Powell, John, 1882-1963

Occupation
Composers
Pianists
(lcdgt) Ethnomusicologists
University and college faculty members

found: His Sonata teutonica, c1983:t.p. (John Powell) p. v (1882, Richmond, V.-1963, Charlottesville)

found: Kehler, G. The piano in concert, 1982(Powell, John; b. Sep. 6, 1882, Richmond, Va.; d. Aug. 15, 1963, Charlottesville, Va.; American pianist and composer)

found: Buehrmann, Elizabeth. Photographic portraits of artists, writers, musicians, arts administrators and patrons of the arts, ca. 1904-1917, and photographic illustrations and accompanying tearsheets for magazine and newspaper advertisements, ca. 1917-1921, 1904-1921:photograph, viewed in New York Public Library Digital Collections, December 26, 2020 (inscribed on verso of photograph: "John Powell, composer, and pianist. One of the founders of the White Top Mountains Folk Music festival in Virginia ... Photo. made for the Aeolian Company")

found: Kushner, David Z. "Powell, John," in Grove music online, published in print 26 November 2013, published online 27 February 2020, retrieved via Oxford music online, December 26, 2020(born Richmond, Va., 6 Sept. 1882; died Richmond, Va., 15 Aug. 1963); pianist and composer; attended the University of Virginia; studied in Vienna; recital debut in Berlin in 1907 and subsequently performed in Paris, London, and Vienna; lived in London for several years, then returned to Richmond, "where he developed an interest in African American folksong"; his compositions often quote folk melodies; also completed numerous arrangements of traditional folksongs, dances, and hymn tunes; co-founder of the White Top Mountain Folk Festival (1931-1941); taught at the University of Virginia; "Powell, however, did not believe that African American melodies could serve as a basis for a national school of composition. In a lecture given in Houston on 6 April 1923 he expressed concern about the 'melting pot' conception of America and about the possibility that the country might be peopled by an octoroon race. He was sympathetic to the eugenics movement and served as a leader in the formation of the Anglo-Saxon Club of America"; selective list of his orchestral, vocal, chamber and keyboard works)

found: Find a Grave website, December 26, 2020(photograph of gravestone in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, with inscription "John Powell, born in Richmond, Va., Sept. 6, 1882, died in Albemarle Co., Va., Aug. 15, 1963") - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6687596/john-henry-powell

found: Finding aid to Papers of John Powell, 1888-1978, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.. accessed online December 26, 2020("John Henry Powell was a world-renowned pianist and composer who was born in Richmond, Virginia on September 6, 1882 ... He taught music at Denver College and was president of the Virginia Music Federation. He was an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa, Societe astronomique de France, and the American Institute of Arts and Letters ... Powell is also well known for his work in eugenics which began in the early 1920s. He supported racial integrity legislation that passed the General Assembly of Virginia in 1926 ... He was considered by many to be 'the founding father of racial integrity legislation' in Virginia. John Powell died in Richmond, Virginia in 1963")

found: New York times, August 16, 1963, viewed online December 26, 2020(AP obituary, datelined "Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 15": "John Powell, pianist and composer, died here tonight ... while en route to a hospital"; "Mr. Powell was a chief sponsor of Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which barred the marriage of a white person and a person having any Negro blood or as much as one-sixth Indian blood. But he made liberal use of Negro themes in his music, including one of his most successful works, 'Rhapsodie negre'")

found: Richmond times-dispatch (Richmond, Va.), August 16, 1963, viewed online via Newspapers.com, December 26, 2020:page 1 (dateline: Charlottesville, Aug. 15; "John Powell, Virginia's most eminent composer, died Thursday [August 15] ... while en route to a hospital ... He was stricken during lunch at Longways, his Albermarle County home")

found: Wikipedia, December 26, 2020("John Powell (September 6, 1882-August 15, 1963) was an American pianist, ethnomusicologist and composer. Along with Annabel Morris Buchanan, he helped found the White Top Folk Festival ... Powell also helped found the Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America ... Powell was born and grew up in Richmond, Virginia ... Powell died in Albemarle County, Virginia, near Charlottesville")