Ethelbert Nevin - Narcissus

Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin (November 25, 1862 - February 17, 1901) was an American pianist and composer. In 1885, Hans von Bülow incorporated the best four pupils of his friend, Klindworth, into an artist class, which he drilled personally. Nevin was one of the honored four, and appeared at the unique public Zuhören of that year, devoted exclusively to the works of Brahms, Liszt, and Raff. Among the forty or fifty studious listeners at these recitals, Frau Cosima Wagner, the violinist Joachim, and many other celebrities were frequently present. Nevin returned to America in 1887, and took up his residence in Boston, where he taught and played at occasional concerts. In 1892 he went to Paris, where he taught singing, and he coached many American and French artists for the operatic stage. In 1893 he moved on to Berlin, where he worked so hard at composition that his health collapsed, and he spent a year in Algiers. The early months of 1895 he spent in concert tours through this country. As Klindworth said of him, "he has a touch that brings tears," and it is in interpretation rather than in bravura that he excels. Seeking solitude and the right atmosphere for composition, he went to live in Florence, where he composed his suite, "May in Tuscany" (op. 21). After a year in Venice Nevin made Paris his home for a year, then returned to America, where he remained until his death. Nevin was married to Anne Paul Nevin. They had two children. He died in New Haven, Connecticut. His least-forgotten compositions are the piano piece "Narcissus" from Water Scenes and the songs "The Rosary" and "Mighty Lak' a Rose". Nevin was pictured on a 1940 ten cent U.S. postage stamp.