Arthur Farwell, [date unknown]. Performing Arts Reading Room, Library of Congress.

Although Arthur Farwell did not intend to pursue a professional career in music, he became one of America's most influential composers, with over 100 compositions to his name. He is best known for his works based on Native American themes; however, he also used cowboy tunes, African-American spirituals, and Spanish-Californian melodies as the basis of his compositions. Initially, his musical style reflected a European, specifically German, tradition, but throughout his career, Farwell gradually assumed a more personal style, laden with adventurous harmonies. Because of his contributions to the musical mainstream, as well as his musical innovations and experimentations, he is often compared to Charles Ives.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Farwell was the youngest son of George and Sara Farwell. Although he took violin lessons during his youth, Farwell did not immediately dedicate himself to music, and was instead fascinated by a variety of subjects, including astrology, numerology, and photography. His interest in electrical engineering led him to complete a Bachelor of Science degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1893. Yet several experiences during his university years convinced him that he was destined to become a professional musician.

Upon graduation, Farwell moved to Boston to study music under George Whitefield Chadwick and Homer Norris. He also wanted to take composition lessons from Edward MacDowell but the fees were too high for the young Farwell; nevertheless, MacDowell often encouraged the lad. In 1897, Farwell traveled to Europe to study with Engelbert Humperdinck and Hans Pfitzner. A year later, Farwell found himself in Paris, studying counterpoint under Alexandre Guilmant. After two years of musical training in Europe, Farwell traveled home to the United States in the spring of 1899.

Once in America, Farwell began his musical career by lecturing at Cornell University from 1899 to1901. It was during these lectures that Farwell introduced his sketches based on the American Indian melodies he had found in Alice Fletcher's compilation Indian Story and Song from North America (1900). Due to the interest generated by these sketches, as well as to his desire to be free of academic demands, Farwell left Cornell to initiate a crusade against German-dominated music in America. After settling in Newton Center, Massachusetts, Farwell traveled to New York City in search of a publisher for his American Indian Melodies, but was unsuccessful. As a result, he founded the Wa-Wan Press (1901-1912), a publishing firm dedicated to the dissemination of contemporary American music.

Farwell chose the name Wa-Wan for the press in honor of an important ceremony of the Omaha Indians which upheld peace, fellowship, and song. For the Press's motto, Farwell selected a phrase from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, "I Hear America Singing." With his father, George Farwell, as his only assistant, Farwell launched the first issue of the Wa-Wan Press in 1901; the volume contained two works by Edgar Stillman Kelley, as well as Farwell's own American Indian Melodies. For over a decade Farwell provided written introductions and commentaries, as well as illustrations for the sheet music covers, for the Press. The publication ceased in 1912, after music publisher G. Schirmer, who had acquired the enterprise from Farwell, abandoned the project. As a companion to his Wa-Wan Press, Farwell also founded the National Wa-Wan Society in March 1907, for the "advancement of the work of American composers, and the interests of the musical life of the American people."

In addition to his involvement with the Wa-Wan Press and Society, Farwell served as the chief music critic for Musical America in New York from 1909 to 1914. He was appointed Supervisor of Municipal Concerts in New York by Mayor William J. Gaynor in 1910 and composed music for pageants, masques, and other outdoor concerts. In 1916, Farwell met Gertrude Everts Brice, an aspiring actress twenty years his junior, whom he married on 5 June 1917. He returned to academia in 1918, teaching at the University of California at Berkeley for two years, and later at Michigan State College from 1927 to1939. Farwell's influence as an educator inspired his students, including Dika Newlin and Roy Harris, who later became distinguished composers themselves. Despite his faculties in writing and teaching, Farwell is best remembered for his arrangements of Indian tunes. Among his finest arrangements are his piano works, Impressions of the Wa-Wan Ceremony of the Omahas, op. 21 (1905) and Three Indian Songs, op. 32 (1908).

Further Reading

Culbertson, Evelyn Davis. He Heard America Singing: Arthur Farwell, Composer and Crusading Music Educator. Composers of North America, no. 9. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1992.

Lawrence, Vera Brodsky. The Wa-Wan Press, 1901-1911. New York: Arno Press, 1970.

Waters, Edward N. "The Wa-Wan Press: An Adventure in Musical Idealism." In A Birthday Offering to C[arl] E[ngel], comp. and ed. Gustave Reese, 214-33. New York: G. Schirmer, 1943.