Irving Lowens
Irving Lowens (19 August 1916 – 14 November 1983) was an American musicologist, critic, and librarian in the Washington, D.C. area. He served as the
Early life
Irving Lowens was born in New York City. He studied music education, music criticism, and composition at the City College of New York and Teachers College, Columbia University, graduating from the latter institution in 1939. In 1957, Lowens earned an M.A. in American Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Career
Lowens served as an
His musicological career began in 1953, when he began to write music criticism for the Washington Star. He also provided editorial assistance to publishers such as G. Schirmer. In 1959, Lowens became the Sound Recordings Reference Librarian at the Library of Congress; he was promoted to the Library’s Assistant Head of the Music Division in 1961. In 1966, Lowens left the Library of Congress in order to devote himself full-time to the Washington Star, where he had been appointed Chief Music Critic in 1960; he remained in this position until 1978.[1]
Lowens taught at
Personal life
Lowens was married to music librarian Violet Halper until their divorce in 1967. He married musicologist and Unitarian minister Margery Morgan. He had no children.
Memorials
The Society for American Music honors the musicologist through the Irving Lowens Awards, presented every year to the authors of the best book and the best article on American Music.[2] The reading room at the Special Collections in Performing Arts at the University of Maryland is named after Irving Lowens and his wife, the musicologist Margery Morgan Lowens; their personal papers collections are held at that archives.[1]
Publications
Irving Lowens's research on early American music resulted in several important publications, including some in collaboration with Allen Britton and Richard Crawford.[1] These include:
- “The Origins of the American Fuging Tune,” JAMS, vi (1952): 43-52
- Music and Musicians in Early America (New York, 1964) [a compilation of several earlier articles]
- Lectures on the History and Art of Music (New York, 1968)
- A Bibliography of Songsters Printed in America before 1821 (Worcester, MA, 1976)
- “Das Schrift tum zur amerikanischen Musikgeschichte zwischen den Weltkriegen (1918-41),” ÖMz, xxxi (1976), heft 10, pp. 510–16
- Haydn in America (Detroit, 1979)
- Music in America and American Music: Two Views of the Scene (Brooklyn, NY, 1978)
- (with A.P. Britton and R. Crawford:) American Sacred Music Imprints, 1698-1810: a Bibliography (Worcester, MA, 1990)[1][2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Biographical information found in the [Irving Lowens Papers, Special Collections in Performing Arts, University of Maryland Libraries].
- ^ a b c Patrick J. Smith. "Lowens, Irving." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, [1] (accessed January 27, 2012).
- ^ Early American tunebooks in the Irving Lowens memorial collection. Kroeger, Karl, Moravian music journal, 36(1), spring, 1991, 3-5
External links
- Irving Lowens Papers at Special Collections in Performing Arts at the University of Maryland
- Irving Lowens Article Award
- Irving Lowens Book Award
- [4]