Mabel Madison Watson

Mabel Madison Watson (December 16, 1872 – September 12, 1952)[1] was an American composer[2] who taught piano and violin students.[3] She was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to James Madison Watson and Emma Hopper Watson. Her father wrote several school textbooks,[4] and children's author Emilie Poulsson lived with the Watson family during Mabel's childhood.

Watson graduated from the Metropolitan College of Music in New York. She studied music with Kate Sara Chittenden, Herbert Greene, Albert Rosa Parsons, Harry Rowe Shelley, and Otto Meyer[5] in America; and with Oscar Raif in Berlin and Isidor Philipp in Paris.[6]

Watson concentrated on teaching beginning piano and violin students. She published at least one article in the journal Kindergarten Review: Music as an Element in Aesthetic Training.[7] She was known for having beginning piano students use both hands and learn both treble and bass clefs right from the beginning, while most teachers started students using only one hand and one clef. She initially maintained studios in New York City and Philadelphia, but eventually closed the New York City studio and focused on her work in Philadelphia.

In 1920 and 1921, Watson directed the Keene Valley Summer Music Colony (or School)[8] in the Adirondack mountains, with assistance from violinist Otto Meyer, her former teacher.[9]  It was a three month class for instruction in composition, piano, theory, and violin.

Watson was a member of the American String Teachers Association.[10] Her music was published by Theodore Presser Co., Arthur P. Schmidt,[11] and G. Schirmer, Inc. Her compositions include:

Piano
  • Alpenrose Waits
  • Birthday Party Waltz
  • Children's Party
  • Christmas Tree (Christmas Morning)
  • Dance of the Snowflakes
  • Desert Caravan
  • First Visits to Tuneland: A Collection of Rhymes and Tunes to Teach the Notes Up and Down from Middle C[12]
  • Five tuneful sketches for piano[13]
  • Flight of Swallows
  • Folk Dance
  • Games and Toys
  • Heath and Hall
  • Junior High Entrance March
  • Little One Sleep!
  • Little Tales from Tuneland: 34 Simple Tunes with Rhymes
  • Little Two Voice Songs and Dances
  • March of the Merry Men (Christmas Night)
  • March of the Tin Cavalry
  • Marionette Ballet
  • Merry, Merry March
  • Mummer's Parade
  • Night in Venice
  • On Skis
  • Out of Doors: Six Characteristic Pieces for Piano[14]
  • Pirates Bold
  • Playing in the Snow (Christmas Afternoon)
  • Rubber Doll's Dance
  • Scenes from Tuneland
  • Seven Scenes from Childhood
  • Snow for Christmas (Christmas Eve)
  • Song of Sleep and Snow (The Night Before Christmas)
  • Summertime Stories
  • Trotting Pony
  • Twelve Magic Keys: 40 Pieces in all the Major Keys[16]
  • Warp and Woof: Eleven little Tunes & Rhymes for Independent Part Playing

Violin
  • Bel Canto Method (an elementary violin method)
  • First Folk Songs (violin and piano)
  • Five Dances in Ancient Style (violin, cello and piano)[17]

References
  1. Watson, Mabel Madison (2 November 2020). "ancestry.com". Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  2. Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International encyclopedia of women composers (Second edition, revised and enlarged ed.). New York. ISBN 0-9617485-2-4. OCLC 16714846.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Hennessee, Don A. (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
  4. Ricord, Frederick (1897-01-01). History of Union County, New Jersey. Dalcassian Publishing Company.
  5. The Musical Blue Book of America, ...: Recording in Concise Form the Activities of Leading Musicians and Those Actively and Prominently Identified with Music in Its Various Departments ... Musical Blue Book Corporation. 1922.
  6. "Mabel Madison Watson". The Etude. 54 (11): 37. November 1936.
  7. Kindergarten Review. Milton Bradley. 1903.
  8. The Violinist. Violinist Publishing Company. 1920.
  9. The Etude. T. Presser. 1921.
  10. American String Teacher. 1951.
  11. The Musician: America's Leading Magazine for Musicians, Music-lovers, Teachers and Students. N. Jaakobs. 1912.
  12. The New England Magazine. New England Magazine Company. 1912.
  13. Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1958). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series.
  14. Catalog of Copyright Entries: Musical compositions. Library of Congress, Copyright Office. 1913.
  15. Podolsky, Leo (1995-11-15). Guild Repertoire: Piano Music Appropriate for the Auditions of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, Elementary A & B: For Elementary Piano. Alfred Music. ISBN 978-1-4574-0398-9.
  16. School Music. P.C. Hayden. 1918.
  17. The Canadian Patent Office Record and Register of Copyrights and Trade Marks. Patent Office. 1932.
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