Nabokov, Nicolas [Nikolay]

Nevin, Ethelbert (Woodbridge)

(b Edgeworth, nr Pittsburgh, 25 Nov 1862; d New Haven, CT, 17 Feb 1901). American composer and pianist. His father, Robert Peebles Nevin, was an author, poet and newspaper publisher; his mother, Elizabeth Duncan Oliphant, was a pianist for whom the first grand piano had been carried across the Allegheny Mountains to western Pennsylvania. Ethelbert was the fifth of eight children; his youngest sibling, Arthur Nevin, also was a musician.

Nevin received his first musical training at home, by six could sing and play his own accompaniments at the piano, then studied with music teachers in Pittsburgh. At the age of 11 he wrote his first published work, Lilian Polka. During a family year abroad he studied the piano with Franz Böhme in Dresden. In 1881–3 at Boston he studied the piano with Benjamin J. Lang and harmony with Stephen A. Emery, then returned to Pittsburgh to teach and perform recitals, often including his own songs, chamber works and piano pieces.

In 1884–6 Nevin went to Berlin to study the piano with Karl Klindworth and composition with Karl Bial. He also took lessons in composition from Otto Tiersch and studied the piano with Hans von Bülow. He intended a career as a virtuoso pianist, establishing himself in Boston. Dividing his time between composing and performing, he found success with his published works, beginning with Sketchbook and then Water Scenes, including a piece Nevin himself tired of performing, Narcissus. He spent 1891–2 in Berlin and Paris, where he taught the piano, composed and lectured on Wagner. Back in Boston, he taught and performed – interrupted by a nervous breakdown and extended voyage to recover in 1894 – increasingly including performances of his own compositions. Seeking serenity, he removed in 1895–6 to Florence, Montepiano and Venice, where he wrote impressionistic piano suites. He resumed his recitals in New York; he shared one programme in 1898 with Isadora Duncan who ‘illustrated in classic dances’ his piano pieces Narcissus, Ophelia and Water Nymph. There in 1897 he wrote in one day his most popular song, The Rosary. In 1898 Nevin moved back to ‘Vineacre’, the family's estate, which Willa Cather described in ‘An Evening at Vineacre’ (quoted in Thompson). He wrote his last successful songs there and died during a winter sojourn in New Haven.

Nevin was a miniaturist who avoided large musical forms and deeper passions, emphasizing instead seemingly simple and spontaneous melody and accompaniments that support without seeking the foreground. He wrote some 55 piano pieces, 85 songs, 20 choral works and miscellaneous other pieces, all distinguished by their sentiment, grace and charm.

WORKS

(selective list)

MSS at US-Pu

op.

2	Sketchbook (Boston, 1888): 7 songs (H. Heine, C. Kingsley, R.L. Stevenson): Im wunderschönen Monat Mai, Du bist wie eine Blume, Lehn deine Wang’ an meine Wang’, Oh, that we two were maying, In winter I get up at night, Of speckled eggs the birdie sings, Dark brown is the river; 1 chorus, vn obbl: The night has a thousand eyes; 5 pf pieces: Gavotte, Love Song, Berceuse, Serenata, Valse rhapsodie
6	Three Duets, pf (Boston, 1890)
7	Four Compositions, pf (Boston, 1890): Valzer gentile, Slumber Song, Intermezzo, Song of the Brook
9	Wynken, Blynken and Nod (E. Field), chorus, pf 4 hands (Boston, 1890)
12	Five Songs (Boston, 1891): A Summer Day (Nesbit), Beat upon mine, little heart (A. Tennyson), In a Bower (L.C. Moulton), Little Boy Blue (Field), At Twilight (P. van Rensselaer)
13	Water Scenes, pf (Boston, 1891): Dragon Fly, Ophelia, Water Nymph, Narcissus, Barcarolle
16	In Arcady, pf (Boston, 1892): A Shepherd's Tale, Shepherds all and Maidens Fair, Lullabye, Tournament
20	A Book of [10] Songs (Boston, 1893): A Fair Good Morn, Sleep, little tulip (Field), Ev'ry Night (Stevenson), Airly beacon (Kingsley), When the Land was White with Moonlight (A.R. Aldrich), A Song of Love (E.L. Tomlin), Nocturne (T.B. Aldrich), Dites-moi (O. Boise), Orsola's Song (J. Richepin), In der Nacht (G. Platen)
21	Maggio in Toscana, pf suite (Boston, 1896): Arlecchino, Notturno, Barchetta, Misericordia, Il rusignuolo, La pastorella
—	The Rosary (R.C. Rogers), 1v, pf (Boston, 1898)
25	A Day in Venice, pf suite (Cincinnati, 1898): Alba, Gondolieri, Canzone amoroso, Buona notte
28	Songs from Vineacre (pubd separately, Cincinnati, 1899–1900): A Necklace of Love (F.L. Stanton), Sleeping and Dreaming (R.P. Nevin), Mon désir (J. Ahrem), The Nightingale's Song (A.H. King), The Dream-maker Man (W.A.W.), The Silver Moon (P. Verlaine), Ein Heldenlied (Heine), Ein Liedchen (Heine)
29	Captive Memories (J.T. White), song cycle, bar, 4vv, pf (Cincinnati, 1899)
30	En Passant, pf suite (pubd separately, Cincinnati, 1899): A Fontainebleau, In Dreamland, Napoli, At home
—	Mighty Lak' a Rose (F.L. Stanton), 1v, pf (Cincinnati, 1901)
—	The Quest (R. Hartley), cant., vs (Cincinnati, 1902), orchd H. Parker
Principal publishers: Boston Music Co. (G. Schirmer), Schott, John Church Co.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DAB (R.G. Cole)

V. Thompson: The Life of Ethelbert Nevin from his Letters and his Wife's Memories (Boston, 1913)

F. Rogers: ‘Some Memories of Ethelbert Nevin’, MQ, iii (1917). 358–63

J.T. Howard: Ethelbert Nevin (New York, 1935) [incl. list of works, chronology, bibliography]

Y. Wang: Ethelbert Nevin Collection (MS, U. of Pittsburgh, 1987)

H. Liu: The Piano Music of Ethelbert Nevin (thesis, U. of Florida, 1995)

DEANE L. ROOT