Margaret F. Hood (November 19, 1937 – June 7, 2008) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
fortepiano
A fortepiano , sometimes referred to as a pianoforte, is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Mo ...
,
clavichord, and
harpsichord
A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
builder.
[Anne Beetem Acker, "Margaret F. Hood", ''The New Grove Dictionary of American Music'', 2013.]
Early life and education
Hood was born Margaret Holmes Fullerton in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. She grew up in
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...
, and graduated from the
Greenwich Academy in 1954.
She then studied
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, religion, and art at
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States.
...
. Later she completed her master's degree at the
Pacific School of Religion while doing calligraphic and artifact restoration work for the Bade Archeological Museum. During this time she became noted as a painter.
Career
In 1962, Hood was awarded a
Danforth Fellowship
The Danforth Foundation was one of the largest private nonprofit foundations in the St. Louis Metropolitan region. It closed its doors in 2011 after 84 years of operation and more than a billion dollars in grants distributed.
Background
Establishe ...
at
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
.
Her interest in musical instruments, especially harpsichords, began in the mid-1960s, through kits she completed for others. Through this work, she also became interested in historically appropriate harpsichord case and soundboard painting. In the 1970s she became a professional builder of her original designs for harpsichords, clavichords, and fortepianos, and was also an agent for Zuckermann Harpsichords.
After researching museum instruments in Europe and the United States, she founded Margaret Hood Fortepianos, in Platteville, Wisconsin, in 1976. By the mid-1980s she was well known for her reproductions of 1803 and 1816 pianos by
Nannette Streicher, as well as her research and publications about Streicher, Beethoven and the instruments of his time. Her premature death left her extensive work on the Beethoven conversation books incomplete. Her last (unfinished) instrument was based on a Streicher fortepiano from 1816, before Nanette Streicher and her son Johann Baptiste became business partners. In addition, Hood wrote and published technical repair and maintenance manuals for both harpsichords and fortepianos.
Personal life
Hood married Ellsworth Hood in 1961 and had two children.
Several members of her family were painters, and she continued the tradition with an extensive repertoire of styles and techniques. She later added to that tradition by applying her artistic talents and skills to the painting of historically-appropriate paintings and decorations on the lids and soundboards of harpsichords.
[Obituary, Madison, Wisconsin, June 14, 2008](_blank)
/ref>
Hood's love of horses remained with her throughout her life. She developed her skills not only in riding but in training in the English traditions of show jumping
Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrianism, equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, Show hunter, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including th ...
, cross country and dressage
Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...
. Boxes of ribbons attest to the level of her success in horsemanship.
Publications
*''The Fortepiano Maintenance Handbook'', 1998[The three books reviewed are: Stewart Pollens, ''The Early Fortepiano'' (Cambridge University Press, 1995), Katalin Komlós, Fortepianos and their Music: Germany, Austria, and England, 1760-1800'' (Clarendon Press, 1995), and Richard K. Lieberman, ''Steinway and Sons'' (Yale University Press, 1995).]
Footnotes
References
*.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hood, Margaret F.
1937 births
2008 deaths
Piano makers
People from Platteville, Wisconsin
People from New York City
Mount Holyoke College alumni
Pacific School of Religion alumni
Harpsichord makers