Edward Macdowell’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in the Context of the Establishment of the American Branch of the Genre

Abstract

"Research attention in the article is directed to the initial stage of the formation of the American piano concerto, which is represented by two works of Edward MacDowell. Written during the young composer’s stay in Germany, they are firmly based on the traditions of European music and demonstrate mastery of genre models that had formed in the works by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Grieg, Saint-Saëns, as well as MacDowell’s teacher – Joachim Raff. The article analyzes the compositional and thematic organization of Piano Concerto No. 2, traces the figurative and stylistic origins of this music, as well as highlights the ratio of instrumental parts and methods of soloing. It was concluded that, in contrast to the First Concerto, where a generalized virtual model of a romantic concerto acts as a reference point for the composer, in the Second one, there is a tangible desire for an individualized reproduction of the interesting findings of the predecessors and advancement along the path of searching for one’s own approach to the embodiment of the genre. Keywords: musical culture of the USA, Edward MacDowell’s creativity, genre models, instrumental concert, European traditions. "