John Blackwood McEwen

Sir John Blackwood McEwen (13 April 1868 – 14 June 1948) was a Scottish classical composer and educator. He was professor of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, from 1898 to 1924, and principal from 1924 to 1936. He was a prolific composer, but made few efforts to bring his music to the notice of the general public.

Life and career Early years John Blackwood McEwen was born in Hawick in 1868, the son of James McEwen and his first wife, Jane, née Blackwood. James McEwen was a Presbyterian minister; he moved to a church in Glasgow, where his son grew up. McEwen gained an MA degree from Glasgow University in 1888, between then and 1891 he studied music while working as a choirmaster, first in Glasgow and later at Lanark parish church. In 1891 he moved to London to gain wider musical experience, and by 1893 he had composed two string quartets, three symphonies, a Mass and other works. In that year he entered the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he studied with Ebenezer Prout, Frederick Corder and Tobias Matthay.

While a student at the RAM McEwen won the Charles Lucas medal, and had his First String Quartet played at one of the academy's concerts. Two years later he returned to Scotland, as a teacher of piano and composition at the Athenaeum School of Music (later the Royal Scottish Academy of Music) and choirmaster of South parish church, Greenock. Among his students were the composers William Alwyn, Dorothy Howell and Priaulx Rainier.

In 1902 McEwen married the pianist Hedwig Ethel Cole (1879–1949), daughter of Henry Alwyn Bevan Cole, naval architect. There were no children of the marriage. The consensus of critics is that McEwen's finest works are his chamber compositions. In 2025 the Berkeley Ensemble issued the first complete recording of Nugae, seven Bagatelles for string quartet.

McEwen wrote two musical text-books: Exercises on Phrasing in Pianoforte Playing, and The Principles of Phrasing and Articulation in Music . The Musical Times considered that his chief literary contribution was The Thought in Music: An Inquiry into the Principles of Musical Rhythm, Phrasing and Expression. Sonata No. 7 in A minor for violin or viola and piano (1941) Pericula, 6 trios avec piano (1943) Piano Trio No. 3 "Rococo" (1943) Piano Trio No. 4 "Fantasy" (1943) Pericula (Experiments), 6 String Trios for violin, viola and cello (1943) Pibroch for 2 violins, viola and cello (1943); arrangement of movement III of String Trio No. 2 String Quartet No. 17 "Fantasia" in E major (1947) 2 Duos for oboe and piano Romance for Violin 5 Scottish Dances for violin and piano

Organ Festive March March

Piano Sonata in E minor (1903) 4 Sketches (1909) Prelude Quasi minuetto Elegy Humoreske Suite de ballet for piano 4-hands (1912) Vignettes from La Côte d'Argent (1918) Petite Chérie (Little Darling) Les Hirondelles (The Swallows) Pantalon rouge (Red Trousers) Crépuscule du soir mystique (Mystical Twilight) La Rosière (The Motorboat) Sonatina in G minor (1918) 3 Preludes (1920) A White Naiad in a Rippling Stream A Rapt Seraph in a Moonlight Beam The Dew by Fairy Feet Swept from the Green On Southern Hills, 3 Sketches from Provençe (1938) White Oxen Drifting Clouds L'improvisadou (The Improvisatore) Ballet Suite (1938) La Senorita Intermezzo Valsette Alla Marcia Allemande Phyllis Hallain's Book Sonatina in C A Winter Poem

Vocal The River for voice and piano (1899); words by Moore Park The Vale of Glenariff for voice and piano (1899); words by Thomas McEwen Brevity for voice and piano (1905); words by Constance Travers Here's a Flower for Your Grave for voice and piano (1905); words by Justin Huntly McCarthy Love's But a Dance for voice and piano (1905); words by Henry Austin Dobson A Roundel of Rest for voice and piano (1905); words by Arthur Symons 3 Songs for voice and piano (1906); words by Paul Verlaine in translation by A. Wingate Song of Autumn The Wood's Aglow Soleils couchants Sleep, Little Blossom for voice and piano (1909); words by Alfred, Lord Tennyson The Gauger for voice and piano (1911); words by J. Meade Falkner 14 Poems for inflected voice and piano (1943); words by Margaret Forbes Day by Day for voice and piano England, My England for voice and orchestra; words by William Ernest Henley Love's Remembrance for voice and piano The Birds Lullaby for voice and piano; words by Pauline Johnson

Choral The Vision of Jacob, Sacred Cantata for tenor, mixed chorus and orchestra (1892); words by Thomas McEwen A Scene from Hellas for female chorus and orchestra (1895, revised 1947); words by Percy Bysshe Shelley A Day in Spring, Cantata for female chorus and piano (1898); words by Thomas McEwen Evening, Two-Part Song for female chorus and piano (1898) The Last Chantey for chorus and orchestra (1898); words by Rudyard Kipling Morning Greeting, Two-Part Song for female voices (1898) Slumber Song, Two-Part Song for female chorus and piano (1898) Weep No More, Four-Part Song for mixed chorus and piano (1902); words by John Fletcher Charm Me Asleep, Four-Part Song (1903); words by Robert Herrick Let Me the Canakin Clink, Four-Part Song (1903); words from Othello by William Shakespeare O That Men Would Praise the Lord, Anthem for Harvest (1903) Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity, Ode for soprano, chorus and orchestra (1905); words from On the Morning of Christ's Nativity by John Milton Troll the Bowl, Four-Part Song for mixed chorus and piano (1905); words by Thomas Dekker Allen-a-Dale, Four-Part Song for mixed chorus and piano (1907); words by Sir Walter Scott The Links o' Love, Part-Song for mixed chorus and piano (1909); words by Andrew Wanless Three Scenes from the Empire Pageant at the Cristal Palace, 1910 for chorus and wind orchestra (1909) The Wind in the Chimney, Part Song (1911); words by Bret Harte Autumn Song, Two-Part Song for female chorus and piano (1912) The Garland for mixed chorus and piano Psalm 24: Chorus and "Lift Up Your Hearts" for mixed chorus a cappella 6 Two-Part Songs for female voices and piano When through the Piazzetta for mixed chorus a cappella

Literary Exercises on Phrasing in Pianoforte Playing (1908) A Text-Book of Harmony and Counterpoint (1908) A Primer of Harmony for Use in Schools (1911) The Thought in Music: An Enquiry into the Principles of Musical Rhythm, Phrasing and Expression (1912) The Principles of Phrasing and Articulation in Music (1916) The Foundations of Musical Aesthetics, or the Elements of Music (1917) First Steps in Musical Composition (1922) Tempo Rubato, or Time-Variation in Musical Performance (1928) An Introduction to an Unpublished Edition of the Pianoforte Sonatas of Beethoven (1932)