Depending on whom you read, American composer Arthur Foote is either "traditional," "conservative," "a classicist," or "individual" and "original." Opinions about Foote's work may be widely divergent, but a few things are established: Foote did not travel to Europe to gain his musical education -- as did Horatio Parker and George Chadwick -- but was satisfied to study at Harvard with John Knowles Paine, taking the first master's degree in music conferred on anyone by an American university. Foote has been lumped in with a ...
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Depending on whom you read, American composer Arthur Foote is either "traditional," "conservative," "a classicist," or "individual" and "original." Opinions about Foote's work may be widely divergent, but a few things are established: Foote did not travel to Europe to gain his musical education -- as did Horatio Parker and George Chadwick -- but was satisfied to study at Harvard with John Knowles Paine, taking the first master's degree in music conferred on anyone by an American university. Foote has been lumped in with a number of late nineteenth century American composers known as the "Boston School," including Paine, Chadwick, Parker, Amy Beach, and some others. Being identified with the Boston School is like the kiss of death in terms of posterior reputation, and although Beach is gradually finding a way out from the grave, others remain forgotten, unheralded, and under-recognized. In the case of Foote's orchestral music, the vast majority of his production in that genre belongs to the first 25...
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