Biographical Note
Marian Griswold Nevins was an accomplished pianist at the time she met Edward MacDowell in Germany, where she had intended to study with Clara Schuman, wife of composer Robert Schumann. Instead, Nevins began her study with MacDowell and eventually married him. After spending time in Europe, the couple returned to the United States and settled in New York, where Edward MacDowell joined the faculty of Columbia University to establish its music department. Edward MacDowell was considered to be the most prominent and internationally recognized American composer of the era. In 1896, the MacDowells bought a 75-acre farm in Peterborough, New Hampshire; a place that they hoped would be a source of inspiration for the composer. A decline in Edward MacDowell’s health, however, prompted them to transform the farm into a place where creative artists could find freedom to concentrate on their work, a goal that consumed Marian MacDowell until her death in 1956.