Arthur Foote

An educator and performer as well as composer, Arthur Foote had a strong gift for melody and lyricism which exhibits itself in both his instrumental music as well as his over 100 songs.

Photo: Arthur Foote, public domain

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About

Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Foote spent most of his life in the Boston area. At the age of 14, after only two years of piano lessons, Foote was accepted into the New England Conservatory and began to study harmony. While studying at Harvard, Foote led the Harvard Glee Club and decided to pursue music as a career instead of law.

Foote has been identified as a member of the Second New England School, a group of composers who sought to separate American music from European music. (Other members of this group include Amy Marcy Beach and Charles Ives.) Foote’s first composition, a piece for cello and piano, was published in 1882. He continued to compose and have his works published steadily for the next 45 years. Foote often published under the pseudonyms Ferdinand Meyer and Carl Erich. Adhering to the Romantic tradition, his works follow formal structures and expressiveness in phrasing and melody. Many of his works were premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Also a prominent teacher and pedagogue, Foote published many teaching manuals and instructional tools throughout his life.

–Christie Finn

Source: New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Related Information

Songs

Recordings

Paul Sperry Sings Songs of an Innocent Age

(Amy Marcy Beach, Charles Wakefield Cadman, John Alden Carpenter, George Whitefield Chadwick, Arthur Foote, Henry F. Gilbert, Charles Griffes, Charles Ives, Edward MacDowell and Ethelbert Nevin)

1990

The Complete Johanna Gadski, Vol. 1

(Amy Marcy Beach and Arthur Foote)

1909

Books

Sheet Music

IMSLP: Arthur Foote Sheet Music

Find via IMSLP

Eleven Songs For Voice and Piano, Op. 26

Composer(s): Arthur Foote

Buy via Classical Vocal Reprints

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