Description

MINNIE “MAUD” POWELL (PERU, ILLINOIS, AUGUST 22, 1867 – UNIONTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, JANUARY 8, 1920)

Powell was born in Peru, Illinois. She was the first American violinist to achieve international rank. In 1986, Powell’s biographer Karen A. Shaffer founded the Maud Powell Society for Music and Education to further knowledge of Powell and her significant role in music both in the United States and abroad. Her mother was Wilhelmina “Minnie” Bengelstraeter Powell, and her father was William Bramwell Powell. W.B. Powell wrote numerous books such as The Normal Course of Reading and served as superintendent of Peru Elementary School District 124 from 1862 to 1870. She was the niece of John Wesley Powell, an American Civil War hero and famed explorer of the Grand Canyon. He made his first scientific exploration of the Colorado River in 1869, when Maud was two years oldAround the age of 7, she began violin and piano lessons in Aurora, located in Kane County, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. She was soon recognized as a prodigy and at age 9 began four years of being taken to Chicago for piano study with Agnes Ingersoll and violin study with William Lewis. When she was 13, her parents sold the family home to raise funds to continue her musical education. With her father remaining behind in rented rooms, she traveled with her mother and younger brother William to Europe. There she studied under Henry Schradieck at the Leipzig Conservatoire, Charles Dancla at the Paris Conservatoire (after placing first in the entrance exam), and Joseph Joachim at the Berlin Hochschule, among others. In 1885 she played Bruch’s G minor concerto in her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Joachim’s baton, and again with the New York Philharmonic under Theodore Thomas after she returned to the United States. She premiered violin concertos by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius in the United States, and performed Dvořák’s Violin Concerto on April 7, 1894, with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Anton Seidl in Carnegie Hall under the supervision of the composer. Powell was a powerful advocate for music by Americans, women, and black composers, including the Sierra Leone-English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. She commissioned a violin concerto from him. Powell was a committed champion of the Sibelius Violin Concerto and played it into the repertoire. On October 31, 1916, she performed in Ottawa, Illinois, on the occasion of the dedication of the Ottawa High School building. On November 27, 1919 in St. Louis, Missouri, she collapsed on stage of a heart attack. On January 8, 1920 she died after another heart attack in Uniontown, Pennsylvania while on tour.

TRACKLIST

1. Sonata in E major: Allegro, 2nd movement (Bach) with Arthur Loesser (piano) Victrola 64618 B-17805
2. Sonata in E major: 4th movement (Bach) with Arthur Loesser (piano) Victrola 64619 64618
3. Serse (Handel) HWV 40, Act I: Ombra mai fu, “Largo” (arr. for violin and piano) with Waldemar Liachowsky (piano) Victor 64227 B-11146
4. Divertimento No. 17 in D Major, K. 334 Minuet (Mozart) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 64073 B-4668
5. Quintet E Major, Op. 13, No. 5: Tempo di Minuetto (Boccherini, arr. Powell) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 74354 C-13727
6. Plaisir D’Amour (Martini, arr. Powell) with Arthur Loesser (piano) Victor 64615 B-17790
7. Guitarrero (Drdla) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victrola 64621 B-17795
8. Souvenir (Drdla) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 64074 B-4669
9. Molly on the Shore (Grainger) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 64611 B-17789
10. Bagatelles, Op. 13: No. 9. Bagatelles (The Bee) (Schubert) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 64076 B-4671
11. Minute Waltz Op. 64 No. 1 (Chopin, arr. Powell) with George Falkenstein (piano)
12. Thais (Massenet) Meditation with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 74135 C-15051
13. Farfalla, Op. 40, No. 3, “Will-o’-the-wisp” (Sauret) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victrola 74183 C-9008
14. Polonaise Op. 38 (Vieuxtemps) Victor 81052 B-1899
15. Zephyr (Blumenleben) Op. 30 (Hubay) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 74188 C-9012
16. Serenata, Op. 15 (Moszkowski-Rehfeld) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 64281 B-12396
17. Slavonik Cradle Song, Op. 11 (Neruda) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 81051 B-1898
18. Carnival of the Animals: XIII. Le Cygne (The Swan) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 64265 B-11147
19. Crepuscule (Massenet, arr. Powell)… Musette, Op. 27 (Sibelius, arr. Powell) Francis Lapitino (harp)/George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 74408 C-14995
20. The Maiden’s Wish (Chopoin, arr. MacMillen) with George Falkenstein (piano) Victor 74548 C-20024