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INTRODUCTION
STANDING IN A CROWDED CHURCH on a Sunday afternoon, a capacity crowd had gathered to hear American soprano Helen Boatwright in recital on the occasion of her ninetieth birthday. Mrs. Boatwright, one of the original champions of the music of Charles Ives, presented a delightful recital programming a variety of American composers. But the scarcely known songs of her husband, Howard Boatwright, stood out as tiny jewels. Helen Boatwright provided access to original scores and granted personal interviews to this author, discussing the circumstances under which her husband's songs were composed.
During his career, Howard Boatwright (1918-1999) was an accomplished performer, professor, dean, music critic, theoretician, author, and composer of a significant body of works. He was also associated with some of the most influential song composers of his time, including Paul Hindemith, Aaron Copland, Ernst Bacon, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Leonard Bernstein. Nevertheless, his compositions-polished, sophisticated, and gratifying contributions to the vocal repertoire-have been largely neglected by researchers and performers.
This article will explore the evolution of Boatwright's compositional style. For perspective, an overview of Boatwright's life is provided, including his beginnings as a budding violin virtuoso and his growth into a theoretician and composer. The central discussion is an overview of three representative song sets. It is hoped that the reader will come away with an appreciation of Boatwright's compositions for voice and piano, as well as a sense of his proper place among significant American song composers.
BIOGRAPHY
Howard Boatwright's music studies began at age eleven, when he started playing violin in the public schools. By age seventeen, he made his orchestral debut with the Richmond Symphony. He postponed college at his violin teacher's recommendation, and in 1941, at age twenty-three, Boatwright won a series of regional competitions, eventually arriving as a finalist in the National Federation of Music Clubs biennial competition, held in Los Angeles. Helen Strassburger, a twenty-five year old soprano from Wisconsin, was also a finalist at that competition. Although Boatwright was normally socially reserved, he walked right up to her and asked boldly, "Well, who are you?" Thus began "a remarkable musical-and personal-partnership that lasted for more than 50 years."1 The two were married in 1943.
During their first year of marriage, Howard Boatwright applied for...