Nevin, Arthur (Finley)

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Nevin, Arthur (Finley)

Nevin, Arthur (Finley), American composer and pedagogue, brother of Etherbert (Woodbridge) Nevin; b. Edgeworth, Pa., April 27, 1871; d. Sewickley, Pa., July 10, 1943. He received musical training at home, mainly from his father, then at the New England Cons, of Music in Boston (1889–93). In 1893 he went to Berlin, where he studied piano with Klindworth and composition with Boise and Humperdinck. Returning to the U.S., he devoted himself to teaching, research, composition, and conducting. He lived with the Blackfoot Indians in Montana (summers, 1903 and 1904), and later wrote and lectured on his experiences. He was a prof. of music at the Univ. of Kansas (1915–20) and director of the municipal music dept. of Memphis, Term. (1920–22). In 1926 he settled in Sewickley as a private teacher.

Works

dramatic:A Night in Yaddo Land, masque (1900); Foia, opera (Berlin, April 23, 1910); A Daughter of the Forest, opera (Chicago, Jan. 5, 1918). other: 2 cantatas: The Djinns (N.Y., 1913) and Roland; Bakawali Dances for Orch.; 3 orch. suites, including Lorna Doone and Love Dreams; chamber music; piano pieces; songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire