Treasures: Columbia Rare Book & Manuscript Library

THE RARE BOOK AND
MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY
OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Treasures

87 Edward Alexander MacDowell 1861-1908
Sonata Tragica, G minor (Opus 45)

Manuscript, 14 leaves, 1892-1893

The first of MacDowell's four sonatas for piano, Sonata Tragica, was composed during 1892-1893 and first performed in Boston's Chickering Hall in March, 1893, with MacDowell as soloist. In 1895, he introduced the piece in New York City at a program at the Madison Square Garden Concert Hall. The success of these presentations enhanced MacDowell's rapidly growing reputation, which led to his appointment in 1896 as the University's first professor of music, a post he held until 1905. The manuscript, in the composer's hand and signed on the title page, is a fair copy with corrections in blue and black pencil throughout. The sonata was first published in 1893 by Breitkopf & Hartel of Leipzig.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers D. Clifton

Collections and Treasures

87	Edward Alexander MacDowell 1861-1908
Sonata Tragica, G minor (Opus 45)
Manuscript, 14 leaves, 1892-1893
The first of MacDowell's four sonatas for piano, Sonata Tragica, was composed during 1892-1893 and first performed in Boston's Chickering Hall in March, 1893, with MacDowell as soloist. In 1895, he introduced the piece in New York City at a program at the Madison Square Garden Concert Hall. The success of these presentations enhanced MacDowell's rapidly growing reputation, which led to his appointment in 1896 as the University's first professor of music, a post he held until 1905. The manuscript, in the composer's hand and signed on the title page, is a fair copy with corrections in blue and black pencil throughout. The sonata was first published in 1893 by Breitkopf & Hartel of Leipzig.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers D. Clifton