Maud Powell

{{Infobox person

| name =Maud Powell

| image =Maud Powell.jpg

| caption =Powell circa 1919

| birth_name = Minnie Powell

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|8|22}}

| birth_place =Peru, Illinois

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1920|1|8|1867|8|22}}

| death_place =Uniontown, Pennsylvania

| parents =William Bramwell Powell and Wilhelmina Bengelstraeter

| relatives =John Wesley Powell, uncle

| signature =Signature of Maud Powell.png

}}

File:Maud Powell 1914.jpg

Minnie "Maud" Powell (August 22, 1867 – January 8, 1920) was an American violinist who gained international acclaim for her skill and virtuosity.{{cite news |title=Maud Powell, The Violinist, Is Dead. One of Greatest Native Musicians Suffers Nervous Breakdown at 51 [sic] Years. Displayed Gift As Child. Won Her First American Triumph In 1885 After Study Under European Masters |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/01/09/102735150.pdf |quote=Maud Powell, the violinist, died in a hotel here today. She suffered a nervous breakdown yesterday and became so ill that her concert last night was canceled. On Thanksgiving night she collapsed on the stage during her concert in St. Louis. For twenty-four hours she was said to be dangerously ill, but she recovered and continued her tour. The illness was reported as acute gastritis at that time. ...|newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 9, 1920 |access-date=2014-01-09 }}

Biography

Powell was born in Peru, Illinois. Her mother was Wilhelmina "Minnie"{{cite web

| last = Shaffer | first = K. A. | title = Life & Career Timeline | publisher = The Maud Powell Society

| year = 2004 | url = http://www.maudpowell.org/home/MaudPowell/LifeCareerTimeline/tabid/78/Default.aspx

| access-date = 2014-02-04}} Bengelstraeter Powell, and her father was William Bramwell Powell. W. B. Powell wrote numerous books{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=inauthor:William+inauthor:Bramwell+inauthor:Powell|title=inauthor:William inauthor:Bramwell inauthor:Powell – Google Search|website=www.google.com|access-date=August 3, 2020}}{{better source needed|date=January 2024|reason=A Google search is not a permissible source.}} such as The Normal Course of ReadingSearch Google Books for [https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=intitle:Normal+intitle:Course+intitle:Reading+inauthor:Powell&num=100 The Normal Course of Reading by Powell]{{better source needed|date=January 2024|reason=A Google search is not a permissible source.}} 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 old.

Around the age of 7, she began violin and piano lessons in Aurora, located in Kane County, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago.{{cite magazine| last = Shaffer | first = K. A. | title = A lifetime of achievements: pioneering American violinist Maud Powell |magazine=The Strad| date = 2013-12-20 | url = http://www.thestrad.com/latest/editorschoice/a-lifetime-of-achievements-pioneering-american-violinist-maud-powell | access-date = 2014-02-04 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140222070620/http://www.thestrad.com/latest/editorschoice/a-lifetime-of-achievements-pioneering-american-violinist-maud-powell | archive-date = 2014-02-22 | url-status = dead }} 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.

Powell was soloist in the first American performances of the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius violin concertos 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 British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, from whom she commissioned a violin concerto. Powell was a committed champion of the Sibelius Violin Concerto and was largely responsible for its addition to the repertoire. Max Liebling's Fantasia on Sousa Themes for violin and piano was dedicated to her.{{cite magazine|title=American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell|author=Robert Maxham|magazine=Fanfare|volume=30|issue=6|pages=19–20}}

In January 1894, Powell was initiated honorably into musical women's fraternity Alpha Chi Omega.{{Cite web|url=https://alphachiomega.historyit.com/item-detail.php?id=42#?c=&m=&s=&cv=20&xywh=-553,155,2649,2189|title=Alpha Chi Omega Digital History|website=alphachiomega.historyit.com|access-date=Aug 3, 2020}}

On October 31, 1916, Powell performed in Ottawa, Illinois, on the occasion of the dedication of the Ottawa High School building.

On November 27, 1919, Powell suffered a heart attack on stage in St. Louis, Missouri.{{cite news |title=Maude Powell Better |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/11/29/118237423.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 29, 1919 |access-date=2015-06-08 }} On January 8, 1920, Powell died following another heart attack in Uniontown, Pennsylvania while on tour.{{cite journal

| last = Furry | first = W. | title = The pearl of Peru

| journal = Illinois Heritage | volume = 7 | issue = 4 | page = 18

| publisher = Illinois State Historical Society | date = July–August 2004

| url = http://www.lib.niu.edu/2004/ih071804.html | access-date = 2014-01-28}}

Legacy

File:Maud Powell statue.jpgPowell was the first American violinist to achieve international rank. She was among the first instrumentalists to make Red Seal records for the Victor Talking Machine Company, starting in 1904 until 1919. With these recordings she set an enduring standard for violin performance.{{cite web

| last = Shaffer | first = K. A. | title = Maud Powell, a Pioneer's Legacy

| work = The Maud Powell Signature, Women in Music

| publisher = The Maud Powell Society | year = 1995

| url = http://www.maudpowell.org/home/MaudPowell/MaudPowellViolinPioneer/tabid/67/Default.aspx

| access-date = 2014-01-28}}

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.

In 1995, her home town of Peru dedicated an 8-foot bronze statue of Powell, sculpted by Joseph Heyd.{{cite web |title=Commemorations |url=http://new.maudpowell.org/home/TheMaudPowellSociety/Commemorations.aspx |website=Maud Powell Society |access-date=1 March 2022}}

In 2007, American violinist Rachel Barton Pine released a CD of music transcribed by, commissioned by or dedicated to Maud Powell.{{Cite web|url=http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_notes.php?id=12|title=Liner Notes Essay for American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell|last=Shaffer|first=Karen A.|work=Rachel Barton Pine discography|access-date=2010-06-02|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215156/http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/rec_notes.php?id=12|archive-date=2013-10-04}}

In 2009, Maud Powell Favorites, a 4-volume set of Powell's transcriptions and works commissioned by her or dedicated to her was published by the Maud Powell Society for Music and Education. The music was compiled by Karen A. Shaffer who wrote the extensive historical introduction and annotations while Rachel Barton Pine served as the music editor.{{Cite web

| title = Maud Powell Favorites

| work = Maud Powell Society web site

| publisher = The Maud Powell Society for Women in Music

| year = 2009

| url = http://www.maudpowell.org/home/Publications/MaudPowellFavorites/tabid/75/Default.aspx

| access-date = 2010-06-02}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20105/11236/|title=Rachel Barton Pine's Maud Powell Favorites|last=Niles|first=Laurie|date=2010-05-10|work=Violinist.com blogs|access-date=2010-06-02}}

Maud Powell was posthumously granted the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award on January 25, 2014, at the Recording Academy's 2014 Special Merit Awards Ceremony & Nominees Reception. The award was accepted on behalf of Powell by biographer Karen A. Shaffer and Rachel Barton Pine.{{cite web|last=GRAMMY.com|title=Lifetime Achievement Award: Maud Powell|url=http://www.grammy.com/news/lifetime-achievement-award-maud-powell|work=GRAMMY News|publisher=GRAMMY.com|access-date=28 January 2014}}

Recordings

American Virtuosa: Tribute to Maud Powell. Rachel Barton Pine (violin), Matthew Hagle (piano). Cedille Records, 2006: CDR 90000 097
Powell, Maud: Complete Recordings, Vol. 1 (1904–1917). Naxos Records, 2001: 8.110961{{Cite web|url=http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.110961&catNum=8110961&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English#|title=Liner Notes Essay for Powell, Maud: Complete Recordings, Vol. 1|last=Shaffer|first=Karen A.|work=Naxos|access-date=2014-02-05}}
Powell, Maud: Complete Recordings, Vol. 2 (1904–1917). Naxos Records, 2001: 8.110962{{Cite web|url=http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.110962&catNum=8110962&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English#|title=Liner Notes Essay for Powell, Maud: Complete Recordings, Vol. 2|last=Shaffer|first=K. A.|work=Naxos|access-date=2014-02-05}}
Powell, Maud: Complete Recordings, Vol. 3 (1904–1917). Naxos Records, 2001: 8.110963{{Cite web|url=http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.110963&catNum=8110963&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English#|title=Liner Notes Essay for Powell, Maud: Complete Recordings, Vol. 3|last=Shaffer|first=K. A.|work=Naxos|access-date=2014-02-05}}
Powell, Maud: Complete Recordings, Vol. 4 (1904–1917). Naxos Records, 2004: 8.110993{{Cite web|url=http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.110993&catNum=8110993&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English#|title=Liner Notes Essay for Powell, Maud: Complete Recordings, Vol. 4|last=Shaffer|first=K. A.|work=Naxos|access-date=2014-02-05}}

References

External links

{{Archival records|title=Maud Powell collection|location= Library of Congress|description_URL=https://lccn.loc.gov/2014571122}}

[http://www.maudpowell.org/home/MaudPowell/LifeandAchievements/tabid/72/Default.aspx Maud Powell biography]
[http://www.maudpowell.org/ Maud Powell society]
[http://www.powellfest.com/ Musical Festival dedicated to Maud Powell]
[https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/104982 Maud Powell recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
[https://www.loc.gov/jukebox/artists/detail/id/2298 Recordings of Maud Powell] on the Library of Congress Jukebox
{{cite book|author1=Karen A. Shaffer|author2=Neva Garner Greenwood|title=Maud Powell: Pioneer American Violinist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkWfAAAAMAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Maud Powell Foundation|isbn=978-0-8138-0989-2|oclc= 16801428|ref=none}}
[https://csoarchives.wordpress.com/2016/09/01/125-moments-110-maud-powell/ Maud Powell], [http://csosoundsandstories.org/category/125-moments/ Chicago Symphony Orchestra: 125 Moments]