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= Marion_Bauer =
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Introduction
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Marion Eugénie Bauer (15 August 1882 - 9 August 1955) was an American
composer, teacher, writer, and music critic. She played an active role
in shaping American musical identity in the early half of the
twentieth century.
As a composer, Bauer wrote for piano, chamber ensembles, symphonic
orchestra, solo voice, and vocal ensembles. She gained prominence as a
teacher, serving on the faculty of Washington Square College of New
York University, where she taught music history and composition from
1926 to 1951. In addition to her position at NYU, Bauer was affiliated
with the Juilliard School as a guest lecturer from 1940 until her
death in 1955. Bauer also wrote extensively about music: she was the
editor for the Chicago-based 'Musical Leader' and authored and
co-authored several books including her 1933 text 'Twentieth Century
Music'.
Throughout her life, Bauer promoted not only her own work but new
music in general. Bauer helped found the American Music Guild, the
American Music Center, and the American Composers Alliance, serving as
a board member of the latter. Bauer also held leadership roles in both
the League of Composers and the Society for the Publication of
American Music as a board member and secretary, respectively. With
Claire Raphael Reis, Minna Lederman, and others, she was regularly in
a leadership position in these organizations.
Bauer's music includes dissonance and extended tertian, quartal, and
quintal harmonies, though it rarely goes outside the bounds of
extended tonality, save for her brief experimentation with serialism
in the 1940s. During her lifetime, she enjoyed many performances of
her works, most notably the New York Philharmonic premiere of 'Sun
Splendor' in 1947 under the baton of Leopold Stokowski and a 1951 New
York Town Hall concert devoted solely to her music.
Early life
============
Marion Bauer was born in Walla Walla, Washington, on August 15, 1882.
Her parents--both of French-Jewish background--had immigrated to the
United States, where her father Jacques Bauer worked as a shopkeeper
and her mother Julie Bauer worked as a teacher of modern languages.
Bauer was the youngest of seven children, with an age difference of 17
years between herself and her oldest sister, noted music critic,
composer, and educator, Emilie Frances Bauer.
Later in Bauer's childhood, Jacques Bauer, an amateur musician
himself, recognized his youngest daughter's musical aptitude, and
Bauer began studying piano with Emilie. When Jacques Bauer died in
1890, the Bauers moved to Portland, Oregon, where Bauer graduated from
St. Helen's Hall in 1898. Upon completion of secondary school, Bauer
joined her sister Emilie in New York City in order to begin focusing
on a career in composition.
Studies
=========
Once in New York, Bauer commenced studies with Henry Holden Huss and
Eugene Heffley, in addition to her sister Emilie. In 1905, her studies
brought her into contact with French violinist and pianist Raoul
Pugno, who was using New York as a base on an extended concert tour of
the United States. By virtue of her upbringing in a home headed by
French immigrants, Bauer was fluent in both French and English, and
was thus able to teach Pugno and his family English. As a result of
this favor, Pugno invited Bauer to study with him in Paris in 1906,
and it was during this time that Bauer also became the first American
to study with Nadia Boulanger, an associate of Pugno's in the Paris
music scene. (Ultimately, Boulanger would teach such notable figures
as Aaron Copland, David Diamond, Roy Harris and Gail Kubik.) As she
had done with Pugno, in exchange for composition lessons from
Boulanger, Bauer taught her English.
When she returned to New York in 1907, Bauer continued her studies
with Heffley and Walter Henry Rothwell, additionally teaching piano
and music theory on her own. After another year of study in Europe
from 1910 to 1911, this time focusing on form and counterpoint with
Paul Ertel in Berlin, Bauer began to establish herself as a serious
composer; it was after this period of study in 1912 that she signed a
seven-year contract with [music publisher] Arthur P. Schmidt.
Although active as a composer and private instructor in the years
following 1912, Bauer ultimately undertook two more periods of study
in Europe, partially facilitated by financial inheritances upon the
deaths her mother and older brother. In 1914, she once again returned
to Berlin to study with Ertel, but her time there was curtailed by the
outbreak of World War I. Almost ten years later, Bauer decided once
again to undertake an extended period of study in Europe, this time at
the Paris Conservatory with André Gedalge, who had also taught
composers such as Maurice Ravel, Darius Milhaud, and Arthur Honegger.
At the time, she was 40 years old and offered the following reason for
continuing her studies comparatively late in life: "As a member of the
American Music Guild, I had the opportunity to measure my powers and
my limitations with those of my colleagues....The result was a period
of study in Europe. This time I decided in Paris I would find the kind
of work and musical environment for which I was seeking." Bauer's
studies at the Paris Conservatory, however, were cut short in 1926
when she received the news that her sister Emilie had been hit by a
car. Bauer returned to New York, but Emilie's injuries ultimately
proved fatal.
Career
========
Although Bauer had never earned a college degree (despite her years of
study), in September 1926 she was hired as an instructor for New York
University's music department, becoming their first female music
faculty member. Among her early colleagues were Albert Stoessel,
Gustave Reese, and Percy Grainger. During her tenure at NYU from 1926
to 1951, Bauer taught classes in composition, form and analysis,
aesthetics and criticism, and music history and appreciation, earning
the rank of associate professor in 1930. Bauer taught using her own
book, the readings from which would then be followed by class
discussions. She also advocated strongly for new music and would play
"the few pertinent records and piano rolls available," or have
students play unavailable works. Some of her most famous students from
her years at NYU included Milton Babbitt, Julia Frances Smith, Miriam
Gideon, and conductor Maurice Peress.
In addition to teaching at NYU, Bauer lectured at Juilliard and
Columbia University. She also lectured annually at the Chautauqua
Summer Music Institute in Chautauqua, New York, putting on
lecture-recitals of twentieth-century music with pianist Harrison
Potter throughout her career. Potter performed Bauer's piano music in
other settings as well, including concerts put on by the League of
Composers, the WPA Federal Music Project, the MacDowell Club, and Phi
Beta National Fraternity of Music and Speech. During the Great
Depression years, Bauer also spent summers teaching at Mills College,
the Carnegie Institute, and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music as
well as Juilliard.
Even with her teaching and lecturing responsibilities, Bauer remained
active as a composer. Between 1919 and 1944, she spent a total of
twelve summers in residence at the MacDowell Colony, where she met
composers such as Ruth Crawford Seeger and Amy Beach and focused on
composition. Bauer also helped found the American Music Guild, the
American Music Center, and the American Composers Alliance, serving on
the board of the latter. In 1937, Aaron Copland founded the League of
Composers, and asked Bauer to serve on the executive board of that
organization as well. Bauer additionally served as secretary for the
Society for the Publication of American Music, and helped co-found the
Society of American Women Composers in 1925 along with Amy Beach and
eighteen others.
As a writer and music critic, Bauer was respected for "her
intellectual approach to new music," yet she also maintained a level
of accessibility in her writings. For instance, she was published in
various journals, was editor of the highly regarded Chicago-based
'Musical Leader', and most famously published her book 'Twentieth
Century Music', all of which garnered her respect in the music world.
At the same time, though, Bauer made new music accessible to newcomers
with her books such as 'How Music Grew: From Prehistoric Times to the
Present Day'. Bauer also had a highly inclusive view of what
constituted "serious" music, as demonstrated in the content of
'Twentieth Century Music'. Besides being one of the first textbooks to
discuss serialism, 'Twentieth Century Music' also mentioned numerous
women composers in contrast to other contemporary music textbooks such
as Paul Rosenfeld's 'Musical Portraits, An Hour with American Music'
and John Tasker Howard's 'Our Contemporary Composers', which only
briefly mentioned women composers, if they were mentioned at all.
Bauer's book also discussed modernist works by African American
composers and included jazz in its discussion of twentieth-century
music.
During her Tenure at New York University, Bauer worked on many
manuscripts, now archived at the institution.
Such works include, “notes for a proposed book on “Titans of Music”
with chapters on Monteverdi (ch. I), Beethoven (ch. IV), and Brahms
and the Schumanns (ch. VI); a book on "Modern Creators of Music: A
Survey of Contemporary Music and Its Makers" with chapters on Berlioz
(ch. II) and Liszt and Wagner (ch. III); and a book on "Some Social
Aspects of Music: Its Purpose and Place" with chapters on “The
Functions of Music” (pt. I, ch. I), “Music as a Common Language” (pt.
I, ch. II), “Music in Therapy and Industry” (pt. I, ch. III) and
“Music’s Place in Religion” (pt. I, ch. IV) (Shewbert, 2008).
Articles, speeches, and “Contemporary Piano Music: Grade II and III”
and “American Piano Music” are also found in these archives. In 1951,
Ethel Peyser, an American journalist (1887-1961), wrote of Bauer, “At
present, besides her jobs as critic, editor, lecturer, teacher,
composer, adviser, she is writing… is it one, two or three books? Who
knows!” (“Marion” 7) (Shewbert, 2008, p. 48).
Although she had never earned a formal college degree, Marion Bauer
received an honorary Master of Arts degree from Whitman College in
1932 and an honorary Doctor of Music degree from New York University’s
College of Music in 1951 (Nyu.edu, 14 Nov. 2024) “for distinguished
professional services and outstanding achievement in Music Education”
(Shewbert, 2008 p. 58).
Later years
=============
In the spring of 1951, Bauer retired from her position at NYU,
although she continued to lecture at Juilliard. Bauer also attended a
gathering of MacDowell Colony composers on August 6, 1955. Three days
later, on August 9, 1955, while vacationing at the home of Harrison
Potter and his wife in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Bauer died of a
heart attack, just shy of her 73rd birthday. She is buried with her
sisters Emilie and Minnie in the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New
York.
In 1952, Marion Bauer received the Henry Hadley citation for
“Distinguished Service to American Music,” along with three other
recipients. This award was presented to Bauer at the annual meeting of
the National Association for American Composers and Conductors. The
same year, Bauer gave her last lecture at Chautauqua, a social and
educational convention held in Chautauqua, New York. Featuring many
writers, musicians, teachers, and other influential figures, Bauer
delivered a speech on “The Meaning of Music.” The year after, “Bauer
was honored for contributing ‘the best in children’s music during
1953’ for her pedagogical piano collection, Summertime Suite.”
WNYC, a New York media company, presented a program of Bauer’s
compositions in 1954, with support from the American Composers’
Alliance. This program, performed by pianist Dorothy Eustis, included
Bauer’s works, “Sun Splendor,” “Dance Sonata,” “Here Alone,” “Dreams
in the Dusk,” and “From the Shore.” Vocal pieces were sung by tenor
Carey Sparks.
Marion Bauer’s last remaining sibling, Flora, passed away on February
9, 1954, at age 80 (Shewbert, 2014, p.217).
Following the loss of her sister, Bauer stepped down as the New York
Editor of the periodical, The Musical Leader, only a few months later.
In the summer of 1955, only a few days before her tragic death, Marion
attended a celebration at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New
Hampshire, and wrote to Mrs. MacDowell regarding her enjoyment of the
event and grief for her sister, Flora. Bauer wrote, “In spite of the
enjoyment I got out of the entire experience, it made me feel sad too.
My thoughts of Flora and the many happy years we had there with you
and Nina Maud were quite overwhelming. But I have had to learn to make
the happy moments outweigh the sorrowful ones…. I did so appreciate
your last sweet letter. How well you understand what Flora’s going
meant to me. But I have been busy and have gone ahead as well as I
know how.”
Style and influences
======================
Although very much an advocate of contemporary music, Bauer herself
was considered relatively conservative as a composer; her works from
the 1910s-1920s mostly contain a pitch center, and she only turned to
serialism briefly in the 1940s with works such as 'Patterns'. She also
experimented with spoken words set to music. Her music is generally
melodically driven, using "extended tonality [and] emphasizing
colouristic harmony and diatonic dissonance." Both impressionistic and
romantic influences feature in her works, but Bauer's studies with
André Gedalge particularly marked a change in her style from
conventionally tonal to a more impressionistic, post-tonal idiom as
demonstrated in her 1924 works 'Quietude' and 'Turbulence'. For the
remainder of her career, though, Bauer continued to integrate both the
romanticism advocated by her German teachers with the impressionism
she encountered in Paris and in the music of her close friend Charles
Tomlinson Griffes. The influence of the latter is particularly evident
in comparing Bauer's 1917 work 'Three Impressions' for piano to
Griffes's 'Roman Sketches' published a year earlier: each is an
impressionistic-style suite with a poem preceding each movement.
The discrepancy between the relative conservatism of Bauer's work
versus the more experimental works she advocated in her writings such
as 'Twentieth Century Music' is partially explained by her publisher
Arthur P. Schmidt's hesitation to support her early modernist
inclinations in composition. Schmidt and Bauer, although maintaining a
close relationship, notably disagreed on style. It is inferred that
when Bauer's seven-year contract was about to expire, Schmidt
requested that Bauer simplify her compositional style, as indicated by
Bauer's response to his correspondence: "It is not stubbornness on my
part not to write simple things. I can only write what I feel-and
someday (soon I hope) I shall learn to do the big simple thing. I must
do my work in steps-evolutionary, not revolutionary. I have so little
time to write that naturally change of style is slow." It is also
possible that the experience of having her Violin Sonata (later
published under the title 'Fantasia Quasi Una Sonata') demoted from
first to second place in the 1928 Society for the Publication of
American Music competition expressly for its "modernist tendencies"
led Bauer to adopt a comparatively conservative style of composition.
Bauer did, however, play a significant role in the development of
non-tertian harmony in American music. Along with Ernest Bloch, Bauer
was one of the first American composers to experiment with quintal
harmony, or harmony based on stacked fifths, as demonstrated in her
1926 solo piano version of 'Sun Splendor' and her writings about it.
The development of this harmonic technique in turn influenced the
music of Aaron Copland.
Notable collaborations and performances
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During her lifetime, Bauer's music was well received by performers,
critics, and the public alike. Virtuoso violinist Maud Powell
commissioned "Up the Ocklawaha" in 1912, an impressionistic work for
violin and piano that programmatically reflected Powell's own
excursion on the Ocklawaha River in north central Florida. 'Up the
Ocklawaha' was subject of much praise upon its premiere. In 1915 and
1916, respected opera singers May Dearborn-Schwab, Mary Jordan, and
Elsa Alves were featured on two all-Bauer programs presented in New
York, accompanied by Bauer herself. The 1916 performance featured
twenty of Bauer's songs, and received a favorable review in 'The
Musical Leader'.
By virtue of her activities in various composition circles,
particularly the League of Composers and the New York Composer's
Forum, Bauer was well-situated to have even her larger-scale, more
resource-intensive works performed. Notably, Bauer was the second
woman to have her work performed by the New York Philharmonic: Leopold
Stokowski conducted the premiere of her 'Sun Splendor' at Carnegie
Hall in 1947. Despite this high-profile exposure, though, 'Sun
Splendor' was never published in any of its forms-as a piano solo,
duet, or orchestral piece-and the only recording currently available
is that of the original performance, housed in the New York
Philharmonic Archives.
An event Bauer herself considered one of the highlights of her entire
career was the May 8, 1951 New York Town Hall concert devoted
exclusively to her music. Sponsored by the Phi Beta fraternity at the
time of Bauer's retirement from NYU, the works performed that day
spanned her entire career and included two previously unperformed
works: the 'Dance Sonata', Op. 24 (1932) for dancer and piano (later
expanded and revised as 'Moods' for solo piano) and 'Trio Sonata II'
for flute, cello, and piano. Marion Bauer is noted as “one of the
fraternity’s most illustrious and honored members” and National Music
Advisor.
The concert was reviewed by Olin Downes of the 'New York Times', who
wrote positively of the event : "The music is prevailingly
contrapuntal and dissonance is not absent. Yet the fundamental concept
is melodic, the thinking clear and logical, the sentiment sincere and
direct."
This feature was also described as “one of the great events of her
professional career” by author Madeleine Goss, who mentioned it in her
book, Modern Music-Makers: Contemporary American Composers, in 1952
(Goss, Modern Music-Makers, 136).
Criticism
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Some music critics during Bauer's lifetime promoted a divide between
"masculine" and "feminine" music, even with the increase of women in
the composition field around the turn of the century. Reviews of
Bauer's larger, more intellectual pieces exemplify this phenomenon;
the pieces were well-received, albeit in terms of being "masculine."
For instance, in his review of the 1928 premiere of Bauer's String
Quartet, William J. Henderson wrote: "Those who like to descant upon
the differences between the intellect of woman and that of man must
have found themselves in difficulties while listening to Miss Bauer's
quartet. It is anything but a ladylike composition. This does not mean
that it is rude, impolite or vulgar, but merely that it has a
masculine stride and the sort of confidence which is associated in
one's mind with the adventurous youth in trousers."
One of the most pointed criticisms leveled at Bauer's work pertains to
her books. As musicologist Susan Pickett points out regarding 'How
Music Grew: From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day', "[T]oday's
reader would take offense with several vulgar racial stereotypes.
'African' and 'savage' were used interchangeably. Arabs were
'barbarians.' Chinese and Japanese were 'yellow races,' and so forth."
Indeed, in 1975, Ruth Zinar published an article surveying racial
stereotypes in music books recommended for children, and reserved her
most stinging criticism for Bauer's work: "Of all the books studied,
Marion Bauer's and Ethel Peyser's 'How Music Grew from Prehistoric
Times to the Present Day' must be considered to be the most overtly
offensive, in addition to be replete with inaccuracies." Later
editions were, however, edited to be more sensitive to issues of race.
Personality
=============
By the recollections of friends, colleagues, and students, Bauer was a
kindhearted, good-humored person, who treated others with warmth,
compassion, and generosity. Milton Babbitt recalls in his introduction
to the 1978 edition of 'Twentieth Century Music' how he and his
classmates referred to Bauer "not derisively but affectionately" as
'Aunt Marion' for her matronly manner and appearance, and even for her
classes, which were conducted so as to be suitable for occurrence at
teatime in a genteel parlor." He too describes Bauer as generous and
sensitive, particularly in terms of guiding her students' careers, but
also in terms of her writing due to the fact that she mentions so many
composers and organizations.
Frederick Stoessel, a friend and former student of Bauer, “wrote of
her humanity, her ‘gentility, her kindness, and her sensitivity,’”
twenty-one years after her death.
Marion Bauer went to great lengths to promote her talented students.
Her greatest priority was her investment in her students’ success, by
writing letters to music publishers, editors, and even sending her
pupils directly to them until they were given a chance. Some say that
if she were as invested in herself as she was in her students and
other emerging composers, she might have had more works written and
performances of her compositions herself. Friends, fans, and scholars
of Marion Bauer have been mystified by her ability to compose and
perform at the level that she did while indulging in so many other
activities.
Religious affiliation
=======================
Despite her birth to Jewish immigrants, Bauer appears not to have been
an observant Jew in adulthood. Although Bauer's memorial service was
conducted by a rabbi, she was cremated thereafter, which is forbidden
by official Jewish law. Both Maurice Peress, a former student, and
Frederic Stoessel said that Bauer practiced Christian Science, a claim
further supported by a letter Bauer wrote in 1923 expressing "a desire
to publish a song appropriate for a Christian Science service." No
official confirmation of Bauer's religious affiliation has been found
yet, however.
Sexual orientation
====================
Bauer never married, and much of her personal life remains a mystery.
She lived with and was supported by her sister Emilie until Emilie's
death in 1926. At that point, Bauer went to live with her other sister
Flora, who also lived in New York City, a living arrangement that
lasted until Flora's death in the early 1950s.
Although unconfirmed, Ruth Crawford Seeger's writings, when considered
along with remarks by Martin Bernstein (a longtime friend of Bauer's
and a former chair of NYU music dept.) and Milton Babbitt, imply that
Bauer may have been a lesbian. Crawford and Bauer met at the MacDowell
Colony in 1929, where Bauer quickly became a mentor and close friend
to the much younger Crawford. Although Crawford preferred to
characterize their relationship as one of "sisterly-motherly love,"
she also acknowledged that, at one time, their relationship had
bordered on becoming sexual, particularly on Bauer's part when she
reserved a single hotel room for the two of them at the International
Festival of Contemporary Music in Liège in September 1930, which made
Crawford "uncomfortable." Along with Crawford's perceptions of her
relationship with Bauer, Martin Bernstein stated: "[A]s a female,
[Bauer] had very little interest in 'men' [emphasis in original]...At
least if she had any romantic liaisons with men, we don't know about
it." Babbitt further substantiated Bernstein's thoughts during an
interview about Bauer when he remarked, "And she was very much
a...let's simply say unmarried. But she was an absolute dear."
Conclusive evidence as to Bauer's sexual orientation has not yet been
established.
Legacy
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Bauer's legacy can be measured not only by her output of at least 160
compositions along with her five books, but also by the impact she had
on the careers of both Ruth Crawford Seeger and Milton Babbitt, who
went on to become well-known American composers of the twentieth
century. After they met at the MacDowell Colony in 1929, Bauer
encouraged Crawford's efforts in composition and "contributed greatly
to Crawford's musical growth and her professional visibility." For
Crawford, Bauer represented a powerful connection to the musical
establishment. With her position at the 'Musical Leader', Bauer was
able to publish "a glowing review of a private concert of Crawford's
music"; additionally, Bauer introduced Crawford to Gustave Reese, an
editor at the G. Schirmer publishing company at the time.
Bauer also played a significant role in Babbitt's career development.
Babbitt decided to study with her at NYU in February 1934 after
reading her 1933 edition of 'Twentieth Century Music'. In the
introduction to the later edition, Babbitt recollected his thoughts
upon reading the work for the first time: "[H]ere was a book...which
concerned itself interestedly, admiringly, enthusiastically, even
affectionately with works of music which, in most academic
environments, were unmentionables, untouchables, and unspeakables, and
anywhere else were unknowns." Babbitt specifically mentions his
appreciation for her discussion of the serialist composers with
accompanying musical examples; during the Depression years, scores
(especially of new music) were prohibitively expensive to own
personally, and only a few libraries had copies. Babbitt greatly
respected Bauer, saying in 1983 that Bauer was "a wonderful
lady...whose name I'm going to do everything in the world to
immortalize."
Works
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(From the list of Bauer's works in 'New Grove' unless otherwise
indicated)
Orchestral Works:
* 'Lament on an African Theme,' Op. 20a, strings (1927)
* 'Sun Splendor' (?1936)
* 'Symphonic Suite,' Op. 34, strings (1940)
* Piano Concerto "American Youth," Op. 36, (1943) (arranged for 2
pianos 1946)
* Symphony No. 1, Op. 45, (1947-1950)
* Prelude and Fugue, Op. 43, flute and strings (1948 rev. 1949)
Chamber works:
* 'Up the Ocklawaha,' Op. 6, violin and piano (1913)
* Sonata No. 1, Op. 14, violin and piano (1921 rev. 1922)
* String Quartet, Op. 20 (1925)
* 'Fantasia Quasi una Sonata,' Op. 18, violin and piano (1925)
* 'Suite (Duo),' Op. 25, oboe and clarinet (1932)
* Sonata, Op. 22, viola or clarinet and piano (1932)
* Concertino, Op. 32b, oboe, clarinet, and string quartet or orchestra
(1939 rev. 1943)
* 'Trio Sonata No. 1,' Op. 40, flute, cello, piano (1944)
* 'Five Pieces (Patterns)' Op. 41, string quartet (1946-1949, no. 2
arranged for double woodwind quintet and double bass--1948)
* 'Aquarelle,' Op. 39/2a, double woodwind quintet, 2 double basses
(1948)
* 'Trio Sonata No. 2,' Op. 47, flute, cello, piano (1951)
* Woodwind Quintet, Op. 48, flue, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn (1956)
Keyboard works (for piano unless otherwise noted):
* 'Three Impressions,' Op. 10 (1918)
* 'From the New Hampshire Woods', Op. 12 (1922)
* 'Three Preludettes' (1921)
* 'Six Preludes,' op. 15 (1922)
* 'Turbulence,' op. 17/2 (1924)
* 'A Fancy' (1927)
* 'Sun Splendor,' (?1929, arranged for 2 pianos ?1930)
* 'Four Piano Pieces,' op. 21 (1930)
* 'Dance Sonata,' op. 24 (1932)
* 'Moods (Three Moods for Dance),' op. 46 (1950/4)
* 'Anagrams,' op. 48 (1950)
* 'Meditation and Toccata,' organ (1951)
Choral works:
* 'Wenn ich rufe an dich, Herr, mein Gott' (Ps xxviii), op. 3,
Soprano, women's chorus, organ/piano (1903)
* 'Fair Daffodils' (R. Herrick), women's chorus, keyboard (1914)
* 'Orientale' (E. Arnold), soprano, orchestra (1914, orchestrated
1932, rev. 1934)
* 'The Lay of the Four Winds' (C.Y. Rice), Op. 8, male chorus, piano
(1915)
* 'Three Noëls' (L.I. Guiney, trad.), Op. 22, Nos. 1-3, women's
chorus, piano (1930)
* 'Here at High Morning' (M. Lewis), Op. 27, male chorus (1931)
* 'The Thinker,' Op. 35, mixed chorus (1938)
* 'China' (B. Todrin), Op. 38, mixed chorus, orchestra/piano (1943)
* 'At the New Year' (K. Patchen), Op. 42, mixed chorus, piano (1947)
* 'Death Spreads his Gentle Wings' (E.P. Crain), mixed chorus (1949
rev. 1951)
* 'A Foreigner Comes to Earth on Boston Common' (H. Gregory), Op. 49,
soprano, tenor, mixed chorus, piano (1953)
Other vocal works:
* "Coyote Song" (J.S. Reed), baritone, piano (1912)
* "Send Me a Dream" (Intuition) (E.F. Bauer), solo voice, piano (1912)
* "Phillis" (C.R. Defresny), medium voice, piano (1914)
* "By the Indus" (Rice), solo voice, piano (1917)
* "My Faun" (O. Wilde), solo voice, piano (1919)
* "Night in the Woods" (E.R. Sill), medium voice, piano (1921)
* "The Driftwood Fire" (Katharine Adams), solo voice, piano (1921)
(not listed in New Grove)
* "The Epitaph of a Butterfly" (T. Walsh), solo voice, piano (1921)
* "A Parable" (The Blade of Grass) (S. Crane), solo voice, piano
(1922)
* "Four Poems" (J.G. Fletcher), Op. 16, high voice, piano (1924)
* "Faun Song," alto, chamber orchestra (1934)
* "Four Songs (Suite)," soprano, string quartet (1935 rev. 1936)
* "Songs in the Night" (M.M.H. Ayers), solo voice, piano (1943)
* "The Harp" (E.C. Bailey), solo voice, piano (1947)
* "Swan" (Bailey), solo voice, piano (1947)
Written works
======================================================================
(From the list of Bauer's works in 'New Grove')
* With Ethel Peyser: 'How Music Grew: From Prehistoric Times to the
Present Day' (New York: 1925, rev. 1939)
* With Ethel Peyser: 'Music through the Ages: a Narrative for Student
and Layman' (New York, 1932, enlarged 3/1967 by Elizabeth Rogers as
'Music through the Ages: an Introduction to Music History')
* 'Twentieth Century Music' (New York, 1933, rev. 2/1947)
* 'Musical Questions and Quizzes: a Digest of Information about Music'
(New York, 1941)
* With Ethel Peyser: 'How Opera Grew: from Ancient Greece to the
Present Day' (New York, 1956)
* “Marion Eugenie Bauer Papers: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids.”
New York University, 14 November 2024. Accessed 1 December 2025.
https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/archives/mc_3/.
* Edwards, J. Michele. “Marion Eugénie Bauer.” Jewish Women’s Archive.
Accessed 1 December 2025.
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bauer-marion-eugenie.
* Shewbert, Sarah Grace. “Marion Bauer’s ‘Completely Musical Life’
(1882-1955): An American Composer’s Essential Creative Works and
Contributions to Twentieth-Century Music.” PhD diss., University of
Washington, 13 October 2014. Accessed 1 December 2025.
* “Champion of American Composer.” *The New York Times*, 14 August
1955.
* Shewbert, Sarah Grace. “The Versatile Marion Bauer (1882-1955):
American Composer, Lecturer, Writer.” Master’s thesis, University of
Portland, Spring 2008.
* Goss, Madeline. *Modern Music-Makers: Contemporary American
Composers*. ABC-CLIO, LLC, 1952.
* Bauer, Marion. “NAACC Makes Annual Awards.” *Musical Leader* 84, no.
6 (June 1952): 10.
* “Composers of Children’s Music Honored.” *Musical Leader* 86 (April
1954): 10.
Sources
======================================================================
* Ambache, Diana. Liner notes to 'Marion Bauer: American Youth
Concerto' performed by the Ambache Chamber Orchestra and Ensemble.
Naxos (8.559253), 2005. Compact disc.
* Ammer, Christine. 'Unsung: A History of Women in American Music',
Century ed. Portland: Amadeus Press, 2001. .
* Babbitt, Milton. "Introduction to Marion Bauer's Twentieth Century
Music (1978)." 'The Collected Essays of Milton Babbitt'. Ed. Stephen
Peles, Stephen Dembski, Andrew Mead, and Joseph N. Straus. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2003. .
* Block, Adrienne Fried. "Arthur P. Schmidt, Music Publisher and
Champion of American Women Composers." 'The Musical Woman: An
International Perspective', v. 2. Eds. Judith Lang Zaimont, Catherine
Overhauser, and Jane Gottlieb. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987. .
* Edwards, J. Michele. "Bauer, Marion Eugénie." 'The New Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians'. Ed. Stanley Sadie. London:
MacMillan, 1980. II: 924. .
* Edwards, J. Michele. "Marion Eugénie Bauer." 'Jewish Women's
Archive'. Accessed June 9, 2011.
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bauer-marion-eugenie.
* Hisama, Ellie. 'Gendering Musical Modernism: The Music of Ruth
Crawford, Marion Bauer, and Miriam Gideon'. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge
University Press, 2001. .
* Hisama, Ellie. Liner notes to 'Music of Marion Bauer' performed by
Virginia Eskin, Deborah Boldin, and Irina Muresanu. Albany Records
(TR465), 2001. Compact disc.
* Pickett, Susan. "Chapter 15: Marion in Paris, 1923-1926." 'The Bauer
Sisters'. Unpublished. Used with special permission of the author.
* Pickett, Susan. "Chapter 19: Sun Splendor, Fantasia Quasi Una
Sonata: A New Twist, String Quartet, 1926-1930." 'The Bauer Sisters.'
Unpublished. Used with special permission of the author.
* Pickett, Susan. "From the Wild West to New York Modernism." 'The
Maud Powell Signature, Women in Music: The March of the Women' 2, no.
2 (June 2008): 32-45. Accessed March 22, 2011.
http://www.maudpowell.org/signature/Portals/0/pdfs/signature/Signature_June_2008_issue.pdf.
* Silberberg, Naftali. "Why does Jewish law forbid cremation?"
'Chabad.org'. Accessed June 9, 2011.
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/510874/jewish/Why-does-Jewish-law-forbid-cremation.htm.
* Tawa, Nicholas E. 'Mainstream Music of Early Twentieth Century
America: The Composers, Their Times, and Their Works'. Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1992. .
External links
======================================================================
*
* [
https://books.google.com/books?id=IvoQQU1QL_QC&pg=PA42 The
Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers: Marion Eugénie Bauer (on
GoogleBooks)]
* [
http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bauer-marion-eugenie Jewish
Women's Archive: Marion Eugénie Bauer]
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20100612160342/http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/archives/bauer_content.html
Guide to the Marion Eugénie Bauer Papers at New York University]
*
[
http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/mountholyoke/mshm308_main.html
Marion Bauer compositions at Mount Holyoke College]
* [
http://www.naxos.com/person/Marion_Bauer/26477.htm Naxos: Marion
Bauer]
*
*
*
*
* [
https://norman.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingAid.cfm?eadID=00636
Musical Manuscripts Collection] at the Harry Ransom Center
License
=========
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Bauer
