Augusta Browne: Composer and Woman of Letters in Nineteenth-Century America

469 Pages·2020·16.179 MB·English

by  Bonny H. Miller

A ugusta Browne’s five-decade career in music and letters reveals a M
I
gifted composer and author. Hailed as “one of the most prolific L
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women composers in the USA before 1870,” Augusta Browne Garrett E
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(ca. 1820–82) was also a dedicated music educator and music journalist. The
Americanness of her story resounds across the decades: an earnest little girl
growing up amidst a troubled family business; a young professor of music A
who burst onto the New York City musical scene; and an entrepreneur who
resolutely sought publication of her music and prose to her final day. In Augusta U
Browne: Composer and Woman of Letters in Nineteenth-Century America, author
Bonny Miller presents Browne’s unfamiliar story, assesses her musical works, G
and describes her literary publications.
Browne’s outsider status and self-agency offer a potent narrative that
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transcends antebellum and Victorian-era norms. She used the public arena
of newspapers and magazines as conduits for her work during an era when
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women were ridiculed for public speaking. And yet in many ways her persona as
a tenacious entrepreneur—as well as her assertion of woman’s equality with
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man—conflicted with her adherence to strict Christian precepts.
Making use of recently digitized sheet music as well as archives of A
newspapers and books of the period, Miller’s narrative provides the first-ever
comprehensive, nuanced account of this notable life in American music.
AU G U STA
B
“This book was a delight to read. Bonny Miller offers a new window R
into nineteenth-century American life, especially the life of a gifted and
accomplished female musician.” O
composer and woman of letters
—NOLA REED KNOUSE,
editor of The Music of the Moravian Church in America W
B R OW N E
BONNY H. MILLER is a pianist and independent scholar who has taught
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at universities in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Virginia.
E
in nineteenth-century america
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-2731, USA
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
b o n n y h . m i l l e r
www.urpress.com
Cover image: Broadway, New York, 1836, by Thomas Hornor. The Edward
W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest
of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Augusta Browne
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Eastman Studies in Music
Ralph P. Locke, Senior Editor
Eastman School of Music
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Augusta Browne
Composer and Woman of Letters
in Nineteenth-Century America
Bonny H. Miller
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The University of Rochester Press gratefully acknowledges the American
Musicological Society and the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music
at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, for generous support
of this publication.
Copyright © 2020 by Bonny H. Miller
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation, no
part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted,
recorded, or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission of the copyright owner.
First published 2020
University of Rochester Press
668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
www.urpress.com
and Boydell & Brewer Limited
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
www.boydellandbrewer.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-58046-972-2
eISBN-13: 978-1-78744-883-4
ISSN: 1071-9989 ; v. 164
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Miller, Bonny H., author.
Title: Augusta Browne : composer and woman of letters in nineteenth-century
America / Bonny H. Miller.
Other titles: Eastman studies in music.
Description: Rochester : University of Rochester Press, 2020. | Series: Eastman
studies in music, 1071-9989 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019058784 | ISBN 9781580469722 (hardback) | ISBN
9781787448834 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Browne, Augusta. | Women composers—United States—
Biography. | Composers—United States—Biography. | Music—United States—
19th century—History and criticism.
Classification: LCC ML410.B865 M55 2020 | DDC 780.92—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019058784
Cover image: Broadway, New York, 1836, by Tomas Hornor. Te Edward
W. C. Arnold Collection of New York Prints, Maps, and Pictures, Bequest
of Edward W. C. Arnold, 1954. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1 First Steps 5
2 Apprentice in a Family Music Business 27
3 Philadelphia Debut 46
4 A Young Professor of Music 66
5 A New Leaf 104
6 Her Own Woman 116
7 Courtship and Consequences 144
8 Pilgrim in Progress 160
9 “Glad Fruition” 185
10 Legacy in Music 214
11 Legacy in Literature 263
12 Contributions to Music Journalism 279
13 A Legacy Written into History 299
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vi (cid:4517) contents
Appendixes
1 Children and Descendants of David Samuel Browne and
Elizabeth Montgomery Browne 307
2 Chronology of Augusta Browne’s Music and Letters 311
3 List of Musical Works 329
4 Selected Glossary 357
List of Abbreviations 359
Notes 361
Selected Bibliography 411
Index 437
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Illustrations
Figures
1.1. Logier’s patented chiroplast 17
1.2. George Cruikshank, “A German Mountebank blowing his
own Trumpet” 18
1.3. Cruikshank, “A German Mountebank,” detail showing
chiroplast in use 19
1.4. Advertisement for music published by David Browne (1827) 24
2.1. Charles Stimpson, “Plan of the City of Boston,” 1832 28
3.1. F. D. B. Richards, “St. Stephen’s Church (Episcopal),”
April 1859 51
3.2. Browne advertisement from A. M’Elroy’s Philadelphia
Directory for 1839 59
4.1. Sheet-music cover for Augusta Browne, “Th e Family Meeting” 77
4.2. Franklin House, 1 to 5 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, New York 85
6.1. Walter Libbey, Self-Portrait, ca. 1850 134
6.2. Walter Libbey, Alexander Brown, ca. 1848 135
7.1. “Paris, New York & Philadelphia fashions for spring &
summer 1855” 145
7.2. Attributed to Silas A. Holmes, Broadway, looking north from
Broome Street, ca. 1855 149
8.1. Andrew J. Russell, “Behind stone wall, Marye’s Heights,
May 4, 1863” 176
8.2. William Henry Browne, ca. 1865 178
9.1. George N. Barnard, “Trinity Episcopal Church, 3rd &
Ind. Ave.” 186
9.2. Browne family plot at Green-Wood Cemetery 212
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viii (cid:4517) illustrations
10.1. Augusta Browne, sheet music cover, Grande marche
arabique, op. 74 230
Musical Examples
1.1. Jan Ladislav Dussek, Th e Plough Boy, Arranged as a Rondo,
mm. 1–32 8
3.1. Augusta Browne, “Th e Voice of Spring,” mm. 58–67 48
3.2. Augusta Browne, “Th e Orange Bough,” theme and transition 50
3.3. Augusta Browne, Air a la Suisse: (a) Alexander Lee, yodeling
chorus; (b) Browne, fi nale 54
3.4. Augusta Browne, Haunted Spring: (a) Samuel Lover, song; (b)
Browne, introduction and theme 56
3.5. Browne, Haunted Spring: (a) beginning of variation two; (b)
conclusion of coda 57
3.6. Augusta Browne, bel canto style in Brilliant Introduction and
Variations on “Still so Gently o’er Me Stealing” 61
3.7. Browne, Brilliant Introduction and Variations on “Still so Gently
o’er Me Stealing”: (a) “Tema” from La Sonnambula; (b) “Aria”
from Fra Diavolo 63
4.1. Augusta Browne, “Th e Fisher-Boy’s Song,” themes 74
4.2. Browne, “Th e Fisher-Boy’s Song,” cadenza and conclusion 76
4.3. Augusta Browne, Fantasia and Variations on a Celebrated Air
a la Russe, Vesper Hymn, recitative and cadenza 79
4.4. Augusta Browne, “Bonnie Bessie Green,” mm. 60–70 81
4.5. Augusta Browne, Hear Th erefore O Israel, mm. 20–48 87
4.6. Augusta Browne, Grand Vesper Chorus, mm. 5–20 90
4.7. Augusta Browne, “A Song for New England,” recitative 94
4.8. Browne, “A Song for New England,” aria 95
6.1. Augusta Browne, “Th e Warlike Dead in Mexico,” introduction
and fi rst verse 118
6.2. Browne, “Th e Warlike Dead in Mexico,” fourth verse 120
6.3. Augusta Browne, melodies compared: “Where Quair Runs
Sweet” and “Mary Lyle” 127
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illustrations (cid:4517) ix
6.4. Melodies compared: Browne, “Mary Lyle,” and Stephen Foster,
“Gentle Annie” 128
6.5. Augusta Browne, themes in Chant d’amour, op. 81 139
7.1. Augusta Browne Garrett, Lays of Caledonia, from “Auld
Langsyne” to “Braes of Busby” 154
7.2. John Walter Benjamin Garrett, arranged by Augusta Browne
Garrett, “Th e City of Delight” 158
8.1. Augusta Browne Garrett, “Stewart,” from Th e Book of Praise 174
8.2. Augusta Browne Garrett, Chant of the Sea, theme 181
9.1. Augusta Browne Garrett, Aurora, introduction through
marziale theme 190
9.2. Th emes compared: Felix Mendelssohn, Elijah, “Lift thine eyes,”
and Browne, Aurora 192
9.3. Browne, Aurora, coda 193
9.4. Augusta Browne Garrett, “Forever Th ine,” mm. 1–14 199
9.5. Richard Wagner, Tannhäuser, “Pilgrims’ Chorus,” mm. 1–24 200
9.6. Augusta Browne Garrett, “Song of the Shepherd Boy,”
fi rst verse 204
9.7. Augusta Browne Garrett, “I Have a Glorious Hope” 206
9.8. Augusta Browne Garrett, “Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders” 207
10.1. Augusta Browne Garrett, Aurora, pedal indications 219
10.2. Augusta Browne, Hibernian Bouquet, introduction 222
10.3. Browne, Hibernian Bouquet, fi ve Irish themes 223
10.4. Augusta Browne, Th e Columbian Quick-Step, mm. 1–22 226
10.5. Augusta Browne, Grande marche arabique, introduction
through A and B themes 232
10.6. Augusta Browne, La brise dans le feuillage, themes 235
10.7. Augusta Browne, “Th e Courier Dove,” fi rst verse 241
10.8. Augusta Browne, “To Inez in Heaven,” mm. 9–32 244
10.9. Augusta Browne, “Once upon a Time,” mm. 9–16 248
10.10. Browne, “Once upon a Time,” mm. 33–44 249
10.11. Augusta Browne, “Th e Music We Love Most,” mm. 1–13 250
10.12. Browne, “Th e Music We Love Most,” mm. 42–51 251
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