The Life of Ruth Crawford
Ruth Crawford Seeger was born in Jacksonville, Florida where she grew up with her father until he passed away. Ruth began writing poetry at an early age and as a teenager had aspirations to become an "authoress or poetess". In 1914, Ruth went to Foster's School of Musical Art to study musical art by learning the piano. After she attended the Foster’s School of Musical Art, she began attending the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago to further her education by focusing on the piano, but that is not what happened. Instead of staying for only a year like she had planned she ended up staying for about eight years. This allowed her to become a composer by studying Adolf Weidig. Adolf helped Ruth see her future as a composer and helped her to start paving her way during the year of 1924 where she began to develop her voice known as “ultra modern”. While Crawford continued to study theory and composition with Weidig at the American Conservatory of Music, in 1924 she also began private piano lessons with Djane Lavoie Herz (Tick 25). During this time, Crawford also met the leading Chicago poet Carl Sandburg whose writings she eventually set to music. Crawford spent the summer of 1929 at the MacDowell Colony on a scholarship, where she began a friendship with fellow composer Marion Bauer …show more content…
One major way is her focus on the piano and another important fact is that Ruth was a women; most of the composers are men which makes her unique compared to the rest. Ruth Crawford was a pioneer because her approach was known as an “ultra modern” music style. Ruth’s music was published in score form, journals read by leading composers, theorists, and performers of the day suggests that her work stood out in a very competitive arena, and demonstrated that female composers could have their music judged by its own merits, without needing to consider the gender of its
Ruth Crawford Seeger was born in Jacksonville, Florida where she grew up with her father until he passed away. Ruth began writing poetry at an early age and as a teenager had aspirations to become an "authoress or poetess". In 1914, Ruth went to Foster's School of Musical Art to study musical art by learning the piano. After she attended the Foster’s School of Musical Art, she began attending the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago to further her education by focusing on the piano, but that is not what happened. Instead of staying for only a year like she had planned she ended up staying for about eight years. This allowed her to become a composer by studying Adolf Weidig. Adolf helped Ruth see her future as a composer and helped her to start paving her way during the year of 1924 where she began to develop her voice known as “ultra modern”. While Crawford continued to study theory and composition with Weidig at the American Conservatory of Music, in 1924 she also began private piano lessons with Djane Lavoie Herz (Tick 25). During this time, Crawford also met the leading Chicago poet Carl Sandburg whose writings she eventually set to music. Crawford spent the summer of 1929 at the MacDowell Colony on a scholarship, where she began a friendship with fellow composer Marion Bauer …show more content…
One major way is her focus on the piano and another important fact is that Ruth was a women; most of the composers are men which makes her unique compared to the rest. Ruth Crawford was a pioneer because her approach was known as an “ultra modern” music style. Ruth’s music was published in score form, journals read by leading composers, theorists, and performers of the day suggests that her work stood out in a very competitive arena, and demonstrated that female composers could have their music judged by its own merits, without needing to consider the gender of its