Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge ( born October 30, 1864 in Chicago, Illinois, † November 4, 1953 in Cambridge ( Massachusetts)), born as Elizabeth Penn Sprague, was an American pianist, was in the first place but as a music patron, especially chamber music known.

Life

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's father was a wealthy merchant in Chicago. She showed musical talent and studied piano with Regina Watson, who had studied in Germany with Carl Tausig. Elizabeth made ​​rapid progress, so that she appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Theodore Thomas in 1893 at the World Exhibition in Chicago with the Piano Concerto by Robert Schumann. She then studied composition with seriously important teachers such as Daniel Gregory Mason, Percy Goetschius, Arthur Whiting, Rubin Goldmark and Domenico Brescia. Thus, she received a vast knowledge of composers, the musicians all met later with respect.

12 November 1891 she married in the Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago, the doctor Frederic Shurtleff Coolidge of Boston, who established an orthopedic department at Rush Medical College. In 1902, he became infected with syphilis during an operation and went to a clinic first to Saranac Lake, NY, for treatment, where he remained for two years. Then they lived until 1913 in Pittsfield. Here he supported Dr. JFA Adams at the foundation of society against tuberculosis and the House of Mercy Hospital. As syphilis progress to the second and third stage, he had to undergo intensive treatment with bromine and arsenic. He suffered several strokes, which partially paralyzed him and gradually fell into disrepair of dementia. The last two years until his death on May 16, 1915, she spent in New York. Elizabeth helped her concentrated piano playing over this difficult time.

Elizabeth remained with her ​​only child, Albert, was born on 23 Jan 1894 back. Soon after (1915 ) also died her parents. You inherited a considerable fortune from this and decided it use to promote chamber music. This project, they remained faithful until her death at the age of almost 90 years. However, due to the occupation of her husband she also supported medical facilities.

Coolidge's financial resources were not unlimited, but with personal commitment and conviction, she managed to increase the appreciation of chamber music in the United States significantly, where the main interest of the composers had initially located on the orchestral music. Coolidge's dedication to music and generosity to the musicians was also based on his own experience as a performing musician. Into old age, she joined himself as a pianist and accompanist world-renowned soloists in appearance.

1916 Coolidge founded the Berkshire String Quartet and two years later, the Berkshire Music Festival in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It later grew the Berkshire Symphonic Festival at Tanglewood, she also supported. In 1932 she called the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal for "outstanding contributions to the chamber music " to life. The recipients of this medal belonged example, Frank Bridge, Benjamin Britten and Roy Harris. Coolidge also financed the Sprague Memorial Hall at Yale University.

Coolidge's most cost-intensive effort was cooperating with the Library of Congress, the 1924/1925 resulted in the construction of the Coolidge Auditorium with 500 seats, which was designed specifically for chamber music. The initially estimated at $ 60,000 costs were even higher at the end, however, were fully taken over by Coolidge. Simultaneously, the Coolidge Foundation was established to in this auditorium to organize concerts and to give new chamber music works in European and American composers commissioned; this task continues the foundation until today.

Coolidge was known for her promotion as " difficult " modern music (though she refused support by Charles Ives, one of the most progressive composers of his time, from ). For herself, she never had a great reputation in the senses and confessed her musical preferences as follows: " My plea for modern music is not that we should love them unconditionally or understand However, we should offer it as evidence of significant human manifestations at least one platform. ". Although even American, they had no national preferences, and most of their orders went to European composers (which for some, especially after their exodus from Europe in the time of National Socialism, had existential meaning). It also ran no one-sided promotion of female composers.

Most enduring memory of the musical patronage of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge certainly make the works that they had given in almost all the leading composers of the early 20th century in order. Subsequently, the now well -known compositions:

  • Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 5
  • Benjamin Britten: String Quartet No. 1
  • Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
  • Francis Poulenc: Sonata for Flute and Piano
  • Sergei Prokofiev: String Quartet No. 1
  • Maurice Ravel: Chansons Madecasses
  • Arnold Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 3, 4th String Quartet
  • Igor Stravinsky: Apollon musagète
  • Anton Webern: String Quartet

The extensive list of composers who could benefit from Coolidge's support beyond, also includes Ernest Bloch, Alfredo Casella, George Enescu, Howard Hanson, Paul Hindemith, László Lajtha, Bohuslav Martinů, Darius Milhaud, Ottorino Respighi, Rebecca Clarke and Albert Roussel.

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