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John Powell
(September 6, 1882 - August 15, 1963) U.S.A.

John Powell

Pianist and composer

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Born in Richmond, Virginia, graduated at the University of Virginia, 1901. He went to Vienna where he studied piano and composition and in 1907 made his debut as a pianist in Berlin, toured Europe before WWI and then returned to Virginia. Powell was an astronomer as well as a musician, and awarded an honorary membership in the French Astronomy Society for discovering a comet.

His compositions employ much material from folk song. His outstanding works are Rhapsodie nègre (1919); the Virginia country dances Natchez on the Hill (1932); a folk carol, The Babe of Bethlehem (1934); his Symphony in A (1937); a symphony on Virginian folk themes (1945); and concertos, songs, and chamber music.

Powell was a racist; his reputation has been tarnished by his racial views, which, while applauded by many in the first half of the century, became totally unacceptable later in his life. He died in Charlottesville.

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