William Foster Apthorp (October 24, 1848 in
BostonFebruary 19, 1913 in
Vevey,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
)
was a
United States writer, drama and music critic, editor and musician.
Biography
He was born in 1848. He was the "son of Robert East Apthorp and Eliza Hunt, grandson of
John T. Apthorp and direct descendant of
Charles Apthorp, named after his maternal great grandfather William Foster. Since before the American Revolution, Apthorp's ancestors had participated in the mercantile and intellectual life of Boston." (Saloman, Am. Nat. Biog., Vol. 13, p. 567) He graduated from Harvard in 1869 having taken musical classes with J. K. Paine. He then took piano from B. J. Lang for 7 or 8 years longer. "Coming from an old Boston family whose efforts in the cause of art have always been most intimately linked with its progress in the city, he has won a career not less worthy than any of his line." (Elson, Supplement, p. 3)
In 1856, his parents took him to study languages and
art in
France,
Dresden (Marquardt'sche Schule),
Berlin (Friedrich Wilhelm'sches Progymnasium),
Rome (École des Frères Chrétiens), and
Florence (with classmate
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...
).
He developed into an accomplished
linguist who could speak “all the leading languages of
Europe.” He returned to Boston in 1860.
[ In 1869,][ he graduated from Harvard College, where he studied piano, ]harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
, and counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
with the institution’s first professor of music, the composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
John Knowles Paine. When Paine left for Europe in 1867, he took up the study of piano with B. J. Lang.[ He studied music theory on his own.][
In 1872,][ he began his career as a critic writing for the '']Atlantic Monthly
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', '' Dwight's Journal of Music'', the '' Boston Courier'', and the '' Boston Evening Traveller'', and went on to help shape Boston’s musical tastes for 20 years as drama and music critic for one of Boston’s premier urban newspapers, the '' Boston Evening Transcript''.[ From 1892 to 1901, he was program essayist for the ]Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...
.National College of Music in Boston
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
(harmony), the New England Conservatory of Music (piano, harmony, counterpoint, and theory), and the College of Music of Boston University ( aesthetics and music history). He lectured at the Lowell Institute, Boston, and the Peabody Institute, Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
.[
He married Octavie Loir Iasigi in 1876. In 1903, failing eyesight prompted his retirement to Vevey, Switzerland.][
]
Books
His books include:
* ''Hector Berlioz: Selections from His Letters and Writings'', with a biographical sketch (1879) A pioneer work in English on Berlioz.[
* ''Aesthetic, Humorous, and Satirical Writings'' (1879)
* ''Some of the Wagner Heroes and Heroines'' (1889)
* ''Musicians and Music Lovers, and Other Essays'' (1894)
* ''By the Way'' (1898)
* ''The Opera, Past and Present: An Historical Sketch'' (1901)
* A translation of several of Émile Zola’s stories (1895)
He also published editions of the songs of Robert Franz and Adolf Jensen, and co-edited, with John D. Champlin, Scribner’s ''Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians'' (1888–1890).
]
References
Further reading
*Joseph Edgar Chamberlin, ''The Boston Transcript: A History of its First Hundred Years'' (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1930), 206
*Joseph A. Mussulman, ''Music in the Cultured Generation'', passim.; and Robert Brian Nelson, “The Commentaries and Criticisms of William Foster Apthorp,” Ph.D., University of Florida, 1991
*''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2nd ed., s. v. “Apthorp, William Foster.”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apthorp, William Foster
1848 births
Harvard College alumni
New England Conservatory faculty
Boston University faculty
1913 deaths