David Runnion:

>I've been searching through various CM resource pages looking for
>biographical information on the American Composer Arthur Foote. ...
>
>I really need some biographical information on this excellent and unknown
>composer, and would appreciate any help.

 From liner notes to Vox Box The Early String Quartet in the USA, by R. D.
Darrell:

   "Living to the ripe age of 84, Arthur Foote was a pianist, organist,
   teacher, and composer of apparently impeccable New Englander Orthodoxy.
   But significantly, he never went to Europe to study and his frankly
   romantic idiom had little of the German accent so characteristic
   of most of his contemporaries.  And while there is nothing at all
   revolutionary or even advanced-for-its-time in his music, there is
   the imprint of saltily distinctive Yankee individuality, a freedom
   from cliches, a disdain of heart-on-sleeve sentimentality, and a
   fresh vitality that have made him something of a "sleeper" among our
   conservative native composers and that have enabled at least some of
   his owrks to impress even highly sophisticated, anti-romantic later
   listeners.

   "The present quartet {String Quartet in D, op. 78}, published in
   1911 and dedicated to Frederick Stock, is his most mature chamber
   work - following two earlier string quartets (1885 and 1894), two
   piano quartets (1899 and 1898), and two piano trios (1884 and 1909)."

 From liner notes to Decca CD American Dreams, by Byron Adams:

   "Arthur Foote was one of Chadwick's contemporaries, as well as a
   fellow Bostonian.  Foote was more of a miniaturist than Chadwick,
   however:  he composed a series of chamber works noted for their
   melodic invention, formal poise and pellucid textures.  Like that of
   another of his distinguished contemporaries, Amy Beach, Foote's music
   is leavened and invigorated by the influence of Dvorak {I wouldn't
   have said either one of them was influenced by Dvorak - Steve}.
   Foote's Suite in E major, op.  63, possesses some of the charm of
   Dvorak's Serenade for Strings in the same key."

 From liner notes to MHS LP Duets by American Composers, by Carolyn Morgan:

   "Arthur Foote (1853-1937) was one of the Boston classicists, that
   group of late romantic American composers active around the turn of
   the century who held to classical ideals of balance and restraint.
   Most of the Boston classicists studied in Germany, but Foote received
   his training at Harvard University with the composer John Knowles
   Paine.  There viewpoint is captured in the following quotation by
   Foote:  'It is not easy to keep an open mind for changes and new
   developments, especially when these fly in the face of all that one
   has cared for....It must be confessed, however, that since 1910, a
   severe strain has been put upon one's willingness to be hospitable
   to new ideas.'"

>From liner notes to Koch CD Alexa Still - Flute, uncredited:

   "Throughout his lifetime, Arthur William Foote admired the music of
   his contemporaries Brahms and Wagner.  Born in Massachussetts in
   1853, Foote became a respected pillar of Boston's musical circles.
   He had piano lessons at the age of fourteen and theory lessons at
   sixteen.  Intending to eventually attend law school, Foote enetered
   Harvard University, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in
   1874.  He led the Harvard Glee Club and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
   The summer following his graduation, he studied organ with Benjamin
   Lang.  Lang was so impressed with Foote's talent, he persuaded Foote
   to be a musician, Foote returned to Harvard for another year, and
   was the first to graduate from an American university with a Master
   of Arts degree.  Upon this graduation, Foote opened a studio and he
   became a highly regarded pedagogue.  Teaching, piano, organ and
   composition provided most of his income for the next fifty years.

   "In 1876, Foote attended the first Bayreuth Festival in Germany.
   There he heard the first complete performance of 'Ring des Nibelungen'
   and this was the beginning of his love for the music of Wagner.  As
   pianist, he performed much chamber music, and his compositions include
   many works for string groups with and without piano.  His orchestral
   works were often performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra."

Steve Schwartz