Clark provides an extensive survey of the keyboard culture of the young American nation. Written in straightforward, accessible style, the volume covers the period 1787-1830. Clark's unusual organization of the music by genre ...reveals the wide expanse of the early musical output...This volume belongs in every academic library and on the shelves of all pianists interested in US national musical heritage. Clark's 'overriding wish is that some of this music will be played and heard again.' This reviewer heartily concurs and applauds this book as a solid cornerstone upon which his wish may be built. Choice ...a thoroughly excellent piece of scholarship. Professor Clark has a truly encyclopedic command of the literature, analytical expertise, and a clear and engrossing prose style. The book captures one's interest quickly and never becomes slow or pedantic. American Organist The Dawning of American Keyboard Music covers the subject very completely and it will be a standard reference tool for those who love early American music. American Music Teacher This work concerns the rapid growth of keyboard composition in the United States from its beginnings in the 1760s until 1830.
Nearly all of the more artistic compositions are described, focusing on those available in moderns editions and reprints, for the rest, there are over 200 examples from music extant only in their original sheet-music copies. The first part of the book is organized by genre, with chapters on the sonata, the rondo, variations, the medley, and battle music. Later chapters are devoted to organ music and to a detailed account of English and American pianoforte tutors, including the varying realizations of ornament signs. The work's formal chapter treats the Bohemian immigrant Anthony Philip Heinrich (1781-1861), whose avant garde compositions are still incomprehensible to many people. The volume concludes with a bibliography of literature on the subject and music editions and with indexes of names, titles, and subjects. The specialized focus of this account supplements the more general histories of early American music. Citations are made to the standard bibliographies of early printed music, complete bibliographical descriptions, including library locations, are furnished for the rest.
This volume will appeal to historians of American music and keyborad music and to keyboard performers.