Daniel Gregory Mason
Encyclopedia
Daniel Gregory Mason was an American
composer
and music critic.
, and his grandfather Lowell Mason
. His cousin, John B. Mason
, was a popular actor on the American and British stage. Daniel Mason studied under John Knowles Paine
at Harvard University
from 1891 to 1895, continuing his studies with George Chadwick and Percy Goetschius
. In 1894 he published his Opus 1, a set of keyboard waltzes, but soon after began writing about music as his primary career. He became a lecturer at Columbia University
in 1905, where he would remain until his retirement in 1942, successively being awarded the positions of assistant professor (1910), MacDowell
professor (1929) and head of the music department (1929-1940). He was elected a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, the national fraternity for men in music, in 1914 by the Fraternity's Alpha Chapter at the New England Conservatory in Boston.
After 1907, Mason began devoting significant time to composition, studying with Vincent D'Indy
in Paris in 1913, garnering numerous honorary doctorates and winning prizes from the Society for the Publication of American Music and the Juilliard Foundation.
Among the composer's closest friends was E. A. Robinson. The two met in Cambridge in 1899.
. He deeply admired and respected the Austro-Germanic canon of the nineteenth century, especially Brahms; despite studying under D'Indy, he disliked impressionism and utterly disregarded the modernist musical movements of the 20th century. Mason sought to increase respect for American music, sometimes incorporating indigenous and popular motifs (such as popular songs or Negro spirituals) into his scores or evoking them through suggestive titles, though he was not a thorough-going nationalist
. He was a fastidious composer who repeatedly revised his scores (the manuscripts of which are now held at Columbia).
and a number of music appreciation
works written for a general audience. His analyses of the chamber music of Brahms and Beethoven have been recognized as insightful. In his more polemical works, he attacked modern music, urged American composers to stop imitating Continental models and find an individual style, and criticized European conductors in America (such as Toscanini) for rarely including American works in their programs.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and music critic.
Biography
Mason came from a long line of notable American musicians, including his father Henry MasonHenry Mason
Henry Mason was one of the co-founders of the American piano manufacturer Mason and Hamlin.He was the son of American church music composer Lowell Mason, and the brother of composer William Mason.-Notes:...
, and his grandfather Lowell Mason
Lowell Mason
Lowell Mason was a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His most well-known tunes include Mary Had A Little Lamb and the arrangement of Joy to the World...
. His cousin, John B. Mason
John B. Mason
John B. Mason was an American stage actor popular over the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century.-Early life:...
, was a popular actor on the American and British stage. Daniel Mason studied under John Knowles Paine
John Knowles Paine
John Knowles Paine , was the first American-born composer to achieve fame for large-scale orchestral music.-Life:He studied organ, orchestration, and composition in Germany and toured in Europe for three years...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
from 1891 to 1895, continuing his studies with George Chadwick and Percy Goetschius
Percy Goetschius
Percy Goetschius won international fame in the teaching of the theory of composition.-Life:Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Goetschius was the piano pupil of Robert E. H. Gehring, a prominent teacher of that era. Goetschius was the organist of the Second Presbyterian Church from 1868–1870 and of the...
. In 1894 he published his Opus 1, a set of keyboard waltzes, but soon after began writing about music as his primary career. He became a lecturer at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1905, where he would remain until his retirement in 1942, successively being awarded the positions of assistant professor (1910), MacDowell
Edward MacDowell
Edward Alexander MacDowell was an American composer and pianist of the Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites "Woodland Sketches", "Sea Pieces", and "New England Idylls". "Woodland Sketches" includes his most popular short piece, "To a Wild Rose"...
professor (1929) and head of the music department (1929-1940). He was elected a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, the national fraternity for men in music, in 1914 by the Fraternity's Alpha Chapter at the New England Conservatory in Boston.
After 1907, Mason began devoting significant time to composition, studying with Vincent D'Indy
Vincent d'Indy
Vincent d'Indy was a French composer and teacher.-Life:Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy was born in Paris into an aristocratic family of royalist and Catholic persuasion. He had piano lessons from an early age from his paternal grandmother, who passed him on to Antoine François Marmontel and...
in Paris in 1913, garnering numerous honorary doctorates and winning prizes from the Society for the Publication of American Music and the Juilliard Foundation.
Among the composer's closest friends was E. A. Robinson. The two met in Cambridge in 1899.
Style
Mason's compositional idiom was thoroughly romanticRomantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
. He deeply admired and respected the Austro-Germanic canon of the nineteenth century, especially Brahms; despite studying under D'Indy, he disliked impressionism and utterly disregarded the modernist musical movements of the 20th century. Mason sought to increase respect for American music, sometimes incorporating indigenous and popular motifs (such as popular songs or Negro spirituals) into his scores or evoking them through suggestive titles, though he was not a thorough-going nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
. He was a fastidious composer who repeatedly revised his scores (the manuscripts of which are now held at Columbia).
Orchestral
- Symphony no.1, c, op.11, 1913–14
- Prelude and Fugue, op.12, pf, orch, 1914
- Chanticleer, festival ov., 1926
- Symphony no.2, A, op.30, 1928–9
- Suite after English Folksongs, op.32, 1933–4
- Symphony no.3 ‘A LincolnAbraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
Symphony’, op.35, 1935–6 - Prelude and Fugue, c, op.37, str, 1939
- Also wrote some incidental music, transcriptions
Vocal
- 4 Songs (M. Lord), op.4, 1v, pf, 1906
- 6 Love Songs (M.L. Mason), op.15, 1v, pf, 1914–15, arr. S, orch, 1935
- Russians (W. Bynner), song cycle, op.18, 1v, pf, 1915–17, arr. Bar, orch, 1915–17
- Songs of the Countryside (A.E. Housman), op.23, chorus, orch, 1923
- 5 Songs of Love and Life, op.36, 1v, pf, 1895–1922
- 3 (Nautical) Songs (W. Irwin), op.38, 1v, pf, 1941
- 2 Songs, op.41, Bar, pf, 1946–7
- Soldiers, song cycle, op.42, Bar, pf, 1948–9
- Also wrote ~50 songs without opus numbers.
- Unaccompanied choral pieces, opp.25, 29
Chamber works
- Sonata, op.5, vn, pf, 1907–8
- Piano Quartet, op.7, 1909–11
- Pastorale, op.8, vn, cl/va, pf, 1909–12
- 3 Pieces, op.13, fl, hp, str qt, 1911–12
- Sonata, op.14, cl/vn, pf, 1912–15
- Intermezzo, op.17, str qt, 1916
- String Quartet on Negro Themes, op.19, 1918–19
- Variations on a Theme of John Powell, str qt, 1924–5
- Divertimento, op.26b, wind qnt, 1926
- Fanny Blair, folksong fantasy, op.28, str qt, 1927
- Serenade, op.31, str qt, 1931
- Sentimental Sketches, pf trio, op.34
- Variations on a Quiet Theme, op.40, str qt, 1939
Keyboard works
- Birthday Waltzes, op.1, pf, 1894
- Yankee Doodle, op.6, pf, c1911
- Passacaglia and Fugue, op.10, org, 1912
- 2 Choral Preludes on Lowell MasonLowell MasonLowell Mason was a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His most well-known tunes include Mary Had A Little Lamb and the arrangement of Joy to the World...
’s Tunes, op.39, organ, 1941 - other piano pieces, opp.2, 3, 9, 16, 21, 33
Writings
Mason wrote or co-wrote eighteen books on music, including an autobiographyAutobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
and a number of music appreciation
Music appreciation
Music appreciation is teaching people what to listen for and to appreciate different types of music. Usually music appreciation classes involve some history lessons to explain why people of a certain era liked the music that they did...
works written for a general audience. His analyses of the chamber music of Brahms and Beethoven have been recognized as insightful. In his more polemical works, he attacked modern music, urged American composers to stop imitating Continental models and find an individual style, and criticized European conductors in America (such as Toscanini) for rarely including American works in their programs.
List of books
- From Grieg to Brahms (New York, 1902, 2/1927/R)
- Beethoven and his Forerunners (New York, 1904, 2/1930)
- The Romantic Composers (New York, 1906)
- with T.W. Surette : The Appreciation of Music (New York, 1907)
- The Orchestral Instruments (New York, 1908)
- A Child's Guide to Music (New York, 1909)
- A Neglected Sense in Piano Playing (New York, 1912)
- with M.L. Mason : Great Modern Composers (New York, 1916, 2/1968)
- Contemporary Composers (New York, 1918)
- Short Studies of Great Masterpieces (New York, 1918)
- Music as a Humanity (New York, 1920)
- From Song to Symphony (New York, 1924)
- Artistic Ideals (New York, 1925)
- The Chamber Music of Brahms (New York, 1928/R)
- The Dilemma of American Music and Other Essays (New York, 1928)
- Tune in, America (New York, 1928/R)
- Music in my Time, and Other Reminiscences (New York, 1938)
- The Quartets of Beethoven (New York, 1947)
Source
- Boris Schwartz and N.E. Tawa, "Daniel Gregory Mason (ii). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians online.
External links
- Works by & about Daniel Gregory Mason at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions color illustrated)