Blair Fairchild

{{Infobox person

| name = Blair Fairchild

| image =Blair Fairchild LCCN2014713709 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Blair Fairchild

| image_size =

| birth_name =

| alias =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|6|23|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Belmont, Massachusetts, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1933|4|23|1877|6|23}}

| death_place = Paris, France

| alma_mater = Harvard University

| occupation = Composer, Diplomat

| parents = Charles Fairchild

| spouse = Edith Howard Cushing

| relations = Lucia Fairchild Fuller (sister)
Jairus Fairchild (grandfather)
Lucius Fairchild (uncle)

}}

J. Blair Fairchild (June 23, 1877 – April 23, 1933){{cite book |last=Villamil |first=Victoria Etnier |title=A Singer's Guide to the American Art Song |year=1993 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-5217-9 |pages=156}} was an American composer and diplomat. Along with Charles Wakefield Cadman, Charles Sanford Skilton, Arthur Nevin, and Arthur Farwell, among others, he is sometimes grouped among the Indianists, although he had only a marginal association with their work.{{cite book |last= Howard|first= John Tasker|title= Our American Music: Three Hundred Years of It|year= 1939|publisher= Thomas Y. Crowell Company|location= New York}}

Early life

Fairchild was a native of Massachusetts, the son of Elisabeth A. (Nelson) and Boston investor Charles Fairchild.{{cite web|url=http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=194|title=Digital Collection - Lucia Fairchild Fuller (1870-1924)|date=2008-08-03|work=American Centuries|publisher=Memorial Hall Museum Online}} Fairchild was the brother of miniaturist Lucia Fairchild Fuller; their grandfather, Jairus C. Fairchild, was the first mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, while their uncle Lucius served three terms as the governor of the state.{{cite web|url=http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=25768|title=Lucia Fuller|date=2008-08-03|publisher=Artnet.com}}

Career

He studied at Harvard College and in Florence before embarking, after a stint in business, on a career in the diplomatic corps.{{cite web|url=http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/Blair_Fairchild/26039.htm|title=Blair Fairchild|date=2008-08-03|work=Naxos composer biographies|publisher=Naxos Records}} He first saw service in Istanbul before being transferred to Tehran; in 1903 he settled in Paris, where he pursued further studies in music before becoming a composer. He died in 1933.

Fairchild had studied music while at Harvard, attending classes taught by both John Knowles Paine and Walter Spalding. Upon his arrival in Paris he sought further study with Charles-Marie Widor. His musical style was based on music he had heard during his diplomatic travels, and among his early works were two tone poems upon Persian legends, Zal and Shah Feridoun. He also wrote much in smaller forms, including many pieces for chamber groups. He also wrote songs and choruses. Fairchild's music has been described as derived from the same influences as the work of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, and Igor Stravinsky.

Little of Fairchild's music appears to have been recorded. Some of his piano pieces may be found on a compilation of Indianist music released by Naxos Records on the Marco Polo label.{{cite web|url=http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.223715|title=American Indianists, vol. 1|date=2008-08-02|publisher=Naxos Records}}

Personal life

In 1903,{{cite news|title=WEDDINGS OF A DAY.; Fairchild--Cushing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1903/01/02/archives/weddings-of-a-day-kempermason.html|access-date=26 October 2017|work=The New York Times|date=January 2, 1903}} he was married to Edith Howard Cushing (1871–1920),{{cite news|title=Obituary Notes {{!}} Mrs. Blair Fairchild|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/11/24/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html|access-date=26 October 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 November 1920}} the daughter of Thomas Forbes Cushing and the granddaughter of John Perkins Cushing, a wealthy Boston sea merchant, opium smuggler, and philanthropist.{{cite web|title=Cushing, John Perkins, 1787-1862.John Perkins Cushing business records, 1832-1882 (inclusive): A Finding Aid|url=https://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~bak00115|website=oasis.lib.harvard.edu|publisher=Harvard University Library|access-date=20 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715144650/http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~bak00115|archive-date=15 July 2010|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Forbes Family Papers, 1732-1931|url=https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fa0269|website=www.masshist.org|access-date=26 October 2017|language=en}}

His wife died in Paris in 1920, and Fairchild died, also in Paris, on April 23, 1933.{{cite news|title=BLAIR FAIRCHILD IS DEAD IN PARIS; American Composer Who Had Written in Many Forms Succumbs at 56. LEFT DIPLOMATIC SERVICE *o Was Author of First American Opera Produced at the Paris i Opera House.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/04/24/archives/blair-fairchild-is-dead-in-paris-american-composer-who-had-written.html|access-date=26 October 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 April 1933}}