American composer, pianist and painter Ann Wyeth McCoy (March 15, 1915 - November 10, 2005) was the youngest daughter of artist-illustrator

N.C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

and the fourth of his five children. She was born in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Ann had a life-long interest in antique porcelain dolls, which began in 1923 when she received her first doll as a gift from her parents on her eighth birthday. Each subsequent birthday and Christmas during her childhood, she received another doll. From 1972 to 2004 her doll collection was exhibited at the

Brandywine River Museum The Brandywine Museum of Art is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine Creek. The museum showcases the work of Andrew Wyeth, a major American realist painter, an ...

in Chadds Ford during the Christmas holidays.

Life and career

McCoy studied piano with William Hatton Greene, composition with

Harl McDonald Harl McDonald (July 27, 1899 - March 30, 1955) was an American composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. McDonald was born in Boulder, Colorado, and studied at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Redlands, and the Leipzig Cons ...

at the University of Pennsylvania, and painting with her father. In 1934 her composition ''Christmas Fantasy'' was performed by the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

, with

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appeara ...

conducting. In 1935, she married John W. McCoy II, a young artist whom she had met when he studied with her father at the Chadds Ford studio. They had three children, John Denys, Anna Brelsford, and Maude Robin. McCoy did not begin painting seriously until her children grew up. The first formal exhibition of her work, mainly watercolors, was in the late 1960s. The Brandywine River Museum has an Ann Wyeth McCoy collection, which contains correspondence, photographs, musical compositions, sound recordings, and her early drawings. The collection also details her interest in antique porcelain dolls. McCoy composed many songs for special people or occasions, such as a tribute to a White House dinner honoring her brother

Andrew Wyeth Andrew Newell Wyeth ( ; July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009) was an American visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century. In his ...

; lullabies for the children of friends and family; and songs aboutMcCoy of art such as her brother's paintings or a sculpture by Degas. She also set poetry to music for piano.

Works

Her musical compositions include:

Orchestra

*Christmas Fantasy *In Memoriam (dedicated to her father N.C. Wyeth) *Maine Summer

Piano

*''Anna Kuerner'' *''Black Angus'' *''Brook in Winter'' *''Cannibal Shore'' *''Chambered Nautilus'' *''Children's Pieces'' *''Christmas'' *''Christmas Tree'' *''Embers'' *''Fog'' *''For Joel Wyeth Nields'' *''For John McCoy'' *''George VI: Death of a King'' *''(The) German'' *''Glen Mere Church, Maine'' *''Grandfather's Sleigh'' *''Helga Suite: Chorale'' *''In Memoriam: to NCW'' *''In Memory of Robin's Dog "Charlie"'' *''Irish Dance'' *''Lament for Christina Olson and Her World'' *''Maine Preludes'' *''March of the Knights'' *''Mort de Nureyev'' *''Mushrooms by Jamie'' *''Music Box for Betsy Wyeth'' *''Music for Jamie'' *''Newell'' *''Patriot - March for Ralph Cline'' *''Portrait of My Father N.C. Wyeth'' *''Prelude: After the Swans'' *''Reverie: In Memoriam Robert F. Kennedy'' *''Sarabande'' *''Soliloquy'' *''Song Sirens'' *''To a Wax Ballerina by Degas'' *''To John's Picture of Sandpipers'' *''To Robin McCoy and Her Horse Kilo'' *''Tone Poem on the Helga Paintings'' *''Triumphant Entrance and Lullaby for John Wyeth McCoy''

Vocal

*Christmas Salutation from Chadd's Ford (text by N. C. Wyeth; music by Ann Wyeth McCoy) *Songs

References