Justine Bayard Ward (née Cutting;
Morristown,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, August 7, 1879 -
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, November 27, 1975) was a musical educator who developed a system for teaching music to children known as the Ward Method.
Early life
Justine Bayard Cutting was born on August 7, 1879 in
to
William Bayard Cutting
William Bayard Cutting (January 12, 1850 – March 1, 1912), a member of New York's merchant aristocracy, was an attorney, financier, real estate developer, sugar beet refiner and philanthropist. Cutting and his brother Fulton started the sugar ...
(1850–1912), a founder of the
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
, and Olivia Peyton Cutting (née Murray; 1855–1949).
Her siblings included
William Bayard Cutting Jr. (1878–1910), who married Lady Sybil Marjorie Cuffe and was the father of
Iris Origo
Dame Iris Margaret Origo, Marchesa Origo, DBE (née Cutting; 15 August 1902 – 28 June 1988) was an English-born biographer and writer. She lived in Italy and devoted much of her life to improving the Tuscan estate at La Foce, near Montepulcia ...
,
Bronson Murray Cutting (1888–1935), a U.S. Senator from
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
,
and Olivia Murray Cutting (1892–1963), who married
Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
(1879–1947).
[
]
Her paternal grandparents were Fulton Cutting (1816–1875) and
Elise Justine Bayard
Elise Justine Bayard Cutting (August 16, 1823 – 1853) was an American poet.
Early life
Elise Justine Bayard was born in Fishkill, New York, Bayard was the daughter of Robert Bayard (1797–1878) and Elizabeth McEvers, both members of old New Yo ...
(1823–1852), the poet.
She was descended from the
Bayard
Bayard may refer to:
People
* Bayard (given name)
*Bayard (surname)
*Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight
Places
* Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community
*Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood
*Bayard, ...
,
Schuyler Schuyler may refer to:
Places United States
* Schuyler County, Illinois
* Schuyler County, Missouri
* Schuyler, Nebraska, a city
* Schuyler County, New York
* Schuyler, New York, a town
* Schuyler Island, Lake Champlain, New York
* Schuyler Creek ...
and
Van Cortlandt families of Colonial New York, and was a direct descendant of
Stephen Van Rensselaer IV
Stephen Van Rensselaer (March 29, 1789 – May 28, 1868), known as the "Young Patroon" and sometimes the "last of the patroons" was the last patroon of Rensselaerswyck.
Early life
Van Rensselaer was born on March 29, 1789 in Albany, New York. H ...
, the last patroon of the
Manor of Rensselaerswyck
The Manor of Rensselaerswyck, Manor Rensselaerswyck, Van Rensselaer Manor, or just simply Rensselaerswyck ( nl, Rensselaerswijck ), was the name of a colonial estate—specifically, a Dutch patroonship and later an English manor—owned by the va ...
, and
William Bayard Jr.
William Bayard Jr. (1761 – September 18, 1826) was a prominent New York City banker and a member of the Society of the New York Hospital. He was a close friend to Alexander Hamilton, who was taken to his Greenwich Village home after his fa ...
(1761–1826), a prominent New York City banker.
Career
She was the first woman in the world to develop an American elementary music education method, which predates the Kodály, Orff, and Dalcroze methods, and contains all the same basic elements, with an emphasis on music literacy and aesthetic interpretation.
[Brown, Alise Ann. ''Justine Ward: Her Life, Her Method in Comparison to Orff and Kodaly, and Applications for the Public School Classroom.'' Published Doctor of Arts dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2007.]
The Ward method of music education was created in the early part of the twentieth century to promote the use of liturgical chant by teaching children vocal music reading skills. Its author, Justine Bayard Ward, was a newcomer to the Catholic Church and to the field of education, yet her approach proved successful and spread throughout the United States, Europe and other parts of the world. The ancient tradition of choral training in the Church, Ward's upbringing, her musical training and aesthetic inclinations, and her zeal in furthering the liturgical and musical reforms of Pius X fostered the ideal environment for the creation of the Ward method.
Evidence shows that the materials and procedures were largely appropriations of pre-existing ideas. For example, the work in sight-singing was taken from the Galin-Paris-Chevé school, which flourished in nineteenth-century France, and the educational philosophy originated from her publisher, Rev. Thomas Shields. Ward's mentor, Rev. John Young, S.J., had combined bel canto vocal technique with Chevé exercises and, under Shields's guidance, Ward reshaped it.
Separation of musical elements, principally rhythm and pitch, and graduated exercises were key ingredients Ward inherited from Chevé. Students learned accurate pitch discrimination through daily sight-singing drills where numbers corresponded to the sung solfège syllables in moveable "do."
Justine Ward's contributions lie in skillfully incorporating the Chevé sight-singing drills, Young's vocal training, and Shields' theories of
aesthetics
Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
and childhood development to attain her goal of teaching children music of quality. The repertoire consisted of classical melodies, European folk tunes, and Gregorian chant. Another original contribution was the inclusion of the Solesmes method of rhythm, and the teaching of its rhythms through body movement; Ward had traveled to France specifically to learn from the Benedictines of Solesmes.
[''Justine Ward and Solesmes'', Dom Pierre Combe (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press) 1987.]
The Ward method spread through several avenues. Catholic Education Press began systematic publication of textbooks in the 1910s. Leaders in Catholic education were won over by demonstrations led by Justine Ward. More importantly, the Ward method spread through teacher training courses. It evolved in subsequent publications largely due to her recasting the material to reflect trends in music education. The newer rhythmic theories in Gregorian chant, which depart from the Solesmes method that Ward championed, are one of the leading reasons many still oppose using the Ward Method. This ignores the musical literacy contribution Ward made to elementary music education methods in the United States, and places all emphasis on chant. "The Ward method teaches students how to sing and read music with ease and skill. Its predecessors were Rousseau and Chevé, who developed a method of reading music in numbers for solfege, rather than beginning with the traditional staff. Ward evolved a method that incorporated staff notation so that there is no gap in learning. This method is designed with progressive education ideals in mind, such as learning through the discovery of facts in sequential steps."
While the Solesmes method is quite simplistic, due to being the pioneer of modern chant revitalization,
it is easy to learn and teach to children and adults, making it an ideal spring board for later learning. The Ward Method remains an outstanding method of teaching music literacy, with or without chant.
Personal life
In 1901, she married George Cabot Ward (1876–1936). They divorced and the marriage was later annulled.
Ward died at her home, in Washington, D.C. on November 27, 1975.
Legacy
In 1944, the
Order of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
awarded her the Croce di Benemerenza, and from
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
, she received the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifica. She held honorary doctorates from the
Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music
The Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music ( it, Pontificio istituto di musica sacra; la, Pontificium institutum musicae sacrae) is an institution of higher education of the Roman Catholic Church specifically dedicated to the study of church music ...
in Rome and
Catholic University
Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univ ...
.
Located just behind the
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a large minor Catholic basilica and national shrine in the United States in Washington, D.C., located at 400 Michigan Avenue Northeast, adjacent to Catholic University.
...
, the School of Music building of the
Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...
was partially
donated by and named for her.
References
External links
''The Ward Method: A History of Sound Pedagogy'' The Church Music Association of America.
''The Reform of Church Music'' Justine Bayard Ward, reprinted from April, 1906, ''Atlantic Monthly''.
''Justine Ward and the genesis of the Ward method of music education'' Richard Ramon Bunbury, University of Massachusetts Amherst
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Justine
American music educators
American women music educators
1879 births
1975 deaths
Bayard family
Livingston family
Schuyler family
Van Cortlandt family
American people of Dutch descent
Catholic University of America people
People from Morristown, New Jersey
Educators from New Jersey
Cutting family