Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge aka Liz Coolidge (30 October 1864 – 4 November 1953), born Elizabeth Penn Sprague, was an American pianist and patron of music, especially of chamber music.

Biography

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's father was a wealthy wholesale dealer in

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. She was musically talented and studied

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

with Regina Watson, as well as composition with other teachers. She married the physician Frederic Shurtleff Coolidge who died from syphilis contracted from a patient during surgery, leaving her with their only child Albert. Soon after, her parents died as well. Coolidge's cousin was Lucy Sprague Mitchell, the founder of

Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 full ...

. Coolidge provided Mitchell with funds for the founding of the school in 1916. She inherited a considerable amount of money from her parents and decided to spend it on promotion of chamber music, a mission she continued to carry out until her death at the age of 89 in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

. Due to her husband's profession, she also gave financial support to medical institutions. Coolidge's financial resources were not unlimited but through force of personality and conviction she managed to raise the status of chamber music in the United States, where the major interest of composers had previously been in orchestral music, from curiosity to a seminal field of composition. Her devotion to music and generosity to musicians were spurred by her own experience as a performing musician: she appeared as a pianist up to her 80s, accompanying world-renowned instrumentalists. Coolidge established the Berkshire String Quartet in 1916 and started the Berkshire Music Festival at South Mountain,

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

, two years later. Out of this grew the Berkshire Symphonic Festival at Tanglewood, which she also supported. She was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1951. Elizabeth's only son, Albert Sprague Coolidge, graduated from the

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and was a chemical physicist, political activist, and civil libertarian.

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medals

In 1932, Coolidge established the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal for "eminent services to chamber music." The medals were initially awarded by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

. But, in 1949 — after objections by U.S. Congressmen over the appropriateness of a government body awarding prizes in fine arts and literature to individuals who might harbor dissident views towards the U.S. (re: Ezra Pound and the

Bollingen Prize The Bollingen Prize for Poetry is a literary honor bestowed on an American poet in recognition of the best book of new verse within the last two years, or for lifetime achievement.

) — the

discontinued awarding medals of any kind, including (i) the

Bollingen Prize The Bollingen Prize for Poetry is a literary honor bestowed on an American poet in recognition of the best book of new verse within the last two years, or for lifetime achievement.

, the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal for "eminent services to chamber music, and (iii) three prizes endowed by

Lessing Rosenwald Lessing Julius Rosenwald (February 10, 1891 – June 24, 1979) was an American businessman, a collector of rare books and art, a chess patron, and a philanthropist. Biography Born in Chicago, Lessing J. Rosenwald was the eldest son of Julius R ...

in connection with an annual national exhibition of prints.

Recipients

Earlier Coolidge Prizes and Commissions * 1918 – Tadeusz Iarecki * 1919 – Ernest Bloch: Chamber Music Prize for the Berkshire Festival * 1920 –

Gian Francesco Malipiero Gian Francesco Malipiero (; 18 March 1882 – 1 August 1973) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor. Life Early years Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, G ...

* 1921 –

Harry Waldo Warner Harry Waldo Warner (4 January 1874 - 1 June 1945) was an English viola player and composer, one of the founding members of the London String Quartet and a several times Cobbett Award winner for his chamber music. Early life Born in Northampton ...

(1874–1945) * 1922 – Leo Weiner: Chamber Music Prize for the Berkshire Festival * 1923 – Commissions for the Berkshire Festival: : Eugene Goosens : Rebecca Clarke * 1926 –

Albert Huybrechts Albert Huybrechts (12 February 1899 in Dinant – 21 February 1938 in Brussels) was a Belgian composer. Life Albert Huybrechts was born into a musical family. His father, Joseph-Jacques Huybrechts, was the double-bassist with the Royal Theatre ...

: Sonata for violin and piano * 1927 –

Mario Pilati Mario Pilati (2 June 1903 – 10 December 1938) was an Italian composer. Pilati was born in Naples, and his natural musical talent showed itself when he was very young. He entered the Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Majella at the age of fi ...

: Sonata for flute and piano * 1936 –

Jerzy Fitelberg Jerzy Fitelberg (May 20, 1903 – April 25, 1951) was a Polish-American composer."Jerzy Fitelberg, 48, A Polish Composer," ''New York Times'' (April 27, 1951), p. 23. Biography Son of Grzegorz Fitelberg, Jerzy was born in Warsaw. He first stud ...

: String Quartet no. 4 Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medals for Eminent Services to Chamber Music *

Louis Gruenberg Louis Gruenberg ( ; June 10, 1964) was a Russian-born American pianist and prolific composer, especially of operas. An early champion of Schoenberg and other contemporary composers, he was also a highly respected Oscar-nominated film composer in Ho ...

, ''Four Diversions'', string quartet, composed in 1930 *

Frank Bridge Frank Bridge (26 February 187910 January 1941) was an English composer, violist and conductor. Life Bridge was born in Brighton, the ninth child of William Henry Bridge (1845-1928), a violin teacher and variety theatre conductor, formerly a m ...

(1938) *

Abbey Simon Abbey Henry Simon (January 8, 1920 – December 18, 2019) was an American concert pianist, teacher, and recording artist. He was a protégé of Josef Hofmann at the Curtis Institute of Music and a winner of the Naumburg International Piano Comp ...

* Hugo Kortschak *

Kenneth Schermerhorn Kenneth Dewitt Schermerhorn ( ; November 20, 1929 – April 18, 2005) was an American composer and orchestra conductor. He was the music director of the Nashville Symphony from 1983 to 2005. Early life Schermerhorn was born on November 20, 1 ...

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

(1941) * Alexander Tansman (1941) * Randall Thompson (1941) *

Roy Harris Roy Ellsworth Harris (February 12, 1898 – October 1, 1979) was an American composer. He wrote music on American subjects, and is best known for his Symphony No. 3. Life Harris was born in Chandler, Oklahoma on February 12, 1898. His ancestr ...

(1942), ''Sonata for Violin and Piano'' * Quincy Porter (1943) *

Alexander Schneider Abraham Alexander Schneider (October 21, 1908 – February 2, 1993) was a violinist, conductor and educator. Born to a Jewish family in Vilnius, Lithuania, he later moved to the United States as a member of the Budapest String Quartet. Early li ...

(1945) *

Erich Itor Kahn Erich Itor Kahn (23 July 1905 - 5 March 1956) was a German composer of Jewish descent, who emigrated to the United States during the years of National Socialism. Biography He was born in Rimbach in the Odenwald, the son of Leopold Kahn, a mathema ...

(1948) * Sylvia Soublette (1964) Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal for Conductors * James Allen Dixon (1928–2007) (1955) Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal for Best Performance of Contemporary Music * The Zagreb Soloists Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Medal for the Best String Quartet in Europe * The Netherlands String Quartet (1965)

Other commissions

Coolidge organized an effort in 1916 to build and name a studio at the

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowel ...

in memory of her piano teacher and friend Regina Watson. In 1945 she commissioned the Paganini Quartet, led by

Henri Temianka Henri Temianka (19 November 19067 November 1992) was a virtuoso violinist, conductor, author and music educator. Early years Henri Temianka was born in Greenock, Scotland, to parents who were Polish emigrants. He studied violin with Carel Blit ...

. The Sprague Memorial Hall at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

was also financed by Coolidge.

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation

Her most innovative and costly endeavor, however, was her partnership with the

, resulting in the construction of the 500-seat

Coolidge Auditorium The Thomas Jefferson Building is the oldest of the four United States Library of Congress buildings. Built between 1890 and 1897, it was originally known as the Library of Congress Building. It is now named for the 3rd U.S. president Thomas Jeffe ...

, specifically intended for chamber music, in 1924. This was accompanied by the establishment of the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation to organize concerts in that auditorium and to commission new chamber music from both European and American composers, as it continues to do today.

Support of composers and musical works

Coolidge had a reputation for promoting "difficult" modern music (though she declined to support one of the most modern of all composers, Charles Ives). But she never aimed at such a reputation and explained her preferences in music as follows: "My plea for modern music is not that we should like it, nor necessarily that we should even understand it, but that we should exhibit it as a significant human document." Though American herself, she had no national preferences, and in fact most of her commissions went to European composers.Banfield, Stephen. "Too Much of Albion"?: Mrs Coolidge and her British Connections, in ''American Music'', Vol 4 No 1 (Spring 1986)
/ref> She didn't have any urge to specifically promote women composers, either. She sponsored the 1927 tour of the United States of composer Ottorino Respighi and his wife, the soprano Elsa. The conclusion of the tour was a program held at the Library of Congress chamber music hall that she had funded, and at that occasion Respighi promised to dedicate his next musical composition to Mrs. Coolidge. That composition turned out to be the , inspired by three Botticelli paintings on display at the Uffizi museum in Florence, Italy. The first performance of the work was at a concert in Vienna at the end of that same year, with the Respighis in attendance. The most lasting memorial to Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's patronage of music are the compositions which she commissioned from many leading composers of the early 20th century. Among the best-known of those compositions are the following: * Samuel Barber: ''Hermit Songs'', Op. 29 * Béla Bartók: String Quartet No. 5 *

: String Quartet No. 1 *

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...

: ''String Quartet No. 1'', Op. 58 *

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

: '' Appalachian Spring'' *

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. A member of Les Six, his best known work is probably ''Antigone'', composed between 1924 and 1927 t ...

: '' Concerto da camera'' *

: First Piano Concerto (1937) *

Gabriel Pierné Henri Constant Gabriel Pierné (16 August 1863 – 17 July 1937) was a French composer, conductor, pianist and organist. Biography Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz. His family moved to Paris, after Metz and part of Lorraine were annexed to Ger ...

: '' Sonata da Camera pour flûte, violoncelle et piano'' * Francis Poulenc: Flute Sonata *

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, ...

: String Quartet No. 1 * Maurice Ravel: ''

Chansons madécasses ' (''Madagascan Songs'') is a set of three exotic art songs by Maurice Ravel written in 1925 and 1926 to words from the poetry collection of the same name by Évariste de Parny. Structure Scored for mezzo-soprano or baritone, flute, cello ...

'' * Arnold Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 3, String Quartet No. 4 * Igor Stravinsky: ''

Apollon musagète ''Apollo'' (originally ''Apollon musagète'' and variously known as ''Apollo musagetes'', ''Apolo Musageta'', and ''Apollo, Leader of the Muses'') is a neoclassical ballet in two '' tableaux'' composed between 1927 and 1928 by Igor Stravinsky ...

'' *

Anton Webern Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern (3 December 188315 September 1945), better known as Anton Webern (), was an Austrian composer and conductor whose music was among the most radical of its milieu in its sheer concision, even aphorism, and stead ...

: String Quartet * Sir Arthur Bliss: Oboe Quintet * Ottorino Respighi: ''Trittico Botticelliano'' Other composers supported by Coolidge include Ernest Bloch,

Alfredo Casella Alfredo Casella (25 July 18835 March 1947) was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor. Life and career Casella was born in Turin, the son of Maria (née Bordino) and Carlo Casella. His family included many musicians: his grandfather, a fr ...

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American class ...

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

, Bohuslav Martinů,

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

, Rebecca Helferich Clarke, Cyril Rootham and Albert Roussel.

References

External links

The Coolidge Legacy
by Prof. Cyrilla Barr
Webpage for Elizabeth Penn Sprague

Music Notes for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Trittico Botticelliano