Parlor Player

What the Adamses are to Boston, the Biddles to Philadelphia, the Pinckneys to Charleston, the Nevins are to Sewickley, Pa., smart suburb of Pittsburgh. So numerous are Nevins, rich ones and poor ones, that Sewickley churchgoers, according to local legend, sometimes start their prayers thus: "Our Father, who art a Nevin." Most famed of the tribe was Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin, composer of The Rosary, who died in 1901. First biography of Nevin was written by Vance Thompson (1913). Published this week was a bigger & better job, Ethelbert Nevin* by John Tasker Howard (Our American Music; Stephen Foster, America's Troubadour).

"Bertie" Nevin was born in 1862, son of a druggist and newspaper proprietor. Naming him was an inspiration. "High-strung" as a child, he grew up to look like his name. He took his first music lessons at 8, published his first piece at 11. He married Anne Paul, a childhood friend who bore him two children. During his short life, Nevin studied continuously in the U. S. and Europe, turned out a constant stream of songs, piano pieces and small instrumental numbers--parlor music in tune with the times which brought him increasing royalties. An able pianist, he got out of his depth when he tried to compose a piano concerto. Melody was easy but Nevin never managed to master counterpoint or orchestration. To his father, on whom he drew freely for his studies and trips, he wrote: "You would be proud if your son were to make a name and fame for himself thro' the gift he inherited-- not of his own doings, but a God given talent." Nevin wrote a flimsy little Narcissus, later called it "nasty" but still thrilled to hear people whistle it in the streets. His most famed work, The Rosary, was written to a mawkish poem by a redoubtable California drinker and poker-player named Robert Cameron Rogers. Though The Rosary sold less than 100,000 copies from its publication in 1898 until its composer died, its total sales reached 2,673,450 by 1928.

Always frail and nervous, Ethelbert Nevin took to drink, died of apoplexy in New Haven. His widow survives. In 1909, unaided and against much opposition, she got Congress to pass a new copyright act requiring royalty payments for phonograph records and piano-rolls, and extending the renewal period for copyrights from 14 to 28 years. Mrs. Nevin also helped University of Pittsburgh to establish an Ethelbert Nevin Memorial Room full of his relics.

* Crowett ($3.50).

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.