Kirkpatrick, John
Kirkpatrick, John
Kirkpatrick, John, eminent American pianist and pedagogue; b. N.Y., March 18, 1905; d. Ithaca, N.Y., Nov. 8, 1991. He was educated at Princeton Univ. (graduated, 1926) and took courses with Boulanger in Fontainebleau (summers, 1925-28) and at the École Normale de Musique in Paris (1926–27); he also studied with I. Philipp and C. Decreus, completing his piano studies with Louta Nouneberg (1928–31). He specialized in the interpretation of 17th and 18th century chamber music, but gained extraordinary attention when he gave from memory the premiere of Ives’ difficult Concord Sonata in N.Y. on Jan. 20, 1939. This premiere played an important role in the public recognition of Ives. Kirkpatrick gave many recitals and lecture-recitals in succeeding years. He served as chairman of the music dept. at Monticello Coll. (1942–43); he then taught at Mount Holyoke Coll. (1943–46), Cornell Univ. (1946–68), where he also was director of the Chapel Choir (1953–57), and Yale Univ. (1968–73), where he also was curator of the Charles Ives Collection. He ed. A Temporary Mimeographed Catalogue of the Music Manuscripts and Related Materials of Charles Edward Ives (1960), Charles E. Ives: Memos (1972), and various compositions by Ives.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire