Mary Howe

Mary Howe (April 4, 1882 – September 14, 1964) was an American composer and pianist.

Early life and education Mary Wortham Carlisle was born on April 4, 1882, in Richmond, Virginia, at her maternal grandparents' home. Carlisle was raised in Washington, D.C. and later lived in Newport, Rhode Island with her husband, Walter Bruce Howe Esq. (law partner of her brother, James Mandeville Carlisle Esq.), at their home, Berry Hill, on Ocean Drive, designed by Mckim, Mead, and White.

Her early lessons were with the noted pianist Herminie Seron. By age 18, Carlisle was performing publicly and was accepted into Baltimore's Peabody Institute. Before attending Peabody, she studied form and analysis with Howard Thatcher, a Peabody alumnus. At Peabody, she studied piano with Richard Burmeister, achieving notable proficiency. She also studied composition with Gustav Strube, Ernest Hutcheson, and Harold Randolph. At the age of 40, she returned to Peabody to study composition and graduated with an Artist Diploma in Composition in 1922. In 1933, Howe traveled to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger, a renowned French pianist and composer.

Howe was a frequent composer-in-residence at MacDowell and spent almost every summer between 1926 and 1952 in the Schelling studio (previously the Bark studio). After giving birth to her three children, Howe toured internationally with Hull, giving performances with major orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Russian Symphony, and others. Howe was also friendly with fellow composer Amy Beach, and the pair performed the Washington, D.C. premiere of Beach's Suite for Two Pianos in a benefit concert for MacDowell.

Composition career Although Howe had developed a robust performing career, she much preferred composition. Her early compositions were almost exclusively for piano. At only nine years old, she composed The Mariposa Waltz for piano in 1891. She notably emulated Neo-romanticism, with an unusually open mind for modernism.

Howe died in 1964 at the age of 82, ten years after the death of her husband, Walter Bruce Howe. They were survived by their three children, Bruce, Calderon, and Molly.

Works All pieces published unless otherwise noted.

Choral works

Catalina (1924) Chain Gang Song (1925) Cavaliers (1927, unpublished) Laud for Christmas (1936) Robin Hood's Heart (1936, unpublished) Spring Pastoral (1936) Christmas Song (1939) Song of Palms (1939) Song of Ruth (1939) Williamsburg Sunday (1940) Prophecy (1943) A Devotion (1944) Great Land of Mine (1953) Poem in Praise (1955, unpublished) The Pavilion of the Lord (1957, unpublished) Benedictus es Domine (1960, unpublished) We Praise thee O God (1962, unpublished)

Songs

Old English Lullaby (1913) Somewhere in France (1918) Cossack Cradle Song (1922) Berceuse (1925) Chanson Souvenir (1925) O Mistress Mine (1925) The Prinkin' Leddie (1925) Reach (1925) Red Fields of France (1925) Ma douleur (1929) Ripe Apples (1929) There has Fallen a Splendid Tear (1930) Der Einsame (1931) Liebeslied (1931) Mailied (1931) Schlafied (1931) Abendlied (1932, unpublished) Avalon (1932) The Little Rose (1932) The Rag Picker (1932) The Lake Isle of Innisfree (1933) Fair Annet's Song (1934) Herbsttag (1934) Little Elegy (1934) Fragment (1935) Now goes the light (1935) Velvet Shoes (1935) Go down Death (1936) A Strange Story (1936) Départ (1938, unpublished) Soit (1938) Viennese Waltz (1938) Irish Lullaby (1939, unpublished) You (1939) Am Flusse (1940) Die Götter (1940) Heute geh' ich (1940) Die Jahre (1940) Ich denke dein (1940) Trocknet nicht (1940, unpublished) Zweiful (1940) The Bird's Nest (1941) General Store (1941) Horses of Magic (1941) Song at Dusk (1941) Traveling (1941, unpublished) Were I to Die (1941, unpublished) L'amant des roses (1942) Mein Herz (1942) Men (1942) Nicht mit Engeln (1942) Hymne (1943) In Tauris (1944) Look on this horizon (1944, unpublished) To the Unknown Soldier (1944) Lullaby for a Forester's Child (1945) Rêve (1945) O Proserpina (1946) Spring Come not too Soon (1947) The Christmas Story (1948) The Bailey and the Bell (1950) Einfaches Lied (1955, unpublished) My Lady Comes (1957) Three Hokku (1958)

Orchestral works

Poema (1922) Stars (1927; New York, 1963) Sand (1928; New York, 1963) Castellana, 2 pianos, orchestra (1930) Dirge (1931) Axiom (1932) American Piece (1933) Coulennes (1936) Potomac River (1940) Paean (1941) Agreeable Overture (1948) Rock (1954; New York, 1963) The Holy Baby of the Madonna (1958)

Chamber music

Fugue, string quartet (1922) Violin Sonata, D (1922; New York, 1962) Ballade Fantasque (1927) 3 Restaurant Pieces (1927) Little Suite, string quartet (1928) Piano Quartet (1928) Suite mélancholique (1931) Patria (1932) Quatuor, string quartet (1939) 3 Pieces After Emily Dickinson, string quartet (1941) Interlude between 2 Pieces, flute, piano (1942) Wind Quintet (1957)

Piano music

Andante douloureux (1910) Nocturne (1913; New York, 1925) Prelude (1920) Valse dansante, 2 pianos (1922, unpublished) Berceuse (1924; New York, 1925) Estudia brillante (1925, unpublished) 3 Spanish Folk Tunes, 2 pianos (1925; New York, 1926) Whimsy (1931) Stars (1934) Trifle (1933, unpublished) Cards, ballet for 2 pianos (1936, unpublished) Le jongleur de Notre Dame, ballet for 2 pianos (1959, unpublished)

Organ music

Elegy (1939) For a Wedding (1940, unpublished)

Also transcriptions of works by J. S. Bach for 1 and 2 pianos.

Discography Music by Mary Howe (1998) – performed by John Martin, Mary Howe, William Strickland, and Catholic University of America Chamber Arts Society, Performed by Tokyo Imperial Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic Love's Seasons: Songs of Mary Howe and Robert Ward (2004) by Sandra McClain and Margo Garrett Stars (1927) – Hans Kindler and the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, D.C., on 29 January 1941 for RCA Victor (78 rpm: 11-8608) and reissued on CD in 1999 (Biddulph WHL 063). Songs and Duets (2021) – Courtney Maina (soprano), Christopher Leach (tenor), Mary Dibbern (piano), Toccata Classics TOCC0634 Between Us: Music for Two by Mary Howe (2022) – includes the Violin Sonata (1922), and Ballade Fantastique, Three Restaurant Pieces, Partita, Merles de Coulenne, Interlude between Two Pieces, various performers, Navona NV6432