomas . Thomas was considered a pioneer in the field of conducting. This second symphony is entirely in the style of late Romanticism and triggered storms of enthusiasm. Music critic John Sullivan Dwight was so excited that he climbed into his chair and opened and closed his umbrella. A little later he was able to convince again with his music for a Greek-language Harvard production (King Oedipus) and attract international attention. With this composition he won a gold medal in an international concert series in Berlin in 1904.

In addition, Paine is one of the co-founders of the American Guild of Organists with Dudley Buck . He has also published a variety of books, specialist articles, and analyzes.

Works

Opera

  • Azara

organ

  • Concert Variations on the " The Star Spangled Banner ", [Opus 1] - 1861
  • Concert Variations on the "Austrian Hymn" op. 3 # 1
  • Fantasy on A Strong Castle , op.13
  • Prelude in B minor op.19 # 2
  • Fugue in C minor (from Four Pieces )

orchestra

  • Symphony No. 1, op.23
  • As You Like It , Overture, op.28
  • The Tempest , Symphonic Poem op.31
  • Symphony No. 2 in A major "In Spring" op. 34
  • Prelude from "Oedipus Tyrannus" op. 35
  • The Nativity, Op. 38

Chorals

  • Commencement hymn
  • Freedom, our Queen
  • Hymn of the West

Choir and orchestra

  • Freedom, our queen
  • Domine fac salvum Praesidem nostrum Op. 8
  • Mass in D op.10
  • St. Peter : To Oratorio op.20
  • Centennial Hymn , Op. 27
  • Oedipus Tyrannus , Op. 35
  • The Realm of Fancy , op.36
  • Phoebus, Arise! op. 37

literature

  • John C. Schmidt: The life and works of John Knowles Paine. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press 1980 ISBN 0-8357-1126-9
  • Alfred Baumgartner: Propylaea World of Music - The Composers - A lexicon in five volumes . tape 4 . Propylaen Verlag, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-549-07830-7 , pp. 233-234 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ John Knowles Paine. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 2, 2016 ; accessed on September 29, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.americancenturymusic.org
  2. ↑ John Knowles Pain. Retrieved September 29, 2016 .
  3. ↑ John Knowles Paine. Retrieved September 28, 2016 .
  4. ↑ John Knowles Pain. Retrieved September 29, 2016 .
  5. ^ Members: John K. Paine. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 18, 2019 .
  6. ^ Longwood Symphony to perform John Knowles Paine overture. Retrieved September 29, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Paine, John Knowles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American organist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 9, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH Portland, Maine
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 1906
Place of death Cambridge, Massachusetts