John Powell (musician)
John Powell | |
---|---|
Born | September 6, 1882 |
Died | August 15, 1963 | (aged 80)
Education | University of Virginia |
Occupation(s) | Pianist, composer |
John Powell (September 6, 1882 – August 15, 1963) was an American pianist,
Early life and education
Powell was born and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1901 and studied piano with Theodor Leschetizky and composition in Vienna with composer Karel Navrátil.[2] He made his debut as a concert pianist in 1908 in Berlin.[3]
Music career
Powell became a world-renowned composer.[4] He had a racialist approach to music, which he expressed in his writings. He was interested in Appalachian folk music and championed its performance and preservation. He was one of the founders of the White Top Folk Festival, held in Grayson County, Virginia annually from 1931 to 1939.[5]
Political activism
Powell's ideology—and musicology—were strongly
Within a year, more than 400 white men had joined as members and the club had 31 "posts" in Virginia, including two in
Death and legacy
Powell died in Albemarle County, Virginia near Charlottesville, and was buried at Hollywood cemetery in Richmond.
Radford University named its arts and music hall after Powell, honoring his championing of Appalachian music. However, in 2005, Prof. Richard Straw's Appalachian Studies class at the university discovered Powell's role in white supremacy and brought it to the attention of administrators. The school developed a plan to rename the hall but did not implement it at the time.
In 2010, Christian Trejbal, a columnist for The Roanoke Times, contacted the university about why the hall had not been renamed, prompting officials to take up the issue again.[9] The University Board of Visitors voted to remove Powell's name, merging the hall with Porterfield Hall, to which it was already physically connected.[7]
Selected compositions
- Piano music:
- In the south, op. 16
- At the fair (1907)[10]
- Sonata noble, op. 21 (1907-8)
- Sonata teutonica for piano, op. 24 (admired by Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji).[11] Premiered by Benno Moiseiwitsch in London in 1914. Published and recorded in an abridged edition.
- Piano Concerto, Op.13[12]
- Violin Sonata, Op.19[12]
- Violin Concerto in E, Op.23 (premiered by Efrem Zimbalist, 1912, New York) [12]
- String Quartet, E minor (see John Powell Sound Archives)
- Rhapsodie Nègre for piano and orchestra
- Symphony in A major (Virginia Symphony) (1945, rev. 1951) (recorded)
References
- Notes
- ^ "Classics Online Bio". Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ Mackenzie, Sir Compton; Stone, Christopher (2004). Gramophone. Vol. 81.
- ^ The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. 2008.
- ^ a b c d Smith (2002)
- ^ Whisnant (1983)
- ^ Kushner (1986)
- ^ a b Tonia Moxley, "White supremacist's name removed from RU building", The Roanoke Times, 18 September 2010, accessed 26 August 2011
- ^ Whisnant 1983, pp. 240-242.
- ^ Trejbal, Christian (2010-09-12). "Radford University will no longer honor a racist". The Roanoke Times. Archived from the original on 2010-12-25. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ "Musicweb Powell Review". March 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
- ^ Rapoport (1992) pp. 210-1.
- ^ a b c The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1920 supplement, page 331 worklist. Downloaded from the International Music Score Library Project.
- Sources
- Kushner, David Z. (2006). "Powell's Racial and Cultural Ideologies". Israeli Studies in Musicology Online 2006, vol. 5/I. Accessed 29 December 2014.
- Rapoport, Paul (1992). Sorabji, a Critical Celebration. Scolar Press. ISBN 9780859679237.
- Smith, J. Douglas (2002). "The Campaign for Racial Purity and the Erosion of Paternalism in Virginia, 1922-1930: "Nominally White, Biologically Mixed, and Legally Negro" ", in The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Feb., 2002), pp. 65–106, accessed 29 December 2014 (subscription required)
- Whisnant, David E. (1983). All That Is Native and Fine: The Politics of Culture in an American Region. Durham, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807841433.
External links
- Free scores by John Powell (musician) at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- Papers of John Powell at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia
- 'A Racist Music'. Sunday Feature. BBC Radio 3. (24 November 2019). Online resource, accessed 19 February 2023.