Violin Music by Women: A Graded Anthology
  • Home
  • Order here!
  • Violin Anthology Contents
  • Violin Sound Files
  • VIOLA MUSIC BY WOMEN
  • Viola Sound Files
  • Blog
  • More music to explore
  • About the editor

Where it all started...

3/26/2012

7 Comments

 
I thought I would start this blog by serializing the article I wrote on Josephine Trott for the Feb. 2006 American String Teachers journal. So much of this began from my curiosity about her, it seems like a tribute is fitting. I'll post sections of it over the next few weeks to keep you coming back!

On the Trail of Josephine Trott: A Continuing Detective Story
Who was Josephine Trott? Her wonderful work, Melodious Double Stops, has become a staple of violin pedagogy. The Puppet Show, a fun beginner’s piece featuring left-hand pizzicato, is included in Barbara Barber’s Solos for Young Violinists. Several years ago my curiosity spurred me to action. What was her background? Where did she study? Was she British? French? Did she write anything else? It didn’t seem possible that she could have written these methodically sound etude books, and then just disappeared from the radar screen. I decided to become a detective on her trail.

From library catalogues, I had her birth year of 1874. If I knew the year she died, I could find obituaries that would give me details of her life. My first step, on the advice of a colleague, was to contact the Royalties department at Schirmer to find out if she had descendants who were now receiving profits from her works. The  man I spoke with informed me that all her royalties are sent to the Josephine Trott Memorial Scholarship Fund of the National Federated Music Clubs.  A clue! Looked like Trott was probably American. In hopes that they could tell me when the scholarship program began, I contacted the NFMC main office, who referred me to the woman in charge of the scholarship awards, who referred me to Viola Heinie of the Denver Musicians Society. Denver? Who knew! Ms. Heinie gave me a juicy tidbit—that Trott was a single woman teaching violin in Denver, who adopted a young girl by the name of Riccarda McQuie. She also gave me the name and number of Bea Booth, age 101 in 2003, who might be able to tell me more.

The conversation I had with Ms. Booth was fascinating and frustrating. I felt I was coming so close to information, but still couldn’t get specifics. She confirmed that Trott had adopted Riccarda as a foster child. She also relayed the information that Trott had studied the violin in France, and that she later took her adopted daughter (who later played in the Denver Symphony for 29 years) to study with the same teacher. Trott herself had been a force in the creation of the Denver Symphony (then called the Civic Symphony) in 1922.  McQuie was deceased, and the whereabouts of her children unknown.

It looked like I was at a dead-end for information from anyone living. What could Trott herself tell me?

To be continued....
7 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    July 2022
    November 2018
    August 2018
    April 2018
    March 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All
    Caroline Lumsden
    Chautauqua
    Elbow Carrying Angle In Violinists
    Estelle Gray
    Josephine Trott
    Mary Cohen
    Mary O'hara
    Music
    Rebecca Clarke
    String Quartet
    Trott Biography
    Violin
    Violinists
    Violin Pedagogy
    Women
    Women Composers
    Womens Image088d52bcd3
    Words And Music

    RSS Feed