Dr. Douglas Bomberger, professor of music and fine and performing arts department chair, presented a paper on composer Edward MacDowell at the 39th annual conference of the Society for American Music in Little Rock, Ark. on March 8.
The Society for American Music is a non-profit scholarly and educational organization incorporated in the District of Columbia, founded in 1975. It is a constituent member of the American Council of Learned Societies. The mission of the Society for American Music is to encourage the appreciation, performance, creation and study of American music from all eras and genres. The Society for American Music conference is a five-day program featuring a variety of presenters, panel discussions, live performances and trips to local archives of jazz materials by educators and musicians from universities all over the world.
Bomberger has served as treasurer of the society for the past four years. He was recognized at the conference for completing his four-year term. As treasurer, his job consisted of oversight, reporting to the board and membership, rather than handling day-to-day accounts. “Serving as treasurer has been a way to thank the society for many years of association,” Bomberger said. During the upcoming year, Bomberger will serve as the local arrangements chair for the 40th annual conference, which will be held in Lancaster, Pa.
At this year’s conference, Bomberger had the opportunity to present his paper on composer Edward MacDowell’s reception history. His paper was selected by a blind referee process in which the program committee considered the proposals on the basis of a short abstract. Bomberger was thrilled when he received the news, explaining that the acceptance rate for the conference, which attracts scholars from around the world, was only about 30 percent. This conference is recognized for the quality and variety of the papers read and presented.
Bomberger centered his presentation around MacDowell’s reception history, which is a historical discipline that looks at how a person is viewed after their death. In this instance, Bomberger focused on MacDowell’s life as a composer and his music. MacDowell died in 1908, and until after World War I, was considered America’s most famous and celebrated composer in the nineteenth century. MacDowell’s compositions include two piano concertos, two orchestral suites, four symphonic poems, four piano sonatas, piano suites, 42 songs and choral music, mostly for male voices. He also published dozens of piano transcriptions of eighteenth-century pre-piano keyboard pieces. His compositions won the approval of music critics, both in Europe and the United States. He was among the first seven Americans honored by membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1904.
Bomberger said, “During the 1920s, a group of modernist composers sought to undermine his reputation by feminizing him and his music, thus claiming that he was not as important as they were.” Bomberger recently completed a biography of the composer that will be published by Oxford University Press this summer. Bomberger said, “In researching the book, I discovered that perceptions of MacDowell have changed drastically over the years.”
When asked how his work reflected on the College he said, “Faculty research is vital to Elizabethtown College on several levels. First, it reinforces the fact that institutions of higher education create new knowledge in a wide variety of fields. Second, this new knowledge has value and interest well beyond our campus and enhances the reputation of the College. Finally, the insights that I gain from my research make my teaching richer and more nuanced.” Bomberger recently illustrated to his music history class how he was able to apply examples from his MacDowell research to the topic in discussion and demonstrate how research in the field is conducted.